The curse and the sense of sinfulness, individual and national

Although he saw in the coming Mongol invasion an agency working for his cause, the final burden of converting the nation was laid upon him. He thus inseparably linked the threatening danger with his idea of the future of Japan as well as with his own expiation – the remorseful expiation of his sin of not having thus far accomplished all that he was set to do for the Unique Truth.

The sense of sin lay heavy upon Nichiren’s mind, in view of the approaching danger. Japan would certainly suffer from the invaders, as the western islands had been devastated. Was not this because the nation still remained blind to the true Buddhism? Was not he himself chiefly or solely responsible for its blindness? Would not all these perils have been averted, if he had established the Holy See? “All the sufferings that befall my fellow-beings are, after all, my own sufferings.” This was his great remorse, caused by the sense of his own sinfulness as well as by concern for his countrymen. His curse was not a product of mere self-righteousness nor of mere hatred of others, but an expression of his deep regret for his country and of his own ideal. There was always, for him, a link between the present danger and the future destiny, between the nation’s curse and his own expiation; and this connection was a result of his view of the inseparable tie uniting the individual to the community in which he lives. We have already touched on this point, in discussing Nichiren’s ideas about the meaning of the community in human life and in religion. Now, in his grave concern about the threatening invasion, this thought found emphatic expression. A letter which he wrote to a warrior follower, in 1280, is particularly instructive. After dwelling much on the offence committed by the nation against the Lotus of Truth, he goes on to show how his sufferings were a part of his mission, while he himself cannot but be responsible for the people’s folly and their calamities. The individual is never apart from his family and nation; how much more then, must the leader of the nation, the spiritual father of the coming ages, regret and hate his people’s folly and suffering! Further, he says:

“While Japan is being threatened by the attacks of the Great Mongols, its people are having recourse to the mysteries which are doomed to perish (the Shingon rituals). Are not the ominous records (of their failures) plain in many previous cases? How can a man who knows this remain indifferent to the fact? How sad it is that we have to encounter great calamities, having been born in a country offending and degrading truth and righteousness! Even if we could be personally acquitted of the sin of degrading the truth, how could we be freed from the responsibility for the offense committed by our families and country? If you would be exempt from the offense committed by your family, endeavor to convert your parents and brothers and sisters! The issue will be either that you will be hated by them, or that you will finally convert them all. If you would be free from the offence committed by the country as a whole, make remonstrance to the rulers, and be yourself prepared for death or exile! Is it not said in the [Lotus Sutra], ‘Never shrink from sacrificing the body for the sake of the Incomparable Way’? This is explained (by a commentator) as follows: ‘Insignificant is the bodily life compared with the grave and important cause of the Truth; therefore strive to perpetuate the Truth even at the sacrifice of the body!’ That we have, from the remotest past down to the present, not attained Buddhahood, is simply due to our cowardice, in that we have always been afraid of these perils and have not dared to stand up publicly for the Truth. The future will never be otherwise, so long as we remain cowards. All this is deeply impressed upon me by my personal experience.

“Even among my followers there are those who dare not to proclaim the Truth, but are content with personal faith alone, and even some who desert the cause, all because they are afraid of the dangers, and care too much for the bodily life, which is, in fact, as evanescent as the dew. Indeed, as is said in the [Lotus Sutra], ‘difficult to believe and hard to grasp’ is the Truth, and I know by my own experience how difficult it is to live the life of the Truth. Traitors are as innumerable as the dust of the earth in all the world, while real believers are as rare as motes on the fingernails. The offenders are like the waters of the ocean, while the defenders are only but a few drops of water.

“Those who remain silent before the opponents of the Lotus of Truth … will surely sink to the nethermost hells. Men who, being cognizant of a treasonable plot, do not inform the rulers, are traitors, even if they themselves were not involved in the plot. … Remonstrances were made by me, Nichiren, because I knew this truth. A sentence of death, and repeated banishment, were the consequence. Seven years have now passed since I retired among these mountains, wishing to be redeemed from sins, and freed from offences.”

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NICHIREN: THE BUDDHIST PROPHET

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