Annotated Translation with Glossary of the Kaimoku-sho
From Ryuei Michael McCormick’s introduction:
The essay On the Opening of the Eyes (Kaimoku-shō) is one of the five major writings of Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282), the progenitor of those Buddhist schools and movements that follow his teachings about the Lotus Sutra and practice the chanting of that sutra’s “august title” (daimoku) in the form of “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” In this writing, he reflects upon the course of his life and the nature of the hardships and persecutions that had beset him. In the course of it, he clarifies his mission and renews his determination to work selflessly, even at the cost of his life, for the sake of Japan and by extension all sentient beings whose liberation is guaranteed by the universal promise of Buddhahood conveyed by the Lotus Sutra.
On September 12, 1271, Nichiren was arrested by the Hei no Saemon-no-jo Yoritsuna (d. 1293), deputy chief of the board of retainers of the Kamakura shogunate. He was taken to the execution grounds on Tatsunokuchi beach. The traditional story is that he was saved from death when a mysterious ball of light flew through the sky, frightening the executioner and the other samurai. A messenger from the regent arrived soon after with orders that Nichiren was to be exiled, not executed. On October 10, 1271, Nichiren was sent into exile on Sado Island. At first, he lived in a small broken-down shrine in a graveyard called Tsukuhara. It was the hope of his enemies that Nichiren would die in the harsh winter of Sado Island without any adequate shelter or provisions.
Many of Nichiren’s followers, like Nisshin and Nichiro had also been arrested and imprisoned. They wondered why they had not received divine protection from such persecution. In order to resolve these doubts Nichiren started writing On the Opening of the Eyes in November of 1271. He finished it in February of 1272, after the successful conclusion of the Tsukuhara Debate. This was a debate arranged by Sado Island’s deputy constable between Nichiren and several hundred monks from other schools of Buddhism on January 16 and 17. Nichiren addressed On the Opening of the Eyes to Shijo Kingo, a samurai in Kamakura who was one of his staunchest followers.
Shockingly, Nichiren wrote that he had been beheaded at Tatsunokuchi and it was his spirit that had come to Sado Island. Such a statement reflects Nichiren’s feelings that in a sense he had given up his life at the execution ground and begun a new life. At the same time, he was aware that he could still literally die in the harsh winter on Sado Island or that he might once again face execution. On the Opening of the Eyes was intended to be a memento in case of his death. In other words, it was Nichiren’s last will and testament, so that he could bestow his most important teachings upon his disciples before it was too late. Throughout the work, Nichiren states that the most important question is whether he really has been acting as the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra; and, if so, why he and his followers have not received the blessings and protection of the buddhas, bodhisattvas and other divine guardians of the Dharma.
In the following passage from his autobiographical work, On Various Distinguished Actions (Shuju onfurtnnai gosho), Nichiren describes the circumstances of writing On the Opening of the Eyes and his purpose for writing it:
After everyone had left [following the Tsukuhara debate] I finally finished writing a thesis entitled On the Opening of the Eyes in two fascicles, which I had been writing since the eleventh month of the previous year. I wrote it thinking that if I was to be beheaded, I should have recorded the miracles in my life. The gist of this writing is as follows:
The safety of Japan depends solely upon Nichiren. For example, a house cannot stand without pillars, and a person would be dead without a spirit. I am the spirit of the Japanese people. Hei no Saemon, however, has cut down the pillar of Japan. The world will be in turmoil; lies will prevail; fighting will begin among members of the Hojo clan; and moreover Japan will be attacked by foreign forces just as I wrote in my Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma (Risshō Ankoku-ron).
Thus I wrote On the Opening of the Eyes and gave it to my disciples and lay followers in Kamakura through Shijo Kingo’s messenger. It seems that some disciples who were still with me thought it was worded too strongly, but nobody could stop me. (WNS5, adapted, p. 36)
Throughout On the Opening of the Eyes Nichiren uses a series of comparisons to show that the teaching of the Lotus Sutra can enable all people to attain buddhahood. These comparisons range from the various non-Buddhist philosophies and religions of China and India to all the schools of Buddhism that had been brought to Japan by the thirteenth century. This writing is therefore a survey of the development of world religions, especially of Buddhism, from the perspective of a highly educated Japanese monk of the thirteenth century whose sole concern was to discern which teaching could best liberate people from suffering and enable them to attain the selfless compassion of buddhahood.
Nichiren also shows that the Lotus Sutra itself predicted that anyone propagating it in the Latter Age of the Dharma would be bound to encounter the kinds of hardships that Nichiren and his disciples had already faced and would continue to face. Nichiren also discerned that of all the teachers in Japan at that time, he was the only one who was directing people to the Lotus Sutra instead of away from it. Having reflected upon these things, Nichiren states his determination in the form of a threefold vow to continue upholding the Lotus Sutra for the sake of Japan, no matter what hardships he might have to face:
… no matter how many great difficulties fall upon me, I will not submit to them until a wise person defeats me by reason. Other difficulties are like dust in the wind. I will never break my vow to become the pillar of Japan, to become the eyes of Japan, and to become a great vessel for Japan.
For the Nichiren Buddhist tradition, this writing is considered Nichiren’s testimony regarding his identity as the foremost practitioner of the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyō-no-gyōja) in the Latter Age of Degeneration (mappō). The Latter Age of Degeneration is the era when the true spirit of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings will be forgotten. Nichiren and his East Asian contemporaries believed that this era had begun in the year 1052. However, as the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren believed that he was fulfilling the mission given to Superior Practice Bodhisattva, one of the four leaders of the bodhisattvas appearing from underground in Chapter Fifteen of the Lotus Sutra. These bodhisattvas are given the specific transmission to spread the Wonderful Dharma in the Latter Age by the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha in Chapter Twenty-one of the Lotus Sutra. By upholding the Lotus Sutra and spreading the practice of the daimoku, Nichiren came to believe that he was, at the very least, the forerunner of Superior Practice Bodhisattva. The mainstream of the Nichiren Buddhist tradition in Japan has long considered Nichiren to be the “appearance” of Superior Practice Bodhisattva” and the exemplar of all those who continue to uphold and practice the Lotus Sutra.
See also Open Your Eyes: A Nichiren Buddhist View of Awakening