[T]he gohonzon that I revealed was not revealed by any of the many Tripiṭaka masters entering China from India or by those who went to India from China. Looking at such books as the Record of the Western Regions by Hsūan-tsung, the honzon of various temples in many states in all of India are all recorded. I have also exhaustively studied the gohonzon of Chinese temples recorded by Chinese sages coming to Japan and by wise men of Japan entering China. Regarding those in Japan, they are all recorded in the diaries of numerous temples starting with the Gangōji and Shitennōji Temples, the first Buddhist temples in Japan, and many secular books and diaries beginning with a book called Nihongi. Therefore, the gohonzon of each temple is ascertained. The gohonzon that I revealed is not among them.
Some people may have doubts about me saying, “Isn’t it correct to say that the honzon revealed by Nichiren is not based on sūtras or commentaries? Isn’t this why many sages in the past did not portray it or carve it in wood?” Despite this, the honzon is based on the scriptural statements, as clear as day. Those who doubt this should investigate whether or not the scriptural base in fact exists. It is not right to criticize it just because it was not created or portrayed in the previous era.
For instance, when Śākyamuni Buddha went up to the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven in order to make obeisance for his late mother, no one in the entire world (Jambudvīpa) was aware of this. Only Venerable Maudgalyāyana knew this, but it was due to the divine power of the Buddha. Likewise, the Buddha Dharma, which exists before our very eyes, cannot be seen unless one has the capacity for perceiving it, and it cannot be spread unless the time is ripe. There is a natural reason for this. For instance, it is like the ebb and flow of the ocean tide or the waxing and waning of the moon in the sky according to time.
Now this gohonzon had been treasured by Lord Preacher Śākyamuni Buddha in his heart for 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa in the past before appearing in this world. Even after attaining Enlightenment, he did not reveal it for forty years before expounding it in the Lotus Sūtra. And even while preaching the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha passed through most of the theoretical section without referring to it until he began preaching it in the “Beholding the Stupa of Treasures” chapter, revealing it in the truth in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the essential section, and completing it in the “Divine Power of the Buddha” and the “Transmission” chapters.
Many bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī of the Konjiki Sekai (Golden World), Maitreya of the Tuṣita Heaven, Avalokiteśvara of Mt. Potalaka, and Medicine King, a disciple of Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue Buddha, eagerly volunteered to spread it, but they were not allowed to do so. Śākyamuni Buddha then stated, “These bodhisattvas, though widely known for their wisdom and wit, have not placed their faith in the Lotus Sūtra for long and their learning is not deep enough, making it difficult for them to endure the great challenges of the Latter Age of Degeneration. I have instead my treasured disciples whom I have secretly kept in the bottom of the earth since 500 million dust-particle kalpa ago. I am entrusting them with this great duty.”
Thus, the Buddha called out such bodhisattvas as Superior Practice Bodhisattva in the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter and granted to them the five characters of Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō, the gist of the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, declaring:
“Listen carefully! Listen carefully! This dharma should not be spread during the millennium Age of the True Dharma nor the millennium Age of the Semblance Dharma. In the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration, priests slandering the True Dharma will fill the world (Jambudvīpa) evoking the anger of various heavenly beings, causing a comet to appear in the sky, and unleashing a violent earthquake that will shake the great earth like a great wave of the ocean. What is more, severe droughts, huge conflagrations, deluges, storms, widespread epidemics, famines, and the horrors of war will compete with each other. At such time when all the people in the entire world don armor and carry swords and bows, when various Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and virtuous deities have become powerless, and when people all die and fall like heavy rainfall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering, the rulers will be able to save their countries and the people will be able to free themselves from calamities if they carry the great mandala of five Chinese characters with them and put faith in it. Not only will they experience peace in this life but also will be able to escape the suffering of fire in hell after death.”
Now, although I am not Superior Practice Bodhisattva, I understood beforehand nearly everything about Buddhism in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Believing that it was at the discretion of Superior Practice Bodhisattva, I have devoted myself to spreading the five characters of the Lotus Sūtra during these twenty years or so.
Nii-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Younger Nun, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 147-149
