KONICHI BO GOSHO

A tiny needle sinks into the water. Rain falls — it cannot float in the air. These are natural laws. A person who kills a tiny ant falls into hell. Thus, a person who kills a human being falls into hell.

However, a huge rock can float on water if it is placed on a ship. A raging fire can be extinguished by the power of water. Without repentance, even a small sin can make a man fall into hell. On the other hand, with sincere repentance, even great sins can be erased.

(Background : March 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.] 158)

Explanatory note

According to Buddhism, a person who kills any living being falls into hell, even for killing a tiny ant. I know you may think that it is heavy punishment for just killing an ant. However, a tiny needle sinks into the water because its density is greater than that of water. The rule is applicable to the concept of falling into hell.

But is it possible that we, common people, do not kill any living being? Nichiren pointed out in “Ken Hobo Sho” that it is almost impossible even for a priest of Ritsu Sect, which adheres strictly to Buddhist precepts, not to kill any living beings throughout his life.

To repent one’s wrong conduct, he or she must have faith in the teachings of the Buddha Sakyamuni from the bottom of one’s heart. Instead of falling into guilty consciousness because of not keeping the precepts, one should rely on the Buddha’s teachings to be saved.

We should understand the parable which Nichiren revealed. It states that even a huge rock which is too heavy for a man to lift can still float on water, if it is carried aboard a ship.

If each one of us in the Latter Age of the Declining Law chants Odaimoku sincerely to repent wrong conduct, we will be able to experience appreciation of living in this great world.

Rev. Okuno

KAIMOKU SHO

To be filial(ko) means to be high (ko); heaven is high but not at all higher than being filial. To be filial (ko) also means to be deep(ko); the earth is deep but is not any deeper than being filial. Both sages and wise men come from filial families. How much more should students of Buddhism realize the favors they receive and show gratitude for them? Disciples of the Buddha should not fail to feel grateful for the four favors received from parents, people, sovereign (of nation), and Buddhism. Show gratitude to them.

(Background : 1272, 50 years old, at Tsukahara on Sado Island, Showa Teihon p. 544)

Explanatory note

Filial piety is the fundamental moral code. It is of the highest value in society – higher than even the heaven. Its meaning in human life is deeper than anything else – deeper than even unfathomable earth. Those people who are respected as sages and wise men are filial children at home because anyone without filial piety cannot be revered and respected by the people.

Most of us know that we owe our lives not only to our parents but also to many others : all the people in the society in which we live and the ruler of the land to which we were born. So we show our gratitude to them for what we owe by trying to fulfill our duties at home, in the local community, and to our nation.

However, this is not all that is expected of us, followers and disciples of the Buddha. We are all surrounded by the boundless benevolence of the Three Treasures (the Eternal Buddha, His ultimate teaching expounded in the Lotus Sutra, and His messenger, Nichiren Shonin). It is, therefore, important for us to realize it always and show our gratitude for what we owe the Three Treasures by carrying out our duties as Nichiren Buddhists.

Rev. Hori

Jl RI KUYO GOSHO

Water is essential for fish to live. Soil is essential for plants to grow. Food is essential for man to live. To live is most essential for all.

(Background : 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1261)

Explanatory note

Nichiren Daishonin emphasized the importance to respect our life as well as to seek eternal life. He said, “To maintain our life is more valuable than gaining a million pieces of gold.” However, these words will be in vain if we forget to have a prayer for eternal life.

According to Buddhism, one equals all. In other words, one would contain whole things and the whole things would be attributed to one. After all, one and all are identified without hindrance. Nichiren Daishonin goes a step further and finds the absolute unity between self and others in this reality. In other parts of his teaching, he says, “The true life will be found in matters in our society.” Therefore, in our daily lives, it is necessary to make efforts to maintain our physical life as well as to seek eternal life.

The dignity of man’s life is expressed as “Not-killing” in Buddhism. Fear of wars and nuclear weapons can not be erased from our minds. We are in danger all the time as Damocles who, looking up, found a sword suspended above his head by a single hair. At this age, we must listen with attention to the important message of the Buddha “Do not kill.” At the same time, we must always be thankful for the fact that we have life in this world.

It is a common ethic throughout the world to be grateful for living on this earth. Oriental people express their gratitude through veneration, especially of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. It is called “kuyo” and it is the most essential morality of their religious lives.
Thus, we show our gratitude for the teachings of the Buddha and favors of the land, by refraining from any negative act of human dignity.

Rev. Matsuda

KYODAI SHO

To be a woman is to be obedient, and consequently she will have her way.

(Background : April 16, 1275, 53 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon p.932)

TOKI AMA GOZEN GOSHO

An arrow is directed by the power of its bow. The clouds move with the power of wind. The works of man (husband) are seeded by woman (wife).

(Background : March 27, 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon p.1147)

Explanatory note

The above two letters are often quoted at wedding ceremonies addressed to the brides. They are not only beneficial for women but also for everyone. The quotation means not to push one’s desire or plan disregarding others, rather to see reality and to follow the reality, then one’s desire or plan will be materialized.

Nichiren Daishonin is telling us that husband and wife should demonstrate individual ability in their union and that any partnership is the same. It is the wife’s skill that helps the husband to be successful in his work and his faith.

Rev. Kanai

UENO DONO GOHENJI

A wife treasures her husband while he sacrifices his life for her.

(Background : January 3, 1279, 56 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1621)

SENNICHI AMA GOZEN GOHENJI

A husband is like a pillar of a house and his wife its beam. When the pillar falls, the beam collapses. Man is like legs and woman is like body. A bird’s body being the wife and its wings her husband, when the wings fail, the bird cannot fly. Likewise, you must feel that you have lost your own soul after the death of your husband.

(Background : July 2, 1280, 58 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1762)

Explanatory note

Nichiren Daishonin often sent letters to his followers who lost their loved ones. He taught them how to overcome their sadness through faith. These letters were always warm-hearted.

When Sennichi Ama lost her husband, Abutsubo, Nichiren sent her a long letter. The quotation above is a part of the letter which explains the important close relationship between husband and wife.

What is the ideal relationship between husband and wife? What is a good family? These questions have been answered in many ways throughout our history. However, all thinkers agree that the most essential factor is to strengthen the union of husband and wife as well as to fortify their families with respect and trust for each other.

Even though our family system and life style have been changed so much, the fundamental and affectionate relationship within a small circle of intimate associates like a family has not changed. Love and trust between a husband and his wife are the basis for all human relations, because the essence of the family is not only physical closeness but consciousness of joint interaction.

Our lives have become very comfortable through the development of science and technology, and at the same time, we live in an age when we are easily influenced by desire for instant gratification, which could often destroy a wonderful relationship in a family. Therefore, we must have strong will and determination not to fall to temptations around us. But if we do not have thoughts of mutual understanding and a spirit of compassion within our family life, it is difficult to have such a strong will and determination.

By affirming love and affection for each other, we cultivate the spirit of a strong will and determination from within.

Nichiren taught us that a harmonious family with the spirit of strong will and determination will be present when we live truthfully everyday by chanting “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” with faith in the eternal Buddha.

Rev. Matsuda

BO JIKYO Jl

You (Jonin Toki) brought your mother’s ashes to Minobu and placed it at the altar where the Buddha Sakyamuni, our original teacher, is enshrined. Prostrating yourself in front of the altar, holding your hands together in gassho, you paid homage to the Buddha. You have overcome your sorrow at your mother’s death and firmly believed your mother being saved by the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Thus, you were released from your sorrow.

All of your body – your head, hands, legs, and mouth – are all inherited from your parents. This kinship between your parents and you is like the relationship between seed and fruit. Therefore, as your mother is saved, you are also saved by the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

(Background : March 1276, 54 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1151)

Explanatory note

Blinging with them the ashes of their deceased par. ents, many followers from all over Japan came to Nichiren Daishonin on Mt. Minobu. It was because they wished their parents’ memorial services conducted by Nichiren himself, and have the ashes buried in the sacred grounds of Mt.Minobu, where Nichiren made his residence. Tokuro Moritsuna of Sado, for example, buried the ashes of his father, Abutsubo, after a service by Nichiren there.

Nichiren Daishonin’s words presented here were addressed to Jonin Toki. According to this letter, Lord Toki came to Minobu with the ashes of his deceased mother, and held a memorial service, buried the ashes, and went home. He felt so relieved upon completion of the burial that he left his personal belongings including his sutra book behind, prompting Nichiren to make a joke saying, “You are the most forgetful person in Japan.”

Nichiren was greatly moved by Jonin Toki’s devotion to his mother and explained to him that his mother’s attainment of Buddhahood and his own attainment, while still in the flesh, were one and the same.

The late mother of Jonin was a woman of strong faith who had looked up to Nichiren. She often sent him robes which she herself sewed. Nichiren knew well how grieved Jonin was to have lost his mother.

Each of us has to experience the same grief. We realize that our bodies are inherited from our parents. so are our souls. As Nichiren has often pointed out to us, the Lotus Sutra is the teaching of a lotus: when the lotus blooms, its pedestal is already prepared, and a seed is already in the flower. Likewise, when a parent receives salvation in the world of the Lotus Sutra and has attained Buddhahood, the child is also assured of his own attainment of Buddhahood while still in the flesh. The relationship between parents and children is like that of a seed and its fruit or a body and its shadow.
This indicates the oneness of parents and children, and symbolically shows that the salvation of the Lotus Sutra extends not only to one person but to the world as a whole encompassed by the Lotus Sutra, the world of oneness of self and others.

Let us all seek the salvation in the world of the Lotus Sutra, where our original teacher, the Buddha Sakyamuni is. It is attainable through our earnest faith and prayer for the attainment of Buddhahood for our parents and ances-
tors.

Rev. Ikuta

OMONSU DONO NYOBO GOHENJI

Suppose we ask where the Buddha is, and where hell is. Some sutras state that hell is below the earth, while others state that the Pure Land of Buddhas is in the west. But the explicit truth is that both hell and Buddha exist within five feet of our bodies. It probably can be said that hell exists in one’s mind when he despises his father and neglects his mother. As the seed of the lotus brings forth its root and flower, we have the Buddha in our minds.

(Background : January 5, 1281, 58 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p. 1856)

Explanatory note

We, Buddhists, sometimes wonder where the Buddha is and where hell is. When we look back upon the past, we have experienced the various states of joy and anger, happiness and sadness from one moment to another. These various states are divided into ten realms of living beings in Buddhism. They are : the realms of hell, hungry spirit, animal, asura (shura), man, heavenly being, sravaka (shomon), Pratyekabuddha (engaku), Bodhisattva, and
Buddha.

Our minds are sometimes calm, and it appears that we are one step closer to the Pure Land of Buddha, but in the next moment, our minds would change to the realm of asura or hungry spirit. In short, we may think that we live peacefully, but we may be at the gate of the terrible hell.

We will find a light of truth when we overcome our suffering and hardship. Our aspiration to attain Buddhahood and fear of falling into hell will force us to find the true meaning of our life.

In other words, hell does not exist anywhere but in our minds. The mind that is so filled with anger, evil desires, and complaints is the same mind with which we aspire for Buddhahood.

Nichiren Daishonin saw suffering people who were trembling with fear and despair. These people thought there was no hope in this world and wished to escape from that reality. They dreamed of going to the Pure Land of the Amida Buddha, a place which they had never seen before. Looking at this, Nichiren taught them that they had the wrong faith and that they should seek the Buddha’s enlightened world in this real Saha-world. This was his compassionate way to lead us to the true teaching of the Buddha Sakyamuni.

We are easily moved by a religion that claims to remove our misfortune or sufferings and to take us to an imaginative heaven. However, Nichiren teaches us that there is no other place if we are not relieved of our suffer ings in this real world. How can we receive Buddha’s compassion and find true peace and happiness? He says that it is only by polishing our minds.

Rev. Matsuda

SHOKYO TO HOKEKYO TONO NAN-I NO KOTO

Since the Buddha dharma is not understood correctly and is not believed righteously, the worldly law becomes disorderly. The Buddha dharma is like a body while the worldly law is like its shadow. When the body bends, its shadow also bends.

(Background : May 26, 1280, 58 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1752)

DANNOTSU BO GOHENJI

To serve your master (in your work) is to practice the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The sutra says that worldly politics and economy are not against its ultimate reality.

(Background : April 11, 1278, 56 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1493)

Explanatory note

An old Chinese book says that a wise man predicted destruction of his country because its people did not bother to comb their hair, and his prediction became true.

There is a Japanese saying, “Eyes are the windows of one’s mind.” The slightest movement of our eyes shows what we are thinking. Our thoughts are expressed in our attitudes, which become social movements.

Such matters are taught in Buddhism. But people generally think that Buddhism concerns individual’s inner self only. Nichiren Daishonin clarified this matter. Merely holding hands in gassho and reciting the sutra are not the practice of faith in Nichiren Buddhism. But faith must appear in our daily works.

We, Nichiren Buddhists, keep the teaching of “Rissho Ankoku,” that is, to establish the righteousness of the Buddha’s teaching is to secure the nation. We must understand that the social movement is the reflection of the people’s religion. We must remember that Nichiren Daishonin advised Kingo Shijo to stay on his work when Kingo wanted to quit his work for the sake of devotion to his faith. We must keep Nichiren’s advice in our minds and practice our faith in our home and work.

Rev. Kanai

TOKIDONO GOSHO

Nichiren’s followers must strive to attain Buddhahood by shortening sleeping hours and by cutting the time for rest. If not, you will repent forever.

(Background: August 23, 1277, 55 years old, at Minobu, Showa Teihon, p.1373)

Explanatory note