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New Year's Gosho
I have received a hundred mushimochi
cakes and a basket of fruit. New Year's Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year and the start
of spring. A person who celebrates this day will gain virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually,
moving from west to east, and the sun shines more brightly traveling from east to west.
First of all, as to the question of
where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha
is in the west. However, closer examination reveals that both exist in our five-foot body. The reason I think so is that hell
is in the heart of a man who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother, just like the lotus seed, which contains
both flower and fruit at the same time. In the same way, the Buddha dwells inside our hearts. For example, flint can produce
fire and gems possess value in themselves. We common mortals can see neither our own eyebrows, which are so close, nor heaven
in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts. You may question how is it that the Buddha
can reside within us when our bodies, originating from our parents' sperm and blood, are the source of the three poisons and
the seat of the carnal desires. But repeated consideration shows the validity of my claim. The pure lotus flower blooms out
of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees, the beautiful
Yang Kuei-fei was born of a maidservant, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them. Misfortune comes
from one's mouth and ruins him, but fortune comes from one's mind and makes him worthy of respect.
The sincerity of making offerings
to the Lotus Sutra at the beginning of the New Year is like flowers blooming from trees, a lotus unfolding in a pond, sandalwood
blossoming on the Snow mountains, or the moon beginning to rise. Japan, in becoming an enemy of the Lotus Sutra has now invited
misfortune from a thousand miles afar, whereas those who believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand
miles afar. The shadow is cast by the body, and just as the shadow follows the body, misfortune will befall the country whose
people are hostile to the Lotus Sutra. The believers in the Lotus Sutra, on the other hand are like the sandalwood endowed
with fragrance. I will write you again.
Nichiren
The fifth day of the first month.
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