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Letter to Gijo-bo
I have carefully reviewed your question
about the Buddhist doctrines. The blessing of the Lotus Sutra can only be understood between Buddhas. It is the kind of enlightenment
that even the wisdom of Shakyamuni Buddha’s emanations throughout the ten directions can barely fathom, if at all. This
is why, as you well know, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai construed the character myo [of Myoho-renge-kyo] to mean
that which is beyond ordinary comprehension. The Lotus Sutra proclaims a great diversity of practices, but only T’ien-t’ai,
Miao-lo and Dengyo were able to understand the heart of the sutra. Among these men, the Great Teacher Dengyo was the reincarnation
of T’ien-t’ai [and therefore well versed in the T’ien-t’ai doctrine]. Nevertheless, he sent envoys
to T’ang China on many occasions in an effort to resolve the common doubts of others concerning the sutra. The essence
of the sutra is the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, one hundred worlds and one thousand factors, and the three thousand
realms in a single moment of life. This is a doctrine of great importance which was revealed in the work entitled Maka shikan.
The teaching of the Juryo chapter
bears special significance for me, Nichiren. T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo understood it in a general way but did not
reveal it in words, and the same was true of Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu. The Jigage section of the chapter states, ‘...single-mindedly
desiring to see the Buddha, not hesitating even if it costs them their lives...’ I, Nichiren, have called forth Buddhahood
from within my life by living this sentence. This means that I myself embodied the Three Great Secret Laws, or the reality
of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life, implied in the Juryo chapter. But let us keep this to ourselves!
Dengyo, the Great Teacher of Mount
Hiei, journeyed to China to receive instruction in the profound meaning of this sentence from the sutra. ‘Single’
of ‘single-mindedly’ means the one pure way, and ‘mind’ indicates all phenomena and existences. The
Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai explained the Chinese character for ‘mind’ by saying that it consists of
four brush strokes representing the moon and three stars and implies that the mind that resides in the effect [of Buddhahood]
is pure and clean. My interpretation of the passage is that ‘single’ stands for myo (mystic), ‘mind’
for ho (law), ‘desiring’ for ren (lotus), ‘see’ for ge (flower), and ‘Buddha’ for kyo
(sutra). In propagating these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, one should ‘not hesitate even if it costs them their
lives.’
‘Single-mindedly desiring to
see the Buddha’ also means to see the Buddha in one’s own mind, to concentrate one’s mind on seeing the
Buddha, and that to see one’s own mind is to see the Buddha. I have attained the fruit of Buddhahood, the eternally
inherent three bodies, [by living this sentence]. In achieving this I am sure I surpass T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo,
Nagarjuna and Mahakashyapa. The Buddha admonishes that one should by all means become the master of one’s mind rather
than let one’s mind master oneself. This is why I have emphatically urged you not to hesitate to give up your body and
your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nichiren
The twenty-eighth day of the fifth
month in the tenth year of Bun’ei (1273)
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