Major Writings - Nichiren Daishounin

The Proof of the Lotus Sutra
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The True Entity of Life
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The Votary of the Lotus Sutra Will Meet Persecution
Thus I Heard
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Letter to Misawa
An Outline of the Zokurui and Other Chapters
Consecrating an Image of Shakyamuni Buddha Made by Shijo Kingo
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Letter to Ko-no-ama Gozen
Winter Always Turns to Spring
On Filial and Unfilial Conduct
A Father Takes Faith
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The Mongol Envoys
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Beneficial Medicine for All Ills
A Sage Perceives the Three Existences of Life
The Proof of the Lotus Sutra
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Aspiration for the Buddha Land
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The Universal Salty Taste
Good Fortune in This Life
The Wealthy Man Sudatta
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New Year's Gosho
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Easy Delivery of a Fortune Child
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Banishment to Sado
Great Evil and Great Good
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Letter to Priest Nichiro in Prison
On Flowers and Seeds
On Itai Doshin
Postscript to the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Reply to a Believer
Reply to Ko Nyudo
Reply to Lady Onichi-nyo
Reply to Lord Matsuno
Rissho Ankoku Ron
The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith
The Offering of a Summer Robe
The Property of Rice
The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles
Unseen Virtue and Visible Reward
Upholding Faith in the Gohonzon
The Drum at the Gate of Thunder

The Proof of the Lotus Sutra


Nichiren, the votary of the Lotus Sutra

 


A person who, in the evil world of the latter age, believes in the teachings of the Lotus Sutra just as they are set forth in the sutra-how does the mirror of the Lotus Sutra portray him? Shakyamuni Buddha has left us words from his golden mouth revealing that such a person has already made offerings to a hundred thousand million Buddhas in his past existences. But ordinary persons in the latter age might well doubt the words spoken by one Buddha only. With this thought in mind, Taho Buddha expressly came all the way from his world of Treasure Purity, many lands to the east. Facing Shakyamuni Buddha, he gave his words of testimony to the Lotus Sutra, saying, "All that you have expounded is the truth." If this is so, then there can be no room for doubt about the matter. Nevertheless, Shakyamuni Buddha may have felt that ordinary persons in the latter age would still be skeptical. Hence he summoned all the Buddhas throughout the ten directions to come and join him in the magnificent act of extending their long broad tongues, which had told nothing but the truth for countless kalpas, until they projected into the sky as high as Mount Sumeru.

 

Since this is the case, when an ordinary person in the latter age believes in even one or two words of the Lotus Sutra, he is embracing the teaching to which all the Buddhas in the ten directions have given credence. I wonder what good karma we created in the past to have been born as such persons, and I am filled with joy. Shakyamuni’s words which I have mentioned above indicate that the blessings that come from having made offerings to a hundred thousand million Buddhas are so great that, even though one may have believed in teachings other than the Lotus Sutra and as a result of this slander been born poor and lowly, one is still able to believe in this sutra during this lifetime.

 

T’ien-t’ai states, "It is like the case of a person who falls to the ground, but who then pushes himself up from the ground and rises to his feet again."   Those who slander the Lotus Sutra will fall to the ground of the three evil paths or of the human and heavenly realms, yet through the help of the Lotus Sutra they will in the end attain Buddhahood.

 

Now since you, Ueno Shichiro Jiro, are an ordinary person in the latter age and you were born into a warrior family, you should by rights be called an evil man, and yet your heart is that of a good man. I say this for a reason. Everyone, from the ruler on down to the common people, refuses to take faith in my teachings. They inflict harm on the few who do embrace them, heavily taxing or confiscating their estates and fields or even in some cases putting them to death. So it is a difficult thing to believe in my teachings, and yet both your mother and your deceased father dared to accept them. Now you have succeeded your father as his heir and, without any persuasion from others, you too have wholeheartedly embraced these teachings. Many people, both high and low in rank, have advised or threatened you, but you have refused to give up your faith. Now that you appear certain to attain Buddhahood, the devils of heaven and the demons are trying to use this illness to intimidate you. But remember that life in this world is limited. Never allow yourself to be intimidated!

 

"And as for you evil spirits -- will you cause this disciple of mine to suffer and swallow a sword point first, or embrace a raging fire, or become the archenemy of all the Buddhas of the ten directions in the three existences? How terrible this will be for you! Now, will you cure this man’s illness immediately and hereafter give him your protection instead, in this way escaping from the grievous sufferings that are the lot of evil spirits? If you fail to do so, then you will have your heads broken into seven pieces in this life and after your death fall into the hell of incessant suffering! You should absolutely free yourself from this fate; if you ignore my words, you will regret it later.

 

The twenty-eighth day of the second month in the fifth year of Koan (1282)

 

Handed to you by Hoki-bo.

 

  

Home
A Comparison of the Lotus Sutra and Other Sutras
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment
Clear Sake Gosho
Letter to Niike
Letter to Domyo Zemmon
Letter to Akimoto
Letter from Sado
Reply to Nichigon-ama
Roots of Good Fortune
Reply to Jibu-bo
No Safety in the Threefold World - Nichiren Daishounin
Letter to Horen - Nichiren Daishounin
King Rinda - Nichiren Daishounin
Jozo and Jogen - Nichiren Daishounin
Bodhisattva Hachiman - Nichiren Daishounin
On Prayer - Nichiren Daishounin
The Opening of the Eyes Part I
The Opening of the Eyes Part II
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man Part II
Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country
How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood Through the Lotus Sutra
The Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei
The Entity of the Mystic Law
The Pure and Far-reaching Voice
Reply to Takahashi Nyudo
The Teaching, Capacity, Time, and Country
The Doctrine of Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form
Encouragement to a Sick Person
The Essence of the Yakuo Chapter
The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra
The Supreme Leader of the World
The Treasure of a Filial Child
The Supremacy of the Law
Reply to Nii-ama
The Workings of Bonten and Taishaku
The Story of Ohashi no Taro
The Teaching in Accordance with the Buddha's Own Mind
The Treatment of Illness and the Points of Difference between Mahayana and Hinayana and Provisional
Repaying Debts of Gratitude
On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings
On the Urabon
Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
Letter to Nichimyo Shonin
Letter to Shomitsu-bo
Questions and Answers on Embracing the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Sairen-bo
Rationale for Submitting the Rissho Ankoku Ron
Persecution by Sword and Staff
Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins
Recitation of the Hoben and Juryo Chapters
Reply to Lord Hakiri Saburo
Reply to Yasaburo
Letter to Ichinosawa Nyudo
Letter to Myomitsu Shonin
Reply to Hoshina Goro Taro
Wu-lung and I-lung
White Horses and White Swans
The Sutra of True Requital
The Kalpa of Decrease
The Farther the Source, the Longer the Stream
The Third Doctrine
The One-eyed Turtle and the Floating Sandalwood Log
Letter to Nakaoki Nyudo
General Stone Tiger
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Lessening the Karmic Retribution
Letter to the Brothers
Hell is the Land of Tranquil Delight
On Prolonging Life
On the Buddha's Behavior
On the Buddha's Prophecy
On the Treasure Tower
Propagation by the Wise
The Embankments of Faith
The Dragon Gate
Strategy of the Lotus Sutra
Reply to Kyo-o
The Person and the Law
The One Essential Phrase
The Gift of Rice
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
Letter of Petition from Yorimoto
Introduction and Preface to the Ongi Kuden: Namu Myoho Renge Kyo [Devotion to the Lotus Sutra]
Muryogi Sutra [Sutra of Innumerable Meanings]
Chapter 3: Simile and Parable [Hiyu]
Chapter 4: Faith and Understanding [Shinge]
Chapter 6: Prediction [Juki]
Chapter 7: Phantom City [Kejoyu]
Chapter 8: Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples [Gohyaku Deshi Juki]

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