nichiren
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter II:
Nichiren
The Life of Nichiren
1. Birth
Nichiren was born on the coast of Awa
(Awa County, Chiba Prefecture) in
eastern Japan. This fact is not only
geographically significant. It also holds
great significance for the formation of
Nichiren's religion since his religious
attitudes were greatly influenced by his
first hand experience of the difficulties
of life in the eastern provinces.
Japanese Buddhism, freed from Chinese dominance, attained full maturity
in the Kamakura period through the efforts of Honen, Shinran, Dogen and
Nichiren. But in contrast to the first three of these priests whose motives for
leaving the household were aroused by personal events such as the death
of a relative or family ruin, Nichiren's vow to discern the true essence of
Sakyamuni's teachings resulted from his desire to overcome the constant
suffering of the East together with its people. The boy Zennichi-maru who
went up to Kiyosumi Temple for his education at 12 years of age received
ordination at 16, taking the religious name ofRencho.
Rooted in this goal the youthful Rencho set out to further his studies in
Kamakura and later moved on to Kyoto where, based primarily at Mt. Hiei,he traveled from one major temple to another to increase his learning.
Finally he became convinced that the Lotus Sutra was central to the
teachings of Buddhism and, carrying this belief with him, returned to
Kiyosumi Temple in his home of Awa in 1253 at the age of 32.
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It was about this time that he took the name Nichiren and it was here that
the declaration of his newly found faith led to the persecution he had
expected and to the establishment of his own religious organization.
Escaping the wrath of those offended by his proclamation, Nichiren returned
to Kamakura where he erected a hut at Matsuba-ga-yatsu and
commenced his religious activities.
2. Rissho-ankoku-ron (Treatise on the Establishment of
Righteousness and the Pacification of the Nation)
When Nichiren settled in Kamakura and began propagating the Lotus
Sutra, famine and pestilence were already constant occurrences throughout
Japan as were the appearance of large comets and powerful earthquakes,
all of which caused the populous great anxiety. In addition to this, the
Ojoyoshu by Genshin and the Senchaku shu written by Honen had been
disseminated widely over the country bringing it completely under the
influence of Pure Land (Nembutsu) Buddhism. Faced with such a critical
social situation, Nichiren asked himself if it was proper to find solace in the
Pure Land admonition to "disassociate oneself from the defiled world, and
seek rebirth in the Pure Land." It also seemed to Nichiren that the
traditional schools of Buddhism centered within the esthetic influence of the
capital had lost their will to subdue the crises at hand and were simplyresorting to repetitious prayers.
Nichiren took pride in the robust nature of the eastern provinces from
which he carne and particularly esteemed Minamoto Yoritomo who
established the Kamakura military government. This ruggedness of
character, for example, prompted Nichiren to upbraid strongly his disciple
Sanmibo who was studying in Kyoto and was falling under the spell of its
ways.
Possessing such an outlook and being faced with the severity of the existing
social circumstances, Nichiren prayed for the rejuvenation of Buddhism in
the east and the rebirth of society in general. His search for answers to the
social instability of his time and the solutions he found in the sutras are
presented in the Rissho-ankoku-ron.
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It was Nichiren's belief that the crisis in society had to he corrected at the
root of the problem in accordance with the spirit of Buddhism. His first
treatise expressing his views on this matter was the Shugo-kokka-ron
which he wrote in 1259. Then in the following year, 1260, he compiled the
Rissho-ankoku-ron which he sent to the ex-regent Hojo Tokiyori.
The latter work takes the form of a dialogue in which "the Traveler laments,
saying, 'In recent years heavenly disturbances, strange ground tremors,
famines and epidemics have spread rampantly over the earth. Horses and
oxen collapse along the roads and the streets are filled with their bones.
Great numbers of people have already died, and not a single family has
escaped its grief" These were the problems that Nichiren confronted daily
and the crises that he sought to correct by searching through the Buddhist
scriptures for an effective means. As a result of his study, he rejected PureLand Buddhism in favor of the Lotus Sutra and began expounding his
principle for pacifying both the nation and its people. The last passage of
the Rissho-ankoku-ron admonishes the regent to "alter quickly his
attitude towards faith and accept immediately the verity of the True
Vehicle." With this type of earnestly Nichiren urged conversion to faith in
the Lotus.
3. The Devotee of the Lotus Sutra
Nichiren stepped up his efforts to propagate the Lotus Sutra after
presenting his Rissho-ankoku-ron to the Bakufu and gradually increased
the number of his followers. However, not everyone was pleased by the
sight of Nichiren working among the citizens of Kamakura. Finally those
antagonistic to him attacked and burned his hut at Matsuba-ga-yatsu and
schemed to have him exiled to Izu peninsula in 1261.
In the Kyokijikoku sho compiled during his exile at Izu, Nichiren explains
the inevitability of the Lotus Sutra's expanding propagation in Mappo by
reference to five categories. These are doctrine (kyo), talent (ki), time (ji),
nation (koku) and the process of propagation, together known as the "five
principles." This text also establishes Nichiren's position as "the devotee of
the Lotus Sutra."
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The thirteenth chapter of the Lotus entitled "Fortitude" explains the many
trials that will confront those who try to spread the sutra. Nichiren, then,
because he experienced these vary persecutions due to his energetic efforts
to proselytize the teachings of the Lotus, took these as proof of the sutra's
authenticity and pronounced himself to be the "devotee of the Lotus
Sutra."
Whether in India, China or Japan, the Lotus was widely revered as a
Buddhist text. Consequently an understanding of its doctrines was
considered necessary in the education of Heian period aristocracy, and its
passages frequently appeared in the poetry of the time. The late Heian
period also witnessed a large growth in the number of itinerant priests and
laymen who professed faith in the Lotus Sutra. Their grasp of the sutra,
however, was very limited, emphasizing only a small portion of its doctrineand making it into a type of prayer oriented Buddhism that always
anticipated intervention in human affairs by the hand of an invisible god. In
contrast to this, Nichiren understood the Lotus in its entirety and saw it as
"The Predictions of Sakyamuni" or a "Book of Prophesy." Already the
concept of Mappo had penetrated deeply into the consciousness of the
people and Nichiren held that it was in just such an age of confusion and
insecurity that the Lotus Sutra had been meant and that it alone could
bring mankind to salvation. It is in this conviction that the "devotee of the
Lotus Sutra" takes on added significance.
In 1262 Nichiren was pardoned from his exile in Izu, but in 1264 was
attacked when he visited his home in Awa (Komatsubara persecution)
and was sent to Tatsu-no-kuchi for execution on the evening of
September 12, 1271.
by Dr. Hoyo Watanabe Chairman of the Department of Buddhism in
Rissho University. i
(To be continued)
Gassh __/\__ Y k,
Namu Myh Renge Ky.
http://nichirensangha.com
i
From: Watakushi-tachi no Nichiren-shu.
http://nichirensangha.com/http://nichirensangha.com/http://nichirensangha.com/