Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin
On the Occasion of the September Kōsen-rufu Shōdai Ceremony
September 2, 2018
Reception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji
On this occasion of the September Kōsen-rufu Shōdai Ceremony, conducted here today at the Head Temple, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the large number of participants in attendance. The month of September already has begun in “The Year of Action,” and we have four months remaining this year. I imagine that all of you are devoting yourselves every spare moment to your practice, aiming toward the achievement of this year’s shakubuku goals, as well as the realization of the establishment of a membership of 800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021, the 800th Anniversary of the Advent of our Founder, Nichiren Daishonin.
The Daishonin teaches the following in the Gosho, Attaining Enlightenment at the Initial Stage of Faith through the Lotus Sutra (Hokke shoshin jōbutsu-shō):
In the Latter Day of the Law, it is a matter of principle that we should firmly teach the five characters of the honorable title of the Lotus Sutra, whether or not it is suited to the capacities of ignorant common mortals. This is because in the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was called Bodhisattva Never Disparaging (Fukyō), he propagated the Lotus Sutra. Yet, men and women, monks and nuns, didn’t embrace the Lotus Sutra. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was spoken ill of and cursed, or beaten and exiled out of the country. Being targeted for numerous persecutions, he was detested and people held grudges against him. Yet, he remained undaunted. Instead, he strongly taught the Lotus Sutra to the people. This led him to become Shakyamuni Buddha. (Gosho, p. 1315)
At the beginning of this Gosho, the Daishonin teaches: “In the Latter Day of the Law, it is a matter of principle that we should firmly teach the five characters of the honorable title of the Lotus Sutra, whether or not it is suited to the capacities of ignorant common mortals.” In the Latter Day of the Law, there are many “ignorant common mortals,” in other words, those who are not familiar with Buddhism. Therefore, regardless of the people’s capacity—their potential ability to accept the Buddhist teachings—”we should firmly teach” the five characters of the Lotus Sutra. This means that we must strongly teach them the five characters of Myoho-Renge-Kyo and lead them to embrace it.
Accordingly, the Daishonin teaches the following in the Gosho, Selection of the Time (Senji-shō):
If you believe you should teach this Buddhism according to the capacity of the people, this is a heavily biased view. (Gosho, p. 846)
The Daishonin expounds that when we teach the Law to people in the Latter Day of the Law, we must not consider the capacity of the people. Instead, we must strongly teach them and make them listen to Myoho-Renge-Kyo. This is because the people in the Latter Day of the Law are those without the seed of Buddhahood. In this Gosho, the Daishonin then teaches:
This is because in the past, when Shakyamuni Buddha was called Bodhisattva Never Disparaging (Fukyō), he propagated the Lotus Sutra. Yet, men and women, monks and nuns, didn’t embrace the Lotus Sutra. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was spoken ill of and cursed, or beaten and exiled out of the country. Being targeted for numerous persecutions, he was detested and people held grudges against him. Yet, he remained undaunted, and strongly taught the Lotus Sutra to the people. This led him to become Shakyamuni Buddha.
(Gosho, p. 1315)
In the preceding paragraph, the Daishonin states that we should firmly teach the five characters of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho-Renge-Kyo, whether or not it is suited to the capacities of ignorant common mortals. He cites Bodhisattva Never Disparaging as a shining example. The Bodhisattva Never Disparaging (Fukyō; twentieth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states as follows:
At that time, when the four kinds of believers who were overbearingly arrogant, the monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen who had looked with contempt on this monk and given him the name Never Disparaging—when they saw that he had gained great transcendental powers, the power to preach pleasingly and eloquently, the power of great goodness and tranquility, and when they heard his preaching, they all took faith in him and willingly became his followers.
(Hokekyo p.502; The Lotus Sutra, Watson, pp. 267-268)
Bodhisattva Never Disparaging appeared during the Middle Day of the Law after the passing of Buddha Awesome Sound King (Ionnō). He insisted that all living beings possess the Buddha nature, and he bowed in reverence to everyone he encountered, both those nearby and those far away, reciting the following words of praise:
I have profound reverence for you, I would never dare treat you with disparagement or arrogance. Why? Because you are all practicing the bodhisattva way and are certain to attain Buddhahood.
(Hokekyo, p. 500; The Lotus Sutra, Watson, pp. 266-267)
However, the extremely arrogant four kinds of believers: priests, nuns, laymen, and laywomen looked down on Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and held grudges against him.
The ignorant monk—where does he come from, presuming to declare that he does not disparage us and bestowing on us a prediction that we will attain Buddhahood? We have no use for such vain and irresponsible predictions!
(Hokekyo, p. 500; summary)
Repulsively, they disdained Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, and cursed and spoke ill of him. However Bodhisattva Never Disparaging in no way became arrogant but instead, he always praised them and persevered in his practice of bowing, saying the following words:
You are certain to attain Buddhahood!
(Hokekyo, p. 501; The Lotus Sutra, Watson, pp. 267)
The extremely arrogant four kinds of believers persecuted Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, attacking him with staves, sticks, stones, and tiles. Despite all of this, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging retreated to a distant place, and dauntlessly continued his practice of bowing in reverence, loudly saying these words of praise:
I would never dare disparage you, for you are all certain to attain Buddhahood!
(Hokekyo, p. 501; The Lotus Sutra, Watson, pp. 267)
Toward the end of his life, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, who single-mindedly continued his practice of bowing to people in reverence, was finally able to hear the Lotus Sutra, which was expounded by the Buddha Awesome Sound King (Ionnō Buddha) in the air, and embraced the teaching entirely. Thus, he received the benefit of purifying his six senses. Furthermore, he extended his life by two hundred, ten thousand, a hundred million nayuta years, and throughout that period, he widely expounded the Lotus Sutra to the people.
As a result, the extremely arrogant four kinds of believers—who once had persecuted Bodhisattva Never Disparaging by speaking ill of and cursing him, and attacking him with staves and sticks, or stones and tiles—those who had despised and named him “Never Disparaging” all willingly became his followers when they heard him preaching. They also came to take faith in Bodhisattva Never Disparaging after seeing that he had gained the great wondrous power, the power to preach pleasingly and eloquently, and the power of great goodness and tranquility.
The great wondrous power signifies that one exhibits transcendental power. The power to preach pleasingly and eloquently means that one has the power to preach, emancipating oneself from all obstacles. The power of great goodness and tranquility denotes that one can compose one’s mind and observe the truth. In other words, one is serene both physically and mentally, and has reached a peaceful and settled state of mind.
The extremely arrogant people who had persecuted Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, at last had no choice but to follow him. They took faith in him by seeing his powers: the great wondrous power, the power to preach pleasingly and eloquently, and the power of great goodness and tranquility. I think one needs to be convincing when conducting shakubuku. Like Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, if we can obtain the great wondrous power, the power to preach pleasingly and eloquently, and the power of great goodness and tranquility, we can naturally obtain powerful persuasiveness in every aspect of our behavior in the three categories of action: thoughts, words, and deeds. This helps our practice of shakubuku. Unless our thoughts, words, and deeds are trustworthy, shakubuku cannot be achieved.
When we devote ourselves to our practice for oneself and others based on absolute faith in the Dai-Gohonzon, we can change ourselves, due to the boundless benefit of Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Then, our counterparts also will change by seeing us, which will lead us to the achievement of shakubuku.
Today, as we look forward to welcoming the auspicious occasion in 2021, the members of each chapter of all Nichiren Shoshu temples are devoting themselves to do shakubuku, based on unity between the priesthood and laity, in the spirit of itai dōshin. At this time, it is essential that, following the example of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, all of us deepen and cultivate our faith and shakubuku as many people as possible. Let’s diligently persist in our efforts in our practice, aiming toward the achievement of our goal. In the previously cited Gosho, the Daishonin states:
In the Latter Day of the Law, it is a matter of principle that we should firmly teach the five characters of the honorable title of the Lotus Sutra, whether or not it is suited to the capacities of ignorant common mortals.
(Gosho, p. 1315)
Engraving this Gosho passage into our hearts, I sincerely wish that we will further devote ourselves to our practice for oneself and others, based on unity in each chapter. Then, with this effort, we will accomplish this year’s shakubuku goals without fail, as the Dai-Gohonzon looks upon us.