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 of Rencho.

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.

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 Righteousness and the Pacification of the Nation)

of

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 simply resorting 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.

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 Pure Land 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."

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 doctrine and 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

From: Watakushi-tachi no Nichiren-shu.