-928 123 The Sutra of True Requital N the first year of the Koan era teaching life over a period of fifty years. I(), with the cyclical sign tsuchi- Even though all these sutras were noe-tora, on the sixth day of the seventh gradually spread throughout the land of month, the lay nun Sennichi sent a let- India during the first thousand years ter via her husband, Abutsu-bo, from after the Buddha’s passing, they had still Sado Province to a mountain recess not been introduced in China or Japan. called Mount Minobu, in Hakiri Vil- Even though it is said that Buddhism lage, in Kai Province, in the same was first brought to China , years country of Japan. after the demise of the Buddha, the Lo- In the letter she says that, though she tus Sutra had still not been introduced. had been concerned about the faults Some two hundred or more years and impediments that prevent women after Buddhism was brought to China, from gaining enlightenment, since ac- a man known as the Tripitaka Master cording to my teaching the Lotus Sutra Kumarayana lived in a country called puts the attainment of Buddhahood by Kucha, located between India and women first, she relies upon this sutra China. His son, Kumarajiva, journeyed in all matters. from Kucha to India, where he re- One might ask, Who was the Bud- ceived instruction on the Lotus Sutra dha who preached the sutra known as from the Tripitaka Master Shuryasoma. the Lotus? To the west of this land of On entrusting Kumarajiva with the Japan, west again from China, far, far sutra, Shuryasoma said to him, “This west beyond the deserts and the Pamirs, Lotus Sutra has a deep connection with in a land called India, there was a crown a country to the northeast.”1 prince, the son of a great king named With these words in mind, Kumara- Shuddhodana. When the prince reach- jiva set out to carry the sutra to the re- ed the age of nineteen, he cast aside gion east of India, to the land of Chi- his rank, withdrew to Mount Dandaka, na. Thus it was more than two hundred and took up the religious life. At the years after Buddhism had been intro- age of thirty he became a Buddha. His duced to China, during the reign of a body took on a golden color, and his ruler of the Later Ch’in dynasty, that the spirit reflected the three existences. The Lotus Sutra was first brought to that Buddha, who illuminated as though country. in a mirror all that had happened in Buddhism was introduced to Japan the past and would happen in the fu- during the reign of the thirtieth sover- ture, taught all the various sutras of his eign, Emperor Kimmei, on the thir- 928 -929 THE SUTRA OF TRUE REQUITAL teenth day, a day with the cyclical sign tion, we find a passage that says, “In kanoto-tori, of the tenth month in the these more than forty years, I [Shakya- thirteenth year of his reign, a year with muni Buddha] have not yet revealed the cyclical sign mizunoe-saru (), by the truth.” In the first volume of the King Syöngmyöng of the kingdom Lotus Sutra, at the beginning of the of Paekche to the west of Japan. This “Expedient Means” chapter, we read, occurred four hundred years after the “The World-Honored One has long introduction of Buddhism to China, expounded his doctrines and now must and more than fourteen hundred years reveal the truth.” In the fourth volume, after the Buddha’s passing. in the “Treasure Tower” chapter, there Although the Lotus Sutra was among is a passage that clearly states, “The the texts introduced then, Prince Sho- Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law . toku, a son of the thirty-second sov- all that you [Shakyamuni] have ex- ereign, Emperor Yomei, sent an envoy pounded is the truth!” And the seventh to China for a copy of the Lotus and volume contains the splendid passage propagated it throughout Japan. Since that reads, “Their tongues reach to the then, more than seven hundred years Brahma heaven.”2 have passed. In addition to these passages, we Already, over , years have passed should note that the other sutras that since the demise of the Buddha. More- precede or follow the Lotus have been over, the lands of India, China, and compared to the stars, to streams and Japan are separated from each other by rivers, to petty kings, and to small mountain after mountain, river after mountains, and that the Lotus has been river, and sea after sea. Their inhabi- compared to the moon, to the sun, tants, their ways of thinking, and the and to such things as the great ocean, character of their lands all differ from a great mountain, and a great king.3 each other, and their languages and These statements are not my words. customs vary. How, then, can ordinary They are all the golden words of the human beings like ourselves possibly Thus Come One, and they are the understand the true meaning of the words that express the judgment of all Buddhist teachings? the Buddhas in the ten directions. All The only way to do so is to examine of the bodhisattvas and persons of the and compare the words of the various two vehicles, Brahma, Shakra, and the sutras. These sutras all differ from each gods of the sun and moon, which hang other, but the one known as the Lo- in the sky now like bright mirrors, tus is in eight volumes. In addition to watched and heard these statements these, there are the Universal Worthy being made. The words of the deities of Sutra, which urges the propagation of the sun and moon also are recorded in the Lotus, and the Immeasurable Mean- this sutra. All the ancient gods of India, ings Sutra, which serves as an intro- China, and Japan were also present in duction to the Lotus, each consisting the assembly. The gods of Japan, such of one volume. When we open the as the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Lotus Sutra and look into it, it is as Hachiman, and the deities of Kumano though we were seeing our own face and Suzuka,4 are unable to dispute these in a bright mirror, or as though the statements. sun had come out and we were able This sutra is superior to all other to discern the colors of the plants and sutras. It is like the lion king, the trees. monarch of all the creatures that run In reading the Immeasurable Mean- on the ground, and like the eagle, the ings Sutra, which serves as an introduc- king of all the creatures that fly in 929 -930 THE SUTRA OF TRUE REQUITAL the sky. Sutras such as the Devotion enlightenment of women is expounded to Amida Buddha Sutra5 are like pheas- as a model. ants or rabbits. Seized by the eagle, For this reason, the Great Teacher their tears flow; pursued by the lion, Dengyo, the founder of Enryaku-ji fear grips their bowels. And the same temple on Mount Hiei, who was the is true of people like the Nembutsu first to spread the true teachings of the adherents, the Precepts priests, the Zen Lotus Sutra in Japan, commented on priests, and the True Word teachers. this point as follows: “Neither teacher When they come face to face with the nor disciples need undergo countless votary of the Lotus Sutra, their color kalpas of austere practice in order to drains away and their spirits fail. attain Buddhahood. Through the pow- As for what sort of doctrines are er of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful taught in this wonderful Lotus Su- Law they can do so in their present tra, beginning with the “Expedient form.”6 And the Great Teacher T’ien- Means” chapter in the first volume, it t’ai Chih-che of China, who expound- teaches that bodhisattvas, persons of ed the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra the two vehicles, and ordinary people first in that country, stated, “The other are all capable of attaining Buddha- sutras only predict Buddhahood ...for hood. But as of yet no examples exist men, but not for women; . This sutra to prove this assertion. It is like a guest predicts Buddhahood for all.”7 whom we meet for the first time. His Do not these interpretations make appearance is attractive, his heart is clear that, among all the teachings of brave, and on hearing him speak, we the Buddha’s lifetime, the Lotus Sutra have no reason to doubt him. Yet be- is first, and that, among the teachings cause we have never seen him before of the Lotus Sutra, that of women at- and have no proof of the things he says, taining Buddhahood is first? For this we find it difficult to believe him on reason, though the women of Japan the basis of his words alone. But if we may be condemned in all sutras other repeatedly see evidence to support the than the Lotus as incapable of attain- major points he makes at this time, we ing Buddhahood, as long as the Lotus will be able to trust what he says from guarantees their enlightenment, what now on as well. reason have they to be downcast? For all those who wished to believe Now I, Nichiren, was born as a the Lotus Sutra and yet could not do so human being, something difficult to with complete certainty, the fifth vol- achieve, and I have encountered the ume presents what is the heart and Buddha’s teachings, which are but rarely core of the entire sutra, the doctrine of to be met with.