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The Birth of Nichiren Daishonin Nichiren Daishonin was born at noon on the 16th day of the second month in the first year of Jo’o (1222) in the small fishing village of Kominato in Awa Province. This is the present day Amatsu Kominato-cho, Awa-gun, in Chiba Prefecture. The 16th day of the second month of the lunar calendar corresponds to April 6th in the Western solar calendar. It was the middle of spring. His father was Mikuni no Taifu (Nukina Jiro) Shigetada and mother was Umegiku-nyo. There were many omens surrounding the birth of the Daishonin. The Daishonin heard about these omens from his mother Umegiku-nyo, and he told the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin about them. Nikko Shonin then recorded them in the “Transfer Document on the Birth of Nichiren Daishonin” (Ubuyu sojo no koto). The Daishonin’s parents had mysterious dreams when Umegku-nyo was pregnant with him. His mother saw herself seated on Mount Hiei, [where the head temple of the Tendai sect was located.] She was washing her hands in the waters of Lake Biwa. As the sun rose, she cradled the rising sun in her arms. The Daishonin’s father, Mikuni no Taifu had the following dream: Bodhisattva Space Repository (Kokuzo), who represents the wisdom of the universe, appeared before him. On his shoulder, the Bodhisattva carried a handsome boy. He told the husband, “This child is Bodhisattva Jogyo for us. He is also Shozai Makasatta (the Bodhisattva who produces treasures). He was predicted to be a great leader to save all people. I will grant this lovely boy to you.” The “Transfer Document on the Birth of Nichiren Daishonin” (Ubuyu sojo no koto) states: The Daishonin had a dream that he climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji. He clearly saw far and wide. All of the protective deities including Bonten, Taishaku, and the Four Great Heavenly Kings gathered and said: “Let you, the manifestation of the True Buddha of Absolute Freedom and Bodhisattva Jogyo, be born as a common mortal. Now is the time for birth.” And then, the Dragon King Anavatapta came forth with a blue lotus flower. He dug with it until pure water sprung forth to be used for the birth. He let the remaining water spring out in the four directions. The areas all around shined in gold, and all the flowers and trees simultaneously blossomed and bore fruit. Many people offered white lotus flowers and, facing the sun, exclaimed: “Now this Threefold World is all my domain. The living beings in it are all my children. I am the only person who can rescue and protect them.” According to legend, when the Daishonin was born, pure water continuously spouted out from under the sand along the beaches. Several days before the Daishonin’s birth, blue lotus flowers suddenly appeared from the ocean and beautiful flowers bloomed. To prove this legend, this place, which still exists in Kominato, came to be called “Lotus Flower Depths” (“Renge ga fuchi”). Even more mysterious is the fact that Shakyamuni Buddha in India died on the 15th day of the second month and Nichiren Daishonin in Japan was born on the 16th day of the second month. These many mysterious karmic relations and omens indicated that the entire universe praised and sought out the True Buddha’s advent. The year of Nichiren Daishonin’s birth in the first year of Jo’o (1222) was the 2,171st year after Shakyamuni Buddha passed away. 171 years had passed since the Latter Day of the Law had begun. Shakyamuni Buddha predicted in the Sutra of the Great Assembly (Daishik-kyo) as follows: After his passing will be the age of enlightenment, and the next five hundred years, the age of meditation (making one thousand years). The next five hundred years will be the age of reading, reciting and listening, and the next five hundred years, the age of building temples and stupas (making two thousand years). Concerning the next five hundred years after that, he says,“Quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to my teachings, and the Pure Law will become obscured and lost.” (Gosho, p. 836; MW-3, p. 85) This prediction came true. During the era in which the Daishonin was born, tragedies caused by battles and strife happened not only in Japan but all over the world. Encyclopedia Nipponica 2001 describes the events in Europe at that time as follows: In the middle of the eleventh century, a change of balance occurred between Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world, the three major political powers of the Mediterranean area. Up until then, Europe had been blockaded by an encircling net of Islamic power. The Byzantine Empire was not able to withstand the continuing pressure of Islamic expansion; therefore, it requested help from Europe for relief. Receiving this request, the Christian countries in Europe passionately responded with a sense of religious duty. They considered it to be a good opportunity to promote their politics, economy, and military ambitions. They decided to dispatch armed pilgrim forces that would liberate their sacred sites. This anti-Islamic expedition was viewed as a just and righteousness cause. （Encyclopedia Nipponica, Vol. 11, p. 501） The Crusades continued for 200 years, from the end of the eleventh century to the end of the thirteenth century. Now, let’s turn our eyes to Asia. In 1206, Genghis Khan succeeded to the throne of the Mongol Empire. The Encyclopedia Nipponica states: Genghis Khan conquered Hsihsia during the second year of his reign. In 1215, he invaded Pinyin, and entered the capital, Beijing. Elsewhere, the forces of Prince Kutchluk of Naiman, a tribal nation of nomads living on the Mongol Plateau since before the days of the Mongol Empire, were routed. They took refuge in Kara-Kitai and then took control of the area. In 1218, Genghis Khan sent his commanding officer, Jebe to the area. He defeated Prince Kutchluk and annexed Kara-Kitai. Khan then dispatched a trade mission to the Khwarezmid Empire, a West Asian Islamic state that had expanded through conquests. However, the entire group on the mission was slaughtered. Taking advantage of this situation, Genghis Khan went to the front in 1219, and conquered Otrar, Bukhara, and other cities. The armed forces led by Jebe and Subutei pursued the Khwarezmid King, Mohammed, and he died on a small island in the Caspian Sea. Other Mongol armed forces went to the south of Russia, up to the Caucasus’s. In 1221, the main Mongol forces occupied Balfe and fought against the Muslim Prince, Jelal ad-Din, at the banks of the Indus river, and overthrew him. Still other armed forces defeated the joint Russian Forces at the banks of the Khalkha river in 1223 and conquered the Crimea. Then, they joined the main forces. （Encyclopedia Nipponica 2001, Vol. 15, p. 750） The storm of aggression by the Mongolian forces did not stop even after Genghis Khan died in 1227. They conquered the area north of the Yellow River in China, and built a great empire that stretched all the way to the Ukraine from the Crimea and the coast of the Black Sea. Furthermore, they subdued Poland and Hungary in Eastern Europe, and very large areas that reached from Iran to Turkey to the east bank of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1271, the Mongols named their empire Yuan. The Yuan Empire destroyed the South Sung dynasty in 1279, and completed the unification of China. This describes how the world of the thirteenth century was a time of aggression and massacre. The “Age of Conflict” as described in the Buddha’s teachings was proven as a global reality. In Japan, wars, including the Hogen and Heiji revolts, occurred one after another as the Latter Day of the Law was approaching. At that time, the Kamakura Government was established. Japan did not enjoy any peace. The Genji, which had political power, lost its control after three generations. A fight for control over the politics and the economy developed between the nobility, led by the Imperial Court and the Samurai family, led by the Shogunate. Power struggles also continued within the Shogunate. Finally, on the fifteenth day of the fifth month in the third year of Jokyu (1221), the Imperial Court issued a command to capture Hojo Yoshitoki. This is known as the Jokyu Disturbance. It can be said that its occurrence symbolized a change in Japan away from the ancient Imperial Rule to a Samurai government that resembled the feudalism of the Middle Ages in Europe. The Jokyu Disturbance was an unprecedented event in the history of Japan because the samurai defeated the Emperor and they exiled the three living retired Emperors. The confusion caused by this social upheaval demonstrated an aspect of the Latter Day of the Law, the rampancy of the Five Impurities. The Hoben (Expedient Means; second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states that the Buddha makes his advent in the Latter Day of the Law, the Age of the Five Impurities. It can be said that the prediction in the Sutra was correct because the Daishonin was born in such times. The Fortitude (Kanji; thirteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states that when the Lotus Sutra is propagated in the Latter Day of the Law, the Three Powerful Enemies will appear. The Sutra also states that the votary of the Lotus Sutra will undergo persecutions by the Three Powerful Enemies such as being “cursed and vilified,” “attacked with swords and staves, rocks and tiles,” “despised and slandered,” and “banished again and again.” If a person who endured these persecutions had not appeared, the predictions in the Lotus Sutra, the purpose of Shakyamuni Buddha’s advent, would have been false. In the entire history of Buddhism, during the 2000 years after Shakyamuni’s passing, there was no one who read the Lotus Sutra with his entire life other than Nichiren Daishonin. The advent of the Daishonin, who propagated True Buddhism as he endured these persecutions, proved the truth of the teaching of the Lotus Sutra for the first time. He states in “The Opening of the Eyes.” I was born in a remote land far from India, a person of low station and a priest of humble learning. (Gosho, p. 538; MW-2 p. 111) Being born into a fisherman’s family, a low social position at the time, made it possible for the Daishonin to prove that the Lotus Sutra was the true teaching. If the Daishonin had been born into a family of high rank, such as the family of the Emperor or an aristocrat, he would never have encountered the great persecutions that jeopardized his life. Because the Daishonin was born into the family of a fisherman, he could endure the many severe persecutions and was able to prove the predictions in the Lotus Sutra. Being born into a chandala family was a manifestation of the Daishonin’s behavior as the True Buddha. He would save the people in the Latter Day of the Law who did “not yet innately possess good past causes” (hommi uzen) and who were stained by the Three Poisons. The Mystic Powers (Jinriki; twenty-first) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states: Just as the light of the sun and moon illuminates all obscurity, this person will practice among the people and dispel the darkness of all beings. (Shinpen Kaiketsu, p. 516) The Buddha who appears in the Latter Day of the Law possesses the ultimate Law within his life. He is the Buddha who is just like the light of the sun. He dispels the darkness, fosters all beings, and leads the people to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law. “This person” described in the Sutra passage is the Buddha who “practices among the people.” He is Nichiren Daishonin, who was born as a common mortal. As the followers of the Daishonin, let’s exert ourselves to chant Daimoku to the Gohonzon and do shakubuku under the guidance of our High Priest, who has inherited the Heritage of the Law from the Daishonin through the successive High Priests. With the light of the Mystic law, let’s illuminate the hearts of the people around the world, whose minds have been darkened by terrorism, disaster, and epidemics. This is the correct practice for the Hokkeko members during the “Year to Stand Up and Take Resolute Action.” Let’s plant the Buddha seeds in the lives of our friends, and shakubuku as many people as we can for the achievement of “Securing the Peace of the Land Through the Propagation of True Buddhism.” Let’s gather together with great delight at the Grand Celebration in 2009. |