Letter to Niike
Oko Sermon April 2004
Reverend Shogu Kimura
Everyone appears to believe sincerely when he first embraces the Lotus Sutra, but as time passes, he tends to become less devout; he no longer reveres nor serves the priest and arrogantly forms distorted views. This is most frightening. Be diligent in developing your faith until the last moment of your life. Otherwise you will have regrets. For example, the journey from Kamakura to Kyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop on the twelfth, how can you admire the moon over the capital? No matter what, be close to the priest who knows the heart of the Lotus Sutra, keep learning from him the truth of Buddhism and continue your journey of faith. (Gosho, p. 1457)
Good morning everyone. Today, on this occasion of the April sermon expressing our gratitude to Nichiren Daishonin, we have recited the sutras and chanted Daimoku together, in sincere appreciation to him. I am certain that the Daishonin would be pleased, indeed, to see so many of you in attendance here.
The Gosho passage that we just read is from the “Letter to Niike” (Niike gosho). The Daishonin wrote it in the third year of Koan (1280), when he was fifty-nine years of age, in Minobu, and he addressed it to Niike Saemon-no-jo. Niike lived in what is now Fukuroi City in Shizuoka Prefecture, approximately two hours by car from the Head Temple. He was converted to True Buddhism by Nikko Shonin, and he embraced the Law and became a believer together with his wife Niike-ama.
In this Gosho, the Daishonin primarily explained the correct attitude of faith in Nichiren Shoshu. He stated that it was our supreme good fortune to have been able to encounter True Buddhism in our present lifetime. He further stated that, regardless of how sincerely we believed in and embraced the Lotus Sutra, we would fall into the evil paths if we turned our backs on the essential spirit of the Law. In addition, in the passage that we read today, the Daishonin expounded the significance of never possessing an arrogant attitude and of upholding sincere faith and practice throughout our entire lives, from the time we embrace True Buddhism until we take our last breath.
In the first part of this Gosho passage, he explained that people appear to believe sincerely when they first embrace True Buddhism, since they assiduously perform their practice. However, as they get accustomed to the practice and time passes, they tend to lose sight of their duty to repay their debt of gratitude to the Daishonin, they tend to neglect to present sincere offerings, and they may grow increasingly arrogant and harbor evil thoughts.
Needless to say, no such persons are present here among us today. However, there is no guarantee that such arrogance would never appear in our hearts.
In fact, the Sokagakkai currently engages in frequent slanderous attacks against our High Priest, rejecting the lifeblood heritage of the Law that was transmitted to him. As we are constantly reminded, we must never talk irreverently about the ultimate transmission of the Law.
In the “Document for Entrusting the Law which Nichiren Propagated throughout His Life” (Ichigo guho sho), the Daishonin wrote:
I, Nichiren, transfer the entirety of the lifeblood of the Law to Nikko.
Since the Daishonin revealed this, the lifeblood Law has been correctly transmitted, without any discrepancies, from Nikko Shonin to Nichimoku Shonin, from Nichimoku Shonin to Nichido Shonin and to the successive High Priests, all the way to our current Sixty-seventh High Priest Nikken Shonin. There are people who claim that the Treasure of the Priesthood was limited to Nikko Shonin and that there were strange High Priests in the seven-hundred-year history. Such people go to all lengths to try to legitimize their own positions and distort the true doctrines. They are committing terrible slander.
In the Gosho, “The Revelation of the Essential Significance of the Lifetime Teachings of Shakyamuni” (Ichidai shokyo tai’i), the Daishonin wrote:
Without the transmission, we would not have encountered this teaching. (Shimpen gosho, p. 98)
Thus, this explained that we can correctly embrace the true teachings of the Daishonin only through the transmission of the Law.
In addition to the Sokagakkai, there have been several groups that asserted the legitimacy of erroneous doctrines; that ultimately rejected the lifeblood transmission of the Law; and that, as a result, distanced themselves from the Dai-Gohonzon. In short, the fundamental cause of the numerous slanders against True Buddhism was none other than arrogance. It is pitiful, indeed, to see how these people slandered the Law when they had been embracing the True Buddhism of Nichiren Shoshu.
We certainly do not engage in the slanderous activity against True Buddhism in any way, as the Sokagakkai has done. Yet there are problems that are difficult to resolve even as we uphold true faith. In order to attain true enlightenment, we must first purge our minds of erroneous thoughts. Moreover, we must sincerely embrace the true Mystic Law of Myoho-renge-kyo.
Erroneous thoughts represent assertions that ignore the true will of the Daishonin. They characterize occasions when people face the Gohonzon and chant empty, insincere Daimoku. They also refer to times when people purport to uphold True Buddhism but are confused between truth and heresy and participate in the events and ceremonies of heretical religions.
Myoho-renge-kyo, the True Law, signifies the Daimoku of the Essential Teaching that we chant, as we face the Dai-Gohonzon of the Essential Teaching, the entity of the Daishonin.
There are two essential requirements. First, we must never form an attachment to an erroneous doctrine, as a result of trying to gain an understanding of Myoho-renge-kyo based on logic. Secondly, we must uphold a correct practice; come to worship at the temple; and sincerely listen to the teachings and the sermons, based on the directions of our High Priest.
If we grow attached to an erroneous teaching, we will develop an arrogant spirit without fail. Since we are humans, our brain capacity has limitations. No matter how much we try to understand Myoho-renge-kyo from a logical standpoint, it is ultimately impossible for us to do so. Under these conditions, if we try to force such understanding on our brains, we run the risk of gradually developing an erroneous understanding in our minds, that would ultimately cause us to entertain the illusion that we know and understand everything. This, in turn, would cause us to gradually cease chanting Daimoku.
Understanding is not essential in our practice. It is of foremost importance to chant the Daimoku of the Mystic Law.
Even if we practice assiduously, any one of us can develop arrogance. In the Gosho, “The Reveleation of the Essential Significance of the Lifetime Teachings of Shakyamuni” (Ichidai shokyo tai-i), the Daishonin wrote:
Sentiments can be characterized first as greed, secondly as anger, thirdly as stupidity, and fourthly as arrogance. (Shimpen gosho, p. 87)
In other words, the Daishonin explained that arrogance can occur as a fourth element, following the three poisons of greed, anger, and stupidity. Vasubandhu wrote “A Treasury of Analyses of the Law” (Japanese: Abidatsuma kusha ron; Sanskrit: Abidharma kosha-shastra), in which he presented a detailed description of the seven types of arrogance (shichi man). Let me briefly explain these seven types of arrogance.
The first form is “arrogance” (man). This represents an attitude in which a person who is inferior to others asserts the notion that he is superior to them.
The second form is “supercilious arrogance” (ka man). This characterizes a person who believes that he is superior to those who are actually his equals and peers.
The third type is “exceeding supercilious arrogance” (man ka man). A person who possesses this form of arrogance strongly believes that he is far superior to those who, in actuality, are superior to him.
The fourth form is “self-centered arrogance” (ga man). This denotes a person who is single-mindedly obsessed with his own thoughts, beliefs, fame, and honor. An individual who possesses this kind of arrogance would entertain the notion that he is physically and mentally perfect and that he is immortal and indestructible; he would further believe that he was able to achieve his stature and his present life all by himself, without anyone’s help.
The fifth type is “pretentious arrogance” (zo jo man). This refers to a person who believes that he has achieved something when, in fact, he is far from having done so. Such a person holds the notion that he is superior to the Buddha. This characterizes an individual who would rather die than to say, “I don’t know,” in response to a question he cannot answer; he would lie rather than admit his lack of knowledge.
The sixth form is “immodest arrogance” (hi man). An individual who possesses this type of arrogance believes that he is only slightly inferior to those who are actually significantly superior to him.
The seventh type is “pompous arrogance” (ja man). This represents a person who has no virtues but sincerely believes that he actually possesses such virtues.
I have outlined the seven types of arrogance (shichi man). Of these, the fourth type, “self-centered arrogance” (ga man), would present the most significant impediment in our Buddhist practice. Modernly, the word signifying “self-centered arrogance” (ga man) actually means “forbearance or endurance.” The meaning of this term is different in the traditional Buddhist context. While in modern Japanese, the word represents “strong perseverance” or “solid determination,” in Buddhist doctrine, it refers to an arrogance that causes one to lose his humility towards Buddhism in corresponding degrees with the intensity of that person’s arrogance. Ultimately, one who possesses this form of arrogance would lose the trust and respect of everyone.
We tend to think that we certainly do not possess such arrogance, but the Daishonin explained that such arrogance is contained in the hearts of all people.
In ancient times, during the lifetime of Shakyamuni, there were arrogant people. The story of the five-thousand arrogant men appears in the Hoben (“Means”) chapter that we recite during our daily morning and evening gongyo. When Shakyamuni was about to begin his instruction on the essential doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, there were five-thousand bhikshu monks who were overtaken by their arrogance. They bowed and took their departure. At that time, Shakyamuni stated, “Those who want to leave may go.” He did not try at all to retain them.
The most precious and profound Buddhist sermons turn into utterly meaningless garble for those who are arrogant. Even those of us who uphold faith in Nichiren Shoshu will experience a surge of arrogance (man) without fail, if we forsake our faith (shin) and form an obsessive attachment to our ego (ga).
The Daishonin wrote the following in his Gosho, “On Embracing the Lotus Sutra” (Ji myo hokke mondo sho):
Now, if you wish to attain Buddhahood, you have only to lower the banners of your arrogance, cast aside the staff of your anger, and devote yourself exclusively to the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra. Worldly fame and profit are mere baubles of your present existence, and arrogance and prejudice are ties that will fetter you in a future one. (Shimpen, p. 296; MWND-V, p. 25)
Thus, the Daishonin explained that arrogance and self-centered arrogance can only be overcome through his teachings.
If we were on the verge of forsaking our faith or if we were to encounter a tremendous obstacle before us, would we be able to prevent ourselves from clinging to our egos and would we enable ourselves to overcome such difficulties by chanting sincere Daimoku? When we run up against a solid wall in our lives, it is most important to, first and foremost, sit before the Gohonzon and chant Daimoku honestly, sincerely, and with an open mind. The Daishonin instructed that, if we live our entire lives without chanting such Daimoku, then we would certainly regret it at the end.
There is a parable at the end of the Gosho passage that we read today. The Daishonin explained that it takes twelve days to travel from Kamakura to Kyoto. If a person stops on the eleventh day, however, he would be unable to view the exquisite moon from the capital. In the same way, we must continue our practice according to the directions of the priest who expounds True Buddhism – that is, the High Priest – and never slacken or give up midway. We must continuously uphold our strong faith and practice.
In order to continue to uphold strong faith and practice, first and foremost, we must never miss our daily Gongyo and we must chant Daimoku. These are the most essential practices that will enable us to achieve a life condition of happiness.
Furthermore, as true disciples of the Daishonin and as Hokkeko believers, we must chant Daimoku characterized by the unity of different bodies but one mind, we must assiduously perform shakubuku, and we must advance forth everyday without ever being arrogant, based on the directions of our High Priest.
Finally, I would like to conclude my sermon for today by sincerely praying for your continued good health and for all of you to redouble your faith.
Thank you very much.