Oko Sermon May 2008
Reverend Shogu Kimura
May 11, 2008
"Happiness in this world" ("Shijo Kingo dono gohenji")
Gosho Passage
Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life and continue chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, no matter what happens. Then you will experience boundless joy from the Law. Strengthen your faith more than ever.
(Gosho, p. 991; MW-1, p. 161)
Introduction
This Gosho was written on the 27th day of the sixth month of the second year of Kenji (1276). It is addressed to Shijo Kingo. Nichiren Daishonin was 55 years of age at the time and living in Minobu. Following his exile to Sado, the Daishonin first returned to Kamakura. Thereafter, he went into seclusion in Minobu. At the time he wrote this Gosho, he had been in Minobu for a full two years. After Nichiren Daishonin took up residence there, he lead his disciples and started a resolute shakubuku campaign.
Shijo Kingo, the recipient of this Gosho, responded to Nichiren Daishonin’s directions upon his master’s return from Sado. He enthusiastically supported his master’s shakubuku efforts. It was under these conditions that the Daishonin wrote this Gosho to Shijo Kingo.
Information on the Recipient
Now, I would like to briefly provide some background information on Shijo Kingo, the recipient of this Gosho. Shijo Kingo was a samurai warrior who served the Ema clan, which was in line with the household of the Shogun in control of the feudal government of Kamakura. In contemporary terms, Shijo Kingo’s position can be likened to an official working for an administrative government authority.
He received numerous letters from Nichiren Daishonin, and through these Goshos we can formulate a profile of his various characteristics. He excelled in swordsmanship and horsemanship, which were extremely important skills for a samurai warrior at the time. Although he was a warrior, he was also experienced as a medical doctor. He was able to prescribe medicines for Nichiren Daishonin and his feudal lord when they fell ill.
Shijo Kingo was frequently cautioned by Nichiren Daishonin to curb his short temper. From this, we can surmise that he was impulsive and short-fused. We can also say, however, that he was openhearted and had a strong sense of justice. This is apparent from the fact that, at the time of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, Shijo Kingo held fast to the mouthpiece of the bridle of Nichiren Daishonin’s horse, as his master was being taken to the execution site. He proclaimed that he was ready to die together with the Daishonin. Years later, Nichiren Daishonin wrote that he was eternally grateful for Shijo Kingo’s expression of sincerity on that occasion.
Shijo Kingo’s wife also wrote frequent letters to Nichiren Daishonin. She received responses from the Daishonin and was always encouraged by him. As husband and wife, they exerted a great deal of effort in their faith and practice. Moreover, Shijo Kingo had at least four siblings. He must have sought guidance from Nichiren Daishonin about the indecisiveness of his siblings concerning their faith. This is apparent from Nichiren Daishonin’s directions on this issue.
Both publicly and privately, Shijo Kingo sought guidance on numerous occasions from Nichiren Daishonin, his true master. He received encouragement and overcame the various difficulties he encountered in his life. As a practitioner of Buddhism, Kingo showed actual proof both in his personal life and as a member in society.
Background of the Gosho
As I stated previously, upon Nichiren Daishonin’s return from his exile to Sado, he took up residence in Minobu and focused on training his disciples. He guided his disciple priests and lay believers and initiated a vigorous shakubuku campaign in various areas. One such area was Kamkura, where Shijo Kingo resided. Shortly after Nichiren Daishonin took up residence in Minobu, in the ninth month of the 11th year of Bun’ei (1274), Kingo began his efforts to shakubuku his sovereign master, Lord Ema.
The members of the Ema clan traditionally were strong Nembutsu adherents. Lord Ema Mitsutoki was a devotee of Ryokan of Gokurakuji Temple, a priest who held tremendous influence among those in political power in Kamakura at the time. Accordingly, Shijo Kingo’s efforts to shakubuku his lord naturally functioned to arouse a great deal of opposition.
Gradually, Ema Mitsutoki shunned and alienated Shijo Kingo and treated him coldly. As a result, the samurai warriors who served the Ema clan and who were Shijo Kingo’s peers, began to look upon him as an enemy and persecuted him. Thus, Kingo suffered extremely severe consequences when he tried to shakubuku his lord.
The following passage in another Gosho, dated the sixth day of the third month of the 12th year of Bun’ei (1275) and addressed to Shijo Kingo, recaps Kingo’s words to Nissho, who was one of the six senior disciples and a central figure in the Kamakura area at the time:
I have been practicing this sutra correctly since last year, when you told me that those who embrace this sutra will enjoy peace and security in this life and good circumstances in the next. But instead I have been deluged by hardships.
(Gosho, p. 775; MW-1, p. 127)
It is apparent from this passage that Kingo was experiencing great difficulties that were severe enough to cause his usually tough spirit to falter.
The passage on which we are focused today is from another letter from Nichiren Daishonin to Shijo Kingo, who was undergoing such difficult circumstances.
Issues of Faith
As the previous Gosho excerpt shows, Shijo Kingo wonders why great hardships have actually befallen him, like torrential downpours of rain, as a result of his efforts to shakubuku his lord. Kingo had been constantly taught that he could receive benefits that would enable him to enjoy peace and security in this life and good circumstances in the next. Nichiren Daishonin detected the confusion in Shijo Kingo’s heart, as he encountered those difficulties. In the passage on which we are focused this month, the Daishonin explains the attitude in faith that Shijo Kingo must uphold when he encounters difficult situations. The confusion Shijo Kingo felt in his heart is the same sentiment that passes through our minds today when we encounter various difficult circumstances. Accordingly, it is essential to understand that Nichiren Daishonin is also giving these instructions to each one of us today.
Let us first consider the issue of why we encounter difficult circumstances when we are assiduously doing shakubuku and upholding our practice.
The following passage from the Gosho addresses this issue:
In order to expiate your past slanders, you are opposed by your parents who hold heretical views and must live in the age of a sovereign who persecutes the votary of the Lotus Sutra. … Each of you has continued your faith in the Lotus Sutra and can therefore rid yourselves of your heavy sins from the past.
(Gosho, p. 981; MW-1, p. 138)
The fundamental cause of the various hardships that we experience as individuals born in the Latter Day of the Law is none other than the karmic sins of the slander that we amassed from our previous lifetimes. However, even the heaviest karma that ordinarily would cause us to writhe in constant suffering can be minimized and expiated. When we embrace the Gohonzon, uphold faith, and do shakubuku, we will receive great benefits that will enable us to promptly minimize the effects of the offenses that we committed. Those effects will be much lighter than what would be appropriate for the gravity of our negative causes; furthermore, we can expiate those offenses. In other words, the difficulties that we encounter when we do shakubuku actually represent an essential process that enables us to establish absolute happiness for ourselves.
No one is able to escape the Buddhist Law of cause and effect. We, ourselves, accumulated the causes of the difficulties that we face in this lifetime. Nichiren Daishonin states the following in the segment that precedes our passage for this month:
Never let life’s hardships disturb you. After all, no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.
(Gosho, p. 991; MW-1, p. 161)
The Daishonin explains that not even saints or sages are able to escape the hardships of life. The karmic effects of the causes and effects from the Three Existences cannot be resolved by worldly efforts or knowledge. The Daishonin cautions us not to be distracted as we proceed in our practice. We must realize that the difficulties caused by the Three Obstacles and Four Devils (sansho shima) that we encounter in the course of our faith actually provide us with the very opportunities to expiate the negative karma from our past slanders, through the powers of the Buddha and the Law of the Gohonzon.
High Priest Nichinyo Shonin presented us with the following guidance:
When obstacles and devils appear before you one after another, you must look upon them as ideal opportunities to strengthen your faith. Be convinced that you will receive great benefits for embracing the Mystic Law (Myoho). Furthermore, it is essential for you to resolutely challenge those obstacles and devils and defeat them.
(Dai-Nichiren, 2007-2, p. 49)
Conclusion
Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life and continue chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, no matter what happens. Then you will experience boundless joy from the Law. Strengthen your faith more than ever.
(Gosho, p. 991; MW-1, p. 161)
The phrase, “Suffer what there is to suffer,” means that we must understand that the hardships that we encounter in the course of our faith are not mere hardships. They are proof that we are expiating our karmic sins. “Enjoy what there is to enjoy” means that we must be convinced that the benefits of the Mystic Law (Myoho) enable us to change poison into medicine (hen doku i yaku). We must proceed in our practice and greatly improve our life condition.
Our High Priest Nichinyo Shonin stated:
Based on your practice of the Mystic Law (Myoho), you will be able to produce tremendous energy for action from within yourselves in your daily lives. Moreover, you can develop superior wisdom that will enable you to withstand any hardship or suffering, and you can cultivate a life condition of tremendous composure that will enable you to remain uninfluenced in the face of any adversity.
(Dai-Nichiren, 2007-3, p. 51)
Thus, our High Priest explains that the benefits of chanting Daimoku and doing shakubuku will enable us to open and improve our life condition. He teaches that it is precisely when we encounter difficulties that we must embrace the duality of suffering and joy and move forward in our faith and practice for ourselves and for others. We should be convinced that this, indeed, characterizes the life condition of absolute happiness—the joy of being enlightened to the absolute truth of the Law (jiju horaku). We must then proceed to overcome all difficulties.
As priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, we are currently engaged in a great shakubuku campaign, as we advance toward our grand celebration in 2009. It is a matter of course that we will encounter the Three Obstacles and Four Devils as we proceed. We must etch the words of this Gosho passage into our hearts and move forward with the conviction that this is the ideal opportunity to exert our efforts to establish a life condition of absolute happiness for ourselves and for others. With this in mind, let us all advance together with great devotion, to successfully achieve our objectives for next year.