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日蓮大聖人『御書』解説

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2020年 07月 18日

7. Three Disasters and Seven Calamities (Great disaster attacks Japan) 2

                        Japanese edition

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An aerial photograph of the central area of Kamakura City. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the south is Sagami Bay and the east, west, and north. By Wikipedia.


Hachimangu Shrine can be seen at the end of the main street of Wakamiya.

A meeting began in government office which controlled state affairs and financial affairs of the Kamakura Shogunate.

There are Tokiyori Hojo, brothers of Tokisuke and Tokimune, Shigetoki Hojo of the uncle of Tokiyori, and Yasumori Adachi were present. There was a Yin Yang fortune-teller in a farther seat.

Tokiyori was irritated and loitered around.

"This country is ominous. The ominous occurrences in heavens, an earthquake, famine, a contagious disease. What does this mean? Was abandoned by God and Buddha?

While Shigetoki Hojo read the documentary which arrived from the shogunal vassals of each place, he muttered.

“Death for hunger 10,000 people in Kanto. Person 20,000 who fell by a pestilence. Furthermore, two suns appeared, and it seems that a black-and-white rainbow came out.”

The anger of Tokiyori does not have an outlet.

"Nothing could be worse than this. This is the greatest crisis since we Hojo had ruled Japan. Even if the revolt happens in any district, it is not to be wondered at.”

Sigetoki answered indignantly.

“Would be the present conditions that are only to pray.”

“Then, how are the prayer of the Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine in Kyoto and Kamakura?”

“Already gave the order to forbid killing a creature on the equinoctial week of six purification days and two seasons in this January (note) and gave the Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine of the countries an order for a prayer of the epidemic extermination in June.”

“So why be of no effect? Does it not rather amplify a misfortune? The Yin Yang fortune-teller, what are you doing now?”

The Yin Yang fortune-teller looks in divination panel (note), and answers.

“I beg a thousand pardons. I can only say a devil enters this country now and ogres grow powerful.”

Tokiyori who heard this swore.

“If a Yin Yang fortune-teller does not have the measures either, I only decide it. Open the storehouse of rice, give beggars it. Gather a medicinal herb of each place. Use merchants. Force all Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines of the whole country continue a prayer.”


Audience flocked to Rengeji of Kamakura. It is a large temple of the Nenbutsu sect of Buddhism.

The people thought that they could not but cling to Nembutsu for getting over the world of sufferings, and visited this temple.

Inthe audience, there is Nichiren, clad in a grey robe and kesa.

Priest of the black robe, Nen'a began sermon before long.

Nen'a calls the official name Ryochu Nen'a. He was born in the Iwami Province (present Shimane Prefecture). He became a priest at 16 years old. He learned the Kusha and Tendai follows Enshin and Shinren and trained himself in esoteric Buddhism following Mitsuzo and Gencho. He went to Chikugo Province to hear Buddhism of Ben'a Shoko and become the disciple afterwards. He open Rengeji (subsequent Komyo-ji Temple) in Kamakura and grant religious precept by a request from Tsunetoki Hojo in 1240. He is a Nembutsu priest to represent Kamakura.

Nen'a begins to talk calmly.

“This world is filled with sufferings. We cannot but chant it Nam-Amidabutsu to escape from these sufferings. Abandon other teachings. Teachings which match us, mediocre people, are only Nam-Amidabutsu. An ideal in other teachings is too high. We neither understand the Lotus Sutra nor the Kegon Sutra. If we threw away these and chanted only Nam-Amidabutsu, we could be beatified.”

Nichiren spoke here.

Splendid. Really splendid."

Nen'a smiled and nodded. Nichiren caught the smile.

“It is bold that attaining Buddhahood are no other than Nam-Amidabutsu, and abandon the sutra such as the Lotus Sutra, is not it? Where and who preached that teaching?”

“Young person, it is a good question. It is Amitabha Sutra.”

Nichiren crossed his arm and interested.

“It’s mysterious. Amitabha sutra is called temporary Mahayana sutra among the sermon of Buddha and is around one step of low teachings than true Mahayana sutra such as the Lotus Sutra or the Nirvana Sutra. If this so, are you not despising the initiator Shakyamuni Buddha of the Buddhism by throwing all other sutras away and saying that attaining Buddhahood is only chant Nam-Amidabutsu? In the first place, is the Amitabha sutra preaching us to throw all other sutras away?”

Nen'a got angry for an instant.

“No, it is wrong. Holy priest Honen said it. We only obey it.”

“It is a pity. Though priest Honen studied it with much effort in the Enryakuji Temple, he deeply attached to low teachings and he distorted Law of Buddha of Shakyamuni. It is crime to equal to the hell of the incessant sufferings. A person who says it, he is the worst person who ropes people in Hell.”

Nen'a has begun to be excited.

“Who is thou? Answer!"

Nichiren said towards the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Nichiren, and I am a monk living in Matsuba Valley. Come to me anytime if you want to hear the present tale in detail.”

Disciples of the Nembutsu expel Nichiren from the temple in an angry voice resounded through the hall.

Nichiren left magnificently.


While Nichiren spread the Lotus Sutra, he went to the temple of other denominations and fought about the doctrine of Buddhism hard.

It was worth, a large number of people came gradually flocking to the thatched hut of Nichiren of the Matsuba valley.

Nichiren talks to the people who visited the thatched hut powerfully.

“Lord of teachings, Shakyamuni Buddha, said that he had not yet expressed the truth, preached the Lotus Sutra after 40 years of starting sermon. Therefore, Amitabha Sutra, which was preached before the Lotus Sutra is the teachings of the temporary not to include the best Buddhahood preached in the Lotus Sutra. Lotus Sutra is the King of all the Buddhist sutras said to be 80,000 sutras, is ultimate teachings of Buddha. That is why it cannot come true that all people of the Latter-Day of the Law attain Buddhahood if they do not advocate Myoho-renge-kyo which is titled of the Lotus Sutra.

However, the priest Honen says, ‘abandon, close, leave and cast aside the Lotus Sutra and chant Nembutsu'. That is why it is determined certainly to fall into the hell of the incessant sufferings if people chant Nam-Amidabutsu of priest Honen who slanders the Buddha's best teachings.”

Priests of Nembutsu cannot beat Nichiren.

Because Nichiren attacked the wicked doctrine of Nembutsu in a text of a sutra first of all, the person of Nembutsu was not able to resist him.

There were many people who criticized Nembutsu of Honen from the old days. The imperial order was promulgated, too. Mt. Hiei ever oppressed Nembutsu, too, but the teachings of Honen spread without stopping naturally. Nichiren has begun to stop it.

Nichiren talks about the reason as follows.


“Thus, when I was thirty-two, from around the spring of the fifth year of the Kenchō era [1253], I began criticizing the Nembutsu and Zen sects, and later I attacked the Shingon sect."

“At first the Nembutsu followers despise me, saying, ‘Even if clever Nichiren, he can hardly surpass the priest Myo'en, or the priest Ko'in of the administrator, or the chief priest Kenshin. These people at first attacked the priest Honen, but later they all capitulated and became his disciples or followers of his teachings, and Nichiren no doubt will do likewise.’ They sought to disprove my words one after another."

"When persons in past times criticized Honen's teachings, they did not at the same time criticize those of his predecessors Shantao and Taocho, nor did they try to distinguish between provisional sutras and those that are true, as a result the Nembutsu believers only became more self-confident than ever. But now, I, Nichiren, have thrust Shantao and Honen into an interminable hell, and have driven home my criticisms by comparing the three Pure Land sutras and the Lotus Sutra. It is like comparing the sun and moon with a firefly, or comparing the water of a small stream with the great ocean.

Moreover, I have demonstrated that the Nembutsu is a mere childish doctrine that the Buddha expounded as an expedient for a time only. To desire by such a doctrine to leave from the sufferings of birth and death is like building a ship of stone and hoping to cross the vast sea with it, or like loading a mountain on one's back and attempting to go over a steep slope. When I criticized them in this way, none of the Nembutsu believers had been able to refute me.” On refuting to Ryōkan and Others’



 Myo'en, Ko'in, Kenshin are each the Buddhist priests who submitted to the Nembutsu. Above all, the priest Kenshin was attracted by the Nembutsu while being the head priest of the Tendai Sect and changed a religion.
 People of Nembutsu thought that Nichiren had either been same and cannot win even if he blames Honen of the teacher.
 But the technique of Nichiren is different.

He assumed the Lotus Sutra highest sutra and concluded three sutras of Pure Land that people of Nembutsu clung to to be a fictitious theory.In addition, he declared that priests, including Chinese Shantao who was a teacher of Honen where in the hell of incessant sufferings.
Nichiren continued studying internal and external writings, even after it until. He became a priest at the age of 16 and established the sect in 32 years old. As a matter of course, he has read the writings of Shantao, too. The result of the study of these, Nichiren will gradually clarify in subsequent scenes by more than 500 writings that he left throughout the life, including the 'Rissho Ankokuron'.


Continued to 3


Life of Nichiren. Vol. 1. Contents


note

Six purification days in a month  The two seasons equinoctial week

Words relating to Buddhism. Six purification days mean 8, 14, 15, 23, 29, 30th every month. It had been considered to be a day to spend with the observance of the commandments cleanliness both on six purification days of a month and on the equinoctial week two seasons.

Divination panel

Rikujin-choku-ban in Japanese. A tool of the fortune-teller that a Yin Yan fortune-teller used. The disk which the Big Dipper or traditional Japanese music were written down is put on the square board which words and figures were written down. It is thought that this disk meant the heavens, that the square meant the ground. The Yin Yang fortune-teller of the Kamakura era foretold future by turning of this Rikujin-choku disk constantly.

7. Three Disasters and Seven Calamities (Great disaster attacks Japan) 2_f0301354_20495401.png



by johsei1129 | 2020-07-18 12:14 | LIFE OF NICHIREN | Trackback | Comments(0)


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