On the Taste of the Same Salt. 同一鹹味御書

On the Taste of the Same Salt.　同一鹹味御書

Original text

■Time of writing: The Daishonin is estimated to have written this work in 1261, when he was forty years old.

■Place: Probably in the residence of Ito Hachiro-zaemon, a landowner in Ito, Izu.

■Background of the writing: This book is thought to have been written for his disciples and lay believers during his exile in Izu, while he was away in Kamakura.

　The Daishonin begins the book by stating, "There are six kinds of tastes, and without the taste of salt, there would be no food for the Great King, and without the taste of salt, the delicacies of the mountains and the sea would be tasteless. He also compared the "eight wonders" of the ocean that produce salt to the faith in the Lotus Sutra.

　At the end of the passage, he writes, " To forbid one who upholds the Lotus Sutra is to forbid Tathagata Shakyamuni.” “ How can a person who has confined the ascetic of the Lotus Sutra not suffer from a bad disease in his present life?”

　In fact, according to Azuma Kagami, Hojo Shigetoki (father of the regent Hojo Nagatoki), the chief retainer of the Shogunate at the time who attempted to exile the Daishonin to Izu, became a "mental derangement" in the washroom 19 days after exile to Izu due to a "strange phenomenon" and recovered temporarily, but the condition returned and he died on November 3 of the same year.

　This is precisely what is described in "Sanzang Prayer for the Rainy Day": "When I, Nichiren, discern the superiority and inferiority of all Buddhist teachings, I conclude that theoretical proof and documentary proof are superior. And even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact."

■Autograph: Not extant.

[The text]

　　　There are six kinds of flavors. The first is subtle, the second, salty, the third, pungent, the fourth, sour, the fifth, sweet, and the sixth, bitter. Even if one were to prepare a feast of a hundred flavors, if the single flavor of salt were missing, it would be no feast for a great king. Without salt, even the delicacies of land and sea are tasteless.

The ocean has eight mysterious qualities. First, it gradually becomes deeper. Second, being deep, its bottom is hard to fathom. Third, its salty taste is the same everywhere. Fourth, its ebb and flow follows certain rules. Fifth, it contains various treasure storehouses. Sixth, creatures of great size exist and dwell in it. Seventh, it refuses to house corpses. Eighth, it takes in all rivers and heavy rainfall without either increasing or decreasing.

“It gradually becomes deeper” compared to the Lotus Sutra leading everyone, from ordinary people who lack understanding to sages who possess it, to attain the Buddha way. The reason the sutra uses the metaphor “being deep, its bottom is hard to fathom” is that the realm of the Lotus Sutra can only be understood and shared between Buddhas, while those at the stage of near-perfect enlightenment or below are unable to master it. “Its salty taste is the same everywhere” compares all rivers, which contain no salt, to all sutras other than the Lotus, which offer no way to attain enlightenment. It compares the water of all the rivers flowing into the sea and becoming salty to the people of different capacities instructed through the various provisional teachings who attain the Buddha way when they take faith in the Lotus Sutra. It compares “its ebb and flow follows certain rules” to upholders of the Mystic Law who even though they were to lose their lives would attain the stage of non-regression. It compares “it contains various treasure storehouses” to the countless practices and good deeds of all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and the merits of the various pāramitās being contained in the Mystic Law. The reason for “creatures of great size exist and dwell in it" is that, because the Buddhas and bodhisattvas possess great wisdom, they are called “creatures of great size,” and that their great bodies, great aspiring minds, great distinguishing features, great evil-conquering force, great preaching, great authority, great transcendental powers, great compassion, and great pity all arise naturally from the Lotus Sutra. The reason for “it refuses to house corpses” is that with the Lotus Sutra one can free oneself for all eternity from slander and incorrigible disbelief. The reason for “without either increasing or decreasing” is that the heart of the Lotus Sutra is the universality of the Buddha nature in all living beings.

The brine in a tub or jar of pickled vines ebbs and flows in accordance with the brine of the sea. One who upholds the Lotus Sutra and is subjected to imprisonment is like the salt in a tub or jar, while the Tathagata Shakyamuni who freed himself from the world of suffering is like the salt of the sea. Therefore to forbid one who upholds the Lotus Sutra is to forbid Tathagata Shakyamuni. How astonished Brahma, Teishaku, and the four heavenly kings must be! If it is not now, when will the vow of 10 ogre daughters to divide the skulls of those who persecute the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra into seven?Ajatashatru, who had imprisoned King Bimbisara of father, early suffered bad diseases such as smallpox and measles. How can a person who has confined the ascetic of the Lotus Sutra not suffer from a bad disease in his present life?

Nichiren

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