大聖人様のお言葉 十九 Words of Daishonin. 19

　已今当の経文は仏すら・やぶりがたし。

　Not even the Buddha himself could repudiate his statement that, among all the sutras he has preached, now preaches, and will preach, the Lotus Sutra stands supreme.

　何に況んや論師・人師・国王の威徳をもつて・やぶるべしや。

　How much less, then, can scholars, teachers, and sovereigns of states use their authority to do so!

　已今当の経文をば梵王・帝釈・日月・四天等、聴聞して各各の宮殿にかきとどめて・をは(在)するなり。

　This statement of the Buddha has been heard by Brahmā, Teishaku, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings, and duly recorded in their respective palaces.

　まことに已今当の経文を知らぬ人の有る時は、先の人人の邪義は・ひろまりて失(とが)なきやうにては・ありとも、此の経文を・つよく立て退転せざるこわ(強)物出来しなば大事出来すべし。

衆生身心御書

　So long as the people truly did not know of this statement, it seems that the false interpretations of the teachers I mentioned spread without anyone incurring fault. But once a person of fierce look character has come forward to make this sutra passage known in a bold and uncompromising fashion, then grave matters are certain to occur.

The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings

　又日蓮が弟子等の中に、なかなか法門しりたりげに候人人は・あしく候げに候。

　Some, among my disciples, profess to know this teaching well, but this attitude is incorrect.

　南無妙法蓮華経と申すは法華経の中の肝心、人の中の神(たましい)のごとし。

　Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the heart of the Lotus Sutra. It is like the soul of a person.

　此れにものを・ならぶれば、きさき(后)のならべて二王をおとこ(夫)とし、乃至きさきの大臣已下になひなひ・とつ(嫁)ぐがごとし。

　To revere another teaching together with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is similar to an empress making two emperors as her husbands or secretly marrying a minister or a person of low rank.

　わざはひ(禍)のみなもとなり。

　 This could only result in disaster.

　正法・像法には此の法門をひろめず。余経を失わじがためなり。

　In the Former and Middle times, this Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo was not propagated specifically in order not to deprive the other sutras of their power of merit.

　今末法に入りぬれば余経も法華経もせん(詮)なし、　

　Now, in this age of the Latter Day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor the other sutras have the power to save the people.

　但南無妙法蓮華経なるべし。

　Now, in this age of the Latter Day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor the other sutras have the power to save the people. Only Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo can lead all people to Buddhahood.

　かう申し出だして候も、わたくしの計(はからい)にはあらず。

　This is not only my own judgment.

　釈迦・多宝・十方の諸仏・地涌千界の御計(おはからい)なり。

　Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, the Buddhas of the ten directions, and the Bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds have determined it.

　

　此の南無妙法蓮華経に余事をまじ(交)へば、ゆゆしきひが(僻)事なり。

　To mix other things with this Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a grave error.

　日出でぬれば・とほしび(灯)せん(詮)なし。

　A lamp is useless when the sun rises.

　雨のふるに露なにのせんかあるべき。

　When rain falls, are dewdrops necessary?

　嬰児(みどりご)に乳(ちち)より外のものを・やしな(養)うべきか。

　Should one feed a newborn baby anything other than its mother's milk?

　良薬に又薬を加えぬる事なし。

　上野殿御返事(法要書)

　With good medicine, it is not necessary to add any other medicine.

　Reply to the Lord Ueno (Letter of the Buddhist Memorial Service)

　御みやづかい(士官)を法華経とをぼしめせ。

　Be wise, be smart. Regard your service to your lord as the practice of the Lotus Sutra.

　「一切世間の治生産業は皆実相と相違背せず」とは此れなり。

檀越某御返事

　 This is what is meant by “No worldly affairs of life or work are ever contrary to the true aspect.”

　Reply to Certain Believer

　然るに法華経と申す御経は身心の諸病の良薬なり。

　However that may be, the sutra known as the Lotus Sutra is good medicine for the various ills of body and mind.

　されば経に云く「此の経は則ち為(こ)れ閻浮提(えんぶだい)の人の病の良薬なり。

　Thus it states: “This sutra provides good medicine for the ills of the people of the whole world.

　若し人病有らんに是の経を聞くことを得ば、病即消滅して不老不死ならん」等云云。

　If a person who has an illness is able to hear this sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will be neither old age nor dead.”

　又云く「現世は安穏にして後生には善処ならん」等云云。

　Again it states: “Once these living beings have heard the Law, they will enjoy peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences.”

　又云く「諸余の怨敵皆悉く摧滅せん」等云云。

　And again: “All others who bear you enmity or malice will likewise be exterminated.”

　此の方便品と申すは迹門の肝心なり。

　The “Expedient Means” chapter constitutes the heart of theoretical teaching.

　此の品には仏・十如実相の法門を説きて十界の衆生の成仏を明し給へば、舎利弗等は此れを聞いて無明の惑を断じ、真因の位に叶うのみならず、未来華光如来と成りて成仏の覚月を離垢(りく)世界の暁の空に詠ぜり。　

　In this chapter the Buddha expounds the doctrine of the ten factors and the true aspect of all phenomena, and makes clear how living beings in the Ten Worlds can attain Buddhahood.

When Shāriputra heard this, he was able to cut off the illusions about the true nature of existence and attained the level at which he comprehended the true cause for enlightenment. Moreover, he is assured that in the future he will become a Buddha called Flower Glow Tathagata, a moon of enlightenment shining in the dawn sky of the realm called Free from Stain.

　十界の衆生の成仏の始めは是なり。

　This represented the first step in the attainment of Buddhahood by the living beings of the Ten Worlds.

　次に寿量品と申すは本門の肝心なり。

　Speaking next of the “Life Span” chapter, it constitutes the heart of the essential teaching, and in fact the heart of the entire Lotus Sutra.

　又此の品は一部の肝心、一代聖教の肝心のみならず、三世の諸仏の説法の儀式の大要なり。

　Moreover, not only is it the heart of all the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime, but it embodies the most important message conveyed in all the ceremonies on the preaching of the Law conducted by the Buddhas of the three existences of past, present, and future.

　然るに是くの如き大事の義理の篭(こも)らせ給う御経を書きて進(まい)らせ候へば・弥(いよいよ)信を取らせ給うべし。

　And now I have written out and am sending you [chapters from] this sutra that, as I have explained, embodies doctrinal principles of the greatest importance. You must have ever greater faith in it!

　勧発品に云く「当に起つて遠く迎えて・当に仏を敬うが如くすべし」等云云。

　The Fugen chapter says, “If you see a person who accepts and upholds this sutra, you should rise and greet him from afar, showing him the same respect you would a Buddha.”

　さては鎌倉に候いし時は細細(こまごま)申し承わり候いしかども、今は遠国に居住候に依りて面謁(めんえつ)を期する事・更になし。

　When I was in Kamakura, we could keep in close contact, but now that I am living in a remote region, I have no opportunity to meet with you in person.

　されば心中に含みたる事も使者玉章(たまぐさ)にあらざれば申すに及ばず。

　The thoughts I have in my heart can only be conveyed by way of messengers and letters.

　歎かし歎かし。

　It is sad, sad indeed!

　当年の大厄をば日蓮に任せ給へ。

　As for this year of danger that you face, entrust me.

　釈迦・多宝・十方分身の諸仏の・法華経の御約束の実不実は是れにて量るべきなり。

　See whether the promises made in the Lotus Sutra by Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions, emanations of Shakyamuni, are trustworthy or not!

　又又申すべく候。

太田左衛門尉御返事

　I will write to you again.

On the Importance of the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” Chapters

　又法華経をば経のごとく持つ人人も、法華経の行者を或は貪瞋癡により、或は世間の事により、或はしなじなのふるまひによつて憎む人あり。

　Even among those who embrace the Lotus Sutra according to its words, there are some who resent the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra either because of their greed, anger, and foolishness, because of worldly matters, or because of his various actions.

　此は法華経を信ずれども信ずる功徳なし。かへりて罰(ばつ)をかほるなり。

　Although such people believe in the Lotus Sutra, they will not obtain the merit of faith, but will instead incur retribution.

　黄河は千年に一度す(澄)むといへり。聖人は千年に一度出ずるなり。

　It is said that the Yellow River becomes clear once in a thousand years, and that a sage likewise appears in the world once in a thousand years.

　仏は無量劫に一度出世し給ふ。

　A Buddha appears in the world once in countless kalpas.

　 彼には値うといへども法華経には値いがたし。

　Yet even if one should meet a Buddha, it is far more difficult to encounter the Lotus Sutra.

　設ひ法華経に値い奉るとも末代の凡夫、法華経の行者には値いがたし。

　And even if one should encounter the Lotus Sutra, it is rarer still for an ordinary person of the latter age to meet the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra.

　罰に四あり総罰・別罰・冥罰・顕罰なり。

　There are four kinds of punishment: total and individual, inconspicuous and conspicuous.

　聖人をあだめば総罰一国にわたる。又四天下・又六欲・四禅にわたる。

　If the people nurture hatred for a sage, total punishment will sweep across the entire country, extending to the four continents, the six heavens of the world of desire, and the four meditation heavens.

　賢人をあだめば但(ただ)敵人等なり。

　When enmity is directed toward a worthy, only those who harbor it will suffer punishment.

　

　今日本国の疫病は総罰なり。

　The epidemics now spreading in Japan are total punishment.

　定めて聖人の国にあるをあだむか。

　Surely the people must have opposed a sage living in this country.

　山は玉をいだけば草木かれず、

　Because a mountain contains a jewel, its plants and trees do not wither.

　国に聖人あれば其の国やぶれず。

　Because a country has a sage, that country is protected from ruin.

　山の草木のかれぬは・玉のある故とも愚者はしらず、

　Ignorant people do not realize that plants and trees on a mountain do not wither because of the presence of a jewel.

　国のやぶるるは聖人をあだむ故とも愚人は弁へざるか。

　Nor do they realize that a country falls because of enmity toward a sage.

　周の文王は老たる者をやしなひていくさ(軍)に勝ち、其の末・三十七代・八百年の間、すゑずゑ(末末)は・ひが事ありしかども、根本の功によりてさか(栄)へさせ給ふ。

　King Wen of the Chou dynasty was victorious in battle because he took care to provide for elderly people. During the thirty-seven reigns spanning eight hundred years in which his descendants ruled, there were some incidents of misgovernment, but on the whole the Chou dynasty prospered due to that fundamental virtue.

　阿闍世王は大悪人たりしかども父びんばさら王の仏を数年やしなひまいらせし故に・九十年の間・位を持ち給いき。

日女御前御返事（法華経二十八品供養事)

King Ajātashatru, though a most evil man, was able to hold the throne for ninety years owing to the merit of his father, King Bimbisāra, who had made offerings to the Buddha for several years.

Reply to the Lady Nichinyo (Offering to the Lotus Sutra 28 chapters)

御消息に云く、凡そ疫病弥(いよいよ)興盛等と云云。

　Your letter says that the epidemics are raging all the more fiercely.

　

　夫れ人に二の病あり。一には身の病。

　The illnesses of human beings may be divided into two general categories, the first of which is illness of the body.

　所謂。地大百一、水大百一、火大百一、風大百一、已上四百四病なり。

　Physical diseases comprise one hundred and one disorders of the earth element, one hundred and one imbalances of the water element, one hundred and one disturbances of the fire element, and one hundred and one disharmonies of the wind element, a total of four hundred and four maladies.

　此の病は設い仏に有らざれども之を治す。

　These illnesses do not require a Buddha to cure them.

　所謂治水・流水・耆婆・扁鵲(へんじゃく)等が方薬、此れを治するにゆいて愈(い)えずという事なし。

　Skilled physicians such as Water Holder and Water Carrier, Jīvaka, and Pien Ch’üeh prescribed medicines that never failed to heal physical sickness.

　二には心の病。

　The second category is illness of the mind.

　所謂三毒乃至八万四千の病なり。

　These illnesses arise from the three poisons and are of eighty-four thousand kinds.

　此の病は二天・三仙・六師等も治し難し。

　They are beyond the healing powers of the two deities and the three ascetics of Brahmanism or the six non-Buddhist teachers.

　何に況んや神農(しんのう)・黄帝等の方薬及ぶべしや。

　

　Medicines prescribed by Shen Nung and Huang Ti are even less effective.

　又華厳経・深密経・般若経・大日経等の権大乗の人人・各各劣謂勝見を起して、我が宗は或は法華経と斉(ひとし)等・或は勝れたりなんど申す人多く出来し、或は国主等此れを用いぬれば、此れによつて三毒・八万四千の病起る。

　Even within the Mahayana, if adherents of the Kegon, Profound Secrets, Wisdom, Dainichi, and other provisional Mahayana sutras confuse the inferior with the superior, and insist that the teachings of their schools are equal to or even surpass the Lotus Sutra, and if the ruler and others in high positions come to accept their assertion, then the three poisons and eighty-four thousand illnesses will all arise.

　返つて自(みずから)の依経をもつて治すれども・いよいよ倍増す。

　Then, if those followers should try to cure these illnesses with the provisional Mahayana sutras on which they rely, the sicknesses will become all the more serious.

　設い法華経をもつて行うとも験(しるし)なし。経は勝れたれども行者・僻見(びゃっけん)の者なる故なり。

　Even if they try to use the Lotus Sutra, their efforts will fail because, although the sutra itself is supreme, the practitioners are persons who hold distorted views.

　法華経に又二経あり。所謂迹門と本門となり。

　Further, the Lotus Sutra itself is divided into two distinct categories, the theoretical teaching and the essential teaching.

　本迹の相違は水火天地の違目なり。

　One is as different from the other as fire is from water or heaven from earth.

　例せば爾前と法華経との違目よりも猶相違あり。

　These sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are certainly different, but still they have some points of similarity.

　疑つて云く、汝が申すがごとくならば、此の国・法華経の行者をあだむ故に善神此の国を治罰する等ならば諸人の疫病なるべし。

　Question: If, as you have stated, the good heavens inflict punishment on this country because it does harm to the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, then epidemics should attack only the slanderers.

　何ぞ汝が弟子等又やみ死ぬるや。

　Why is it that your disciples also fall ill and die?

　答えて云く、汝が不審最も其の謂(いわれ)有るか。但し一方を知りて一方を知らざるか。

　Answer: Your question may make sense. Nevertheless, you are aware of only one side of the situation and not the other.

　善と悪とは無始よりの左右の法なり。

　Good and evil have been inherent in life since time without beginning.

　権教並びに諸宗の心は善悪は等覚に限る。

　According to the provisional teachings and the schools based on them, both good and evil remain in one’s mind through all the stages of the bodhisattva practice up to the stage of near-perfect enlightenment.

　若し爾(しから)ば等覚までは互ひに失(とが)有るべし。

　Hence people at the stage of near-perfect enlightenment or below have faults of some kind, but not those at the highest stage.

　法華宗の心は一念三千、性悪性善・妙覚の位に猶備われり。

　In contrast, the mind of the Lotus school is the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of mind, which reveals that both good and evil are inherent even in those at the highest stage of perfect enlightenment.

　元品の法性は梵天・帝釈等と顕われ、元品の無明は第六天の魔王と顕われたり。

　The fundamental nature of enlightenment manifests itself as Brahmā and Teishaku, whereas the fundamental darkness manifests itself as the devil king of the sixth heaven.

此の疫病は念仏者・真言師・禅宗・律僧等よりも日蓮が方にこそ多くやみ死ぬべきにて候か。

　One would therefore expect to find more victims of the epidemic among Nichiren’s followers than among the believers of Nembutsu, or priests of the Shingon, Zen, and Precepts schools.

　いかにとして候やらん、彼等よりもすくなくやみ・すくなく死に候は不思議にをぼへ候。

　For some reason, however, there is less affliction and death among Nichiren’s followers.

　人のすくなき故か、又御信心の強盛なるか。

　It is indeed mysterious. Is this because we are few in number, or because our faith is strong?

　而るに此の三十余年の三災・七難等は一向に他事を雑えず。日本一同に日蓮をあだみて国国・郡郡・郷郷・村村・人ごとに・上一人より下万民にいたるまで前代未聞の大瞋恚を起せり。

　The three calamities and seven disasters of these past thirty years or more, however, are due solely to the fact that the entire country of Japan hates me, Nichiren. In province after province, district after district, and village after village, everyone from the ruler on down to the common people seethes in anger against me such as the world has never seen.

　見思未断の凡夫の元品の無明を起す事・此れ始めなり。

　This is the first time that fundamental darkness has erupted in the minds of ordinary people caught in the illusions of thought and desire.

　神と仏と法華経にいのり奉らばいよいよ増長すべし。

　Even if they pray to the gods, the Buddha, or the Lotus Sutra, these calamities will only be aggravated.

　但し法華経の本門をば法華経の行者につけて除き奉る。

　But it is different when the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra offers prayers to the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

　結句は勝負を決せざらん外は此の災難止み難かるべし。

　In the end, it is difficult to stop this calamity unless it is decided by a contest of Buddhism.

　止観の十境・十乗の観法は天台大師・説き給いて後、行ずる人無し。

　The Great Teacher Tendai in his Great Concentration and Insight described the ten objects of meditation and the ten meditations, but no one after him practiced them.

　妙楽・伝教の御時少し行ずといへども敵人ゆわ(弱)きゆへにさてすぎぬ。

　In the days of Myoraku and Dengyō some people practiced them to an extent but encountered few difficulties because there were no powerful opponents.

　止観に三障・四魔と申すは権経を行ずる行人の障(さわ)りにはあらず。

　The three obstacles and four devils described in Great Concentration and Insight do not arise to obstruct those who practice the provisional sutras.

　今日蓮が時、具(つぶ)さに起これり。

　But now each and every one has risen to confront me.

　又天台・伝教等の時の三障・四魔よりも・いま・ひとしを(一入)まさりたり。

　They are even more powerful than the three obstacles and four devils that Tendai, Dengyō, and others had to face.

　一念三千の観法に二つあり。

　There are two ways of perceiving the three thousand realms in a single moment of mind.

　一には理。二には事なり。

　One is theoretical, and the other, practical.

　天台・伝教等の御時には理なり、今は事なり。

　What Tendai and Dengyō practiced was theoretical, but what I practice now is actual.

　観念すでに勝る故に大難又色まさる。

　Because what I practice is superior, the persecutions attending it are that much greater.

　彼は迹門の一念三千、此れは本門の一念三千なり。

　The doctrine of Tendai and Dengyō was the three thousand realms in a single moment of mind of the theoretical teaching, while mine is three thousand realms in a single moment of mind of the practical teaching.

　天地はるかに殊なり・ことなりと、御臨終の御時は御心へ有るべく候。

治病大小権実違目

　 These two are as different as heaven is from earth. You should grasp this deeply when the time comes to deathbed.

Curing illness on the difference between the Mahayana and the Hinayana and the provisional sutras and the essential sutra.

つづく　to be continued