The following is part one of Ikeda Sensei’s essay published in the May 2008 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s study journal, commemorating the publication of the journal’s 700th issue.
My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, often said: “I have practiced exactly as Mr. Makiguchi taught. This is what it means to live as a disciple.”
Whenever he spoke about his mentor, the usually jovial and high-spirited Mr. Toda would turn very serious. There were members who maligned and ultimately betrayed founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, their teacher and benefactor, the moment the militarist authorities began persecuting the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (forerunner of today’s Soka Gakkai) during World War II. Recalling their cowardly behavior, Mr. Toda would often blaze with anger and indignation.
The essence of Buddhism is found in striving with the same commitment as the mentor. If this rigorous spirit is lost, the very foundation of Buddhism will be destroyed. Therefore, those who genuinely seek to carry on the correct teaching of Buddhism must always remember to maintain this desire and take action based on it.
I deeply learned that the essence of Buddhism was contained in the example shown by Mr. Toda, who for his entire life remained a loyal and dedicated disciple of Mr. Makiguchi. Emulating Mr. Toda, I made his heart my own and exerted myself for kosen-rufu, just as he taught me. And I have done everything I can as a disciple to repay my debt of gratitude to my mentor.
I have walked the great path of the oneness of mentor and disciple with a single-minded and unwavering resolve. As a result, I have borne the brunt of all manner of formidable onslaughts along the way. But I have absolutely no regrets. This is because I know that those who thoroughly dedicate their lives to this path can tap the power to calmly surmount all obstacles, no matter how severe.
I have seen numerous examples of people discarding the path of mentor and disciple and instead taking the most deplorable course of betraying their mentor and fellow members. They have invariably wound up spiritually bankrupt and in pitiful circumstances.
To the members of the youth division, in whom I place the highest trust, I wish to share my conclusion from 60 years of faith: the most important thing in practicing Nichiren Buddhism is to strive with the same spirit as one’s mentor throughout one’s life.
In this respect, the heroic struggle of Nichiren Daishonin’s true disciple Nikko Shonin (1246–1333) offers an eternal model for upholding the great path of the oneness of mentor and disciple. As a youth, I studied Nikko’s commitment to this path in great detail. I have also spoken to the youth division members many times about his noble spirit.
What precisely, then, was the essence of the spirit of the oneness of mentor and disciple that Nikko embodied? It was his lifelong commitment to strive with the same vow as Nichiren. This was the difference that set him apart from the five senior priests,[1] all of whom ended up betraying their teacher. Nikko further demonstrated throughout his life that this resolve to keep striving in a spirit of unity with one’s mentor is the fundamental cause for all victory.
I now wish to bequeath this basic formula to the youth of the SGI. With that in mind, I would like to offer some insights into the unrelenting struggle of Nikko. I hope the youth will learn the fighting spirit of a disciple who embodies the same commitment as the mentor.
Nichiren Daishonin’s Designation of Six Principal Disciples
In October 1284, the second anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin’s death was held at Minobu.[2] It was only two years since their teacher had passed away, yet none of the five senior priests had come to visit his grave.
Shortly after this memorial service, Nikko wrote a letter titled “Reply to Mimasaka-bo.”[3] On reading it, one cannot help being struck by his arduous, solitary efforts and his undying devotion to the Daishonin.
Nichiren designated his six principal disciples, or six senior priests, on October 8, 1282. That was five days before he passed away on the 13th. They are as follows, in order of age:[4]
Nissho, age 62
Nichiro, age 38
Nikko, age 37
Nichiji, age 33
Nitcho, age 31
Niko, age 30
Of the six, Nikko was foremost in correctly appraising the Daishonin as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, understanding Buddhist doctrine and actively propagating Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. He was also Nichiren’s legitimate successor.[5]
We may surmise that the reason Nichiren formally designated all six as his principal disciples was to heighten their awareness as leaders responsible for kosen-rufu. At the time, Nissho and Nichiro were based in Kamakura (present-day Kanagawa Prefecture); Nikko and Nichiji were in Suruga (present-day central Shizuoka Prefecture); Nitcho was in Shimosa (present-day northern Chiba Prefecture); and Niko was in Kazusa (present-day central Chiba Prefecture). They were disciples who had stood up to work for kosen-rufu and support the followers in each region, and as such were the core leaders to whom the task of carrying on the Daishonin’s legacy would fall.
That they had been selected as principal disciples mattered far less than what they would actually do to promote kosen-rufu in the future. Everything would hinge on that. This was the Daishonin’s intent.
At the time of the 100th-day memorial after Nichiren’s passing (held in January 1283), the six senior priests and other leading disciples pledged together to take personal responsibility for protecting his grave site.[6] They did so as a sign of their commitment to carry on their teacher’s will. However, all of the senior priests except Nikko reneged on this vow, which by rights they should have given their lives to uphold.
The Five Senior Priests Proclaim Themselves ‘Priests of the Tendai School’
In the years 1284 and 1285—the period during which the Daishonin’s third memorial fell—it is believed that his followers faced the threat of harsh persecution.
When the regent Hojo Tokimune[7] died suddenly in 1284, he was succeeded by his teenage son Sadatoki.[8] With this development, Hei no Saemon[9] became the steward of the main family of the Hojo clan, ruling in Sadatoki’s place. This put him virtually in full control of the clan’s vast domain and powerful army. Meanwhile, Ryokan[10] of Gokuraku-ji temple had ingratiated himself with influential government figures and been appointed the superintendent of three major temples in Kamakura. Given Hei no Saemon and Ryokan’s past involvement in persecuting Nichiren’s followers, it is highly likely that they persisted in this course even after his death.
Also around this time, another envoy from the Mongol Empire [demanding fealty and threatening invasion if this demand was not met] had arrived on Tsushima (an island off the coast of Kyushu in southern Japan), and the possibility of a third Mongol invasion was growing day by day.[11] There seems to be evidence that the Mongols made preparations to mobilize a military force even larger than those deployed on the two previous occasions [in 1274 and 1281].
With the aim of defeating these foreign enemies not only through military strength but through divine protection, the government continued to issue decrees commanding Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines throughout the land to conduct prayers to subdue the Mongols and ensure the peace and security of the nation. It is thought that such decrees were also sent to Nichiren’s community of priest-disciples.
Given the serious predicament befalling the land, all genuine disciples of the Daishonin should have felt compelled to remonstrate with the authorities and emphasize the importance of securing peace through establishing the correct teachings of Buddhism, just as he had during his lifetime. However, in 1285, reports reached Nikko that shocked him. One after another, Nissho, Nichiro and other senior priests had each submitted a statement to the government proclaiming themselves “priests of the Tendai school,”[12] instead of “disciples of Nichiren,” and had been following the official decree to conduct prayers to defeat the Mongol forces.
Not the slightest trace of the Daishonin’s spirit of remonstrating with the government for its slander of the Law can be found in the texts of these reports, only a fawning servility to those in power. Nikko later summed up the situation as follows:
Of the six principal disciples of Nichiren Daishonin, five all abandoned their allegiance
to the Daishonin and proclaimed themselves priests of the Tendai school. And when faced with the threat of having the temples where they resided razed by the authorities, they submitted statements to the government declaring that they would conduct prayers in accord with the Tendai school teaching, thereby staving off that threat.[13]
In short, the five senior priests all caved in to the government’s threats that it would demolish their temples unless they obeyed the decree.
It had been Nichiren’s conviction, however, never to compromise his principles or beliefs, no matter what the situation or how harsh the persecution he encountered. When he met and remonstrated with Hei no Saemon (in April 1274), Nichiren had firmly declared, “Even if it seems that, because I was born in the ruler’s domain, I follow him in my actions, I will never follow him in my heart” (“The Selection of the Time,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 579).
Even if we were to grant that circumstances may have been such that Nissho, Nichiro and their disciples in Kamakura were compelled to make some kind of compromise to protect the community of believers, their willingness to begin offering prayers as “priests of the Tendai school”—behavior that would have been unthinkable for the Daishonin—is a sign that they had succumbed to devilish functions and strayed from the great path of shared commitment of mentor and disciple. Quite bluntly, they had forgotten the profound debt they owed their teacher and turned against him. We can only imagine the righteous anger Nikko must have felt when he learned that the senior priests in Kamakura had lost the true spirit of faith taught by the Daishonin.
In the winter of 1285, Hei no Saemon defeated his greatest political rival, Adachi Yasumori,[14] in a conflict known as the Shimotsuki Incident. This led to a period where Hei no Saemon wielded unlimited power. In historical records describing the political climate of the day, we find statements such as: “Yoritsuna [Hei no Saemon] alone holds power and all live in fear,”[15] and “Now with none to oppose him, he alone rules the land.”[16] The autocratic rule of Hei no Saemon described here continued for seven-and-a-half years.
But even in such difficult times, Nikko intrepidly continued to remonstrate with the government in order to uphold the correct teaching in a spirit that perfectly matched that of the Daishonin. For instance, in a petition he submitted to the government in 1289, Nikko boldly wrote, “I, Nikko, disciple of the sage Nichiren, hereby petition again … ,”[17] and attached a copy of the Daishonin’s treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.”[18]
Herein lies the essential difference between him and the other five senior priests. Namely, Nikko had a correct appreciation of the Daishonin as the fundamental Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who illuminates the darkness of people living in that evil age.
In another petition, Nikko also wrote, “Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, this is the place for the appearance of Bodhisattva Superior Practices and the time for the propagation of the essential teaching.”[19] In other words, he declared that the Latter Day is the time for the propagation of the essential teaching of Nichiren Daishonin, whom he regarded as the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Superior Practices.[20] That is why to the end of his life, Nikko placed central importance on the Gohonzon, the object of devotion established by Nichiren Daishonin, and made the Daishonin’s writings his foundation. He remained true to the path of shared commitment of mentor and disciple because he had a proper recognition of the Daishonin and carried on the latter’s momentous struggle to lead all people to enlightenment in the Latter Day.
Mr. Toda explained this as follows: “Nikko Shonin is the Daishonin’s foremost disciple. He openly refers to him as ‘Daishonin [Great Sage].’ Because he served at the Daishonin’s side, Nikko understood the Daishonin to be the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.” Nikko always faithfully served and supported the Daishonin. He strove constantly alongside his mentor and for the sake of his mentor, with a spirit of selfless dedication to propagating the Law. He therefore had complete faith and conviction in Nichiren’s greatness.
And an important point regarding the difference between Nikko and the other five senior priests is that he always placed key importance on the treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.” It is often said that Nichiren’s writings begin and end with this work. And it is true that as long as he lived, the Daishonin continued his struggle, based on this writing’s central principle, to realize a world of peace and prosperity where all could live in happiness.
Everything depends on whether one can persevere in efforts to establish the correct teaching for the peace of the land and continue to uphold the banner of this noble cause. To practice in a spirit of oneness with the mentor means to carry on the essence of the mentor’s actions.
To the end of his life, Nikko continued to proclaim the validity of the Daishonin’s principle of “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land.”
From the January Living Buddhism
References
- Five senior priests: Five of the six senior priests, excluding Nikko Shonin, designated by Nichiren shortly before his death as his principal disciples. They are Nissho (1221–1323), Nichiro (1245–1320), Niko (1253–1314), Nitcho (1252–1317) and Nichiji (b. 1250). ↩︎
- Minobu: Also, Mount Minobu. Located in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Nichiren Daishonin lived there during the later years of his life, from May 1274 through September 1282, just prior to his death. There, he devoted himself to educating his disciples, directing propagation efforts and writing doctrinal treatises. ↩︎
- “Reply to Mimasaka-bo” was composed by Nikko on October 18, 1284, five days after the third memorial (second anniversary) of Nichiren’s passing. It was addressed to Mimasaka-bo Niho (1258–1340), a priest-disciple from the Daishonin’s day, telling him of the nonappearance of the five senior priests and their sad neglect of the grave site, and asking him to come to Minobu to assist him. ↩︎
- The ages cited in this discussion are all based on the traditional way of Japanese counting, in which a person is counted as 1 year old on the day of their birth. ↩︎
- In 1282, sensing that his death was near, Nichiren designated Nikko as his successor with two transfer documents. The first was the “Document for Entrusting the Law That Nichiren Propagated throughout His Life” (also known as “The Minobu Transfer Document,” see The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 993), which he wrote at Minobu in September 1282, about a month before his death, transferring the entirety of his teachings to Nikko. The second was the “Document for Entrusting Minobu-san” (also known as “The Ikegami Transfer Document,” see WND-2, 996), written at the residence of Ikegami Munenaka in Musashi Province (present-day Tokyo) on October 13, 1282, the day of his death. In it, he names Nikko as his successor and chief priest of Minobu-san Kuon-ji temple. It also declares that those priests and lay believers who disregard its contents are acting in defiance of the Daishonin’s teachings. ↩︎
- After Nichiren’s funeral at Ikegami where he died, Nikko brought the Daishonin’s ashes to Minobu and placed them in a tomb. Coinciding with the 100th-day memorial, 18 priests—the six senior priests and twelve of their disciples—pledged to assume the responsibility of attending to the grave in rotation, one of the six senior priests himself or two of his disciples watching over it each month. None of them, however, came to fulfill this responsibility. ↩︎
- Hojo Tokimune (1251–84): Eighth regent of the Kamakura military government and effective ruler of Japan. He became cosigner to the regent in 1264 and regent in 1268. The first two Mongol invasions took place during his regency. ↩︎
- Hojo Sadatoki (1271–1311): Ninth regent of the Kamakura military government (reigned 1284–1301). The son of Hojo Tokimune. ↩︎
- Hei no Saemon (d. 1293): Also known as Taira no Yoritsuna or by his full name and title, Hei no Saemon-no-jo Yoritsuna. (Hei is another pronunciation of the Chinese character for Taira.) A leading official of the Hojo regency, the de facto ruling body of Japan during the Kamakura period (1185–1333). He served two successive regents, Hojo Tokimune and Hojo Sadatoki, and wielded tremendous influence, first as deputy chief of the Office of Military and Police Affairs (the chief being the regent himself) and later as steward to the main family of the Hojo clan. He collaborated with Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji temple of the True Word Precepts school and others who persecuted the Daishonin and his followers. ↩︎
- Ryokan (1217–1303): Also known as Ninsho. A priest of the True Word Precepts school in Japan. With the patronage of the Hojo clan, Ryokan became chief priest of Gokuraku-ji temple in Kamakura, and commanded enormous influence both among government officials and among the people. He was hostile to Nichiren and actively conspired with the authorities to have him and his followers persecuted. ↩︎
- On repeated occasions, starting from 1266, Khublai Khan (1215–94), the Mongol emperor of China, dispatched envoys to Japan with missives demanding fealty and threatening a military attack if Japan did not comply. When the Japanese rulers ignored these demands, the Mongols launched invasions, in 1274 and 1281, but both of these attacks ultimately ended in failure. These events, however, fulfilled the prediction made by Nichiren in his 1260 treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” asserting that Japan would suffer foreign invasion as a consequence of the nation’s support of erroneous Buddhist teachings and its slander of the correct teaching of the Lotus Sutra. ↩︎
- Tendai school: The Japanese counterpart of the Chinese T’ien-t’ai school of Buddhism, founded in the early ninth century by the Japanese priest Dengyo (767–822). However, because of a tolerant attitude toward the erroneous teachings of other schools, including the True Word, Pure Land (Nembutsu) and Zen, by the time of Nichiren it had lost the stance of basing itself on the Lotus Sutra. ↩︎
- Translated from Japanese. Nikko Shonin, “Deshibun honzon mokuroku” (List of Disciples Upon Whom Nikko Bestowed the Gohonzon), in Fuji shugaku yoshu (The Essential Works of the Fuji School), edited by Nichiko Hori (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 1978), vol. 8, p. 6. ↩︎
- Adachi Yasumori (1231–1285): A powerful vassal of the shogun of the Kamakura government during the Daishonin’s lifetime. He struggled for power with Hei no Saemon, who had him killed on suspicion of conspiring against the regime in the Shimotsuki Incident of November 1285. ↩︎
- From the Kamakura-era journal “Sanemi kyoki” (The Chronicle of Lord Sanemi); entry for April 26, 1293. Cited in: Medieval Japan, in The Cambridge History of Japan, edited by Kozo Yamamura (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990), vol. 3, p. 152. ↩︎
- Translated from Japanese. From the Kamakura-era historical text “Horyakukan ki.” ↩︎
- Fuji shugaku yoshu, vol. 8, p. 332. ↩︎
- “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land”: Abbreviated as “On Establishing the Correct Teaching” (see WND-1, 6). One of the Daishonin’s 10 major writings. He submitted this treatise to Hojo Tokiyori, the retired regent but still the most powerful figure in Japan’s ruling clan, on July 16, 1260. The treatise begins by depicting the misery caused by the frequent disasters ravaging Japan, and regards the fact that the whole nation is turning against the correct teaching of Buddhism as a major factor responsible for the unprecedented disasters. The Daishonin explains that the people should abandon their faith in erroneous teachings and embrace the correct teaching, asserting that this is the basis for establishing a peaceful land. In this treatise, he presents numerous scriptural references to the disasters that will befall a nation that follows incorrect teachings. He further points out that, of the seven disasters listed in the Medicine Master Sutra, five have already occurred. The remaining two—internal strife and foreign invasion—will happen without fail, he says, if the rulers continue to support erroneous doctrines. Later, these prophecies were fulfilled when Hojo Tokisuke revolted against his younger half brother, the regent Hojo Tokimune, in the second month of 1272, and when the Mongol forces attacked Japan twice, in 1274 and 1281. ↩︎
- Fuji shugaku yoshu, vol. 8, p. 334. ↩︎
- Bodhisattva Superior Practices: The leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who appear in the “Emerging from the Earth” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. In the “Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One” chapter, Shakyamuni entrusts Superior Practices with propagating the Lotus Sutra during the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law. In his writings, Nichiren associates himself with Bodhisattva Superior Practices, saying that he has fulfilled the mission entrusted to the bodhisattva by Shakyamuni, and he refers to his propagation efforts as the work of Bodhisattva Superior Practices. ↩︎
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