Table Of ContentThe Major Writings of
Nichiren Daishonin
Volume One
Editor-Translator
The Gosho Translation Committee
Nichiren Shoshu International Center Tokyo
Editor-Translator: The Gosho Translation Committee. Book design
and typography: Rebecca M. Davis. Cover design: Nen Tanaka. Com
position and printing: Komiyama Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo. Binding:
Maki Book Binding and Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo. The typeface
used is Bembo.
First Edition, 1979
Sixth Printing, 1985
Copyright © 1979 by Nichiren Shoshu International Center. All
rights reserved
Published by Nichiren Shoshu International Center, 1-3 3-11 Senda-
gaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 79-313378
ISBN4-88872-008-8 C1315
Printed in Japan
Contents
Preface ix
Introduction xi
Historical Background xi
Cultural and Religious Background xvi
The Life of Nichiren Daishonin xxiii
Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism xxxi
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin xxxiii
WRITINGS
Note: Italic numbers following titles refer to the page number
in the Gosho Zenshü.
On Attaining Buddhahood • 3*3 3
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering • 1448 9
The Persecution at Tatsunokuchi • 1113 13
Lessening One’s Karmic Retribution • 1000 17
Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life • 1336 21
VI CONTENTS
On the Treasure Tower • 1304 29
Letter from Sado ’ 956 33
The True Object of Worship • 238 45
The True Entity of Life * 1338 89
On Practicing the Buddha’s Teachings '301 99
On the Buddha’s Prophecy • 303 109
Reply to Kyö’ö • 1124 119
The Swords of Good and Evil • 1226 123
The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith • 1136 127
Letter to the Brothers • 1079 131
Winter Always Turns to Spring • 1232 149
On Itai Döshin • 1463 153
The Embankments of Faith • 1307 157
Happiness in This World • 1143 161
Admonitions against Slander • 1033 163
Propagation by the Wise • 1148 169
On the Buddha’s Behavior • 909 173
The Eight Winds • 1130 203
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon • 1243 211
On Flowers and Seeds • 900 217
The One Essential Phrase • 1402 221
General Stone Tiger • 1183 225
On Prolonging Life • 983 229
Letter to Jakunichi-bö • 902 235
On Persecutions Befalling the Buddha • 1189 239
The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra • 1192 245
The Dragon Gate • 1360 249
Letter to Niike • 1439 253
The Person and the Law • 1378 263
CONTENTS vii
The Gift of Rice • 1596 267
New Year’s Gosho • 1491 271
Appendixes
A. Sanskrit Personal Names 275
B. Chinese Personal Names 277
C. Titles of Buddhist Writings 281
D. Chronology 285
E. Höjö Regents 299
F. Maps 301
Glossary 303
Preface
N ICHIREN Daishonin wrote, “Exert yourself in the two ways
of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can
be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself; you must
also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith. Teach
others to the best of your ability, even if only a single sentence or
phrase.”
In order to meet the demand of English-speaking people who want
to learn Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings, an attempt has been made
by the monthly English magazine, the Seikyo Times, which Nichi
ren Shoshu International Center published, toward the translation
of his doctrinal writings and letters for over ten years. We have
also made an effort to improve and refine these translations, so
there have been two or more versions of a single Gosho writing. In
publishing the present work, we have received valuable aid from
the editorial staff of Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA), from
Burton Watson, adjunct professor of Columbia University, and
from Tsutomu Kano, the editor of The Japan Interpreter. We have
finished the thirty-six Gosho translations which appear in this vol
ume. However, these cover only a small portion of the original
Japanese work, Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshü, published by the
Soka Gakkai on April 28, 1952, commemorating the seven hun
dredth anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin’s declaration of true
ix
X PREFACE
Buddhism. The present volume is the first in a series designed to
introduce all the major writings of the Daishonin.
The selection of the materials contained in this work was made
from a very practical viewpoint. Buddhism places a great emphasis
on practice because it brings a theoretical understanding into actual
experience engraved in the depths of one’s life. In addition, correct
practice comes only from the correct understanding of the teachings.
The basic teachings which are often used are given priority for this
translation.
There are several English translations of Nichiren Daishonin’s
writings published so far by other scholars; however, they are not
readily available; even if you obtain such works, you will find them
incomplete, omitting those parts which the translators found difficult
to translate or felt unnecessary for the Western mind. We have made
every effort to convey the true meaning of each Gosho, rather than
to merely give a word-for-word translation.
In this volume the Gosho translations are given in order of the
dates when they were written. In the “Introduction” section the
reader will find an explanation of the make-up of this work. We
sincerely hope that this will be of great help to your study and
practice of true Buddhism, without which, as Nichiren Daishonin
stated, there can be no Buddhism.
Nichiren Shoshu International Center
Editorial Department
Introduction
THE present volume is the first in a series designed to present
English translations of the doctrinal writings and letters of
Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282), along with appropriate notes and
other explanatory material. Before proceeding to the translations
themselves, it is well to say something here about the historical and
cultural background of the period in which Nichiren Daishonin lived.
The introduction, after dealing with this subject, presents a brief
biography of the Daishonin and a summary of his thought. It con
cludes with a description of his writings, the problems they present
to the translator, and the particular methods that have been adopted
in preparing the translations in this series. Detailed information
concerning the background and content of the individual writings
will be found in the commentary sections that follow each trans
lation.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In the thirteenth century, when Nichiren Daishonin lived, Japan was
ruled by a military government with its headquarters in Kamakura,
a seacoast city southwest of present-day Tokyo. The Kamakura
shogunate, as the government is commonly known, lasted from 1185
xi
XII INTRODUCTION
to 1333, and the period of its duration is accordingly referred to as
the Kamakura period.
The Kamakura shogunate represented a new phenomenon in
Japanese history, a government organization created and wholly
dominated by members of the warrior class. In the earliest period
of Japanese history, if traditional accounts are to be trusted, the
emperors wielded military power in person when the occasion de
manded. But in the succeeding centuries the duties of the emperor
became increasingly confined to religious and ceremonial functions.
An elaborate central and provincial bureaucracy modeled after that
of China handled the administration of the country, and a conscript
army kept order and guarded the frontiers. At the end of the eighth
century, the emperor bestowed the title of Seii-taishögun or Great
General Who Subdues the Barbarians on a court official and sent
him to conquer the non-Japanese tribes of the north. The title,
abbreviated to “shogun,” was to figure prominently in later Japanese
history, when it designated the military ruler of the nation. But at
this time there was as yet nothing like a distinct warrior class or
profession.
During the long centuries of the Heian period (794-1185), when
the capital was located at Heian or Kyoto, the situation began to
change. The court aristocrats, who headed the Chinese-style bureau
cracy mentioned earlier, tended to pay more and more attention to
artistic and cultural pursuits in the capital and to neglect the actual
administration of government affairs, particularly in the outlying
provinces. As a result, a new class of farmer-warriors, commonly
referred to as samurai, appeared on the scene. By reclaiming or
opening up new lands for cultivation in the remoter regions, they
succeeded in creating small estates for themselves. To avoid taxation
from the central government, their lands were nominally entrusted
to some powerful aristocrat family or Buddhist monastery, but in
effect they constituted private holdings protected by the military
prowess of the individual samurai. To strengthen their position, the
samurai rapidly grouped together or placed themselves in the service
of one of the more powerful local clans. Soon they came to represent
