The Life and Times of  St. Nichiren Shonin

Writings & Translations
By H.G. Lamont

Nichiren Shonin was born on February 16th of the first year of Joo [1222] in the village of Kominato, Tojo, of Nagasagori in Chiba Prefecture (Awa Province). His childhood name was Zennichi-maro. It was the 2,171st year after the Buddha's Nirvana (Extinction). Nichiren's father was Nukina Shigetada, his mother was Umegikunyo.His family lineage was said to be of Emperor Shomu and Nichiren's ancestors had lived in Nukina in Enshu.  But in Nichiren's father's time, they had been exiled to Awa and they made their living by fishing. Hence, Nichiren called himself a "sendara's (fisherman's) child",  "the son of a fisherman", "a man of the backwoods", which is to say "a child of humble birth", etc.

At age twelve, Nichiren was sent to be educated under the direction of Dozen-bo in Kiyosumi-zan.  He changed his name to Yakuo-maru.  As Yakuo-maru, he made a vow to Kokuzo Bosatsu (The Bodhisattva of Wisdom Vast as Space), who was the chief object of worship (Honzon) of Seichoji Temple, praying fervently, "Please make me the wisest man in Japan".  Then, "The bodhisattva appeared in the image of a high priest and gave me an orb of wisdom", the Shonin wrote later in the "Zenmui
Sanzo-sho."  So what did he want to study so fervently in order to become the wisest man in Japan?

 These were his main points of focus:

1. As life is impermanent, what is the most sound philosophy of life?

2. Though the teachings of the one Buddha Shakyamuni, the World Honored One, has branches of eight or ten sects, which is 　the correct one?

3.  At the time of the Jokyu Disturbance  (Japanese: Jokyu no Ran"), the Emperor and the retired emperors attempted to overthrow the Kamakura Shogunate. They had the priests of the Tendai and Shingon sects place a curse upon the Hojo's.  But Hojo Yoshitoki, an enemy of the Imperial Court, crushed the Emperor's army without asking for any divine assistance.  Why was the Imperial side defeated?  Also, the common people suffered from disasters, plagues and famine which continued year after year.  How could they stop the misfortunes and become happy?

These questions were the start of Nichiren's religious conversion. At the age of  16, [1237] he was ordained into the priesthood and was given the name Zensho-bo Rencho (Lotus Eternal).  He then set off [in 1238] on a tour to study at all of the great centers of learning in Japan.  The first stage of the quest took him to Kamakura.  From age 17 until he reached the age of 32, the Shonin studied at various places such as the Kyoto Eizan [Mount Hiei], Nara, [Mount] Koya, etc. He later wrote in the Nanjo sho, "I have known the doctrines such as those written by Honen and Zendo since I was seventeen or eighteen".  The "Kaitai sokushin jobutsu gi', which is said to have been written by Nichiren at the age of 21, shows us how earnestly and thoroughly the Shonin had studied all of the various doctrines of Buddhism.

Over twenty years of study made Nichiren realize that the Lotus Sutra was the sole purpose of the appearance of the Buddha in this world; and that the Original Buddha Shakyamuni was the Lord, Master, and Parent of the period of Mappo (Latter Day of the Law).  On April 28th of the fifth year of Kencho (1253, at the age of 32), having realized that all of the current sects in Japan were against the Lotus Sutra and the Founder, Shakuson [Shakyamuni, the World Honored One], the Shonin chanted the Daimoku (Title of the Lotus Sutra) to the rising sun and proclaimed the foundation of a new doctrine and sect.  The place where St. Nichiren Shonin first chanted to the rising sun was called Asahigara-mori on Mount Kiyosumi. Then he preached his first sermon to Joen-bo and scores of other listeners, gathered at the south entrance of Dozen-bo-jibutsu-do of Seichoji Temple:

"The founder of the Saha-World is Shakyamuni.  Amida Nyorai [Buddha] is the unrelated Buddha who resides Ten thousand billion lands to the West. One who abandons the Lord Founder Shakuson and chants the nembutsu will fall into the Hell of Interminable Suffering [Avichi Hell].  Believe in the Lotus Sutra, the original intention behind the appearance of the Buddha in this world.  Chant the Daimoku!"

His tone was so intense that the jito (land steward), Tojo Kagenobu, who was in the audience, became furious and tried to kill the Shonin.  The Shonin, guided by the senior disciples, Joken and Gijo, descended Mount Kiyosumi via hidden forest paths until he reached the village of Kominato. He then he made his way back to Kamakura.

Settling at Matsubagayatsu on the outskirts of Kamakura, (which in those days was the political, economic, and cultural center of Japan), the Shonin gave "street corner sermons".  He exhorted many people to take exclusive faith in the Lotus Sutra.  In the first year of Shoka (1257), when Nichiren was 36, a tremendous earthquake occurred.  In the following year, a typhoon struck the land.  Two years later, a serious famine and plague prevailed.  Tens of thousands of people died from these continuous calamities.

Believing that only faith in the Lotus Sutra could remove these disasters, Nichiren secluded himself in the library of Iwamoto Jissoji Temple and re-read through all the sutras again.  Then he wrote the "Rissho Ankoku Ron" (On Establishing the Orthodox Teaching to Make the country Peaceful) in the first year of Bun'o (1260), when he was 39.

On July 16th, he presented it to the Kamakura government. In his Ankoku Ron, Nichiren condemns heresies like the Nembutsu, and predicted that if the affairs of state weren't conducted with righteous faith in the Correct Law of the Lotus Sutra, then two further tribulations, (namely, civil war and invasion by a foreign power) would occur without fail.  Since five of the Seven Troubles (natural disaster, earthquake, epidemics, famine, and fire) had already happened, Nichiren wrote,

"The former disasters are obvious, so how can we deny the coming of the last two disasters?"

In order to avoid these two troubles [civil war and invasion] and to establish the "Buddha Land", without poverty, illness or war, there had to be faith in the Lotus Sutra. This was the import of his treatise, but the Government disregarded his opinion.

Prior to this, the priests of the other sects had disagreed with the Shonin's radical shakubuku ("break and subdue") method of propagation.  On August 27th, assisted by the tacit consent of the officers who had ill feelings toward the Shonin, these priests attacked his secluded retreat at Matsubagayatsu and burned it down.

The next year (1261, the first year of Kocho), at the age of 40, Nichiren was exiled to lzu peninsula.  Perhaps he was exiled because the governors thought that the Shonin's presence in Kamakura would disturb the public peace.  During this exile, the fisherman, Yasaburo, and his wife tried very hard to give refuge to the Shonin. This couple took careof him for more than a month. The Shonin was so grateful to them that he considered them to be the reincarnations of his own parents. In gratitude, the Shonin gave Yasaburo the family name of "Funamori".

About that time, the jito, named lto Sukemitsu, was suffering from illness. He heard about the Shonin's reputation and he asked him to pray for his recovery. When he recovered as a result of the Shonin's prayer, the jito, in gratitude, gave Nichiren a statue of Shakyamuni which had been caught in a fisherman's net years earlier.  From that time until his death, the Shonin cherished this statue of the Buddha. The Shonin presented his Five Principles of Religion in lto during his exile.

These Five Principles are:

     KYO [True Dharma]
     Ki [the Hearers]
     Ji [the Age]
     Koku [the Country]
     Shi [the Teachers].

These five are established for the purpose of revealing the true teachingof the Buddha.

On February 22nd of the third year of Kocho (1263), one year and nine months after his exile, Nichiren was pardoned.  He returned to Kamakura. In the summer of the first year of Bun'ei (1264), at age43, the Shonin returned to the village of Kominato (his birthplace) for the first time in twelve years.  His aim was to visit the grave of his father, who had died during his exile to Izu; and to nurse his sick mother back to health.  Arriving at his childhood home, he found the house in a great uproar. He was told, "Your mother has died." The Shonin rushed into the house and prayed fervently, "Lord Shakyamuni, please bring my mother back to life again." Then, to everyone's surprise, his mother revived.

"As I prayed for my dear mother, she not only recovered from her illness, but she also lived for four more years." [Kaen jogo sho].

This was how he proudly described the wonder of actual benefit due to faith in the Lotus Sutra.  On December llth, 1264, Nichiren received an invitation from the feudal Lord of Amatsu, Yoshitaka Kudo, requesting that Nichiren pay him a visit. The Shonin accepted the invitation and set out for Lord Kudo's home, accompanied by about ten disciples. On the way, in the forest of Komatsubara, they were attacked by Nichiren's old nemesis, the jito, Tojo Kagenobu, and several hundred of his followers who had been lying in wait. The Shonin was injured on the forehead, and his left hand was broken.

Since the day of the founding of Nichiren's teachings, Kagenobu had hated the Shonin, and he had always waited for the chance to kill him.  On this occasion , Nichiren's disciple, Kyonin-bo, and Lord Kudo Yoshitaka himself, who had raced to Nichiren's rescue, both died inthe struggle.   They died for the sake of their faith. After this persecution, the Shonin began calling himself, "the Foremost Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra in Japan" [Hokekyo no gyoja].

For four years after the ambush at Ko-matsu-bara, Nichiren stayed away from the capital at Kamakura.  Instead, he propagated at various Kanto locales in the outer provinces around Kamakura.  In the fifth year of Bun'ei (1268), an official letter from Kublai Khan, the Mongolemperor of China, arrived unexpectedly in Japan.  It contained a threatening ultimatum:

"Pledge obeisance to our country (and the Great Khan) as a colony and pay us
tribute if you don't want war."

Nine years after the presentation of the Rissho Ankoku Ron, the Shonin's predictions of invasion had come true, and the "groundless concern" became real. Immediately returning to Kamakura, the Shonin wrote eleven letters of appeal and sent them to Hojo Tokimune, other high officials of the government and religious leaders of Kenchoji Temple, Gokuraku-ji Temple, etc.  Convinced that the politicians must conduct the affairs of the country based on the Correct Law of the Lotus Sutra, he wrote to them:

"The nation's danger or safety depends on political rectitude."

 And he rebuked the religious leaders, saying:

"Because false teachings such as the nembutsu, Shingon, Zen, Ritsu and others fill the air and become the masters of the people, both high and low, a calamity as bad  as an invasion by a foreign power has occurred."

He told them:

"Believe in the Lotus Sutra, the King of the sutras.  If you say that the Lotus Sutra is not right, I will debate you anytime."

In turn, he wrote to his believers and disciples:

'Don't worry about your wives, children, or families at all; don't be afraid of the
authorities." In this way, he tried to prepare their minds.'

On September 12th, in the eighth year of Bun'ei (1271), the Shogunate's commissioner, Nagasaki Yoritsuna, leading several hundred of his troops, stormed Matsubagayatsu and arrested the Shonin.  Dragged before the High Court, Nichiren was swiftly found guilty of high treason.  Placed in the custody of Yoritsuna, he was illegally taken to be beheaded at Tatsu-no kuchi.  However, at the moment of execution, a bright shining light miraculously blazed across the sky.  The executioner swooned and dropped his sword, and the soldiers ran in fright.

The unlawful execution plot had failed.  Receiving an official order of reprieve, the authorities sent the Shonin to the residence of Honma Rokuro, a government official who lived in the nearby town of E-chi (Atsugi City).  From there he was exiled to Sado Island.  On October 10th, 1271, Nichiren and his guard set out from Echi and walked twelve days to the harbor of Teradomari in Echigo (Niigata Prefecture), arriving on October 22nd.  While at Teradomari, the Shonin wrote a letter to Toki dono (Mr. Toki), expressing the joy that he felt in reading "sakusaku kenhinzui' (banishment from the monasteries from time to time) of the "Kanji-bon" (The Encouragement of Keeping this Sutra), with his own body as the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra.

"Kanji-bon": The Thirteenth Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.  In this chapter, there is a prediction which says that in the time of Mappo, when the Bodhisattva Jogyo, who is the messenger of the Buddha, spreads the Lotus Sutra, three kinds of strong enemies (i.e. ignorant people and the government authorities, priests of other sects, and respected saints) will rise in succession; the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra will meet troubles like slander, violence by sword, and occasional banishment from monasteries (saku-saku enhinzui).  The Shonin read and experienced this sutra chapter's sentences with his own body (shikidoku).  Thus, the Shonin proves himself to be Bodhisattva Jogyo.

On December 23rd, the Shonin wrote a letter to Toki dono (Mr.Toki), from the delapidated shrine called Sanmaido at Tsukahara ( a cemetery where Nichiren was confined) in Sado.

 "Please guess.  It's already in front of our eyes", he wrote:

 "What is to be "guessed"?  What's "in front of our eyes"?  This is what: Nichiren, the son of a fisherman born on the rough shore of the eastern sea, is the only manifestation of Bodhisattva Jogyo who had ever appeared, in the country of Japan, during the age of Mappo, as the Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra by the order of the Original Buddha Shakyamunil This is what you see before your eyes! This is the manifestation of his true evolution from the man, Nichiren, to Jogyo Nichiren, messenger of the Buddha.

 In February, the ninth year of Bun'ei (1272), Nichiren wrote "Kaimoku Sho" (On Opening the Eyes).  In this same month, Tokimune had learned that his illegitimate elder brother, Hojo Tokisuki, was plotting against him, causing a rebellion in Kyoto and Kamakura. Only four months earlier, the Shonin had told Nagasaki Yoritsuna, at his earlier trial:

 "There will be a serious feud within a family of the ruling class, no later than seven years from now and possibly as soon as one hundred days away."

 Tokimune moved quickly to quash the rebellion.  He executed the leaders; but, Hojo had fought Hojo, fulfilling the prophesy of internal rebellion and inter-family fighting that Nichiren had predicted fromthe sutras.  In April of the tenth year of Bun'el (1273), he wrote the "Kanjin Honzon Sho" (On the Object of Worship and On the Spiritual Contemplation) ln this important writing, he explained the configuration of the Object of Worship of the Original Doctrine. On July 8th, he inscribed the Myo Ho Mandala (Gohonzon) as the Object of Worship of the Original Doctrine.  On Sado Island, Nichiren felt that his days were numbered.  Later, he recollected, "They said they would kill me on this day or the next, but I survived for four years."

On February 14th, 1274, a pardon was issued for the Shonin.  This pardon reached Sado on March 8th, and Nichiren was on his way back to Kamakura by the thirteenth of the month. Prior to this, the envoys from the Mongol empire of China continually demanded that Japan paya yearly tribute to the Great Khan. The Shogunate, anxious to hear the Shonin's opinion on the matter, granted the pardon.  As Nichiren wrote:

"It had become apparent that I had committed no crime and that my words were not empty; so, although most of the Hojo did not approve, Tokimune pardoned me at last and I returned to Kamakura. "[Nakaoki Nyudo goshosoku]

On April 8th, the Shonin was summoned by the bakufu (Shogunate), and he had an audience with his old enemy Taira Yoritsuna, head of the retainer's bureau and chief administrator of the Hojo household.  Taira asked him, "When do you think the Mongols will attack?" The Shonin answered:

"As Nichiren has said, though there is no description as to the exact time in the Sutra, Heaven seems to be angry to no small degree.  I think this is a matter of emergency.  This year will certainly not pass without their attacking." [Senji Sho, "On the Selection of Time"]

 Then, the Shogunate asked the Shonin to pray for the peace of the state. In return, they proposed to give him official recognition of his teachings, allowing him to spread the teaching of his sect.  In addition, they offered him the position of Abbot (betto) of the Aizendo, and a contribution of 2500 acres of fertile rice paddy fields.  But, that was the extent of their commitment.  The Shogunate did not intend to adopt the Shonin's doctrine, set forth in the Rissho Ankoku Ron ("Establish the True Law and Secure the peace of the Country"), the doctrine upon which the Shonin had risked his entire life.  The Shonin flatly refused their offer. According to the teaching of the old sages, "if your remonstrations against the authorities are rejected three times, withdraw to the mountains and forests." Nichiren left for Mount Minobu (Yamanashi Prefecture) on May 12th, during a drizzling rainfall. He wrote:

 "In Kocho, [I was sent] to lzu, in Bun'ei to Sado.  As I had remonstrated twice, then three times, my difficulties in exile were repeated.  Now I can't escape from being blamed as a rebel against Shakuson [if I do not retire]. So, I shall retire from life and betake myself to the forests and mountains. Though people say various things, I have kept some thoughts to myself, and I have entered the mountains of this country ... (Shijo Sho)

 The Shonin entered Minobu with "some thoughts".  What were they?
His ideal was:

"To make all people in Japan Nichiren's disciples and lay followers who uphold the Lotus Sutra as supreme.  Among my disciples, the clergy should be teachers of the Emperor and the former Emperor, my lay followers should be Cabinet ministers who uphold the True Dharma.  In addition, I hope the whole human world will follow this doctrine." [Shonin gohenji]

To spread the teaching of the Lotus Sutra and make his disciples the teachers of the Emperor and former Emperor, and his lay believers the righteous Cabinet ministers, thus to goven correctly, they "only have to wait for the proper time."  He felt that it was also important to teach his disciples thoroughly about his doctrine before such a time would come. Preparing themselves by studying the doctrine thoroughly, it would be possible for his disciples to conduct the affairs of state correctly in the future, and to have confidence in the Lotus Sutra as the supreme religion and philosophy of the world.  That would be the first step to found and proclaim the "Buddha Land".  And such disciples would be "doing the Buddha's work", thus fulfilling the obligation to the Original Buddha Shakuson, the Master.

In October of the eleventh year of Bun'ei (1274), five months after Nichiren retired to Mount Minobu, the huge Mongol force from China invaded Japan by way of Korea.  Their forces easily captured the small islands of Tsushima and lki, and invaded Tsukushi (modem day Hakata Bay) in Kyushu.

"They killed or captured the men and gathered up the women, pierced rope through their wrists and hung them around the ships as protection against arrows". (Ichinosawa nyudo gosho).

Confronted with the brutalities of the Mongolian force, the Shonin prayed in solitude for the peace of the nation.  By his attitude, he silently urged the Shogunate to take faith in the Lotus Sutra without delay.

However, a typhoon sank a large part of the invaders' fleet in this first invasion.  The survivors limped back to Korea to recoup their losses, and to plan a second attack.  The second invasion was delayed until 1281, In this second invasion, the Japanese fought the invading forces for about seven weeks, until a typhoon again swept the Mongol ships away, in early autumn. Unaware of the seasonal nature of storms off the Japanese coast, the Mongols (as they had done the time before) had invaded the country during the typhoon season. For Nichiren, the defeat of the Mongols was not a matter for rejoicing.  He wrote:

"I hear that the priest of the Nembutsu and the Shingon sects boast that the generals of the Mongolian forces were defeated because of their prayers.  The reality is that a few warships of the enemy were damaged by an autumn wind."

He warned that the danger was not over until Japan converted to the True Teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren Shonin's life of retreat in Minobu was different from the quiet lives of Yoshida Kenko, who wrote "Tsurezuregusa" or Kamo no Chomei, who wrote "Hojoki."   At least seven or eight, and, at times, forty to sixty of Nichiren's disciples and believers would crowd around his hut, in order to listen to his lectures on the Lotus Sutra.  Thus, his life was extremely busy. More than half of his writings ("gosho") were written during these eight years in Minobu.  He also wrote "'Yorimoto chinjo" (Petition for Yorimoto) for Shijo Kingo, who was treated coldly by his master. During the Atsuhara Persecution, Nichiren wrote the appeal, "Ryusenji Mosijo",  for his disciples and he took charge of them.

Perhaps due to the hardships that he had endured during his exile to lzu and Sado, Nichiren's health gradually declined.  A debilatating sickness, first appearing in 1277 and then recurring intermittently, took its toll on him.

 "Daily discussion, monthly persecution and two exiles have exhausted my mind and damaged my body.  I suppose that I have grown weak over these seven or eight years.  My illness is especially serious this year, and my end is near.  Furthermore, I have reached the age of sixty."

 He wrote the above words in a letter to the lkegami brothers.

On September 8th, of the fifth year of Koan (1282), the Shonin was persuaded to leave Mount Minobu, probably to journey to the natural hot spring at Hitachi, near lkegami.  He arrived at the residence of lkegami Munenaka in Musashi (Ota ward in Tokyo), some ten days later.  His followers and four of the six senior disciples (Nissho, Nichiro, Nikko, and Nichiji) gathered around him for his last days of teaching.

On the 25th, he gave his last lecture on the "Rissho Ankoku Ron." On October 8th, he designated the Six Elders (Nissho, Nichiro, Nikko, Niko, Nitcho, and Nichiji) to carry on his work and co-operate in leading the followers. (Niko and Nitcho did not hear of Nichiren's demise until after the funeral, so they were not present.)

Around eight in the morning of October 13th, with cherry blossoms blooming out of season and during a mild earthquake, Nichiren Shonin, the foremost Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra [Hokekyo no Gyoja] in this human world, peacefully passed away, bringing to a close a life that had been filled with difficulties and extreme tribulations.  At that time, according to the old way of reckoning one's life span, he was 61 years old.


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