The Causal Law of Life
I hope you will read this letter over and over again together with Toshiro’s wife. The sun dispels
darkness, no matter how deep. A woman’s heart may be likened to darkness, and the Lotus Sutra to the sun. A baby may
not always recognize its mother, but a mother never forgets her own baby. Shakyamuni Buddha may be likened to the mother,
and a woman to the baby. If two people long for each other, then they will never be parted. But though one person yearns for
the other, if the other does not feel the same way, then they will be united at times but separated at others. The Buddha
may be likened to the one who always longs for the other, and a woman to the one who does not. But if we truly yearn for Shakyamuni
Buddha, how could he ever fail to reveal himself to us?
You may call a rock a jewel, but that does not make it one. You may call a jewel a rock, but it remains
a jewel. In our age, the doctrines of the Nembutsu and other sects that are based upon the Buddha’s provisional teachings
are all like rocks. People may say that the Nembutsu is equal to the Lotus Sutra, but that does not in fact make it so. And
people may slander the Lotus Sutra, but that does not affect it any more than calling a jewel a rock affects the jewel.
In the past there was an evil ruler in China named Emperor Hui-tsung. Led astray by Taoist priests,
he destroyed Buddhist statues and sutras and forced all the monks and nuns to return to secular life until not one remained
in the religious calling. Among the monks was one named the Tripitaka Master Fa-tao who refused to be cowed by the imperial
command. As a result, he was branded on the face and exiled to the region south of the Yangtze River. I was born in an age
when the rulers put their faith in the Zen sect, which is as erroneous as the doctrine of Taoists, and I too, like Fa-tao,
have met with great difficulties.
You two women were born as commoners and now live in Kamakura, [the seat of the government,] yet you
believe in the Lotus Sutra without concern for the prying eyes of others or the danger it may pose for your lives. This is
nothing short of extraordinary. I can only imagine your faith to be like the jewel that, when placed in muddy water, miraculously
cleanses it. You are like someone who, when taught something new by a wise man, believes his every word and thus grasps the
truth. Is this because Shakyamuni Buddha and the bodhisattvas Fugen, Yakuo and Shukuoke are dwelling in your hearts? This
is what the passage of the Lotus Sutra means when it says that if in the land of Jambudvipa one is able to believe in this
sutra, then that is due to the power of Bodhisattva Fugen.
A woman is like a wisteria, a man like a pine. The wisteria cannot stand for a moment if it is separated
from the pine tree that supports it. And yet, in this turbulent age, when you do not even have servants you can rely on, you
have sent your husband here [to Sado Island]. This shows that your sincerity is deeper than the earth, and the earthly gods
must certainly realize this. Your sincerity is loftier than the sky, and the heavenly gods Bonten and Taishaku must also be
aware of it. The Buddha taught that people from the very moment of their birth are accompanied by two messengers, Dosho (Same
Birth) and Domyo (Same Name), who are sent by heaven and who follow them as closely as their own shadows, never leaving them
even for an instant. These two take turns ascending to heaven to report the person’s offenses and merits, both major
and minor, without overlooking the slightest detail. Therefore, heaven must know about your sincerity. How encouraging! How
reassuring!
Nichiren (seal)
The Fourth Month, 9th year of Mon'ei (1272)
Reply to the wife of Shijo Kingo
