Toki-dono Go-henji

INTRODUCTION

This letter was written on the sixth of the seventh month in the tenth year of the Bun’ei Period (1273) at Ichinosawa on Sado Island, the original manuscript of this letter has been preserved at the Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple. Thanking Lord Toki for his donation, Nichiren Shonin also explains why he has not been released from exile sooner, answering the question raised by the lord. Comforting the lord, Nichiren Shonin expresses his resolution to spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and its daimoku at the cost of his life. He has no doubt about his success and expresses his religious ecstasy as a prac¬ticer of the Lotus Sutra.

A Response to Lord Toki

Thank you very much for your donation. I surely received two rolls of eyelet coins,* which I assume were sent by Lord Ota” and you.

Nitcho, your son, is very talented, so I have decided to keep him here till the end of this year.
No need to grieve over me for not getting a release from exile. As I gave a warning in the “Rissho ankoku-ron (Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma),” some things with happen to this country and I guess I am not getting released until that time.

Today, I am not sure of staying alive or dying here; however, at the same time I ani sure that the five characters of myo, ho, ren, ge and kyo will spread widely in this Latter Age of Degeneration. Grand Master Dengyo tried to spread the perfect teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Of the three ways of learning, he was able to spread two: practicing medita¬tion and cultivating wisdom during his lifetime. Regarding the third, however, his plan to establish the perfect and sudden precept dais was not allowed by the Imperial Court until after his death. To establish a dais is the “phenomenal aspect,” which night have confronted greater difficulties than establishing the “noumenon” of meditation and wis¬dom, so now you may know how difficult it is to spread the teachings of the Eternal Buddha” revealed in the 16th chapter on “The Life Span of the Buddha” and the daimoku, the essence of the Lotus Sutra, today over 2,220 years after the death of the Buddha.

I am very fortunate indeed to live in the Latter Age of Degeneration spreading these teachings of truth, so I am getting much more reward than many of the past such as Dengyo, T’ien-t’ai,” Nagarjuna,” and Vasubandhu. If not for the Lotus Sutra, which predicts the spread of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Age, I would be nothing but the most self-con¬ceited in the world. Praising T’ien-t’ai, Chang-an” said, “Tien-t’ai’s interpretation of Buddhism is much more enriching than that of the Great Wisdom Discourse* of India. Why should we bother to compare him against Chinese masters? This is no exaggeration; this is the result of unbiased comparison of doctrines.” The same could be said of my teaching founded on the Lotus Sutra, the great true teaching of the Lord Buddha. Without exaggeration it is much more enriching than those of great commentators such as Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu. Therefore, T’ien-t’ai foretold, “In the last 500-year period* the wonderful way of the Lotus Sutra will spread widely.” He was foretelling about me. Lamenting for not having been born in the Latter Age of Degeneration, Dengyo stated, “The Latter Age of Degeneration” is around the cor¬ner.

How fortunate I am! I am spreading the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, confronting many persecutions and difficulties in this Latter Age of Degeneration just as it is foretold in the Lotus Sutra, chapter 13 on “The Encouragement for Upholding This Sutra”: “Those who spread this Lotus Sutra after the death of the Buddha will be persecuted and chased out of monasteries often.” I should be proud of myself. I am writing this as a response to everyone, so I believe I do not need to explain this in detail.

On the 6th of the 7th month

Nichiren (signature)
Response to Lord Toki

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