Rissho Kanj o Sojo

INTRODUCTION

Written on the 28th day of the second month in the twelfth year of the Bun’ei Era (1275), this letter was in response to Sairen-bo of Kyoto, who sent various gifts to Nichiren Shonin at Minohu and asked him questions regarding the “new” doctrine among the Tendai scholars of the time claiming the superiority of the Great Concentration and Insight over the Lotus Sutra. Denying such allega¬tions, Nichiren insists in the letter that the contrary is true. The title, “The Covering Letter …”, is misleading because it is a letter outlin¬ing “A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation” rather than a covering letter to it.

The Covering Letter to the Treatise on Establishing
the Right Way o f Meditation

May I express my sincere gratitude to you for sending a messenger to me all the way (from Kyoto to Mt. Minohu) recently. I have also received with deep appreciation the various gifts you so kindly sent me.

I understand that among scholars of the Tendai School” today such heretical doctrines that claim the superiority of the Great Concentration and Insight ” over the Lotus Sutra “-, and the superiority of the ten School’ over the Great Concentration and Insight, or claim that when the great teaching of “spiritual contemplation is revealed, both the theoretical and essential sections of the Lotus Sutra are useless are prevalent.

Regarding your questions, there are various factions with different contentions within the Tendai School, but generally speaking they belong to either the Eshin or Danna faction.

first, as for the claim of the Eshin faction, Toyo-bo Chujin says, “The Great Concentration and Insight explains the teaching of the essential and theoretical sections of the Loots Sutra. ” And it is stated in the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 6:

Insight refers to the wisdom of the Buddha that perceives the inter¬relationship and perfect harmony of the triple truth (the truth of void¬ness, temporariness and the middle) while concentration means the insight of the Buddha that observes this principle. When one practices (the way of meditation preached in) the Great Concentration and Insight, the wisdom and insight of the Buddha appear in one’s mind as clearly as they were in front of one’s own eyes…. It is the revela¬tion of the wisdom and insight of the Buddha for practicers of the Three Vehicles (sravaka, pratyekabuddha and bodhisattva ways) to realize their misconception that the Buddha was a historical person enlightened under the bodhi tree at Buddhagaya.

The Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight by Miao-¬le, fascicle 5, states:

The ten-stage method of practicing the “spiritual contemplation” is based on the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, it was lauded by citing scriptural statements from the sutra. Speaking from the viewpoint of the theoreti¬cal section, the Buddha who had practiced this ten-stage meditation under the guidance of the Great Universal Wisdom Buddha in the remote past, 3,000 dust-particle kalpa ago, attained Buddhahood at the Hall of Enlightenment in this world. This is enlightenment of the Wonderful Dharma. Speaking from the viewpoint of the essential sec¬tion, while practicing the bodhisattva way in the remote past of 500 dust-particle kalpa ago, the Buddha attained Enlightenment of the Wonderful Dharma by practicing the ten-stage meditation. Thus the Buddha attained enlightenment solely through this ten-stage method of meditation according to either the essential or theoretical section.

The first of the above two citations, the one from the Great Concentration and Insight, seems to claim that the Great Concentration and Insight covers only the essential section, but the second citation from the Annotations in fact appears to say that it covers both sections. Therefore, the Eshin faction contends that the Great Concentration and Insight explains both the essential and theoretical sections according to this statement.

Next, the Danna faction, which claims that the Great Concentration and Insight depends solely on the doctrine of all phenomena being the ultimate reality preached in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sutra, founds its base on the third fascicle of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, which declares: “The Great Concentration and Insight is comprised of the `four teachings and five tastes’ borrowed (from various sutras) and is constructed by the wonderful and perfect principle of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the whole writing of the Great

Concentration and Insight is nothing but the wonderful means of med¬itation based on the perfect and sudden, One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra, which reveals the truth replacing the expedient.” According to this passage, there is no doubt that the Great Concentration and Insight is founded upon the theoretical section of the Lotus Sutra.

Thus, although their contentions are not the same, they are the same in that neither of them can do without the essential or theoretical sec¬tion or both.

Nevertheless, scholars of the Tendai School today insist on the supe¬riority of the Great Concentration and Insight over the Lotus Sutra. From whom did they receive such a doctrine? To me, the comparative superiority between the Great Concentration and Insight and the Lotus Sutra is as clear as the difference between heaven and earth.

Concessively speaking, the Great Concentration and Insight seems somewhat similar to the teaching of the theoretical section. Regarding the doctrine Grand Master T’ien-t’ai attained in mind, therefore, his disciple Chang-an admires him for having ten virtues, the first of which is his attainment of the profound One Buddha Vehicle doctrine of the Lotus Sutra without a teacher. As the ninth virtue of Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, Chang-an praises him saying that T’ien-t’ai profoundly per¬ceives the perfect and sudden teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The Pictorial Biography o f T’ien-t’ai, part 4, states: “Upon practicing the Lotus Sutra for two weeks, his illusion completely disappeared and T’ien-t’ai entered the meditative concentration.” Chang-an has this to say in the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 1, “This Great Concentration and Insight expounds the doctrine which Grand Master T’ien-t’ai attained in his own mind;” and it is said in the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 5: “In the paragraph explain¬ing the ways of practicing spiritual contemplation in the Great Concentration and Insight, each sentence substantiates the wonderful doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought” to be the guide for the way of observing the mind. Therefore, the “Introduction” to the Great Concentration and Insight refers to the `doctrine attained in his own mind’.”

The doctrine which Grand Master T’ien-t’ai “attained in his own mind” refers to that of “3,000 existences contained in one thought,” namely the “threefold contemplation in a single thought.” The terms triple truth and threefold contemplation, mentioned in the Bodhisattva Necklace Sutra” and the Sutra of the Benevolent King,” were recon¬structed by T’ein-t’ai as “threefold contemplation in a single thought” and “3,000 existences contained in one thought” to represent what he had attained in his own mind. In so doing, T’ien-t’ai depended on the passage on the ten aspects of reality and all phenomena representing the ultimate reality in the second chapter on “Expedients” in the theoreti¬cal section of the Lotus Sutra. Thus we know that the whole work of the Great Concentration and Insight bases its foundation on the theo¬retical section.

To put it strongly, the T’ien-t’ai doctrine of “concentration and insight” is like the pre-Lotus sutras,” and the provisional Mahayana sutras preaching the distinct teaching, one of the four doctrinal teach¬ings. It is what he attained while meditating at the Universal Wisdom Hall of Practice on Mt. Ta-su, and when T’ien-t’ai told it to his teacher¬master, Grand Master Nan-yueh, he was told that what he attained was nothing but mystic words and phrases of the pre-Lotus expedient sutras. Also, it is stated in the Pictorial Biography of T’ien-t’ai, part 4: “When T’ien-t’ai lectured on the Great Wisdom Sutra, written in gold¬en ink, replacing his master Nan-yueh, a doubt arose upon encounter¬ing the passage, `a mind is equipped with 10,000 practices.’ Grand Master Nan-yueh explained it for T’ien-t’ai, saying that his question was concerned with a sequential doctrine of the Great Wisdom Sutra, which has not yet reached the level of the perfect and sudden wonder¬ful doctrine of the Lotus Sutra. ”

Thus what T’ien-t’ai preached was the Wisdom Sutra, a pre-Lotus, quasi-Mahayana sutra. As it is said that what he preached was a sequential doctrine, it was a distinct teaching. And, as it is said that the mystic words and phrases he was able to attain were pre-Lotus expedi¬ents, we know that T’ien-t’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight is sim¬ilar to a pre-Lotus, expedient sutra, belonging to the category of the dis¬tinct teaching.

Since what T’ien-t’ai attained in mind, as stated above, is mystic words and phrases of the pre-Lotus sutras, which he explained in his Great Concentration and Insight, it is needless to say that it cannot be compared with the theoretical section of the Lotus Sutra, not to speak of the essential section. In this sense, the contention of the Danna fac¬tion seems more reasonable. Armed with these points, you should argue against the evil contention that the Great Concentration and Insight is superior to the Lotus Sutra.

For details, I wrote another fascicle (“A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation”) and sent it to you. (Please consult it as need¬ed.) I have certainly written to relay to you the gist of the doctrine transmitted to me.

Respectfully yours,
28th of the second month

Nichiren (signature) in the 12th year of Bun’ei (1275)
In Response to Sairen-bo

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