I have received a hundred slabs of steamed rice cake and a basket of fruit. New Year’s Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year, and the start of spring. A person who celebrates this day will accumulate virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east, and as the sun shines more brightly, traveling from east to west.
First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground, and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. Closer examination, however, reveals that both exist in our five-foot body. This must be true because hell is in the heart of a person who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother. It is like the lotus seed, which contains both blossom and fruit. In the same way, the Buddha dwells within our hearts. For example, flint has the potential to produce fire, and gems have intrinsic value. We ordinary people can see neither our own eyelashes, which are so close, nor the heavens in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts. You may question how it is that the Buddha can reside within us when our bodies, originating from our parents’ sperm and blood, are the source of the three poisons and the seat of carnal desires. But repeated consideration
assures us of the truth of this matter. The pure lotus flower blooms out of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees, the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei was born of a woman of low station, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them. Misfortune comes from one’s mouth and ruins one, but fortune comes from one’s heart and makes one worthy of respect.
The sincerity of making offerings to the Lotus Sutra at the beginning of the New Year is like cherry blossoms blooming from trees, a lotus unfolding in a pond, sandalwood leaves unfurling on the Snow Mountains, or the moon beginning to rise. Now Japan, in becoming an enemy of the Lotus Sutra, has invited misfortune from a thousand miles away. In light of this, it is clear that those who now believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand miles away. The shadow is cast by the form, and just as the shadow follows the form, misfortune will befall the country whose people are hostile to the Lotus Sutra. The believers in the Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, are like the sandalwood with its fragrance. I will write you again.
Nichiren
The fifth day of the first month
Reply to the wife of Omosu
I always enjoy reading this gosho at the beginning of a new year. Last year (2007), I kind of kvetched to my Chapter leader about the SGI's failure to include this gosho in its new years gongyo meetings, and I got to read it to the group on New Years' Day, 2007. That was really cool. This year, the gosho went back to the back burner in favor of three different messages from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda (one message for the US members, one for the bookstore volunteers, and a forty-minute video presentation of a talk he gave at a meeting of Soka Gakkai headquarters leaders in Kansai, Japan).
The beauty of the world wide web, however, is that we can still discuss and read the gosho together, even if its not done at official SGI gatherings. I'm curious to know what you-all, dear readers, take from this gosho, and whether you enjoy reading it as a New Year's tradition, as I do. What follows is my own humble commentary - I very much look forward to reading yours:
My commentary:
I really enjoy a lot of different things about the"New Years' Gosho". One of them is the poetry with which Nichiren describes life and the Buddhahood which is inherent in our lives. With example after example, he notes how beauty comes upon us by surprise, and sometimes when we least expect it - a lotus flower blooming from the mud, or cherry blossoms from the gray stick of a tree branch. Buddhahood is like that, he teaches us. A graceful surprise, an unexpected delight.
I also enjoy the fact that some of his examples really make me furrow my brow. Who the hell was "the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei", anyway? That's something that Nichiren had a tendency to do - he drew a lot of comparisons to the people and myths of his day, and I'm left here in the 21st century scratching my head and trying to come up with some kind of similar example in my own time. Was the beautiful Yang-Kuei-fei the Elizabeth Taylor of her day? Did the BYKF end up with prescription drug problems, too? Or was the BYKF sort of like Britney Spears, springing from a trailer park? (sorry, Britney). Who was that gal, the beautiful Yang-Kuei-fei? Did she have a publicist? Can we get an 8x10 glossy head shot, so we can at least decide for ourselves how beautiful she was? No, we can't - we have to take Nichiren's word, and just sort of imagine (insert your favorite beauty here).
The issue of Japan "inviting misfortune from ten thousand miles away" is an interesting one. As we all know, Nichiren repeatedly predicted that Japan would be attacked by the Chinese Mongols, and the Mongols were twice confounded in their attempts at invasion by hurricanes in the Sea of Japan. Was this a mystical vindication of Nichiren's teachings, or were the Chinese just incredibly bad meteorologists and ship-builders?
Remember: Misfortune comes from ones mouth and ruins one, but fortune comes from ones heart and makes him worthy of respect. Is this another Confucian ideal, or is it (as I like to think) a good warning against gossip? What do you think?
What does it mean to be a "country that is hostile to the Lotus Sutra"? Does this mean specifically hostile to the Daimoku? Hostile to the Sutra's underlying premises of equal access to enlightenment? To me, "hostility to the Lotus Sutra" means more than just whether or not a country allows the publication and reading of a particular book. It means a hostility to the dignity of human life and its potential for enlightenment and fulfilment. I am forced to wonder if, according to that definition, the United States is becoming a "country hostile to the Lotus Sutra". What do you think?
Finally, it will always be a challenge to look within ourselves for the Buddha Land. No matter how often I read this letter, and no matter how often I remind myself, I still struggle with the notion that the Buddha Land is within me. That's a daily struggle, and a daily process of applying my "washing daimoku" to the jewel in my life.
Here's my hope that you all enjoy a wonderful and happy New Year. May you all accumulate virtue and be loved by all.
Be happy, be thoughtful, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at January 2, 2008 09:33 AM
Hi Byrd,
Nice commentary. Thank you.
As for Yang Kuei-fei, I would imagine general casting would choose either Michelle Yeoh or Lucy Liu.
I also appreciate the eloquence of this gosho and how Nichiren shows that it all comes down to what is in our hearts. Shakyamuni Buddha also taught that the beginning and end of everything is found within the span of our bodies - but Nichiren's way of putting it is much more poetic.
I envy Nichiren's ability to draw upon allusions from classical Chinese literature and Japanese folklore in a way that all his contemporaries were familiar with. It is hard to do that knowadays - because there are so many channels, so many t.v. series, so many movies, so many books, and so many sources from around the world and so little classical education anymore people no longer have a common lore to draw from. For instance, I would love to write about Buddhism with constant references to the works of Joss Whedon and the music and lyrics of PJ Harvey - but who would know what I'm talking about. Another person might want to reference Lost or the works of Jerry Buckheimer or the rap songs - and then I would be lost. So NIchiren had it easy in that he could draw on a body of classical teachings and literature with confidence that people would know what he was referencing - and with a few quick allusions he would have been able to greatly enliven and enrich his points.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Thank you, Byrd, for a great blog and commentary.
The following link you will find who was Yang Kuei-Fei (with a picture too). She was a very famous lady in Chinese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guifei
If you search 楊貴妃 on Google Images, you could see more pictures.
Happy New Year to you all.
Julie
Posted by: Julie at January 2, 2008 03:14 PMI'll be damned, Julie, you're right! There's even a link to a site that has a kabuki performance about her! Well, I didn't expect to learn so much today, but I guess I did! Thanks! Best, Byrd in LA
Posted by: Byrd in LA at January 2, 2008 03:24 PM"...fortune comes from ones heart and makes him worthy of respect." This used to be translated as "mind" instead of "heart." Makes one wonder what the original word is and why the change. It's a warning not only against gossip but against any unreasonable disparaging of others.
I don't think the US is hostile to the Lotus Sutra, at least no more than any other country, we're human after all. Still doing better than most countries on that score, I think.
Can't really add much else to your commentary except to say yes, the Mongols were bad ship builders. Most of them were flat-bottomed boats ill-suited for the open ocean. I think I also read somewhere they were built by people who didn't like the Mongols very much and were sabotaged. Not to take anything away from Nichiren but the failure of the Mongol invasions were mostly the Mongol's fault. Similar to the story of the 700 warriors defeating an army of 30,000. The 30,000 turned on their commanders.
Posted by: Vanya at January 4, 2008 03:02 PMVanya.. Of course there is always a logical reason behind everything that happens. But the circumstances and how it goes about happenning are sometimes hidden in the mystic side of things.
The fact that the Mongols had enemies build the ships and everything else was all underlyingly related to the workings of cause and effect. As was the shock japan received to time with the Buddhas exile etc.
Posted by: Tom at January 26, 2008 08:41 PM