July 04, 2007

War and Nichiren

In your case, you are a member of a warrior family, an evil man who day and night is involved in the business of killing. Since you have not left your household (to become a priest), but have remained a warrior to the present, by what means can you escape the three evil paths? Should you not think about this very carefully?

The heart of the Lotus Sutra is the revelation that one may attain supreme enlightenment in one's present form without altering one's status as an ordinary person. This means that without casting aside one's karmic impediments one can still attain the Buddha way. Thus T'ien-t'ai said, "The other sutras only predict Buddhahood... for the good, but not for the evil;... This (Lotus) sutra predicts Buddhahood for all."

And Miao-lo said, "The meaning of the perfect teachings lies solely in the fact that those who oppose can be saved as well as those who follow. In the other three teachings, the fate of these two types of people is fixed."

"Reply to Hakiri Saburo", The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. I

Posted by dshimoda at 10:23 AM | Comments (4)