May 31, 2006
Kaimoku -- Opening One's Eyes Part Five
Previously, I wrote:
In "Kaimoku -- Opening One's Eyes Part Five", I shall look more closely at the reason for this discrepancy of translation, the pedigree of the copies of this Gosho, and, maybe, a tangential issue – that of Nichiren's letters written in Kanji, as opposed to those written in kana, or a mixture of both scripts.
First, a relevant side issue. There are at least two authenticated letters, from 1275 & 1277, in which Nichiren possibly describes himself as the sovereign, father, mother, and teacher of Japan. However, he also explains that he is "the messenger of Shakyamuni Buddha" and "Bodhisattva Superior Practices -- the emissary of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni. In the 5 or 10 Major Writings, he makes it clear that only Shakyamuni possesses the Three Virtues {san-toku} and the Three Bodies {san-jin}. A
There are two lists of Nichiren's Major Doctrinal Writings. These are the Five Major Goibun and Ten Major Gosho. In these treatises, Nichiren establishes the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of the Hokke Shu. I have no idea who picked the Five Major Goibun. Nikko Shonin designated the Ten Major Gosho as the most important of Nichiren's works. The Kaimoku Sho is on both lists.
The "background" for Soka Gakkai's translation of the Kaimoku Sho begins with "This treatise is one of Nichiren Daishonin's most important writings, for he revealed himself here to be the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher and parent."
This startling conclusion, which seems to contradict the point Nichiren makes over and over, is based entirely on one sentence that appears near the end of the Soka Gakkai's translation of the Kaimoku Sho: "I, Nichiren, am sovereign, teacher, father and mother to all the people of Japan." --[The Opening of the Eyes - Part Two (WND030), Page 287, col 1, line 30, sentence 1 in paragraph 2]
Here is the same sentence/passage from the Nichiren Shu: "I Nichiren, am like a compassionate parent to everyone in Japan, whereas everyone in the Tendai School is their worst enemy. " Kaimoku-Sho, pp 328 and 330, NOPPA.
In defending the Nichiren Shu translation, John Petry wrote, " the 5 Major treatises of Nichiren were written in Classic Chinese not in Japanese. This includes Kaimoku Sho. "
John cited Burton Watson, who translated the SGI versions, using the Japanese in the Gosho Zenshu as a source. John wrote, "See for example Watson's Introduction in Volume One of the Major Writings, page xxxiv:
'Some are formal treatises on Buddhism with large numbers of quotations from Chinese doctrinal works and translations of sutras. Examples of such treatises are the 'Rissho Ankoku Ron' or On Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism and the 'Kanjin no Honzon Sho' or the True Object of Worship. These treatises were written in classic Chinese, which like Latin in Europe until recent centuries, was widely employed in Japan for works of history, philosophy and religious doctrine. Nichiren Daishonin's writings in classic Chinese are marked by great power and fluency.' "
Elsewhere in that and similar threads, John blamed the addition of the words on "sovereign & teacher" on accretions to the text in the Goshu Zenshu. He wrote:
"Watson in his discussion of the NSIC translations admits that no attempt was made to compare the NSIC translations to the original documents. They were translations of the Gosho Zenshu without any attempt to cross reference to the originals."
and
" ... but the kana you refer to are added by the NST. It says something like shu, sho, shin followed by the kanji for father and mother in the Gosho zenshu. So we would have Nichiren saying "sovereign, teacher, parents, mother and father". Rather a bit redundant. "
In the discussion, dc, a defender of the SGI translation, accuses Nichiren Shu of excising those specific kana out of the text. He wrote, "Nikko Shonin admonished the elder priests who removed kana and burned some originals, because they did not think kana was respectable enough."
However, Lamont wrote, "a fascimile copy by the sixteenth century abbot Nikken exists at Hommanji in Kyoto and indicates the original was in mixed kana and kanji style." -- link
Also, according to another source, Kazuhiro Suzuki; "the Rissho Ankoku-ron and Kanjin no Honzon-sho are in kanji only, while the Kaimoku-sho, Senji-sho, Ho'on-sho are in kanji and kana. " [Kanji = classical Chinese Script. Kana = "a primarily syllabic script used by the Japanese writing system."]
So, John, who wrote that he working from memory, appears to be mistaken on one point -- the Kaimoku Sho was written in mixed kana and kanji style. However, I suspect that Taisekiji & SGI may have inserted some extra kana at some point, to change or read into the meaning of that sentence. Either way, I think I have shown it is moot. Nichiren saw himself as 'sovereign, parent, & teacher' to the people of Japan, in the context his role as messenger, emissary, or envoy of the Juryo Chapter.
Lamont also wrote "I know of no passage which, read normally and honestly, could have Nichiren calling himself sovreign of the Three Worlds. However, I'd have to study the work in detail. Besides even if he did so, the later works show him as messenger of the Lord of the Three Worlds. ... There is no doubt that Nichiren regarded Shakyamuni as Lord, Teacher, and Parent; his reference to himself as Compassionate Parent derives from the commentaries on the Great Nirvana Sutra; the Three Virtues of Shakyamuni are from the Hokekyo." -- ibid
As for the charge that "the elder priests who removed kana and burned some originals ". I have searched high & low for the source of this gossip. It appears to be from an extremely dubious document, "On Refuting the Five Priests." See Kazuo
Finally, the Kaimoku Sho, at present, is an A-U-C Gosho.
"A" means that it is authenticated.
"U" means what was confirmed to be a true gosho, however, the original was lost in the past.
"C" means what was copied by Nichiren's Shonin's direct disciples.
The original was lost in a 1875 or 1876 fire at Minobu. The same tragedy deprived us of the Sado Siken-no-Daimandara of July 08 1273 There are said to be three extant copies in the handwriting of the original disciples, kept at Minobu.
to be continued ...
Posted by rbeck at May 31, 2006 11:25 PM