ON FORGETTING ONE'S COPY OF THE SUTRA (BO JIKYO JI)

Bo Jikyo Ji

ON FORGETTING ONE'S COPY OF THE SUTRA (BO JIKYO JI)

The sutra you keep, which you have forgotten, I have had an adept bring you and send you this. Duke Al of Lu said, 'There is one who really forgets: when he moves his residence, he forgets his wife.' Confucius said, 'And there is one who really forgets even more than that: the Rulers Chieh and Chou forgot their own bodies' and so on.

Now the Venerable [Suri]handoku forgot his name. This was really the most forgetful in Jambudvipa. Now the saint Jonin has forgotten the sutra he keeps: is he really the most forgetful person in Japan?

Those who formed conditions under Daitsu forgot 'the Jewel in their Clothing' Passing through kalpas [as the dust of lands] touched by the dust of a three[-thousand great chiliocosm] they wandered on the road of poverty; the people who put down seeds in the distant past, forgot the excellent medicine: spending kalpas [numbered as the dust of lands] touched [and untouched] by the dust of five [hundred thousands of ten thousands of hundred thousands of nayutas of asamkheyas of three-thousand great chiliocosms], they were turned topsy-turvy on the dangerous ground of the Three Paths. Now the scholars of the Shingon Sect, the Nembutsu Sect, the Zen Sect, the Ritsu Sect, and so on have forgotten the Buddha's fundamental intention: passing in succession through numberless kalpas in the future, they will sink into Avici Hell.

There are those really more forgetful than these: that is to say, the scholars of the Tendai Sect and the keepers of the sutra of the present age blaspheming Nichiren and aiding and supporting the Nembutsu people are these. They turn against the parent and adhere to an enemy; they grasp a sword and destroy themselves. These I will leave aside for the time being.

Now the bodhisattva Jotai (Ever-weeping) went east, seeking the Prajna Sutras; the acolyte Zenzai went south to obtain the Kegon Sutra; the little child of Sessen for half a verse abandoned his body; the Brahmacharya Rakuho for one verse pared his skin. These were all high sages or great people. When we investigate their manifestations, they dwelt in the Stages or the Abodes; when we seek their original [states], they are just Equal to Enlightened or Sublimely Enlightened. Their bodies entering Eight Fiery Hells, they obtained the Samadhi of the Fire Pit; their minds entering the Eight Cold Hells, they realize the Samadhi of Coolness: their bodies and minds are both without suffering. For example, as loosing an arrow and shooting the empty sky or grasping a rock and throwing it in the water.

Now you, Jonin, are a fool of the Latter Age, a worldling whose delusions of View and Thought are not yet cut off. Your person is neither lay nor religious but a bald hermit. Your mind is neither good nor evil but is just [that of] a sheep.

Even so, a loving mother was in your hall: in the morning when you visited your lord, and in the evening you entered and returned to your private residence, what you worked for was for the sake of your loving mother: what you understood was a filial mind alone. However, around the last third of the past month, in order to show the principle of Birth-and-Death, she went on the road of the Yellow Springs. Here I lamented with you and said, 'When the lifespan reaches nine decades, for the child to remain and the parent to depart is the order, yet when we carefully consider the heart of the matter, after she has departed she cannot come back and on what month and day could we expect her? Two mothers are not in the country: from now on whom shall one revere?'

Because the separation was difficult to bear, you hung her relics around your neck, following your feet, set forth on the great road. From the Province of Shimosa you arrived at the Province of Kai; the round trip between them is as much as a thousand ri. All the provinces are suffering famine; the mountains and wilds are filled with robbers and brigands; every lodging is short of provisions.

Your own body is thin and weak, your following is as if non-existent and the oxen and horses do not meet the occasion. Towering great mountains range upon range, vast great rivers are very many. When you climb high mountains, your head strikes heaven; when you descend into the gloomy valleys, your feet tread clouds. Unless you are a bird, they are difficult to cross; unless you are a deer they are difficult to pass over. Your eyesight spins around; your feet freeze The Pamir Range [crossed byl] the Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva and the Omine [Peak where dwelt] the Upasaka En (En no Ozune) are just now.

However, later seeking and entering the deep cave, you see a single hermitage. The voices of the reading and reciting of the Hokekyo echo against blue heaven and the words of discussing the doctrine of the One Vehicle are heard in the midst of the mountains. Informing them of your presence and requesting] admittance, you enter the chamber, place your mother's bones before the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya, cast your five limbs to the ground, press your palms together, and opening your two eyes, look up to the Holy Face: joy overflows your body and the pain of your heart suddenly ceases.

One's own head is one's parents' head; one's own feet is one's parents' feet; one's ten fingers is one's parents' ten fingers; one's own mouth is the parents' mouths. For example as a seed and the fruit, body and shadow. The Attainment of Enlightenment by the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya is the Attainment of Enlightenment by [His parents] Suddhodana and Maya: Kissen shishi, Lady Shodai, and [their son] the Venerable Maudgalyayana attain Buddhahood at the same time. When we view it thus, her beginningless karmic hindrances were suddenly extinguished and the Sublime Lotus of her Mind-Nature has suddenly opened. But after this, you greatly performed the Buddha ceremonies and returned without incident and so on.

Respectfully.

To the Tonsured Layman Toki

(Third month of Kenji 2 (1276)