"I, Nichiren am the foremost practitioner of the Hokekyo in Japan. If among Nichiren's disciples and lay donors you come later than me, then even before the God Brahma, the Emperor Shakra, The Four Great Celestial Kings or the Emperor of the Dharma Yama, proclaim, 'I am the disciple of the foremost practitioner of the Hokekyo in Japan, the priest Nichiren,' and you shall pass.
This Hokekyo becomes a ship on the rivers of the Three Paths, the Great White Ox Cart on the Mountain of going Forth in Death, becomes a lamp on the paths of the underworld, and is a bridge to take us to the Spiritual Mountain. When you are at the Spiritual Mountain, seek at the ushitori (northeastern) gallery. I will certainly awa"it you. But it depends on the mind of faith of each one. If just the mind of faith is weak, no matter how much you call yourself a disciple or lay donor of Nichiren, by no means will you be accepted. If one is of two minds and merely the mind of faith is weak, think of it as the stone from a mountain rolling down into a valley or the rain from the sky falling to the great earth: There can be no doubt of the Great Avici Hell. At that time do not resent me, Nichiren: It really depends on the faith of each one. The fact that those who formed conditional links under Daitsu Buddha fell to hell and passed through kalpas more than the dust of lands in an easterly direction touched or untouched by ink drops made from the elements of a great trichilocosm (sanzen jintengo) and the group that put down the seeds of Buddhahood under the Original Buddha in the Most Distant Pass fell to hell and passed through kalpas more than the dust of five hundred thousands of tens of thousands of tens of millions of nayutas of asamkheyas of great trichilocosms (gohyaku jintengo) is because they met EVIL SPIRITUAL FRIENDS and believed in the Hokekyo in a neglectful manner. Really having the mind of faith, indeed, when you go to the Spiritual Mountain, seek for me, Nichiren. At that time I shall tell you in detail." (KHS, p. 541)
Nichiren writes in another letter:
"Be that as it may, one should understand that, at present, when it comes to teachers, there is a difference between correct teachers and erroneous teachers, between good teachers and bad teachers. One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good. Even if their virtue is known throughout the country and their wisdom is as bright as the sun and moon, one should recognize that teachers who slander the Lotus Sutra are evil teachers and erroneous teachers, and refrain from approaching them. A sutra warns us on this point, “If there are slanderers of the Law, one should not dwell with them. If one draws near them and dwells with them, one will be bound for the Avichi hell.”
No matter how honest and upright you may be, or how you may strive to be known as a worthy person in the secular or the religious world, IF YOU ASSOCIATE WITH EVIL PERSONS, then as a natural result you will find that in two or three instances out of ten you are following their teachings, and in the end you, too, will become an evil person. Thus the commentary says, “Though one may not be evil to begin with, if one associates with and is friendly with evil persons, one is bound in time to become an evil person oneself, and one’s evil reputation will spread throughout the world.”
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