Nichiren on debate 1

"You must not allow the towering pride of your present lifetime to plant the seeds of deluded wandering for endless kalpas to come. Let us make all haste to appeal to the authorities, make haste to meet face-to-face before them, and to put an end to these erroneous views!"

"The situation was similar in China. After Mātanga had introduced Buddhism to China, he held a debate with the Taoists. When the Taoists were defeated in debate, then for the first time there were people who put their faith in Buddhism, though there were many more who did not."

"In Japan, the Great Teacher Dengyō defeated in debate the leaders of the six schools and became the country’s first and foremost great teacher, Great Teacher Kompon."

"Eight hundred years after the beginning of the Middle Day of the Law, in the reign of the fiftieth sovereign, Emperor Kammu (r. 781–806), there appeared a young priest without reputation named Saichō, who was later to be known as the Great Teacher Dengyō. At first he studied the doctrines of the six schools—Three Treatises, Dharma Characteristics, Flower Garland, Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, and Precepts—as well as the Zen teaching, under the Administrator of Priests Gyōhyō and others. Later he founded a temple called Kokushō-ji, which in time came to be known as Mount Hiei. There he pored over the sutras and treatises of the six schools, as well as the commentaries written by their leaders. But he found that these commentaries often contradicted the sutras and treatises upon which these schools relied and were replete with one-sided opinions. It became apparent to him that if people were to accept such teachings they would all fall into the evil paths of existence. In addition, though the leaders of each of the different schools proclaimed that they had understood the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra and praised their own particular interpretation, none of them had in fact understood its teachings correctly. Saichō felt that if he were to state this opinion openly it would surely lead to quarrels and disputes. But if he remained silent, he would be going against the spirit of the Buddha’s vow.52 He agonized over what course to take, but in the end, fearful of violating the Buddha’s admonition, made known his views to Emperor Kammu.

Emperor Kammu, startled at his declaration, summoned the leading authorities of the six schools to engage in debate. At first these scholars in their pride were similar to banners raised aloft like mountains, and their evil minds worked like poisonous snakes, but in the end they were forced to bow in defeat in the presence of the ruler, and each and every person of the six schools and the seven major temples of Nara acknowledged himself a disciple of Saichō.

It was like that earlier occasion when the Buddhist scholars of northern and southern China gathered in the palace of the Ch’en dynasty and, having been bested in debate by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, became his disciples. But [of the three types of learning] T’ien-t’ai had employed only perfect meditation and perfect wisdom. The Great Teacher Dengyō, by contrast, attacked the Hinayana specific ordination for administering the precepts, which T’ien-t’ai had failed to controvert, and administered the Mahayana specific ordination described in the Brahmā Net Sutra to eight eminent priests of the six schools. In addition, he established on Mount Hiei a specific ordination platform for administering the precepts of the perfect and immediate enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra. Thus the specific ordination in the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment at Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei was not only the foremost ordination ceremony in Japan, but a great ordination in the precepts of Eagle Peak such as had never been known either in India or China or anywhere else in Jambudvīpa during the eighteen hundred or more years since the Buddha’s passing. This ceremony of ordination had its beginning in Japan.

If we examine the merit achieved by the Great Teacher Dengyō, we would have to say that he is a sage who surpasses Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu and who excels both T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo. If so, then what priest in Japan today could turn his back on the perfect precepts of the Great Teacher Dengyō, whether he belongs to Tō-ji, Onjō-ji, or the seven major temples of Nara, or whether he is a follower of one of the eight schools or of the Pure Land, Zen, or Precepts school in whatever corner of the land? The priests of the nine regions of China became the disciples of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai with respect to the perfect meditation and perfect wisdom that he taught. But since no ordination platform for universally administering the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment was ever established in China, some of them might not have become his disciples with regard to the precepts. In Japan, however, [because Dengyō in fact established such an ordination platform] any priests who fail to become disciples of the Great Teacher Dengyō can only be regarded as non-Buddhists and men of evil.

As to the question of which of the two newer schools brought from China is superior, the Tendai or the True Word, the Great Teacher Dengyō was perfectly clear in his mind. But he did not demonstrate which was superior in public debate, as he had done previously with regard to the relative merit of the Tendai school in comparison to the six older schools. Perhaps on that account, after the passing of the Great Teacher Dengyō, Tō-ji, the seven major temples of Nara, Onjō-ji, and other temples throughout the provinces of Japan all began proclaiming that the True Word school is superior to the Tendai school, until everyone from the ruler on down to the common people believed that such was the case.

Thus the true spirit of the Tendai Lotus school really flourished only during the lifetime of the Great Teacher Dengyō. Dengyō lived at the end of the Middle Day of the Law, during the period described in the Great Collection Sutra as the age of building temples and stupas. The time had not yet arrived when, as the Great Collection Sutra says, “Quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to my teachings, and the pure Law will become obscured and lost.”

"Is any single great matter to be found in the other sutras? The Lotus Sutra contains twenty outstanding principles. Among those twenty, the most vital is the “Life Span” chapter’s revelation that the Buddha first attained enlightenment numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago. People may well wonder what this revelation means. Explain that it teaches that common people like ourselves, who have been submerged in the sufferings of birth and death since time without beginning and who never so much as dreamed of reaching the shore of enlightenment, become the Thus Come Ones who are originally enlightened and endowed with the three bodies. That is, it reveals the ultimate principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. From this perspective, you should firmly establish that the Lotus Sutra is the most profound among all the Buddha’s teachings.

You may bring forth this point in an official debate, but not during personal discussions. Should you indiscriminately mention it to whomever you meet, on any occasion or at any time, you will certainly incur punishment from the Buddhas of the three existences. This is the doctrine that I have always referred to as my own inner realization."

SGI indiscriminately mentions it to everyone against Nichiren's mandate. And just like the True Word priests, when they realized they had no chance to defeat Nichiren in debate, avoided Nichiren at all costs:

"As for my teachings, regard those before my exile to the province of Sado as equivalent to the Buddha’s pre-Lotus Sutra teachings. I had thought that, if the ruler of this country desired to govern well, he would summon the priests of the True Word school for an open debate with me, and that on that occasion I would reveal a matter of truly supreme importance. Before my exile, I withheld this even from my disciples for fear that if I should tell them, even in confidence, they might inadvertently disclose it to the True Word priests, who would then avoid the debate. This is why I refrained from revealing it to each one of you as well."

"At this time there was a humble monk called the Scholar Bhadraruchi who declared that the Brahman should be corrected, but neither the ruler and high ministers nor the common people would listen to such a suggestion. In the end, the Brahman charged his disciples and lay supporters to go about spreading countless falsehoods and abusing and beating Bhadraruchi. But Bhadraruchi, disregarding the danger to his life, continued to denounce the Brahman until the ruler, coming to hate Bhadraruchi, arranged for him to debate with the Brahman in hopes of silencing him. Contrary to his expectations, however, the Brahman was the one defeated in the debate.

The king looked up to heaven, then threw himself upon the ground lamenting, and said, “I have been privileged to hear your words on this matter firsthand and to free myself from my erroneous views. But my father, the former king, was completely deceived by this man and by now has probably fallen into the Avīchi hell!” So saying, he clung to the knees of the Scholar Bhadraruchi and wept in sorrow.

At Bhadraruchi’s suggestion, the Brahman was placed on the back of a donkey so that he might be led in disgrace throughout India and shown to all. But the evil in his heart only grew stronger than ever, and in his living form he fell into the hell of incessant suffering. Was he any different from the followers of the True Word and Zen schools in the world today?"

"I have no further details to add, so you may surmise what really happened. How could a person who believes in the Lotus Sutra and aspires to the Buddha way possibly contemplate misbehavior or deliberately use foul language when the Buddhist teaching is being expounded? However, I leave this to your judgment.

Having declared myself to be a follower of the Sage Nichiren, I returned home and reported to you exactly what had happened during the debate. Moreover, no one was present on that occasion whom I did not know. What you heard must have been the fabrication of those who harbor jealousy against me. If you quickly summon them to face me in your presence, the truth of the matter will be brought to light."

"In China, in the time of the Ch’en emperor [Shu-pao], the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai defeated in debate the Buddhist leaders of northern and southern China, and was honored with the title of Great Teacher while still alive. As Dengyō says of him, he was “far above the crowd; in all of China, he stood alone.”

"I have heard that, when the priest Ryōkan knew I was far away in a distant province, he told everyone how he wished I would hasten to Kamakura so that he might debate with me and dispel the people’s doubts. Demand to know if praising oneself and disparaging others41 in this fashion is one of the precepts his school practices. What is more, when I actually did return to Kamakura, Ryōkan shut his gates and forbade anyone to enter. At times, he even feigned illness, saying that he had caught a cold. Tell him, “I am not Nichiren but merely one of his disciples. Though I speak with a bit of an accent and am rather dull-witted, I fully agree with his assertion that the Precepts school is traitorous.” When in public debate, although the teachings that you advocate are perfectly consistent with the truth, you should never on that account be impolite or abusive, or display a conceited attitude. Such conduct would be disgraceful. Order your thoughts, words, and actions carefully, and be prudent when you meet with others in debate."

"This priest informed me of private reports from various people that there are likely to be doctrinal debates with the other schools in the near future. I have therefore been sending people to a number of temples in the different provinces in order to search out sutras and treatises from all over the country. I had sent this priest on such a mission to the province of Suruga, and he has just now returned, [so I am sending him with this letter]."

When the disciples of those three great teachers [Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō] slander the Lotus Sutra, is it p.1058simply because the minds of you gods of the sun and moon have taken possession of them and are causing them to commit slander? Or if that is not the case and I myself am at fault, then you, the god of the sun, must show me so! Let those disciples be summoned to debate with me, and if I am bested in the argument and yet refuse to change my views, then you gods may take away my life!

"When the Buddhist scriptures were first brought to China from India, some people said that they should be accepted, while others said they should be rejected. A conflict arose, and the ruler summoned the two groups to meet and debate the issue. The adherents of non-Buddhist teachings were defeated by the supporters of Buddhism. After that, whenever the two groups engaged in polemics, the devotees of non-Buddhist scriptures were defeated by the Buddhists as easily as ice melts in the sun, or as fire is extinguished by water. Eventually they ceased to offer any effective opposition to Buddhism."

"It is now over two hundred years since the Latter Day of the Law began. The Buddha predicted that conditions would be much worse after his passing, and we see the portents of this in the quarrels and wranglings that go on today because unreasonable doctrines are prevalent. And as proof of the fact that we are living in a muddied age, I was not summoned for a doctrinal debate with my opponents, but instead I was sent into exile and my very life imperiled."

The entire Letter of Petition from Yorimoto talks about a particular debate in which Shijo Kingo was present.