December 8, 2021
Writings of Nichiren Shonin Volume 2 Second Edition
Continuing with our update of the Writings of Nichiren Shonin (WONS) series, volume two was released on December 8 of this year. This volume includes two more of Nichiren’s five major writings. The Kaimoku-sho, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, written from Sado island soon after Nichiren was exiled there following the Tatsonokuchi persecution, and the Kanjin Honzon-sho, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Venerable One, written a year later, also during his exile to Sado island.
It also includes several other interesting works, one of which is the Hasshu Imoku-sho, A Treatise on the Differences between the Lotus Sect and Eight Other Sects, in which Nichiren Shonin uses diagrams and tables to illustrate differences in the periods of the Buddha’s teachings, and in the tenets of other sects of Buddhism in Japan.
There is also the Shojo Daijo Fumbetsu-sho, The Differences between Hinayana and Mahayana Teachings, which provides more description of the essential section of the Lotus Sutra, hommon, how it relates to the theoretical section, shakumon, all other teachings of the Buddha, and to T’ien-t’ai’s 3000 existences in one thought.
The Rissho Kanjo, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation, begins as a criticism of Tendai monks who have abandoned the Lotus Sutra and taken up spiritual contemplation as described by T’ien-t’ai. Nichiren Shonin explains that not only is T’ien-t’ai’s spiritual contemplation grounded in the Lotus Sutra, the insight to be gained by spiritual contemplation is the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra.
As with volume one, volume two provides an extensive glossary of terms used in the writings included in the volume. This makes it an excellent resource for study groups and anyone else seeking to deepen their understanding and practice of the Wonderful Dharma.
Writings of Nichiren Shonin Volume Two Second Edition is available on Amazon.