October 13, 2022
Writings of Nichiren Shonin Volume 5: Biography and Disciples 2nd Edition
By Rev. Shinkyo Warner
As part of the Nichiren Overseas Propa- gation and Promotion Association (NOPPA) project to revise the Writings of Nichiren Shonin, Volume 5 is published today, October 13 and is available on Amazon.
This volume includes the Shimoyama Letter (ST 247) in which Nichiren helps his disciple Nichiei explain to Nichiei’s father why he will not vow to abandon the Lotus Sutra and devote himself to the Pure Land Sutras. It is an example of how Nichiren shows his followers the benefits of practicing the Lotus Sutra, and the importance of responding to those who slander the Lotus Sutra, especially if they are parents, employers, or officials who would make our lives difficult.
The volume is entitled “Biography and Disciples,” since it includes at least 16 writings in which Nichiren covers details of his life from his days as a novice priest at Seichoji Temple, through his propagation and persecution in Kamakura, his exiles to Izu and Sado, his attempts to warn the Japanese government of foreign invasion, the joys and hardships of his life at Mt. Minobu, and the decline of his health towards the end of his life.
In most of his writings, we see Nichiren as a scholar who precisely dismantles the arguments of other schools of Buddhism. In other writings, such as Sovereigns of our Native Land (ST 168), we have seen Nichiren as a politically astute historian. But in these writings, such as the Mt. Minobu Letter (ST 432), we see both Nichiren’s skill as a poet, and his appreciation of other poets:
In the rapids of the swift mountain streams, I rinse vegetables, and as I wait impatiently for my dampened sleeves to dry, I think of the old poet Hitomaro who recited,
“At Waka-no-ura, The fishermen think
of the passing of their lives As they wait for
the seaweed to dry.”
We hope that these new editions will help to bring us all a deeper appreciation of Nichiren Shonin’s life as a gift for us and the entire world.