Gosho Study #3: The Hero of the World
Untempered iron quickly melts in a blazing fire, like ice put in hot water. But a sword, even when exposed to great fire, withstands the heat for a while, because it has been well forged. In admonishing you in this way, I am trying to forge your faith. Buddhism is reason. Reason will win over your lord. ( The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin-1, 839)
Forging Our Lives Daily with Tenacity
Nichiren wrote this letter in 1277 from Mount Minobu to Shijo king, who was living in Kamakura. A leading disciple of strong and sincere faith in the community of disciples in Kamakura, Shijo Kingo faced his greatest adversity in life in 1277. In June of that year, a religious debate was held at Kuwagayatsu in Kamakura. Afterward, Ema, the feudal lord whom Kingo served as a samurai retainer, was falsely informed that an armed group led by Kingo had burst in and disrupted the proceedings. This led Ema to order Kingo to write an oath renouncing his faith in the Lotus Sutra—failure to comply would result in his lands being confiscated. Kingo sent Nichiren a letter in which he voiced his resolve never to submit such an oath.
Nichiren wrote a series of letters to encourage and give detailed advice to Kingo, including this Gosho.
This is a passage where Nichiren teaches that as long as one maintains strong faith, one will surely be able to win in all aspects of life and overcome all adversities. When devilish functions appear, we will surely be defeated in both body and mind if we do not have a strong and vibrant life force to counter these negative workings, just like how untempered iron melts in a blazing fire.
On the other hand, even though it is the same iron, when it is well forged, it can withstand the heat for a while even when exposed to a great fire. In the same way, when we forge our lives, we will be able to courageously take on the challenge when devilish functions appear and prevail over them.
To “forge” our lives, it entails our regular practice of morning and evening gongyo and carrying out activities for kosen-rufu. It is through these continued efforts that we exert to polish and forge our lives through our practice of faith that we are able to transform our karma and overcome all difficulties in life without fail. Nichiren also says here, “Buddhism is reason. Reason will win over your lord.”
Buddhism teaches the correct way of life as a human being and therefore, it can be said to embody ultimate reason. “Winning over your lord” means never to be defeated or intimidated by tyrannical secular authorities by basing on the power of the lucid principles of Buddhism and to win in the end. We can create an unerring road map to victory by living our lives wisely with integrity and sincerity based on faith in the Mystic Law. This is the power of reason based on the teachings of Buddhism. When we base our lives on faith and tenaciously conduct ourselves with sincerity and honesty, we will never fail to win the trust of the people around us.
Key Points:
- This is a passage where Nichiren teaches that as Iong as one maintains strong faith, one will surely be able to win in all aspects of life and overcome all adversities.
- When devilish functions appear, we will surely be defeated if we do not have a strong and vibrant life force to counter these negative workings, just like how untempered iron melts in a blazing fire.
- On the other hand, even though it is the same iron, when it is well forged, it can withstand the heat for a while even when exposed to a great fire. In the same way, when we forge our lives, we will be able to courageously take on the challenge when devilish functions appear and prevail over them
- To “forge” our lives, it entails our regular practice of morning and evening gongyo and carrying out activities for kosen-rufu. It is through these continued efforts that we exert to polish and forge our lives through our practice of faith that we are able to transform our karma and overcome all difficulties in life without fail.
- We can create an unerring road map to victory by living our lives wisely with integrity and sincerity based on faith in the Mystic Law. This is the power of reason based on the teachings of Buddhism.
- When we base our lives on faith and tenaciously conduct ourselves with sincerity and honesty, we will never fail to win the trust of the people around us.
