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In 1271, a large-scale drought hit the entire country of Japan. The
government ordered Ryokan of Gokurakuji temple, a monk of the Ritsu
sect, to pray for rain. Nichiren
Daishonin sent a message to Ryokan
challenging him to determine whose teaching was correct based on the
effectiveness of their prayers for rain. In the end, Ryokan was
completely defeated. However, Ryokan, mortified because his prayers were
unanswered, was underhanded enough to conspire with monks of various
sects to persuade the government to eliminate
Nichiren Daishonin, once and
for all. On September 10th, the Daishonin was summoned to the
magistrate's office for questioning at which time he admonished his
interrogator, Hei no Saemon Yoritsuna, the Deputy Director of the Office
of Military and Police Affairs, to establish through debate whether he,
Nichiren Daishonin, or the teachers of the other sects was right. On
September 12th, Hei no Saemon and a few hundred of his troops violently
assaulted the Daishonin in his thatched hut in Matsubagayatsu. The
Daishonin, however, assumed a solemn attitude, stating, "Look at Hei no
Saemon nojo's insane attitude. To lose Nichiren is the same as felling
the pillar of Japan.i Hearing this statement, the color drained from the
faces of all the soldiers including that of Hei no Saemon nojo.
Nichiren Daishonin was arrested as if he were a major criminal. And, without
a trial, on the night of the 12th, he was sent under armed escort to the
execution ground in Tatsunokuchi. The authorities' intention was to
secretly execute the Daishonin who was innocent and could not, according
to national law, be legally punished.
As the time for his beheading approached, the Daishonin readied himself
at the place of execution. The moment the executioner raised his sword
to strike, a brilliant light as bright as the moon came from the
direction of Enoshima Island shooting across the sky towards the
northwest.
The executioner was
blinded by the light and dropped to the ground. Frightened, the other
soldiers fell from their horses or rode away. No one was able to take
the Daishonin's life. This event is called the "Tatsunokuchi
Persecution," and it had a profound significance in the course of the
Daishonin's life.
At the Tatsunokuchi execution site, the Daishonin relinquished his
transient identity as the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Jogyo, who is
described in the Lotus Sutra as having received the essence of the Lotus
Sutra from Shakyamuni. From that time forward, he revealed his true
original identity as the True Buddha who appears in the Latter Day of
the Law to establish the true Buddhism which will enable all mankind to
attain Buddhahood.
This does not mean that the common mortal,
Nichiren Daishonin became a Buddha for
the first time at Tatsunokuchi. Rather the True Buddha, Nichiren
Daishonin, proved by fulfilling all prophecies and overcoming all
persecutions, the fact that he is the original Buddha. Thus, after the
Tatsunokuchi Persecution, the Daishonin finally began to commit himself
to various activities from the standpoint of the True Buddha.
Exile to Sado
After the failed execution attempt at Tatsunokuchi, the Daishonin was
temporarily transferred to Echi in Sagami Province. While he was in Echi,
numerous incidents of arson and murders were committed in Kamakura by
Nembutsu believers. However, the Daishonin's followers were blamed. The
government used these crimes to justify persecuting the Daishonin's
disciples and believers. Frustrated in their attempt to assassinate the
Daishonin, the generals ruling Japan decided to quickly dispose of him
by exiling him to Sado Island. On October 10th, 1271, he was escorted
under guard from Echi to Sado where he arrived on the twentieth of the
same month.
In the 13th century, severe cold weather prevailed throughout the world
including Japan. Especially in Sado which faces the Northern Sea, with
winter coming, the cold must have been unbearable. In such an intensely
cold place, the Daishonin's was confined to a small hut called Sanmaido
located in the local graveyard of Tsukahara where corpses were
abandoned. His small dwelling had holes in its roof and its walls were
near collapsing. The place was such that ordinary people could not
sustain their lives since food and clothing were hardly available.
No matter how severe the conditions were, they could not destroy the
unshakable life of the True Buddha. On the contrary, it was here at the
Tsukahara Sanmaido that the Daishonin, who had discarded his transient
identity and revealed his true identity as the original Buddha, wrote
the Kaimoku Sho (The Opening of the Eyes) in which the object of worship
in terms of the person is revealed.
In February 1272, the Daishonin's prediction of internal strife came
true. This was the incident in which the shogun, Hojo Tokimune's elder
half brother Tokisuke, unsuccessfully attempted to make himself shogun.
Fighting resulted in Tokisuke's death. After having seen that the
Daishonin's prophecy about the internal strife proved right, the
government was overcome with terror and decided in haste to transfer the
Daishonin from Tsukahara Sanmaido to the residence of Ichinosawa Nyudo.
In the following year, 1273, the Daishonin authored the Kanjin no Honzon
Sho (The True Object of Worship), which reveals the object of worship in
terms of the Law.
In 1274, the government received intense pressure from Mongolian envoys
demanding Japan's submission to the Mongol Empire. At the same time,
mysterious phenomena such as the simultaneous appearance in the sky of
the sun and venus occurred one after another. Witnessing these ominous
events and recalling the Daishonin's predictions, Hojo Tokimune decided
to bring him back to Kamakura. On February 14th, 1274, having spent two
years and several months in exile upon Sado, the Daishonin was pardoned
and returned to Japan's political center.
True Objective of the Daishonin's Advent
Upon arriving in Kamakura, the Daishonin was summoned to the military
regime's compound where he was once again confronted by Hei no Saemon.
Assuming a completely different posture from their previous encounter,
Hei no Saemon politely welcomed the Daishonin and asked questions
regarding a possible Mongolian attack and other matters. In reply, the
Daishonin compassionately expounded his Buddhism and explained, "It is
certain that the Mongols will invade Japan within this year. You should
immediately abjure your heretical beliefs and devote yourselves to the
correct teaching." The government, however, rejected his admonition.
Failing to comprehend the Daishonin's intent, they even considered
having the Daishonin join together with monks from heretical religious
sects such as Nembutsu and Shingon to pray for the peace and security of
the nation.
Having realized that the government would not be awakened to the correct
teaching and following an old maxim that says a sage who warns his
sovereign three times and is not heeded should withdraw to a mountain
forest, the Daishonin left Kamakura for Mount Minobu on May 12th, 1274.
He entered the wilderness of Minobu in order to establish a site to
train his disciples for the perpetuation of the true Law. He then
dispatched his priest disciples to various locations in order to
actively propagate true Buddhism. Once again, tremendous opposition
arose in the course of these propagation activities. Of these, the most
severe persecution took place in 1279 in Atsuhara village of the Fuji
area where 20 believers were arrested and tortured. Among them the three
brothers, Jinshiro, Yagoro, and Yarokuro were beheaded when they refused
to abandon their faith in the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin. Seeing
that his believers' faith had grown to the extent that for the sake of
Buddhism, they did not begrudge even their lives, the Daishonin felt
that the right time had come. Thus, on October 12th, 1279, the Daishonin
inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon, the Supreme Object of Worship of the High
Sanctuary of True Buddhism, which was the ultimate purpose of his
advent. Entering Nirvana
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