Gosho for Kosen Rufu Gongyo August 2006.pdf

Gosho for Kosen Rufu Gongyo August 2006
This I will state. Let the gods forsake me.
Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will
give my life for the sake of the Law. “The Opening
of the Eyes” WND p 280
BACKGROUND:
This treatise is one of Nichiren Daishonin's most important writings, for he revealed
himself here to be the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who possesses the three
virtues of sovereign, teacher and parent. In February 1272, still under the harsh penalty of
exile on Sado Island, the Daishonin completed this work and addressed it to Shijo Kingo,
one of his trusted disciples. "The True Object of Worship," written one year later,
clarifies the object of worship, which allows all people to attain enlightenment, from the
viewpoint of the Law. "The Opening of the Eyes" treats the same subject in terms of the
Person; that is, it shows Nichiren Daishonin to be the original Buddha who would
establish the true object of worship for the happiness of all mankind. The object of
worship is the embodiment of the Daishonin's life and the supreme law of the universe,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
The Tatsunokuchi Persecution of 1271 and the subsequent exile to Sado Island were the
greatest of all persecutions befalling Nichiren Daishonin. His life on the forbidding island
was full of hardship; his hut was open to the wind and snow, and he lacked food, clothing
and writing materials. In addition to his physical suffering he was troubled by the news
that many of his followers in Kamakura had abandoned their faith. Moreover, jealous
Nembutsu priests posed a continual threat to his life. The shadow of death always
haunted him. Under these circumstances, Nichiren Daishonin wrote this treatise to
encourage his disciples as though it were his last will and testament.
Nichiren Daishonin expressed his conviction as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law
in the Gosho, "On the Buddha's Behavior": "After everyone had gone, I began to put into
shape a work in two volumes, called Kaimoku Sho (The Opening of the Eyes), which I
had been working on since the eleventh month of the previous year. I wanted to record
the wonder I had experienced, in case I should be beheaded. The essential message in this
work, which I entrusted to Shijo Kingo's messenger, is that the destiny of Japan depends
solely upon me. A house without pillars collapses and a man without a soul is dead. I am
the soul of the people of Japan."

The ultimate teaching expounded by all Buddhas reveals that all living
beings possess the life-state of Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra also clearly
states that Buddhas fulfill the purpose of their appearance in the world by
opening for all living beings the door to the Buddha wisdom lying dormant
in their lives, showing it to them, causing them to awaken to it and guiding
them to enter its path (see The Lotus Sutra, p. 31 )-in other words, enabling
all to attain enlightenment. The essence of this ultimate teaching of the
Buddhas is to help everyone actualize the same great enlightenment that they
have achieved. That is why Buddhism is at all times concerned with raising
disciples who will exert themselves in faith and practice with the same spirit
as the mentor. Buddhism is none other than a philosophy of mentor and
disciple.
And the spirit of this philosophy of mentor and disciple truly comes to
life only when the disciples' hearts blaze with the same bright spiritual flame
evinced by Nichiren, who proclaimed: "Let the gods forsake me. Let all
persecutions assail me. Still 1 will give my life for the sake of the Law"
(WND, 280).In that sense, the Daishonin's focus on "I and my disciples" in
this passage can also be read as a call for the emergence of ranks of capable
successors who will continue his struggle. (From SGI President Ikeda's
Study Lecture Series on "The Opening of the Eyes" [16], March-April 2006
Living Buddhism, pp. 72_73)