Chapter1
Nichiren Shoshu
Shakyamuni, the historical founder of Buddhism who lived in India 3,000 years ago, predicted in the Sutra of the Great Assembly (Dai-shik-kyo) that the world would enter an age of strife and discord 2,000 years after his death, an age when philosophy and religion would be disordered and confused. At that time the Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni would lose its effectiveness to save the people. He called this age mappo, or the Latter Day of the Law, when, as the Sutra of the Great Assembly stated, “the Pure Law would become obscured and lost.”
However, Shakyamuni made an additional prediction in the Lotus Sutra. He predicted the appearance of true Buddhism for the age of mappo that would replace the Buddhism of Shakyamuni, and that the Original (True) Buddha, the fundamental master of all Buddhas, would appear to teach this true Buddhism in the world.
Why should Shakyamuni’s Buddhism lose its effectiveness? Why would the appearance of a new Buddhism be necessary? The reason is that although mappo is an age when the material aspects of civilization are much more highly advanced than when Shakyamuni lived, it is also an age when the hearts of the people have become corrupt. Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has no power to help them. Regarding this, the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin, stated:
Medicine differs according to the illness. Ordinary medicine will help a slight ailment, but for grave illness, elixir should be used.
(MW, Vol. 3, p.55; Gosho, p.690)
This is a metaphor for the principle that in the age of mappo, when the world is filled with evil and Shakyamuni’s Buddhism has lost its validity, a Buddhism that teaches the ultimate truth will appear for the sake of this time period.
The validity of Shakyamuni’s prediction was proven by the appearance of Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha, and by his establishment of the Buddhism of the Three Great Secret Laws (Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo), the teaching to save all humanity in the Latter Day of the Law. The Daishonin states:
Now in the Latter Day of the Law, neither the Lotus Sutra nor the other sutras lead to enlightenment; only Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo can do so. And this is not merely my own opinion. Shakyamuni, Taho, and all the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions as well as the innumerable Bodhisattvas of the Earth have so determined….A lamp will be useless after the sun rises. How can dewdrops be beneficial once the rain falls?
(MW, Vol. 3, p.266; Gosho, p.1219)
The true Buddhism of the True Buddha Nichiren Daishonin, the teaching of the ultimate truth, was established on April 28, 1253. Today, other forms of Buddhism and other teachings are of no more use than the light of the moon or candles in the middle of the day. They have no validity for this time period.
This means that Nichiren Daishonin is the only person that we, the people in the age of the Latter Day of the Law, revere as the Buddha. For us, the Daishonin’s Buddhism truly corresponds to the sun. It is the only teaching with the power to illuminate the darkness of mappo.
The Dai-Gohonzon of the True High Sanctuary, inscribed on October 12, 1279, is the foundation and source of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. With this essential Gohonzon as the object of faith, it is possible for all people of mappo
to attain enlightenment.
The Buddhism established by Nichiren Daishonin was inherited in its entirety by the Second High Priest, Nikko Shonin, and then passed on by Nikko Shonin to the Third High Priest, Nichimoku Shonin. It was transmitted correctly without a single deviation, like a perfect transfer of water from on vessel into another. No matter how superior a teaching may be, it will inevitably die out if there is no successor in the world to inherit and transmit it. The immeasurably profound Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin has been transmitted without interruption, passing from the Daishonin to Nikko Shonin, and then to Nichimoku Shonin and each successive High Priest, generation after generation, down to the present High Priest.
This explanation has been only a simple outline. However, it indicates how all humanity in the age of mappo can attain enlightenment. The three treasures for the age of mappo are now complete. They are the True Buddha NIchiren Daishonin (treasure of the Buddha), the Dai-Gohonzon established by the Daishonin in 1279 (treasure of the Law), and Nikko Shonin, the successor to the Lifeblood Heritage of the Law (treasure of the priest, which also includes the successive generations of High Priests of Nichiren Shoshu who have inherited Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism).
There is only one religious body that partakes of the orthodox, legitimate flow of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, and reveres the True Buddha, Law, and priesthood. This is Nichiren Shoshu with its Head Temple, Taisekiji, at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Japan.
