Published by Soka Spirit Editor
Posted on August 26, 2010
Fallacy of “The Bequeathal Received by Only a Single Person.”
During an August 15, 2010 lecture at Myosenji Temple in Washington, D.C., Rev. Yuzui Murata said: “Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism is based on the doctrine of the transfer of the Living Essence to each successive High Priest. This is called the specific heritage. By firmly believing in the High Priest as our True Master of Buddhism, and by striving in faith, the individual believer can receive the general heritage …. In the Gosho, Honnin-myo Sho (Gosho – p.1684), Nichiren Daishonin states: “The principles of the great significance of the lifeblood and the object of worship are the documents transmitted from Nichiren to each of the successive head priests, and are the bequeathal received by only a single person, indicating the bequeathal inside the Treasure Tower of Taho Buddha.”
That Nichiren Shoshu would use this passage to support the erroneous view of the heritage of the Law only reveals that this is not a principle of Nichiren Buddhism at all. The writing itself, and this passage in particular, have been rejected by Nichiren scholars, including those from within the priesthood.
In connection with this passage, the 59th high priest of Taiseki-ji temple, Nichiko Hori, in “The Essential Teachings of the Fuji School,” wrote, “I have indicated with a line those passages that appear to have been added later.” The passage Nichiren Shoshu quotes is one of those Nichiko had denoted with a line, as he indicates. In other words, Hori Nichiko, a renowned researcher and scholar of Nichiren Buddhism, concluded that the passage from the “On the Mystic Principle of True Cause” that Nichiren Shoshu relies upon to make its assertion of a lifeblood received by only a single person are not the words of Nichiren Daishonin, but were added later by someone else.
The question of whether “On the Mystic Principle of True Cause” is a writing attributable to Nichiren Daishonin at all has long been disputed and remains unresolved. Present-day research cannot confirm through any documentary evidence that this writing was passed directly from Nichiren to Nikko, as Nichiren Shoshu tradition holds. For this reason, the work is one of the few writings appearing in Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshu (the Collected Writings of Nichiren Daishonin) that was not translated and included by the Soka Gakkai in the recently published The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume 2. In addition, in the Gosho Zenshu, passages of particularly questionable origin within this writing are shown in small print.
The original of this work is not extant, and what is held to be the oldest copy is said to have been produced by Nichiji (?-1406), the 6th high priest of Taiseki-ji. But that copy lacks any signature or seal indicating the person who produced it, and it bears no date. In addition, handwriting comparisons make it doubtful that it was written in Nichiji’s hand. For these reasons, it is difficult to view this copy as having been produced by Nichiji.
Furthermore, the term “received by a single person” is seen nowhere in the known writings of Nikko (Nichiren’s immediate successor). In documents pertaining to the doctrinal history the Nichiren Shoshu head temple Taiseki-ji, that term first appears in a work attributed to the 14th-century priest Nichijun, titled “The Oral Teaching on ‘The Mystic Principle of True Cause’” (Hon’in-myo Sho Guketsu).
This work, however, contains a reference to the “Nichiren School” (Nichiren Shu), a term that has been in use only since 1536 (the fifth year of the Tenbun era). This was when, in the aftermath of a religious conflict known as the Tenbun disturbance, during which groups associated with Nichiren’s teachings were officially forbidden from referring to themselves as the Lotus School (Hokke Shu), as they had done until that time. This casts doubt upon the view that “The Oral Teaching on ‘The Mystic Principle of the True Cause’” was produced by Nichijun in the 14th century. Rather, it suggests it was written later, perhaps around the mid-16th century.
Also, there is another view regarding the passage at the end of the “The Mystic Principle of True Cause.” Some scholars believe that this passage was taken from “The Oral Teaching on ‘The Mystic Principle of True Cause,’” where it originally appeared, and appended to the end of the writing during copying. If we accept this explanation, then it is a passage that was added sometime around the middle of the 16th century or after.
In Collected Notes on Private Matters (Ruijukanshu Shi) written in 1488, Sakyo Nikkyo (1428-?), a disciple of the ninth high priest, Nichiu, quotes the final passage of the “The Mystic Principle of True Cause,” but the portion Nichiren Shoshu quotes, which should fall within that excerpt, is missing. Sakyo’s quote ends with the date “the eleventh day of the tenth month of the fifth year of Koan, of the cyclical sign Mizunoe-ushi,” which closes the letter. From this it is clear that, as of the end of the 15th century, the passage “The principles of the great significance of the lifeblood and the object of worship are the documents transmitted from Nichiren to each of the successive head priests, and are the bequeathal received by only a single person, indicating the bequeathal inside the Treasure Tower of Taho Buddha” did not exist within the text of the “The Mystic Principle of True Cause.
(From “Refuting Nichiren Shoshu’s Doctrine of “bequeathal received by just a single person” in the Feature Article Archives)