Hi everyone,
Recently, Yumi and I started doing some more translations together
of the gosho. One thing that again struck us was the humble tone
which Nichiren takes in his letters. It is unfortunate, but this tone
can not really be conveyed in English the way it can in Japanese. To
try to do so would make any English translation seem stilted and
awkward.
We are specifically working on the gosho called Reply to Niiama,
which is in the WND. Yumi has not worked on any of the more pastoral
writings, so she was really struck by how Nichiren wears his heart on
his sleeve. He writes about missing his deceased parents and missing
his homeland and how the seaweed he was sent has reminded him of
both. She was also struck right off the bat by the gratitude he
expresses for everything that is sent to him to support his work and
life at Mt. Minobu. In talking about this gosho as we are working on
it, I told Yumi that I personally feel that this style of writing
makes Nichiren seem much more like us ordinary people that the
writings of the other Kamakurans like Dogen or Shinran which are much
more business like. Only Rennyo's writings come close to the way
Nichiren reveals himself in my opinion. (Of course, I know that
Rennyo lived after the Kamakuran era - but his epistolary style came
to mind anyway). I pointed out that one reason for this may be that
Nichiren, unlike the others, was from a more humble down to earth
family rather than from the aristocracy like the others.
I was going to give a talk at the temple based on these
impressions, but instead I ended up talking about the last part of
the gosho The Treasures of the Heart (also in the WND) where he
advises Shijo Kingo about watching his temper and conducting himself
with kindness, consideration and forethought. In that writing (which
is authenticated and does talk favorably about Buddha-nature
incidentally) Nichiren compares the five virtues of Confucianism
(benevolence, righteousness, propriety, sincerity, and faithfulness)
with the perfection of patience among the six perfections of Mahayana
Buddhism. This is not at all the only gosho in which Nichiren does
this. It has always struck me how when it comes to ordinary behavior
in daily life, Nichiren always upholds Confucian values and ethics
and shows that they are in tune with basic Mahayana values and
ethics. This Confucian side of Nichiren is rarely remarked upon but
it is quite conspicuous once one knows what to look for.
So these are sides of Nichiren that I wish got more attention: his
humility, his gratitude, his love for home and family, his
willingness to share his very human feelings and weaknesses, and the
way he upheld the Confucian and Buddhist values of kindness,
compassion, loyalty, patience, gentility, and the rest.

I'd like to encourage everyone to read the Reply to Niiama and the
Three Kinds of Treasure. They are in the WND and also online. Go to
the Gosho page on lotussutra.net and look there for them if you do
not have them at home.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei