和訳願 TRUE BUDDHA’S ADVENT
Nichiren Daishonin was born the son of a fisherman on Feb. 16, 1222 in the village of Kominato on the Pacific coast of Japan.
Because of very auspicious circumstances at the time of his birth, his parents rejoiced when at the age of 12 he decided to enter a Buddhist temple near his village.
After receiving the tonsure at the age of 16, he traveled to the Kyoto and Kamakura areas visiting the major temples and centers of Buddhist study.
He investigated all the existing sects and their teachings concluding that the Lotus Sutra is indeed the highest among Shakyamuni’s sutras.
He also learned that the leaders of the existing sects had only a superficial understanding of the sutra’s meaning and had no inkling of the profound truth hidden within its depths.
Only he was enlightened to the entity of the mystic law the words of the Lotus Sutra described.
The corrupt state of the temples and priests exactly matched the description in Shakyamuni’s predictions.
Realizing that he himself was the very one of whom the sutras spoke, Nichiren Daishonin determined to take on the awesome challenge of confronting the entrenched, established sects and religious authorities.
Calling upon the people of his age and the future to take faith in the wonderful mystic law of the Lotus Sutra, he boldly declared the founding of his true Buddhism on April 28th 1253.
He taught that the practice which perfectly accords with the times and the capacity of the people is the chanting of the invocation “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo”.
Beginning with this declaration, Nichiren Daishonin struggled unceasingly to propagate the heart of the Lotus Sutra, the profound law which he cherished in the depths of his life.
True to the Sutra’s predictions, he endured and overcame persecutions unprecedented in the history of Buddhism, including two exiles and an attempt by the military government to execute him.
Fulfilling his life’s mission on October 12, 1279 with the establishment of the True Object of Worship manifesting the totality of the enlightenment of the True Buddha and the cause for enlightenment of all mankind, Nichiren Daishonin peacefully passed away on October 13th 1282.
