Friday, July 25, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 25, 2025

"If you continue living as you are now, there can be no doubt that you will be practicing the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours a day. Regard your service to your lord as the practice of the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by “No worldly affairs of life or work are ever contrary to the true reality.” I hope you will deeply consider the meaning of this passage."

From Gosho "Reply to a Believer" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 905)

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 24, 2025

"At present the entire body of the Honorable Abutsu is composed of the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space. These five elements are also the five characters of the daimoku. Abutsu-bo is therefore the treasure tower itself, and the treasure tower is Abutsu-bo himself. No other knowledge is purposeful. It is the treasure tower adorned with the seven kinds of treasures—hearing the correct teaching, believing it, keeping the precepts, engaging in meditation, practicing assiduously, renouncing one’s attachments, and reflecting on oneself. You may think you offered gifts to the treasure tower of the Thus Come One Many Treasures, but that is not so. You offered them to yourself. You, yourself, are a Thus Come One who is originally enlightened and endowed with the three bodies. "

From Gosho "On the Treasure Tower" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, pages 299-300)

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 23, 2025

"Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter, but winter always turns to spring. Never, from ancient times on, has anyone heard or seen of winter turning back to autumn. Nor have we ever heard of a believer in the Lotus Sutra who turned into an ordinary person. The sutra reads, “If there are those who hear the Law, then not a one will fail to attain Buddhahood.”"

From Gosho "Winter Always Turns to Spring" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 536)

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 22, 2025

"Myo means perfect endowment. [...] In the phrase “perfect endowment,” endowment refers to the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, while perfect means that, since there is mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, then any one world contains all the other worlds, indicating that this is “perfect.”"

From Gosho "The Opening of the Eyes" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 250)

Monday, July 21, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 21, 2025

"Great events never have minor omens. When great evil occurs, great good follows. Since great slander already exists in our land, the great correct Law will spread without fail. What could any of you have to lament? Even if you are not the Venerable Mahakashyapa, you should all perform a dance. Even if you are not Shariputra, you should leap up and dance. When Bodhisattva Superior Practices emerged from the earth, did he not emerge dancing?"

From Gosho "Great Evil and Great Good" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 1119)

Sunday, July 20, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 20, 2025

"In essence, the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo is the physical body that the disciples and followers of Nichiren who believe in the Lotus Sutra received from their fathers and mothers at birth. Such persons, who honestly discard expedient means, put faith in the Lotus Sutra alone, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, will transform the three paths of earthly desires, karma, and suffering into the three virtues of the Dharma body, wisdom, and emancipation. The threefold contemplation and the three truths will immediately become manifest in their minds, and the place where they live will become the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light."

From Gosho "The Entity of the Mystic Law" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 420)

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Gosho Passage - July 19, 2025

"A fire burns higher when logs are added, and a strong wind makes a kalakula grow larger. The pine tree lives for ten thousand years, and therefore its boughs become bent and twisted. The votary of the Lotus Sutra is like the fire and the kalakula, while his persecutions are like the logs and the wind. The votary of the Lotus Sutra is the Thus Come One whose life span is immeasurable; no wonder his practice is hindered, just as the pine tree’s branches are bent or broken. From now on, always remember the words “This sutra is hard to uphold.”"

From Gosho "The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 471)