Damn it’s cold. It’s cold and the only wood we can find for a fire is either too small to be of any significance or wet; mostly wet. The snow here hasn’t stopped since the authorities dumped me in this dilapidated graveyard. My disciple and I have been here for several days and have just barely managed to create a little protection from the constant snow by taking refuge in a broken down shack that once served as the caretakers dwelling.
Oh look, here comes one of those ruffians from town, he was with a group of them the other day. It was a gang of Pure Land believers who were intent on seeing that I was relieved from suffering the cold by ending my life that day. It wasn’t easy getting them to be quiet long enough to listen to a rational explanation of why their belief in Pure Land was misguided. It was hours, no in reality it was the entire day spent talking to them. I am not sure, some left seemingly satisfied, but the others, well who knows. Perhaps I am about to find out now.
“Good day to you sir. Have you returned to try once again to argue with me, or are you here to finish your plan of murder?”
“Great Saint! Forgive me for the error I committed the other day.”
“Great Saint, is it? The other day I was scum and a heretic and only fit to be killed.”
“Oh, Sir, I beg of you to forgive me for the great sin I committed. I have brought my wife with me today. When I got home, as I told you I would, I spoke to her about the things you explained to me. There was much though I couldn’t remember, but I convinced her that I had made, no, we had made a great error. She said that we must bring you food and some clothing. We are not supposed to be here but I wanted to make sure you were all right. Please take this food we have brought you and share it with your young disciple.”
“Why that is quite remarkable. Let me see, the other day you said your name was Abutsubo, is that correct? And what is your wife’s name?”
“Sir, yes I am Abutsubo and this is Zenichiyama, my wonderful wife.”
Perhaps this is somewhat how the relationship between Abutsubo and Nichiren began. I have often wondered about what the real Nichiren was like, what his days were like, and what sorts of things he might have done or experienced. We have of course the ‘official’ histories, and they are nice, but all too often they really don’t portray a real human being Nichiren.
I have been asked to write about some of Nichiren’s writings, and I think it is something I would like to do. This may fall flat and be a total failure, but I would like to try writing not just an interpretation of the writings or give a lecture on them but to write a somewhat historical fiction and place those writings into a context of the life of Nichiren.
As some of you who have read my Lotus Sutra writings, context is an important thing for me. Context is important to me, and I believe it is important to understanding and practicing Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra. So what I would like to do is to present some of Nichiren’s writings into a context and then examine them. As I said this may be a complete failure, but I’m OK with that. Failing is not so bad, worse things can happen. But, on the off chance this succeeds then let’s give it a chance.
I am not sure exactly how frequently I’ll post but I would like to try at least once a week in this series. Don’t hold me to that, though I will try my best. This will be part lecture and part a creation of fiction; historical fiction. I would greatly appreciate any feedback along the way. Tell me what you like and what you don’t like.
