Nichiren’s exile to Sado Island represents in many ways the ending of his persecutions and struggle against the government sponsored backing of religions . After the exile the government did little else to vex Nichiren, though the persecutions did continue for his followers. The story that has come to us through many historians is that the exile was in itself a death sentence; what couldn’t be accomplished by the sharp sword of the executioner at Tatsunokuchi, would be completed by the steady draining of life due to cold and starvation.
I started this story about Nichiren on Sado Island with his friendship with Abutsubo for a number of reasons. One of the things I learned when I was training to be a chaplain is we do very little in our lives that isn’t a response to some deeper thought or feeling. There are many famous characters associated with Nichiren during his life, and I am certain not all of them are sterling characters. There is no reason to suspect that any of Nichiren’s followers were not flawed characters, even Nichiren himself may not have been without his defects.
To practice Buddhism is not about being perfect in all ways, and why should we think it is. Perfection is really a concept that only is important within the context of sin and salvation. If we remove those two ideas and goals of behavior and hold up instead the values of good or benefit and harm we begin to see things differently. If we look for the greatest good and the least harm as being standards for comparison we are freed from the burden of the necessity of having perfect models.
Recently Nelson Mandela died and the world mourned his death and celebrated his many achievements. But he was a complicated person and one not easy to like for many people. Because he did not advocate nor follow a path of complete non-violence some people even to his death could not forgive him. So it is with Nichiren, for some people they are unable to get past the image of the Red Queen in Alice In Wonderland who runs around saying “off with their head.”
Because Nichiren was not afraid to defend himself with the only real weapon he had great command of, language, there are those who find it difficult to accept him as a respect worthy religious teacher. When faced with complex ideas that are not easily assigned simplistic values of right and wrong many people are left feeling uncomfortable. And this is certainly the case with Nichiren. He was a complex person, someone who could be probably the nicest, kindest, most gentle person you could meet. He was also extremely smart and understood a lot about the nature of human behavior, he understood why people even in his own time would say to him that he was being too rigid, too harsh, and too confrontational. He had an excellent command of language and the greater body of Buddhist cannon, and he was not afraid to use it but always I believe humble in his usage.
We can see evidence in his letters where I suspect some of his disciples held him in high regard for his debate skills and so wanted to emulate that skill as a mark of sincere belief. Nichiren was kind enough to admonish his disciples for their unwise and immature behavior, yet do so in a way that did not cause them to feel ridiculed and demeaned. The Nichiren I see emerge from the writings we have available, and this is the Nichiren I will talk about, not the Nichiren of myth and legend, is a fallible, questioning, man who was also dedicated to preserving and promoting faith in the Lotus Sutra and was not afraid to upset people along the way.
I started with Nichiren and Abutsubo on Sado Island because here was an incident where Nichiren found his life threatened and one of the persons who was threatening to do him harm is changed through conversations and dialogue. Abutsubo was intent on challenging Nichiren even possibly killing him along with a group of other villagers. Abutsubo goes in with the intent of harm and comes away a believer. I do not believe the transition from the persecutor to the model practitioner who makes several pilgrimages is instant, I believe it happens over time and I find that interesting and worthy of exploring. And finally since I am the person writing this I can sort of do what I want to, and so I shall.
