然妙法蓮華經有八卷。讀得八卷，即是讀十六卷，因是釋迦多寶二佛之經故。十六卷，
即是無量無邊卷，因有十方諸佛之證明故。一字是二字，釋迦多寶二佛之字故。一
字是無量字，十方諸佛證明之經故。譬如意寶珠，一珠可降二珠乃至無量珠之財，與
此相同。法華經文字，一字一寶，無量字是無量寶珠。妙之一字有二舌，釋迦多寶
之舌也。此二佛之舌是八葉蓮華。此層層蓮花之上有寶珠，妙之一字也。
此妙珠，昔釋迦如來說是檀波羅蜜，身飼餓虎之功德，貿鳩之功德，稱尸羅波羅蜜，
作須陀摩王不說虛言之功德，作忍辱仙人，委身歌梨王之功德，以妙之一字盡納能
施太子、尚闍梨仙人等之六度功德，對末代惡世我等眾生，雖不修一善，而授與滿
足六度萬行之功德。「今此三界，皆是我有，其中眾生，悉是吾子」者此也。我等
具縛之凡夫，忽得等同教主釋尊之功德，全體受得之故。經云：「如我等無異」等
云云，是說心得法華經者與釋尊齊等之文也譬父母和合生子，子身是全體父母之身，
誰能非之。牛王之子是牛王，不能作師子王。師子王之子是師子王，不能作人王天
王等。今法華經行者說「其中眾生悉是吾子」，是教主釋尊之子也。如教主釋尊，
作法王之事，必不難。但不孝者不繼父母之跡。堯王有名丹朱之太子，舜王有名商
均之王子，二人同為不孝者，為父王所棄，現身作民。重華及禹，同為民子。孝心
深厚，為堯舜二王所召而受其位。是以民身而忽成玉體者。民之現身作王與凡夫頓
時作佛，同其事也。云一念三千之肝心者此也。
然則是如何得受此功德乎？是必如樂法梵志、雪山童子之剝皮者耶？投身者耶？燃
臂者耶？章安大師云：「取捨得宜，不可一向」等是也。修正法以成佛之行，必須
依時。日本國無紙，則剝皮可也。日本國無法華經，有知此之鬼神一人出來，則投
身可也。日本國無油，則燃臂可也。厚紙盈國，何剝皮為﹗
而玄奘西天求法者十七年，行十萬里。傳教大師入唐但二年耳，波濤越三千里。此
等是男子也、上古也、賢人也、聖人也。從未聞得，有女人求佛法，而踏破千里路
者。
妙法蓮華經有八卷，如果讀完八卷，等於讀了十六卷，因為這部經典是釋迦、多寶二
佛說的。十六卷是指無量無邊的卷軸，因為有十方諸佛證明確是正實之故。法華經
的一字是二字，因是釋迦、多寶二佛之字。一字即無量字，由於是十方諸佛證明的
經之故。這就如同如意寶珠只有一顆，能降出二珠至無量珠的寶物。法華經的文字
是一字一寶，無量的文字是無量的寶珠。妙之一字有二舌，即釋迦與多寶二佛的二
舌。這二佛之舌是八葉蓮華，層層的八葉蓮花之上有寶珠，那就是妙之一字。
這妙珠，從前釋迦如來修行檀波羅蜜，以身餵饑餓的老虎的功德、為救鳩鳥以身飼鷹
的功德，修行尸羅波羅蜜時，身為須陀摩王從不說謊的功德，以及名為忍辱仙人任
憑歌梨王處置所得功德，身為能施太子、尚闍梨仙人修行六波羅密的功德，這些功
德全部收納於妙之一字，釋尊以這妙珠，對末代惡世的我等眾生，即使未修行任何
一個善根，給與作到六波羅密一切修行的功德。
「今此三界，皆是我有，其中眾生，悉是吾子」（《譬喻品》）即指此事。我等被
煩惱所束縛的凡夫，立即能有與教主釋尊同等的功德，是因為收受了釋尊全體功德。
《法華經》說：「如我等無異」（《方便品》），這文指信行法華經的人，與釋尊
齊等。譬如，父母和合生下的孩子，其身全體是父母之身。對此誰能提出異議呢？
牛王的孩子是牛王，不能成為師子王，師子王的孩子成為師子王，不能成為人王、
天王。今法華經行者是如經文「其中眾生，悉是吾子」，是教主釋尊的孩子，要成
為如教主釋尊這般的法王並不困難。
但不孝者不會承繼父母的事業。堯有子名丹朱，舜有子名商均，兩人皆是不孝之人，
因而被父王捨棄，當世就成為平民。重華與禹皆是平民之子，但由於孝養之心深厚，
堯舜將王位讓與，以平民之身忽成為王身。平民在現世成為王，凡夫忽成為佛，這
兩者的道理是相同的，一念三千的肝心就是指這點。
如果是這樣，如何才能得此功德？應像樂法梵志、雪山童子等人，剝皮嗎？投身嗎？
燃臂嗎？章安大師說：「（攝受、折伏的）取捨要合時宜，不可偏執一方」，即是
指此。修正法以成佛的修行，必須依時而定。日本國若無紙，當剝身皮；知日本國
無法華經的鬼神一人出現，當投身。日本國若無油，應當燒臂。但厚紙充斥全國時，
剝身皮又有何用。
玄奘三藏往西到天竺（印度）求法經十七年，走了十萬里。傳教大師渡唐僅兩年，
但越過波濤三千里。這些人皆是男子，已是過去的事情，他們也是賢人、聖人。從
未聽說女性為求佛法，踏破千里路的。
Letter to Nichimyo Shonin
( MW-3, 47-50) May 25, 1272 Nichimyo Shonin
Myoho-renge-kyo consists of eight volumes. Reading these
eight volumes is in effect equal to
reading sixteen, for the sutra was expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha and
verified by Taho
Buddha. The sixteen volumes, in turn, represent innumerable volumes,
for their truth was verified
by all the Buddhas of the ten directions. In the same way, each
character in the sutra equals two,
for it was uttered by Shakyamuni and confirmed by Taho. Again,
a single character equals
innumerable others, for the validity of the sutra was attested to by
all the Buddhas of the ten
directions. A single wish-granting jewel can cause as many treasures
to rain down as would two
such jewels or, even more, a would innumerable jewels. Likewise,
each character in the Lotus
Sutra is like a jewel, and since it stands for innumerable others,
it is like an uncountable number
of jewels. The character myo [of Myoho-renge-kyo] was uttered
by two tongues, the tongues
of Shakyamuni and Taho. The tongues of these two Buddhas are
like an eight-petaled lotus
flower one petal overlapping another, on which rests a jewel, the character
of myo.
The jewel of the character myo contains all the benefits which Shakyamuni
Buddha received by
practicing the six paramitas in his past existences: the benefits
he obtained through the practice
of almsgiving by offering his body to a starving tigress and by giving
his life in exchange for that
of a dove; the benefits he obtained when he was King Shudama, who,
in order to observe the
precepts, kept his word though it meant his death; the benefits he
obtained as a hermit called
Ninniku by enduring the tortures inflicted upon him by King Kari; the
benefits he obtained as
Prince Nose and as the hermit Shojari, and all his other benefits.
We, people in the evil age of
the Latter Day of the Law, have not formed even a single good cause,
but Shakyamuni, [by
bestowing upon us the character myo,] has granted us as many benefits
as if we ourselves had
fulfilled all the practices of the six paramitas. This precisely
accords with his statement. "Now
this three-fold world is all my domain. The living beings in
it are all my children." Bound as we
common mortals are by earthly desires, we can instantly attain the
same virtues as the Lord
Buddha Shakyamuni, for we receive all the virtues which he accumulated.
The sutra states, "At
the start I pledged to make all people perfectly equal to me, without
any distinction between us."
This means that those who believe in and practice the Lotus Sutra are
equal to Shakyamuni
Buddha. To illustrate, a father and mother unite in conjugal
harmony to give birth to a child. No
one can dispute that the child is the flesh and blood of its parents.
A calf begotten by an ox king
will become an ox king; it will never become a lion king. A cub
sired by a lion king will become
a lion king; it will never become a human king or heavenly king.
Now the votaries of the Lotus
Sutra are the children of Shakyamuni Buddha, as the sutra states, "The
living beings in it are all
my children." It is not difficult for them to become kings of
the Law just as Shakyamuni Buddha
did. Unfilial children, however, are not allowed to succeed their
parents. King Yao had an heir
named Tan Chu, and King Shun had a prince named Shang Chun. As
both sons were lacking in
filial piety, they were disowned by their respective fathers and demoted
to the rank of commoners.
Ch'ung Hua and Yu were the children of commoners, but both were extremely
filial. Hearing of
this, King Yao and King Shun summoned Ch'ung Hua and Yu, respectively,
and abdicated their
thrones to them. Commoners became royalty in a day. Just
as a commoner can become a king,
so can an ordinary person become a Buddha instantly. This is
the heart of the doctrine of ichinen
sanzen.
How, then, can we obtain this benefit? Should we peel off our
skins as Gyobo Bonji did, follow
Sessen Doji's example and offer our bodies to a demon, or emulate Bodhisattva
Yakuo in burning
our elbows? As the Great Teacher Chang-an stated, "You should
distinguish between the shoju
and shakubuku methods and never adhere solely to one or the other."
What practice one should
perform in order to master the True Law and attain Buddhahood depends
upon the times. Were
there no paper in Japan, then you should peel off your skin.
Had the Lotus Sutra not yet been
introduced to our country and the only individual to appear who knew
it was a demon, then you
should offer your body to him. Were there no oil available in
our land, then you should burn your
elbows. But of what use is it to peel off one's skin when the
country is abundantly supplied with
excellent paper?
Hsuan-tsang journeyed throughout India in search of the Law for
seventeen years, covering a
distance of a hundred thousand ri. Dengyo remained in China for
only two years, but he traveled
three thousand ri across the billowing sea to arrive there. They
were both men, sages and
worthies at that, and theirs was a more virtuous age. Never have
I heard of a woman who
journeyed a thousand ri in search of Buddhism as you did.