Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin On the ...

priest of the Tendai sect, at Ikegami Munenaka’s residence. The debate lasted ten rounds,
and he refuted Ise-hōin’s arguments on ten crucial points. Furthermore, in the first year
of Shō’an (1299), his longstanding aspiration to participate in a public debate came true,
and he traveled to Kyoto to remonstrate before the Imperial Court. He debated with a
priest of the Nembutsu sect, Jisshū-bō, at the Rokuhara Tandai—the Kyoto office of the
Kamakura government that adminstered Western Japan. In the debate, Nichimoku
Shonin completely refuted all of Jisshū-bō’s points.
Immediately following the year of the Daishonin’s demise, he went to various
regions, mainly in the Ōshu area (Northeast Japan), and propagated the Daishonin’s
Buddhism. In the Ōshu area, where his father’s family had relatives, he built Jogyoji,
Hongenji, Myokyoji and Myoenji Temples.
Nikko Shonin stated the following in “Articles to Be Observed After the
Passing of Nikko” (“Nikko ato jōjō no koto”):
Nichimoku devoted himself to remonstration with the Imperial Court for fifty
long years, from the eighth year of Kō’an (1285) until the second year of
Gentoku (1330). Such achievements are superior to those of the other priests. I
leave this as documentary proof for the ages to come.
2
(Gosho, p. 1883)
As this article indicates, in order to advance worldwide kōsen-rufu, which is
the Daishonin’s will, Nichimoku Shonin remonstrated with the Imperial Court in Kyoto
and the military government in Kamakura 42 times.
In the second year of Shōkei (1333), when the Kenmu Restoration occurred,
Nichimoku Shonin made the determination, despite his old age, to remonstrate again
with the Imperial Court in Kyoto. Before leaving Taisekiji, he transferred the Heritage
of the Law, entrusted to a single person, to Nichido Shonin. Then, he set out on his trip to
Kyoto, accompanied by his two followers, Nichizon and Nichigo.
On the way to Kyoto, however, he fell seriously ill and stopped at an inn at
Tarui in Mino Province. There, he entrusted Nichizon and Nichigo to carry out the
remonstration with the Imperial Court, and peacefully passed away on November 15, at
the age of 74.
Nichimoku Shonin dedicated his life to the propagation of true Law. He
resolved to remonstrate with the Imperial Court at the risk of his life for the achievement
of kōsen-rufu. We profoundly must keep in mind that his noble behavior was based on