Never seek this
Gohonzon
outside yourself. The
Gohonzon
exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the
Lotus Sutra
and chant
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
. The body is the palace of the ninth consciousness,
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the unchanging reality that reigns over all of life’s functions. To be endowed with the
Ten Worlds
means that all ten, without a single exception, exist in one world. Because of this it is called a
mandala
.
Mandala
is a Sanskrit word that is translated as “perfectly endowed” or “a cluster of blessings.” This
Gohonzon
also is found only in the two characters for faith.
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This is what the sutra means when it states that one can “gain entrance through faith alone.”
This Gohonzon was inscribed in April of the second year of Kenji (1277). It is listed in the Gohonzon Shu (Gohonzon Collection, compiled and annotated by Yamanaka Kahachi. Nichiren Shu: 1947.). The Gohonzon Shu is the photographic compilation of 128 authenticated extant Gohonzons in Nichiren's handwriting. This Gohonzon has a black mark of residue ink on its lower right side. A similar Gohonzon is housed at Honkokuji Temple in Kyoto. The Gohonzon at Honkokuji was inscribed for Nichiro.
In the Great Saint Chronological History, it says "...this month (April of the second year of Kenji), [Nichiren] inscribed Honzons and gave them to Nissho and Niccho. In the New Edition of Chronological History, it is noted as follows: "The one [gohonzon] that was given to Nissho is housed at Tamasawa. Another similiar [gohonzon] given to Niccho is housed at Nakayama."
Nichiren Signature
If parents have seven children and one of them falls ill, the love of the parents is equal for all the children but they are especially attentive to the one who is sick.
Nirvana Sutra: Chapter 18]
There are three kinds of people whose illnesses are very hard to cure:
One who speaks ill of Mahayana teachings,
One who commits the five cardinal sins,
One who is an icchantika.
These three kinds of serious illnesses are difficult to cure in this world.
This sutra is truly a splendid medicine for the diseases of the people of Jambudvipa. A sick person who hears this will be immediately cured of his disease. He will not grow old or die before his time.
[Lotus Sutra: Chapter 16]
If a child who has lost his original mind, upon seeing his father return from afar, greatly rejoices and yet when the father gives him the medicine to heal his illness, he is unwilling to swallow it. Thereupon the father says, "This good excellent medicine I now leave here. You should take and swallow it. Do not worry that you will not be cured."
This is the great unprecendented Mandala, never yet been in the whole of Jambudvipa for the more than 2220 years after the Buddha's extinction.
Second Year of Kenji, April [1277]
[Conferment] Nissho, Sramana of the great sun country of Japan
Nichiren Daishonin writes in the Gosho "The True Aspect of the Gohonzon