The famous (and short) Gosho the "Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life" states:
I have just carefully read your letter. To reply, the ultimate law of life and death as transmitted from the Buddha to all living beings is Myoho-renge-kyo. The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo 2 were transferred from the two Buddhas inside the Treasure Tower, Shakyamuni and Taho, to Bodhisattva Jogyo, carrying on a heritage unbroken since the infinite past. Myo represents death and ho represents life. Life and death are the two phases passed through by the entities of the Ten Worlds, the entities of all sentient beings which embody the law of cause and effect (renge). T'ien-t'ai said, "You must realize that the interrelated actions and reactions of sentient beings and their environments all manifest the law of simultaneity of cause and effect."3 Sentient beings and their environments" here means the reality of life and death. The law of simultaneity of cause and effect is clearly at work in everything that lives and dies.
The concept of "kechimyaku" is important in Buddhism. The definition of "Kechimyaku" as heritage or "life blood" carries a connotation of it's importance to believers in Buddhism. The questions we, as Buddhists, have to ask ourselves are:
Nichiren buddhists cannot discuss this concept outside of the context of this Gosho. Even if this Gosho was written at at a later day, it embodies the importance of this subject. The "heritage" is an important context because this Gosho teaches both the wonderful benefit of practicing the Lotus Sutra and also warns of the "punishment" that comes from not doing so. Nichiren says that:
How admirable that you have asked about the transmission of the ultimate law of life and death! No one has ever asked me such a question before. I have answered in complete detail in this letter, so I want you to take it deeply to heart. The important point is to carry out your practice confident that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the very lifeblood which was transferred from Shakyamuni and Taho to Bodhisattva Jogyo.
Nichiren and his early followers obviously attached importance to carrying out the "heritage" of True Buddhism. It is said that they placed so much importance in this that some of them actually "ate" copies of his works and all of them tried to emmulate his example. This identity of "heritage" with "lifeblood" also points to the importance that we understand the role of our "relationship" with other practitioners and with the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. President Ikeda lectured on this Gosho years ago, and it was so important that the priests made him apologize and resign his position on account of his claim that he had inherited a heritage of the "dharma" from his teachers Toda and Makiguchi. In it's simplest and most common sense the "heritage" is simply a transmission. When doctrines, "spirit", "words" or the "dharma" are transmitted from one to another, the receiver receives a "transmission" from his teacher. In Buddhism, teacher and student are ultimately one but not one, and so with a transmission the "receiver" of a transmission is as important as the "transmittor." In the Letter to Akimoto Nichiren describes how the "vessel" that receives a transmission (or teaching) can have four faults. These are the faults of:
These "faults" are faults that cause the mind or spirit to be unable to properly benefit from the "heritage" or "transmission" received by it. So seeking to correctly receive and transmit Buddhism is very important to our lives. The importance of a "correct" understanding of Buddhism is very important
Nichiren says:
The Great Teacher Dengyo said, "Birth and death are the mysterious workings of the life essence. The ultimate reality of life lies in existence and nonexistence."4No phenomena -- heaven or earth, Yin or Yang."5 , the sun and moon, the five planets,6 , or any life-condition from Hell to Buddhahood -- are free from birth and death. Thus the life and death of all phenomena are simply the two phases of Myoho-renge-kyo. In his Maka Shikan, T'ien-t'ai says, "The emergence of all things is the manifestation of their intrinsic nature, and their extinction, the withdrawal of that nature into the state of latency."7 Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas, too, are the two phases of life and death.
So it becomes obvious that the heritage of Buddhism is the key to mastering ones "life itself." That is why Josei Toda could say that Buddhism is "life itself."
This teaching, derives from the importance of "one great truth" in achieving anything. In the (unquestionably genuine) "On Itai Doshin", Nichiren writes:
If itai doshin (many in body, one in mind) prevails among the people, they will achieve all their goals, whereas in dotai ishin (one in body, different in mind), they can achieve nothing remarkable. The more than three thousand volumes of Confucianism and Taoist literature are filled with examples. King Chou of Yin led 700,000 soldiers into battle against King Wu of Chou and his 800 men. Yet King Chou's army lost because of disunity while King Wu's men defeated him because of perfect unity. Even an individual at cross purposes with himself is certain to end in failure. Yet a hundred or even a thousand people can definitely attain their goal if they are of one mind. Though numerous, the Japanese will find it difficult to accomplish anything, because they are divided in spirit. On the contrary, I believe that although Nichiren and his followers are few in number, because they act in itai doshin, they will accomplish their great mission of propagating the Lotus Sutra. Many raging fires are quenched by a single shower of rain, and many evil forces are vanquished by a single great truth. Nichiren and his followers are proving this.
That "one great truth" of Buddhism has to be the unifying force that brings us together. Lies or other teachings that detract from the importance of practicing as the Lotus Sutra (and Nichiren) teach, all destroy Itai Doshin. And that in turn negates the "inheritance" that adhering to the Dharma (or one great truth) brings.
Shakyamuni who attained enlightenment countless aeons ago, the Lotus Sutra which leads all people to Buddhahood, 8 and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from each other. Therefore, to chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death. To carry on this heritage is the most important task for Nichiren's disciples, and that is precisely what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra. For one who summons up his faith and chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the profound insight that now is the last moment of his life, the sutra proclaims: "After his death, a thousand Buddhas will extend their hands to free him from all fear and keep him from falling into evil paths."9 How can we possibly hold back our tears at the inexpressible joy of knowing that not just one or two, nor only one hundred or two hundred, but as many as a thousand Buddhas will come to greet us with open arms!
To continue reading entire Gosho, click on this link: "Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life" states:10
Obviously, the way that Nichiren says that we inherit the teachings of Buddhism is to summon up faith and chant Daimoku with "profound insight" that now is the "last moment of his life". The way not to inherit it is to slander the Lotus Sutra:
One who does not have faith in the Lotus Sutra will instead find his hands firmly gripped by the guards of hell, just as the sutra warns, "...After he dies, he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering."9 How pitiful! The ten kings of hell will then pass judgment on him, and the heavenly messengers who have been with him since his birth will berate him for his evil deeds.
If this is the standard, and Nichiren further says:
Just imagine that those thousand Buddhas extending their hands to all Nichiren's disciples who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are like so many melons or moonflowers extending their slender vines. My disciples have been able to receive and embrace the Lotus Sutra by virtue of the strong ties they formed with this teaching in their past existences. They are certain to attain Buddhahood in the future. The heritage of the Lotus Sutra flows within the lives of those who never forsake it in any lifetime whatsoever -- whether in the past, the present or the future. But those who disbelieve and slander the Lotus Sutra will "destroy the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world."12 Because they cut themselves off from the potential to attain enlightenment, they do not share the ultimate heritage of faith.
It is pretty clear what Nichiren means by the "heritage." He goes on to say:
All disciples and believers of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with one mind (itai doshin), transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate law of life and death. Herein lies the true goal of Nichiren's propagation. When you are so united, even the great hope for kosen-rufu can be fulfilled without fail. But if any of Nichiren's disciples should disrupt the unity of itai doshin, he will destroy his own castle from within.
Nichiren is pretty clear then. One inherits the "kechimyaku" through a courageous practice with other members. "Transcending all differences" is something that is done when people treat each other with courtesy and respect and practice, study and discuss together the meaning of Buddhism.
Then where does the teaching of Nichiren Shoshu, that there is a "general heritage of the Law" (kechimyaku) and a "specific" one come from and what does it mean? Where does the notion of a "kechimyaku of the Law" come from, and where does the notion that there should be a differentiation between a heritage of faith and a heritage of the law? If you surf the internet or visit a NST temple you will find pamphlets explaining the priests doctrines about this matter. They will quote you in depth and out of context, because their real source is the traditions of Nichiren Shoshu. Of course this gets sticky, when you start to realize that many of the teachings of Buddhism have started out with such "oral traditions." And the Shoji Ichidaiji Kechimyaku itself, may well have started out in a similar manner!
For example they quote: 'The Minobu Transfer Document' reads:
'Order of Kechimyaku(Transmission): from Nichiren to Nikko.' As this dcocument indicates, the Kechimyaku of the Law is a specific transfer, made from Nichiren Daishonin to Nikko Shonin, and to each successive high priest of Nichiren Shoshu in accordance with the principle of transmission to a single individual.(See literal.html for discussion on the "apocryphal" nature of this document)
This all hinges on the concepts of so and betsu (see sobetsu.html) which are the principle of "General and speicfic." A specific instance of a thing is always a limited, relative, and transitory manifestation. A General thing is "general" true, and universal, but not necessarilly "real." When something is put into specific form it is taken from an abstract or "general" level and put into "play" in the "real world." This Buddhism is for instance, the religion of "Ji no Ichinen Sanzen." The specific transfer therefore is referring to individual transfers made from one teacher to the next. Nichiren Shoshu would like to turn this into something else entirely, and it does so by interpreting the "transfer" as the movement of a "lifeblood" or "entity of the law." But this is a tradition of the school and has no literal justification at all. (except in the writings of the teachers of the school subsequent to Nichiren's day). Like all authority it is "relative truth" and only shines to the degree that it "smiles on or properly "illuminates" the Lotus Sutra, which is our original text in this religion. The General Transmission is available to all of us, specific transmissions depend on whether or not we are given them or are capable of understanding what we have received when we get them. Nikken has a specific transmission, the significance of that is currently unknown because his interpretations of it are backwards.
The admonitions in this Gosho are important for us to keep in mind. And, in truth whether one lives up to them or not depends on whether one is "slandering" or following the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and regularly chanting the Daimoku. It is also dependent on whether we are continuing to dialogue and grow, learning from and sharing with our fellow practitioners the "kechimyaku" of our faith. Keep watching this website. In the future I'll go into more detail on these things.
Links
The priests view of the two kinds of Kechimyaku.http://www.proudblackbuddhist.org/Alan_Billups_D/two_types_of_kechimyaku.htm