“Deep in the Snow Mountains lives a bird called the cold-suffering bird that, tortured by the numbing cold, cries that it will build a nest in the morning. Yet when day breaks, it sleeps away the hours in the warm light of the morning sun without building its nest. So it continues to cry vainly throughout its life. The same is true of human beings. When they fall into hell and gasp in its flames, they long to be reborn as humans and vow to put everything else aside and serve the three treasures in order to gain enlightenment in their next life. But even on the rare occasions when they happen to be reborn in human form, the winds of fame and profit blow violently, and the lamp of Buddhist practice is easily extinguished. Without a qualm they squander their wealth on meaningless trifles, but begrudge even the smallest contribution to the Buddha, the Law, and the Buddhist Order. This is very serious, for then they are being hindered by messengers from hell. This is the meaning of “good by the inch and evil by the foot.”—-Nichiren, Letter to Niike. NSIC translation
This is more then just a cute little animal story to warn against procrastination, bad prioritizing and conflicting ambitions. It is a warning that if one allows their practice and inner spirit to become polluted with doubts, then one needs to be more serious about the real goal or risk losing in the end. Although it applies to mundane affairs, it specifically means strong practice to cast off the superficial and then realize and actualize, the most important thing. (Hosshaku Kempon). Doing so, sheds light on the Fundamental Darkness inherent in life (Gampon no Mumyo). This darkness is the origin of the so called, Three Obstacles and Four Devils (Sansho Shima.)
Ultimatly one’s priority should be to one’s vow to spread Buddhism, so that one’s family friends and people at large—all people, including oneself, can attain the awakening of Buddhahood and thus turn this world into the Buddha’s land.—an enlightened Land. To do this is difficult. One needs to overcome the “Three Obstacles and Four Devils,” that rage around you, like the freezing cold of the foolish Kanchu cho Bird. These things that work to block wisdom and enlightenment are the work of Mara the devilish force inside that leads one into the wrong priorities.
Nichiren taught that spreading Buddhism is the most important thing for a disciple of Buddhism. The spirit of the Bodhisattva. It begins with one’s family and acquaintances, here is where the Sansho Shima begins and one should not underestimate the working of Sansho Shima. Nichiren warns the younger of the two Munenaga Brothers:
“To attain Buddhahood is difficult indeed, more difficult than the feat of placing a needle atop the Mount Sumeru of this world and then casting a thread from atop the Mount Sumeru of another world directly through the eye of this needle. And the feat is even more difficult if it must be done in the face of a contrary wind. The Lotus Sutra states: “A million, million ten thousand kalpas, an inconceivable time will pass, before at last one can hear this Lotus Sutra. A million million ten thousand kalpas, an inconceivable time will pass, before the Buddhas, World Honored Ones, preach this sutra. Therefore its practitioners, after the Buddha has entered extinction, when they hear a sutra like this, should entertain no doubts or perplexities.”7This passage is extremely unusual even among the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. From the “Introduction” to the “Teacher of the Law” chapters, human and heavenly beings, the four kinds of believers, and the eight kinds of nonhuman beings— those at the stage of near-perfect enlightenment or below— were many in number, but there was only one Buddha, the Thus Come One Shakyamuni. Thus, these chapters are of great import, but may appear insignificant. The twelve chapters from “Treasure Tower” to “Entrustment” are the most important of all. This is because it is in these chapters that, in the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha, there appeared the treasure tower of Many Treasures. It was as if the sun had emerged in front of the moon. The Buddhas of the ten directions were seated under the trees, and it was as if the grasses and trees of the worlds in the ten directions had been set afire. It was in this setting that the above passage was expounded.
The Nirvana Sutra states: “People have been suffering since numberless, uncountable kalpas ago. The bones one leaves behind in a kalpa pile up as high as Mount Vipula near Rajagriha, and the milk one sucks is equal to the water of the four seas. The blood one sheds surpasses the quantity of water in the four seas, and so do the tears one sheds in grief over the death of parents, brothers and sisters, wives, children, and relatives. And though one used all the plants and trees growing on the earth to make four-inch tallies to count them, one could not count all the parents one has had in the past existences of life.” These are the words the Buddha uttered lying in the grove of sal trees on the final day of his life. You should pay the strictest attention to them. They mean that the number of parents who gave birth to you since innumerable kalpas ago could not be counted even with tallies made by cutting all the plants and trees growing on all the worlds of the ten directions into four-inch pieces.
Thus you have had a countless number of parents in your past existences, yet during that time you have never encountered the Lotus Sutra. From this we see that it is easy to have parents, but very difficult to encounter the Lotus Sutra. Now if you disobey the words of a parent, one who is easy to come by, and follow a friend of the Lotus Sutra, one who can rarely be encountered, you will not only be able to attain Buddhahood, but will also be able to lead to enlightenment the parent whom you disobeyed. For example, Prince Siddhartha was the eldest son of King Shuddhodana. His father wanted him to succeed to the throne and rule the nation, and actually made him crown prince, but the prince went against his father’s wishes and escaped from the palace at night. The king was angry at him for being unfilial, but after Siddhartha had attained Buddhahood, he set about first of all to convert his parents, King Shuddhodana and Lady Maya.
No parent would ever urge his son to renounce the world in order to attain Buddhahood. But however that may be, in your case, the observers of the precepts and the priests of the Nembutsu school have egged your father on to join with them so that they may make both you and your brother abandon your faith. I am told that Priest Two Fires8 is persuading others to chant one million Nembutsu in an attempt to cause discord among people and destroy the seeds of the Lotus Sutra. The lay priest of Gokuraku-ji seemed to be an admirable person. But deluded by the Nembutsu priests, he treated me with enmity, and as a result, he and his entire clan have been all but ruined. Only the lord of Echigo9 has survived. You may think that those who believe in Priest Two Fires are prospering, but you should see what has become of the Nagoe clan,who paid for the building of Zenkoji temple, Choraku-ji temple, and Daibutsuden! Again, the lord of Sagami12 is the ruler of Japan, but by his conduct he has called down on himself an enemy almost as great as the land of Jambudvipa.
Even if you abandon your brother and take his place in your father’s favor, you will never prosper in a thousand or ten thousand years. There is no knowing what will become of you even in the near future. How can you be certain of lifelong prosperity? Therefore, you should resolve to give all your thought to your happiness in the next existence. Having written all this, it occurs to me that this letter may be futile, and I tire of going on. But it may serve as a reminder to you in the future.
With my deep respect, Nichiren, The twentieth day of the eleventh month “ (1277)
Reply to Hyoe no Sakan (NSIC Translation)
“Background
This letter was written to Hyoe no Sakan Munenaga, the younger of the two Ikegami brothers. Though it was originally thought to have been written in the first year of Kenji (1275), it is now apparent that it was written in 1277. Munenaga is thought to have taken faith in the Daishonin’s teaching around 1256, shortly after his elder brother Munenaka. Both were officials in the Kamakura shogunate, and their father, Yasumitsu, was director of the government’s Office of Construction and Repairs.
Yasumitsu was a loyal follower of the priest Ryokan of the True Word Precepts school who was highly active in political affairs. He strenuously opposed their beliefs and disowned Munenaka twice, in 1275 and again in 1277. By disowning Munenaka, Yasumitsu in effect was provoking a rift between the two sons, tempting the weaker Munenaga to trade his beliefs for the right to inherit his father’s estate. Supported by the Daishonin’s guidance and encouragement, however, Munenaga upheld his faith together with his brother, and in 1278, after a total of twenty-two years’ practice, their united efforts finally led their father to accept faith in the Daishonin’s teaching.” (From NSIC)
One encountering the Lotus Sutra can be one’s own awakening due to a strong vow, that has persisted into one’s current life time, or it can he that one follows a person, with that kind of strong inner awakening, who has pulled you out of the illusionary realms and passed the Law on to you. But still the Sancho Shima rages and the vow can weaken in a person who is not at a stage of non-retrogression themselves.
Backsliding means to forget one’s promise and spend their time with “ meaningless trifles,” like the Kanku-cho Bird full of desires for comfort, dreaming of “fame and profit,” (comfort) forgets to do as it needs to do. This is the result of an arrogant mind, that only reflects on one’s self when they are reproached and then find themselves suffering from forgetting their promises.
Nichiren warns the younger brother, whose faith wavers and breaks unity with his older brother, to not forget his debt of gratitude to the Supreme law and the rarity of encountering it. In the Letter to Hyoe no Sakan Munenaga. Nichiren describes the endless flow of lifetimes over endless kalpas one can wander, rare it is to even be born human, and far more rare to be rescued out of that endless Samsara of Fundamental Darkness and encounter the Wonderful Law.
What Life State are these things in?
also see SPLIT ICHINEN
The teaching of Sansho Shima and many of the teachings of Nichiren above originates with the Nirvana Sutra, The Great Nirvana Sutra -Mahaparinirvana Sutra
CYCLE OF SUFFERING —CYCLE OF SAMSARA
![sarahpcopy[1]](http://www.saddharmapundarika.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sarahpcopy11.gif "sarahpcopy[1]")
Kanku-cho bird (suffering from cold)
“Deep in the Snow Mountains lives a bird called the cold-suffering bird that, tortured by the numbing cold, cries that it will build a nest in the morning. Yet when day breaks, it sleeps away the hours in the warm light of the morning sun without building its nest. So it continues to cry vainly throughout its life. The same is true of human beings. When they fall into hell and gasp in its flames, they long to be reborn as humans and vow to put everything else aside and serve the three treasures in order to gain enlightenment in their next life. But even on the rare occasions when they happen to be reborn in human form, the winds of fame and profit blow violently, and the lamp of Buddhist practice is easily extinguished. Without a qualm they squander their wealth on meaningless trifles, but begrudge even the smallest contribution to the Buddha, the Law, and the Buddhist Order. This is very serious, for then they are being hindered by messengers from hell. This is the meaning of “good by the inch and evil by the foot.”—-Nichiren, Letter to Niike. NSIC translation
This is more then just a cute little animal story to warn against procrastination, bad prioritizing and conflicting ambitions. It is a warning that if one allows their practice and inner spirit to become polluted with doubts, then one needs to be more serious about the real goal or risk losing in the end. Although it applies to mundane affairs, it specifically means strong practice to cast off the superficial and then realize and actualize, the most important thing. (Hosshaku Kempon). Doing so, sheds light on the Fundamental Darkness inherent in life (Gampon no Mumyo). This darkness is the origin of the so called, Three Obstacles and Four Devils (Sansho Shima.)
Ultimatly one’s priority should be to one’s vow to spread Buddhism, so that one’s family friends and people at large—all people, including oneself, can attain the awakening of Buddhahood and thus turn this world into the Buddha’s land.—an enlightened Land. To do this is difficult. One needs to overcome the “Three Obstacles and Four Devils,” that rage around you, like the freezing cold of the foolish Kanchu cho Bird. These things that work to block wisdom and enlightenment are the work of Mara the devilish force inside that leads one into the wrong priorities.
Nichiren taught that spreading Buddhism is the most important thing for a disciple of Buddhism. The spirit of the Bodhisattva. It begins with one’s family and acquaintances, here is where the Sansho Shima begins and one should not underestimate the working of Sansho Shima. Nichiren warns the younger of the two Munenaga Brothers:
“To attain Buddhahood is difficult indeed, more difficult than the feat of placing a needle atop the Mount Sumeru of this world and then casting a thread from atop the Mount Sumeru of another world directly through the eye of this needle. And the feat is even more difficult if it must be done in the face of a contrary wind. The Lotus Sutra states: “A million, million ten thousand kalpas, an inconceivable time will pass, before at last one can hear this Lotus Sutra. A million million ten thousand kalpas, an inconceivable time will pass, before the Buddhas, World Honored Ones, preach this sutra. Therefore its practitioners, after the Buddha has entered extinction, when they hear a sutra like this, should entertain no doubts or perplexities.”7This passage is extremely unusual even among the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. From the “Introduction” to the “Teacher of the Law” chapters, human and heavenly beings, the four kinds of believers, and the eight kinds of nonhuman beings— those at the stage of near-perfect enlightenment or below— were many in number, but there was only one Buddha, the Thus Come One Shakyamuni. Thus, these chapters are of great import, but may appear insignificant. The twelve chapters from “Treasure Tower” to “Entrustment” are the most important of all. This is because it is in these chapters that, in the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha, there appeared the treasure tower of Many Treasures. It was as if the sun had emerged in front of the moon. The Buddhas of the ten directions were seated under the trees, and it was as if the grasses and trees of the worlds in the ten directions had been set afire. It was in this setting that the above passage was expounded.
The Nirvana Sutra states: “People have been suffering since numberless, uncountable kalpas ago. The bones one leaves behind in a kalpa pile up as high as Mount Vipula near Rajagriha, and the milk one sucks is equal to the water of the four seas. The blood one sheds surpasses the quantity of water in the four seas, and so do the tears one sheds in grief over the death of parents, brothers and sisters, wives, children, and relatives. And though one used all the plants and trees growing on the earth to make four-inch tallies to count them, one could not count all the parents one has had in the past existences of life.” These are the words the Buddha uttered lying in the grove of sal trees on the final day of his life. You should pay the strictest attention to them. They mean that the number of parents who gave birth to you since innumerable kalpas ago could not be counted even with tallies made by cutting all the plants and trees growing on all the worlds of the ten directions into four-inch pieces.
Thus you have had a countless number of parents in your past existences, yet during that time you have never encountered the Lotus Sutra. From this we see that it is easy to have parents, but very difficult to encounter the Lotus Sutra. Now if you disobey the words of a parent, one who is easy to come by, and follow a friend of the Lotus Sutra, one who can rarely be encountered, you will not only be able to attain Buddhahood, but will also be able to lead to enlightenment the parent whom you disobeyed. For example, Prince Siddhartha was the eldest son of King Shuddhodana. His father wanted him to succeed to the throne and rule the nation, and actually made him crown prince, but the prince went against his father’s wishes and escaped from the palace at night. The king was angry at him for being unfilial, but after Siddhartha had attained Buddhahood, he set about first of all to convert his parents, King Shuddhodana and Lady Maya.
No parent would ever urge his son to renounce the world in order to attain Buddhahood. But however that may be, in your case, the observers of the precepts and the priests of the Nembutsu school have egged your father on to join with them so that they may make both you and your brother abandon your faith. I am told that Priest Two Fires8 is persuading others to chant one million Nembutsu in an attempt to cause discord among people and destroy the seeds of the Lotus Sutra. The lay priest of Gokuraku-ji seemed to be an admirable person. But deluded by the Nembutsu priests, he treated me with enmity, and as a result, he and his entire clan have been all but ruined. Only the lord of Echigo9 has survived. You may think that those who believe in Priest Two Fires are prospering, but you should see what has become of the Nagoe clan,who paid for the building of Zenkoji temple, Choraku-ji temple, and Daibutsuden! Again, the lord of Sagami12 is the ruler of Japan, but by his conduct he has called down on himself an enemy almost as great as the land of Jambudvipa.
Even if you abandon your brother and take his place in your father’s favor, you will never prosper in a thousand or ten thousand years. There is no knowing what will become of you even in the near future. How can you be certain of lifelong prosperity? Therefore, you should resolve to give all your thought to your happiness in the next existence. Having written all this, it occurs to me that this letter may be futile, and I tire of going on. But it may serve as a reminder to you in the future.
With my deep respect, Nichiren, The twentieth day of the eleventh month “ (1277)
Reply to Hyoe no Sakan (NSIC Translation)
This letter was written to Hyoe no Sakan Munenaga, the younger of the two Ikegami brothers. Though it was originally thought to have been written in the first year of Kenji (1275), it is now apparent that it was written in 1277. Munenaga is thought to have taken faith in the Daishonin’s teaching around 1256, shortly after his elder brother Munenaka. Both were officials in the Kamakura shogunate, and their father, Yasumitsu, was director of the government’s Office of Construction and Repairs.
Yasumitsu was a loyal follower of the priest Ryokan of the True Word Precepts school who was highly active in political affairs. He strenuously opposed their beliefs and disowned Munenaka twice, in 1275 and again in 1277. By disowning Munenaka, Yasumitsu in effect was provoking a rift between the two sons, tempting the weaker Munenaga to trade his beliefs for the right to inherit his father’s estate. Supported by the Daishonin’s guidance and encouragement, however, Munenaga upheld his faith together with his brother, and in 1278, after a total of twenty-two years’ practice, their united efforts finally led their father to accept faith in the Daishonin’s teaching.” (From NSIC)
One encountering the Lotus Sutra can be one’s own awakening due to a strong vow, that has persisted into one’s current life time, or it can he that one follows a person, with that kind of strong inner awakening, who has pulled you out of the illusionary realms and passed the Law on to you. But still the Sancho Shima rages and the vow can weaken in a person who is not at a stage of non-retrogression themselves.
Backsliding means to forget one’s promise and spend their time with “ meaningless trifles,” like the Kanku-cho Bird full of desires for comfort, dreaming of “fame and profit,” (comfort) forgets to do as it needs to do. This is the result of an arrogant mind, that only reflects on one’s self when they are reproached and then find themselves suffering from forgetting their promises.
Nichiren warns the younger brother, whose faith wavers and breaks unity with his older brother, to not forget his debt of gratitude to the Supreme law and the rarity of encountering it. In the Letter to Hyoe no Sakan Munenaga. Nichiren describes the endless flow of lifetimes over endless kalpas one can wander, rare it is to even be born human, and far more rare to be rescued out of that endless Samsara of Fundamental Darkness and encounter the Wonderful Law.
What Life State are these things in?
also see SPLIT ICHINEN
The teaching of Sansho Shima and many of the teachings of Nichiren above originates with the Nirvana Sutra, The Great Nirvana Sutra -Mahaparinirvana Sutra
CYCLE OF SUFFERING —CYCLE OF SAMSARA