GOOD FORTUNE

Enlightenment is the foundation of the Universe

Myoho is the true entity of life

Myoho is always victorious

This Wisdom transcends Human Beings

The Unmatched Fortune Of The Law

z If we compare all the living beings of the nine worlds with the Buddha, the good fortune of all living beings is as light as a single strand of hair, while the good fortune of the Buddha is as heavy as a huge mountain. And the good fortune of all Buddhas is as light as Bonten's featherweight robe, while the good fortune of one character of the Lotus Sutra is as weighty as the earth. The person in the phrase "the person is insignificant" is the Buddha; the Law that is supreme is the Lotus Sutra.

This letter was written on the eleventh day of the fifth month in 1279, when the Daishonin was fifty-eight years old. It was sent in response to a gift of bamboo shoots received from a follower named Nishiyama Nyudo, a lay priest who lived in the village of Nishiyama in Fuji District of Suruga Province. It appears that Nishiyama occasionally visited the Daishonin at Minobu, bringing gifts with him. A total of six extant Gosho are addressed to him, including this letter,

Concretely speaking, what kinds of benefits can one expect?

The Bunbetsu kudoku (seventeenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra expounds the following:

1. You will enjoy a life condition in which you can establish and support the temples in which the Gohonzon is enshrined.

2. You will be able to correctly understand Buddhism and explain it to people. You will also gain good friends in true Buddhism.

3. Your words and deeds will become correct and pure.

4 You will have peace of mind and your thoughts will become profound. You will develop patience, and anger will disappear.

5. You will be uninfluenced by the evils in your environment and be able to continuously perform good deeds.

6. Your senses will become sharp, your intellect will become clear, and your wisdom will deepen.

7. You will be able to correctly make use of the good teachings and positive knowledge and gain the power to resolve difficult problems. (Kaiketsu, p. 535 [summarized])