Rissho Ankokuron - Rissho Ankokuron

A Buddhist book from the Kamakura period. Written by Nichiren at age 39 in 1260 (Bun'o 1), it is one volume long and is also known as Ankokuron (The Treatise on Peace of the Nation). The original work by Nichiren, written in 1269, is preserved at Nakayama Hokekyoji Temple in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The original Chinese text consists of 10 questions and answers between a traveler and a host. At the time, Kamakura was hit by a series of natural disasters, but the great earthquake of August 1257 (Shoka 1) was particularly violent, causing great hardship for the residents. Nichiren spent three full years searching Buddhist scriptures for the cause of the disasters and how to eradicate them (legend has it that he studied them in the sutra repository of Iwamoto Jisso-ji Temple in Shizuoka Prefecture), and presented it to the former regent, Hojo Tokiyori. The title means to establish the correct law and bring peace to the land. He cites the Nembutsu of Honen (Genku) as an example of a false teaching that is opposed to the correct teaching, but in it he argues that the role of religion in the latter days is not to shy away from this world and pray for rebirth in paradise in the next life, but rather to emphasize the importance of awakening the bodhi mind and trying to turn this impure world into a Buddhist land. Since it is a book of admonition to the nation, it does not explain the process by which it reached its conclusion, so it is best to read it together with "Protecting the Nation," published the previous year. The presentation of "Ankoku-ron" actually aroused the antagonism of the shogunate, and Nichiren was persecuted by the shogunate and others from then on. However, the persecution only strengthened Nichiren's passion for the establishment of the correct teaching and deepened his experience of the Lotus Sutra, so this treatise is respected as the starting point of Nichiren's religion and is counted as one of his three major works.

[Endo Asai]

"The True Story of Saint Nichiren, by Kazunari Suzuki (1948, Heirakuji Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

鎌倉時代の仏書。1260年（文応1）日蓮(にちれん)39歳の著作。一巻。略称して『安国論』ともいう。日蓮真筆は1269年筆のものが千葉県市川市中山法華経(ほけきょう)寺に現存。原漢文で、旅客と主人との10番の問答からなる。当時、鎌倉では天変地異が打ち続いたが、1257年（正嘉1）8月の大地震はことに激烈を極め、住民の困苦甚だしく、日蓮はまる3年をかけて、災難の原因と災難退治の方法とを仏書に求め（伝説では静岡県岩本実相寺(いわもとじっそうじ)の経蔵にて研究）、前執権の北条時頼(ときより)に上呈した。題名は、正法(しょうぼう)を建立して国土を安穏にするという意味である。正法に対する邪法には法然(ほうねん)（源空）の念仏をあげているが、そこに現世を厭離(おんり)して来世の極楽往生(ごくらくおうじょう)を欣(ねが)うことに末代の宗教の役割があるのではなくて、この穢土(えど)を仏国土化しようと発菩提心(ほつぼだいしん)することのたいせつさを訴える主張がみられる。国家諫暁(かんぎょう)の書であるため、結論に達するための経過の説明に乏しく、前年に発表された『守護国家論』を併読するとよい。『安国論』の献上は、本論の諫暁の趣旨が、かえって幕府の反感を買い、以後は絶えず幕府などの迫害を受けることになった。しかし迫害により日蓮の立正の情熱はいっそう高まり、法華経体験は深まったので、本論は日蓮の宗教の出発点として尊重され、三大著作の一つに数えられる。

［浅井円道］

『鈴木一成著『日蓮聖人正伝』（1948・平楽寺書店）』

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