crane, because it has its wings to rely upon, can travel ten thousand ri. It is not their own strength that allows them to do these things.
This applies likewise in the case of the priest Jibu-bo. Though he himself is like the wisteria vine, because he clings to the pine that is the Lotus Sutra, he is able to ascend the mountain of perfect enlightenment. Because he has the wings of the single vehicle to rely upon, he can soar into the sky of Tranquil Light. With wings such as these, he is a priest who can bring comfort to not only his parents and his grandfather and grandmother, but also all his relatives down to the seventh generation.
How fortunate a woman you are to possess this fine jewel of a grandson. The dragon king’s daughter offered her jewel and thereby obtained Buddhahood.12 You have given your grandson to be a votary of the Lotus Sutra, and this will lead you to enlightenment.
I am so pressed by various matters that I cannot write in detail just now. I will write again another time.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The thirteenth day of the seventh month
Reply to the grandmother of Jibu-bo
This letter was written for the grandmother of Jibu-bo Nichii, one of the Daishonin’s disciples, in response to the offerings she had made just before the yearly service for deceased ancestors.
Though traditionally thought to have been written in the third year of Kenji (1277), recent studies suggest that this letter was written in the second year of Koan (1279).
In this letter, the Daishonin offers a detailed explanation of the origin of the service that was the established custom of his day. The Daishonin attributes the roots of this tradition to the story of Maudgalyayana’s efforts to save his deceased mother. He explains that Maudgalyayana, one of Shakyamuni’s foremost disciples, failed initially to relieve his mother’s torment because he had put his faith in the Hinayana version of Buddhism and devoted him
self to observing precepts and thus had not attained Buddhahood. When Maudgalyayana rejected the precepts, chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and attained Buddhahood, his deceased parents attained Buddhahood as well, the Daishonin says.
It is thought that Jibu-bo’s grandmother lived in Ihara District of Suruga Province. According to Nikko Shonin’s List of Disciples upon Whom Nikko Bestowed the Gohonzon, Jibu-bo, originally a Tendai priest at Shijuku-in temple in Suruga, took faith in the Daishonin’s teaching and studied under Nichiji, who later became one of the six senior disciples of the Daishonin. Although details are unclear, it is believed that it was Jibu-bo who urged his grandmother to take faith in the Daishonin’s teachings.
