The New Heisei Edition of the Gosho of Nichiren Daishonin was published by Taisekiji on July 16, 1994, under the direction of Nikken Shonin, the Sixty-seventh High Priest of the Head Temple, in commemoration of the great assembly of the 60,000 Hokkeko believers sharing a karmic bond with the Bodhisattvas of the Earth The publication date was made to coincide with the date when Nichiren Daishonin remonstrated with the sovereign of Japan, through His submission of the Rissho ankoku ron, “On Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism.”
This publication contains491Goshos, commencing with the “Entities of the Precepts and Attainment of Buddhahood in One’ s Present Form” (Kaitai sokushin jobutsu gi) and ending with the “Five Kinds of Perception” (Gogen gosho). It includes eight transfer documents, such as “Document for Entrusting the Law that Nichiren Propagated throughout His Life” (Nichiren ichigo guho fuzoku sho) and the “Document for Entrusting Minobu-san” (Minobusan fuzoku sho); verbatim texts of the Daishonin’s sermons of the Lotus Sutra n the form of the “Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings” Ongi kuden) and the “Verbatim Lecture Notes” (Onko kiki gaki); nd Nikko Shonin’s instructions, as exemplified by the “Principles of uidance for the Fuji School” (Fuji isseki monto zonchi no koto) and On Refuting the Five Priests” (Gonin shoha sho). The 491 Goshos clude the five major writings consisting of the Rissho ankoku ron, n Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism”; “The Opening of the Eyes” (Kaimoku sho); “The True Object of Worship” (Kanjin no honzon sho); “Repaying Debts of Gratitude” (Ho’on sho); and “The Selection of the Time” (Senji sho). These Goshos contain the letters that Nichiren Daishonin sent to believers during His lifetime. The collection of these works was a tremendous undertaking that involved a meticulous study comparing and contrasting the texts written in the Daishonin’s own hand and those that were copies of His writings. It also involved painstaking measures to correctly date them.
The translation of this entire collection represents a monumental endeavor that is likely to take thirty to fifty years. The current collection offers the Nichiren Shoshu believers of the world the results of our initial translation efforts, based mainly on the Goshos sent to Lord Ueno.
We are firmly committed to continue to put forth our utmost efforts to correctly transmit the essential teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, and we sincerely pray for the advancement of worldwide kosen-rufu.
28 April 2004
Nichiren Shoshu English Gosho Translation Committee
