Tales from the Gosho

I-Lung

This month we will discuss a person named I-Lung who by copying 
the Daimoku or titles of the lotus Sutra was able to save his father 
from the sufferings of hell. parable is illustrated in detail in Nichiren 
Daishonin's Gosho, specifically Letter to Horen, also referred to as 
Wu-Lung and I-Lung, (Shinpen, p. 809).
Long ago in China there lived a renowned master calligrapher named 
Wu-Lung. Wu-Lung was an ardent believer of Taoism who highly 
respected Lao Tzu 1.  Since Wu-Lung detested Buddhism, the 
Buddhist scriptures were the only documents that he we would not 
transcribe.
Wu-Lung had a child named I-Lung who excelled in calligraphy just 
as his father. His ability in inscribing beautiful Chinese characters 
with the brush was astounding. At the time of Wu-Lung's impending 
death, he summoned his son I-Lung to his side and said:
It is my will that after my death you follow me in becoming a master 
calligrapher. Our family has embraced the Taoist teachings for 
generation upon generation. Therefore, of the calligraphic works you 
produced,  you must not transcribe any of the Buddhist teachings. 
Shakyamuni Buddha once stated the term "Yuiga Tokuson" - that he 
is the only revered one within this world. However, your father 
believes that Lao Tzu is a revered person, therefore, you must never 
ever transcribe any of the Buddhist works. If you break this promise, 
I will return as a ghost to kill you. You must keep this promise.
As soon as the father, Wu-Lung, said this, his tongue splintered into 
eight parts and his head broke up into seven pieces. He suffered an 
extremely painful death as blood gushed forth from his eyes, ears, 
nose and mouth. Wu-Lung was forced to endure this death of 
suffering as punishment for placing credence in a mistaken teaching 
and disbelieving in the True Law. However, his son I-Lung did not 
understand this and followed his father's will to the letter, not 
transcribing a single thing that had to do with Buddhism. Many years 
passed since the death of the father. One day though, a messenger 
arrived from the king of his country Ping-cho. The king's name was 
Ssu-ma and he was a believer in the Buddhist Law. The messenger 
had come to visit I-Lung on request of the king to ask him as the 
most skilled calligrapher throughout the country to transcribe a copy 
of the lotus Sutra to be made as an offering during a Buddhist 
memorial service. I-Lung, however, refused the king's request, citing 
the promise he had made to his father to maintain his will. The king 
did not give up his desire to have the copy of the sutra transcribed. 
He instead asked another calligrapher to make the transcription. 
However, this calligrapher was not able to render a transcription that 
was pleasing to the king. At this point, the king attempted once more 
to persuade I-Lung to write some of the sutra by ordering him, "It 
will be sufficient if you please just copy the titles of the eight 
volumes of the Lotus Sutra."
I-Lung responded, "I'm so very sorry, Please forgive me." again 
refusing the king's request.
The king replied, "Wasn't your father one of my retainers? If you do 
not obey my words, then I will be forced to have you beheaded right 
here in this garden."  I-Lung began to cry as he inscribed the words, 
"Myoho-Renge-Kyo Dai-Ichi", "Myoho-Renge-Kyo, Dai-Ni", continuing 
until he had written down all the titles of each of the eight volumes 
of the Lotus Sutra. In having written the tittles of the sutra, I-Lung 
then received the king's forgiveness. I-Lung returned home and was 
filled with tears as he apologized to the spirit of his deceased father 
for having violated his will. He eventually cried himself to sleep.
During the middle of the night as I-Lung slept, he had a very unusual 
dream. In this dream, just as when the sun first rises in the early 
morning in which everything is suddenly illuminated, he saw a lone 
wondrous heavenly being who stood in a garden attended by 
multitudes of people. Above this were sixty-four Buddhas in the sky. 
I-Lung was astonished and asked the lone figure, "Who are you?"  
The heavenly being replied:
I am your father, Wu-Lung,. As punishment for having spoke 
abusively about the True Buddhist Law, I languished at the time of 
my death as blood poured from my entire body. Even after I died, I 
was forced to endure the agony of the hell of incessant suffering. The 
torment was tremendous. The agony experienced was much more 
horrendous than the suffering of having one's fingernails ripped off 
with a sword, one's head cut off with a saw, being forced to walk 
over hot coals and being wrapped in thorns. I wanted to inform you 
of these things and ask you to make Buddhist offerings fro the 
deceased, but I was not able. I regretted having told you it was my 
will that you not write any of the Buddhist teachings. Yesterday 
morning, the initial character "Myo" of the Lotus Sutra flew above 
the hell of incessant suffering and suddenly turned into a golden 
Shakyamuni Buddha and said, "Any person who hears the Lotus 
Sutra will become happy, even the most evil of people." From the 
character of "Myo", it then began to rain heavily as it extinguished 
the fires of the hell of incessant suffering. The great king of hell, 
Emma, held this with great veneration, and the surrounding demons 
all readied themselves for resistance. Then the next characters of 
"Ho" and "Ren" appeared, with sixty-four characters becoming sixty-
four Buddhas. Everything around us became bright and the suffering 
disappeared. These Buddhas then stated, "Our golden bodies are the 
sixty-four characters of the titles of the eight volumes of the Lotus 
Sutra that you, I-Lung, write.  (Since I-Lung is a child of Wu-Lung, it 
was the same as if Wu-Lung himself had written these characters.) 
Because of what you did, all the people who were in hell together 
with me and myself were saved. So, we all came to thank you.
I-Lung had broken his promise with his father and was grieved over 
the fact that his father was probably angry at him and distressed 
over what he had done. On the contrary, however, when he found out 
that his father had instead been saved from hell he became 
overjoyed. From that time on, he never again transcribed non-
Buddhist documents. When he explained to the king about the dream 
he had, King Ssu-ma was also highly delighted. It is said that the 
Lotus Sutra spread throughout the Kingdom that then brought 
prosperity.
This parable is a story that explains the benefit of transcribing the 
Lotus Sutra. Naturally, the benefit will be even greater for one who 
actually uses one's mouth to chant Daimoku or use one's body to 
practice the Lotus Sutra. If by the will of one's parents, one practices 
a mistaken religion or philosophy, then both the parents and that 
person will suffer. For example, if one's parents are thieves, then 
both the parents and the children will increasingly be accumulating 
the causes in their lives to become unhappy.There are three ways to 
requite the debt of gratitude that one owes one's parents. Dividing 
them into three "highest", "middle" and "lowest" ways, the third or 
"lowest" way of repaying one's debt of gratitude to one's parents is in 
giving material goods. For example, this can be done by building a 
house for one's parents, presenting them with beautiful clothes, 
preparing or taking them out to eat delicious food, amongst other 
things. The "middle" or second way is to sincerely attend or take care 
of them. This is done, for example by listening to what your parents 
tell or advise you, by sincerely feeling in one's heart that one's 
parents are truly dear, holding them in esteem and by obeying what 
they have told you. The first or "highest" way is to bring the life 
conditions of one's parents to that of happinesses through the 
benefits of the Gohonzon and the power of the Buddha. This can be 
done, for example, by holding memorial services for one's parents 
after they have passed away which includes the offering of memorial 
(Toba), sincerely praying for one's deceased parents during the fifth 
prayer in morning and evening Gongyo, and by chanting Daimoku for 
them.
The first or "highest" way of repaying one's debt of gratitude to one's 
parents far surpasses that of the "middle" and "lowest" ways. By 
chanting Daimoku for one's parents even after they have passed 
from this world, one's parents, one's ancestors and oneself can all 
attain Buddhahood through the benefit of the Gohonzon. Let's all 
strive to sincerely chant Daimoku in a resonant and clear voice, and 
with correct posture to the Gohonzon together with our families, 
either in our own homes, when we have the opportunity to make a 
pilgrimage to the Head Temple or when we participate at the Shodai-
kais of our local temples. This sincere effort on our part, is the most 
wonderful form of repaying our debt of gratitude to our parents.

Reference:  
1. Horen Sho (Letter to Horen, also referred to as Wu-Lung and I-
Lung), Shinpen, p. 809.
2. A Dictionary and Buddhist Terms and Concepts, NSIC.
3. Dictionary of Oriental Literature-East Asia Edition, Tuttle.
Footnotes:
1. Lao Tzu b. ?570-d.490 BC?) the founder of Taoism in China, and 
according to Ssuma Ch'ien, is said to have been originally an archivist 
and with the Chou court. Seeing the dynasty decline, he resigned his 
court position and set out for the Han-Ku Pass (south-west of present 
day Honan Province). At that time he wrote his teachings of Tao (the 
way, method, reason) and Te (virtue, power energy)that later 
became known as the 81 chapter volume of Tao Te Ching, the central 
basis of Taoist philosophy.

©1995 Nichiren Shoshu Monthly