“On Immutable and Mutable Karma”

There are two types of illnesses. One type is minor and the second is grave. Even with a grave illness, if one sees a skilled physician and is promptly treated, one can extend one’s life. This is all the more true with minor illnesses. There are two types of karma, immutable and mutable. Sincere repentance will make even immutable karma vanish. How much more is this so with mutable karma? The seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra states, “This sutra provides good medicine for the ills of the people of Jambudvipa.”

(Gosho, p. 760)

Background of “On Immutable and Mutable Karma”:

This Gosho was written on the seventh day of the second month of the 12th year of Bun’ei (1275), when Nichiren Daishonin was 54 years of age. It was a letter addressed to Toki Jonin’s wife, a lay nun.

Around the ninth month of the 11th year of Bun’ei (1274), she had fallen ill, and Shijo Kingo was concerned about a recurrence of the ailment. Hearing about this, the Daishonin wrote this letter and prayed for her recovery from illness, describing how to defeat it based on faith.

The passage we are focusing on marks the beginning of the letter, in which he explains minor and grave illnesses and immutable and mutable karma.

In this Gosho, the Daishonin states that the Lotus Sutra is, in fact, the true words of the Buddha, and he refers to the story that describes how Bodhisattva Fukyo was able to extend his life by listening to the Lotus Sutra and how the Daishonin’s mother was able to prolong her life by four years through the Daishonin’s prayers to the Lotus Sutra.

The Daishonin encouraged the lay nun, saying that she would undoubtedly be able to extend her life, an invaluable treasure, by overcoming her illness through upholding faith and practice, with the spirit of being willing to give her life for the sake of the Law.

Finally, he concludes by saying that he would offer prayers for the nun’s recovery from illness to the heavenly deities, whose duty is to protect those who believe in and embrace the Lotus Sutra.

Explanation of the Major Terms:

• Immutable karma・Mutable karma: Karma refers to all mental, verbal, and physical actions. With immutable karma, the positive and negative karmic effects and the time at which one receives them are all set and established, whereas with mutable karma, those effects and that time are not set. Compared to immutable karma, mutable karma is slight. Furthermore, as expressed in the passage we are studying, immutable karma concerns issues that determine a person’s lifespan, and mutable karma concerns issues that do not.
• “This sutra provides good medicine for the ills of the people of Jambudvipa”: This is an excerpt from the Bodhisattva Medicine King (Yakuo bosatsu; twenty-third) chapter of the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyo, p. 539; The Lotus Sutra, Watson, p. 288). It explains how the Lotus Sutra is the supremely beneficial medicine that cures the serious ills of all people. In the Latter Day of the Law, the mystic Law (Myoho) of the Buddhism of the sowing, which was revealed and expounded by Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha, is none other than the true beneficial medicine to lead the people of the Latter Day of the Law to enlightenment.