AMONG the disciples of the Buddha was one named Aniruddha, who was the son of King Dronodana, and whose home brimmed with treasure. After he became one of the Buddha’s disciples, he was known as the foremost in divine insight, and his vision penetrated the entire major world system. At the assembly where the Lotus Sutra was preached, he received the prediction that he would become the Thus Come One Universal Brightness.
If one were to inquire into his past existences, one would find that the reason for this was because he had offered a meal of millet to a pratyekabuddha who was a disciple of a Buddha. And now you, a lay nun, have sent millet from the first harvest here to the depths of the mountain and offered it to the Lotus Sutra. How could you fail to attain Buddhahood?
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twenty-seventh day of the sixth month
Reply to the lay nun of Kubo
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month in 1280 to the lay nun of Kubo in thanks for her offering of first-harvest millet. Referring to Aniruddha, a disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha who received a prediction of Buddhahood during the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin explains that the cause of this good fortune lay in his gift in a past lifetime of a meal of millet. The grain was presented by Aniruddha to a disciple of a Buddha. Surely, says the Daishonin, the lay nun’s offering of millet to the Lotus Sutra will thus lead to her attainment of Buddhahood.