SGI Buddhism (.net)

A worldwide community for SGI Members

Shijo Kingo - Courageous Disciple

Information

A place for SGI Members to Rekindle and Strengthen your Faith, Practice and Study in Nichiren Buddhism. Feel free to post your articles, study material, ask questions, make comment, discuss and exchange experiences.

Members: 113
Latest Activity: Aug 3, 2017

12 members like this

Shijo Kingo ( 1230–1300) A follower of Nichiren who lived in Kamakura, Japan. His full name and title were ShijoNakatsukasa SaburoSaemon-no-joYorimoto. Kingo is an equivalent of the title Sae-mon-no-jo. His wife was Nichigen-nyo and they had two daughters, Tsukimaro and Kyo'o. As a samurai retainer, he served the Ema family, a branch of the ruling Hojoclan. Kingo was well versed in both medicine and the martial arts, and in temperament was straightforward, loyal, and passionate. He is said to have converted to Nichiren's teachings around 1256, at about the same time as KudoYoshitaka and the brothers Ikegami Munenaka and Ikegami Munenaga. When Nichiren was taken to Tatsunokuchi to be beheaded in 1271, ShijoKingo accompanied him, re-solved to die by his side. After Nichiren was exiled to Sado Island, ShijoKingo sent a messenger to him with various offerings. Through this mes-senger Nichiren entrusted ShijoKingo with his treatise The Opening of the Eyes, which he had completed in the second month of 1272. A few months later, Kingo himself made the journey to Sado to visit Nichiren.Sometime after Nichiren returned from Sado and moved to Minobu in 1274, ShijoKingo tried to convert his lord, Ema, who was a believer of the Pure Land ( Jodo) school and a follower of the priest Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji temple. Lord Ema did not take kindly to his retainer's belief in the Lotus Sutra or support of Nichiren, whom Ryokan hated, and harassed him on that account. At one point, he ordered Kingo to aban-don his faith in Nichiren's teaching, threatening to transfer him to the remote province of Echigo if he did not obey. In 1277 ShijoKingo happened to observe a debate at Kuwagayatsu in Kamakura in which Sammi-bo, a disciple of Nichiren, defeated Ryuzo-bo, a Tendai priest and a protegeof Ryokan. Fellow samurai jealous of Kingo saw a chance to dis-grace him in the eyes of his lord and reported falsely to Lord Ema that Kingo had forcibly disrupted the debate. This led Lord Ema to threaten to confiscate Kingo's fief.Nichiren drafted a petition to Lord Ema on behalf of ShijoKingo, which he sent to his loyal disciple. Before long, Lord Ema fell ill, and eventually had to ask ShijoKingo for treatment. He recovered under Kingo's care and thereafter placed renewed trust in him. In 1278 Kingo received from Ema an estate three times larger than his former one. When Nichiren became ill in his later years, ShijoKingo attended to him at Minobu. Kingo also attended Nichiren on his deathbed and participated in his funeral. After Nichiren's death, he lived in retirement at Utsubuna in Kai Province.

Discussion Forum

View All

Comment Wall

Comment

You need to be a member of Shijo Kingo - Courageous Disciple to add comments!

Comment by Jonnie Parker on December 19, 2011 at 10:32pm: Hi Christine thanks for your comment.

Comment by Christine Boulware on December 10, 2011 at 7:11am: Congratulations Johnny!!! Everything you share with us is so inspiring and encouraging!

Comment by Jonnie Parker on December 10, 2011 at 1:10am: Hi Joyce many thanks for your comment.

Comment by Joyce Law on December 9, 2011 at 3:25am: Congratulations, Jonnie, on your conferral anniversary! Thank you for being a treasure of the "North Cadillacky" crowd. Many capable people for kosen rufu have been fostered through the efforts of the Carolina members. You are most certainly carrying out that Southern tradition through your contributions to the Shijo Kingo Group and other endeavors to widen the knowledge of Nichiren Buddhism and the sublime goals of world peace by SGI. Never lose sight of your dreams.

Comment by Jonnie Parker on December 8, 2011 at 4:38pm: 33 Years of Continuous Practice

On today December 8, 2011 I celebrate my 33 years of Practicing Nichiren Buddhism Overcoming the Storms of Obstacles with Hope and I am looking forward to 2012 to continue to advance for Kosen Rufu next year with the Members of this Group and with my local SGI-USA Members in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Comment by Jonnie Parker on November 8, 2011 at 8:36pm: Hi Kelly and Sonia welcome to the group.

Comment by Jonnie Parker on August 4, 2011 at 11:19pm: Hi Katrina welcome to the group.

Comment by Joyce Law on July 30, 2011 at 7:07pm: Welcome, Andre. I hope this site offers you additional information on the life of Shijo Kingo and as a result, find him an even more inspiring model of faith as a disciple of Nichiren. Boundless blessings to you and our friends in faith from The Netherlands.

Comment by André de Wit on July 30, 2011 at 4:54pm: A short introduction.
For details about me, just go to my page.
In the Netherlands we have also a Shijo Kingo Group. It's a dedicated group of the Men's Division who do the same kind of tasks like the Sokahans and Keibi/Gajokai. Often these MD members were in the pase Sokahan and/or keibi/Gajokai member. We (the Shijo Kingo group members) support meetings of the other Divisions when needed.
GOf course we also study the true spirit of Shijo Kingo.
Greetz,
André de Wit
The Netherlands