The roots of good fortune are not determined by whether one’s offerings are large or small. Depending upon the country, the person and the time, the merit gained will differ in various ways. For example, even if one dries dung, breaks it up, passes it through a sieve and forms it into the likeness of a sandalwood tree, or of a woman, a heavenly goddess or a Buddha, when it is burned, it will give off no other fragrance but the stink of dung. Similarly, if one kills or robs others and takes from them the first fruits of the harvest, then even if one should offer one’s gains with the intent of acquiring merit and good fortune, that offering will instead become an evil deed. 

The wealthy man Sudatta was the richest person in all of India. He built the Jetavana monastery as an offering and invited the Buddha there. Yet his monastery burned down and not a trace of it remained. This rich man originally gained his wealth by catching and selling fish, thus depriving them of life, and therefore in the end this monastery disappeared. 

In the same way, the donations made by people today may seem impressive, but they are offerings of fiefs won in battle or of wealth gained by heedlessly oppressing the people. Though these gifts appear to be great acts of devotion to the Buddha, not only will the people who offer them fail to attain Buddhahood, but their contributions will vanish without a trace. 

Again, even if one does no harm to others and honestly strives to make offerings, there will be cases in which one does not attain Buddhahood. To illustrate, if one plants good seed in a bad field, the seed itself will be ruined, and one will in turn suffer loss. Even if one is sincere, if the person to whom one makes offerings is evil those offerings will fail to produce benefit; rather, they will cause one to fall into the evil paths. 

Your own offerings were not made to me, Nichiren, but to the Lotus Sutra. Therefore we must leave it to Shakyamuni 
Buddha, Taho Buddha and all the other Buddhas of the ten directions [to fathom the greatness of] the resulting benefits. 

I have written to you about various events of this past year, but I must say that I do not recall at any time in my life such cold as we are now experiencing. The snow has fallen and piled up in great quantity. Even those with a strong resolve find it difficult to visit me. The fact that you have sent a messenger to me here shows that yours is certainly no ordinary sincerity! 

With my deep respect,
Nichiren

The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month

Reply to Kubo-no-ama Gozen
 

Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin; Vol. 7.

Gosho background information

Koreni dobre sreće nisu određeni time da li su nečije ponude velike ili male. U zavisnosti od zemlje, osobe i vremena, zadobijene zasluge će se razlikovati na razne načine. Na primer, čak i ako neko isuši balegu, izmrvi je, propusti kroz sito i oblikuje je tako da liči na sandalovo drvo, ili na ženu, nebeska božanstva ili na Budu, kada je zapaljena neće ispustiti nikakav drugi miris osim smrada balege. Slično tome, ako neko ubija ili pljačka druge i oduzima im prve plodove žetve, tada će, čak i ako treba ponuditi svoj dobitak u cilju sticanja zasluga i dobre sreće, takva ponuda, umesto toga, postati zlodelo. 

Bogataš Sudata bio je najbogatiji čovek u celoj Indiji. Izgradio je Đetavana manastir kao ponudu i pozvao Budu tamo. Ali, njegov manastir je izgoreo i nije ni traga ostalo od njega. Ovaj bogati čovek je stekao svoje bogatstvo hvatajući i prodajući ribu, lišavajući je tako života, i tako je na kraju i taj manastir iščezao. 

Isto tako, darovi koje ljudi danas poklanjaju mogu izgledati impresivno, ali oni nude feude osvojene u bitkama ili bogatstvo stečeno bezbrižnim tlačenjem ljudi. Mada ovi pokloni izgledaju kao veliki gestovi predanosti Budi, ne samo da ljudi koji ih nude neće uspeti da dostignu budastvo, već će i njihovi prilozi iščeznuti bez traga. 

Opet, čak i ako neko ne povređuje druge i pošteno se trudi da učini ponude, biće slučajeva u kojima se ne dostiže budastvo. Da ilustrujem, ako neko seje dobro seme na lošem polju, seme će samo biti upropašteno, a čovek će zauzvrat pretrpeti gubitak. Čak i ako je neko iskren, ako je osoba kojoj nudi ponude zla, te ponude neće moći da proizvedu dobrobit; pre će biti da će uzrokovati pad na zle staze. 

Tvoje vlastite ponude nisu učinjene meni, Ničirenu, već Lotos Sutri. Prema tome, moramo ostaviti Šakjamuni Budi, Taho Budi i svim drugim budama iz deset pravaca [da premere dubinu veličine] proizlazećih dobrobiti. 

Pisao sam ti o raznim događajima tokom prošle godine, ali moram reći da ne mogu da se setim takve hladnoće, u celom svom životu, kakvu sada doživljavamo. Sneg je pao i nagomilao se u velikim količinama. Čak i oni jake rešenosti nalaze da je teško posetiti me. Činjenica da si mi poslala glasnika ovde, pokazuje da tvoja iskrenost svakako nije uobičajena! 

Uz moje duboko poštovanje, 
Ničiren 

Dvadeset sedmi dan dvanaestog meseca 

Odgovor Kubo-no-ami Gozen
 

Podaci o poreklu gošoa