daimoku and Amida Buddha’s name, those who are wavering between the two, and those who chant only the Nembutsu. People of this last group revile me as though I were an enemy of their parents or their lord, or a sworn foe from a past existence. Heads of villages, districts, and provinces hate me as though I were a traitor.
As I continued to proclaim my teachings in this way, I was driven out of place after place, forced to move on throughout Japan like a log adrift on the sea at the wind’s mercy, or like a tiny feather that soars high into the air and then hovers about, now rising, now falling. At times I was struck, arrested, wounded, or exiled far away. At times my disciples were killed, or I myself was banished. Then, on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), I incurred the wrath of the government and was subsequently exiled to the northern island province of Sado.
Though I had never violated the secular laws even in the slightest, the authorities accused me, saying, “This priest has gone so far as to declare that the late lay priests of Saimyo-ji and Gokuraku-ji6 have fallen into hell. He is worse than a traitor.” They were about to behead me at a place called Tatsunokuchi in Kamakura in Sagami Province, but then they apparently reconsidered, thinking: “True, his crime is indeed heinous, but he is a votary of the Lotus Sutra nonetheless. If we kill him rashly, there is no telling what disaster might befall us. On the other hand, if we leave him on a remote island, he will surely perish of some cause or other. Not only is he hated by the ruler, but the common people all regard him as they would an enemy of their parents. He will probably be killed or die of hunger either on his way to Sado or after he has arrived there.” Thus they decided to dispose of me in this way.
However, possibly due to the protection of the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters, or perhaps because the heavenly gods realized my innocence, and although many of the islanders hated me, there was an old man called the lay priest Nakaoki no Jiro [who befriended me]. He was as wise as he was advanced in years, and he enjoyed robust health and commanded the esteem of the local people. Probably because this venerable man said of me, “This priest can be no ordinary person,” his sons did not strongly resent me. Since most of the other people were in the service of the retainers of the Nakaoki family, they too made no attempt to harm me on their own authority and carefully obeyed the government’s instructions.
Though water may be muddied, it will again become clear. Though the moon may hide behind the clouds, it will surely reappear. Similarly, in time my innocence became apparent, and my predictions proved not to have been in vain. Perhaps on that account, although the members of the Hojo family and influential lords insisted that I should not be pardoned, I was finally released from my sentence of exile at the sole decision of the lord of the province of Sagami7 and returned to Kamakura.
I, Nichiren, am the most loyal subject in all of Japan. I do not believe that there has ever been, nor ever will be, anyone who can equal me in this respect. The reason I say so is as follows: When the great earthquake struck during the Shoka era (1257–1259) and the huge comet appeared in the first year of Bun’ei (1264), a number of wise persons, both Buddhist and nonBuddhist, performed divinations, but they could neither determine the causes of these disasters nor foretell what was to come. As for me, I secluded myself in a scripture library, and after pondering the matters based on the Buddhist
