ever, Nichiren was exiled to the province of Izu on the twelfth day of the fifth month in the first year of Kocho (1261), cyclical sign kanoto-tori, and was wounded on the forehead and had his left hand broken on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the first year of Bun’ei (1264), cyclical sign kinoe-ne. He was led to the place of execution on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), cyclical sign kanoto-hitsuji, and in the end was exiled to the province of Sado. In addition, countless numbers of disciples have been murdered or wounded, banished or heavily fined. I do not know whether these trials equal or surpass those of the Buddha. Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, T’ien-t’ai, and Dengyo, however, cannot compare with me in what they suffered. Had it not been for the advent of Nichiren in the Latter Day of the Law, the Buddha would have been a teller of great lies, and the testimony given by Many Treasures and by the Buddhas of the ten directions would have been false. In the 2,230 and more years since the Buddha’s passing, Nichiren is the only person in the entire land of Jambudvipa who has fulfilled the Buddha’s words.
In the past, and in the present Latter Day of the Law, the rulers, high ministers, and people who despise the votaries of the Lotus Sutra seem to be free from punishment at first, but eventually they are all doomed to fall. The same is true in the case of Nichiren. There seemed at first to be no signs of protection for me. The gods who vowed to protect the Lotus Sutra, however— Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings — by now have realized in terror that if they leave their oath to the Buddha unfulfilled, as they have done for these twenty-seven years, they will fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. Consequently each of them is now striving to carry out
his vow. The deaths of Ota Chikamasa, Nagasaki Jiro Hyoe-no-jo Tokitsuna, and Daishin-bo,2 who were all thrown from their horses, can be seen as punishment for their treachery against the Lotus Sutra. There are four kinds of punishment: general and individual, conspicuous and inconspicuous. The epidemics and famines that have attacked Japan, as well as the strife within the ruling clan and the foreign invasion, are general punishment. Epidemics are a form of inconspicuous punishment. The deaths of Ota and the others are both conspicuous and individual.
Each of you should summon up the courage of a lion king and never succumb to threats from anyone. The lion king fears no other beast, nor do its cubs. Slanderers are like barking foxes, but Nichiren’s followers are like roaring lions. The lay priest of Saimyo-ji, now deceased, and the present ruler3 permitted my return from my exiles when they found that I was innocent of the accusations against me. The present ruler shall no longer take action on any charge without confirming its truth. You may rest assured that nothing, not even a person possessed by a powerful demon, can harm Nichiren, because Brahma, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, the Sun Goddess, and Hachiman are safeguarding him. Strengthen your faith day by day and month after month. Should you slacken in your resolve even a bit, devils will take advantage.
We common mortals are so foolish that we do not fear either the warnings in the sutras and treatises, or those things that seem somewhat removed from us. When Hei no Saemon and Akitajo-no-suke,4 in their anger, wreak havoc upon us, you must demonstrate a firm resolve. Men are now being sent to Tsukushi [to fight the Mongols]; consider yourselves in the same position as those who are on their way or are already at the fortifications. So
