Reply to a Believer
I have just received your
letter. Considering how
disasters have struck one
after another in the wake of
Nichiren’s exile, would they
dare attempt to harass us
any further? I feel they will
do no more, but people on
the brink of ruin are capable
of anything. Should some
persecution be about to
occur, there will certainly be
signs. Even if I were to be
exiled again, it would bring
ten billion times greater good
fortune than if my teachings
were to be accepted. The
next exile would be my third.
Should it happen, the Lotus
Sutra could never accuse
me of being a fainthearted
votary. I might well become
heir to the blessings of
Shakyamuni, Taho and all
the other Buddhas of the ten
directions, as well as those
of the countless
Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
How wonderful if that were to
come about!
I will follow in the path of
Sessen Doji and live as did
Bodhisattva Fukyo. In
comparison to such a life,
how wretched and
meaningless it would be to
fall victim to an epidemic or
simply die of old age! I would
far rather suffer persecution
from this country’s ruler for
the sake of the Lotus Sutra
and thereby free myself from
the sufferings of birth and
death. Then I could test the
vows that the Sun Goddess,
Hachiman, the gods of the
sun and the moon, Taishaku
and Bonten made in the
presence of the Buddha.
Above all, I will urge them to
protect every one of you.
If you continue living as you
are now, there can be no
doubt that you are practicing
the Lotus Sutra twenty-four
hours each day. Regard
your service to your lord as
the practice of the Lotus
Sutra. [The Hokke Gengi
makes precisely this point
when it says:] "No affairs of
life or work are in any way
different from the ultimate
reality."
I fully understand what you
have said in your letter.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The eleventh day of the
fourth month.
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