It is now clear that those who are born in this land and believe in
this sutra when its propagation is undertaken in the Latter Day of the
Law will suffer persecutions even more severe than those which occurred
in the Buddha's lifetime.  In that age the master was a Buddha, and his
disciples were great bodhisattvas and arhats.  Moreover, the Buddha
expounded the Lotus Sutra only after he had thoroughly taught and
trained everyone who was to hear it, including the gods, humans both lay
and ordained, and the eight kinds of lowly beings.  Still, some of his
followers rejected it.

 Now in the Latter Day of the Law, even though the teaching, the
people's capacity and the time for propagation are in accord, we must
expect all the more hostility.  For this is the age of conflict in which
the Pure Law has been lost.  Moreover, the teacher is but a common
person, and his disciples come from among impious men defiled by the
three poisons.  For this reason, people reject the virtuous teacher and
seek out evil priests instead.

 What is more, once you become a follower of the Lotus Sutra's true
votary whose practice accords with the Buddha's teachings, you are bound
to face the three powerful enemies.  Therefore, from the very day you
take faith in this teaching, you should be fully prepared to face the
three kinds of persecutions which are certain to be more terrible now
after the Buddha's passing.  Although my disciples had already heard
this, some become so terrified when both great and small persecutions
confronted us that they even forsook their faith.  Did I not warn you in
advance?  I have been teaching you day and night directly from the
sutra, which says, "Since hatred and jealousy abound even during the
lifetime of the Buddha, how much worse will it be in the world after his
passing?"1  You have no reason to be suddenly frightened when you
witness me driven from my home, wounded, or officially censured and
exiled -- this time to a distant province.

 Question: The votary who practices according to the Buddha's teaching
should live a peaceful life in this world.  Why then are you beset by
the three powerful enemies?

  Answer: Shakyamuni faced the nine great persecutions for the sake of
the Lotus Sutra.  In the distant past, Bodhisattva Fukyo was attacked
with sticks and stones.  Chu Tao-sheng2 was exiled to Mount Su, Priest
Fa-tao was branded on the face, and Aryasinha was beheaded.  The Great
Teacher T'ien-t'ai was opposed by the seven northern and three southern
sects, and the Great Teacher Dengyo was vilified by the six sects in the
old capital of Nara.  The Buddha and these bodhisattvas and great saints
were all votaries of the Lotus Sutra, yet they suffered great
persecutions.  If you deny that they practiced according to the Buddha's
Teaching, then where can you find those who did?  This is the age of
conflict in which the Pure Law has been lost.  Moreover, in this evil
country, the ruler, his ministers and even the general public are
without exception tainted by slander.  They have opposed the true
teaching and revered heretical doctrines and priests instead.
Therefore, demons have invaded the land furiously, causing the three
calamities and seven disasters to strike again and again.

 This is indeed an accursed time to live in this land.  However, the
Buddha has commanded me to born in this age, and it would be impossible
to go against his decree.  And so, I have put complete faith in the
sutra and launched the battle of the provisional and true teaching.
Donning the armor of endurance and girding myself with the sword of the
true teaching, I have raised the banner of Myoho-renge-kyo, the essence
of the entire eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra. Then, drawing the bow of
the Buddha's declaration, "I have not yet revealed the truth"3 and
notching the arrow of "honestly discarding the provisional teachings,"4
I have mounted the cart5 drawn by the great white ox and battered down
the gates of the provisional teachings.  Attacking first one and then
another, I have refuted the Nembutsu, Shingon, Zen, Ritsu and other
sects.  Some of my adversaries have fled headlong while other have
retreated, and still others have been captured to become my disciples.
I continue to repulse their attacks and defeat them, but there are
legions of enemies opposing the single king of the Law and the handful
who follow him.  So the battle goes on even today.

 "The practice of the Lotus Sutra is shakubuku, the refutation of the
provisional doctrines."6  True to the letter of this golden saying, the
believers of all provisional teachings and sects will ultimately be
defeated and join the followers of the king of the Law.  The time will
come when all people, including those of Learning, Realization and
Bodhisattva, will flourish throughout the land.  In that time because
all people chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together, the wind will not
beleaguer the branches or boughs, nor will the rain fall hard enough to
break a clod.  The world will become as it was in the ages of Fu Hsi and
Shen Nung7 in ancient China.  Disasters will be driven from the land,
and the people will be rid of misfortune.  They will also learn the art
of living long, fulfilling lives.  Realize that the time will come when
the truth will be revealed that both the Person and the Law are unaging
and eternal.  There cannot be the slightest doubt about the sutra's
solemn promise of a peaceful life in this world.8

  Question: How should one practice if he is to be faithful to the
Buddha's teaching?

  Answer: The Japanese people of this age are one in their opinion of
what practice accords with the Buddha's teachings.  They believe that
since all vehicles are incorporated in the one supreme vehicle, no
teaching is superior or inferior, shallow or profound, but that all are
equal to the Lotus Sutra.  Hence the belief that repeating the Nembutsu
chant, embracing Shingon esotericism, practicing Zen meditation, or
professing and chanting any sutra or the name of any Buddha or
bodhisattva equals following the Lotus Sutra.

 But I insist that this is wrong.  The most important thing in
practicing Buddhism is to follow and uphold the Buddha's golden
teachings, not the opinions of others.  Our master, Shakyamuni Buddha,
wished to reveal the Lotus Sutra from the moment of his enlightenment.
However, because the people were not yet mature enough to understand, he
had to employ provisional teachings for some forty years before he could
expound the true teaching of the Lotus Sutra.  In the Muryogi Sutra,
which served as an introduction to the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha clearly
distinguished the provisional teachings from the true teaching.  He
declared, "I have preached the Law in many ways, devising many means.
But in these more than forty years. I have not yet revealed the
Truth."9  The eighty thousand bodhisattvas, including Bodhisattva
Daishogon, fully understood why Shakyamuni had preached the provisional
teachings, demonstrated that they were nothing more than means, and
finally discarded them entirely.  They expressed their understanding by
declaring that no one can attain supreme enlightenment by embracing any
of the provisional sutras, which expound bodhisattva austerities
spanning millions of aeons.  Finally the Buddha came to reveal the Lotus
Sutra and stated, "The World-Honored One has long expounded his
doctrines and now must reveal the truth."10  He also warned, "In all the
Buddha's lands of the universe there is but one supreme vehicle, not two
or three, and it excludes the provisional teachings of the Buddha,"11
and "Honestly discarding the provisional teachings, I will expound the
Supreme Law,"12 and "Never accept even a single phrase from the other
sutras."13  Thus, ever since that time, the supreme vehicle of the
Mystic Law has been the only teaching profound enough to enable all
people to attain Buddhahood.  Even though no sutra other than the Lotus
Sutra can provide even the slightest benefit, the Buddhist scholars of
the Latter Day claim that all sutras must lead to enlightenment because
they were expounded by the Buddha.  Therefore they arbitrarily profess
faith in any sutra and follow whatever sect they choose, whether
Shingon, Nembutsu, Zen, Sanron, Hosso, Kusha, Jojitsu, or Ritsu.  The
Lotus Sutra says of such people, "one who refuses to take faith in this
sutra and instead slanders it immediately destroys the seeds for
becoming a Buddha in this world....After he dies, he will fall into the
hell of incessant suffering."14  Thus the Buddha himself concluded that
one's practice accords with the Buddha's teachings only when he bases
his faith precisely on the standard of the sutra, believing that there
is but one Supreme Law.

 Question: Then it would be wrong to say that faith in any sutra or any
Buddha of the provisional teachings equals faith in the Lotus Sutra.
But what of one who believes only in the Lotus Sutra and carries out the
five practices15 of the Hosshi chapter or follows the easy practices of
the Anrakugyo chapter?  Could we not say that his practice accords with
the Buddha's teachings?

 Answer: Anyone who practices Buddhism should first understand the two
types of practice -- shoju and shakubuku.  Any sutra or thesis must be
practiced in one of these two ways.  Although scholars in this country
may have studied Buddhism extensively, they do not know which practice
accords with the time.  The four seasons continually repeat themselves,
each in turn manifesting its own characteristics.  In summer it is hot;
in winter, cold.  Flowers blossom in spring, and fruit ripens in
autumn.  Therefore, it is only natural to sow seeds in spring and reap
the harvest in fall.  If one sowed in autumn, could he harvest in
spring?  Heavy clothing is useful in bitter cold, but what use is it in
sweltering heat?  A cool breeze is pleasant in summer, but what good is
it in winter?  Buddhism works in the same way.  There are times when
Hinayana Buddhism should be disseminated for the benefit of humanity,
times when the provisional Mahayana doctrines are necessary, and times
when the true Mahayana teachings must spread to lead people to
Buddhahood.  The two millennia of the Former and Middle Days of the Law
required the spread of Hinayana and provisional Mahayana Buddhism, while
the first five hundred years of the Latter Day call for the kosen-rufu
of the perfect, supreme teaching of the Lotus Sutra.  As predicted by
the Buddha, now is the age of conflict when the Pure Law has been lost,
and the provisional and true teachings of Buddhism are hopelessly
confused.

 When one must face enemies, he needs a sword, staff or a bow and
arrows.  However, when he has no enemies, such weapons are of no use at
all.  In this age the provisional teachings have turned into enemies of
the true teaching.  When the time is right to propagate the supreme
teaching, the provisional teachings become enemies.  If they are a
source of confusion, they must be thoroughly refuted from the standpoint
of the true teaching.  Of the two types of practice, this is shakubuku,
the practice of the Lotus Sutra.  With good reason T'ien-t'ai stated:
"The practice of the Lotus Sutra is shakubuku, the refutation of the
provisional doctrines."  The four easy practices16 in the Anrakugyo
chapter are shoju.  To carry them out in this day would be as foolish as
sowing seeds in winter and expecting to rap the harvest in spring.  It
is natural for a rooster to crow in the morning but strange for him to
crow at dusk.  Now when the true and provisional teachings are utterly
confused, it would be equally unnatural for one to seclude himself in
the mountains, carrying out the easy practice of shoju, and avoid
refuting the enemies of the Lotus Sutra.  He would lose all chance to
practice the Lotus Sutra.

 Now in the Latter Day of the Law, who is carrying out the practice of
shakubuku in strict accordance with the Lotus Sutra?  Suppose someone,
no matter who, should loudly proclaim that the Lotus Sutra alone can
lead people to Buddhahood and that all other sutras, for from enabling
them to attain enlightenment, only drive them into hell.  Observe what
happens should he thus try to refute the teachers and doctrines of all
the other sects.  The three powerful enemies will arise without fail.

 The true master, Shakyamuni Buddha, practiced shakubuku during the last
eight years of his lifetime, the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai for more than
thirty years, and the Great Teacher Dengyo for more than twenty,
Nichiren has been refuting the provisional teachings for more than
twenty years, and the great persecutions he has suffered during this
period are beyond number.  I do not know whether they are equal to the
nine great persecutions suffered by the Buddha, but surely neither
T'ien-t'ai nor Dengyo ever faced persecutions as great as Nichiren's for
the sake of the Lotus Sutra.  They encountered only envy and slander,
whereas I was twice exiled by the regent, this time to a remote
province.  Furthermore, I was nearly beheaded at Tatsunokuchi, wounded
on the forehead at Komatsubara, and slandered time and again.  My
disciples have been evicted and had their property confiscated.  How can
the persecutions faced by Nagarjuna, T'ien-t'ai or Dengyo possibly
compare with these?  Understand then that the votary who practices the
Lotus Sutra exactly as the Buddha teaches will without fail be attacked
by the three powerful enemies.  Shakyamuni himself, T'ien-t'ai and
Dengyo were the only three who perfectly carried out the Buddha's
teaching in these more than two thousand years.  Now in the Latter Day
of the Law, the only such votaries are Nichiren and his disciples.  If
we cannot be called votaries faithful to the Buddha's teachings, then
neither can Shakyamuni, T'ien-t'ai nor Dengyo.  Could Devadatta,
Kokalika,17 Sunakshatra,18 Kobo, Jikaku, Chisho, Zendo, Honen, Ryokan
and others like them be called votaries of the Lotus Sutra?  Could
Shakyamuni Buddha, T'ien-t'ai, Dengyo or Nichiren and his disciples be
followers of the Nembutsu, Shingon, Zen, Ritsu or other sects?  Could
the Lotus Sutra be called a provisional teaching, and the Amida Sutra
and others be the Lotus Sutra?  None of this could ever be possible,
even if east were to become west and west become east; even if the earth
and all its trees and plants were to fly up and become the heavens,
while the sun, the moon and the stars tumbled down and became the earth.

 What a great pity is that all the Japanese people are delighted to see
Nichiren and his disciples suffer at the hands of the three powerful
enemies!  What befell another yesterday may befall oneself today.
Nichiren and his disciples have but a short time to endure, the time it
takes for dew to vanish in the morning sun.  When our prayers for
Buddhahood are answered and we dwell in the land of eternal
enlightenment where we will experience the boundless joy of the Law,
what pity we will feel for those suffering incessantly in the depths of
hell!  How they will envy us then!

 Life flashes by in but a moment.  No matter how many terrible enemies
we may encounter, banish all fears and never think of backsliding.  Even
if someone were to cut off our heads with a saw, impale us with lances,
or shackle our feet and bore them through with a gimlet, as long as we
are alive, we must keep chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.  Then, if we chant until the very moment of death,
Shakyamuni, Taho and all other Buddhas in the universe will come to us
instantly, exactly as they promised during the ceremony at Eagle Peak.
Taking our hands and bearing us upon their shoulders, they will carry us
to Eagle Peak.  The two saints,19 the two heavenly gods20 and the Ten
Goddesses21 will guard us, while all the Buddhist gods raise a canopy
over our heads and unfurl banners on high.  They will escort us under
their protection to the Buddha's land.  How can such joy possibly be
described!

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

      Nichiren

The fifth month of the tenth year of Bun'ei (1273)

Postscript: Keep this letter with you at all times and read it over and
over.

1Lotus Sutra, chap. 10.
2Chu Tao-sheng: A Chinese priest and follower of the master translator,
Kumarajiva.  The jealousy of priests from other sects brought about his
exile.
3Muryogi Sutra, chap. 2.4Nichiren Daishonin here uses a somewhat
shortened form of the passage "honestly discarding the provisional
teachings," which appears in the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
5Cart: An ornate battle cart pulled by a white ox was traditionally the
battle wagon of ancient nobility.  Here it symbolizes the Dai-Gohonzon.
The cart symbolizes a vehicle to lead people to Buddhahood.
6Hokke Gengi, vol. 9.
7Fu Hsi and Shen Nung: Legendary kings who reigned over ideal societies
in ancient China.  Their reigns embodied the Confucian concept of
Utopia.
8Lotus Sutra, chap. 5.
9Muryogi Sutra, chap 2.10Lotus Sutra chap. 2.
11Ibid.12Ibid.
13Ibid., chap, 3.
14Ibid.
15Five practices: To embrace, read, recite, teach and transcribe the
Lotus Sutra.
16Four easy practices: Practice by peaceful deeds, words, thoughts, and
vows.
17Kokalika: See p. 36, footnote II.
18Sunakshatra: A priest who devoted himself to Buddhist austerities and
attained a limited form of enlightenment.  But he was arrogant and
thought he had mastered Buddhism.  He is said to have fallen into hell
alive.
19Two saints: Bodhisattvas Yakuo and Yuze.20Two heavenly gods:
Bishamonten and Jikokuten, two of the four Heavenly Kings.
21Ten Goddesses: The Jurasetsu, ten daughters of the demon Kishimojin.