Read the Sutra with Mind and Body
Spreading the Sutra

If I, Nichiren, had not been born in this country, the twenty-line verse of the thirteenth chapter, “The Encouragement of Keeping This Sutra,” in the fifth fascicle of the Lotus Sutra, would be empty words and the Buddha would almost be a great liar. Those innumerable numbers of bodhisattvas, who made the vow to uphold the Lotus Sutra, would have committed the same sin of lying as Devadatta.

The Verse says, “Ignorant people will speak ill of us, abuse us, and threaten us with swords or sticks.” Looking at the world today, is there any Buddhist priest other than me, Nichiren, who is spoken ill of,
abused, and threatened with swords or sticks because of the Lotus Sutra? If I, Nichiren, were not here, this verse would be a false prediction. It also says: “Monks in this evil world will be cunning and ready to flatter others. They will preach the Dharma to laymen for worldly gain and be respected by the people just as the arhat who has the Six Superhuman Powers.”

If there were not Amitabha Buddhists or priests of the Zen or Ritsu Schools of Buddhism in this world, this prediction would also make the Buddha a great liar. It says, “In order to slander us in the midst of a great crowd of people they will speak ill of us to kings, ministers, Brahmans, and men of influence.”
These would be empty words unless Buddhist priests in this world slandered and had me exiled.
It is further stated, “We will be banished many times.” If I, Nichiren, had not been repeatedly exiled, these two words of “many times” would be false. Even T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo did not read these two words from experience, not to mention any of the others. I alone read them from experience, because I perfectly fit the Buddha’s description of the person spreading the Lotus Sutra “in the dreadful and evil world” at the beginning of the LatterAge.

Kaimoku Sho
Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Sutra
(Background: February 1272, at Tsukahara, Sado, Showa Teihon, p.559)

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