貴君前聞此義，已捨念佛而習法華經，今，當又必是再還為念佛者乎？若捨法華經
而作念佛者，是如高峰之石，滾落谷底。空中之雨，降落地下。須思必墮大阿鼻地
獄無疑。大通結緣者之經三千塵點劫，久遠下種者之經五百塵點劫，是因遇大惡知
識，捨法華經而移於念佛等之權教故也。一家諸人似全為念佛者，故定是以念佛為
勸者乎？我身所信，或亦有其道理，然諸人是受惡魔之法然等一類所誑惑者也，須
起大信心，切勿為所用。大惡魔作貴僧，附於父母兄弟，為人後世之障。總之，使
人捨去法華經是誑惑者之言，切不可信之。
首應思量者，念佛真實得往生若有可憑之證文，則此十二年間，予之墮無間地獄之
言，於各地大聲放論，豈得無人難詰者耶？誠是無憑者乎﹗法然、善導等所書置之
法門，日蓮早於十七、八歲時知矣，此際人言之者亦不逾此。終結是法門不足論，
彼等遂聚眾欲以上勢取勝。念佛者徒黨數千萬多，日蓮祇有一人，同夥者更無一人，
然而，得存活至今者，不可思議耳。今年十一月十一日，安房國、東條松原大路，
申酉時，有念佛等數百人伏伺，日蓮唯一人，隨者十人，得力者三、四人而已，敵
矢如雨，殺聲如雷，弟子一人當場殺死，二人手重傷，余亦被創受擊，正以為全滅
在即，不知何故，竟得脫險，倖存至今。祇益增法華經之信心耳。第四卷云：「而
此經者，如來現在，猶多怨嫉，況滅度後」，第五卷云：「一切世間，多怨難信」
等云云。日本國讀習法華經之人多矣。因奪人之妻而被罪者雖多，為法華經故而受
傷者無一人焉。是以，日本國之持經者，尚未識得此經，唯日蓮一人讀之耳﹗「我
不愛身命，但惜無上道」者也，故、日蓮乃日本第一之法華經行者也。
若為先逝者，可為梵天、帝釋、四大天王、閻魔大王等言之，乃日本第一法華經行
者，日蓮房之弟子也，當無不施關愛之事。但一度念佛，一度唱法華經，是二心之
人，或聞得而有所顧忌，雖稱日蓮弟子，亦不為信乎。甚望毋貽後悔。但今生既亦
曾禱於法華經，或亦得延年益壽。若爾，希速來晤，容面詳陳，語不盡文，文不盡
意，擱筆。恐恐謹言。
文永元年十二月十三日 日蓮 花押
南條七郎殿
Encouragement to a Sick Person
(MW-6, 30-33) Dec 13, 1264 Nanjo Hyoe Shichiro
You, heeding my assertion, discarded the Nembutsu and embraced the Lotus
Sutra. But by now
you must surely have reverted to being a follower of the Nembutsu.
Remember that to discard the
Lotus Sutra and become a believer in the Nembutsu is to be like a rock
from a mountain peak
hurtling down to the valley below, or like rain in the skies falling
to the ground. There is no doubt
that such a person will fall into the great Avichi Hell. Those
related to the sons of Daitsu Buddha
had to spend the duration of sanzen-jintengo, and those who received
the seed of Buddhahood in
the remote past, the length of gohyaku-jintengo, [in the evil paths].
This was because they met
with very evil companions and discarded the Lotus Sutra, falling back
to the provisional teachings
such as the Nembutsu. As the members of your family seem to be
Nembutsu adherents, they
certainly must be urging it upon you. That is understandable,
since they themselves believe in it.
You should consider them, however, as people deluded by the followers
of the diabolical Honen.
Arouse strong faith, and do not heed what they say. It is the
way of the great devil to assume the
form of a venerable monk or to take possession of one's father, mother
or brother in order to
obstruct one's next life. Whatever they may say, no matter how
cleverly they may try to deceive
you into discarding the Lotus Sutra, do not assent to it.
Stop and consider. If the passages of proof [offered to support
the claim] that the Nembutsu does
in truth lead to rebirth in the Pure Land were reliable, then in the
past twelve years during which I
have been asserting that the Nembutsu believers will fall into the
hell of incessant suffering, would
they consistently have failed to refute me, no matter with whom they
lodged their protests? Their
contention must be feeble indeed! Teachings such as those left
behind by Honen and Shan-tao
have been known to me, Nichiren, since I was seventeen or eighteen.
And the arguments that
people put forth these days are no improvement. Consequently,
since their teachings are no
match for mine, they resort to sheer force of numbers in trying to
fight against me. Nembutsu
believers number tens of millions, and their supporters are many.
I Nichiren, am alone, without a
single ally. It is amazing that I should have survived until
now. This year, too, on the eleventh day
of the eleventh month, between the hours of the Monkey and the Cock
(around 5:00 P.M.), on the
highway called Matsubara in Tojo in the province of Awa. I was
ambushed by hundreds of
Nembutsu believers. I was alone except for about ten men accompanying
me, only three or four of
whom were capable of offering any resistance at all. Arrows fell
on us like rain, and swords
descended like lightning. One of my disciples was slain in a
matter of a moment and two others
were gravely wounded. I myself sustained cuts and blows, and
it seemed that I was doomed.
Yet, for some reason, my attackers failed to kill me; thus I have survived
until now. This has only
strengthened my faith in the Lotus Sutra. The fourth volume [of
the sutra] says, "Since hatred and
jealousy toward this sutra bound even during the lifetime of the Buddha,
how much worse will it be
in the world after his passing!" The fifth volume states, "The
people will resent [the Lotus Sutra]
and find it extremely difficult to believe." In the country of
Japan there are many who read and
study the Lotus Sutra. There are also many who are beaten in
punishment for attempting to
seduce other men's wives, or for theft or other offenses. Yet
not one person has ever suffered
injury on account of the Lotus Sutra. It is clear, therefore,
that those Japanese who embrace the
sutra have yet to experience the truth of the above sutra passages.
I, Nichiren, alone have read the
sutra with my entire being. This is the meaning of the passage
that says, "We do not hold our own
lives dear. We value only the supreme Way." I, Nichiren,
am therefore the foremost votary of the
Lotus Sutra in Japan.
Should you depart from this life before I do, you should report to Bonten,
Taishaku, the Four
Great Heavenly Kings and Great King Emma. Declare yourself to
be a disciple of the priest
Nichiren, the foremost Great Heavenly Kings and Great King Emma.
Declare yourself to be a
disciple of the priest Nichiren, the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra
in Japan. Then they cannot
possibly treat you discourteously. But if you should be of two
minds, alternately chanting the
Nembutsu and reciting the Lotus Sutra, and fear what other may say
about you, then, even though
you may identify yourself as Nichiren's disciple, they will never accept
your word. [If that should
happen,] do not resent me later. Yet, since the Lotus Sutra answers
one's prayers for matters of
this life as well, you may still survive your illness. In that
case, I will by all means visit you as soon
as possible and talk with you directly. Words cannot all be set
down in a letter, and a letter will
not adequately convey one's thoughts, so I will stop for now.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The thirteenth day of the twelfth month in the first year of Bun'ei (1264)