The human mind is indefinite and ever changing. While I already thought it was wonderful that you had faith in me while I was in Sado Province as an exile, you now sent Lord Lay Priest, your husband, all the way here on Mt. Minobu. How kind you are! We have been separated by provinces, and years and months have gone by, thus I was afraid that you had become lax in your faith. Knowing that your faith is all the more steadfast, earning a great deal of merit, however, I can’t help but believe the relationship we share is not limited to one or two lifetimes.

Since it is difficult to have faith in the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha helps us to believe in the sūtra by appearing as a child, parent, or wife of a human being. You have parents but no child. As it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “All beings living in it (the Sahā World) are My own children,” Lord Preacher Śākyamuni Buddha is the compassionate father of Lord Lay Priest of Kō and My Lady the Nun. And I, Nichiren, am your child, though in order to save the people of Japan I was not born in Sado and stayed in Kamakura instead. This good relationship we shared in the past is valuable.

Kō Nyūdō-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Lay Priest of Kō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 158-159