[In the sixth month of the 3rd year of the Kenji era (1277), Nichiren Shōnin wrote a letter of explanation in place of Inaba-bō Nichiei, a disciple of Nichiren, and submitted it to Nichiei’s father, Shimoyama Hyōgo Gorō Mitsumoto.]

I stopped reciting the Amitābha Sūtra for the following reasons. In the summer of the eleventh year of the Bun’ei Era (1274), Nichiren Shōnin, who has recently become widely known in Japan, came to live in seclusion at the foot of an isolated mountain called Mt. Minobu located in the districts of Iino, Mimaki, and Hakii in the same province of Kai, to which Shimoyama also belongs. Even those of considerably high social standing are not allowed to listen to him preach except if they have special connections.

Having heard of a certain person seeing Nichiren, I sneaked into the backyard of his hermitage and hid myself. I did not intend to become a follower but wanted just to have a glance at how things were. I could roughly hear what he preached as he answered questions.

Nichiren Shōnin compared the superiority and profundity of the Lotus Sūtra with such sūtras as the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Revealing the Profound and Secret Sūtra, the Entering Laikā Sūtra, and the Amitābha Sūtra. I could understand that the Lotus Sūtra is far superior to the Amitābha Sūtra, not just two or three times, but as much as the difference between heaven and earth. For instance, the differences among them are likened to the differences between Indra, the master, and a monkey, his retainers, a gorgeous Chinese phoenix and a small black magpie; a huge mountain and a particle of dust; or the sun and the moon and a firefly. Comparing the passages of the Lotus Sūtra with those of the other sūtras, Nichiren Shōnin enlightened ignorant people like me to understand the differences among those sūtras quite clearly. Therefore, that the superiority of the Lotus Sūtra can be perceived by many people is not surprising at all.

Shimoyama Goshōsoku, The Shimoyama Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 66