[A] sleeping lion will not roar if nobody wakes it. If nobody puts an oar in a rapid current, it will not cause high waves. A burglar will not get angry if nobody is in his way. Without adding fuel, fire will not burn briskly. If nobody points out the sin of slandering the True Dharma, the land will appear to be at peace. It was under such a situation that Buddhism came to Japan. There was no commotion in the beginning, but when Mononobe no Moriya burnt images of the Buddha, persecuted Buddhist monks, and burnt down Buddhist temples; a rain of fire fell from heaven, smallpox spread throughout the country, and fighting broke out one after another. These circumstances were quite different from those at present. Slanderers of the True Dharma fill this country. I, Nichiren, attack them at the risk of my life, causing fighting no less fierce than a battle between asura demons and Indra, or one between the Buddha and the king of demons.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 33.