Nichiren Shonin’s powerful motive to give relief to the people of Japan came from a simple and pure heart. “I would like to save suffering people and make the country peaceful.” This may seem like a simple and common wish – one which everyone has. The major difference is, Nichiren Shonin’s compassion was not common. In those days, the country was full of suffering people. The Shogunate did not have any effective policy for the relief of people’s suffering. Also, the Buddhism at that time taught people about, and particularly emphasized, happiness after death and did not encourage people with regard to their present real lives. Nichiren Shonin had questions about such Buddhism, and sought to find the true answer in Buddhism. In fact, most of his congregation were poor people and low-class samurai. This shows his purpose as giving relief to suffering people well. In order to achieve this, the Lotus Sutra, which had never been taught to ordinary people before, was awoken by Nichiren Shonin.