Over the course of Kaimoku-shō, Nichiren provides the reader with several possible answers as to why he has seemingly not received the divine protection from hardship and persecution that he and his followers may have expected. It could be because the guardian deities have abandoned the country. It could be because they are testing his compassion, patience, and resolve. It could be because his practice has aroused the three obstacles and four devils. It could be because the predictions of the Lotus Sūtra and other Mahāyāna sūtras need to be fulfilled, or because it is inevitable that the practitioner of the Lotus Sūtra must meet hardship, or because the practitioner must expiate his or her past transgressions, and even the buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, and other beings cannot make the task any easier because of these factors. Curiously, Nichiren never does give a definitive single answer to this question in Kaimoku-shō. In fact, he seems to dismiss the question as not so important after all. He says, “In the final analysis, no matter how I am abandoned by gods and how much difficulty I encounter, I will uphold the Lotus Sūtra at the cost of my own life.” (Hori 2002, p. 105) For Nichiren, what matters is his mission, not whether he will receive divine blessings and protection. A bodhisattva is not daunted by difficulty or hardship but strives to realize the Wonderful Dharma and to help other beings realize it as well, no matter what the cost.