Pleasure in Disgrace

As the words of the sūtra correspond to me, the deeper I fall into disgrace with the shogunate, the greater my pleasure is. This is like a Hinayāna bodhisattva, who has not completely exterminated all delusions and evil passions, wishing to be reborn in this world. That is to say, as he sees his parents suffering greatly in hell, he would intentionally accumulate bad karma in order to go to hell himself, where he would be glad to share their sufferings. I, Nichiren, am in a similar situation. Though my sufferings today are difficult to bear, I am happy for in the future I will be free from the evil realms.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 58