Now if a child is given moxa treatment by his mother, he inevitably resents his mother. Given precious medicine, a seriously sick person may grumble at its bitter taste. So, it was with the Lotus Sūtra even during the lifetime of the Buddha. How much more so after the death of the Buddha and in a remote corner of the land! Just like mountains placed on tops of mountains and waves on tops of waves, difficulties on top of difficulties and abuses on top of abuses will occur.
It was T’ien-t’ai alone who correctly read the Lotus Sūtra and all the Buddhist scriptures during the Age of the Semblance Dharma. Various masters in Northern and Southern China hated him. However, as sagacious rulers of the Chen and Sui dynasties in China clarified who was right through debates in front of their own eyes, his enemies eventually disappeared. Toward the end of the Age of the Semblance Dharma, Dengyō alone in Japan correctly read the Lotus Sūtra and all the Buddhist scriptures. Although seven great temples of Nara, the Southern Capital, rose against him, nothing happened to him because Emperors Kammu and Saga themselves clarified who was right.
But now, it has been over 200 years since the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration. I have not been allowed to meet opponents in debate; instead I have been banished with my life in jeopardy. It proves that the warning in the Lotus Sūtra about much hatred and jealousy after the death of the Buddha is not an empty threat. It also proves that we are in the beginning of endless warfare and in a decadent world of corruption where unreasonableness takes precedence over reason.
Therefore, although my comprehension of the Lotus Sūtra is not worthy even one ten millionth of that of T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō, I dare say that my endurance on its behalf and compassion for the people are beyond these masters. I am sure that I deserve to receive heavenly protection, but there is not even a shred of it. Instead I have been condemned to heavier and heavier penalties. Looking back in this light, I wonder whether or not I am a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra and whether or not various gods and deities have left this land.
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 56