Priest Gyōhan was a first son of Fujiwara Chikaie. He was in charge of general affairs at the Imperial Palace, and he was a disciple of Jōki, the head priest of Senjuin Temple. Being gentle by nature, Gyōhan sought the Law, carefully recited the Hokekyō, became very familiar with the sūtra, and had no diffculty in reciting it by memory, except for the Chapter of the Yakuō.

He practiced reciting the chapter for several years. But he was unable to learn it by heart. He developed a repentant mind and prayed to the Three Treasures that he would be able to learn the chapter by heart.

One night he dreamed that a divine-looking priest said, “Due to the karmic result from your previous life, you are unable to learn this chapter. Formerly you were born as a black horse and lived with a Hokekyō reciter. From time to time, you heard the reciter repeating the Hokekyō, but you missed hearing the Chapter of the Yakuō. However, due to your merit in hearing the sūtra, you have become a human being in your present life, have entered Buddhahood, and have venerated the Hokekyō. Since you did not hear the Yakuō Chapter, you are still unable to learn the chapter. Disconnecting the cause and effect would be just as difficult as differentiating between the two horns of a cow. If you recite the sūtra well in your present life, you will be able to understand it clearly in your future life and will be greatly enlightened.”

Now the priest understood his karmic relation, cleared his clouded mind, developed greater faith in the Law, and recited the Hokekyō for days and nights. (Page 97-98)