Although I knew that if I spoke of this my life would be in jeopardy, in order to repay the favor I owe to Bodhisattva Space Repository, I began speaking of this to Jōen-bō and a small number of people of the Seichōji Temple at the southern side of the Hall of a Buddha of the Dōzen-bō in the compound of the Seichōji Temple located in the Tōjō District of Awa Province on the 28th day of the fourth month in the fifth year of the Kenchō Era (1253). For 20 years or so thereafter I continued to speak of this diligently. As a result, I was chased out of my residence and sent into exile. In ancient times, Bodhisattva Never Despising was beaten with sticks and pieces of wood for spreading the Lotus Sūtra, and today, I, Nichiren, am pursued with swords on account of the Lotus Sūtra.

Seichōji Daishū-chū, A Letter to the People of the Seichōji Temple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 175-176