A bird called cormorant can eat a piece of iron, which it digests in its stomach, but even so its unborn baby in its belly does not melt away. Also, there exists a fish that eats pieces of stone, which it digests in its stomach, yet the unborn babies in its belly remain alive. Sandalwood cannot be set on fire, and water does not extinguish the fire in the Heaven of Pure Inhabitants (where sages reside who have reached the stage of not having to be reborn in the six realms of transmigration). The body of the Buddha could not be burned although 32 sumo wrestlers tried to set it on fire, while the fire produced from the Buddha’s body could not be extinguished by the dragon god of the triple world who tried to put it out by pouring rain on it. As you helped me practice the Lotus Sūtra, no evil person can harm you. If anything should happen, it is a retribution in this life for persecuting a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra in a previous life. This cannot be avoided no matter whether you fled into the mountains or to the ocean. Both Never Despising Bodhisattva who was beaten with sticks and pieces of wood, and Venerable Maudgalyāyana, who was killed by non-Buddhists with bamboo sticks, are examples of such retribution. This is nothing to grieve over.

Shijō Kingo Shakabutsu Kuyō, Opening the Eyes Service of Shijō Kingo’s Statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 135