QUESTION: True practicers of Buddhism should be able to live in tranquility in this life. Why are they persecuted by these three kinds of rampant enemies?

ANSWER: Our Lord Śākyamuni Buddha encountered the nine great persecutions during His lifetime for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Never-Despising Bodhisattva was beaten with sticks and pieces of wood, and pieces of tile and stones were thrown at him for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Chu Tao-shêng, one of the four great disciples of Kumārajīva, was banished to a mountain in Suchou in Southern China when he insisted on the presence of the Buddhanature in all sentient beings including icchantika. Tripitaka Master Fa-tao, who dared to remonstrate with Emperor Hui-tsung of Sung China against the persecution of Buddhists, was branded on the face with a hot iron rod. Venerable Simha (Shihi Sonja), twenty-fourth patriarch of Buddhism, was beheaded by King Mihilakula (Dammira). Grand Master T’ien-t’ai of China was regarded with hostility by three Southern and seven Northern masters, and Grand Master Dengyō of Japan was hated by monks of the six schools of Buddhism in Nara. These people—the Buddha, a bodhisattva, and great sages—were severely persecuted because they were practicers of the Lotus Sūtra. If we don’t view them as real practicers of Buddhism simply because they did not lead peaceful lives, where can we find real practicers?

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 82-83