Presently, my only concern is not to succumb to these great difficulties without abandoning the Lotus Sūtra. This has strengthened my faith. Through my experiences thus far, I have personally lived out the prophecies set forth in the sūtra. I am confident that I can weather these ordeals, which is why I have come to live on this mountain. Whether or not each of you lose your faith in the Lotus Sūtra, all of you have helped to save Nichiren’s life at one time or another. How can I think of you as strangers? As before, I, Nichiren, do not care what happens to me. No matter what happens, if I am able to retain my faith and become a Buddha, I have pledged, without exception, to guide each and everyone of you. That all of you are not as versed in Buddhism as is Nichiren, that you are secular, own property, have wives and children, as well as men in your employ must make it difficult for you to persevere in maintaining faith. So being the case, I have long said that you may pretend not to be believers of the Lotus Sūtra. As you all have come to Nichiren’s aid, I will not disown you under any circumstance. I shall never neglect you.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 241

During the reign of Emperor Tai-tsung of T’ang China, General Li Ju-hsien, son of General P’eng-tzu, was sent by imperial order to subjugate northern barbarians. His army of several hundred thousand troops was lost, and he himself was captured and detained for forty long years. Meanwhile, he married a barbarian woman and had a child. As a prisoner he always had to wear leather clothes with a leather belt except during New Year’s Day, when he was allowed to wear Chinese clothes. He felt homesick with tears and heart-breaking grief year after year. Meanwhile T’ang China sent another expeditionary army to the north. Li Ju-hsien saw an opportunity to run away, leaving behind his barbarian wife and child. T’ang soldiers mistook him for a barbarian and almost killed the former general. Listening to his claim, they sent him to the T’ang Emperor Te-tsung. The Emperor, however, refused to listen to him and exiled him to the borderland between Wu and Yüeh in the South. Li Ju-hsien grieved: “I can neither go back home to Liangyüan nor go to see my wife and child.” Although Li Juhsien was deeply loyal to his country, he had to suffer this grief.

I, Nichiren, am like Li Ju-hsien. I thought of Japan and gave warning to the country; nevertheless, I was chased away from my hometown, left the place of exile, and began living deep in this mountain. This is similar to the fate of Li Ju-hsien, but I didn’t leave a wife or a child to make me worry both in my native town and in the place of exile. I only worry about how my parents’ tombs are, and how my acquaintances are.

Myōhō Bikuni Go-henji, A Reply to Nun Myōhō, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 210-212

The Buddha remonstrates us in the Nirvana Sūtra, “Be careful. It is better to be killed by a wild elephant than to be misled by an ‘evil friend (leader)’ (as the elephant destroys only the body but the ‘evil friend’ leads us to hell and ruins both body and mind).”

Kyō Ki Ji Koku Shō, Treatise on the Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 103

From some time in the remote past till this day, I must have had several occasions to have come into contact with the Lotus Sūtra, and to have become a believer as well. As a consequence of this, I was probably able to withstand one or two instances of persecution; but since these tenacious obstacles have occurred in close succession, my faith may have been broken and weathered away. This time, regardless of what kind of difficulty I am to face, I proclaim that I am determined not to back down. Thus, I spoke up and have experienced this kind of persecution from time to time, just as is predicted by the sūtra.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 241

Putting aside the current situation for now and focusing on the future instead, those in power in Japan will all fall into 136 hells and suffer there for innumerable kalpa (aeons). On the other hand, we devotees of the Lotus Sūtra will be as joyous as fish in shallow water that see the cloudy sky, a sure sign that the rains are near. We may have to suffer awhile, but we will know happiness in the end. We are like the sole crown prince of a king. How can it be that he does not ascend the throne?

Ueno-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 38

The change of natural phenomenon such as the ebb and flow of the tide, the rise and setting of the moon, and the boundaries between summer and autumn or winter and spring is accompanied by something different. The same can be said when an ordinary person becomes a Buddha. Inevitably this change will be accompanied by the “three hindrances and four devils.”* Although the wise will welcome them, those who are foolish fear them and retreat.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Answer to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 93

*Three hindrances and four devils (sanshō shima): The hindrances and devils that block the way to Buddhahood. The three hindrances refer to evil passions, evil karmas, and painful retributions such as going to hell; the four devils refer to evil passions, physical pain, death, and king of devils. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 5, that as practicing and understanding of the “tranquility and contemplation” proceed, “three hindrances and four devils” compete to interfere with the practicers, proving the doctrine to be true. Following T’ien-t’ai’s concept of “three hindrances and four devils,” Nichiren maintains that those who spread the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration are bound to be persecuted by the “three hindrances and four devils” and that only those who endured such difficulty proved to be the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.

When believers of other Buddhist schools thus slander the Lotus Sūtra, how can we induce them to take the excellent medicine of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō? The Buddha thought that it would be better trying to induce the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) to the Lotus Sūtra after preaching the Āgama sūtras for a while. When the Two Vehicles, attached to the Āgama sūtras, refused to believe in the Lotus Sūtra, how did the Buddha deal with them? The Buddha explains this in the Vimalakirti Sūtra: “Even those who committed the five rebellious sins, or those who supported such sinners can eventually attain Buddhahood. It is also possible that evil sins can become the seed of Buddhahood. Nonetheless, the meritorious acts of those of the Two Vehicles can never be the seed of Buddhahood.”

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 274

[A] sleeping lion will not roar if nobody wakes it. If nobody puts an oar in a rapid current, it will not cause high waves. A burglar will not get angry if nobody is in his way. Without adding fuel, fire will not burn briskly. If nobody points out the sin of slandering the True Dharma, the land will appear to be at peace. It was under such a situation that Buddhism came to Japan. There was no commotion in the beginning, but when Mononobe no Moriya burnt images of the Buddha, persecuted Buddhist monks, and burnt down Buddhist temples; a rain of fire fell from heaven, smallpox spread throughout the country, and fighting broke out one after another. These circumstances were quite different from those at present. Slanderers of the True Dharma fill this country. I, Nichiren, attack them at the risk of my life, causing fighting no less fierce than a battle between asura demons and Indra, or one between the Buddha and the king of demons.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 33.

Inasmuch as one is able to find a worthy instructor and a genuine teaching, to rid oneself of fetters, and to approach the state of Buddhahood, one will inevitably be faced with seven imposing outgrowths called the three hindrances and four devils (disturbances that come in the way of Buddhist practices), just as sure as a shadow follows its source, and as clouds are present when it rains. Though one perseveres and succeeds in relieving oneself of six of the above, one would not be able to attain Buddhahood should one succumb to the seventh disturbance. I will refrain from discussing the six disturbances here. The seventh great disturbance is called the king of devils in the sixth heaven. When we, mere ordinary humans of the latter period, have completely absorbed the spirit of all the holy teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime, understood the heart of the widely acclaimed work of the Great Concentration and Insight by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai and approach Buddhahood, we nonetheless realize how difficult a task this is to accomplish. Upon the sight of one within the reach of Buddhahood, the king of devils in the sixth heaven would be stirred to say: “If one is an entity of this world, he (one) not only strives to depart from the illusion of life and death and become Buddha but also tries to lead as many as possible into Buddhism, controls this world, and transforms this defiled world into a paradise. What ought to be done?” He called together all his henchmen in the triple world, the three regions of desire, form and non-form, and commanded them: “Put each of your specialties to good use, causing trouble for that practicer (to escape the world of delusions). If it is not possible, invade the hearts of his students and believers, or of the people of his nation, to remonstrate and coerce him into giving up his practice. And if that does not work, I will go down to earth myself, penetrate the body and soul of the leader of the state, through whom I can oppress the practicer and put an end to his or her acquisition of Buddhahood.” So, in this manner, did the king of devils and his henchmen discuss.

Misawa-shō, A Letter to Lord Misawa of Suruga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 239-240