"For the cause of the Lotus Sutra, I, Nichiren, have likewise been driven
from my dwelling and attacked on many occasions, suffering wounds on my
body. My disciples have been killed. I have twice been condemned to exile in
distant regions. And, once, I was almost beheaded. All this I bore for the
sake of the Lotus Sutra.
The Buddha preaches in the Lotus Sutra that more than 2,200 years after his
death, in the 95th 500-year period [i.e., at the beginning of the Latter Day
of the Law] when the Lotus Sutra is about to spread throughout the world,
the Devil of the Sixth Heaven will take possession of people, abusing,
striking, banishing or killing those who happen to take faith in this sutra,
in an attempt to prevent them from propagating the sutra's teachings. He
goes on to say that those who stand in the vanguard at that time win benefit
as great as though they had given offerings to the Buddhas of the three
existences and the 10 directions. And the Buddha also promises that he will
transfer to such persons the benefits resulting from his own trials and the
ascetic practices he underwent as a bodhisattva. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1415)
"Shakyamuni lives today;
this is the age of the Buddha"
Nichiren Daishonin (On the Buddha's Behavior)
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