"That person will practice in the world and skillfully extinguish the benightedness of the people."

The 21st chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Jinriki (Divine Power) Chapter,states,

"After the passing of the Thus Come One, that person will know the causal relations of all the sutras preached by the Buddha and will preach them truthfully in accordance with doctrine. As the sun and the moon skillfully eradicate the dimness, that person will practice in the world and skillfully extinguish the benightedness of the people. In the end he will cause incalculable Bodhisattvas to dwell in the One Vehicle. (Myoho Renge Kyo, Kaiketsu, page 584)

NICHIREN"S COMMENTARY

"This Person Will Practice among the People" 

AFTER I had not heard from you for some time, your letter arrived. In addition, I have received the quilted robe with a blue lining, a hat, a sash, one kan' of coins and a basket of chestnuts. The present time corresponds to the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law.(2) The text of the sutra clearly states that at this time, Bodhisattva Jogyo will make his advent and bestow the five characters of Namu-myoho-renge-kyo upon all the people of Japan. It also makes clear that he will face exile and execution. I, Nichiren, am like the emissary of Bodhisattva Jogyo, because I am spreading this doctrine. The Jinriki chapter states:'Just as the light of the sun and moon illuminates all obscurity, this person will practice among the people and dispel the darkness of all beings." In this passage, in the statement, "this person will practice among the people," to whom do you think "this person" refers! I believe that it must indicate the person who is the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Jogyo. The sutra states, "After I have passed into extinction, one must accept and uphold this sutra. Such a person, with respect to the Buddha Way, is assured, and there can be no doubt."

You, too, are surely assisting Bodhisattva Jogyo's efforts of propagation. Nichiren The third day of the twelfth month in the second year of Koan (I279), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-u.

BACKGROUND Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter at Minobu to Ikegami Munenaka, the elder of the Ikegami brothers, on the third day of the twelfth month, I279. In this Gosho, the Daishonin indicates that he is Bodhisattva Jogyo, who will appear in the world in the Latter Day of the Law and propagate the Mystic Law according to predictions made in the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Daishonin states that,just as Bodhisattva Jogyo "will practice among the people and dispel the darkness of all beings," he himself is now propagating the Mystic Law to save the people in the Latter Day. He also says that the bodhisattva will be subjected to persecutions such as exile and execution, as the sutra predicts. Here the Daishonin alludes to passages in the Kanji (thirteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra which state: "Again and again we will be banished," and "There will be many ignorant people who will... attack us with swords and staves." "Exile" indicates the Daishonin's banishment to Izu from I26I to I263, and to Sado Island from I27I to I274 "Execution" refers to the Tatsunokuchi persecution in I27I~ when the Daishonin was nearly beheaded. In concluding, Nichiren Daishonin encourages Ikegami Munenaka in faith by praising him as one who is helping Bodhisattva Jogyo propagate the Law.(From NSIC MW's)