The Reply to Lord Shijō Kingo

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Apart from reciting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō, there is no comfort and relief. In the Sutra it says, “Where my people are, they are in comfort and at ease.” Does not this quotation imply “the self-received comfort of the Dharma”?

You, Sir, are involved as a sentient being. The word “where” (in the previous quotation from the Dharma Flower Sutra) entails the world of humankind (Jambudvīpa). The Japanese state is included in the world of humankind. Are not comfort and relief both our subjective and objective circumstances and the one instant of mental activity that contains three thousand existential dimensions, as well as the self-received entity of the Buddha?

Apart from holding to the Dharma Flower Sutra with reverence, there is no comfort and relief. “In our present lives, we have peace and quiet. In the next life, we will be born in better conditions.” Even though the authorities have exiled me, this had to come sooner or later. [At that time, the Japanese didn’t build prisons.]

Just stay at home with your wife and drink saké there, as well as reciting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. I think you should suffer what there is to suffer and enjoy what there is to enjoy and, among other things, recite Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. Both suffering and enjoyment go along together. This is the self-received comfort of the Dharma. Keep on reciting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō.

With deep respect,
Nichiren (ornate signature)

The twenty-seventh day of the sixth month in the second year of Kenji (1276), cyclical sign hinoe-ne

Shijō Kingo dono gohenji
Goshō Zenshū, p. 1143