My wish is that all my disciples make
a great vow. We are very fortunate to
be alive after the widespread epidemics
that occurred last year and the year
before. But now with the impending
Mongol invasion it appears that few
will survive. In the end, no one can
escape death. The sufferings at that time
will be exactly like what we are
experiencing now.
Since death is the same in either case,
you should be willing to offer your life
for the Lotus Sutra. Think of this
offering as a drop of dew rejoining the
ocean, or a speck of dust returning to
the earth. A passage from the third volume
of the Lotus Sutra reads, "We beg that
the merit gained through these gifts may
be spread far and wide to everyone, so that
we and other living beings all together may
attain the Buddha way."
The Dragon Gate
-The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1003
願わくは我が弟子等・大願ををこせ、
去年去去年のやくびやうに死にし人人の
数にも入らず、又当時・蒙古のせめに・
まぬかるべしともみへず、とにかくに死は
一定なり、其の時のなげきは・たうじのごとし、
をなじくは・かりにも法華経のゆへに命をすてよ、
つゆを大海にあつらへ、ちりを大地にうづむとをもへ、
法華経の第三に云わく「願くは此の功徳を以て
普く一切に及ぼし我等と衆生と皆共に仏道を成ぜん」
云云
御書全集1561㌻