Letter to Endo Saemon-no-jo
I have recently received an official pardon
and am now returning to Kamakura. Can
this be the year in which the passage,
"By now the original vows that I made
have already been fulfilled," comes true
for me?
Had it not been for your protection, could
I possibly have sustained my life? Could I
have survived to be pardoned? All the
achievements of my lifetime are solely
thanks to you. The Lotus Sutra says,
"The young sons of the heavenly deities
will wait on and serve him. Swords and
staves will not touch him, and poison will
have no power to harm him." How
reassuring this sutra is!
Such being the case, you must be an
envoy sent by the heavenly gods Bonten
and Taishaku. I will bestow my seals
upon you as a promise that you will be
reborn in [the Pure Land of] Eagle Peak.
You should take one of them with you to
your next existence. [When you arrive] at
Eagle Peak, call out, "Nichiren, Nichiren!"
and I will come to meet you at that time.
I will write to you again from Kamakura.
Nichiren
