THE PICTORIAL LIFE OF SAINT NICHIREN

Scene 13 Fire Destroys Matsuba-ga-yatsu

A month after the submission of his treatise, a ruthless mob raided St. Nichiren's hermitage at night and burned it down. A legend tells of a white monkey approaching the Saint earlier in the evening and tugging at his sleeve. Curiosity made him follow the monkey up a mountain path. As they neared a cave, a loud, commotion came from the direction of his hermitage. Turning, he saw his hermitage engulfed in flames and he was, thus, saved.

Scene 14 Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

Having lost his home, St. Nichiren went on an evangelical tour of the Wakamiya region (located in modern day Chiba Prefecture). This area was ruled by Tanetsugu Toki and it was on this occasion that the Hokke-do (Lotus Hall) was built next to his home. The Saint lectured to people in the Hokke-do for one hundred days. He taught that the Lotus Sutra, as the final enlightenment of the Buddha, and the prayer Na-mu Myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo, as the essence of this sutra, are guides indicating the true reality of this world and the path humankind should follow.