Condolences on a Deceased Husband Chapter9

Moreover, after the center of power shifted to the east¹⁶ and the years went by, many of the leaders of the True Word school who had caused the sovereigns of the country to perish made their way to Kamakura, where they ingratiated themselves with the men of the Kamakura shogunate. Because they had originally been priests of high standing in their original areas, they were able to practice various deceptions to gain favor and to have themselves appointed superintendents of various temples in Kamakura. In addition, the Nembutsu priests, taking advantage of their position as counselors to those in power, became chief priests of Daibutsu-den, Chōraku-ji, Gokuraku-ji,¹⁷ and other temples, while persons of the Zen school came to be respected as chief priests of Jufuku-ji, Kenchō-ji, and other temples.

Thus in Kamakura offenses were committed that were a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times graver than that which brought about the fate of the Retired Emperor of Oki. And because of these grave offenses, the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, and the other deities of heaven and earth, along with Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions joined in meting out punishment. For this reason, a sage of a neighboring country, realizing the wishes of these deities and Buddhas, instructed its great king,¹⁸ who was engaged in rallying soldiers from countless different countries, to inflict punishment upon the ruler, the high ministers, and the common people of Japan. I, Nichiren, through my study of the sutras and treatises, have already predicted that this would happen.