Letter to Shimoyama（1st of 13th paragraph）
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If the people of Japan now, while upholding the Lotus Sutra and paying the respect and honor to Shakyamuni Buddha that is his due, at the same time pay respect to the patriarchs of the True Word or Zen school or Nembutsu teachers, then they can hardly hope to escape the hell of incessant suffering. And how much more is this so if they look up in adoration to the proponents of these three schools as though they were the sun or the moon, and themselves perform the Nembutsu and other practices of these schools!
If people are truly thoughtful, they will realize that such things as the Nembutsu and the Amida Sutra are more to be abhorred than an enemy of their parents, their teacher, or their sovereign, or an enemy from a previous existence. One should no more think of accepting them than one would think of hoisting a rebels’ banner over the government troops, or of lighting a fire at the time of the Cold Food festival.81
Thus in ancient times Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, a great scholar, swore that he would no longer lend his tongue to the expounding of Hinayana sutras, and the Great Teacher Chi-tsang, a worthy man, would not even venture to recite the Lotus Sutra any longer. They did these things because they hoped to expiate the grave fault of slandering the correct teaching that they had earlier committed by using the Hinayana sutras to criticize and refute the Mahayana sutras, or using the Lotus Sutra to attack and defame the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai.
Now the people of Japan, without a single exception, are like those who slandered Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, or like the slandering monks Shore of Suffering and Superior Intent; everyone in the country is destined to fall into the hell of incessant suffering. Hence it is that in the Nirvana Sutra the Buddha prophesied that in the Latter Day of the Law, those who slander the Lotus Sutra will be more numerous than the dust particles of the land.
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Notes
81. In China the three-day Cold Food, or Han-shih, festival was observed around 105 days after the winter solstice. During the festival, people ate only cold or pre-cooked food, as heating by fire was not allowed.