Gosho Passage 3
The heavenly devil knew about this from before, and he therefore possessed your colleagues, causing them to invent that preposterous lie in order to prevent you from making offerings to the Lotus Sutra. Since your faith is profound, however, the ten demon daughters must have come to your aid and caused your lord’s illness. He does not regard you as his enemy, but since he once acted against you by giving credit to the false accusations of your colleagues, he has become seriously ill, and the malady persists.
Lecture: Never Yield to “Great Falsehoods” and “Slander”
The forces of negativity unfailingly fabricate falsehoods. This passage teaches that deception and slander are the standard tactics of devilish functions.
The Chinese writer Lu Xun remarked: “There is a weapon that kills people without shedding blood. That is the fabrication of rumors.” Spreading baseless rumors is the very essence of devilish functions.
The Tatsunokuchi Persecution was also caused by “incessant slander.”
Slander means distorting facts to malign others. Negativity always utilizes slander, working through authority figures to bring down individuals of justice. This is precisely the function of the Devil of the Sixth Heaven. Among the three powerful enemies, the most formidable—arrogant false sages—always manipulate those in power using fabricated information to persecute practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. Unlike the other two categories, they never appear on the front lines and avoid dirtying their own hands directly. That is the true identity of the Devil King of the Sixth Heaven.
Applying this principle, the Daishonin perceived that this very devilish function was active behind the scenes surrounding Shijo Kingo. He explains that heavenly devils had possessed the people of the Ema clan, prompting them to invent massive falsehoods to persecute Kingo.
Devilish functions operate subtly, attempting to erode our conviction from within. Therefore, if one possesses the wisdom to see through their true identity, their power is halved. Ultimately, what defeats negativity is courage—the power of faith itself.
In light of the principle of internal manifestation and external protection, because Shijo Kingo’s faith was strong, the ten demon daughters acted, causing the illness of his lord to provide him with protection. In fact, this event served as the turning point that opened the way forward for Kingo.
The workings of protective forces manifest in countless ways depending on circumstances. In this instance, because Lord Ema was momentarily swayed by slander, it took the form of his illness. Yet as a consequence, Lord Ema came to rely upon Kingo once again, naturally becoming enveloped in the protective power of the Lotus Sutra. That outcome in itself was a reward of Lord Ema’s own good fortune.
However, unlike Lord Ema, the actual culprits who instigated the negativity received clear and immediate retribution, as shown in the next passage.