The Ryūsen-ji Petition Chapter5

In his complaint, Gyōchi states that on the twenty-first day of the present month a band formed of a number of persons armed with bows and arrows broke into the compound of the chief priest, and that Shimotsuke-bō Nisshū, armed and mounted on a horse, along with a peasant of Atsuhara named Kijirō, set up a notice board and the group then reaped the rice crop and carried it off to the compound occupied by Nisshū. (This is the gist of the charge.)

These allegations are completely false and without substance. Nisshū and the others had been driven out of their living quarters by Gyōchi and had no place to go, so who would give credence to a notice board they had posted? And why would the local peasants, who are weak and powerless, agree to do their bidding? If, as the complaint asserts, Nisshū and the others had armed themselves with bows and arrows and were planning some evil action, why did Gyōchi and others in the vicinity not disarm them, bring them before the authorities, and report the details of the matter? These allegations are wholly fallacious, and we ask that they be examined in a just and impartial manner.

Nisshū and Nichiben have for a number of years been resident priests of Ryūsen-ji, the temple in question, and have carried out their Buddhist practice in earnest, offering prayers for the longevity of the sovereign and the safety of the land. But Gyōchi, while acting as deputy chief priest of the sacred precincts of the said temple, addressed certain priests of the temple, namely, Mikawa-bō Raien,²⁹ Shō-bō Nichizen, Nisshū, and Nichiben, insisting that the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra are not trustworthy and ordering them to cease at once reading and reciting the Lotus Sutra and to devote all their attention to reading of the Amida Sutra and recitation of the Nembutsu. He stated that if they would prepare a written pledge to this effect, he would insure them of a place to live.

When these orders were received, Raien, obeying them, wrote out his pledge and was allowed to remain in his quarters. But Nichizen and the others, because they did not present a written pledge, were deprived of their position as priests of the quarters they occupied. Nichizen then left the temple entirely. Nisshū and Nichiben, because they have no other place to go, have continued to reside in the temple as they have in the past.

During the past four years, however, Nisshū and the others have not only been deprived of their position as priests of their respective quarters, but have been forbidden to carry out important prayer ceremonies. And as though that were not evil action enough, steps have been taken to strip them of their role as votaries of the Lotus Sutra, they have been schemed against in other ways, and untruths of various kinds have been circulated about them. One would suppose that Devadatta, who lived in the time of the Buddha, were still alive today!