The Tree of Mutual Love Chapter1
IHAVE received the food you sent me for the priests’ meals.
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on the second day of the eleventh month in 1279 (another view suggests 1276) at Minobu to the lay nun Myōshin. He expresses his gratitude for the food for priests’ meals she has sent to mark the anniversary of her husband’s passing. Sympathizing with her feelings of loss, the Daishonin recounts several popular tales from ancient times of exemplary love between husband and wife. He then refers to her deceased husband as her last good influence in the sahā world because it was he who led her to her faith in the Lotus Sutra. He closes with two short poems he has written acknowledging her grief.