Daily Gosho - General Stone Tiger

The next line of this Gosho extract is "The Lotus Sutra is a fine sword, but its might depends on the one who wields it." A great reminder that we can sit and chant till the cows come home, but if we are doubtful, or half-hearted, we're not really using the medicine of the Mystic Law to its fullest power; that is, reaching our fullest potential. Let's wield that sword as if our lives depended on it, with the spirit of the youthful disciple Shijo Kingo in our hearts...


"The stronger one's faith, the greater the protection of the gods." This means that the protection of the gods depends on the strength of one's faith."

(General Stone Tiger - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 953) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=952 Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, August 18th, 2012


Background
This letter was written at Minobu in the intercalary tenth month of 1278 to Shijo Nakatsukasa Saburo Saemon, commonly called Shijo Kingo. Kingo was accomplished in both the practice of medicine and the martial arts. For nearly the entire first half of 1278, Nichiren Daishonin had suffered from debilitating and chronic diarrhea. Evidently Kingo had sent the Daishonin various medicines that had helped alleviate his illness.
In the fall of 1277 a virulent epidemic swept Japan, and Kingo’s lord became violently ill. Despite the lord’s deep-seated antagonism toward the Daishonin’s teachings, he turned to Kingo for help. Lord Ema was most grateful for Kingo’s ministrations and rewarded him with an estate three times larger than the one he already had. Yet the Daishonin warns Kingo to be constantly on guard and to take particularly great care to protect himself from attack while traveling.