Daily Gosho - The Supremacy of the Law

I can imagine when Nichimyo received this letter from Nichiren Daishonin, she felt as reassured as I do when I read the Gosho. His compassion for his disciples just shines through his writing, urging us to redetermine with every gongyo we do, and daimoku we chant. Doesn't life seem to run more smoothly when we've chanted abundant and vibrant daimoku? Protection abounds from the universe when our lives are in rhythm with the Mystic Law, when our daimoku is based on achieving kosen-rufu and we practice with the same heart as our mentor...

"That is why the Great Teacher Miaolo stated, 'The stronger one's faith, the greater the protection of the gods.' So long as one maintains firm faith, one is certain to receive the great protection of the gods."

(The Supremacy of the Law - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 614) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=613 Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, August 27th, 2012


Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter at Minobu in the eighth month of the first year of Kenji (1275). It was addressed to Oto, the daughter of Nichimyo, an earnest believer living in Kamakura. This letter, though addressed to Oto, was obviously meant for her mother, whom the Daishonin had called the Sage Nichimyo in a letter dated the fifth month of 1272.
Virtually nothing is known about Nichimyo other than that she visited the Daishonin, with her daughter, while he was in exile on Sado Island. The journey to Sado was a dangerous one, and the Daishonin was greatly impressed by the strength of faith she demonstrated.
In this letter, the Daishonin says, “Ice is made of water, but it is colder than water. Blue dye comes from indigo, but when something is repeatedly dyed in it, the color is better than that of the indigo plant.” With this paraphrase of a passage in the well-known Chinese classic, Hsün Tzu, he encourages Nichimyo to strengthen her faith still more so she can gain even greater vitality and good fortune.
The title for this letter derives from a passage in The Annotations on the Nirvana Sutra that reads, “One’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give one’s life in order to propagate the Law.” The Daishonin declares that however much people hate and persecute him, because the Law is supreme, it will spread without fail. Then, after his death, his remains, he adds, will be respected, as will those who have aided him.