Kaimokusho or Liberation from Blindness

Book excerpt: This thirteenth-century text by Nichiren extols the Lotus Sutra and critiques the other schools of Japanese Buddhism active at that time. Nichiren was arrested by the Kamakura government in 1271 and sentenced to exile on Sado Island. There he was in constant danger of assassination, and wrote the Kaimokusho to convince his remaining followers to follow his example in Buddhism. To do this, Nichiren criticized religions other than Buddhism, and then Buddhist sutras other than the Lotus Sutra. He asked the question "Am I not the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra and answered this question by quoting five testimonies to the truthfulness of his faith. He also identifies the three kinds of arrogant people and equates them with the three kinds of enemies of the Lotus Sutra.