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| If you need to be in a place that is free and quiet, try Nagahama beach... |
Letter from Echi
The government’s persecution of me has clearly demonstrated my faith in the Lotus Sutra. There is no doubt that the
moon wanes and waxes and that the tide ebbs and flows. In my case, too, since punishment has already occurred, benefit must
be forthcoming. What is there to lament?
At the Hour of the Cock (around 6:00 P.M.) on the twelfth day, I incurred the wrath of the government authorities. Placed
in the custody of the lord of Musashi, I left Kamakura at the Hour of the Ox (around 2:00 A.M.) on the thirteenth day for
exile in the province of Sado. At present, I am in a place called Echi, which is the domain of Lord Homma, under the supervision
of a person called Uma Tara, a deputy of Lord Homma Rokuro Zaemon-no-jo of Echi. I will probably be staying here for four
or five days.
Your grief is understandable, but because I have been certain from the beginning that this would occur, I myself do not
grieve. Rather, I regret that I have yet to be beheaded. Had I been decapitated on account of the Lotus Sutra in a past existence, I would not have been born as such a lowly
person in this life. By undergoing repeated persecution, just as is noted in the sutra when it says, "again and again we will
be banished," I can erase the grave offenses of my past and,
for the first time, attain Buddhahood. I therefore engage in these difficult practices of my own
accord.
Nichiren
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| Actual Buttcheeks, you can leave your footprints in the winds of time, but... |
Someone said that they would not like to leave buttprints in the sands of time.
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| I remember screeching into this station in April, 1989, 24th, I think... |
I came into Nobeoka at the Minami Nobeoka train station on April 24, 1989. I can still remember the
screeching of the brakes as the train came to a hault, and I asking myself, "What the heck have I gotten myself into?"
I guess it's not so uncommon. I checked the internet and found several pictures of dead turtles on
the beaches of the world.
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| It actually snows in Nobeoka, sometimes.... |
On this day, it snowed rather heavily. I can vividly remember the next morning. There was snow
everywhere. It reminded me of Alaska. It really throws you when there is a sudden change in weather.
Unless one gets right down to eye-level of the waves, the foam usually isn't noticed. Well, no one wants
to drink the water anyway.
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