ABSTRACT
The Buddhism of Honen was representative of the new age in its simple and pure piety, but it shared much of the sentimentalism prevalent in Miyako. There now appeared a man who represented the vigorous spirit of eastern Japan, combining with it the profound idealism of Buddhism, and from whom Amita-Buddhism encountered the most formidable attacks. The document, filled with fierce remonstrance concluding with these fervent words, was sent to the government authorities. Nichiren passed a winter amid snow and hoar-frost in an abandoned cottage, suffering extreme cold and hunger. His thoughts naturally turned more intensely than before to the fate of those Buddhists who would work in the days of degeneration and suffer persecution for the sake of the true Buddhism.
