Perhaps it is because you were my parent in a previous existence or my brother sometime in the past that you were moved to visit me. Or perhaps it is because you established profound ties with the Lotus Sutra in the past, and the seeds that will lead to your attainment of Buddhahood have reached maturity in this present age, that, busy as you are in your capacity as a lay member of society, you have found time from your public duties to give thought to me. In addition, your journey from the province of Totomi to Mount Minobu here in the village of Hakiri in Kai Province is over three hundred ri , and the lodgings along the way must have been wretched. Ascending the ridges, you came out into the light of the sun or the moon, but descending into the ravines, you must have felt as though you were entering a pit. The current in the rivers is as swift as an arrow, and the huge stones carried along in them prevent men and horses from crossing.
Boats are as perilous as scraps of paper cast on the water.
The men one encounters in such a journey are rough woodcutters, and the women are like female mountain demons. The trail is as narrow as a rope, and the trees are as dense as grass. Shakyamuni Buddha must have led you by the hand, with Taishaku as the horse you rode on, Bonten as your companion, and the sun and moon acting as your eyes along the way. There are many other things I would like to say, but I have caught a cold and am feeling quite miserable, so I will end here. All rights reserved.