I have met these great persecutions as the votary of the Lotus Sutra and do not regret them in the slightest. No life could be more fortunate than mine, no matter how many times one might repeat the cycle of birth and death. But now, to my great joy, I am sure to sever the cycle of the sufferings of birth and death and attain the fruit of Buddhahood. T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo were subjected to hate and jealousy merely because they propagated the doctrine of the theoretical 'three thousand realms in a single moment of life' of the first half of the Lotus Sutra. Eshin devoted himself to the meditative practices.
Doctrinal studies are comparable to the moon and meditative practices to the sun.
Doctrinal studies are shallow, while meditative practices are deep. The teachings expounded by Danna were therefore broad but shallow, while Eshin's teachings were deep but limited. The teaching that I, Nichiren, am now propagating may seem limited, but it is actually exceedingly profound. This is because it goes deeper than the teachings expounded by T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo. It consists of the three important matters 8 contained in the Juryo chapter of the essential teaching.