Matsubagaya Persecution

This puja is one of the four great Dharma transgressions of Nichiren Shonin, and is held on the day that Nichiren Shonin was attacked by a mob at night for his draft of the Matsubagaya in Kamakura.

On July 16, 1260, Nichiren Shonin delivered the “Rissho Ankoku Ron” to Hojo Tokiyori, the fifth regent of the Kamakura shogunate. The following is a brief summary of the report. The content of the letter was harsh, attributing the earthquakes, abnormal weather, epidemics, and famines that were already occurring at the time to the pagan religions of Honen and others, such as Nen Buddhism and Zen Buddhism.

This was the reason why he urged the Shogunate to change its religious policy (to make the Lotus Sutra the true law).
An act of bullying political authorities. Tokiyori did not like to stir things up and ignored the saint’s prophecies and warnings.
However, a group of Nenbutsu followers in the upper echelons of the Shogunate plotted to assassinate the saint.

At that time, Nichiren Shonin had a hermitage (later called Hokke-do) in Matsubagaya, in what is now the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture.
It was the place of his starting point for his missionary activities for about 18 years until the Ryuguchi Buddhist memorial service in 1271.

However, on August 27, about a month after the submission of the “Rissho Ankoku Ron,” the hermitage was attacked at night and burned down by Nenbutsu believers (followers of the Pure Land teachings) who were seduced by the higher authorities.
At that time, a white monkey appeared out of nowhere and led them to the “Monkey Hatake” for shelter.

Nichiren Shonin said, “Those who try to propagate the Lotus Sutra are prepared to face great hardships. Without great hardships, we would not be Lotus Sutra practitioners.