I HAVE received the various offerings that you sent. Where strong winds cause the grasses to bend and flashes of lightning fill people with alarm—in a world such as ours, how wonderful it is that to this day you remain unshaken in your faith!
They say that when roots are deep, the leaves will not wither; when there is a jewel in the heart of the fountain, its waters will never cease to flow. And how deep are the roots of your faith, how pure the jewel in your heart. How admirable, how admirable!
Respectfully,
Nichiren
The twenty-seventh day of the sixth month
Reply to the lay nun of Kubo
Background
This letter was written at Minobu on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month in 1278 to a widow who lived with her young daughter in Kubo in Fuji District of Suruga Province. One explanation identifies her as a member of the Yui family and the wife of the lay priest Takahashi Rokurō Hyōe, but little is known about her. From the contents of the several letters Nichiren Daishonin addressed to her, she appears to have been a sincere believer who frequently sent offerings to him and maintained faith in his teachings throughout her life.