In concluding “The Selection of the Time,” the Daishonin calls on his disciples to stand up together with him and devote themselves selflessly to propagating the Law, which is the Buddha’s decree. He wants his disciples to share in experiencing the boundless state of life that can be gained by those who uphold the Lotus Sutra.

The Daishonin himself waged a dauntless struggle to prove that the Lotus Sutra was indeed the Buddha’s foremost teaching. Born as “the son of a commoner” he fought on bravely through countless persecutions solely for the sake of the happiness of the people. By reading the Lotus Sutra with his life, he revealed his inherent Buddhahood—in other words, an indestructible state of absolute happiness. He fervently wished to enable all of his disciples to attain this same expansive state of being as vast as the universe and savor boundless good fortune and benefit, and he called on them to achieve this for themselves. (…)

Without a thoroughgoing commitment, one cannot persevere in the struggle to propagate the correct teaching in the Latter Day. But unless this struggle is undertaken, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra will become obscured and lost, and the Latter Day will remain forever shrouded in darkness. Similarly, if one only makes halfhearted efforts and is ultimately defeated, the darkness of the age will only intensify. (…)

When we develop towering mountains of capable people who make positive contributions to humanity and vast oceans of ordinary individuals who work together for the happiness of all people, the Buddhism of Nichiren Diashonin will truly become a philosophy that illuminates all humankind. It is we, the votaries of the Lotus Sutra, who create this great current of worldwide kosen-rufu.[1]

The Daishonin calls on his disciples to stand up together with him and devote themselves selflessly to propagating the Law, which is the Buddha’s decree. He wants his disciples to share in experiencing the boundless state of life that can be gained by those who uphold the Lotus Sutra.

Compassion, which is the driving force for the propagation of the Mystic Law in the Latter Day of the Law, is what constitutes the basis for the practice of shakubuku. In one of his writings, Daisaku Ikeda analysed and reflected upon this virtue stating the following:

The Japanese word for compassion is jihi. Ji means to love and guide people as one would one’s own children, while hi means to feel sorrow for people’s sufferings and share their pain as if it were one’s own.

When children are nurtured with both warm, embracing love and strict, guiding love, they will develop fine character and inner richness. If they’re merely doted upon, they won’t develop a spirit of self-reliance. Similarly, if they are stifled or repressed, they won’t be able to fully express their individuality.

Embodying the virtue of the parent in its diverse aspects, the Buddha guides people. The Buddha does not simply stop at relieving suffering, but teaches people the correct way of life and calls on them to transform their inner state of being and actually attain happiness. Shakubuku is none other than this compassionate practice of “removing suffering and imparting joy.»[2]