Kōjitsu was a resident priest of the Senjuin Temple of Tōtō of Mount Hiei. With great admiration for the Law, he prayed to the Three Treasures and single-mindedly memorized the Hokekyō. Finally, he recited the whole copy by heart.

Later Kōjitsu moved to Umedani and was cloistered there for several years. The wife of Regent Michinaga of Fujiwara became devoted to Kōjitsu and repeatedly donated food and clothing to him.

As Kōjitsu aged, he changed his residence to Mount Atago, where he sequestered himself for ascetic practices and recited scores of thousands of copies of the Hokekyō.

On one occasion, Kōjitsu visited the Hachiman Shrine to fulfil his lifelong wish. As he recited the Hokekyō before the shrine altar at night, a person beside him dreamed that the Eight Heavenly Guardian Boys appeared from the inner hall of the shrine, bowed respectfully to Kōjitsu, and joyfully danced while scattering fragrant flowers over him and singing his praises. A voice heard within the shrine said in praise, “The holy man will surely become a Buddha and the light of his merits will illuminate the Way through the long nights to the Land After Death.” On awaking, the person found Kōjitsu reciting the Hokekyō beside him.

In his last moments, Kōjitsu respectfully completed his recitation of a copy of the Hokekyō, and passed away.(Page 50)

Shunmyō was a resident priest of Saitō. He thought of nothing but the recitation of the Hokekyō. He recited it in his room during the day and in the Shaka Hall through the night. He was always poor and had difficulty in providing his daily necessities. Avoiding people and closing the temple gates, he fervently recited the Hokekyō.

At one time, about daybreak when Shunmyō was half asleep, a Heavenly Lady appeared and said to Shunmyō in a soft voice. “In your former life, you were a fox living behind the Hokke Hall of Saitō. From time to time, you played above the ceiling and heard the Hokekyō recitation and the preaching. Thanks to this, you were reborn as a human being, became a priest of this mountain, and have been reciting the Hokekyō. To be born as a human being and to know about the Law is difficult. Exert yourself in reciting and do not neglect good deeds. The sea of suffering is so large and deep. How can one cross to other side without the ship of the Hokekyo?” The Heavenly Lady gave this explanation and said nothing more.

Hearing this, Shunmyō perceived the results linked to his former life and believed in the Way of cause and effect. After that, he recited sixty thousand rolls of the sūtra. He recited many more in later years, but the number of copied rolls was not recorded.

In his last days, he was ill but not seriously so. Reciting the Hokekyō, wishing to end his cycle of life and death, and thinking of nothing else, Shunmyō finally passed away. (Page 53-54)

Priest Chōzen had lived in Mount Hiei since his youth and wished to learn about the Law. However, being slow by nature, he could not practice the Way well. Following his master’s instructions, Chōzen learned about the sūtra and served Buddha. In the daytime, he recited the sūtra in the main quarter, and at night, he visited the worship hall to pray to Buddha. Finally, he memorized a copy of the sūtra.

On one occasion, a soothsayer came and explained good and bad omens for the people gathered at the worship hall. The soothsayer saw Chōzen and said to him, “You were a white horse in your previous life. A Hokekyō reciter travelled astride your back. On account of this merit, you left the status of an animal, and were born as a human being. You recited the sūtra and came to know about the Law. Your white complexion is due to the white hair of your body in your former life, and your loud voice resembles the hoofbeats of a galloping horse.”

Although Chōzen heard what the soothsayer had said about his former life, Chōzen would not believe it at all. Chōzen continued to visit the worship hall and practiced the repentance rites with utmost sincerity. He prayed that he would learn the truth about his former existence.

One night, Chōzen dreamed that an old priest said to him, “What the soothsayer told you was all correct. The effects of good and evil follow one just like one’s shadow. Only merits of the Hokekyō reciter who mounted you enabled you to be reborn into the human world and recite the Hokekyō. Just think how effective it will be if you maintain the sūtra’s teachings yourself and recommend that others support it. You should further devote yourself to its recitation and never be negligent.”

The awakened Chōzen felt ashamed of his former status, but rejoiced that he knew the Law and continued to uphold and practice it. (Page 62-63)

Yōshō was of the Kii clan in Noto Province and became a disciple of Master Kūjitsu of the Shōrengein Temple of Saitō. In the third year of Gangyō (879), at the age of eleven, Yōshō went to Mount Hiei to study. Being brilliant, Yōshō never repeated the same question. He memorized the Hokekyō and studied the teachings of the Tendai Sect. He avoided secular affairs and loved to meditate. His mind was always serenely balanced, unmoved by fame and unaffected by sentiments like joy and anger. He was firmly devoted to ascetic practices.

Yōshō neither slept long, nor frittered away his time. Being merciful, he offered his clothes to those without clothing and food to the hungry. He even let insects such as mosquitoes bite him as much as they wished. He copied the Hokekyō and constantly recited it.

Later Yōshō went to seek the ancient haunts of hermits in Mount Mitake and sequestered himself south of the capital in Mutaji Temple to learn the way of hermits.

First, he avoided cereals and ate only greens. Second, he ate fruits and nuts instead of greens. Soon he took only a grain of millet a day, wore vines as a robe, and completely lost interest in food and clothes forever. He solely concentrated on attaining the way with a great faith.

In the autumn of the first year of Engi (901), Yōshō disappeared without any trace. He hung his robe from a pine branch for Master Enmyō of Dōgenji Temple. Master Enmyō obtained the robe, grieved tearfully and searched for Yōshō in vain.

On one occasion, the ascetic Priest Onshin of Mount Yoshino said that Yōshō had become a bloodless and fleshless hermit with a strange bony frame covered by unusual hair, and that he had seen Yōshō flying with two wings like a phoenix or a fiery horse near the summit north of Ryūmonji Temple.

On another occasion, one of the Yōshō’s old colleagues from the main temple on Mount Hiei saw Yōshō near the summit of Matsumoto of Kumano and discussed some questions with him.

At another time, a priest on a summer retreat was reciting the Hokekyō while fasting for days in a stone chamber of Shō. A boy in blue brought white rice to the priest. The priest found it very tasty. He questioned the boy who replied, “I was a disciple of Priest Enzai of the Senkōin Temple of Mount Hiei. After years of practice, I have become a hermit. My recent master is Hermit Yōshō. Today’s rice is his gift to you.” As the boy finished speaking, he disappeared.

In the twenty-third year of Engi (923), a priest of the Tōdaiji Temple saw Yōshō in Mount Mitake. Yōshō said, “I have been living on this mountain more than fifty years and am now older than eighty. I have mastered the way of the hermit and can fly as I wish. I can ascend in the air and descend underground at will. Thanks to the power of the Hokekyō, I can see Buddhas and hear the Law as I like. I have fully assisted and sufficiently benefitted the people in the world.”

At one time, Yoshō’s parent became fatally ill. The parent grieved, saying, “Though I have many children, Yōshō has been my favorite. If he understands my feelings, I wish he could come and see me.” Yōshō mysteriously perceived this, flew to his parent’s house, and recited the Hokekyō over the roof.

The people in the house came out and saw no one, but heard Yōshō’s voice addressing his parent, “Since I left the secular world, I have not contacted people for a long time. Yet out of filial piety, I have come here and communicate with you by reciting the sūtra. On the eighteenth of each month, wait for me by burning incense and scattering flowers. Relying on the incense smoke, I will come here, recite the sūtra, and preach the Law to return my parent’s favor.”

An old man of Mount Hiei said that Yōshō visited the mountain annually in the eighth month, listened to the recitation of the Buddha’s name, and paid his respects to the Great Master Jikaku. He never came at other times. When asked the reason, Yōshō responded, “Mount Hiei is filled with the hot fire of bribery by donors and believers and I cannot bear the vulgar smell of the various priests in the mountain.” (Page 70-71)