"The boy Snow Mountains offered his body to a demon to receive a teaching composed of eight characters. Bodhisattva Medicine King burned his arms as an offering to the Lotus Sutra. In our own country too, Prince Sho-toku peeled off the skin of his hand and copied the Lotus Sutra on it, and the sovereign known as Emperor Tenji burned his third finger as an offering to Shakyamuni Buddha. Because these things are the affairs of worthies and sages, they are impossible for us to do. However, as for the matter of becoming a Buddha, ordinary people keep in mind the words “earnest resolve” and thereby become Buddhas."
From Gosho "The Gift of Rice" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 1125)
From Gosho "The Gift of Rice" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 1125)
