The explaination is based on SGI President Ikeda's Lecture: Learining from the Gosho, the Eternal Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin
The great teacher Dengyo journeyed two thousand miles in order to study the Maka Shikan. The Tripitaka Master Hsuan-tsang travelled two hundred thousand miles [from China to India] and acquired the Prajna (Hannya) sutras. When we consider these examples of people in the past, it seems that the length of the journey travelled in pursuit of the Law represents the strength of seeking spirit.
This letter is thought to have been written in November 1273 when Nichiren Daishonin was 52 years old. The lady recipient cherished a deep determination to see the Daishonin. She travelled all the way from Kamakura to Sado Island with her small child in tow, going over passes, climbing mountains, crossing the sea. The distance from Kamakura to Sado, including ascent and decent over mountainous terrain, probably came to between 400 and 500 kilometres. This letter praises a mother of seeking spirit who, seven centuries ago, single-mindedly advanced one step at a time in the footsteps of her mentor.
People who use their legs, who move around, for the sake of Buddhism, in like measure gain the good fortune and benefit with which to freely travel the world. People who prepare places for Buddhist meetings, including, for example, those who clean our centres, develop the state of life to dwell in "bejewelled houses" in the future. The example cited here are not fairy tales. The Mystic Law is wondrous and inscrutable. Again, it is the function of the law of the simultaneity of cause and effect.
Actions taken for kosen-rufu cannot fail to produce effects. If we are confident of this - and to the extent that we have this confidence - effects will manifest without fail. But if our confidence is partially clouded by doubt, then we will only see vague or indistinct results, like the light of a half moon.
The path the mother and her daughter, Oto Gozen, travelled was not simply a road. It was the path for attaining Buddhahood, the path for accumulating boundless good fortune and benefit.
"The length of the journey travelled in pursuit of the Law represents the strength of seeking spirit," the Daishonin says. Even though at the time it might be difficult, when you thoroughly advance along a path in pursuit of buddhism, with every step you plant more and more seeds of good fortune and benefits in your life. These will, as a matter of course, eventually flower and bear fruit.
Our spirit changes our being. It changes our lives. Why does the buddha have an indestructible, diamond-like life? In answer to this question, Shakyamuni explains that it is because he had steadfastly and thoroughly protected the True Law. Having a strong spirit for kosen-rufu enables us to develop a diamond-like life.
There are now many members who have developed the state of life to be able to freely travel the world, thanks to their benefit in having painstakingly walked countless narrow lanes and alleys to encourage friends during the early days of our movement. It may be that those responsible for the sound system ar meetings, as a result of the good fortune and benefit that they gain thereby, are creating the cause to be reborn in the future as great musicians.
In the activities for kosen-rufu, absolutely no effort is wasted. Everything is engraved in our lives and enables us to establish a diamond-like and totally free state of life. Rather, in overcomming our own weaknesses and exerting ourselves daily for the sake of friends, we thereby have already achieved victory or defeat as human beings. Ultimately, our victory or defeat in life is not decided by someone else. We decide it for ourselves. A person who steadfastly adheres to the path that he or she has chosen is a winner.
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