Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
(Monthly Gosho Passage December 2009)
But if you are truly concerned about your future existence, you should think lightly of your own safety and consider the Law above all. Thus the Great Teacher Chang-an states, '[The sutra says, "...it is proper that he should relate the words of his ruler] without holding back any of them, even though it may cost him his life." This means that one's body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give his life in order to propagate the Law.' "This passage is saying that, even if one must give up his life, one should not conceal the True Law; this is because one's body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. Though one's body be destroyed, one should strive to propagate the Law.
(Gosho, p.404; MW Vol.5, p.107)