During his incarceration Toda endured malnutrition, interrogation and physical abuse without succumbing to his interrogators' demand that he recant his faith. At the start of 1944 Toda began meditating, studying, and chanting fiercely to understand the Lotus Sutra. He experienced two awakenings that had an enduring effect on the rest of his life. The first was a realization in March that the Buddha can be conceived of as "the essence of cosmic life itself" and therefore an inherent dignity shared by all human beings, which resulted in the quality of fearlessness in Toda's life. A second awakening took place in November 1944 when he became convinced that he was, in fact, one of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, the mythic figures who appear in the Lotus Sutra and symbolize the inherent compassionate qualities within all people. From this realization Toda envisioned modern prospects of a movement whereby people awaken to life's inherent dignity and teach others to do the same.