To put it figuratively, a woman can’t feel her pregnancy in the beginning, but after a while she begins to suspect it until she knows for sure that she is pregnant. An attentive woman can even tell whether she has conceived a boy or a girl.
The same could be said about the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra. If we believe in the merit of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” Śākyamuni Buddha will be conceived in our hearts before we know it, just as a woman is pregnant before she knows it. We can’t feel it in the beginning, but as the months pass we begin dreaming of the Buddha residing in our hearts, until we feel happiness within us.
Matsuno-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord Matsuno