The five characters of the Wonderful Dharma, the gist of the essential section of the Lotus Sūtra, can deal with calamities and disasters if only one puts faith in it, but this is what the Buddha especially entrusted to the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.
Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Chibyō-shō, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Toki
His never-lying tongue touching the highest heaven in the realm of form, Śākyamuni Buddha again declared to the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the Four Heavenly Kings, and dragon gods: “In the fifth 500-year period, when all the teachings of the Buddha are about to disappear, Bodhisattva Superior Practice will be entrusted with the five ideograms of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō as the cure for those slanderers and non-believers of Buddhism who suffer from white leprosy.” How could these words of the Buddha be false? Even if the earth turned upside down, high mountains crumbled, summer did not follow spring, the sun set in the east, and the moon fell on the earth, there would be no mistake about this.
Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time
Venerable Ānanda and Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī listened to every word of the wonderful teaching of the Lotus Sūtra for eight years and at the assembly for compilation of all the sūtras after the Buddha’s extinction, nine hundred ninety-nine arhats wrote them down. They began with “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” and chanted “Thus have I heard.” Doesn’t this prove that the five Chinese characters of “Myō, Hō, Ren, Ge, and Kyō” are the essence of the one volume Lotus Sūtra, twenty-eight chapters in eight fascicles?
Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude
Grand Master Miao-lê also says in the sixth fascicle of the Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Various sūtras call themselves ‘great,’ not ‘wonderful’ because they can lead those with heart, but not without heart, to Buddhahood. The Lotus Sūtra, however, can lead those without heart to Buddhahood, so it is called the ‘wonderful’ sūtra.”
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
It is possible to figure out the dharma Grand Master T’ien-t’ai attained in mind because it is the dharma Grand Master T’ient’ai considered. On the other hand, the Wonderful Dharma is the teacher of Buddhas. It is evident that the (inconceivable) Wonderful Dharma is superior to the conceivable threefold contemplation.
Risshō Kanjō, A Treatise on Establishing the Right Way of Meditation
Therefore, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra compares the 50th person rejoicing at hearing the Lotus Sūtra transmitted one after another, the lowest rank in the practice of the Lotus Sūtra, against the practicers of non-Buddhist teachings, Hinayana Buddhism, and provisional Mahayana Buddhism. He states that the merits of the lowest rank in the practice of the Lotus Sūtra are superior to those of any other practice.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
Filial piety of the Confucian School limits itself to this life. Since it does not help the parents in the future life, its sages and wise men are empty names without reality. Other non-Buddhist schools may know about past and future lives but they have no way of saving parents. Only Buddhism helps parents in their future lives. Therefore, those in Buddhism are worthy of the name of “sage and wise man.” Even in Buddhism, however, various scriptures and sects expounded before the Lotus Sutra were unable to help people obtain enlightenment themselves, much less their parents. They have only words without meaning. Only when the Lotus Sutra was expounded and said that women could obtain Buddhahood, our mothers’ obtaining Buddhahood became possible; and when it said that even a wicked man like Devadatta could obtain Buddhahood, our fathers’ obtaining Buddhahood also became possible. This is the sutra of filial piety among all Buddhist scriptures.
Opening the Eyes, Kaimoku-shō
QUESTION: I would like to know how great the merit contained in only five Chinese characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō can be.
ANSWER: The great ocean receives the whole flow of rivers from all over the world; the great earth contains everything including sentient and insentient beings; the wish-fulfilling gem rains all kinds of treasures; the King of the Brahma Heaven controls the whole Triple World (realms of desire, no desire, and non-form). Likewise, the five Chinese characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō possess the merits of all phenomena. In short, they contain everything in the Ten Realms from hell to the realm of Buddhas, including those that exist in the lands and the lands themselves.
Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
T’ien-t’ai’s interpretation makes it clear that even great bodhisattvas who have thoroughly studied Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Hōdō sūtras and the Wisdom Sūtra and reached the rank next only to the Buddha is incomparably inferior to those who merely listened to the Lotus Sūtra and had a connection with it, namely ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration who were unable to eliminate the evil passions and master even one supernatural power.
Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra
The Lotus Sūtra states that even the Buddha cannot measure the merit of those who put faith in even one character or sentence of the Lotus Sūtra. The Buddha has boundless wisdom; He can measure the amount of rain that has continued to fall for one or two weeks in the whole universe. Nevertheless, He cannot measure the merit of those who chant just one character or phrase of the Lotus Sūtra. How can we, sinners and the ignorant, measure this merit?
Regardless, very few people believe in the Lotus Sūtra, which is worthy of such great merit.
Gassui Gasho, A Letter on Menstruation, Nyonin Gosho