According to the shakumon section of the Lotus Sūtra, the people in this Sahā World have been closely related to Śākyamuni Buddha since dust-particle kalpa ago without any relations to other Buddhas such as the Buddha of Infinite Life. Chapter 7 on the “Parable of A Magic City,” of the Lotus Sūtra states: “Those who listened to the teachers then have always been beside those Buddhas. … Destiny has made them meet the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra now.” This statement tells us that we, the people in this Sahā World, have never been in Pure Lands of fifteen other Buddhas such as the Buddha of Infinite Life in the universe. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra:
“An old interpretation considers the Buddha of Infinite Life as the rich father in the parable of the father and son. However, this is incorrect, and today we do not consider the Buddha of Infinite Life as the wealthy father. The Western Pure Land of the Buddha of Infinite Life and this Sahā World of Śākyamuni Buddha each has a different Buddha and karmic relations. The Buddha of Infinite Life is not the Lord Buddha of this Sahā World, so he was never born to and died in this world. He never guided us in this world. There are no relationships formed between the Buddha of Infinite Life and us like that of a father and son. There are no words in the Lotus Sūtra which state that the Buddha of Infinite Life is our lord, teacher or parent. If you really want to encounter the Buddha, you need to contemplate this with your eyes closed.”
Grand Master Miao-lê explains this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Infinite Life have completely different karmic relationships to the people in their past lives, and the worlds they guided are completely different. By birth and in growing up, the Buddha of Infinite Life and the people in this Sahā World have no father-son relationship.” From these statements of T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê, I would think the Buddha of Infinite Life and other Buddhas in the world all over the universe are like stepfathers whereas Śākyamuni Buddha is a compassionate, real father. T’ien-t’ai wrote many works interpreting the Lotus Sūtra; however, we should know this interpretation of his to be fundamental, and consider Śākyamuni Buddha as the lord of this Sahā World.
Gochū Shujō Gosho, People in the World Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 202