If a major evil demon of fundamental darkness can enter the body of even a bodhisattva on the rank next only to the Buddha, preventing this bodhisattva from attaining the merit of Enlightenment of the Lotus Sūtra, all the more so can this demon wreak havoc with beings below the bodhisattva rank. Also, the King of Devils in the Sixth Heaven can occupy the body of the wife and children to fool the parents and husband, enter the body of the king to persecute the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, or go into the bodies of the parents to torture their filial children.

When Śākyamuni Buddha was the Crown Prince Siddhārtha, he sought to abdicate his princely position in order to enter the priesthood. King Śuddhodana, however, advised the Prince to refrain from entering the priesthood until his pregnant wife gave birth to their son Rāhula. The King of Devils postponed the birth of Rāhula for six years in order to prevent the Crown Prince from entering the priesthood.

Kyōdai-shō, A Letter to the Ikegami Brothers, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 76

The word “hell” can be defined “to dig the ground.” It is called “hell” because dead people are buried in the ground. In the same way, we can say that the wife, children, and relatives carrying the corpse to a crematory are jailors of hell; the grief-stricken cries of wife and children are the scolding voices of jailors; and the crematory flames are the flames of the Hell of Incessant Suffering. A two-and-a-half foot cane seems like a jailor’s iron stick; horses and cows look like horse-head demons and cow-head demons; the hole for burying the dead corresponds to the Hell of Incessant Suffering; eighty-four thousand desires are eighty-four thousand iron pots in Hell; to leave home is a journey of death; and the river by which filial children mourn equals the Styx, the river of death. It would be foolish for you to look for hell in places other than your own mind!

However, for those who uphold the Lotus Sutra, all this is reversed. Hell will be altered to the Pure Land of Eternally Tranquil Light; the flames in hell will be changed into the light of wisdom of the Buddha of the Reward-body; the dead will be changed into the Buddha of Dharma-body; the fiery hole of hell will be changed to the compassion of the Buddha of the Accommodative-body; the cane of the dead will become the cane of the true entity of all phenomena; the Styx will become the ocean of Nirvana; and the journey of death will become the doctrine of “earthly desires turned to enlightenment.”

Understand this, please. To understand this is “immediate attainment of Buddhahood with the present body” or “opening the treasury of Buddha-Wisdom.” This is exactly how Devadatta, the Evil changed the Hell of Incessant Suffering into the Pure Land of Tranquil Light, and a daughter of the Dragon King became a Buddha in an instant. According to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, the evil can be turned to the just. This is solely attributable to the merit of one character “myō.”

Ueno-dono Goke-ama Go-henji, A Response to the Nun, Widow of Lord Ueno, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 50-52

QUESTION: Why is the Wonderful Dharma called the “three thousand existences contained in one thought”?

ANSWER: Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, after perceiving the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine, expounded many teachings such as the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra (consisting of ten fascicles); the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra (consisting of ten fascicles); the Samadhi of Bodhicitta; the Shōshi-kan (Introduction to Meditation); the Annotations on the Vimalakirti Sūtra; the Commentary on How to Eliminate Four Misconceptions of Body, Feeling, Mind, and Self; and the Annotations on the Doctrine of the Dhyānapāramitā; without explaining the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine. What he expounded were only the Ten Realms, the Hundred Realms, and the Thousand Aspects. However, there exists the Great Concentration and Insight, ten fascicles, which he expounded to a disciple, Grand Master Chang-an, in the summer of the fourth month when he was fifty-seven years old, at the Yü-ch’üan-ssŭ Temple in Ching-chou. What he wrote in the first four fascicles was only concerned with such doctrines as the Six Stages in the practice of the Lotus Sūtra and Buddhahood, the Four Kinds of Meditation, and not the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine. Beginning with the fifth fascicle, however, he discusses the Ten Objects Ten Stage Meditation, revealing the “three thousand existences contained in one thought” doctrine for the first time. Grand Master Miao-lê recommended this to people of the Latter Age of Degeneration, saying in his Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight, “Grand Master T’ien-t’ai’s doctrine of spiritual contemplation is based on the ‘three thousand existences contained in one thought’ doctrine. … Those who seek his teaching must not think that there is an ultimate doctrine of T’ien-t’ai’s except this.” The numerous doctrines expounded in the 60 fascicles and 3,000 pages of writings on the Lotus Sūtra as interpreted by T’ien-t’ai (three major writings of T’ien-t’ai, 10 fascicles each, and Miao-lé’s annotations on them, also 10 fascicles each) are not enough to perceive the true intent of Grand Master T’ien-t’ai. Instead, we should master just the first several lines (on the “3 ,000 existences contained in one thought” doctrine) in the fifth fascicle of the Great Concentration and Insight.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 89-90

When I was banished to Sado in the northern sea, people there, both priests and laity, hated me even more than did the men and women of Sagami Province. Abandoned in the wilderness and exposed to the snow, I survived by eating grass. I felt as though I were personally experiencing the sufferings of Su-wu, who survived by eating snow while living in captivity in the land of northern barbarians for nineteen years. Or of Li Ling, who was imprisoned in a rocky cave on the shore of the northern sea for six years. I suffered this ordeal not because of any fault of my own but solely because of my desire to save the country of Japan.

However, while I was exiled in Sado Province, you, my Lady Nun, and your husband, Lord Lay Priest, avoiding the watchful eyes of others, at times brought me food by night. At other times you were both ready to give your lives for my sake without fearing punishment from the provincial officials. Therefore, though life on Sado was harsh, I was loath to leave the island, feeling as if I was leaving my heart behind, and I seemed to be pulled back with each step I took.

I wonder what kind of karmic bond we had formed in the past. Just when I was thinking how mysterious it was, you sent your most precious husband as your messenger to this distant place. I thought it must have been a dream or an illusion. Even though I cannot see you, I am convinced that your heart remains here with me. Whenever you yearn for me, Nichiren, look toward the sun which rises in the morning and the moon which appears in the evening. I will inevitably be reflected in the sun and the moon. In the next life, let us meet in the Pure Land of Mt. Sacred Eagle. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Kō no Ama Gozen Gosho, A Letter to My lady, the Nun Kō, the Nun Myōichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 166-167

Fascicle nine of the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra says, “The beginner is afraid that getting drawn into the myriad activities that are supporting conditions will hinder their practice of right action. At this time, they should solely uphold this sūtra which is the best kind of offering. By dispensing with other matters in order to uphold the principle they will gain enormous benefit.”

This commentary says that the supporting conditions are the first five of the six bodhisattva practices. A beginner who tries to practice them as well will hinder his own right action of faith. For instance, if a small boat overloaded with treasure tries to cross the ocean, both the boat and the treasure will sink. The phrase “solely uphold this sūtra” does not even refer to the whole sūtra but only to upholding the daimoku, not any other passages. If even reading and writing the whole sūtra is not allowed, then still less (should a beginner attempt to practice) the first five bodhisattva practices.

The phrase, “dispensing with other matters in order to uphold the principle” means to give up the observation of the precepts and other matters and only practice the daimoku, which is the principle. “They will gain enormous benefit” means, conversely, that a beginner who tries to practice everything else and the daimoku at the same time will lose all the benefits of their practice.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 105