This daimoku chanting has not yet been spread in the world. For 2,225 years after the extinction of the Buddha no one has chanted this yet. I, Nichiren, alone have been chanting “Namu Myōhōrengekyō, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō without saving my voice.

As you know, the size of waves depends on the strength of the winds, the height of a fire depends on firewood, the size of lotus flowers depends on the size of the ponds, the quantity of rain depends upon dragons; the deeper the roots of a tree are, the wider its branches grow; and the farther away a river begins, the longer it flows. The Chou dynasty lasted seven hundred years because King Wen paid much attention to propriety and filial piety. Early destruction of the Ch’in dynasty was due to the tyranny of its First Emperor.

With Nichiren’s boundless compassion, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō” will be heard forever even beyond the ten thousand year-period. It has the merit of curing the “blindness” of all the people in Japan, blocking the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyō, T’ien-t’ai, Nāgārjuna, and Kāśyapa. Practice for a hundred years in the Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting the daimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the daimoku in a two thousand year-period following the death of the Buddha is not worth as much as spreading the daimoku for even a short while in the Latter Age of Degeneration. This is not from my wisdom; it is solely due to the time in which I live. In spring, flowers bloom; in autumn, fruits ripen; in summer, it is warm; and in winter, it is cold; they all go along with the laws of nature.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 58.

It can’t be helped if they do not know these things. However, I have been trying for the last 28 years to stop their delusion and tell them that Śākyamuni Buddha is our very master by citing a passage from the “Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “This triple world is My domain, in which all living beings are My children.” They not only refused to believe me but also shot an arrow at me, cut me, tried to kill me, exiled me and banished me. Therefore, the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman burned his shrine and went back to heaven. This is what I stated in my “Risshō-ankoku-ron (Treatise on Spreading Peace Throughout the Country by Establishing the True Dharma)” which I submitted to the shogunate.

Chimyō-bō Gohenji, A Reply to Chimyō-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 207

Only when the Lotus Sūtra is placed before the wooden or painted image of the Buddha with 31 marks of physical excellence, does the image become the Buddha of the pure Perfect Teaching. The Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva, therefore, speaks of the Buddha of the Lotus Sūtra, “The threefold body of the Buddha is produced from the Hōdō.” “Hōdō” in this sense does not mean the Hōdō period of preaching by the Buddha, but it means the Lotus Sūtra. The Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva also preaches, “This Mahāyāna sūtra is the eye of Buddhas; it enables them to obtain the five kinds of eyesight.”

Mokue Nizō Kaigen no Koto, Opening the Eyes of Buddhist Images, Wooden Statues or Portraits, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 91

The daimoku has two meanings: the daimoku which was practiced during the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma, and that which is practiced in the Latter Age of Degeneration. During the Age of the True Dharma, Bodhisattvas Vasubandhu and Nāgārjuna chanted the daimoku solely for the sake of their own practice. During the Age of the Semblance Dharma, Grand Masters Nanyüeh and T’ien-t’ai chanted only the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō; they, too, chanted it for their own practices, not to guide other people. Their daimoku was a practice for attaining enlightenment based on the teaching of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. The daimoku which I, Nichiren, recite today in the Latter Age of Degeneration is the daimoku of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, which, unlike that of the previous ages, is not merely the practice for personal enlightenment but it is the practice also for benefitting others. This five-character daimoku is not just a title of the Lotus Sūtra; it contains the five profound meanings of the name, entity, quality, function and teaching.

Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 289-290

India is called the country of the moon, where the Buddha appears shining in the world as brightly as the moon. Japan is called the origin of the sun. How can it be that no sage as bright as the sun appears in Japan? The moon moves from west to east. It is the omen of Buddhism in India spreading to the east. The sun orbits from east to west. This is a lucky omen of Buddhism in Japan returning to India. Moonlight is not as bright as sunlight, therefore the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra for only eight years of His lifetime. Sunlight is brighter than moonlight. This is an auspicious omen of Japanese Buddhism shining through the long darkness of the fifth 500-year period. The Buddha did not save slanderers of the Lotus Sūtra because there existed no slanderers during His lifetime. In the Latter Age of Degeneration, there will be many formidable enemies of the One Vehicle Lotus teaching everywhere. This is the time when we can reap the harvest of Never-Despising Bodhisattva’s aggressive propagation sowing the seed of Buddhahood. Each of my disciples should exert himself to spread the teaching of the Buddha even at the cost of life.

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 279-280

Although scholars in the world often say that the Buddha preached according to the intelligence and faith of the audience, actually it is not so according to the Buddha. If great dharmas are to be preached for those with superior intelligence and faith, why is it that the Lotus Sūtra was not preached upon attainment of Buddhahood by Śākyamuni? Mahāyāna sūtras should have been spread during the first half (500 years) of the Age of the True Dharma. If great dharmas are to be preached for close relations, the Buddha should have preached the Lotus Sūtra instead of such quasi-Mahāyāna sūtras as the Meditation on the Buddha Sūtra and the Māyā Sūtra to his father, King Suddhodana, and mother, Queen Māyā. If secret teachings are not to be revealed to those evil people without close relation to and slanderers of the True Dharma, Monk Virtue Consciousness should not have preached the Nirvana Sūtra to those numerous violators of the precepts of the Buddha. Or, why did Bodhisattva Never-Despising preach the Lotus Sūtra to slanderers of the True Dharma? Therefore, I think it a great mistake to say that dharmas are preached taking the intelligence and faith of the audience into consideration.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 208

The honzon (most venerable one) established in the 16th chapter of the Lotus Sūtra is Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, who has been closely tied with us in this Sahā World by the bond of cause and effect ever since attaining Buddhahood “500 (million) dust-particle kalpa” ago, and who is equipped with the eternal three bodies (Dharma, Reward, Accommodative Bodies) of the Buddha. “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter refers to this as “the Buddha’s secret lore and divine powers,” which were explained by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “It is mysterious (pi) of one body being identical to a triple-body and confidential (mi) of a triple-body being identical to one body. It is mysterious because it has never been explained, and confidential because only the Buddha knew it. The Buddha has always been equipped with the three bodies attained in the eternal past throughout the past, present and future, but He has kept it confidential without ever revealing it in other sūtras. ”

Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 289