It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 8 (chapter 28): “If someone will uphold, read, and recite this sūtra in the future, his wishes will be fulfilled, and he will receive a happy reward in his present life.” It is said also: “If someone reveres and praises the Lotus Sūtra, he will receive a real reward in his present life.” Regarding these two passages, the eight characters meaning “he will receive a happy reward in his present life” and another eight characters meaning “he will receive a real reward in this life;” if these sixteen characters are not realized and I, Nichiren, do not receive a great reward in this life; the golden worlds of the Buddha would be as worthless as the empty words of Devadatta, and the testimony of the Buddha of Many Treasures would be no different from the lies of Kokālika, the disciple of Devadatta. All the people who slander the Lotus Sūtra would not fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and there would be no Buddhas throughout life in the past, present and future. Therefore, I urge you, my disciples, to practice Buddhism as preached in the Lotus Sūtra without sparing your life and put Buddhism to proof once for all. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō!”

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 249

The fifth hell is that of the Hell of Great Wailing located beneath the Hell of Wailing and is the same size. The torment in this hell is ten times more severe than that in the above mentioned four hells (Hell of Regeneration, Hell of Black Ropes, Hell of Crushing, Hell of Wailing).

Suppose 800 years in the human world equals to one day in the Creating Enjoyment Heaven, the fifth heaven in the realm of desire, where inhabitants live for 8,000 years. Suppose one day in this hell corresponds to 8,000 years in the Creating Enjoyment Heaven, those sinners who fall to the Hell of Great Wailing have to suffer for as long as 8,000 years.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 109.

According to the judgment of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddhas all over the universe, “the Lotus Sūtra is the best of all the Buddhist scriptures which have been preached, are being preached or will be preached.”

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 262

The Lotus Sūtra is incomparable to any other sūtras preached by Śākyamuni Buddha during His lifetime. As stated in it, it is the sūtra understood only by Buddhas. This means that all those between the bodhisattva of the highest stage and the unenlightened are unable to understand it. Therefore, it is stated in the Great Wisdom Discourse attributed to Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna of India: “Those below Buddhas can attain Buddhahood only through faith.”

Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 178

[T]hose who have a fever can cool off lying beside a great body of cold water, but they will only continue to suffer if they lie by the side of a small body of water. Likewise, those who suffer from the five rebellious sins and sins of slandering the True Dharma and those who have no faith in Buddhism cannot cool the fever of their grave sins by lying beside a small body of water, that is, such sūtras as the Āgama sūtras, the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life, and the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra. If they lie on the large snow-covered mountain of the Lotus Sūtra, they can definitely cool even the fever of five rebellious sins and sins of slandering the True Dharma, and those of having no faith in Buddhism.

Therefore, the fool must necessarily believe in the Lotus Sūtra. It may be easy to chant titles of any sūtras. Still the difference in merit of chanting by the fool and the wise is as great as between heaven and earth. For instance, a thick rope cannot be cut even by a man of great power, but it can be easily cut even by a powerless man with a small sword. Or, a hard rock cannot be broken even by a powerful man with the blunt sword, but it can be easily broken even by a powerless man with a sharp sword. A medicine can cure sickness without the patients’ knowing its contents, but ordinary food cannot cure sickness. A secret medicine can extend the life of a dying person, but common medicine cannot do it, though it may heal sickness.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 50-51.

They say that it is the duty of retainers to widen the mind of the lord, and it is the duty of children to save the parents from suffering. Therefore, Venerable Maudgalyāyana saved his mother from torment in the realm of hungry spirits, and the two brothers of Princes Pure Store and Pure Eyes corrected the false view of their father, King Wonderful Adornment. Parents’ bodies as they stand become children’s bodies. Therefore, the merit of your upholding the Lotus Sūtra immediately becomes the merit of your father. Devadatta fell into the Avīci Hell but the Buddha granted him the certificate of future Buddhahood as Heavenly King Buddha. It was because Devadatta and the Buddha were members of the same clan. How much more so with you and your father. How can it be possible the merit of upholding the Lotus Sūtra by you not become the merit of the spirit of your late father?

Jōren-bō Gosho, A Letter to Jōren-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 173

Each of my disciples and followers, therefore, should expect, upon listening to the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra, to meet persecutions by these three kinds of enemies in the Latter Age of Degeneration after the lifetime of the Buddha. Nevertheless, some disciples of mine, who had listened to the preaching of this sūtra, were taken aback and gave up their faith in alarm upon encountering persecutions, whether major or minor. Is this not what I have told you? Is this not what I taught you day and night by citing a passage from the Lotus Sūtra: “Those who propagated the Lotus Sūtra were persecuted even during the lifetime of the Buddha. How much more they would be after the death of the Buddha!”? You should not be alarmed at seeing me or hearing about my being chased out of my house, wounded, and twice sentenced to banishment to remote provinces.

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 82

The fourth hell is called the Hell of Wailing, located beneath the Hell of Crushing. The size of this hell is the same as the Hell of Crushing. Hell guards shout in a dreadful voice, shooting arrows at sinners. They also strike sinners’ heads with iron bars, forcing them to run on the hot iron ground or burn them in a hot iron toaster, turning them over many times. Or they forcibly pour boiling copper fluid into the mouths of sinners so that the burned intestines drip down instantaneously.

Regarding the life span of the sinners in this Hell of Wailing, one day in the human world corresponds to 400 years in the Tuṣita Heaven, the fourth heaven in the realm of desire, where dwellers live as long as 4,000 years. Suppose 4,000 years in this Tuṣita Heaven are equal to one day in the Hell of Wailing, sinners in this hell have to suffer as long as 4,000 years.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 108.

Considering the fact that all of the other schools regard the Buddha as the honzon, the reason why the Tendai school alone regards the Lotus Sūtra as the honzon must be very significant.

QUESTION: What is that significant reason? Also, which is superior, the Buddha or the sūtra?

ANSWER: The honzon is always that which is the ultimate concern. For instance, Confucius regards the Three Emperors and the Five Sovereigns as the Most Venerable (honzon). As Buddhists, we should regard Śākyamuni Buddha as the honzon.

QUESTION: If so, why do you regard the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra and not Śākyamuni Buddha as the honzon?

ANSWER: As we see from the sūtra citations and their interpretations quoted above, even Śākyamuni Buddha and Grand Master T’ien-t’ai regarded the Lotus Sūtra as the honzon. This is not my own biased view. That’s why I, Nichiren, though I live in the age of the last Dharma, regard the Lotus Sūtra as the honzon, just like Śākyamuni Buddha and Grand Master T’ien-t’ai did. This is because the Lotus Sūtra is both father and mother to Śākyamuni Buddha and it is also the true intention of all Buddhas. Śākyamuni Buddha and the Great Sun Buddha and each and every Buddha in the worlds throughout the universe are all born from the Lotus Sūtra. This is why we regard the Lotus Sūtra, viewed as the father and mother of all Buddhas, as the honzon.

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 261

We were born from the fluids of our parents. As we emerged from the carnal desire at the root of the three poisons (greed, anger, and ignorance), how can the Buddha dwell within our polluted bodies? Nevertheless, as we reconsider the matter, this is plausible. The pure flowers of the lotus bloom in a swamp. Sandalwood is a fragrant tree, but it grows in the soil. The cherry blossoms adorn the trees in the spring, but they bloom on trees that are nondescript. Yang Kuei-fei, a rare beauty, was born of a woman of low status. Likewise, many things which are inferior in quality sometimes produce things superior to themselves.

Generally speaking, however, the moon rising over a mountain shines on the mountain, evil words spewed through the mouth destroys a person’s body, and the virtuous acts of a person generated by the heart bring happiness. Likewise, in everything the result returns to the source of its cause. Now your earnest desire of making a donation to the Lotus Sūtra at the beginning of the first month of the year will bring you good fortune just as the cherry blossoms bloom on trees that are plain, the flowers of the lotus open in a muddy pond, sandalwood trees on the Himalaya Mountains grow in the snow, and the moon begins to arise over a mountain.

Omonsu-dono Nyōbō Gohenji, A Reply to the Wife of the Lord of Omonsu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 110