Regarding the observance of Buddhist precepts, we must consider the differences between the Age of the True Dharma, the Age of the Semblance Dharma and the Latter Age of Degeneration as well as between the persuasive and aggressive means of propagation. Grand Master Dengyō states in his Treatise on the Light for the Latter Age of Degeneration that one who keeps the precepts in the Latter Age of Degeneration is as rare as a tiger without a leash in a market place. We should take all these into account in practicing meditation while observing Buddhist precepts.

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 279

The Lotus Sūtra does not expound anything extraordinary. The sūtra preaches that Śākyamuni Buddha had attained Buddhahood already 500 (million) dust particle kalpa in the past and that even the Two Vehicles such as Śāriputra, who are considered incapable of becoming Buddhas, will inevitably attain Buddhahood in the future. Therefore, those who do not believe in these two doctrines will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering. It is not I alone who say this. The Buddha of Many Treasures and numerous Buddhas in manifestation from all over the universe verified this. Numerous bodhisattvas emerged from the earth, direct disciples of the Original and True Buddha, as well as Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara, King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, ten female rākṣasa demons, and others promised to protect the Lotus Sūtra. As such there is no other way leading to Buddhahood. It is the Lotus Sūtra that explains the past and future with precision and upholding this sūtra is the way to attain Buddhahood.

Seichōji Daishū-chū, A Letter to the People of the Seichōji Temple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 177

QUESTION: Is not it in accordance with the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra that preaches the “opening the provisional and merging with the true teaching” that we have faith in various provisional sūtras and Buddhas? And what about putting our faith exclusively in the Lotus Sūtra, performing the five ways of practicing it – upholding, reading, reciting, expounding, and copying – in an inoffensive way as preached in the “Peaceful Practice,” fourteenth chapter of the Lotus Sūtra? Can we call such a person a true practicer of Buddhism?

ANSWER: All those who want to practice Buddhism should know that there are two ways of propagation, the persuasive (shōju) and aggressive (shakubuku). All Buddhist scriptures, sūtras and commentaries, must be propagated through these two ways. However, scholars in Japan today, though they seem to have learned Buddhism in general, do not know how to meet the needs of the time. The four seasons differ from one another. It is warm in summer and cold in winter; flowers bloom in spring and trees bear fruits and nuts in autumn. We sow seeds in spring and harvest crops in autumn. How can we harvest crops in spring by planting seeds in the fall? Heavy clothes are for the cold winter, not the hot summer. A cool breeze is needed in the summer not in the winter.

The same could be said of Buddhism. There are times when Hinayāna teachings can be spread effectively, and times when provisional Mahāyāna teachings might be more effective. Still other times might call for the True Dharma to be disseminated for the attainment of Buddhahood. The 2,000-year period following the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, namely the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma, is the time for the Hinayāna and provisional Mahāyāna teachings to be spread. The 500-year period at the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration is the time exclusively for the pure, perfect, only real teaching of the Lotus Sūtra to be disseminated.

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 85

[T]he king of devils in the Sixth Heaven is bound to interfere with the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra. This is explained as the delusion of devils among the ten objects of meditation listed by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Great Concentration and Insight. Devils delight in obstructing the virtuous and helping spread evil. Unable to force virtuous people to do evil, however, devils cannot help but let them do meritorious deeds. Or, they will encourage those who practice the teachings for “Two Vehicles” (men of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), such as doctrines of the “four noble truths” and the “twelve links of cause and effect,” to switch to less meritorious practices like the “five precepts” and “ten good acts.” Bodhisattvas practicing the “six pāramitā ways leading to Buddhahood” may be encouraged to downgrade to Two Vehicle teachings. Finally, those who single-heartedly practice the purely perfect teachings of the Lotus Sūtra are induced to downgrade the practice to such as the “distinctive teaching.” This is explained in detail in the Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 8, so you had better consult it.

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 278-279

The last of the eight major hells, the Great Avīci Hell, is also called the Hell of Incessant Suffering because sinners in this hell suffer interminable pain. It is located at the bottom of the realm of desire, beneath the Hell of Great Burning Heat. The length and breadth of the hell are 80,000 yojana each, and is surrounded by sevenfold iron castles. The extreme torment of this hell is beyond description except that it is 1,000 times as harsh as the sufferings of the seven major hells mentioned above or all the sufferings anywhere combined. The suffering is such that to sinners in this hell those sinners suffering in the Hell of Great Burning Heat appear as though they were heavenly beings playing in the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven. The stench from this hell would kill off all the heavenly and human beings on the four continents and six heavens in the realm of desire who smelled it. Only because two mountains called Shussen and Mossen block the stench of this hell from reaching the human world can human beings stay alive. If the Buddha were to preach on the torments of this hell in detail, humans listening to Him would die of agony, vomiting blood. This probably explains why the Buddha did not preach on this in detail.

The life span of sinners in this hell is one medium kalpa. Suppose the length of time equivalent to the period during which a man’s life span decreases by one in 100 years from infinite to ten years, and then increases from 10 to 80,000 at the same rate. The time required for this decrease and increase is called a small kalpa, twenty of which constitute a medium kalpa. Those who fall into this Hell of Incessant Suffering are subjected to the great torment of this worst hell for this long period of time.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 111-112.

The late Shichirō Gorō is different from these people in Japan today. He obeyed his father from childhood and chanted “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” before the age of twenty. I am sure he must have attained Buddhahood because it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra: “All those who listen to the Lotus Sūtra will never fail to become a Buddha.” If you really love your son, you should chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” and pray so that you, your husband, the late Lord Nanjō, and your son, the late Gorō, will be reborn in the same place. One seed will be the same one-seed all the way; a different seed will be a different seed all the way. If you plant the same seed of the Lotus Sūtra in your heart, you will be reborn in the same land of the Lotus Sūtra as your husband and son. When you three meet again face to face, how happy you will be!

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 180

Lord Śākyamuni declared that those who speak ill of and abuse a propagator of the Lotus Sūtra in the latter-day period of the evil world would be many hundreds of thousands of billions times more sinful than those who harm Him (the Buddha) for as long as a kalpa. Nevertheless, the sovereign of Japan and his people persistently harbor enmity against such a propagator more than against their parents’ enemies and their enemies from previous lives or revile him more than they do traitors and murderers. Yet the earth does not split open to swallow them or thunder does not shatter them into bits. I wonder why?

Is it because I, Nichiren, am not a true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? If so, it is regrettable indeed. How sad it is for me to be accused by everyone without time for rest in this life and fall in evil realms in the next life! Also, if I, Nichiren, am not a true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, who is the upholder of the One Vehicle teaching, the Lotus Sūtra? Is Hōnen, who advised people to discard the Lotus Sūtra in his Collection of Passages on the Nembutsu; Shan-tao, who said in the Praise of Rebirth in the Pure Land that not even one out of 1,000 people can attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra; or Tao-ch’o, who declared in the Collection of Passages Concerning Rebirth in the Pure Land that no one attains Buddhahood by means of the Lotus Sūtra, the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? Or, is Grand Master Kōbō, who stated in his Treatise on the Ten Stages of Mind that practicing the Lotus Sūtra was merely a joke, the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra?

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 206

You should always keep in mind that in considering the comparative superiority and profundity between the Lotus Sūtra and pre-Lotus sūtras, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai established three distinctions between the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sūtra and the provisional teachings in pre-Lotus sūtras. Of the three, what I, Nichiren, expound is the third doctrine regarding the question of whether or not the relationships between the Lord Buddha and His disciples are eternal.

Some scholars in China and Japan, beginning with Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, preached the first and second doctrines regarding the capacity of listeners and completeness in the Buddha’s guidance as vaguely as a dream. Nobody, however, has ever preached the third doctrine. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai explained the differences among the three in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, and Grand Master Miao-lê stated in his Commentary on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra that the first two were doctrines of the theoretical section while the third doctrine was of the essential section. Grand Master Dengyō held almost the same opinion. None of them, however, insisted on centering on the third doctrine. After all they wanted to give us the merit of doing it in the Latter Age of Degeneration. It is stated in the 23rd chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, in the “Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva”: “The teaching of the Lotus Sūtra will be spread widely in the fifth 500-year period (beginning of the Latter Age).” It must have foretold the revelation of this doctrine today in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 278

The moon does not reflect on dirty water, and birds do not build nests in dead trees. Likewise, Śākyamuni Buddha does not reside in the body of a woman without faith. However, a woman who believes in the Lotus Sūtra is like a body of pure water. The moon, Śākyamuni Buddha, reflects upon it.

To put it figuratively, a woman can’t feel her pregnancy in the beginning, but after a while she begins to suspect it until she knows for sure that she is pregnant. An attentive woman can even tell whether she has conceived a boy or a girl.

The same could be said about the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra. If we believe in the merit of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” Śākyamuni Buddha will be conceived in our hearts before we know it, just as a woman is pregnant before she knows it. We can’t feel it in the beginning, but as the months pass we begin dreaming of the Buddha residing in our hearts, until we feel happiness within us. There are many doctrines, but I will stop talking about them for now.

Matsuno-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord Matsuno, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 242-244