[W]hat karma made you put faith in the Lotus Sūtra? As your late son had faith in the Lotus Sūtra, is it at his urging that you became a follower of the Lotus Sūtra? Due to the great merit of having faith in this sūtra, I have no doubt that you will meet your son upon visiting the Pure Land of Mt. Sacred Eagle.

In the past a calligrapher named Wu-lung in China fell into hell for slandering the Lotus Sūtra, but he became a Buddha when his son Yi-lung copied the sūtra, offering its merits to his late father. Also, King Wonderful Adornment was an evil ruler, but was led by his two sons, Pure Store and Pure Eyes, in practicing the Lotus Sūtra becoming the Śāla Tree King Buddha. These are some examples in which parents attained the status of Buddhas through their children’s faith in the Lotus Sūtra.

This is especially true with a mother and her children. The reason why it is so is that children’s flesh is mother’s flesh. A mother’s bones are the same as her child’s bones. It is said that when a pine tree grows thick, an oak tree is delighted. When a turf grass dies, an orchid cries. Even among plants, which do not possess minds, joy and sorrow are shared between them. How much more so between a mother and her child! A mother gives birth to her child after nurturing the baby in her womb for nine months and raises her child for years after that. It is only natural for a mother to hope that at death her own children will carry her coffin and bury her. How does a mother feel if her children precede her in death? What can she do with the shame of seeing her child’s funeral and the anxiety about her future life?

Buddhist sūtras cite such tales as a mother pheasant which refused to escape a brush fire and kept on sitting on her eggs till she was burnt to death and a poor woman who refused to take her hands off her baby while swept away by a swift current of the Ganges River. The pheasant then is Bodhisattva Maitreya today, while the woman who was drowned in the Ganges was reborn as the King of the Mahābrahman Heaven, not to speak of yourself who has become Kōnichi Shōnin (Rev. Kōnichi), a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, due to your deep love for your son. I am sure that you and your son together will visit the Pure Land of Mt. Sacred Eagle. How happy for you two to see each other there! How delightful for you both!

Kōnichi Shōnin Gohenji, A Reply to Rev. Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 155-156

With gratitude I have received one koku of soybeans and respectfully made a report of this at the altar of the Lotus Sūtra. It is said that a drop of water thrown into an ocean will never be lost even when the three calamities strike and a single flower offered to the Heaven of Pure Inhabitants (Jōgo-ten) will not wither even in the “kalpa-fire” at the end of the world. Likewise, a grain of soybean offered to the Lotus Sūtra will become lotus flowers beautifying the entire Dharma-realm.

Daizu Gosho, A Letter on Soybeans, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 173

It is a blessing that not only the Four Heavenly Kings of this world but also the Four Heavenly Kings, stars, the sun, the moon, Indra and the King of the Brahma Heaven of all the worlds protect us. Moreover, all of the Hinayāna sages called Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha), all bodhisattvas, Bodhisattva Maitreya in the Inner Palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, Bodhisattva Kisitigarbha of Mt. Kharādiya, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva of Mt. Potalaka and Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva of Mt. Ch’ing-liang, together with their respective groups of followers, would all protect us, believers in the Lotus Sūtra. It is the greatest blessing beyond expression that Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddha from all over the universe themselves come to protect us day and night.

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

It is just as how the rays of various stars will be lost before the sun; pieces of iron will be drawn by a magnet; a great sword will be useless when heated by a small fire; milk of cows or donkeys will be like water when compared with milk of the queen of lions; foxes will lose their magic power when they see a dog; and how seeing a small tiger, dogs change their color.

Chanting “Namu Myōhōrengekyō” swallows up the functions of “Namu Amidabutsu (Buddha of Infinite Life),” “Namu Dainichi shingon (Great Sun Buddha’s mantras),” and “Namu Kanzeon bosatsu (Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva)” as well as of all the Buddhas, sūtras, and bodhisattvas. All these will be of no use without the functions of the Lotus Sūtra. This can be seen by everyone, for it has been realized in front of everyone. I, Nichiren, recite “Namu Myōhōrengekyō,” the function of “Namu Amidabutsu (Buddha of Infinite Life)” disappears just as the moon wanes, the tide ebbs, grasses in autumn and winter wither and ice melts under the sun.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 53.

QUESTION: Why is the Lotus Sūtra difficult to believe and understand while other sūtras are easy to believe and understand?

ANSWER: Various sūtras other than the Lotus are easy to believe and understand because Śākyamuni preached them to suit the capacity of the people to understand without revealing His true intention. On the other hand, in the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni directly revealed His state of mind without compromising with people’s ability for comprehension. Clearly it is the true teaching, which is not easily understood and believed by ordinary people.

Shokyō to Hokekyō to Nan’I no Koto, The Difficulty and Easiness in Understanding the Lotus Sūtra and Other Sūtras, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 282

The character myō of the Myōhō Renge Kyō (Lotus Sūtra), contains two meanings. First it is called the relative subtlety (sōdai-myō), which means that compared to all other sūtras the Lotus Sūtra is superior. In the second place, it is called the absolute subtlety (zettai-myō). It means that it opens all other sūtras and merges them into the Lotus Sūtra. Sūtras preached before and after the Lotus Sūtra preach in part to explain the relative subtlety but not at all the absolute subtlety. Nevertheless, Buddhist masters based on various sūtras other than the Lotus Sūtra insist that both the relative and absolute subtleties are preached in their sūtras by “stealing” the wisdom of T’ien-t’ai. This is like governing the country while staying in a private house. Even if they insist on the existence of the absolute subtlety, they have only the relative subtlety. Let alone with those who attach themselves solely to either the provisional or true teachings without understanding the doctrine of provisional teachings are in themselves the true teaching!

Jissōji Gosho, A Letter to Buzen-kō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 187

It is said in the Nirvana Sūtra: “Arm yourself with swords, sticks, and bow and arrow when there are enemies of the True Dharma; it is no use having them when there are no enemies.” Provisional teachings today are enemies of the True Dharma. If provisional teachings stand in your way as you try to spread the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, you should thoroughly refute them. Of the two ways of propagation, this is the aggressive way of the Lotus Sūtra. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai declares in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 9: “The Lotus Sūtra is the teaching that aggressively denounces the evil of provisional teachings.” How true this is!

In spite of this, suppose we perform the four peaceful practices today with the body, mouth, mind, and vows as preached in the “Peaceful Practices” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra. Is it not like trying to harvest crops in spring by planting seeds in winter? Roosters crow at dawn; if they crow in the evening, they are ghosts. At the time when true and provisional teachings are confused, are not those who seclude themselves in mountain forests and practice the persuasive way, without attacking the enemies of the Lotus Sūtra, ghosts who have missed the time for practicing the Lotus Sūtra? Then is there anyone today, in the Latter Age of Degeneration, who is practicing the aggressive way as it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra? Suppose someone cried out loudly without regard to his voice: “No sūtras except the Lotus is the way leading to Buddhahood; others are the way to hell; the Lotus Sūtra alone is the way leading to Buddhahood.” Anyone who proclaims these words and challenges the schools of Buddhism, both their teachings and people, will without fail encounter the three kinds of powerful enemies.

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 86

QUESTION: Is there any other sin besides the five rebellious sins that causes us to fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering?

ANSWER: Yes, there is. The grave sin of slandering the True Dharma.

QUESTION: Is there any scriptural proof for this?

ANSWER: The Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 2 (chapter 3 on “A Parable”), preaches, “Those who do not believe in this sūtra but slander it, … will fall into the Avīci Hell when their present lives end.” It is clearly stated in this sūtra that committing the grave sin of slandering the True Dharma is the cause of falling into the Avīci Hell.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 113.

QUESTION: It is preached in the tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma, of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, that the Lotus Sūtra is “difficult to believe and understand.” What does it mean?

ANSWER: It has been more than 2,000 years since the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra. Having existed in India 1,200 years or so and about 200 years in China, the Lotus Sūtra was transmitted to Japan more than 700 years ago. During these years after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, no one, except three, has ever truly read this phrase in the Lotus Sūtra. They are Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō. First of all Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna in India declared in his Great Wisdom Discourse: “The teaching of the Lotus Sūtra enabled the men of Two Vehicles, śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, who had been considered as having no chance of attaining Buddhahood, to attain Buddhahood. It is like a great physician who knows how to use poisons as medicine. Indeed, this shows that Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna truly read and clarified the meaning of the four-character phrase of being “difficult to believe and understand.”

In China, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, the wisest, explains this phrase in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra: “Of all sūtras which had been preached, are now being preached and will be preached in the future, the Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to believe and comprehend.”

Grand Master Dengyō of Japan further expounds this in his Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra: “Sūtras that were preached during the four (pre-Lotus) periods of Śākyamuni’s lifetime preaching, the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, which is now being preached, as well as the Nirvana Sūtra, which will be preached, are easy to believe and understand. It is because they are preached with expedient means according to people’s capacity to understand. On the contrary, the Lotus Sūtra is the most difficult to believe and comprehend because it is the true teaching preached according to the Buddha’s own mind, directly revealing the Buddha’s enlightenment.”

Shokyō to Hokekyō to Nan’I no Koto, The Difficulty and Easiness in Understanding the Lotus Sūtra and Other Sūtras, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 281-282

It is the law of this world that lighter things float to the top and things that are heavy sink to the bottom. For instance, the earth stays below and the water covers it because water is lighter than the earth. Fire stays above water because fire is lighter than water. The wind stays above fire because wind is lighter than fire. The sky exists above wind because it is lighter than wind.

Human beings also consist of these four great elements (earth, water, fire, and wind). When an evil person dies, the wind and fire elements leave the corpse, leaving the water and earth elements behind. The person thus becomes heavy, and the body falls into hell. In the case of a virtuous person, the heavy water and earth elements disappear first, leaving the light elements of fire and wind. The body of such a person thus becomes light, shows the countenance of rebirth in the human or heavenly realm.

Kōnichi Shōnin Gohenji, A Reply to Rev. Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 153-154