QUESTION: Is there any difference between those who chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” (I put my faith in the Lotus Sūtra) and those who chant “Namu Daihōkōbutsu Kegongyō” (I put my faith in the Flower Garland Sūtra) without knowing the spirit of those sūtras? Is there any difference in merit between them?

ANSWER: There is a difference. A small river can take in water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks, but not from large rivers. A large river can take in water from dew and smaller rivers but not from an ocean. The Āgama sūtras are like a small river which can receive water from dew, drops of water, wells, and creeks. The Hōdō sūtras, the Amitābha Sūtra, the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra, and the Flower Garland Sūtra are like a large river, which can take in water from smaller rivers. The Lotus Sūtra is like an ocean, which can receive all kinds of water such as dew, drops of water, wells, creeks, small rivers, large rivers, and rain.

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

The Lotus Sūtra Wisdom of Insight Manual by Tripiṭaka Master Amoghavajra is based on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter [of the Lotus Sūtra], and it regards Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures of the Lotus Sūtra as the honzon, but this idea is not the true intention of the Lotus Sūtra. The daimoku (sacred title) of the Lotus Sūtra is the honzon of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddhas of the worlds throughout the universe. This daimoku should be the honzon for the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra.

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 260

There are two ways of meditating on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought.” One is the “theoretical” way, and the other is the “actual” way. Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō practiced the former. I, Nichiren, now practice the latter. As my method of practicing meditation is superior, difficulties befalling me are harder to bear. What T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō propagated was based on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought” expounded in the theoretical section [of the Lotus Sūtra], while what I, Nichiren, propagate is based on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought” in the essential section. The difference between the two is as great as the difference between heaven and earth. Remember this especially at the time of the last moment of life. Have an unwavering faith in the Lotus Sūtra and continue chanting the daimoku, which is the right way of meditation based on the “actual” doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought. ”

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Chibyō-shō, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Toki: Treatise on Healing Sickness, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 257

Appearing in this world, Śākyamuni Buddha preached many teachings during His lifetime. The Buddha classified His own teachings preached during 50 years into different type of doctrines: shallow and profound, inferior and superior, and expedient and true. He thus preached that the truth was not revealed in the sūtras expounded in the 40 years or so before the Lotus Sūtra was preached, and that the Lotus Sūtra is the supreme and true teaching of all the sūtras expounded in the past, present, and future existences. Moreover, the Buddha of Many Treasures and various Buddhas throughout the universe attested this to be true.

Jōren-bō Gosho, A Letter to Jōren-bō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 172

As I contemplate the matter, it is clearly stated in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra that those who uphold this sūtra during the Latter Age of Degeneration would suffer from hatred and jealousy even more severe than those who upheld the sūtra during the lifetime of the Buddha.

The reason is that during the lifetime of the Buddha the preacher was the Lord Buddha, and His disciples were such superior beings as great bodhisattvas and arhats. The Buddha’s disciples also included humans, gods, the four categories of Buddhists (monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen), the eight kinds of gods and demi-gods who protect Buddhism, and non-humans. However, the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra for them only after spending forty years or so cultivating and nurturing their ability to understand and have faith in it. Even so, He encountered much hatred and jealousy. How much more hatred and jealousy should there be in this Latter Age of Degeneration, when the True Dharma is lost and the people quarrel and fight constantly!

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 81-82

QUESTION: As ordinary people who live in the evil latter days, what should we define as the honzon?

ANSWER: We should regard the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra as the honzon.

QUESTION: According to which sūtra passages or which learned monk’s interpretation?

ANSWER: The “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4, says: “Medicine King! Erect a Stupa of the seven treasures in any place where this sūtra is expounded, read, recited or copied, or in any place where a copy of this sūtra exists! The Stupa should be tall, spacious and adorned. You need not enshrine My relics (śarīras) in the stupa. Why not? It is because this sūtra contains My perfect body.” In the “Nature of the Buddha” chapter of fascicle four of the Nirvana Sūtra it is said: “Kāśyapa. Each Buddha regards the Dharma as master. For that reason the Buddha reveres and makes offerings to the Dharma. Because the Dharma is eternal, each Buddha is also eternal.” Grand Master T’ien t’ai declares in his Lotus Meditation Repentance: “Make a raised seat in the training hall and place the Lotus Sūtra there. There is no need to place a statue of the Buddha or a relic or other sūtras. Only the Lotus Sūtra is needed.”

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 259

There are two general categories of illness that afflict human beings. The first is the sickness of the body. The four great elements of the body: the earth, water, fire, and wind each has 101 kinds of sickness reaching 404 altogether. These physical illnesses can be cured by medicine prepared by great doctors such as Ch’ih Shui, Liu Shui, Jīvaka, and Pien Ch’üeh. The second kind of sickness is mental sickness, namely the 84,000 evil passions arising from the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance. These sicknesses of mind can only be cured by the Buddha. Even the divine powers of the two heavenly beings and three hermits of Brahmanism in India cannot cure it, and certainly not the powers of Shen Nung and Yellow Emperor of Confucianism.

Nakatsukasa Saemonnojō-dono Gohenji, A Reply to Lord Nakatsukasa Saemonnojō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 145-146

The worst of the evil will return not only to the one who committed the sin but also to his children, grandchildren and everyone on down to seven generations. The same is true to the most virtuous of the virtuous.

The great virtue of Venerable Maudgalyāyana having faith in the Lotus Sūtra not only made himself a Buddha but also his parents Buddhas. Moreover, all the parents in seven generations above and below, and all the parents in the limitless generations above and below became Buddhas unexpectedly. In addition, sons, husbands and wives, their retainers, devotees, and an incalculable number of people all were emancipated from the three evil realms. Not only that, they all entered the rank of shoji and eventually attained Buddhahood. Therefore, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 3 (“Parable of a Magic City” chapter), “May this merit be spread over all living beings so that we and all others may attain Buddhahood together.”

Urabon Gosho, On theUllambana Service, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 175

Looking at things from this angle, is there any doubt about the spread of the Lotus Sūtra, the true teaching of the Buddha, all over Japan and the world following the period of the disappearance of the True Dharma predicted in the Sūtra of the Great Assembly? The Sūtra of the Great Assembly was preached by the Buddha, but it is a quasi-Mahāyāna sūtra. It does not show the true way to cut the chain of life and death and attain Buddhahood. Therefore, we cannot claim it to be the true sūtra for those who have not heard the Lotus Sūtra. Nevertheless, does not the sūtra seem exactly like the Lotus Sūtra in describing the transmigration of beings born in the four modes of birth in the six base realms throughout the lives in the past, present, and future?

Moreover, it was in reference to the Lotus Sūtra that Śākyamuni Buddha declared in the second chapter on “Expedients,” “He would reveal His true intention,” and that the Buddha of Many Treasures attested it to be all true, and all the Buddhas throughout the universe declared it to be true by reaching the Brahma Heaven with their long, wide tongues. His never-lying tongue touching the highest heaven in the realm of form, Śākyamuni Buddha again declared to the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the Four Heavenly Kings, and dragon gods: “In the fifth 500-year period, when all the teachings of the Buddha are about to disappear, Bodhisattva Superior Practice will be entrusted with the five ideograms of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō (Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma) as the cure for those slanderers and non-believers of Buddhism who suffer from white leprosy.” How could these words of the Buddha be false? Even if the earth turned upside down, high mountains crumbled, summer did not follow spring, the sun set in the east, and the moon fell on the earth, there would be no mistake about this.

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 204-205