There is a land called China that lies across the ocean southwest from here. In that country some people believe in the Buddha without adopting a god. Others believe in a god without adopting the Buddha. I suppose that Japan was similar in its early history. Now there lived a calligrapher whose name was Wu-lung in China. He was the foremost expert in this field, and as famous as Ono no Tōfū and Fujiwara Yukinari of Japan. Wu-lung disliked Buddhism and swore that he would never copy the passages of a Buddhist scripture. When he was taken ill and was near the end, he expressed his last wishes to his son: “You are my successor and superior in ability to me. Whatever happens, you must never copy the Lotus Sūtra.” Immediately he began to bleed from his five sense-organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and the whole body) as if he were spurting water. His tongue split in eight parts and his body was broken to pieces. But not knowing the three evil realms of the Buddhist sūtras, none of the relatives present recognized this as a sign of going to hell.

Yi-lung, Wu-lung’s son, also became the foremost calligrapher in China. According to his father’s will, he made a vow never to copy the Lotus Sūtra. A certain Ssu-ma, who was the supreme ruler of China at the time, believed in Buddhism very deeply, especially in the Lotus Sūtra. He wanted to have the best calligrapher transcribe the Lotus Sūtra so that he could have his own personal copy. He summoned Yi-lung. Yi-lung said to the ruler, “Please pardon me for disobeying your order but I must abide by my father’s will.” Because it was his father’s wish, Lord Ssu-ma had another calligrapher instead copy the Lotus Sūtra. But dissatisfied with the work, he summoned Yi-lung again and told him,”I won’t compel you to copy the Lotus Sūtra because you insisted that it was your father’s will that you do not, but you must obey my order to copy the titles of the eight scrolls.” Yi-lung repeatedly refused to do this, which angered Lord Ssu-ma, who said, “Your father was my retainer, yet you tell me that it was your father’s will. If you won’t copy them for fear of disobeying your parents, you will be punished for disobeying my command.” The lord issued a strict order many times. Although he didn’t want to disobey his father, Yi-lung finally relented and copied the titles of the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra to avoid the impending punishment, and gave them to the lord. He then went home, shed tears of blood in front of his father’s grave, and reported copying the titles of the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra, disobeying his father’s will, because of the strict order of the Ssu-ma overlord. Overcome with sorrow and apologizing for being unable to escape the guilt of impiety to his parents, he stayed at his father’s grave, fasting for three days until he was on the verge of death.

On the morning of the third day, at about four o’clock, his body was close to death and his spirit in a dream. Then a heavenly being resembling Indra appeared in the air surrounded by numerous attendants on every side. Yi-lung asked, “Who are you?” The heavenly being answered: “Don’t you know that I am Wu-lung, your father? When I was a human being in my previous life, I adhered to non-Buddhist scriptures and regarded the Buddha Dharma, especially the Lotus Sūtra, as my enemy, so I fell into the Hell of Incessant Suffering. My tongue was yanked out hundreds of times every day, and I died and was revived repeatedly. Whenever I had pain, I looked up towards the sky or put my forehead to the ground, feeling deep grief, but my prayers went unfulfilled. I wanted to inform those in the human realm about this pain in some way, but there was no way to do so. When you refused to copy the Lotus Sūtra saying that doing so would go against my will, your words scorched me in a blaze and they turned into hundreds and thousands of swords, which rained from the sky upon me. Though your action caused me unbearable misery, you were following my will. I had no one but myself to blame. Then a golden Buddha appeared in the Hell of Incessant Suffering and revealed that if sinful creatures filling the whole universe could hear the Lotus Sūtra even once, they would be sure to gain supreme enlightenment.

When this Buddha appeared in the Hell of Incessant Suffering, it seemed as if fire was being doused by water and my suffering was eased a little. I put my hands together in prayer and asked the Buddha for His name. He told me that He was the Chinese character of Myō, one of the 64 characters of the title of the Lotus Sūtra, which has just been written by my son, Yi-lung. The titles of the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sūtra consist of 64 characters because each scroll has the eight-character title. These characters represent 64 Buddhas, and they turned into 64 full moons, which brightened the darkness of hell. The Hell of Incessant Suffering then changed into the capital of eternal tranquil light just as it is written, ‘Everything is perfect as it is.’ Thus, prisoners and I have become Buddhas on the lotus and are on the way up to the inner palace of the Tuṣita Heaven, which I wanted to share with you.”

Yi-lung responded: “It was I that wrote them, but how could they help you? Moreover, I did not write them from my heart, so how did this save you?” His father answered:

“What a fool you are! Your hands are my hands. Your body is my body. The characters that you copied are the characters that I copied. You did not have heartfelt faith in the Lotus Sūtra, but I was saved because you copied them. For example, when children play with fire, and though they don’t intend to burn anything, fire burns things. It is the same with the Lotus Sūtra. If you have faith in it, you are sure to become a Buddha even if this is not your intention. Keep this in mind and don’t slander the teaching. As you are a layman, it is easier for you to repent of your sins now even if they are especially serious.”

Yi-lung reported this to Lord Ssu-ma, who was overjoyed that his prayer had been effective. Since then Yi-lung has increasingly understood the debt to his lord, and the people in that country have begun to believe in the Lotus Sūtra.

Ueno-dono Gozen Gohenji, Reply to My Lady, the Nun of Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 59-61

Speaking of the “sanzen daisen sekai (1,000 worlds),” the four continents to the four directions of north, south, east, and west, and Mt. Sumeru, the six heavens of the realm of desire, and the Brahma Heaven make one shitenge, 10 billion shitenge make a small one-thousand world; a thousand of a small one-thousand world make a medium one-thousand world; and a thousand of a medium one-thousand world make a great one-thousand world. Because of this triple multiplication by a thousand, it is called the “triple-thousand great one-thousand world (sanzen daisen sekai). There are an incalculable number (four million, hundred million-nayuta) of these great one-thousand worlds in the universe. Suppose someone feeds all the unenlightened people in all these worlds for 80 years, enabling them to read and recite all the scriptures of Buddhism with the exception of the Lotus Sūtra to become arhats with “three supernatural knowledge” and “six supernatural abilities,” Pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattvas of the highest stage. Compared to the merit of such a person, the merit of a person who upholds merely one verse, phrase, or character of the Lotus Sūtra even though he or she does not offer any kind of alms is a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and hundred million times superior.

Tayūsakan-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ikegami Munenaka, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 107

Once upon a time, there was a king called Rinda, who was the master of the Jambudvīpa. It is said that the king’s food was the neighing of a white horse. Whenever the king heard the neighing of a white horse, he was rejuvenated, regaining his complexion, becoming refreshed in mind, and revitalized in power. Moreover, it enabled him to govern the country with justice. For these reasons, many white horses were raised in his country. He was like a king called Weiwang, who gathered many cranes, or the Emperor Te-tsung, who loved lightning bugs. As whenever the swans sang, the white horses neighed, many swans were brought to this country. One day, the swans all disappeared, and the white horses all became silent. As a result, the great king missed his meals; and it appeared that he would pass away at any moment just as flowers in full bloom wither from frost or the full moon is lost when covered by clouds. Everyone in the country, beginning with the queen, crown prince, and ministers, didn’t know what to do; they were grief-stricken and shed tears just like children who lost their mother.

There were many non-Buddhists in this country, just as today in Japan there are many followers of Zen, Pure Land, Shingon, and Ritsu Buddhism. However, there were also the Buddha’s disciples, just as today in Japan there are people of the Lotus (Nichiren) Sect. Buddhists and non-Buddhists did not get along with each other as though they were fire and water or Mongolia and Yüeh, one in the north and the other in the south. Then the great king issued an imperial edict: “If a non-Buddhist monk can make the white horse neigh, I will abandon Buddhism and put sole faith in him, who would be like Indra revered by all gods. If a disciple of the Buddha can make the horse neigh, I shall behead all non-Buddhist monks and deprive them of their residences, which will all be given to the Buddha’s disciples.” Both non-Buddhist monks and the Buddha’s disciples were startled by the edict, which they greatly deplored.

Unable to ignore the imperial order, non-Buddhist monks tried praying first for seven days. No swans, however, came back, nor did the white horse neigh. Next, it was the turn for a disciple of the Buddha. An unknown monk named Aśvaghoṣa prayed for the next seven days to the Lotus Sūtra, which Buddhas worshipped as the Most Revered One. Then a swan came flying over the altar. When it cried once cheerfully, the white horse loudly neighed once. When the king heard it, he got up from his sick bed, while the queen and many others all paid homage to Aśvaghoṣa. One, two, three . . . 10 and 100 swans came back flying, filling the entire land. As a result, hundreds and thousands of white horses neighed without interruption; and the king’s countenance was rejuvenated by as much as thirty years. His mind became as bright as the sun, and he ruled his country with justice. A rain of nectar fell from heaven with all the people swayed by the great king, and his reign continued peacefully for ages to come.

The same can be said of the Buddhas. The Buddha of Many Treasures enters Nirvana where the Lotus Sūtra is not spread, and He appears where the sūtra is spread. So do Śākyamuni Buddha and all the Buddhas in the entire universe. The Lotus Sūtra is so marvelous. How can Goddess Amaterasu, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, and Great Bodhisattva Sengen of Fuji abandon those who believe in the sūtra? It is reliable indeed.

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 181-182