A man who longed to see the Buddha took wood to make an image of Him, but he was unable to carve the likeness of even one of the thirty-two marks of the Buddha. At that time the great King Udayāna summoned Viśvakarman, the Carpenter, down from the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven and had a statue carved from red sandalwood. That statue went to meet the original Buddha in the Trāyastriṃsá Heaven, because of King Udayāna’s deep faith. This was the first statue of the Buddha carved in Jambudvīpa. …

As you see, even if people are rich and give great treasures as alms, if their faith is weak they cannot attain Buddhahood. Even though people are poor, if they have strong faith and deep determination they will attain Buddhahood without fail.

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 129-131