Day 26 concludes Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, includes Chapter 22, Transmission, and introduces Chapter 23, The Previous Life of Medicine-King Bodhisattva.
Having last month repeated the Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas in gāthās, we conclude the chapter with the vow of Śākyamuni that all will be able to attain enlightenment “definitely and doubtlessly.”
Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to see me. He also will be able to see
Many-Treasures Buddha,
[The Buddhas of] my replicas,
And the Bodhisattvas whom I have taught today.Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able to cause me to rejoice.
He also will be able to bring joy
To [the Buddhas of] my replicas
And also to Many-Treasures Buddha who once passed away.He also will be able to see
The present, past and future Buddhas
Of the worlds of the ten quarters,
Make offerings to them, and cause them to rejoice.The Buddhas sat at the place of enlightenment,
And obtained the hidden core.
Anyone who keeps this sūtra will be able
To obtain the same before long.Anyone who keeps this sūtra
Will be able to expound
The meanings of the teachings,
And the names and words [of this sūtra].
Their eloquence will be as boundless
And as unhindered as the wind in the sky.Anyone who understands why the Buddhas expound [many] sūtras,
Who knows the position [of this sūtra in the series of sūtras],
And who expounds it after my extinction
According to its true meaning,
Will be able to eliminate the darkness
Of the living beings of the world where he walks about,
Just as the light of the sun and the moon
Eliminates all darkness.
He will be able to cause innumerable Bodhisattvas
To dwell finally in the One Vehicle.Therefore, the man of wisdom
Who hears the benefits of these merits
And who keeps this sūtra after my extinction,
Will be able to attain
The enlightenment of the Buddha
Definitely and doubtlessly.
Nichiren uses this section to underscore the importance of this teaching in the Latter Age:
In the Lotus Sūtra, after forty some years [wherein the other sūtras taught that women could not attain Buddhahood,] a woman at last attained Buddhahood; and even Devadatta, who was called an icchantika who broke the five rebellious sins, attained Buddhahood. Thus, there is no doubt that in this evil age those monks, laymen, nuns, and laywomen who are icchantika because they have broken the five rebellious sins and slandered the Dharma, will all attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra. Moreover, we must trust these words from fascicle seven of the Lotus Sūtra:
After my passing
He who upholds this sūtra
Will attain the Buddha Way
Definitely and without a doubt.
Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 131