Their petition also states that Nichiren insists that the sūtras preached before the Lotus Sūtra were all false. This also is not my personal opinion because it is preached in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, “I have not revealed the truth yet for forty years or so.” Not revealing the truth is tantamount to false words. In “A Parable” chapter in the second fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, it is stated that when the Buddha asked the congregation whether or not they believe the Buddha preaches any lie, they all replied, “No.” The Buddha also asked the question in the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the sixth fascicle of the Lotus Sūtra, “Do you think that anyone can accuse this excellent physician of falsehood?” Then the audience all replied, “No.” The Nirvana Sūtra states, “Although the Buddha has no false words, he will expound other sūtras if people rely on false teachings.” And Grand Master T’ien-t’ai stated that the Buddha’s guarantee of Buddhahood to Hinayana Buddhists is “the Buddha’s temporal expedient words.” It is not my personal opinion to say that sūtras expounded in the forty years or so before the Lotus Sūtra were false words.

Gyōbin Sojō Goetsū, Understanding Gyōbin’s Petition, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Desciples, Volume 5, Page 6