The string of blue-duck coins that you sent to me has arrived. Scholars today unanimously agree that, whether during the Buddha’s lifetime or after his nirvana, the cultivation of the Dharma Flower always involves the threefold learning (of precepts, meditation, and wisdom.) Attaining Buddhahood is not possible if one is lacking in any of these areas.

Until recently I also held this view, but now I have decided to set aside this widely-held position regarding the holy teachings in order to read the Lotus Sūtra and see and hear its own interpretation. In addition, I have set aside the preface and main discourse which are the first two sections (of the Lotus Sūtra) in order to focus on the transmission section which is a clear mirror for the Latter Age of Degeneration on which we can still depend. And yet, the transmission section itself has two parts. The first part consists of the last five chapters of the theoretical section beginning with “The Teacher of the Dharma” chapter. The second part consists of the eleven and a half chapters of the essential section beginning with the latter half of “The Variety of Merits” chapter and continues to the last chapter of the sūtra. These eleven and a half chapters together with the previous five chapters combine to form sixteen and a half chapters that clearly show us how to put the Lotus Sūtra into practice in the Latter Age of Degeneration. And if this is not convincing enough, one can also look to the Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva and the Nirvana Sūtra to illuminate this matter and leave nothing in doubt.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page100-101