T’ien-t’ai says in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “Looking at the heavy rainfall, one should know the size of the dragon which causes the rain to fall. Seeing the abundance of the lotus flowers, one can see the depth of the pond where the lotus grows.” Miao-lê interprets this in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “Men of knowledge know the cause of phenomena, and only snakes know the way of snakes.” Only the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra knows the rise of the great dharma by looking at great omens.

Kembutsu Mirai-ki, Testimony to the Prediction of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 177-178