This daimoku chanting has not yet been spread in the world. For 2,225 years after the extinction of the Buddha no one has chanted this yet. I, Nichiren, alone have been chanting “Namu Myōhōrengekyō, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō without saving my voice.

As you know, the size of waves depends on the strength of the winds, the height of a fire depends on firewood, the size of lotus flowers depends on the size of the ponds, the quantity of rain depends upon dragons; the deeper the roots of a tree are, the wider its branches grow; and the farther away a river begins, the longer it flows. The Chou dynasty lasted seven hundred years because King Wen paid much attention to propriety and filial piety. Early destruction of the Ch’in dynasty was due to the tyranny of its First Emperor.

With Nichiren’s boundless compassion, “Namu Myōhōrengekyō” will be heard forever even beyond the ten thousand year-period. It has the merit of curing the “blindness” of all the people in Japan, blocking the way to hell. This merit is superior to those of Dengyō, T’ien-t’ai, Nāgārjuna, and Kāśyapa. Practice for a hundred years in the Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting the daimoku for one day in this defiled world. Propagation of the daimoku in a two thousand year-period following the death of the Buddha is not worth as much as spreading the daimoku for even a short while in the Latter Age of Degeneration. This is not from my wisdom; it is solely due to the time in which I live. In spring, flowers bloom; in autumn, fruits ripen; in summer, it is warm; and in winter, it is cold; they all go along with the laws of nature.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 58.