Regarding the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, it is preached in the “Universal Sage Bodhisattva” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 8, “His wishes will all be fulfilled and he will be rewarded happily in this life” or “He will certainly be rewarded with a good fortune before his very eyes.” Grand Master T’ien-T’ai states in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Words uttered by the son of Heaven do not contain a lie” and “The Buddha does not tell a lie.” Thus he who is reputed to be a wise ruler does not lie even if his life is at stake. How much more so with Śākyamuni Buddha! In a previous life when Śākyamuni Buddha was practicing Buddhism as King Universal Brightness, He was captured by King Kalmāshapāda and destined to be killed. However, he was allowed to return home to finish the incomplete practice of charity (fuse). Upon finishing it, King Universal Brightness surrendered to his captor to keep the precept of not telling a lie. When Śākyamuni Buddha was King Kālika in a previous life, He is said to have declared, “Those who only speak a few words of truth will fall into hell for not observing the precept against telling a lie.”

How much more so with the Lotus Sūtra, in which Śākyamuni Buddha Himself declared that He certainly was to expound the True Dharma! Moreover, the Buddha of Many Treasures proved it to be true and it was confirmed in a gorgeous assembly where various Buddhas from all the worlds in the universe gathered together as if the sun and the moon and the galaxy sat side by side. Therefore, if there is a lie in the Lotus Sūtra, we cannot believe anything in the world. Those who offer a stem of flower or a pinch of incense to the Lotus Sūtra, as precious as this, are as meritorious as those who offered donations to “ten thousand billion” Buddhas in the past.

Nanjō-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Nanjō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Page 15-16