An original statement of Nichiren’s conception of the Sacred Title is contained in his Kanjin-honzonshō. Telling us that the invocation of the title is to be considered as Kanjin, or “Meditation,” he states the difference between Tendai meditation and Nichiren meditation: The Tendai Meditation “possesses completely in one thought the three thousand from the point of view of reason,” while the Nichiren Meditation “possesses completely in one thought the three thousand from the point of view of matter.” The “three thousand,” as we know, means all psychical and physical phenomena or the whole universe understood as a mental as well as a physical entity. “From the point of view of reason” means “in theoretical respect” or “in abstract”; “from the point of view of matter” means “in practical respect” or “in concrete.”

The Tendai meditation if further explained as always a meditation on some objective truth, for instance on the truth of “non-form being the real form” (mu sō jissō), or on the “three truths” (san tat) of “the Empty, the Phenomenal Reality, and the Middle” (kū, ke, chū), which are the objects of the “three meditations” (san gan). On the contrary, the method used by the Nichiren Sect, in which the devotee recites the title and turns his face to the Daimandara is characterized by Nichiren as “practical meditation and practical devotion in which faith takes the place of wisdom” (i-shin dai-e no ji-kan ji-gyō). Consequently what is called kanjin or “meditation-mind” by Nichiren is not to be understood as meditation in any ordinary meaning, but as shinjin or “believing mind.” In the Nichiren School we have therefore to deal not with “meditation,” but with “belief.” Kanjin does not imply here knowledge by introspection as the Tendai meaning does but understanding by belief. In short, the Tendai School meditates on some objective truth and does not use the method of reciting the Title, which in the Nichiren Sect holds such a prominent place.