Iwata Kyōen, editor of the volume of the Tendaishū zensho (Complete works of the Tendai school) containing the major Eshin kuden hō mon, draws attention to the following passage in the Zōda shō, compiled by Songai’s disciple Gōkai (fl. 1347):

Question: What is the abbreviated method of practice of the threefold Lotus Sūtra [advocated by] the Great Teacher [Saichō]?

According to transmission, [this method consists of three lines. One:] “Namu to the Sūtra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma, which opens the three [vehicles] to reveal the one [vehicle] and opens the recent [attainment of the Buddha in this world] to reveal the distant [i.e., his original enlightenment in the remote past], the single vehicle in which the mind, the Buddha and all living beings [are without distinction] ” (Namu-kaisan-kennichi-kaigon-kennon-shin-butsu-shujō-ichijōmyōhō-renge-kyō). (This represents the fundamental Lotus Sūtra.) [Two:] “Namu Buddha.” (This represents the hidden and secret Lotus Sūtra.) [Three:] “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō.” (This represents the Lotus Sūtra that was preached explicitly.) According to transmission, one should recite these three lines morning and evening, without neglect.)

As touched upon in earlier chapters, the chanting of single phrases designed to encompass the essence of the Lotus Sūtra definitely predated Nichiren, and references to such practices occur occasionally in medieval Tendai literature. However, it is also possible that passages such as the one above represent the direct influence of Nichiren Hokke practice upon the medieval Tendai tradition, and that the daimoku, while subject to differing interpretations, was to some extent chanted within Tendai circles. (Page 352)