In the Hokke daimoku-shō, Nichiren explains that the invocation of the Title saves the sinner from perdition. He maintains that “without knowledge of the meaning of the Lotus, without understanding of morality, a man can avoid sins, escape the Four Evil Destinations and attain perfection by the mere utterance once a day, once a month, once a year, or even once in a lifetime of the seven syllables Na-Mu-Myō-Hō-Ren-Ge-Kyō.” We see here psychologically, the nearest approach imaginable to Hōnen Shōnin’s standpoint, which Nichiren attacked so vehemently. Both cases deal with salvation by faith and invocation. Though both founders state that even a single invocation in a lifetime is sufficient, in practice the invocation in both the Nichiren and Jōdo sects continues for hours. In the Nichiren Sect a drum is beaten, in the Jōdo sect a conch-shaped wooden battling-block—both used to assure the proper rhythmical cadence of the invocation, and to concentrate the attention of the devotee and transport him into a state of ecstasy.

This psychological element is obvious from an observation of any Nichiren practice—devotees in their homes or temples, a procession or a ceremony. An example might be the grand memorial ceremony, oeshiki, celebrated at Ikegami near Tokyo on the twelfth and thirteenth of October. Day and night processions of believers chant the Sacred Title, beat drums, play fifes, ring bells and flourish their mandō (richly decorated paper lanterns typical of the Nichiren Sect). Further, while adherents of Hinayāna and ancient Mahāyāna Schools refute any association of hypnotism with their meditation, Nichiren scholars state openly that their meditation is impregnated with it. In his Japanese Civilization, [Kishio] Satomi determines five reasons for uttering the Sacred Title: self-intuition or reflection, expression of ecstasy, stimulation of continuous expression, autohypnotism for inspiration, and manifestation of one’s standard.