QUESTION: In the Latter Age of Degeneration, what should a beginning practitioner refrain from practicing?

ANSWER: Beginners should refrain from giving alms, observing the precepts, and the rest of the first five bodhisattva practices and for the present should instead take up the practice of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō which is the spirit of the single moment of understanding by faith and the stage of rejoicing. This is the true intention of the Lotus Sūtra!

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 104