In the age of mappō, Nichiren believed, people no longer had the capacity, as men had in previous ages, to attain full realization of the truth through its partial manifestations as represented by the provisional teachings. Only in the perfect mirror of truth contained in the Lotus Sutra could people perceive their innate Buddha nature.

Nichiren was not the first person to advocate the Lotus Sutra for the Final Dharma age. The sutra itself speaks of the blessings to be gained by the one who upholds it “in an evil age, at the time of the Final Dharma. Moreover, some four hundred years earlier Saichō had written: “The ages of the True and Counterfeit Dharmas have nearly passed, and the age of the Final Dharma is near at hand. Now is indeed the time when people can attain enlightenment through the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sutra.” Nichiren’s uniqueness lay rather in the practice that he established. Rejecting the traditional practices of the Lotus Sutra such as copying it and reciting its twenty-eight chapters, as well as the twofold Tendai system of doctrinal study (kyōsō) and meditation (kanjin), he instead established the universally feasible practice of chanting the sutra’s title.