The daimoku has two meanings: the daimoku which was practiced during the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma, and that which is practiced in the Latter Age of Degeneration. During the Age of the True Dharma, Bodhisattvas Vasubandhu and Nāgārjuna chanted the daimoku solely for the sake of their own practice. During the Age of the Semblance Dharma, Grand Masters Nanyüeh and T’ien-t’ai chanted only the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō; they, too, chanted it for their own practices, not to guide other people. Their daimoku was a practice for attaining enlightenment based on the teaching of the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra. The daimoku which I, Nichiren, recite today in the Latter Age of Degeneration is the daimoku of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, which, unlike that of the previous ages, is not merely the practice for personal enlightenment but it is the practice also for benefitting others. This five-character daimoku is not just a title of the Lotus Sūtra; it contains the five profound meanings of the name, entity, quality, function and teaching.

Sandai Hiho Honjo-ji, The Transmission of the Three Great Secret Dharmas, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 289-290