One studies Buddhism in order to repay what one owes to one’s country even at the cost of one’s life; it is not at all for one’s own sake. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai declares in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra: “Looking at heavy rainfall, one can tell the size of the dragon which causes it; looking at the abundance of lotus flowers, one can tell the depth of the pond.” Likewise, we should realize the seriousness of the coming event by looking at unusual omens. National disaster seems imminent, so I have written to you repeatedly. No one listens to me; yet I keep warning.

Yadoya Nyūdō Sai-gojō, Second Letter to Lay Priest Yadoya, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 152-153

[I]f the Lotus Sūtra is the true teaching and the protective deities of the Lotus Sūtra such as the sun and moon do not abandon me, I strongly believe that one day I will be able to return to my homeland and visit my parents’ grave. I wonder what has happened to the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun and moon, and the Four Heavenly Kings. Do Goddess Amaterasu and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman not exist in Japan? Did they break their vows to the Buddha to protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra and have thus abandoned the practicers? I am not troubled by what may happen to me as a result of not being protected by the heavenly beings. But if you, heavenly beings, who made vows to protect the practicers of the Lotus Sūtra before Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures as well as the many Buddhas from all the worlds in the universe, break your vows and do not protect me now, you will be making a great lie out of the Lotus Sūtra, in which the Buddha has stated in the “Parable” chapter, “I wholeheartedly discard the provisional teachings.” The fault of deceiving Buddhas of entire worlds throughout the universe in the past, present, and future is more fatal and profound than Devadatta’s false words and Honorable Kokālika’s lies. Although the Great King of the Brahma Heaven lives on the top of the region of form and Indra lives on the top of Mt. Sumeru, if they abandon me, Nichiren, their transgressions will become firewood that fuels the flames in the Avici Hell, where they will suffer continuously and never be released from this hell.

Kōnichi-bō Gosho, A Letter to Nun Kōnichi, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 48-49

Although there is no mind in the lotus flower, it blossoms in response to the sunlight. A Japanese banana plant has no ears, but its growth is influenced by thunder. Likewise, we are able to become Buddhas by the virtue of the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, which is like the sunlight and the thunder for a lotus flower and a banana plant. When one enters the water carrying a rhinoceros horn, the water will be kept away by 5 feet. When a leaf of sandalwood opens, the bad odor of eraṇḍa will disappear as far as 40 yojana (distance covered by a traveling man in 40 days). The evil karma of ordinary people is like the water and the eraṇḍa and the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is like the rhinoceros horn and leaf of sandalwood. A diamond is so hard that nothing can break it except the horn of a sheep and the shell of a tortoise. Large birds cannot snap the branch of a large tree called nyagrodha though the wren, a small bird said to nest on the eyelashes of mosquitoes, can. The evil karma of ordinary people like us, is as hard as a diamond and as big as nyagrodha. The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, on the contrary, can easily break and snap the karma of ordinary people, like the horn of a sheep and the beak of a wren. As an amber jewel removes dust and a magnet attracts iron, so are our dust and iron of evil karma removed by amber and the magnet of the daimoku. You should always think this way and continuously chant Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 37-38

These people are those who do not know the difference between the pre-Lotus sūtras and the Lotus Sūtra. They are not only wandering blindly in their own stupidity and ignorance but also closing the Buddha-eye of all living beings. Wishing to be reborn in the Tuṣita Heaven is encouraged in many Hinayāna sūtras. It is also preached in some Mahāyāna sūtras. Many Mahāyāna sūtras encourage the rebirth in the Pure Land of the Utmost Bliss to the West. They are provisional sūtras that are later merged into the One Vehicle teaching in the Lotus Sūtra. According to the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, both the Tuṣita Heaven and the Pure Land to the West are not separated. Both of them as well as the worlds of humans and gods are contained in the Buddha lands all over the universe. Expounding the mutual possession of the Ten Realms doctrine, the Lotus Sūtra reveals to evil persons the evil doings of the Ten Realms, and at the same time informs them that they are endowed with the five kinds of eyes (human eye, eye of heaven, eye of wisdom, eye of dharma, and the Buddha-eye). This is done in an effort to save even the most wicked among the evil. Regarding women, it can be said that all of the realms are inhabited by women because according to the doctrine of the mutual possession of the Ten Realms, women are included in the Ten Realms. Thus, the enlightenment of women is a reality. Therefore, those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra and seek Buddhahood cannot be led down to the nine realms of delusions by the force of karma.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 94

Some might wonder: “How do you know that your banishment and death sentence are results of your sins in your past lives?” To them I would answer that copper mirrors reflect only colors and shapes, and the mirror the First Emperor of Ch’in used to test his subjects showed only present sins, but the mirror of Buddhism shows the virtues or vices of one in the past. Therefore, it is said in the six-fascicled Nirvana Sūtra (Hatsunaion-gyō): “Good men! Since you have committed numerous evil deeds and accumulated bad karma, you have to suffer in compensation for them. (…) You may be slighted, may look ugly, may suffer from lack of clothing or from insufficient food, unable to make a fortune, born to a poor family or to a heretic family, or suffer from royal persecutions, and many other difficulties. The reason you receive relatively light punishment like these in this world is due to your merit of upholding the dharma. Otherwise you might have been punished much more severely.”

This matches me, Nichiren, as perfectly as two halves of a tally. It explains why I have been persecuted, and all of my numerous doubts have faded away. Let us tally this sūtra, phrase by phrase against me. As for “being slighted,” which is phrased in the Lotus Sūtra, “A Parable” chapter, as “being slighted, despised, hated with jealousy,” I, Nichiren, have been despised for more than twenty years. “Being ugly looking,” and “suffering from lack of food and clothing,” “unable to make a fortune, being born to a poor family,” “suffering from royal persecutions,” and so on are all about me. Who can doubt it?

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 106

If something happens on your way to the Pure Land, you should declare yourself as a disciple of Nichiren. Even in this small country of Japan, one who claims to be a family member of the Lord of Sagami Province, Shogunal Regent Hōjō Tokimune, is sometimes respected with no questions asked. All the more so I am the foremost priest in the Jambudvīpa as far as the devotion to the Lotus Sūtra is concerned, though worldly the most outrageous priest in Japan. The name of such a man surely resounds in the Pure Lands throughout the universe. His name is known both to heaven and earth. When you declare yourself to be a disciple of Nichiren, even demons, no matter how evil they may be, will not say that they have never heard of such a man.

Myōshin-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady, the Nun Myōshin Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 103-104

It is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, in the second fascicle (“A Parable” chapter): “Suppose there is a person who does not believe in this sūtra and instead disparages it or despises, hates, or bears a grudge against those who uphold this sūtra by reading, reciting, or copying it. Such a person will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death and will continue to wander about the hell for innumerable kalpa (aeons).” The seventh fascicle (“Never-Despising Bodhisattva” chapter) of the same sūtra states: “(Such a person) will suffer in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for as long as 1,000 kalpa (aeons).” The third fascicle (“The Parable of a Magic City”) states “for 3,000 dust-particle kalpa. ” And the sixth fascicle (“The Life Span of the Buddha”) says “for 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa. ” The Nirvana Sūtra declares: “In case one is crushed to death by a wild elephant, one will not fall into the three evil realms. However, when one is killed by an evil friend, one will inevitably fall into them. ”

Toki-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 115-116