Each of you who claims to be my disciple should never be a coward. Do not think of your parents, wife and children, or your fiefs for the sake of the Lotus Sūtra. Since numerous kalpa in the past till today, I have sacrificed my life more times than the number of dust particles on the earth for the sake of my parents, children and fiefs. However, I never lost my life for the Lotus Sūtra. Though I practiced this sūtra more or less in the past, I stopped it whenever I encountered any danger to my life. It is like adding cold water into a kettle of boiling water and ceasing to strike flints before starting a fire. We shall never have hot water or get the fire started.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 24

Regretting that the Lotus Sūtra may be destined to be ignored in the Latter Age of Degeneration, Grand Master Miao-lê states in his Annotations on the Great Concentration and Insight:

“The Perfect teaching of the Lotus Sūtra that enables people to attain Buddhahood immediately has not been respected because those who study the Mahāyāna teachings during these times confuse the expedient teachings with the true teaching. Furthermore, in the Age of the Semblance Dharma or the Latter Age of Degeneration, the spiritual capacity of the people diminishes, and their faith weakens. Consequently, though there are libraries and chests filled with perfect and immediate teachings, it is disappointing that no one considers or studies them in the least. People are born with no purpose and die in vain without meeting Buddhism. How this is! Someone may say, ‘Just listening, without any type of practice, does not bring any merit.’ This person does not fully understand the everlasting merit that just listening to the Lotus Sūtra can cause one to become a Buddha. In the Zenjūtenshi Sutra, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva told Venerable Śāriputra, ‘It is better to listen to the Dharma, slander it, and as a result, fall into hell than to make offerings to many Buddhas. For even though one slanders the True Dharma and falls into hell, his sin will become an ‘adverse condition’ causing him to get an opportunity to listen to the True Dharma after he emerges from hell.’ This compares the merit of those who listen to the Dharma to those who make offerings to the Buddha but do so without listening to the Dharma. Listening to the Dharma, even slandering it can be the seed for Buddhahood, though this will take a long time. Needless to say, this does not compare to the merit of those who listen to and contemplate the Dharma and strive to practice it.”

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 83-84

In the Lotus Sūtra proper, … the Buddha revealed the single path to Enlightenment, having synthesized three kinds of teaching (kaisan ken’itsu). He declared in the theoretical (shakumon) section of the Lotus Sūtra: “Only Buddhas wholly perceive the reality of all phenomena; truth will be revealed after preaching provisional teachings for more than forty years;” and “He will discard provisional teachings and will concentrate only on the supreme way.” The Buddha of Many Treasures then declared that those words of the Buddha in the eight (from the second to ninth) chapters in the theoretical section (shakumon) of the Lotus Sūtra were all true. What then should have been left unrevealed? Nevertheless, the eternal life of the Buddha was not revealed; instead it is said, “At first, He sat at the place of enlightenment, gazed on the tree, and walked around it meditating.” This is the greatest wonder of all.

Thus it is stated in the fifteenth “Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra that Bodhisattva Maitreya wondered why the Buddha claimed to have taught the great bodhisattvas, who had never been seen before in the last forty years or so, and caused them to aspire for enlightenment. So, he asked: “When You, the Buddha, were the crown prince, You left the palace of the Śākya clan, sat in meditation under the bodhi tree not far from the city of Gayā and obtained the perfect enlightenment. It has only been some forty years since then. How could You, World Honored One, have achieved so much in a short period of time?”

It was at this point that Lord Śākyamuni Buddha decided to preach “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in order to dispel such doubts. Referring to what has been said in the pre-Lotus sūtras and in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, He said, “Gods, men and asura demons in all the worlds think that I, Śākyamuni Buddha, left the palace of Śākya clan, sat under the bodhi tree not far from the city of Gayā, and attained perfect enlightenment.” Then He answered the question squarely by declaring, “To tell the truth, however, it has been innumerable and incalculable kalpa since I attained Buddhahood.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 47

[T]he bad luck that comes with turning 33 years old will change to happiness for being 33, for this is what is preached in the Sūtra of the Benevolent King, “Seven troubles disappear instantly and seven good fortunes arise in a moment.” There is no mistake that you will grow younger and your happiness will increase. This is awe-inspiring, indeed.

Shijō Kingo-dono Nyōbō Gohenji, A Reply to the Wife of Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 122

A great event is preceded by a great omen, right or wrong. A great inauspicious event is followed by a great auspicious event. As the country of Japan today is the worst slanderer of the True Dharma, I am sure that the great True Dharma will inevitably spread in Japan. You have nothing to lament over. You should dance for joy like Venerable Mahākāśyapa and leap in delight like Śāriputra. Didn’t Bodhisattva Superior Practice come out dancing when he emerged from the earth? When Bodhisattva Universal Sage appeared, he shook the earth six ways.

Daizen Daiaku Gosho, A Letter on the Great Virtue and Worst Vice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 123-124

A colt, one or two-years old, does not look sick even if its joints grow long, legs become round and thin, and upper legs are long. When it becomes seven or eight years old and is heavier, all kinds of trouble become apparent as the blood vessels become larger and the upper part of the body grows bigger while the lower part remains small. The horse is no longer useful to people, as it is weak in strength and short in longevity. It is like a small boat loaded with huge rocks or a tiny tree with huge fruits.

The same is true with heavenly beings. At the beginning of the Kalpa of Construction, when the world is being created, gods were born with excellent rewards of virtuous acts in previous lives, and men were not evil. Therefore, heavenly beings were shiny in body, pure in spirit, as bright as the sun and moon, and as brave as the lion and elephant. When the Kalpa of Construction was over and the world entered the Kalpa of Continuance, heavenly beings from the previous period grew old and declined like the waning moon, newly born gods were mostly equipped with inferior rewards of actions in their previous lives. As a result, the three calamities and seven disasters occurred all over the world and people everywhere began experiencing sufferings and joys.

Then the Buddha appeared in this world and prepared the panacea of life, that is Buddhism, for the gods and people. Like oil added to a lamp or a cane supporting an elderly person, heavenly beings regained the authority and power they possessed in the Kalpa of Construction.

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 257-258

We cannot determine what happens after death on our own. We can reach a decision on such matters only if we base our lives on the teaching of Śākyamuni Buddha, the true teacher of all the people.

Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 138.

Reason wins under the rule of a wise king, and unreasonableness gets the upper hand under the rule of an unwise sovereign. So remember it is the world of saintly people that the true teachings of the Lotus is revealed. Regarding this theology concerning whether or not it is possible for men of the Two Vehicles to become Buddhas, those sūtras preached before the Lotus Sūtra appear more powerful than the theoretical section (shakumon) of the Lotus. If the former, which insist that it is impossible, win over the latter, which maintains that it is possible, such men of the Two Vehicles as Śāripūtra will never be able to attain Buddhahood. How regrettable it would be for them!

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 45