Now in my humble opinion, there are many differences between those scriptures preached by the Buddha during the first forty years or so and the Lotus Sūtra, which was preached during the last eight years. However, what scholars consider to be most important, with which I certainly agree, are the concepts of nijō-sabutsu (obtaining Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles) and kuon-jitsujō (attaining Enlightenment in the eternal past.)

First, as for nijō-sabutsu, it is revealed in the Lotus Sūtra that
Śāripūtra is the future Flower Light Buddha (in chapter 3) while Kāśyapa will be Light Buddha in the future; Subhūti, Beautiful Form Buddha; Kātyāyana, Jāmbūnada Golden Light Buddha; Maudgalyāyana, Tamālapatracandana Fragrance Buddha (chapter 6); Pūrṇa, Law Brightness Buddha (chapter 8); Ananda, Mountain Sea Wisdom Buddha; Rāhula, Stepping On Seven Treasure Flower Buddha; two groups of arhats, 500 and 700 in number respectively, Universal Brightness Buddhas; 2,000 of those who have obtained arhatship and those who have not, Treasure Form Buddhas (chapter 9); and female disciples of Mahā-Prajāpatī and Yaśodharā will be Gladly Seen by All Buddha and Emitting Ten Million Ray Buddha respectively in the future (chapter 13).

These people of the Two Vehicles appear to be respected as future Buddhas in the Lotus Sūtra, but are often disappointing in scriptures preached before it, where it is considered that they are unable to ever obtain Buddhahood.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 37-38

When I read all the Buddhist scriptures other than the Lotus Sūtra, they leave me without the slightest desire to become a woman. A certain sūtra declares that the woman is a messenger of hell, another sūtra preaches that she is a poisonous snake, one sūtra says that she is like a curved tree, while another sūtra preaches that her seed of Buddhahood has been scorched.

Degrading women is not only found in Buddhist scriptures but also in non-Buddhist scriptures. A man named Yung Ch’i-ch’i in ancient China celebrated the three comforts of life, listing not having been born female in heaven and earth as one of the three.

Moreover, it is said in China the source of misfortune lies with three women (who corrupted the three rulers of ancient China). However, it is preached in the Lotus Sūtra, “A woman who upholds this sūtra is not only superior to all other women but surpasses all men.”

A woman should be satisfied when the man she loves feels compassion for her, even if others slander her. Likewise, it matters little if people despise you, so long as Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, as well as the Buddhas of manifestation in the worlds throughout the universe, the King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, Sun Deity and Moon Deity look after you, how could you be in pain! As long as the Lotus Sūtra praises you, there is no reason to feel ashamed!

Shijō Kingo-dono Nyōbō Gohenji, A Reply to the Wife of Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 121

When we worship gods or Buddhas, we begin with the phrase of “namu.” Namu is an Indian word that has come to mean “offering of life to Buddhas and gods” in China and Japan. Our social standing is determined in part by possessing a spouse and children, retainers, fiefs, and gold and silver, though some people do not have these. Regardless of whether we possess these or not, no one possesses treasure more precious than life. Accordingly, sages and wise men in the past have donated their lives to the Buddhas in order to attain Buddhahood.

That is to say, Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains offered his own body to a demon in order to learn a holy teaching consisting of eight Chinese characters. Medicine King Bodhisattva burned his own elbow and offered it to the Lotus Sūtra as a light. In Japan, Prince Shōtoku peeled the skin of his own hand to write the Lotus Sūtra on it, and Emperor Tenchi burned his third finger as an offering to Śākyamuni Buddha. These are deeds of sages and wise men, which are impossible for us ordinary people to emulate.

Nevertheless, ordinary people can become Buddhas by fully understanding the meaning of the word of “kokorozashi (intention)” and practicing it. What is the intention? When we consider this in detail, it refers to the doctrine of spiritual contemplation. What does the doctrine of spiritual contemplation mean? It means the way of practicing the teaching of the Buddha according to the intent of the Buddha, not necessarily according to what is literally said in the sūtra. For example, if a man donates his only set of clothes, which he wears for the cause of the Lotus Sūtra, this is the same as peeling his own skin for the sake of the Dharma. Suppose there is a man during the time of a famine who offers to the Buddha the only food he has to stay alive for a day. This is the same as offering his life to the Buddha.

These offerings are as meritorious as the offering of an elbow by Medicine King Bodhisattva or the offering by Young Ascetic in the Snow Mountains of his own body to a demon. Therefore, we can say that the self-sacrificial offerings of sages are phenomenal whereas the offerings of ordinary people according to the intent of the Buddha are noumenal. The doctrine of offering, one of the six practices for bodhisattvas to attain enlightenment, preached in the Great Concentration and Insight, part seven, refers to this noumenal offering, i.e. the practice of offering according to the intent of the Buddha.

Jiri Kyuō Gosho, Phenomenal Offering and Noumenal Offering, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 98

QUESTION: How can a man with faith be a nonbeliever?

ANSWER: Certain people put faith in the doctrine of the universal existence of the Buddha-nature upon hearing it while still attaching themselves to the pre-Lotus sūtras (in which attainment of Buddhahood by all is not preached). Such people are infatuated with sūtras that do not preach the existence of the Buddha-nature in all people while believing the universal existence of the Buddha-nature. Thus, they are believers and nonbelievers at the same time.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 135.

[A]s the world degenerated and the understanding of the people deteriorated, the fine theology of T’ien-t’ai was no longer studied. As other sects grew stronger in devotion, the Tendai Sect was reduced gradually by the six sects of Nara and Shingon until it was no longer equal even to them. … [T]he farms and fiefs of the six Nara sects as well as those of the Tendai and Shingon Sects were all destroyed and the True Dharma of the Lotus disappeared. Not having tasted the delicacy of the True Dharma, such great righteous guardian deities as Goddess Amaterasu, Shōhachiman and Sannō left the land, leaving room for demons to grow in power, and this country was about to crumble.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 37

I heard that the Council of State met to discuss whether Nichiren should be beheaded or banished from Kamakura. The council also debated whether or not Nichiren’s followers with fiefs be deprived of their lands, beheaded, or jailed and tortured or exiled afar.

I am delighted, and in no way saddened, to hear such news. I have expected this from the beginning. In ancient times, Young Ascetic in the Himalaya Mountains is said to have thrown himself to a demon in order to hear the teaching of a half of a verse, and Ever Weeping Bodhisattva (Sadāparudita) is said to have sold his body in order to make offerings to his master, Bodhisattva Dharmodgata. It is also said that Bodhisattva Good Treasures (Sudhanaśre-ṣṭhi-dāraka) jumped into a fire in order to practice the holy way; Bodhisattva Aspiration for Dharma (Gyōbō-bonji) peeled his own skin to record the teachings of the Buddha, using his blood as ink and his bone as a brush; Medicine King Bodhisattva made offering to the Lotus Sūtra and the Buddha for seventy-two thousand years by burning his elbows; Never Despising Bodhisattva was beaten with sticks and pebbles were thrown at him as he spread the Lotus Sūtra; Venerable Siṃha (Shishi Sonja), the 24th Transmitter of the Dharma, was beheaded by King Dammira; and Bodhisattva Dēva (Āryadeva) was killed by a disciple of a Brahman monk when the Bodhisattva defeated him in a debate.

Shuju Onfurumai Gosho, Reminiscences: from Tatsunokuchi to Minobu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 23

Grand Master T’ien-t’ai interprets the five Chinese characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, 10 fascicles. The first fascicle of this Profound Meaning roughly explains the general meaning of the five characters while the six fascicles from the second to the seventh fascicles explain in detail the one character of myō. The eighth and ninth fascicles interpret the three characters of hō, ren, and ge, and the last fascicle expounds the one character of kyō. T’ien-t’ai thus maintains that the one character of kyō is equipped with all the Buddhist scriptures such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Āgama sūtras, Hōdō sūtras, Wisdom Sūtra, and Nirvana Sūtra. The two characters of myō and hō, according to the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, are equipped with the doctrines of “100 realms and 1,000 aspects of existence” and the equality of mind, Buddha, and sentient beings. The Great Concentration and Insight in ten fascicles states that the doctrines of “3,000 existences contained in one thought,” “100 realms and 1,000 aspects of existence,” “3,000 modes of existence,” and “equality of mind, Buddha, and sentient beings” are contained in the two characters of myō and hō. Namely, this writing maintains that everything including the causes and effects of all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and those in the ten realms, and insentient beings such as grasses, plants, tiles, and pebbles are included in the two characters of myō and hō without exception.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 20