T’ien’tai … makes clear that all things and phenomena in the ten realms are manifestations of the ultimate reality. Since ultimate reality is another name of the Lotus Sūtra, what he states is that all things and phenomena are equal to the Lotus Sūtra. It is a reality of a hell showing hell’s appearance. If its appearance turns into that of the realm of hungry spirits, it is no longer a hell. “All phenomena as ultimate reality” means that Buddhas show Buddhas’ appearance, unenlightened people show their appearance, and the true appearance of all things is the truth of the Lotus Sūtra.

T’ien-t’ai also explains, “The profound doctrine of all phenomena as ultimate reality is the Lotus Sūtra that exists originally and always.” This annotation means that “the deep doctrine of ultimate reality” expounded in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra is called in the essential section the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma which exist originally and always. This interpretation is not easy to understand, so please spare no effort in contemplating this.

Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 76

It is the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning alone which disparages the sūtras preached during the pre-Lotus period of 40 years or so and lauds just one sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra. It declares that the truth is revealed not in those sūtras expounded in the past 40 years or so, nor in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, which is now being preached, or in the Nirvana Sūtra, which is to be preached, but in the Lotus Sūtra alone. Śākyamuni Buddha as well as all Buddhas in the past, present and future appear in the world preaching all the scriptures of Buddhism. They all consider the Lotus Sūtra supreme. Social status, for instance, varies according to the time and circumstance. In the countryside farmers and retainers call warriors “upper class men,” but in the capital region warriors of the Minamoto and Taira clans are men servants while “upper class men” are applied to the members of the three aristocratic families. Again, if masters are called kings, even a farmer is the king of a family whereas the stewards and proprietors of shōen (manor in Medieval Japan) are kings of respective villages, districts, counties and provinces. However, none of these is the great king.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 131.

The Pure Land Sect considers the Buddha of Infinite Life, who is merely a manifestation of Śākyamuni in the Pure Land to the West, to be the lord of this world and abandons Śākyamuni, who is the real lord of this world. The Zen Sect, just like a lowly man with a little virtue despising his parents, despises the Buddha and His sūtras.

They are all confused about the Most Venerable One. It is analogous to the situation before the time of the Three Emperors, when people did not know who their fathers were and behaved like beasts and birds. Those Buddhist schools that do not know of “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter in the Lotus Sūtra are the same as beasts and birds; they do not know the debt they owe to the Eternal Buddha. Grand Master Miao-lê declared in his Hokke gohyaku monron (500 Inquiries into the Lotus Sūtra): “Eternity in the life of the Buddha, who is our parent, has not been revealed in the pre-Lotus sūtras. (…) If one does not know the eternity in the life of his father, the Buddha, he is also confused about the Buddha land his father governs. Such a man, no matter how capable he may be, is not at all worthy of being a human.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 76-77

A person who accurately knows the three periods of past, present, and future is called a sage. The three kings, five emperors, and three sages of Confucianism know only the present time but do not know the past and future. An unworldly man of faith other than Buddhism is said to have known eighty thousand years of the past and eighty thousand years of the future, thus he is considered to be a kind of sage. And yet because even the Two Vehicles of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha of Hinayāna Buddhism know the logic of cause and effect of the past and the future, they are the sages superior to unworldly non-Buddhists. Bodhisattvas of Hinayāna Buddhism have passed a myriad of kalpa (aeons) of the past and Bodhisattvas of Common teaching of Mahāyāna Buddhism have passed Dōyujin kalpa (innumerable aeons). Bodhisattvas of Distinct teaching of Mahāyāna Buddhism know the past of Tagutei kalpa (countless aeons) on each stage. In the “Parable of a Magic City” chapter in the theoretical section of the Lotus Sūtra, Śākyamuni Buddha revealed the past of three thousand dust particle kalpa. This is the reason why the Lotus Sūtra is the unsurpassed teaching of all the teachings of the Buddha.

Shōnin Chi-sanze-ji, The Sage Knows the Three Periods, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Disciples, Volume 5, Pages 19

The Sūtra of Infinite Meaning is the introduction to the Lotus Sūtra. It is stated in this sūtra that counting the years of preaching by the Buddha one by one beginning with the Flower Garland Sūtra at the seat of enlightenment under the Bodhi tree to this Sūtra of Infinite Meaning on Mt. Sacred Eagle, 40 years or so has passed. During those years, the Buddha preached the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Āgama sūtras, the Hōdō sūtras, and the Wisdom Sūtra. What were preached in them are teachings for the Three Vehicles (śrāvaka, Pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattvas) and Five Vehicles (Three Vehicles plus human beings and heavenly beings). The practices preached in these sūtras, according to the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, requires many kalpa (aeons) of bodhisattva practice. The sūtra divides the Buddha’s preaching into two categories of zui-jii (preaching according to His own mind) and zui-tai (according to the mind of others—listeners), stating that the Buddha’s preaching during the 40 years or so is of zui-tai (preached according to the capacity of the people who listened to Him). Therefore, there is a difference in meaning between the preaching of the pre-Lotus period and that of the Lotus period even though He may have used the same language, says the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning. Accordingly, the Lotus Sūtra ensures one will attain immediate Buddhahood while other sūtras require many kalpa (aeons) of practice. Regarding rebirth in the Pure Land, too, there is a difference between the Lotus Sūtra and other sūtras.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 15-16

The teachings expounded for forty-two years in the pre-Lotus sūtras were all expedients designed to lead people to the Lotus Sūtra. We know this because the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning says: “I sat under the bodhi tree for six years to attain enlightenment! Though I expounded various expedient teachings to guide people, I did not reveal the True Dharma for forty years or so. The expedient teachings expounded for forty years or so are the Agama sūtras, which I expounded first to teach the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths of suffering, and the way to Nirvana. I then expounded the twelve types of scriptures of the Hōdō period, the Great Wisdom Sūtra, and the Flower Garland Sūtra while in the ocean-imprint meditation.”

Personally, I think that the order in which the Buddha preached was the Flower Garland Sūtra followed by the Agama sūtras, the Hōdō sūtras, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Lotus Sūtra, and finally the Nirvana Sūtra. To rank them in the order of profundity in doctrine from superficial to profound, it should be the Agama sūtras, the Hōdō sūtras, the Wisdom Sūtra, the Flower Garland Sūtra, and the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras. So it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra and the Nirvana Sūtra.

Ichidai Shōgyō Tai-I, Outline of All the Holy Teachings of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Page 79-80

Grand Master Dengyō, the primogenitor of exoteric and esoteric Buddhism in Japan has said in his Hokke Shūku (Outstanding Principles of the Lotus Sūtra): “The canons of other sects, too, preach some ultimate reality, which is the mother of Buddhahood. However, those scriptures have motherly love but no strictness of the father. Only the Tendai Lotus Sect, with both its strictness and love, is the parent of all sages, wise men, those who have much to learn and nothing to learn, as well as of those who aspire for enlightenment.”

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 77

All the worlds throughout the universe, therefore, are the dependent reward while all living beings are the principal reward. The dependent reward is like the shadow of the principal reward. As there is no shadow without a substance, there is no dependent reward without the principal reward. However, the principal reward is also created by the dependent reward. We should know that the eyes are created by the east, the tongue by the south, the nose by the north, the body by the four directions, and the mind by the center. Accordingly, when the five sense organs of a living being are about to be destroyed, it is inevitable that the earth in four directions or in the center trembles. In other words, when a country is about to be destroyed, there will inevitably be such omens as the crumbling of mountains, death of plants, and the drying up of rivers.

Zuisō Gosho, Writing on Omens, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 121

Having faith in the Lotus Sūtra involves suffering and punishment by the shogunate. There is no doubt that the moon wanes and waxes and the tide ebbs and rises. Though at the moment I endure punishment and suffering, they will return to me as merit. Why would I lament a joy such as this?

Toki-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Toki, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Biography and Desciples, Volume 5, Page 11