Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are like the winter season for many hardships come incessantly. Winter is surely followed by spring. We have never heard nor seen that winter returned to fall. We have never heard that the believers in the Lotus Sutra go back to ordinary men. The Lotus Sutra says, “All people who listen to this sutra will attain Buddhahood.”

MYOICHI AMA GOZEN GOSHOSOKU

In the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra the Buddha preaches about Himself, “I have been the Buddha since the eternal past, 500 (million) dust-particle kalpa (aeons).” We, ordinary beings, do not remember things in the past even things that occurred after our birth. How much more so can we remember things in the past life or two! How can we believe anything that took place as far away in the past as 500 million dust-particle kalpa ago?

The Buddha also spoke to His disciple Śāriputra predicting his future Buddhahood, “You will become a Buddha in the future after passing numerous and unimaginable number of kalpa (aeons). You will then be called the Flower Light Buddha.” Predicting the future of Mahā-Kāśyapa, the Buddha stated, “In a future life, you will become a Buddha named the Light Buddha during your last incarnation.”

These scriptural statements, however, are the predictions of the future, which does not seem possible for us ordinary people to put faith in. Therefore, this Lotus Sūtra is difficult for us, ordinary men and women, who have no knowledge of things in the past or in the future. Hence it does not make sense for us to practice the Lotus Sūtra. Yet it may be possible for some people to believe this Lotus Sūtra if there was someone at present who could present factual proofs to people in front of their very eyes.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 50

Look at the world around us. There are many who say they have deep faith, but there is not one person in 10,000,000 who is sincere. The Nirvana Sūtra says: “Those who do not have faith in the Buddha Dharma and fall into evil paths are as many as the dirt on the earth; those who have faith in the Buddha Dharma and become Buddhas are as few as the amount of dirt piled on a fingernail.”

Minobu-san Gosho, Mt. Minobu Letter, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 129

According to Grand Master T’ien-tai, the Lotus Sūtra is hard to have faith in and hard to understand because what is preached in both the essential and theoretical sections of the sūtra are altogether different from what is preached in those sūtras expounded before the Lotus Sūtra. Grand Master Chang-an states: “The doctrine of ‘mutual possession of ten realms’ (jikkai gogu) is the very reason why the Buddha appeared in the world. How can we ordinary people be expected to put faith in the Lotus Sūtra and comprehend it easily?” Grand Master Dengyō maintains: “This Lotus Sūtra is most difficult to believe in and comprehend, because the sūtra preaches the true intent of the Buddha.”

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 133-134

The Lotus Sūtra is incomparable to any other sūtras preached by Śākyamuni Buddha during His lifetime. As stated in it, it is the sūtra understood only by Buddhas. This means that all those between the bodhisattva of the highest stage and the unenlightened are unable to understand it. Therefore, it is stated in the Great Wisdom Discourse attributed to Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna of India: “Those below Buddhas can attain Buddhahood only through faith.”

Ueno-dono Haha-ama Gozen Gohenji, A Response to My Lady the Nun, Mother of Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 178

After all, those with capacity to understand and have full faith in Buddhism who had the luck of listening to Śākyamuni Buddha preach the Lotus Sūtra in India must have accumulated a great deal of merit in their past lives. Moreover, they were fortunate to have been assisted and guided by the Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures, who had come to attest to the truth of Śākyamuni’s words, various Buddhas in manifestation who had come from all over the universe, numerous bodhisattvas who had sprung up from underground, and such distinguished disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha as Mañjuśrī and Maitreya. Nevertheless, there were some who were not converted to the Lotus Sūtra. This is the reason why those self-conceited, as many as 5,000, moved out when the Buddha was about to start preaching (chapter 2, “Expedients”), and why some men and gods were transferred to other worlds (chapter 11, “The Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures”). It was so even while Śākyamuni Buddha was alive. How much more difficult is it to believe in the Lotus Sūtra in the Ages of the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma after the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, not to say in the beginning of the Latter Age of Degeneration? If you could easily believe in the sūtra, it would mean that the sūtra is not the True Dharma.

Kanjin Honzon-shō, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Most Verable One, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 134

The Lotus Sūtra is called “Zui-jii,” namely it expounds the true mind of the Buddha. Since the Buddha’s mind is so great, even if one does not understand the profound meaning of the sūtra, one can gain innumerable merits by just reading it. Just as a mugwort among hemp plants grows straight and a snake in a tube straightens itself, if one becomes friendly with good people, one’s mind, behavior, and words become naturally gentle. Likewise, the Buddha thinks that those who believe in the Lotus Sūtra become naturally virtuous.

Zui-jii Gosho, The Sūtra Preached in Accordance to [the Buddha’s] Own Mind, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 155

The Nirvana Sūtra declares, “Rely on the dharma, not on the man; rely on the wisdom, not on the knowledge.” “Rely on the dharma” in this passage means to rely on the eternal dharma preached in the Lotus-Nirvana sūtras. “Rely not on the man” means not to rely on those who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana sūtras. Those who do not have faith in the Lotus Sūtra, even Buddhas and bodhisattvas, are not “good friends” (reliable teachers) for us in the Latter Age, not to mention commentators, translators and teachers after the extinction of the Buddha who do not believe in the Lotus-Nirvana Sūtras. “Rely on the wisdom” means to rely on the wisdom of the Buddha. “Rely not on the knowledge” means not to rely on the opinions of bodhisattvas in the highest stage and below.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Pages 59-60