QUESTION: You cannot burn anything by simply uttering the word, “fire,” repeatedly. Indeed, you have to use your hand in order to burn something. You cannot quench your thirst by just saying “water.” You need to use your mouth for drinking water. The same is true with the daimoku. I doubt it is possible to escape from the evil realms through the mere chanting of the daimoku, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Isn’t it necessary to understand what the daimoku means and what it entails?

ANSWER: When the sinew of a lion is used as a string for a koto, the sound is so powerful that all the strings made from other threads will snap. And when hearing of the sourness of a pickled plum, saliva fills the mouth without eating it. Such mysterious things happen even in worldly affairs. How then can it be denied that something wonderful happens with the Lotus Sūtra? Even a parrot is said to have been reborn in the realm of heavenly beings just by repeating the name of the Four Noble Truths of the Hinayāna teaching. Moreover, a man who dedicated himself to the Three Treasures – the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha – was able to escape the attack of a monster fish in the ocean. Imagine the wonders that would occur with the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, the essence of all the 80,000 teachings, and the eye of all the Buddhas. Do you still hold the belief that you cannot escape the four kinds of evil realms by just chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra?

Hokke Daimoku Shō, Treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 36

QUESTION: How can anyone escape the three evil realms just by hearing the daimoku, the title of the Lotus Sūtra, without understanding its meaning?

ANSWER: It is due to the meritorious acts of past lives that anyone happens to be born in a land where the Lotus Sūtra is known, hears the title of the sūtra and has faith in it. Even though he is ignorant and wicked in this life, because of the meritorious acts in previous lives, he can believe in this sūtra upon hearing its name. As a result he will not fall into evil realms.

Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 65

How does the mirror of the Lotus Sūtra reflect on those who put faith in the Lotus Sūtra during the Latter Age of Degeneration as stated in the sūtra? Śākyamuni Buddha unmistakably declares that they are the ones who made offering to ten trillion Buddhas in the past (in the “Teacher of the Dharma” chapter).

Concerned that ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration might not believe in the words uttered by just one Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures in the Treasure Purity World to the east far away beyond many countries took the trouble of making a trip to this world in order to see Śākyamuni Buddha and testify that the Lotus Sūtra contains nothing but the truth.

Could there be any doubt unresolved after this? Nevertheless, perhaps because ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration may not be wholly convinced, numerous Buddhas were summoned throughout the universe to stretch their long and wide tongues, which told nothing but the truth from incalculable kalpa (aeons) ago till today, upward high in the sky like Mt. Sumeru. This was indeed an event of great significance.

Therefore, if an ordinary person in the Latter Age of Degeneration believes in even one or two words of the Lotus Sūtra, it is equivalent to embracing the truth set forth by the tongues (dharmas) of Buddhas throughout the universe.

Hokke Shōmyō-shō, Treatise on the Testimony of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 184-185

There are two ways of meditating on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought.” One is the “theoretical” way, and the other is the “actual” way. Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō practiced the former. I, Nichiren, now practice the latter. As my method of practicing meditation is superior, difficulties befalling me are harder to bear. What T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō propagated was based on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought” expounded in the theoretical section [of the Lotus Sūtra], while what I, Nichiren, propagate is based on the doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought” in the essential section. The difference between the two is as great as the difference between heaven and earth. Remember this especially at the time of the last moment of life. Have an unwavering faith in the Lotus Sūtra and continue chanting the daimoku, which is the right way of meditation based on the “actual” doctrine of “3,000 existences contained in one thought. ”

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Chibyō-shō, A Response to Lay Priest Lord Toki: Treatise on Healing Sickness, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 257

Śākyamuni Buddha declared that, although the scriptures preached during the first forty years or so are as numerous as sands of the Ganges River, they did not reveal the truth, which would be explained in the Lotus Sūtra during the following eight years. At the moment the Buddha of Many Treasures emerged from the earth and attested it all to the truth. Then various Buddhas in manifestation (funjin) came crowding together from various worlds in the universe attesting it to be true and rejoicing by touching the Brahma Heaven with their long, wide tongues. The meaning of these words in the Lotus Sūtra is shiningly clear – brighter than the sun in the blue sky and the full moon at midnight. Look up and put your faith in it. Prostrate yourself before it and think hard about it.

Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 34

In the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, Miao-lê writes: “The single moment of understanding by faith is foremost of the practices in the essential section.” The first of the four depths of faith in the time when the sūtra was taught is the single moment of understanding by faith and the first of the five stages of practice after the Buddha’s passing away is the stage of rejoicing. Within these two can be found all 100 realms, 1,000 aspects, and 3,000 modes of existences as if in a treasure chest. They are the gate out of which all the Buddhas of all time and space emerge.

Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page101

T’ien-t’ai’s interpretation makes it clear that even great bodhisattvas who have thoroughly studied Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Flower Garland Sūtra, Hōdō sūtras and the Wisdom Sūtra and reached the rank next only to the Buddha is incomparably inferior to those who merely listened to the Lotus Sūtra and had a connection with it, namely ordinary people in the Latter Age of Degeneration who were unable to eliminate the evil passions and master even one supernatural power.

Shō Hokke Daimoku-shō, Treastise on Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 8