The last of the eight major hells, the Great Avīci Hell, is also called the Hell of Incessant Suffering because sinners in this hell suffer interminable pain. It is located at the bottom of the realm of desire, beneath the Hell of Great Burning Heat. The length and breadth of the hell are 80,000 yojana each, and is surrounded by sevenfold iron castles. The extreme torment of this hell is beyond description except that it is 1,000 times as harsh as the sufferings of the seven major hells mentioned above or all the sufferings anywhere combined. The suffering is such that to sinners in this hell those sinners suffering in the Hell of Great Burning Heat appear as though they were heavenly beings playing in the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven. The stench from this hell would kill off all the heavenly and human beings on the four continents and six heavens in the realm of desire who smelled it. Only because two mountains called Shussen and Mossen block the stench of this hell from reaching the human world can human beings stay alive. If the Buddha were to preach on the torments of this hell in detail, humans listening to Him would die of agony, vomiting blood. This probably explains why the Buddha did not preach on this in detail.

The life span of sinners in this hell is one medium kalpa. Suppose the length of time equivalent to the period during which a man’s life span decreases by one in 100 years from infinite to ten years, and then increases from 10 to 80,000 at the same rate. The time required for this decrease and increase is called a small kalpa, twenty of which constitute a medium kalpa. Those who fall into this Hell of Incessant Suffering are subjected to the great torment of this worst hell for this long period of time.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 111-112.

There are many people who put faith in the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. Yet as I often experience great difficulties, both public and private, some change their faith after a year or two, even becoming my enemies who shoot arrows at me. Some only outwardly appear to be believers of the Lotus Sūtra, while others believe in the Lotus Sūtra in heart but not in practice.

Śākyamuni Buddha, was the legitimate son of King Śuddhodana, a great king who governed the entire continent of Jambudvīpa, and all of its 84,210 countries. The kings in Jambudvīpa all submitted to King Śuddhodana, and he had an innumerable number of domestic servants. Nevertheless, Śākyamuni, at the age of 19, left the palace of King Śuddhodana and entered Mt. Daṇḍaloka, where he spent 12 years practicing asceticism. He was then accompanied by only five men: Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, Aśvajit, Bhadrika, Dasābala-Kāśyapa and Mahānāman, two of whom left him in the sixth year and the remaining three also deserted him during the last six years. In the end he continued his training alone until he attained Buddhahood. The Lotus Sūtra is harder than this to have faith in. Therefore, the sūtra itself preaches that it is “difficult to put faith in and difficult to understand.” It is also preached in the sūtra (“The Teacher of the Dharma” chapter) that the great difficulties that abound today in the Latter Age of Degeneration surpass those that occurred during the lifetime of the Buddha. Therefore, the practicer of this sūtra who perseveres through the adversities today acquires more merit than giving alms to the Buddha over the course of a kalpa (aeons).

Shijō Kingo-dono Gohenji, Response to Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers I, Volume 6, Page 152

The late Shichirō Gorō is different from these people in Japan today. He obeyed his father from childhood and chanted “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” before the age of twenty. I am sure he must have attained Buddhahood because it is stated in the Lotus Sūtra: “All those who listen to the Lotus Sūtra will never fail to become a Buddha.” If you really love your son, you should chant “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” and pray so that you, your husband, the late Lord Nanjō, and your son, the late Gorō, will be reborn in the same place. One seed will be the same one-seed all the way; a different seed will be a different seed all the way. If you plant the same seed of the Lotus Sūtra in your heart, you will be reborn in the same land of the Lotus Sūtra as your husband and son. When you three meet again face to face, how happy you will be!

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 180

Lord Śākyamuni declared that those who speak ill of and abuse a propagator of the Lotus Sūtra in the latter-day period of the evil world would be many hundreds of thousands of billions times more sinful than those who harm Him (the Buddha) for as long as a kalpa. Nevertheless, the sovereign of Japan and his people persistently harbor enmity against such a propagator more than against their parents’ enemies and their enemies from previous lives or revile him more than they do traitors and murderers. Yet the earth does not split open to swallow them or thunder does not shatter them into bits. I wonder why?

Is it because I, Nichiren, am not a true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? If so, it is regrettable indeed. How sad it is for me to be accused by everyone without time for rest in this life and fall in evil realms in the next life! Also, if I, Nichiren, am not a true practicer of the Lotus Sūtra, who is the upholder of the One Vehicle teaching, the Lotus Sūtra? Is Hōnen, who advised people to discard the Lotus Sūtra in his Collection of Passages on the Nembutsu; Shan-tao, who said in the Praise of Rebirth in the Pure Land that not even one out of 1,000 people can attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sūtra; or Tao-ch’o, who declared in the Collection of Passages Concerning Rebirth in the Pure Land that no one attains Buddhahood by means of the Lotus Sūtra, the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra? Or, is Grand Master Kōbō, who stated in his Treatise on the Ten Stages of Mind that practicing the Lotus Sūtra was merely a joke, the practicer of the Lotus Sūtra?

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 206

You should always keep in mind that in considering the comparative superiority and profundity between the Lotus Sūtra and pre-Lotus sūtras, Grand Master T’ien-t’ai established three distinctions between the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sūtra and the provisional teachings in pre-Lotus sūtras. Of the three, what I, Nichiren, expound is the third doctrine regarding the question of whether or not the relationships between the Lord Buddha and His disciples are eternal.

Some scholars in China and Japan, beginning with Grand Master T’ien-t’ai, preached the first and second doctrines regarding the capacity of listeners and completeness in the Buddha’s guidance as vaguely as a dream. Nobody, however, has ever preached the third doctrine. Grand Master T’ien-t’ai explained the differences among the three in his Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra, and Grand Master Miao-lê stated in his Commentary on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra that the first two were doctrines of the theoretical section while the third doctrine was of the essential section. Grand Master Dengyō held almost the same opinion. None of them, however, insisted on centering on the third doctrine. After all they wanted to give us the merit of doing it in the Latter Age of Degeneration. It is stated in the 23rd chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, in the “Previous Life of the Medicine King Bodhisattva”: “The teaching of the Lotus Sūtra will be spread widely in the fifth 500-year period (beginning of the Latter Age).” It must have foretold the revelation of this doctrine today in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 278

The moon does not reflect on dirty water, and birds do not build nests in dead trees. Likewise, Śākyamuni Buddha does not reside in the body of a woman without faith. However, a woman who believes in the Lotus Sūtra is like a body of pure water. The moon, Śākyamuni Buddha, reflects upon it.

To put it figuratively, a woman can’t feel her pregnancy in the beginning, but after a while she begins to suspect it until she knows for sure that she is pregnant. An attentive woman can even tell whether she has conceived a boy or a girl.

The same could be said about the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra. If we believe in the merit of “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” Śākyamuni Buddha will be conceived in our hearts before we know it, just as a woman is pregnant before she knows it. We can’t feel it in the beginning, but as the months pass we begin dreaming of the Buddha residing in our hearts, until we feel happiness within us. There are many doctrines, but I will stop talking about them for now.

Matsuno-dono Nyōbō Go-henji, A Response to the Wife of Lord Matsuno, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 242-244

QUESTION: Regarding the true practicer of Buddhism, how does one preserve one’s faith?

ANSWER: According to the Lotus Sūtra, the Buddha first preached various provisional teachings, which were later merged into the Lotus Sūtra, the only way to Buddhahood. All the people in Japan misinterpret this, saying that since various provisional teachings were merged in the Lotus Sūtra, they all are equal in value or in depth of meaning. Thus, it is said, reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha (the Buddha of Infinite Life), chanting mystic mantra words, practicing Zen meditation, or keeping and reciting the names of any of the sūtras, Buddhas, and bodhisattvas are equivalent to practicing the Lotus Sūtra, and therefore those who practice any of these are true practicers of Buddhism.

I say this is a great mistake. After all, true practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha. Upon obtaining Buddhahood, our Lord Śākyamuni Buddha wanted to preach the Lotus Sūtra, the sole way leading to Buddhahood. However, since the capacity of the people to understand and have faith in it was not ripe, He at first preached various provisional teachings for forty years or so as an expedient. Only then did He preach the Lotus Sūtra, revealing His true intention. It is clearly stated in the Sūtra of Infinite Meaning, introductory to the Lotus Sūtra, that various provisional sūtras are expedient while the Lotus is true. A passage in it reads: “Through the expedient, the truth has not been revealed for over forty years.”

Having fully understood why the Buddha first preached the provisional teaching before revealing the true teaching, 80,000 bodhisattvas such as Great Adornment declared in the sūtra that no matter how long one practices the expedient teachings of the pre-Lotus sūtras, Buddhahood will never be attained. Then, in the Lotus Sūtra proper, it is preached in the second chapter: “The Buddha revealed the truth only after a long period of preaching provisional teachings.” He also declares in the same chapter: “There is only one teaching, neither second nor third teaching except those preached as expedient I now simply discard the expedient teachings.” And we are admonished in the third chapter “not to believe in even a word or phrase except in the Lotus Sūtra.”

From these words it should be clear that the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sūtra alone is the great dharma enabling all people to attain Buddhahood, while all other sūtras should be given no value whatsoever.

Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō, True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 84

Regarding the idea that all sūtras preached before the last half (essential section) of the Lotus Sūtra are Hinayāna, even the 24 venerable masters who transmitted the dharma including such great commentators as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu in India did not expound it for more than 1,500 years following the death of Śākyamuni Buddha, although they knew it. In China, it has been more than 1,000 years since Buddhism was introduced, but no one knew about it, except Grand Masters T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lê, who roughly talked about it. They, however, did not go so far as to reveal its truth. The same was true with Grand Master Dengyō of Japan.

Contemplating this, I, Nichiren, see this idea restated in the Nirvana Sūtra, “Jumyō” chapter: “Suppose someone denies the eternity of the Three Treasures (the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), such a man will lose his three refuges in the purity of Buddhism and all the merit of upholding the precepts. He will never gain the rewards for practicing the three kinds of teachings for śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha and bodhisattvas.” This scriptural statement in the Nirvana Sūtra apparently expounds what is preached in “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra.

Following this statement, the Nirvana Sūtra cites a parable saying that as a tree is necessarily accompanied by its shadow, the Buddha is believed in because of His eternal life. The teaching of “The Life Span of the Buddha” chapter is likened to a tree, and pre-Lotus sūtras as well as the first half of the Lotus Sūtra are likened to the shadow of the tree.

Toki Nyūdō-dono Go-henji: Hongon Shukkai-shō, A response to Lay riest Lord Toki: Treatise on Overcoming Illusions of the Triple World by Provisional Teachins, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 277

A drop of ocean water is a delicacy that includes the five elements of flavor. Moreover, whereas a drop of river water is like an ordinary pill, a drop of ocean water is a panacea. In this regard “Namu Amida-butsu” is a drop of river water while “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō” is a drop of ocean water. The Amitābha Sūtra is a drop of minor river water while a character of the Lotus Sūtra is a drop of ocean water.

The sins of the late Lord Shichirōgorō accumulated during his life span of 16 years (in a family of warriors, whose duty is to kill living beings) are as minimal as a drop of a small river water while his faith in “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō,” though for a short while, is as precious as a drop of ocean water. Thus, there should be no doubt about the attainment of Buddhahood by the late Lord Shichirōgorō.

Ueno-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ueno, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Followers II, Volume 7, Page 48