QUESTION: What is most essential of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sūtra?

ANSWER: Some people may say that each of its twenty-eight chapters is essential, while others say that chapters 2 and 16 are essential. Some say that chapter 2, “Expedients,” is essential, but others say that chapter 16, “The Life Span of the Buddha,” is. Still others say that the “open, show, perceive and enter” passage in chapter 2 explaining why the Buddhas appeared in this world, or the passage in the same chapter saying that all phenomena are ultimate reality is essential.

QUESTION: What do you think, then?

ANSWER: The essence of the Lotus Sūtra is “Namu Myōhōrengekyō. ”

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 51.

The Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva, considered to be the epilogue to the Lotus Sūtra, declares: “This Mahāyāna sūtra is each Buddha’s treasure store, the true intention of all the Buddhas in all the worlds in the universe of the past, present and future, and it is the seed that gives rise to all the Buddhas of the past, present and future;” and “This Mahāyāna sūtra is the eye of each Buddha and each Buddha is provided with the five eyes by this Mahāyāna sūtra. The threefold body of the Buddha is produced by this sūtra. This sūtra contains all Dharmas just as the great ocean contains all water. The immaculate threefold body of the Buddha is produced by this ocean-like sūtra. The three aspects of the Buddha’s body are like a field where gods and human beings can plant merit, and they are the first among those who are worthy to receive offerings.” According to these sūtra passages, the Buddha is born to the Lotus Sūtra, which is like a mother who gives birth. The Buddha is the body and the Lotus Sūtra is the spirit. Therefore, the eye-opening ceremony for portraits and wooden statues of the Buddha should be done with the Lotus Sūtra.

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 261-262

Please relay the following to Jōken-bō, Gijō-bō, and others: “It is not due to any worldly crime on my part that I came close to being killed on numerous occasions, banished twice, and nearly beheaded. As a youngster, I was once given the great wisdom from the Bodhisattva Space Repository in human form. Probably feeling pity for me due to my prayers pleading to become the wisest man in Japan, a large gem as big as the morning star was given to me, which I received in my right sleeve. As a result I was able to read all the scriptures of Buddhism, perceiving the comparative superiority among the eight schools and among all the scriptures of Buddhism.

Seichōji Daishū-chū, A Letter to the People of the Seichōji Temple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 5, Page 174

It is said in the Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 8 (chapter 28): “If someone will uphold, read, and recite this sūtra in the future, his wishes will be fulfilled, and he will receive a happy reward in his present life.” It is said also: “If someone reveres and praises the Lotus Sūtra, he will receive a real reward in his present life.” Regarding these two passages, the eight characters meaning “he will receive a happy reward in his present life” and another eight characters meaning “he will receive a real reward in this life;” if these sixteen characters are not realized and I, Nichiren, do not receive a great reward in this life; the golden worlds of the Buddha would be as worthless as the empty words of Devadatta, and the testimony of the Buddha of Many Treasures would be no different from the lies of Kokālika, the disciple of Devadatta. All the people who slander the Lotus Sūtra would not fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and there would be no Buddhas throughout life in the past, present and future. Therefore, I urge you, my disciples, to practice Buddhism as preached in the Lotus Sūtra without sparing your life and put Buddhism to proof once for all. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō! Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō!”

Senji-shō, Selecting the Right time: A Tract by Nichiren, the Buddha’s Disciple, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 249

The fifth hell is that of the Hell of Great Wailing located beneath the Hell of Wailing and is the same size. The torment in this hell is ten times more severe than that in the above mentioned four hells (Hell of Regeneration, Hell of Black Ropes, Hell of Crushing, Hell of Wailing).

Suppose 800 years in the human world equals to one day in the Creating Enjoyment Heaven, the fifth heaven in the realm of desire, where inhabitants live for 8,000 years. Suppose one day in this hell corresponds to 8,000 years in the Creating Enjoyment Heaven, those sinners who fall to the Hell of Great Wailing have to suffer for as long as 8,000 years.

Ken Hōbō-shō, A Clarificaton of Slandering the True Dharma, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 109.

According to the judgment of Śākyamuni Buddha, the Buddha of Many Treasures and the Buddhas all over the universe, “the Lotus Sūtra is the best of all the Buddhist scriptures which have been preached, are being preached or will be preached.”

Honzon Mondō Shō, Questions and Answers on the Honzon, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 262

[A]s we ask where do hell and the Buddha exist, some sūtras state that hell exists underground while others state that the Buddha exists to the west. Upon closer inspection, however, it is preached that both hell and the Buddha exist within our five-foot bodies. As proof of this, we sometimes disdain our fathers or neglect our mothers in our minds. This indicates that our minds contain the function of hell. It is like the seed of the lotus plant that contains both the flower and the fruit. The Buddha also stays in our minds. It is like the fire that exists within a flint and the fortune that can be found within a gem. We ordinary people cannot see our own eyelashes, which are too close, or the end of the sky, which is too far. Likewise, we are unaware of the Buddha residing in our own minds.

Omonsu-dono Nyōbō Gohenji, A Reply to the Wife of the Lord of Omonsu, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7, Followers II, Pages 109

In my hermitage on Mt. Minobu there are at least 40 persons and as many as 60. No matter how I refuse them, they come in saying that they are the siblings of someone who lives here, making it difficult to turn them down face to face. In my heart, I wish to recite the sūtras in a quiet hermitage with only a young priest. This situation is almost unbearable. I am even thinking of running away somewhere in the coming year. There is nothing as annoying as this.

Hyōesakan-dono Gohenji, Reply to Lord Ikegami Munenaga, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Page 102

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

[T]hose who have a fever can cool off lying beside a great body of cold water, but they will only continue to suffer if they lie by the side of a small body of water. Likewise, those who suffer from the five rebellious sins and sins of slandering the True Dharma and those who have no faith in Buddhism cannot cool the fever of their grave sins by lying beside a small body of water, that is, such sūtras as the Āgama sūtras, the Flower Garland Sūtra, the Sūtra of Meditation on the Buddha of Infinite Life, and the Great Sun Buddha Sūtra. If they lie on the large snow-covered mountain of the Lotus Sūtra, they can definitely cool even the fever of five rebellious sins and sins of slandering the True Dharma, and those of having no faith in Buddhism.

Therefore, the fool must necessarily believe in the Lotus Sūtra. It may be easy to chant titles of any sūtras. Still the difference in merit of chanting by the fool and the wise is as great as between heaven and earth. For instance, a thick rope cannot be cut even by a man of great power, but it can be easily cut even by a powerless man with a small sword. Or, a hard rock cannot be broken even by a powerful man with the blunt sword, but it can be easily broken even by a powerless man with a sharp sword. A medicine can cure sickness without the patients’ knowing its contents, but ordinary food cannot cure sickness. A secret medicine can extend the life of a dying person, but common medicine cannot do it, though it may heal sickness.

Hōon-jō, Essay on Gratitude, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 3, Pages 50-51.