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Nichiren Daishonin gave detailed advice to Shijo Kingo about his life and daily behavior for the time in which he lived. Shijo Kingo was always praised by Nichiren Daishonin for his pure faith. 

Nichiren Daishonin said to Shijo Kingo: “You must not go out alone at night under any circumstance.” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1175). President Ikeda explained that passage as follows: “Never have a relaxed attitude and think that you will be protected no matter what, because you embrace faith in and chant daimoku to the Gohonzon. Life is not that simple. The essence of faith is how we should live according to the compass of Buddhism.” President Ikeda also said: “It is necessary to exercise caution if you are invited to a party or to go out drinking”. (Buddhism in Action, Vol. III, p. 57-58).

In the General Stone Tiger Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin also says to Shijo Kingo: “If you should have to travel, do not spare the cost of a good horse”. President Ikeda explains this as follows: “You do not have to indulge in luxury, but you should ride in a safe car” (Buddhism in Action, Vol. III, p. 59).

Also in the Gosho Nichiren Daishonin says: “Never die in a disgraceful death” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1175), about which President Ikeda says: “You must never lose your precious life in an accident because of negligence”. 

Today, we must always be mindful to display a humanistic spirit. Nichiren Daishonin characterizes that phrase by saying: “Prudent caution must always be taken in the depths of your heart”, which President Ikeda explains as follows: “It is quite natural that we pray to the Gohonzon for everything and base our existence on the Gohonzon. What matters is how, accordingly, we exercise judicious caution in every aspect of our daily lives.”

How Faith Works – Perspective of President Ikeda’s Guidance

“Buddhism speaks of a pledge from the remote past. Such a pledge is the foundation that enables us to drive away darkness and live in accord with the essential nature of phenomena. Specifically, this means a heart that yearns for the happiness of oneself and other and for the accomplishment of the great vow for kosen-rufu. 

“Absolutely nothing can obstruct the spirit of a person who has awakened to this original vow” (Living Buddhism, February 2003, p. 38)

“Prayer in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism means to chant daimoku based on a pledge or vow. ‘I will realize kosen-rufu. Therefore, I will show magnificent actual proof in my work. Please enable me to somehow bring forth my greatest potential.’ This is what our prayer should be like” (New Human Revolution, Vol. 1, p. 250)

Question is not ‘When am I strong and when am I weak? From the standpoint of Buddhism, a person is strong when they have something important to do. People with nothing significant to do can never win over their own weaker natures. That’s why one of the greatest benefits we can gain from our practice is an awakening sense of purpose.

President Ikeda said: “Nichiren Daishonin was stronger than anyone. What was the source of his strength? It was his concern for the people.”

Compassion is not the result of being strong; rather, strength is the outcome of compassion. This is a very different way of looking at life, and one that gives us all the potential to do whatever it is we need to do (adapted from Gosho lecture by Greg Martin). 

How Faith Works – Attitude in Faith

“The key to maintaining faith is the solemn attitude that ‘now is the last moment of one’s life.’ This means having such faith that even if your life were to end now, you would have no regrets. When we have such completely pure, dedicated faith that we have no regrets in life, we become one with the Mystic Law. By maintaining such faith, we can attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.” (Living Buddhism, May 2003, p. 28)

“There are many elements involved in a prayer being answered, but the important thing is to keep praying until it is. By continuing to pray, you can reflect on yourself with unflinching honesty and begin to move your life in a positive direction on the path of earnest, steady effort. Even if your prayer doesn’t produce results immediately, your continual prayer will at some time manifest itself in a form greater than you had ever hoped.” (Faith Into Action, p. 151-152).

“Those who do not have their faith and their daily lives firmly rooted in reality will eventually be defeated. In short, those who win in faith are those who win in daily life. And the fundamental source of victory in daily life is faith.” (Buddhism in Action, Vol. II, p. 37)

“One should pray earnestly to the Gohonzon about his desires with total honesty and straightforwardness. Beyond that, since we are human beings, I do not deny the role of pride or appearance in secular affairs, but honest faith in the Gohonzon should be the basis of one’s existence. Nothing is more delicate than the human mind. However, if one can only maintain determined faith toward the Gohonzon and carry through with his practice, that in itself will become the means to break through any difficult.” (Buddhism in Action, Vol. II, p. 39)

“We can further increase our good fortune when we maintain ‘faith full of joy’ and ‘faith full of gratitude.’ People who always complain and feel dissatisfied, and accordingly act only from a sense of duty, will not feel invigorated or accumulate benefits. In contrast, those who have a positive ichinen or the spirit that they will do anything related to faith with joy and courage will gain great blessings from the Gohonzon.” (Buddhism in Action, Vol. II, p. 91)

How Faith Works – From the Perspective of the Gosho

“Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, takes these blessings and, in the form of the words that make up the Lotus Sutra, brings them to the mouths of all living beings for them to taste. A baby does not know the difference between water and fire, and cannot distinguish medicine from poison. But when the baby sucks milk, its life is nourished and sustained … if one listens to even one character or one phrase of the Lotus Sutra, one cannot fail to attain Buddhahood.” (Nichiren Daishonin, “Letter to Horen,” WND, p. 513)

Just as a baby sucks milk and gets nourishment, when we chant our life is nourished and we grow. This is how faith works! A baby doesn’t always know that milk is good for him or her but instincts tell the baby to take the nourishment – our problems, our hopes, our dreams all urge us to chant and, like babies, if we do we will manifest our Buddhahood, just like babies that grow strong manifest their adulthood! It is a natural process. 

How Faith Works – From the Perspective of the Lotus Sutra

1. “Since Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters believe solely in the Lotus Sutra, honestly discarding expedient means and not accepting even a single verse of the other sutras, exactly as the Lotus teaches, they can enter the treasure tower of the Gohonzon.” (WND, p 832 [para 6])

2. In this letter, the Daishonin states, “However wretched a beggar you might become, never disgrace the Lotus Sutra”, and defines a basic attitude in faith: “No matter what social position one occupies or adversity one faces, it is vital to continue in faith, never compromising one’s integrity as a votary of the Lotus Sutra.” (“A Warning Against Begrudging One’s Fief,” WND, p. 825)

3. “Understanding that the votary who practices the Lotus Sutra exactly as the Buddha teaches will without fail be attacked by the three powerful enemies” (from “On Practicing the Buddha’s Teachings,” WND, p. 395). “When I examine these passages, I know that, if I do not call forth these three enemies of the Lotus Sutra, then I will not be the votary of the Lotus Sutra” (from “The Teaching, Capacity, Time, and Country,” WND, p. 53).

4. The doctrine of the Three Great Secret laws reveals the seed or teaching of Buddhahood that is hidden, or implicit (hence the term “secret”) deep within the text of the Life Span chapter. This accords with the essential teaching meant to be spread in the period after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha that he entrusted to Bodhisattva Superior Practices as described in the Supernatural Powers of the Thus Come One (twenty-first) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Daishonin was aware that he was meant to fulfill the mission of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, who had been entrusted by the Buddha with his teaching. With this awareness, he read the Lotus Sutra through his life, that is, with his every action, by propagating it even while enduring great persecutions. As a result, within his life he manifested the Mystic Law from time without beginning implicit deep within the text of the Life Span chapter: 

In his work “On the Three Great Secret Laws,” Nichiren Daishonin says, “I explained that the Lotus Sutra is the one great reason for which the Buddhas appear in the world. This is because it is the sutra that contains these three great secret laws.” (GZ, p. 1023) 

“As this passage implies, the Lotus Sutra constitutes the purpose for Shakyamuni’s appearance in this world because it contains, deeply implicit in its passages, the Mystic Law or the seed of Buddhahood. This seed is Nam Myoho-renge-kyo, which The Great Secret Laws embody. To spread this teaching is to realize the purpose of the Buddha’s advent, which is to enable all people to attain Buddhahood. Nichiren Daishonin referred to the Three Great Secret Laws as the ‘three important matters in the ‘Life Span’ chapter.” (“Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment," WND, p. 317)

6. “In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni expounded various profound doctrines , such as the ‘replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle’ and ‘opening the near and revealing the distant,’ to serve as clear mirrors for observing the mind. In this way, he urged people to develop faith.” (President Ikeda, Living Buddhism, 5/20/03)

7. “The Buddha wrote that one should become the master of one’s mind rather than let one’s mind master oneself. This is what I mean when I emphatically urge you to give up even your body, and never begrudge even your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. Nam Myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” (WND, pp. 389-390).

8. “Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leas all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death. This is a matter of the utmost importance for Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters and this is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra.” (WND, p. 216)

9. “Here he is saying we should realize that on the most fundamental level, there is no difference between the eternal Buddha, the Lotus Sutra, which is the teaching of universal enlightenment, and each of us.” (Saito)

10. “He is explaining what it means to accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra. The eternal Buddha, the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and each of us are all manifestations and expressions of the Mystic Law. All equally reveal the true aspect of all phenomena. Having confidence in this truth means embracing the Lotus Sutra.” (Pres. Ikeda)

11. In that regard, he says: “My followers are now able to accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra because of the strong ties they formed with it in their past existences. They are certain to obtain the fruit of Buddhahood in the future. The heritage of the Lotus Sutra flows within the lives of those who never forsake it in any lifetime whatsoever — whether in the past, the present, or the future.” (WND, p. 217; Morinaka)

12. By accepting and upholding the Lotus Sutra in the present lifetime, we will enjoy the benefit of the Mystic law transcending life and death over the three existences — for all eternity. (Saito)

13. The seeds of the Oga Lotus survived, sprouted and produced flowers even after the passage of thousands of years. Likewise, the seeds of the Lotus of the Mystic law (Myoho-renge) will not be destroyed even if one should fall into a state of hellish suffering. (Morinaka)

14. In “How those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra,” the Daishonin says, “We revere Myoho-renge-kyo inherent in our own life as the object of devotion” (WND, p. 887). With this awareness, we chant daimoku. The object of devotion is Myoho-renge-kyo, and the daimoku that we chant with faith in the object of devotion is Myoho-renge-kyo. Myoho-renge-kyo is the common name for both the Buddha nature that is equally inherent in the lives of all living beings and for the Mystic law to which all Buddhas in the three existences are awakened. Accordingly, he says that, by chanting this daimoku even once, we can call forth the Law to which all Buddhas are enlightened as well as the Buddha nature of all living beings. Its benefit is therefore infinite and boundless. (Pres. Ikeda)

15. The “Belief and Understanding” (fourth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra explains that the four great voice-hearers, after hearing the theoretical teaching, rejoice in embracing the Mystic law, saying, “This cluster of unsurpassed jewels has come to us unsought” (LS Chapter 4, p. 87) Citing this passage, the Daishonin says, “They represent the world of the voice-hearer that is within ourselves.” (WND, p. 365)

16. Next, citing the passage in the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter that states that a person who embraces the Lotus Sutra thereby offers alms to Shakyamuni, Many Treasures and all Buddhas of the ten directions, the Daishonin says: “Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions represent the world of Buddhahood within ourselves. By searching them out within us, we can receive the benefits of all these Buddhas.” (WND, p. 365)

17. In conclusion: I have compiled these words from WND, Living Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra and my own realization of the inseparable connection the Lotus Sutra has to the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin. Faith in Nichiren Daishonin and faith in the ultimate words of Shakyamuni (Lotus Sutra) are a continuous and inseparable phenomenon beginning with a true understanding of the Lotus Sutra.