Nichiren Daishonin teaches in his most important work, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Object of Worship for the First Time in the Fifth 500-year Period after the Death of Sakyamuni Buddha ["by Nichiren a Buddhist Monk in Japan"]:
"Compared to this Eternal Buddha and His teaching preached in the essential section, those preached in the theoretical section, the pre-Lotus Sutra sutras, the Sutra of Infinite Meaning, and the Nirvana Sutra, namely all the sutras preached prior to, at the same time as, and after the Lotus Sutra, are easy to believe in and understand. It is because they are provisional teachings adjusted to meet the faith and comprehension of the unenlightened, while what is preached in the essential section transcends them all and is difficult to believe in and comprehend because it adheres to the true intent of Sakyamuni Buddha....
Compared to the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the second half of the preceeding chapter, and the first half of the following chapter, that which comprises the main discourse according to this division, all other teachings may be called Hinayana teachings, false teachings, teachings that do not lead to Buddhahood, or teachings in which the truth is not revealed Those who listen to these "expedient" teachings have little virtue and much illusion; they are immature in thinking, poor in heart, and solitary; like birds and beasts, they do not know the existence of the Eternal Buddha who is their father."
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