The Lotus Sutra's benefits

1. Giving the prophecy of enlightenment in near future to the men of the two vehicles (chap. 3)
2. Showing (or Opening ) Buddha's original enlightenment and his immeasurable life span (chap 16)
3. Praising that benefits that will accrue even to the fiftieth person who rejoices upon hearing of it (chap 18)
4. Persons who merely hear the name the Lotus Sutra may attain Buddhahood in this lifetime (chap 17)
5. Shakyamuni showing that Devadatta was his teacher in a past life (chap 12)
6. Manjushiri showing that the eight-year-old dragon king's daughter was his student in a past life (chap 12)
7. The promise that anyone who hears only one phrase of the LS shall attain Buddhahood (chap 10)
8. Anyone who protects the name of the LS will receive innumerable benefits (chap 26)
9. Women who hear the chapter of Medicine King shall never be reborn as women (chap 23)
10. Anyone who hears, reads and recites the LS shall know neither old age nor death (chap 23)
11. Those who carry out five practices shall get to the stage of resemblance to enlightenment (chap 19)
12. Those who carry out the four Peaceful Practices shall get into copper-wheel in their dream (chap 14)
13. Those who vex or trouble the practitioners of the LS will have their heads split into seven pieces (chap 26)
14. Those who give alms to the practitioners of the LS will enjoy good fortune surpassing the ten honorific titles (chap 10)
15. Among the sutras Shakyamuni has preached, now preach, and will preach, the LS is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand. (chap 11)
16. Offering ten similes to praise the teachings of the LS. (chap 23)
17. Maitreya not knowing any single one of Bodhisattvas of the Earth. (chap 15)
18. The Omen of Lotus in the east which even Manjushiri didn't understand (chap 24)
19. Teaching major world system dust particle kalpas to bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching. (chap 07)
20. Giving a metaphor of numberless major world system dust particle kalpas to show the original enlightenment (chap 16)

Nichiren validates the Lotus Sutra and the Lotus Sutra validates Nichiren (Nichiren's advent). 

What are some of the benefits of faith in the Lotus Sutra? Parking Spaces? No. When we receive merits from Lord Shakyamuni Buddha we receive the merits needed to become a Buddha. In the Lotus Sutra Chapter Twenty-five, The Universal Gate of Kanzeon Bosatsu Fumonbon, we learn through fantastic imagery the promises of benefits that we inherit from Kannon or Kanzeon Bosatsu, literally, He Who Observes the Sounds of the World Bodhisattva. The Buddha describes the perils from which Avalokitesvara will save the people who have faith in the Lotus Sutra and these perils are repeated in the verse section [although they do not exactly match those in the prose section]. Please note how Nichiren Daishonin validates the Lotus Sutra by living the promises of the Sutra 

Those who have faith in the Lotus Sutra and Lord Shakyamuni Buddha, in the following situations will be free from harm like Nichiren who lived nearly every line of the Lotus Sutra literally: 

PROSE SECTION 

1. If a man falls into a great fire, he will not burn. [unlike High Priest Nikkyo of the Nichiren Shoshu] 

2. If he is carried away by a great wave, he will find a shallow place. [exactly as Nichiren Daishonin during the Izu exile]

3. If he enters the sea in search of riches and a black wind carries the ship to the realm of the Rakushasa, he will be saved. [Nichiren Daishonin on his voyage to Sado] 

4. If he is about to be murdered, swords and weapons will break. [Nichiren Daishonin at Tatsunokuchi] 

5. If hordes of yakshas and Rakushasa try to do him harm, they will not even be able to see him. [Nichiren Daishonin as he escaped from Seichoji and Matsubagayatsu]

6. Regardless of guilt, if he is in fetters or stocks, they will be broken. [Nichiro in prison] 

7. If he is full of lust, he will be cured of it. [Nichiren remained a true celibate priest throughout his life] 

8. If bandits find travelers with precious gems on a dangerous road, the travelers will be saved. [Nichiren Daishonin at Komatsubara]

9. If full of anger, he will lose it. [Nichiren towards his faithful disciples]

10. If full of folly, he will be cured of it. [Nichiren Daishonin having chanted the Nembutsu]

11. If a woman wants a son, she will bear one. 

12. If a woman wants a daughter, she will bear one. 

VERSE SECTION 

1. If a man is pushed into a Pit of fire, the pit will turn into a pool. [Nichiren Daishonin's escape from his burning hut during the persecution at Matsubagayatsu,]

2. If he is afloat on a great sea in which there are fish, dragons, and ghosts, waves will not drown him. [Izu exile]

3. If he is pushed off the peak of Mount Sumeru, he will dwell in space like the sun. [Nichiren's (Sun Lotus') repeated exiles and banishments] 

4. If he is chased down a diamond mountain by an evil man, he will not be harmed. [Nichiren Daishonin's escape from Tojo Kagenobu on mount Kiyasumi]

5. If he is surrounded by bandits waving swords, their thoughts will be transformed to kindly ones. [Tatsunokuchi persecution]

6. If he faces execution, the executioner's sword will break. [Tatsunokuchi] 

7. If he is in a pillory with his hands and feet in stocks, he will gain release. [Nichiro]

8. If someone harms him through spells, curses, or poisons, the victim can send them back to plague their authors. [A). Nichiren was given food laced with poison. Before he ate it, he laid it down on a tree stump. A dog came by, took a few bites, and became violently ill. B). Those who suffered untoward deaths for persecuting Nichiren Daishonin] 

9. If he encounters Rakushasa, dragons, or ghosts, they will not harm him. [Nichiren encountering evil men on a daily basis, many of whom became his disciples]

10. If he is surrounded by beasts with sharp claws and teeth, they will flee. 

11. If confronted with snakes or insects breathing fire, the sound of one's voice will dispel them. 

12. If threatened with thunder, hail, or lightning, he will remain dry. [Nichiren in his many dilapidated huts]. 

13. If one has misfortunes and troubles, one can be rescued. [Nichiren on a daily basis] 

14. If one’s destiny is the world of hells, ghosts, or beasts, it can be changed. [Nichiren, according to Nichiren himself, in the Opening of the Eyes, The Selection of the Time, and Letter from Sado, for example]

15. The pains of birth, old age, sickness, and death can be alleviated. [Nichiren Daishonin as our example]. 

16. Darkness will be dispelled by the light of wisdom, which also subdues winds and flames. [Nichiren Daishonin subduing the Mongols with the Great Wind]

17. The agony of civil disputes on the battlefield will be avoided. [Komatubara persecution]

In the verse section, perils thirteen through sixteen are written in a different form from the earlier ones and are more comprehensive and general. 

The seventeenth peril is written in the same manner as the earlier ones but contains two distinct perils, as does the sixteenth. 

Between the prose and the verse section's lists of dangers, is a question by Aksayamati Bodhisattva about how Kannon moves within the world. The Buddha replies that the bodhisattva takes many different forms, as does Fine Sound Bodhisattva, described in chapter twenty-four. Kannon (Avalokitesvara) can appear as a Buddha, pratyekabuddha, or Sravaka; as Brahma, Indra, Lsvara, Mahesvara, Mahesana, or Vairsavana; as a minor king, rich man, householder, official, Brahman, bhikshu, Bhikshsuni, upasaka, Upasaka, wife of a householder, wife of a rich man, wife of an official, wife of a Brahman, boy, or girl; or as a god, dragon, yaksha, gandharva, Asura, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga; as a human, nonhuman, or Vajrapani. Aksayamati then presents a necklace to Kannon, who accepts and divides it, giving one part to Prabhutaratna and the other to Sakyamuni. The chapter ends with a statement that eighty-four thousand of the assembly embarked on the path to enlightenment.