"Aside from these people, some of my disciples might not be spared from this calamity of falling into the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death." -- Nichiren

"Our teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha..was the first Buddha to appear in this saha world of ours, which had previously not known any other Buddha, and he opened the eyes of all living beings. All other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, from east and west, from the lands of the ten directions, received instruction from him.....But now we have monks and nuns who, because of the teachers of the Shingon sect, have decided to look upon Dainichi Buddha as the supreme object of veneration and have demoted Shakyamuni Buddha to an inferior position, or who, because they believe in the Nembutsu, pay honor to Amida Buddha and thrust Shakyamuni Buddha aside.

There are three reasons why Shakyamuni Buddha, rather than any of the other Buddhas, has a relationship with all the people of this saha world. First of all, he is the sovereign of all the people of this saha world. Amida Buddha is not the monarch of this world.....second, Shakyamuni Buddha is the father and mother of all the people in this saha world....third, Shakyamuni is the original teacher of all the people in this saha world.....Amida, Yakushi, Dainichi and the others are the Buddhas of other realms; they are not the World-Honored Ones of this world of ours.

When the Buddhas are viewed in terms of the unchanging equality of their enlightenment, there are no distinctions to be made among them. But when they are viewed in terms of the ever- present differences among their preaching, then one should understand that each of them has his own realm among the worlds of the ten directions, and that they distinguish between those with whom they have already had some connection, and those with whom they have no such connection.

The sixteen royal sons of Daitsuchiso Buddha each took up their residence in a different one of the lands of the ten directions and there led their respective disciples to

salvation. [note: one of these sons was named "Amita", but this not the "Amida" of the Pure Land Sect who practiced under Sejizaio Buddha and who lives in the Western Pure Land, ten billion buddha lands to the west of the saha world.] Shakyamuni Buddha, who was a reincarnation of one of these sons, appeared in this saha world of ours. As the Lotus Sutra says, "I [Shakyamuni] alone can save them". Shakyamuni Buddha...is the very one who encourages us, the people who have been driven out of all the other Buddha pure lands by all the other Buddhas.

I explained [to Dozen-bo, that, by making five images of Amida Buddha, he was condemning himself to fall five times into the Avichi Hell. The reason for this, I told him, was that the Lotus Sutra- wherein the Buddha says that he will now "honestly discard the provisional teachings"- states that Shakyamuni Buddha is our father, while Amida is like a distant uncle. Anyone who would fashion five images of his uncle and make offerings to them, and yet not fashion a single image of his own father- how could he be regarded as anything but unfilial?" - The Learned Doctor Shan wu-wei

"Predicting their future lives, I also declared in the Rissho ankoru-ron; "Should the people refuse to change their minds, clinging to false teachings, they will soon leave this world and fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering without fail." Judging from my predictions in this present life having proved to be true, I am sure that this prediction of mine about their future lives will also become true. It is as certain as shooting an arrow at the great earth that all the people in Japan, high and low, will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering.

Aside from these people, some of my disciples might not be spared from this calamity of falling into the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death. Those who disdained and hurt the Never-Despising (Fukyo) Bodhisattva fell into the Hell of Incessant Suffering upon death for as long as 1,000 kalpa. It was due to their great sin of slandering the bodhisattva that they were paid such a hard fate, although they had believed in, respected, followed, and obeyed the bodhisattva while in this life.

Now, the same could be said of disciples of Nichiren. If they believe in, respect, follow, and obey me in name only without heart, they will no doubt suffer in the Hell of Incessant Suffering for the period of one, two, ten, or one hundred, if not one thousand, kalpa. If you wish to be saved from this, you should each practice just as the Medicine-King Bodhisattva did; he set his arm afire to offer it as a light to the Buddha; or Gyobo Bonji, who skinned himself to write the dharma on his own skin. Just as Sessen Doji and Suzu Danno did, you should sacrifice your own life or serve your masters from the bottom of your heart in search of the dharma. Otherwise, you should beseech the Buddha for help, bowing to Him with your four limbs and face touching the ground, dripping with sweat. Otherwise, you should pile up rare treasures in front of the Buddha as an offering to Him. If that is not possible, you must become servants to the upholders of the dharma. Or you should practice some other ways according to the principle of the four ways of teaching. Among my disciples those whose faith is shallow will show at the moment of death the sign of falling into the Hell of Incessant

Suffering. Do not blame me for it then!" - A Tract Revealing the Gist of the Rissho Ankoku Ron).