Nichiren Shōshū approaches suffering by tracing it to karmic causes rooted in ignorance of one’s inherent Buddha nature and disbelief in, or slander of, the true Law as revealed in the Lotus Sutra. Worldly problems such as illness, poverty, and emotional distress are understood as effects of past and present karma, yet not as fixed destinies; they are conditions that can be transformed through correct faith and practice. Suffering is thus interpreted not merely as misfortune to be endured, but as a mirror that reflects the deeper state of life and the degree of alignment with the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings.

The central method for transforming this suffering is the chanting of Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō, known as the daimoku, directed to the Gohonzon, a calligraphic mandala that embodies the enlightened life condition of the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. In Nichiren Shōshū, this practice is grounded in faith in the Three Great Secret Laws: the true object of worship (Honzon), the daimoku itself, and the true ordination platform. Chanting in this way is believed to activate the latent Buddha nature, purify negative karma, and “change poison into medicine,” turning painful circumstances into causes for growth and happiness. The Gohonzon functions as a concrete focus through which practitioners engage their own deepest potential, rather than as a distant or abstract ideal.

Guidance within this tradition emphasizes a triad of faith, practice, and study. Faith centers on exclusive devotion to the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s role as its votary; practice consists primarily of daily daimoku and recitation of key portions of the Lotus Sutra before the Gohonzon; study involves continual engagement with Nichiren’s writings and doctrinal explanations. The priesthood, and especially the High Priest, is regarded as the orthodox transmitter of this lineage, offering sermons and personal guidance so that followers can correct mistaken views and apply the teaching to concrete problems in daily life. Through this interplay of faith, practice, and study, followers are encouraged to confront rather than evade their sufferings.

Enlightenment, in this context, is not conceived as escape from ordinary existence but as the revelation of Buddhahood “in one’s present form,” within the very fabric of daily life. As practitioners chant about specific challenges—health, family, work, or emotional struggles—while making sincere efforts in the world, these difficulties become occasions to verify the power of the Law in lived experience. Over time, this is said to establish an unshakable inner state marked by joy, compassion, and freedom, even amid changing external conditions. Enlightenment is thus framed as both an immediate transformation of one’s life condition and a long-range assurance of Buddhahood extending across future existences.