"And now we have entered the Latter Day of the Law, 2,220 or more years since the Buddha's passing, and the time has come for a sage to appear. This is the period described in the Great Collection Sutra as the age when 'quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to the Buddha's teachings, and the pure Law will become obscured and lost.'"

Nichiren is identifying his own era as the time when Buddhism would face its greatest crisis - when religious teachings would become confused and corrupted. He's essentially saying 'this is the moment in history when someone needs to step forward to restore the true teaching.' It's like recognizing that your generation faces a unique challenge that requires someone to take responsibility.

"At that time the Buddha said to the bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas: 'Leave off, good men! There is no need for you to protect and embrace this sutra. Why? Because in this sahā world of mine there are bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas who are as numerous as the sands of sixty thousand Ganges Rivers... After I have entered extinction these persons will be able to protect, embrace, read, recite, and widely preach this sutra.'"

This passage describes how Shakyamuni Buddha refused help from bodhisattvas from other worlds, saying he had his own disciples - the Bodhisattvas of the Earth - who would emerge specifically to spread the Lotus Sutra. Think of it like a parent saying to well-meaning neighbors, 'Thanks for offering to raise my children, but I have my own family members who are perfectly capable of doing this job.'

"In studying the teachings of Buddhism, one must by all means understand the time... Therefore, even if one does not understand that now, at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, is the time to propagate the teaching of the single truth that is pure and perfect, one has only to trust in the sutra passage."

Nichiren is emphasizing that timing is everything in Buddhism - just as there's a right time to plant seeds or start a business, there's a right time for different Buddhist teachings. He's saying that even if people don't fully understand why, they should trust that his era is the right time for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be spread throughout the world.

"The transmission of the essence of the Lotus Sutra is embodied in four phrases... These four, which represent the essence of the sutra, are being transmitted to Superior Practices and the others."

This describes how the Buddha condensed the entire essence of the Lotus Sutra into four key phrases and entrusted them specifically to Bodhisattva Superior Practices. It's like a CEO passing on the company's core mission and values to their chosen successor - not just the words, but the living spirit behind them.