Answer

Buddhism is based entirely on the law of causality. This law, according to which a cause necessarily generates an effect of the same nature, is the most fundamental and important law of Buddhism.

According to the law of cause and effect, which applies in the three phases of the past, present and future, every cause, whether physical, verbal or mental, will then receive physical and spiritual good or bad effects by way of retribution.

In the Eye-opening Treatise, NichIren Daishōnin explains this as follows:

"If you want to know the causes of the past, look at the effects of the present. If you want to know the effects of the future, look at the causes of the present".

That said, a direct cause is not enough to produce effects. It is only when there is an indirect cause called a "condition", which assists the cause, that the karmic effect is generated.

This 'karma' then generates the next cause and condition, so that cause and effect are repeated throughout the three phases.

The process by which we attain the highest effect and retribution of Buddhahood is in accordance with this principle and must therefore depend on the highest cause and effect.

Therefore, in order to obtain the right effect (Buddhahood), it is important to accumulate the right cause (the practice) in response to the correct teaching and object of veneration. Whereas if we practice in response to the wrong teachings and the wrong object of veneration, we will instead obtain bad effects and suffer.

It's easy to see that a good cause leads to a good effect and a bad cause leads to a bad effect.

In addition, there is a temporal difference in the process of cause and effect, in the law of causality.

In the Sutras prior to the Lotus Sutra, preached by Shakyamuni Buddha, it is explained that in order to attain the state of life of Buddhahood (the effect), beings must practice for long periods covering many lifetimes (the cause), practices through which, life after life, they eliminate passionate afflictions and finally attain the state of life of Buddhahood.

However, in the Treatise on the Honzon of Observing the Heart, Nichiren Daishōnin states.

"The two laws of Shakyamuni Buddha's causal deeds and virtuous effects are embodied in the five characters of Myōhōrengekyō. If we receive these five characters, we will naturally be protected by the Merits of his causes and effects".

This passage means that the doctrine of Nichiren Daishōnin contains both the causal acts of the Buddha, that is to say practice constituting the cause of attaining Buddhahood, and the virtuous effects, in other words the benefits of enlightenment resulting from practice.

Therefore, when we diligently practice Gongyō and the chanting of Daimoku with faith in the Dai-Gohonzon of the Great Sanctuary of the Original Doctrine, we can immediately attain the higher state of life of Buddhahood as we are, thanks to the principle of the identity of receiving and keeping and the observation of the heart.

With that in mind, let's get back to the question.

It draws parallels between the notions of "miracle" and "kudoku" (benefits).

According to the Larousse dictionary, the word "miracle" is a masculine noun derived from the Latin miraculum, meaning: Phenomenon interpreted as divine intervention.

The word kudoku is made up of two ideograms meaning respectively merits (the cause) and virtues (the effect) resulting from this cause. The word kudoku is also sometimes used to mean 'benefit'. But here again, as the sentence in the first silent prayer of the Gongyō, our daily practice, which is the offering of the flavour of the Dharma to the celestial deities, indicates, defining the latter as being the "living body of marvelous awakening through the fruit of their personal practice", here too there is the notion of cause (their personal practice) and effect (living body of marvelous awakening).

In the Jiga stanzas of the Lotus Sutra, we find in succession the two examples of a bad cause leading to a bad effect and a good cause generating a good effect:

"Criminal beings, because of their bad causality, go for eons without hearing the name of the three treasures, whereas those who have accumulated merits, gentle and conciliatory, upright in character, all see me as a result".

They see the Buddha, so they are Buddhas.

Since Buddhism is based on the law of causality, it does not include the notion of "miracle", which falls outside the framework of causality because it is generated by a power outside the individual. In reality, we call "miracle" or "chance" events whose causal logic we cannot grasp. But in fact, everything, even that which we do not understand, is an effect that can be explained by the principle of " dependent origination ".