The Simultaneity of Cause and Effect

> The conventional Buddhist view of causality is that the present > negative and positive effects we see in our lives are a result of > negative and positive causes that we created in the past. So in order > to attain Buddhahood, which is the goal of Buddhist practice, it would > take lifetimes of painstaking efforts to replace all the negative > causes we’ve made with positive causes, while avoiding making > additional negative causes. Based on this view, the possibility of > attaining Buddhahood seems remote and almost impossible. > > In contrast, Nichiren Buddhism teaches that the law of cause and > effect is simultaneous. https://www.worldtribune.org/2017/11/cause-and-effect/ I side against it, which could even cover my slight antipathy toward Nichiren Buddhism. If the effect depends on past causes, then doesn't the metaphor of a fire going out -- and going nowhere -- when the fuel runs out, only work when a cause can run out of effects, which, for me, hints at svabhava. Does a cause running itself down only occur if it has svabhava? And what arguments are there for and against the law of cause and effect being simultaneous? I have a "theory" that Nichiren Buddhism cannot help us in our "next live"; in deed, that mappo -- and Nichiren Buddhism -- condemns all to the Abrahamic hell, even as zen -- the monastic life -- may still be available. But I won't get into it.