Chapter 21, The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas, is considered the specific transmission of the daimoku in the Latter Age of Degeneration of the Dharma given to the bodhisattvas from underground led by Jōgyō. Chapter 22, Transmission, is the general transmission given to the rest of the gathering. Nichiren describes the scene in his letter “Nichinyo Gozen Gohenji”:

“[A]s Śākyamuni Buddha stepped out of the Stupa of Many Treasures and stood in the air, the original disciples of the Buddha such as Bodhisattva Superior Practice, disciples of the Buddhas in manifestation such as Bodhisattva Great Mañjuśrī, Great King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, the sun, the moon, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Dragon King, the ten female rākṣasa demons, and others gathered in the vast world of four-trillion nayuta, as numerous as the pampas grass in the Musashino Field or trees on Mt. Fuji. They waited knelt side by side with their heads bowed to the ground, their hands together in gasshō, beads of perspiration forming from all the body-heat. Like an affectionate mother stroking the head of her child, Śākyamuni Buddha placed His hand upon their heads three times and entrusted them with the Lotus Sūtra. Then accepting the request of Śākyamuni Buddha, Bodhisattva Superior Practice, the sun and moon, and others vowed to spread the Lotus Sūtra in the Latter Age of Degeneration.

Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4,
Page 132-133

As Gene Reeves explains in Stories of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha’s placing his hand on the heads of the bodhisattvas is a gesture of trust, but also something more:

“Though not in this chapter, in various places in the Dharma Flower Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha has said that he is the father of this world. Further, bodhisattvas are regarded as children of the Buddha. There is, in other words, a kind of familial relation, a relation of affection between the Buddha and bodhisattvas. Here, the placing of his hand on the heads of bodhisattvas indicates that the relationship is not only one of trust in a formal sense but displays a religious faith which goes beyond calculations of ability and such. Just as in early chapters of the Sutra he has assured shravakas of becoming buddhas, here the Buddha assures bodhisattvas that they can do the job that needs to be done.

“The bodhisattvas, in turn, assure the Buddha that they will indeed carry on his ministry of spreading the Dharma. In other words, the relationship of trust between the Buddha and the bodhisattvas is a mutual one, based on personal assurance.

The Stories of the Lotus Sutra, p234

Whether we consider ourselves among the bodhisattvas who rose from unground or among the general gathering doesn’t matter. As the History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism explains:

“To answer the message of the Lotus Sūtra, we should think of this transmission as coming directly to us. Receiving this transmission, we must ourselves commit to becoming teachers of the Dharma and messengers of the Tathāgata and put this transmission into action.”

History and Teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, p 94

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