Each character of the Lotus Sūtra is a living Buddha, but seen through the “naked eye” of a common person, it looks like nothing but a character. For instance the Ganges River looks like fire to the hungry ghosts, water to human beings, and “nectar” to the heavenly beings. The same water appears to be different to those who live under different circumstances. These characters of the Lotus Sūtra cannot be seen at all by the blind, but they appear as black letters to the “naked-eye” of ordinary people, the sky to the “wisdom-eye” of the Two Vehicles, various doctrines to the “dharma-eye” of the bodhisattvas, and the Buddhas to the “Buddha-eye” of those in whom the seed of Buddha is ripe. Therefore, it is preached in the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, “He who upholds this sūtra sustains the Buddha,” and Grand Master T’ien-t’ai states in his “Ryaku Hokekyō,” “I believe in the Lotus Sūtra, consisting of eight fascicles, 28 chapters, namely 69,384 Chinese characters. Each of these characters is itself the true Buddha, who preaches the dharma for the benefit of people who listen.”

Contemplating these statements, you, Priest Hōren produces golden-colored letters from your mouth every morning. As you read and recite the “jiga-ge” verse, you produce 510 golden characters. Each of these characters transforms itself to be the sun, which in turn changes to Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits the rays of bright light shining through the earth, the three evil realms (hell, realm of hungry spirits and that of beasts), the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and to all the directions in the north, south, east, and west. They shine upward to the “Heaven of neither Thought nor Non-Thought” at the top of the realm of non-form looking everywhere for the souls of the departed. Upon finding the spirit of your father, they politely say, “Whom do you think we are? We are the characters of the ‘jiga-ge’ of the Lotus Sūtra chanted by your son Hōren every morning. We will be your eyes, ears, legs, and hands.” Then your father’s spirit will say, “My son, Hōren, is not my son but a ‘good friend’ who leads me to Buddhahood,” and worship you toward the Sahā World. This is indeed true filial piety.

Hōren-shō, Letter to Hōren, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 6, Followers I, Pages 56-57

I’ve included this so that I could extract and underscore:

As you read and recite the “jiga-ge” verse, you produce 510 golden characters. Each of these characters transforms itself to be the sun, which in turn changes to Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits the rays of bright light shining through the earth, the three evil realms (hell, realm of hungry spirits and that of beasts), the Hell of Incessant Suffering, and to all the directions in the north, south, east, and west. They shine upward to the “Heaven of neither Thought nor Non-Thought” at the top of the realm of non-form looking everywhere for the souls of the departed.

Each and every morning and evening when I recite “jiga-ge.”