The Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 4 (chapter 11 on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures”) preaches: “Anyone who understands the meaning of this sūtra after My extinction, will be the eye of the world of gods and men.” Now am I, Nichiren, who spreads the daimoku, the essence of the Lotus Sūtra, in Japan, not “the eye of the world of gods and men”?

To begin with, there are five kinds of eyes—human eye, divine eye, wisdom eye, dharma eye and Buddha-eye. These five kinds of eyes are all born from the Lotus Sūtra, so it is preached in the Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva: “This Hōdō sūtra is the eyes of Buddhas; Buddhas are able to have five kinds of eyes because of this sūtra.” “This Hōdō sūtra” in this citation refers to a Mahāyāna sūtra that expounds the vast and equal truth of reality, namely the Lotus Sūtra. The Sūtra of Meditation on the Universal Sage Bodhisattva also states: “It (the Lotus Sūtra) is a fertile field where men and gods should sow the seeds of merit. Offerings to the practicer of this sūtra is most meritorious.”

According to these scriptures, the Lotus Sūtra is the eye of men and gods, the eye of the Two Vehicles (śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha) and bodhisattvas, and the eye of the Buddhas in all the worlds throughout the universe in the past, present and future lives. Therefore, those who hate a practicer of the Lotus Sūtra scoop out the eyes of men and gods, and those protective deities who do not punish such people in effect protect those who gouge out the eyes of men and gods.

Kangyō Hachiman-shō, Remonstration with Bodhisattva Hachiman, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 267-268