QUESTION: Your disciples lack even a basic understanding and yet they collectively cry out Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. What stage is this equal to?
ANSWER: These people are not surpassed by those at the highest stage of the four flavors and three teachings; also they are stronger than those who practice the perfect teachings prior to the Lotus Sūtra; moreover, they excel beyond the patriarchs of the Shingon and other schools including Śubhākarasiṃha, Chihyen, Tz’ŭ-ên, Chi-tsang, Tao-hsüan, Bodhidharma, Shan-tao and others by a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand-fold! Therefore, I entreat all those who live in this country: please do not show disrespect to my disciples.
Shishin Gohon-shō, The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice