Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282) and belongs to the schools of so-called "Kamakura Buddhism". Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japan's new religions. Its many denominations have in common a focus on the chanting and recital of the Lotus Sutra, which is thought to hold extraordinary power.

Nichiren Buddhism is generally noted for its focus on the Lotus Sutra and an attendant belief that all people have an innate Buddha nature and are therefore inherently capable of attaining enlightenment in their current form and present lifetime. It is also noted for its hardline opposition to any other form of Buddhism, which Nichiren saw as deviating from the Buddhist truth he had discovered.

Founder

From the age of 16 until 32, Nichiren, originally a monk of Tendai Buddhism, studied in numerous temples in Japan, especially Mt. Hiei (Enryaku-ji) and Mt. Kōya, in his day the major centers of Buddhist study, in the Kyoto–Nara area. He eventually concluded that the highest teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha (563?–483?BC) were to be found in the Lotus Sutra. The mantra he expounded on 28 April 1253, known as the Daimoku or Odaimoku, Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, expresses his devotion to that body of teachings. During his lifetime, Nichiren stridently maintained that the contemporary teachings of Buddhism taught by other sects, (particularly the Nembutsu, Zen, Shingon, and Ritsu sects) were, to his mind, mistaken in their interpretations of the correct path to enlightenment, and therefore refuted them publicly and vociferously. In doing so, he provoked the ire of the country's rulers and of the priests of the sects he criticized; he was subjected to persecution which included an attempted beheading and at least two exiles.

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) (also Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō) (English: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra or Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law) is a mantra that is chanted as the central practice of all forms of Nichiren Buddhism—Myōhō Renge Kyō being the Japanese title of the Lotus Sūtra. The mantra is referred to as daimoku (題目) or, in honorific form, o-daimoku (お題目) and was first revealed by the Japanese Buddhist teacher Nichiren on the 28th day of the fourth lunar month of 1253 at Seichō-ji (also called Kiyosumi-dera) near Kominato in current-day part of the city of Kamogawa, Japan. The practice of chanting the daimoku is called shōdai (唱題). The purpose of chanting daimoku is to attain perfect and complete awakening.

Meaning

As Nichiren explained the mantra in his Ongi Kuden (御義口傳; Orally transmitted teachings), a transcription of his lectures about the Lotus Sutra, Namu (南無) is a transliteration into Japanese of the Sanskrit "namas", and Myōhō Renge Kyō is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra, in the translation by Kumārajīva (hence, Daimoku, which is a Japanese word meaning 'title').

Nichiren

Nichiren (日蓮; February 16, 1222– November 21, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, which claims to contain Gautama Buddha's teachings towards the end of his life, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment. Nichiren believed that this sutra contained the essence of all of Gautama Buddha's teachings related to the laws of causality, karma, and leading all people without distinction to enlightenment. This devotion to the sutra entails the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō "homage to the Lotus Sutra", a phrase referred to as the daimoku, as the essential practice of the teaching.

Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools such as Honmon Butsuryū Shū, Nichiren Shōshū, the Nichiren Shū confederation of schools, and lay movements such as Risshō Kōsei Kai or Soka Gakkai, each claiming to be the only true follower of their founder, with their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. However, despite the differences between schools, all Nichiren sects share the fundamental practice of chanting daimoku. While all Nichiren Buddhist schools regard him as a reincarnation of the Lotus Sutra's Visistacaritra or Jōgyō Bosatsu (上行菩薩), some schools of Nichiren Buddhism's Nikkō lineages regard him as the actual Buddha of this age, or the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law and for all eternity.