31 Facts About Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren and is one of the Kamakura Buddhism schools.

Briefly, the basic practice of Nichiren Buddhism is chanting the invocation Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to an object called the Gohonzon.

Nichiren considered that in the Latter Day of the Law – a time of human strife and confusion, when Buddhism would be in decline – Buddhism had to be more than the theoretical or meditative practice it had become, but was meant to be practiced "with the body", that is, in one's actions and the consequent results that are manifested.

Nichiren Buddhism considered conditions in the world to be a reflection of the conditions of the inner lives of people; the premise of his first major remonstrance, Rissho Ankoku Ron, is that if a nation abandons heretical forms of Buddhism and adopts faith in the Lotus Sutra, the nation will know peace and security.

Nichiren Buddhism considered his disciples the "Bodhisattvas of the Earth" who appeared in the Lotus Sutra with the vow to spread the correct teaching and thereby establish a peaceful and just society.

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From this early stage of his career, Nichiren started to engage in fierce polemics criticizing the teachings of Buddhism taught by the other sects of his day, a practice that continued and expanded throughout his life.

Nichiren Buddhism took issue with other Buddhist schools of his time that stressed transcendence over immanence.

Nichiren Buddhism thereby associated the natural disasters of his age with the nation's attachment to inferior teachings, predicted foreign invasion and internal rebellion, and called for the return to legitimate dharma to protect the country.

Nichiren Buddhism began to argue that through "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra, " rather than just studying its text for literal meaning, a country and its people could be protected.

Nichiren Buddhism's teachings reached their full maturity between the years 1274 and 1282 while he resided in primitive settings at Mount Minobu located in today's Yamanashi Prefecture.

At that time, Nichiren Buddhism stated, most recanted their faith in order to escape the government's actions.

Nichiren Buddhism drew on a wide array of support from the network of leading monks and lay disciples he had raised, some of whom were experiencing persecution at the hands of the government.

Nichiren Buddhism stressed that meeting great trials was a part of the practice of the Lotus Sutra; the great persecutions of Atsuhara were not results of karmic retribution but were the historical unfolding of the Buddhist Dharma.

Nichiren Buddhism's voice is sensitive and kind which differs from the strident picture painted about him by critics.

Serious commentaries about Nichiren Buddhism's theology did not appear for almost two hundred years.

Several denominations comprise the umbrella term "Nichiren Buddhism" which was known at the time as the Hokkeshu or Nichirenshu .

In 1282, one year before his death, Nichiren Buddhism named "six senior priests" disciple to lead his community: Nikko Shonin, Nissho, Nichiro, Niko, Nitcho, and Nichiji .

Nichiren Buddhism founded a center at the foot of Mount Fuji which would later be known as the Taisekiji temple of Nichiren Shoshu.

Cleavage between Nichiren Buddhism groups has been classified by the so-called Itchi and Shoretsu lineages.

Nichiren Buddhism took up residency and overall responsibility for Kuonji temple while Niko served as its doctrinal instructor.

Furthermore, Nikko alleged that the other disciples disregarded some of Nichiren Buddhism's writings written in Katakana rather than in Classical Chinese syllabary.

Nichiren Buddhism returned to his home in Suruga Province and established two temples: Taiseki-ji in the Fuji district and Honmonji in Omosu district.

Nichiren Buddhism spent most of his life at the latter, where he trained his followers.

Two documents appeared, first mentioned and discovered by Taiseki-ji High Priest Nikkyo Shonin in 1488, claiming Nichiren Buddhism transferred his teaching exclusively to Nikko but their authenticity has been questioned.

Nichiren Buddhism was deeply influenced by the transition from the Tokugawa to Meiji periods in nineteenth-century Japan.

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Nichiren Buddhism went through many reforms in the Meiji Period during a time of persecution, Haibutsu kishaku, when the government attempted to eradicate mainstream Japanese Buddhism.

Nichiren Buddhism was imprisoned for two years under the National Security Act.

Several Nichiren Buddhism-inspired religious movements arose and appealed primarily to this segment of society with a message of alleviating suffering salvation for many poor urban workers.

Honmon Butsuryu-shu, an early example of lay-based religious movements of the modern period inspired by Nichiren Buddhism, was founded several years before the Meiji Restoration.

Nichiren Buddhism has had a major impact on Japan's literary and cultural life.

Nichiren Buddhism Shoshu has six temples in the United States led by Japanese priests and supported by lay Asians and non-Asians.