Nichiren (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a
BuddhistBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
monk who lived during the
Kamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
(1185-1333) in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Nichiren taught devotion to the
Lotus SutraThe Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia, and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-History and background:The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled...
, Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of "Nam Myo ho Renge Kyo" as the essential practice of the teaching. He is credited with founding what has come to be known as
Nichiren BuddhismNichiren Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren . Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japan's new religions...
, a major school of Japanese Buddhism encompassing numerous sects espousing diverse doctrines.
Birth, education, initial teaching
Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222 in the village of Kominato, Nagase District,
Awa Provincewas an old province of Japan which is today a part of Chiba Prefecture. Awa Province was bordered by Kazusa Province. It lies on the tip of the Boso Peninsula , whose name takes its first kanji from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimousa Provinces.Established in 718, from...
(located within present day
Chiba Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
). Nichiren's father's name was Mikuni-no-Tayu Shigetada, also known as Nukina Shigetada Jiro (d. 1258) and his mother's name was Umegiku-nyo (d. 1267). On his birth, his parents named him which has variously been translated into English as "
Splendid Sun" and "
Virtuous Sun Boy" among others. The exact site of Nichiren's birth is believed to be submerged off the shore from the present
location of
Kominato-zan Tanjo-ji (小湊山 誕生寺), a temple in Kominato memorializing Nichiren's birth.
Some traditions suggest that Nichiren's family was associated with the Fujiwara clan. However, Nichiren himself never made such a claim and historians are skeptical. Nichiren himself wrote proudly that he was "the son of a
chandalaChandala or Chandal is an opprobrious term, reserved for a despised group of peoples in India by people of India in the Sanskritic literature. Currently it is a caste title used specifically in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India...
family who lived near the sea in Tojo in Awa Province, in the remote countryside of the eastern part of Japan."
1 This has been interpreted to mean that Nichiren's family made their living in the fish trade, an occupation viewed with disdain by idealistic Buddhists of the time.
2 Another suggestion is that Mikuni-no-Tayu Shigetada, Nichiren's father, had been a
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
, but had grown disillusioned with violence and retired to Kominato to make a living as a fisherman.
3 Nichiren makes no such claim in his authenticated writings.
Nichiren began his Buddhist study at a nearby
Tendaiis a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
temple, Seichoji (清澄寺, also called Kiyosumi-dera), at age 11. He was formally ordained at 16 and took the Buddhist name Zeshō-bō Renchō. He left Seichoji shortly thereafter to study in
Kamakurais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called . Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period...
and several years later traveled to western Japan for more in-depth study in the
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area....
–
Narais the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
area, where Japan's major centers of Buddhist learning were located. During this time, he became convinced of the pre-eminence of the
Lotus SutraThe Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia, and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-History and background:The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled...
and in 1253, returned to Seichoji.
On April 28, 1253, he expounded
Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō for the first time, marking his
Sho Tempōrin (初転法輪: "first turning the wheel of the Law"). With this, he proclaimed that devotion to and practice of the Lotus Sutra was the only correct form of Buddhism for the present time period. At the same time he changed his name to Nichiren, wherein the
kanjiare the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet . The Japanese term kanji literally means "Han characters".- History :Chinese characters first came to Japan on...
character for
nichi (日) means "sun" and that for
ren (蓮) means "lotus". The significance of this choice, as Nichiren himself explained it, is manifold and rooted, among other things, in passages from the Lotus Sutra. Simple explanations—such as "
nichi stands for
the sun"—though not wrong, should therefore not be taken by themselves or regarded as representing the whole story.
After making his declaration, which all schools of Nichiren Buddhism regard as marking their foundation (立宗:
risshū), Nichiren began propagating his teachings in
Kamakurais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called . Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period...
, then Japan's de facto capital since it was where the
shikkenThe was the regent for the shogun in the Kamakura shogunate in Japan. The post was monopolized by the Hōjō clan, and this system only existed once in Japanese history, between 1203 and 1333...
(regent for the shogun) and
shogun is a military rank and historical title for Hereditary Commanders in Chief of the Armed Forces of Japan. The modern rank is equivalent to a Generalissimo...
lived and the apparatus of government were seated. He gained a fairly large following there, consisting of both priests and laity, and many of his lay believers came from among the
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
class.
First remonstrance with authorities and early years of teaching
Nichiren was an extremely controversial figure in his own time, and many of the schools stemming from his teachings continue to inspire controversy today (see
Nichiren BuddhismNichiren Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren . Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japan's new religions...
). One common source of such controversy is the perception that Nichiren Buddhists insist that only the school they follow is the correct form of Buddhism. The perception can be traced to Nichiren's rumistrations with government and religious leaders of the thirteenth cetury Japan; he criticized leaders for their manipulations of the populace for political and religious control. Using Buddhist doctrine, Nichiren argued the flaws of other Buddhist schools, specifically critiquing the leaders of Buddhist schools who Nichiren saw as having manipulated Buddhist teachings for the leaders' own gain (see the compilation of Nichiren's exchanges with government leaders and Buddhist practitioners in "The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin" 1999).
Some groups today characterize Nichiren's efforts as an attempt to reform contemporary Buddhism; Nichiren, however, was not trying to reform other sects. Rather, his intent was to have government patronage for them ceased and to dissuade people from practicing them because he was convinced that the other schools were leading people down the wrong path, away from the "truth of the Lotus Sutra," away from their potential enlightenment, and towards more suffering. Nichiren stated this purpose clearly, outlining it in the : "Treatise on securing the peace of the land through the establishment of the correct"), his first major treatise and the first of three remonstrations with the authorities. He felt that it was imperative for
the sovereign to recognize and accept the singly true and correct form of Buddhism (i.e., 立正:
risshō) as the only way to
achieve peace and prosperity for the land and its people and end their suffering (i.e., 安国:
ankoku). This "true and correct form of Buddhism," as Nichiren saw it, entailed regarding the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate Buddhist teaching and practicing it as he taught.
Based on prophecies made in several of Sakyamuni Buddha's sutras, Nichiren attributed the occurrence of the famines, disease, and natural disasters (especially
droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
, typhoons, and
earthquakeAn earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph...
s) of his day to the sovereign's and the people's adherence to all other forms of Buddhism. He considered these to be heretical or, while perhaps fit for a previous day, unfit for contemporary times, according to a Buddhist view of time that divided history after Sakyamuni Buddha's passing into
three periodsThe Three Ages of Buddhism are three divisions of time following the historical Buddha's passing: the Former Day of the Law , the first thousand years ; the Middle Day of the Law , the second thousand years ; and the Latter Day of the Law , which is to last for 10,000 years.The three...
. In his treatise, he also noted that, according to the same prophecies, failure to adopt the correct form of Buddhism would leave the country open to more and some as-yet unexperienced disasters, including armed conflict and specifically internal rebellion and foreign invasion. His predictions were based on the Buddhist principle that the environment reflects the minds and hearts of the people who dwell there.
Nichiren submitted his treatise in July 1260. Though it drew no official response, it obviously had not fallen on deaf ears inasmuch as it prompted a severe backlash, especially from among priests of other Buddhist sects. Nichiren was harassed frequently, several times with force, and often had to change dwellings.
Nichirō agreed with Nisshō's defense of Nichiren as a
Tendaiis a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
reformer. He founded a practice hall that became part of
Ikegami Honmon-jiis a Buddhist temple in the south of Tokyo, erected where Nichiren is said to have died.A short walk from Ikegami Station or Nishi-Magome Station , Ikegami Honmon-ji contains a number of buildings, most of which have been reconstructed since the bombing of 15 March 1945...
, the site of Nichiren's death. His school is now part of Nichiren-shū.
Nichiren was exiled to the
Izu peninsulaThe is a large mountainous peninsula with deeply indented coasts to the west of Tokyo on the Pacific coast of the island of Honshū. Formerly the eponymous Izu Province, Izu peninsula is now a part of Shizuoka prefecture...
in 1261; and he was nearly assassinated in November 1264.
Failed execution attempt—viewed by Nichiren as a critical turning point in his life
The following several years were marked by successful propagation activities in eastern Japan that generated more resentment among priests of other sects and the authorities. After one exchange with an influential priest called Ryōkan (良観), Nichiren was called in for questioning by the authorities in September 1271. He used this as an opportunity to address his second government remonstration to Hei no Saemon (平の左衛門, also called 平頼綱: Taira no Yoritsuna), a powerful police and military figure.
Two days later, on September 12, Hei no Saemon and a group of soldiers abducted Nichiren from his hut at Matsubagayatsu, Kamakura. Their intent was to arrest and summarily behead him; but, according to legend, some sort of astronomical phenomenon — a great flash of light—over the seaside Tatsunokuchi execution grounds terrified Nichiren's executioners into inaction. The incident is known by Nichiren Buddhists as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution and regarded by many of them as a turning point in Nichiren's lifetime called
Hosshaku kenpon (発迹顕本).
Hosshaku kenpon means "discarding the provisional and revealing the true": Nichiren, at this point, discarded his "provisional" identity as a mortal priest and began to reveal his "true" identity as the reincarnation of the
BodhisattvaIn Buddhism, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." Another translation is...
Jōgyō (上行菩薩) or as the True Buddha (本仏:
hombutsu), depending on which school's interpretation you accept.
Unsure of what to do with Nichiren, Hei no Saemon eventually decided to banish him to Sado, an island in the
Japan SeaThe Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure...
known for its particularly severe winters and a place from which few returned.
This exile, Nichiren's second, lasted about three years and, though harsh and in the long term detrimental to his health, represents one of the most important and productive segments of his lifetime of teaching. While on Sado, he won numerous staunch converts and wrote two of his most important doctrinal treatises, the
Kaimoku Shō (開目抄: "On the opening of the eyes") and the
Kanjin no Honzon Shō (観心本尊抄: "The object of devotion for observing the mind in the fifth five-hundred year period"), as well as numerous letters and minor treatises whose content contains critical components of his whole teaching.
It was also during his exile on Sado, in 1272, that he inscribed the first
Gohonzon (御本尊)Gohonzon , is the object of devotion in many forms of Japanese Buddhism. In Japanese, go is an honorific prefix indicating respect and honzon means object of fundamental respect, veneration, or devotion...
, the
mandalaMandala is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism...
that he intended as a graphic representation (or, in some schools, as the very
embodiment) of the essence of the
Lotus SutraThe Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras in Asia, and the basis on which the Tien Tai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-History and background:The Lotus Sutra was probably compiled...
—Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, or the "Mystic Law" of cause and effect that underlies all phenomena in the universe (see
Nam Myoho Renge KyoNam Myōhō Renge Kyō is a mantra that is chanted as the central practice of all forms of Nichiren Buddhism...
).
Nichiren was pardoned in February 1274 and returned to Kamakura in late March. He was again interviewed by Hei no Saemon, who now was interested in extracting information from him about a feared invasion by the Mongols: The appearance of several Mongol messengers demanding Japan's fealty had spooked the authorities into believing that Nichiren's prophecy of foreign invasion was about to materialize (which it did in October; see
Mongol Invasions of JapanThe ' of 1274 and 1281 were major military invasions and conquests undertaken by Kublai Khan to take the Japanese islands after the capitulation of Goryeo . Despite their ultimate failure, the invasion attempts are of macrohistorical importance, because they set a limit on Mongol expansion, and...
). Nichiren, however, used the audience as yet another opportunity to remonstrate with the government.
Retirement to Mt. Minobu
His third remonstration also unheeded, Nichiren—following an old Chinese adage to the effect that if a wise man remonstrates three times but is ignored, he should leave the country—decided to go into voluntary exile on Mt.
Minobu (身延山)is a town located in Minamikoma District, Yamanashi, Japan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 7,672 and a density of 58.51 persons per km². The total area was 131.12 km²....
in May 1274.
With the exception of a few short journeys, Nichiren spent the rest of his life at Minobu, where he and his disciples erected a temple, Kuonji (久遠寺) and he continued writing and training his disciples. Two of his works from this period are the
Senji Shō (撰時抄: "On the selection of time") and the
Hōon Shō (報恩抄: "Recompense of Indebtedness"), which, along with his
Risshō Ankoku Ron,
Kaimoku Shō, and
Kanjin no Honzon Shō, constitute his Five Major Writings.He also inscribed numerous Gohonzon for bestowal upon specific disciples and lay believers. Many of these survive today in the repositories of Nichiren temples such as Taisekiji (大石寺) in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, which has a particularly large collection that is publicly aired once a year in April.
Passing
Nichiren spent his final years writing, inscribing Gohonzon for his disciples and believers, and delivering sermons. But his health began to fail, and several people encouraged him to travel to hot springs for their medicinal benefits. He left Minobu in the company of several disciples on September 8, 1282.
Upon arrival ten days later at the residence of Ikegami Munenaka, a lay believer who lived in what is now Ikegami,
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
, Nichiren sensed that his end was near and he began to make preparations. On September 25 he delivered his last sermon on the
Risshō Ankoku Ron, and on October 8 he appointed six senior disciples—
NisshōNisshō was a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren and the uncle of Nichirō. He was the only disciple who was actually older than Nichiren himself....
(日昭),
NichirōNichirō was a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren, the nephew of Nisshō.Nichirō agreed with Nisshō's defense of Nichiren as a Tendai reformer. He founded a practice hall that became part of Ikegami Honmon-ji, the site of Nichiren's death. His school is now part of Nichiren-shū.Nichirō designated nine...
(日朗),
NikkōNikkō , also known as Nikkō Shōnin, is the founder of a major branch of Nichiren Buddhism that includes the present-day Nichiren Shoshu school of Japanese Buddhism. His full Buddhist name was Hawaki-bō Byakuren Ajari Nikkō ....
(日興),
NikōMinbu Nikō was a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren. He took over Kuon-ji after Nichiren's death, and can thus be considered one of the founders of Nichiren-shū. He was also put in charge of Mount Minobu after Nikkō left in 1288....
(日向),
NichijiNichiji , also known as Kaikō, was a Buddhist disciple of Nichiren who traveled to Hokkaido, Siberia, and China.Nichiji was born in Suruga Province, the second child of a large and powerful family...
(日持), and Nicchō (日頂)—to continue leading propagation of his teachings after he was gone.
On October 13, 1282, at the hour of the dragon (around 8:00
am), Nichiren "passed into
nirvanaIn sramanic thought, Nirvana is the state of being free from suffering. It is an important concept in Buddhism and Jainism....
" in the presence of many disciples and lay believers. His funeral and cremation took place the following day. His disciple Nikkō left Ikegami with Nichiren's ashes on October 21, reaching Minobu on October 25. Nichiren's original tomb is sited, as per his request, at Kuonji.
Writings
Some Nichiren schools refer to the entirety of Nichiren's Buddhism as his "lifetime of teaching," quite an apt description in light of the number of writings he left behind. Many are still extant in his original hand, some in full and some in fragments, and yet more survive as copies made by his immediate disciples. Today, students of Nichiren—whether as faithful or as academic—have access to well over 700 of his works, including transcriptions of orally delivered lectures, letters of remonstration, and even graphic illustrations.
In addition to treatises written in
kanbunThe Japanese word originally meant "Classical Chinese writings, Chinese classic texts, Classical Chinese literature". This evolved into a Japanese method of reading annotated Classical Chinese in translation. It came to be that much Japanese literature intended for Japanese readers was written in...
(漢文), a formal writing style modeled on classical Chinese that was the language of government and learning in contemporary Japan, Nichiren also wrote expositories and letters to disciples and lay followers in mixed-
kanjiare the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet . The Japanese term kanji literally means "Han characters".- History :Chinese characters first came to Japan on...
–
kanaKana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the roman alphabet known as rōmaji. There are three kana scripts: modern cursive hiragana , modern angular katakana , and the old syllabic use of kanji known as man’yōgana that was...
vernacular as well as letters in simple
kanaKana are the syllabic Japanese scripts, as opposed to the logographic Chinese characters known in Japan as kanji and the roman alphabet known as rōmaji. There are three kana scripts: modern cursive hiragana , modern angular katakana , and the old syllabic use of kanji known as man’yōgana that was...
for believers who could not read the more-formal styles, particularly children.
Some of Nichiren's kanbun works, especially the
Risshō Ankoku Ron, are considered exemplary masterworks of the style, while many of his letters show unusual empathy and understanding for the down-trodden of his day. Many of his most famous letters were to woman believers, whom he often complimented for their in-depth questions about Buddhism while encouraging them in their efforts to attain enlightenment in this lifetime.
Several modern observers also read a political message into a number of his works, and during the pre-
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period the government even insisted that passages and even whole documents be deleted from published collections of his works because they were considered insulting to the emperor.
Nichiren's writings are known collectively as
go-ibun or
gosho and are available in a number of compilations, some more comprehensive than others. Several appear in Iwanami Shoten's 102-volume anthology of classical Japanese literature published in the late 1950s and early 60s, as well as other similar collections of classical literature. The most famous of the dedicated compilations is the
Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshu (日蓮大聖人御書全集: "The complete works of Nichiren Daishonin") compiled by 59th Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Hori Nichiko and first published in 1952 and revised and reprinted several times subsequently by Soka Gakkai. Taisekiji also issued a new compilation in 1994 called
Heisei Shimpen Nichiren Daishonin Gosho (平成新編 日蓮大聖人御書). This book presents Nichiren's writings in chronological order starting with an essay authored in 1242 (around the time Nichiren was studying at Mt. Hiei in
Kyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area....
) and including 81 works not published in the aforementioned
Gosho Zenshu, excluding 32 that had been previously published in another compilation but since judged by this compilation's editors as unauthentic, and identifying 17 whose authenticity its editors could not confirm. See the references and external links below for access to English translations.
Nichiren's teachings after his passing
After Nichiren's death, his teachings were interpreted in different ways by several of his disciples, in particular the six senior priests (or elders) whom he named shortly before his passing. As a result, Nichiren Buddhism encompasses several major branches and minor schools, each with its own set of interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. Some of these schools are more, and some less, similar to the others depending on the detail, but the most significant differences focus on schools' positioning of Nichiren in the development of Buddhist history and their objects of veneration. See Nichiren Buddhism: Schools and Nichiren Buddhism: Doctrine and practices for more information.
His appearance in art which is based on anecdotes drawn from the life of Nichiren illustrates the extent to which the thrust of his life has been encompassed by popular culture.
Nichiren and the game of Go
Nichiren is considered by some to have been a master of the game of Go in his day. Greg Schneider, a University scholar, writes:
Nichiren, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, was reputedly the greatest player of his day. He introduced the method of documenting games for study, and thus one of his own games is said to be the first recorded go game in history. However many scholars believe this to be a 19th century forgeryForgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents , with the intent to deceive. The similar crime of fraud is the crime of deceiving another, including through the use of objects obtained through forgery...
.
Nichiren's views on women
Nichiren, along with other well-known East Asian Buddhist teachers like Dogen, also declared that women could attain
enlightenmentEnlightenment in Western secular tradition refers mainly to the European intellectual movement known as the Age of Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason referring to philosophical developments related to scientific rationality in the 17th and 18th centuries.Enlightenment is wisdom or...
.
Posthumous titles of respect
Since his passing, Nichiren has been known by several posthumous names intended to express respect toward him or to represent his position in the history of Buddhism. Most common among these are
Nichiren Shōnin 日蓮聖人 "St. Nichiren" or "Sage Nichiren" (also spelled, outside the Nichiren schools, 日蓮上人 "Rev. Nichiren" or "Priest Nichiren"), and
Nichiren Daishōnin 日蓮大聖人 "Great Sage Nichiren". Preference for these titles generally depends on the school to which a person belongs, with "Nichiren Shōnin" being most commonly used, while "Nichiren Daishōnin" is preferred by followers of schools derived from the Nikkō lineages. Japanese Nichiren Buddhists always refer to Nichiren using one of these respectful forms of address, or by a title of respect alone (e.g., "the
Daishōnin"), and may be offended if the title is omitted.
The Japanese imperial court also awarded Nichiren the honorific designations
Nichiren Daibosatsu 日蓮大菩薩 "Great
BodhisattvaIn Buddhism, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." Another translation is...
Nichiren", and
Risshō Daishi 立正大師 "Great Teacher
Risshō; the former title was granted in 1358, and the latter in 1922.
See also
- Dai Gohonzon
- Dai Gohonzon :The Dai Gohonzon, a mandala inscribed with Sanskrit and Chinese characters on a plank of Japanese camphorwood, is the object of veneration for some Nichiren Buddhists; Dai means "great" or "supreme," whereas gohonzon means "object of devotion."...
- Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren . Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japan's new religions...
- Nichiren Shōshū
Nichiren Shōshū is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren . Nichiren Shōshū claims Nichiren as its founder through his disciple Nikkō , the founder of the school's Head Temple Taiseki-ji...
- Nichiren Shu
Nichiren-shū is the name of several Nichiren Buddhist schools that go back to Nichiren's original disciples. It is less well known internationally than Nichiren Shōshū...
- Soka Gakkai
- Nichiren - a Man of Many Miracles (日蓮と蒙古大襲来 Nichiren to mōko daishūrai
Nichiren - a Man of Many Miracles , lit. "Nichiren and the Great Mongol Invasion", is a color 1958 Japanese film directed by Kunio Watanabe.- Cast :* Kazuo Hasegawa as Nichiren* Takashi Shimura...
) - 1958 film by Kunio Watanabe.
Sources
- The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Soka Gakkai, 1999.)
- Nichiren Daishōnin Shōden (日蓮大聖人正伝: "Orthodox biography of Nichiren Daishonin"), Taisekiji, 1981
- A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts, Nichiren Shoshu International Center (NSIC), Tokyo, 1983. ISBN 4-88872-014-2.
- Kirimura, Yasuji: The Life of Nichiren Daishonin. NSIC, 1980
Note: NSIC, publisher of the foregoing two works, is no longer connected with Nichiren Shoshu.
- Heisei Shimpen Nichiren Daishonin Gosho (平成新編 日蓮大聖人御書: "Heisei new compilation of Nichiren Daishonin's writings"), Taisekiji, 1994
- The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. Soka Gakkai, Tokyo, 1999.
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