Editing Nichiren (section)

=== Single-minded devotion to the ''Lotus Sutra'' ===

Nichiren held that this teaching of the interfusion of all reality, the ultimate meaning of the ''Lotus Sutra,'' could now be realized solely through devotion to the sutra, especially by the practice of faithfully chanting the title of the sutra (daimoku). This allowed one to contemplate one's mind (''kanjin'') and to attain the fruit of Buddhahood in this life.<ref name=":0" /> This was possible because the ''Lotus Sutra'' and the daimoku contains the entirety of the Buddha's teachings within it, as well as all of [[The Buddha|Shakyamuni]] Buddha's power and merits.<ref name=":0" />  This is Nichiren's teaching of ichinen sanzen as "actuality" (ji), meaning a practice that relies on an actual form (jisō), which he contrasted with the teaching of Zhiyi's ''[[Mohe Zhiguan|Mohe zhiguan]]'' which taught ichinen sanzen of "principle" (ri).<ref>Stone 2003, pp. 266</ref>

According to Nichiren, Buddhahood would manifest when a person faithfully chants the sutra's title and shares it with others, at whatever the cost.<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|68,265–266}} Indeed, for Nichiren, ''Lotus Sutra'' focused practice was the only efficacious practice in the Final Dharma Age.<ref name=":0" /> This is because Nichiren held that the ''Lotus Sutra'' contains the true intent of the Buddha:<blockquote>the ''Lotus Sutra'' is the written expression of Śākyamuni Tathāgata’s intent; it is his pure voice transformed into written words. Thus its written words are endowed with the Buddha’s mind. It is like the case of seeds, sprouts, shoots, and grain; though they differ in form, their essence is the same. Śākyamuni Buddha and the words of the ''Lotus Sutra'' are different, but their spirit is one. Thus when you look upon the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should think that you are encountering the living Śākyamuni Tathāgata.<ref>Kitagawa Zenchō 北川前肇, [https://jstone.mycpanel2.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Kitagawa-Zench%C5%8D.Words-of-the-Lotus-Sutra-in-Nichirens-Thought-2014.pdf The Words of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren’s Thought], ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' 41/1: 25–43 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.</ref></blockquote>Nichiren emphasized the importance of faith, practice, and study. Faith meant embracing the ''Lotus Sutra,'' something that needed to be continually deepened. "To accept (''ju'') [faith in the sutra] is easy," he explained to a follower, "to uphold it (''ji'') is difficult. But the realization of Buddhahood lies in upholding [faith]." This could only be manifested by the practice of chanting the ''daimoku'' as well as teaching others to do the same, and study.<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|270,295}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=George David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGQjmAO6yP4C&q=nichiren+faith+%22practice+and+study%22&pg=PA13 |title=Peace, Value, and Wisdom: The Educational Philosophy of Daisaku Ikeda |date=2002 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=90-420-1359-1 |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602194053/https://books.google.com/books?id=DGQjmAO6yP4C&q=nichiren+faith+%22practice+and+study%22&pg=PA13 |archive-date=2 June 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|12–13}}

Consequently, Nichiren consistently and vehemently objected to the perspective of the Pure Land school that stressed an other-worldly aspiration to some [[Pure Land|pure land]] outside of this world. Behind his assertion is the concept of the [[Nondualism|nonduality]] of the subjective realm (the individual) and the objective realm (the land that the individual inhabits) which indicates that when the individual taps into buddhahood, his or her present world becomes peaceful and harmonious. For Nichiren the widespread propagation of the ''Lotus Sutra'' and consequent world peace ("''[[kosen-rufu]]''") was achievable and inevitable. He thus tasked his future followers with a mandate to accomplish it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Jackie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zaC4CgAAQBAJ&q=nichiren |title=Buddhism in practice |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-4008-8007-2 |editor-last=Lopez |editor-first=Donald S. Jr. |edition=Abridged |location=Princeton |page=169 |chapter=Original Enlightenment Thought in the Nichiren Tradition |oclc=926048981 |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601090722/https://books.google.com/books?id=zaC4CgAAQBAJ&q=nichiren |archive-date=1 June 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Stone2003a">{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Jacqueline I. |title=Action dharma: new studies in engaged Buddhism |date=2003 |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |others=Queen, Christopher S., Prebish, Charles S., Keown, Damien |isbn=0-7007-1593-2 |location=London |pages=63–94 |chapter=Nichiren's activist heirs: Soka Gakkai, Rissho Koseikai, Nipponzan Myohoji |oclc=50809145 |quote=When all people throughout the land enter the one Buddha vehicle, and the Wonderful Dharma [of the Lotus] alone flourishes, because the people all chant Namu-Myoho-renge-kyo, the wind will not thrash the branches, nor the rain fall hard enough to break clods. The age will become like the reigns of [the Chinese sage kings] Yao and Shun. In the present life, inauspicious calamities will be banished, and people will obtain the art of longevity. When the principle becomes manifest that both persons and dharmas 'neither age nor die,' then each of you, behold! There can be no doubt of the sutra's promise of 'peace and security in the present world.'}}</ref>{{rp|68}}

While Nichiren critiqued [[Hōnen]]'s Pure Land tradition for sidelining the ''Lotus Sutra'', he was also influenced by it. [[Hōnen]] had introduced the concept of focusing on a single practice over all others (which was to be [[Nianfo|nembutsu]]). This practice was revolutionary because it was simple and accessible to all. It also minimalized the [[Elitism|elitist]] and monopolistic role of the Buddhist establishment.<ref>Bowring, Richard.  Religious Traditions of Japan: 500–1600. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.  247.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Shaheen |first=James |title=Finding Common Ground |url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/finding-common-ground/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031173825/https://tricycle.org/magazine/finding-common-ground/ |archive-date=31 October 2018 |access-date=28 October 2018 |work=Tricycle: The Buddhist Review}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Strand |first=Clark |title=Faith in Revolution |url=https://tricycle.org/magazine/faith-revolution/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903215258/https://tricycle.org/magazine/faith-revolution/ |archive-date=3 September 2018 |access-date=28 October 2018 |work=Tricycle: The Buddhist Review}}</ref> Nichiren appropriated the structure of a universally accessible single practice but substituted the nembutsu with the recitation of the daimoku (''[[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō|Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō]]''), while also affirming that this practice could lead to Buddhahood in this life, instead of just leading to birth in a pure land.<ref name="Stone2012" />{{rp|124}}