Editing Nichiren (section)

==== Daimoku ====
[[file:Nichiren calms a storm in Kakuda.jpg|thumb|Nichiren depicted calming a storm by chanting the daimoku]]
[[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō|''Namu myōhō-renge-kyō'']], the ''daimoku'' ("the title" of the ''Lotus Sutra'' preceded by "Namo", meaning "homage to"), is both the essence of the ''Lotus Sutra''{{'s}} Dharma and the means to discover that truth, i.e. the interconnected unity of self, others and environment with Buddhahood itself. Nichiren sees this as the only truly effective practice, the superior Buddhist practice for this time. Thus, according to Nichiren, "it is better to be a leper who chants Nam(u)-myōhō-renge-kyō than be a chief abbot of the Tendai school."<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|56,254}}<ref name=":1" /> For Nichiren, the daimoku is "the heart of the eighty thousand sacred teachings and the eye of all buddhas," and contains the entire [[Buddhism|Buddhadharma]].<ref name=":0" />

Nichiren was influenced by [[Zhiyi]], who argued in his ''Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra'' (Fahua xuanyi 法華玄義) that the title of the sutra contains the meaning of the entire sutra (which itself contains the whole of Buddhism). Stone writes, "for Nichiren, the daimoku, as the embodiment of ichinen sanzen, encompasses all phenomena, including all beings and their environments in the ten realms of existence."<ref name=":0" /> This non-dual reality is contained in the term ''Myōhō'' (Miao in Chinese).<ref name=":5">Montgomery 1991, p. 132.</ref>

Furthermore, the daimoku is also said to contain the Buddha's enlightenment and all his spiritual powers.<ref name=":0" /> As he writes in the ''Kanjin honzon shō'': "Śākyamuni’s causal practices and their resulting virtues are all contained within the five characters Myōhō-renge-kyō. When we embrace these five characters, he will naturally transfer to us the merit of his causes and effects."<ref name=":0" /> He also writes:<blockquote>For those who are incapable of understanding the truth of ichinen sanzen, Lord Śākyamuni Buddha, with His great compassion, wraps this jewel in the five characters of myō, hō, ren, ge, and kyō and hangs it around the neck of the ignorant in the Latter Age of Degeneration.<ref>Kyōkō, FUJII. The Meaning of the Practice of Chanting in Nichiren Buddhism. Journal of East Asian Cultures 2023/2: VII–XIV <nowiki>http://doi.org/10.38144/TKT.2023.2.1</nowiki> <nowiki>https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2613-7519</nowiki></ref></blockquote>Like other Tendai figures of his time, Nichiren held that the ''Lotus Sutra'' taught the unity of the cause (skillful means) and the effect (Buddhahood). Nichiren held that the term ''Renge'' (Dharma Flower) represents how the cause and the effect (practice and Buddhahood) are one. This is symbolized by the lotus flower because its blossoms and seed pods grow at the same time.<ref name=":5" />

Thus, the chanting of the daimoku allowed one to access all the merit of the Buddha's practices. It links a practitioner to the Buddha's wisdom which sees all of reality as a single whole and thus allows one to attain the "realization of buddhahood with this very body."<ref name=":0" />

Furthermore, Nichiren saw this practice as going beyong the self-power [[Other power|other-power]] dichotomy used by Pure Land Buddhism:<blockquote>The Lotus Sutra establishes self-power but is not self-power. Since the "self" encompasses all beings of the ten realms, one’s own person from the outset contains the Buddha realm of both oneself and of all be- ings. Thus one does not now become a Buddha for the first time. [The sutra] also establishes Other-power but is not Other-power. Since the Buddha who is "other" is contained within us ordinary worldlings, this Buddha naturally manifests himself as identical to ourselves.<ref name="Stone 2003, p. 247">Stone 2003, p. 247.</ref></blockquote>For Nichiren, Buddhahood is immanently accessible through the daimoku. Nichiren also saw the daimoku as granting worldly benefits, such as healing and protection from harm.<ref name=":0" /> He taught that by relying on the daimoku, one would achieve a state of inner fredom, writing: "Recognize suffering as suffering, enjoy pleasures for what they are, and whether in suffering or joy, keep chanting Namu Myōhō-renge-kyō...Then you will know the joy of the Dharma for yourself."<ref name=":0" />