Editing Nichiren (section)

=== Bodily reading the ''Lotus Sutra'' ===
[[file:The Buddhist Priest Nichiren in Exile on Sado Island , from the series Yoshitoshi ryakuga (Sketches by Yoshitoshi) - Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery - 1992.090.jpg|thumb|Nichiren in exile on Sado. Nichiren believed that the sufferings of exile allowed him to live and practice the ''Lotus Sutra'' every moment of every day with his very body.<ref name=":7" />]]
Nichiren's combative preaching led to many attacks and persecutions against him and his followers. Nichiren saw these attacks as signifying his role as a {{nihongo|"votary of the Lotus Sutra"|法華経の行者|Hokekyō no gyōja}}, one who bears witness to the truth of the sutra through their own life and is thus assured of enlightenment. The ''Lotus Sutra'' states that those who base themselves on its teachings and attempt to spread it will experience many trials and personal attacks. By persevering in this, they will eventually reach Buddhahood. Nichiren claimed to be "reading [the ''Lotus Sutra''] with his body" (shikidoku 色読), that is directly and physically experiencing the words of the sutra instead of just reciting or thinking about it.<ref name="Stone2014b" />{{rp|35–36}} Stone writes that this process entails a circular hermeneutic in which "the sūtra’s predictions that its devotees will encounter hardships legitimated Nichiren’s actions, and Nichiren’s experience of persecution, in fulfilling scriptural prophecy, legitimated the ''Lotus Sūtra''".<ref name=":0" />

Nichiren saw it as his personal mission to actively face these trials, and claimed he found great meaning and joy in them. He even expressed appreciation to his tormentors for giving him the opportunity to serve as an envoy of the Buddha.<ref name="Stone2014c">{{Cite journal |last=Stone |first=Jacqueline I. |date=April–June 2014 |title=A votary of the Lotus Sutra will meet ordeals: The role of suffering in Nichiren's thought |url=http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/A%20Votary%20of%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Will%20Meet%20Ordeals%20--The%20Role%20of%20Suffering%20in%20Nichiren%27s%20Thought%20(2014).pdf |url-status=live |journal=Dharma World |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803202351/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/A%20Votary%20of%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Will%20Meet%20Ordeals%20--The%20Role%20of%20Suffering%20in%20Nichiren%27s%20Thought%20%282014%29.pdf |archive-date=3 August 2021 |access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref>{{rp|34,36}} Furthermore, for Nichiren, experiencing trials and even death in service to the ''Lotus Sutra'' was also a way to attain Buddhahood.<ref>Stone 2003, p. 242.</ref> This practice of "bodily reading" the sutra and "not begrudging bodily life" is one of the most central elements of Nichiren's soteriology. Nichiren found this teaching in the ''Lotus Sutra''{{'}}s statement "we do not value bodily life, but cherish only the unexcelled way."<ref name=":7">Stone 2003, p. 252.</ref>

Nichiren also saw his sufferings as redemptive opportunities to quickly transform his [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]] and repay his debts to the triple gem, to one's parents, nation, and to all of beings.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Stone2014b" />{{rp|37}} He further held that encountering great trials for the sake of the ''Lotus'' guaranteed one's future Buddhahood, and he compared this to the radical acts of self-sacrifice found in the Mahayana sutras. His personal example has provided enduring encouragement to Nichiren Buddhists as well as to other individuals who have risked their lives to uphold their convictions.<ref name=":0" />

Nichiren was well aware of the struggles his followers faced in their lives. He taught them that facing these challenges would lead to a sense of inner freedom, peace of mind, and to an understanding of the Dharma. Nichiren accepted the classic Buddhist views on karma which taught that a person's current conditions were the cumulative effect of past thoughts, words, and actions. However, he preferred to focus on how all people, even the ignorant, poor and evil, could become Buddhas through devotion to the ''Lotus Sutra''.<ref name="Stone2014b">{{Cite journal |url=http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/A%20Votary%20of%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Will%20Meet%20Ordeals%20--The%20Role%20of%20Suffering%20in%20Nichiren%27s%20Thought%20(2014).pdf |first=Jacqueline I. |last=Stone |title=A votary of the Lotus Sutra will meet ordeals: The role of suffering in Nichiren's thought |journal=Dharma World |date=January–March 2014 |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803202351/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/A%20Votary%20of%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Will%20Meet%20Ordeals%20--The%20Role%20of%20Suffering%20in%20Nichiren%27s%20Thought%20%282014%29.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|30–32}} Nichiren thus taught that when confronting difficult karmic situations, chanting of the daimoku would open the wisdom of the Buddha and transform one's karma, awakening a universal concern for one's society.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Habito|first=Ruben L.F.|date=2005|title=Review of Nichiren, der Ausubende des Lotos-Sutra by Yukio Matsudo|url=https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2868|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=32/1|pages=166–174|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=1 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701060855/http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2868|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|168}} In some of his letters, Nichiren extended his theory of facing persecution for the ''Lotus Sutra'' to personal problems like familial discord or illness. He encouraged his followers to take ownership of negative life events, and to view them as opportunities to repay karmic debts and to practice Dharma, which help could shorten the length of these events.<ref name="Stone2014c" />{{rp|37}}

For Nichiren, finding joy in experiencing the ''Lotus Sutra'' through one's personal life experience was of paramount in importance. Nichiren held that peace of mind in the face of life's challenges is precisely what the Lotus Sutra meant by its statement that those to uphold the sutra will have peace and security. According to Stone, Nichiren "demonstrated an attitude that wastes little energy in railing against it but unflinchingly embraces it, interpreting it in whatever way appears meaningful at the moment so as to use that suffering for one's own development and to offer it on behalf of others."<ref name="Stone2014c" />{{rp|39}}