Editing Nichiren (section)

=== Declaration of the ''Lotus Sutra'' ===
According to one of his letters, Nichiren returned to Seicho-ji Temple on 28 April 1253 to lecture on the supremacy of the ''Lotus Sutra.<ref name=":0" />''<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|246}} What followed was his first public declaration of ''[[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō|Nam(u) Myoho Renge Kyo]]'' atop Mount Kiyosumi that same day. This marked the start of his campaign to convince the [[Tendai]] tradition to shift its focus back to the ''Lotus Sutra'' and his efforts to convert the entire Japanese nation to this belief.<ref name="Harvey2013" />{{rp|233}} This declaration also marks the start of his efforts to make profound Buddhist theory practical and actionable so an ordinary person could manifest Buddhahood within his or her own lifetime in the midst of day-to-day realities.<ref>Khoon Choy Lee, Japan: Between Myth and Reality, World Scientific Pub Co, page 104,{{ISBN|981-02-1865-6}}</ref>

At the same event, according to his own account and subsequent hagiography, he changed his name to ''Nichiren'', an [[portmanteau|abbreviation]] of {{nihongo||日|nichi|"Sun"}} and {{nihongo||蓮|ren|"Lotus"}}.<ref name="Anesaki1916" />{{rp|34}} ''Nichi'' represents both the light of truth and the sun goddess [[Amaterasu]], symbolizing Japan itself. ''Ren'' signifies the ''Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren envisioned Japan as the country where the true teaching of Buddhism would be revived and the starting point for its worldwide spread.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vu6f6DfYxNAC&q=nichiren|title=Sources of Japanese tradition|date=1964|publisher=Columbia University Press|last=De Bary|first=William Theodore|page=215|isbn=0-231-08605-9|location=New York|oclc=644425|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=2 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602012407/https://books.google.com/books?id=vu6f6DfYxNAC&q=nichiren|url-status=live}}</ref>

At his lecture, it is construed, Nichiren vehemently attacked [[Honen]], the founder of [[Pure Land Buddhism]], and its practice of chanting the [[Nembutsu]]. It is likely he also denounced the nembutsu teachings found at [[Seichō-ji|Seicho-ji]].<ref name=":0" /> In so doing he earned the animosity of the local steward, Tojo Kagenobu, and eventually Nichiren was forced to leave the temple.<ref name=":0" /> Modern scholarship suggests that events unfolded not in a single day but over a longer period of time and had social, and political dimensions.<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|246–247}}<ref name="Rodd1980" />{{rp|6–7}}

Nichiren then moved to a hermitage in the hills around [[Kamakura]].<ref name=":0" /> From there he converted several Tendai priests, directly ordained others, and attracted lay disciples who were drawn mainly from the strata of the lower and middle [[samurai]] class. Their households provided Nichiren with economic support and became the core Nichiren communities in several locations in the [[Kanto region]] of Japan.<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|246–247}}<ref name="Rodd1980" />{{rp|7–8}}