Editing Nichiren Buddhism (section)

===Development during Nichiren's life===
{{See also|Nichiren}}

Nichiren developed his thinking in this midst of confusing Lotus Sutra practices and a competing array of other "Old Buddhism" and "New Buddhism" schools.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TtTc_Aa22MwC&q=kamakura+buddhism+honen|title=The Cambridge history of Japan|date=1988–1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first=Kazuyo|last=Osumi|chapter=Buddhism in the Kamakura period|others=Hall, John Whitney, 1916–1997., 山村, 耕造.|isbn=9780521223546|location=Cambridge, UK|oclc=17483588|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181132/https://books.google.com/books?id=TtTc_Aa22MwC&q=kamakura+buddhism+honen|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|544–574}}  The biographical development of his thinking is sourced almost entirely from his extant writings as there is no documentation about him in the public records of his times.  Modern scholarship on Nichiren's life tries to provide sophisticated textual and sociohistorical analyses to cull longstanding myths about Nichiren that accrued over time from what is actually concretized.<ref name=Stone1999c />{{rp|441–442}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Heine|first=Steven|date=January 2005|title=Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History (review)|journal=Philosophy East and West|volume=55/1|pages=125–126|doi=10.1353/pew.2004.0043|s2cid=170501042}}</ref><ref name=Bowring2005 />{{rp|334}}

It is clear that from an early point in his studies Nichiren came to focus on the [[Lotus Sutra]] as the culmination and central message of [[Gautama Buddha|Shakyamuni]]. As his life unfolded he engaged in a "circular [[hermeneutics|hermeneutic]]" in which the interplay of the Lotus Sutra text and his personal experiences verified and enriched each other in his mind.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|198}}  As a result, there are significant turning points as his teachings reach full maturity.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|239–299}}  Scholar Yoshirō Tamura categorizes the development of Nichiren's thinking into three periods:
* An early period extending up to Nichiren's submission of the "''Risshō Ankoku Ron''" ("''Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country''") to [[Hōjō Tokiyori]] in 1260;
* A middle period bookmarked by his first exile (to [[Izu Peninsula]], 1261) and his release from his second exile (to [[Sado Island]], 1273);
* A final period (1274–1282) in which Nichiren lived in [[Minobu, Yamanashi|Mount Minobu]] directing his movement from afar.<ref name=Stone1999c />{{rp|448–449}}

==== Early stage: From initial studies to 1260 ====
For more than 20 years [[Nichiren]] examined Buddhist texts and commentaries at Mount Hiei's [[Enryaku-ji]] temple and other major centers of Buddhist study in Japan. In later writings he claimed he was motivated by four primary questions: (1) What were the essentials of the competing Buddhist sects so they could be ranked according to their merits and flaws?<ref name=Stone1999c />{{rp|451}} (2) Which of the many Buddhist scriptures that had reached Japan represented the essence of Shakyamuni's teaching?<ref name=Habito2009>{{Cite book|title=Readings of the Lotus Sūtra|date=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press|first=Ruben L. F.|last=Habito|others=Teiser, Stephen F., Stone, Jacqueline Ilyse.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVaFa_8Dj-AC&q=nichiren+%22twenty+years%22&pg=PT204|isbn=9780231520430|location=New York|oclc=255015350|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181006/https://books.google.com/books?id=wVaFa_8Dj-AC&q=nichiren+%22twenty+years%22&pg=PT204|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|190}} (3) How could he be assured of the certainty of his own enlightenment? (4) Why was the Imperial house defeated by the Kamakura regime in 1221 despite the prayers and rituals of Tendai and Shingon priests?<ref name=Kitagawa2010>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lani3dFCC9UC&q=Mount+Hiei+monasteries+politically+powerful+kamakura&pg=PA105|title=Religion in Japanese History|last=Kitagawa|first=Joseph M.|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780231515092|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181005/https://books.google.com/books?id=lani3dFCC9UC&q=Mount+Hiei+monasteries+politically+powerful+kamakura&pg=PA105|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|119}} He eventually concluded that the highest teachings of [[Gautama Buddha|Shakyamuni Buddha]] ({{circa| 563}} – {{circa| 483 BC}}) were to be found in the [[Lotus Sutra]]. Throughout his career Nichiren carried his personal copy of the Lotus Sutra which he continually annotated.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|193}}  The [[mantra]] he expounded on 28 April 1253, known as the ''Daimoku'' or ''Odaimoku'', [[Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō]], expresses his devotion to the Lotus Sutra.<ref name=Anesaki1916 />{{rp|34}}<ref name=Stone1999c />{{rp|451}}

From this early stage of his career, Nichiren started to engage in fierce polemics criticizing the teachings of Buddhism taught by the other sects of his day, a practice that continued and expanded throughout his life. Although Nichiren accepted the [[Tendai]] theoretical constructs of "original enlightenment" (''hongaku shisō'') and "attaining Buddhahood in one's present form" (''sokushin jobutsu'') he drew a distinction, insisting both concepts should be seen as practical and realizable amidst the concrete realities of daily life. He took issue with other Buddhist schools of his time that stressed [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendence]] over [[immanence]]. Nichiren's emphasis on "self-power" (Jpn. ''ji-riki'') led him to harshly criticize Honen and his [[Pure Land Buddhism]] school because of its exclusive reliance on Amida Buddha for salvation which resulted in "other-dependence." (Jpn. ''ta-riki'')<ref name=See2014>{{Cite book|last=See |first=Tony |chapter=Deleuze and Mahayana Buddhism: Immanence and Original Enlightenment Thought |title=Deleuze and Asia |editor-last=Hanping.|editor-first=Chiu|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|others=Lee, Yu-lin., Bogue, Ronald.|isbn=9781443868884|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|oclc=893739540}}</ref>{{rp|39}}<ref name=Stone2013>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline|date=2013|title=Nenbutsu Leads to the Avici Hell: Nichiren's Critique of the Pure Land Teachings|url=https://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Nenbutsu%20Leads%20to%20the%20Avici%20Hell--Nichiren%27s%20Critique%20of%20the%20Pure%20Land%20Teachings%20%20(2013).pdf|journal=Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on the Lotus Sutra|publisher=Rissho University|access-date=23 January 2018|archive-date=26 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326104232/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Nenbutsu%20Leads%20to%20the%20Avici%20Hell--Nichiren%27s%20Critique%20of%20the%20Pure%20Land%20Teachings%20%20%282013%29.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  In addition to his critique of Pure Land Buddhism, he later expanded his polemics to criticisms of the [[Zen]], [[Shingon]], and [[Risshū (Buddhism)|Ritsu]] sects. These four critiques were later collectively referred to as his "four dictums."<ref>cf. "four dictums" (四箇の格言 ''shika no kakugen'') entries in ''The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism'', p. 215, and ''Kyōgaku Yōgo Kaisetsu Shū'', p. 54</ref> Later in his writings, Nichiren referred to his early exegeses of the Pure Land teachings as just the starting point for his polemics against the [[Japanese esoteric Buddhism|esoteric teachings]], which he had deemed as a far more significant matter of concern.<ref name=Stone2013 />{{rp|127}} Adding to his criticisms of esoteric [[Shingon]], Nichiren wrote detailed condemnations about the [[Tendai]] school which had abandoned its Lotus Sutra-exclusiveness and incorporated esoteric doctrines and rituals as well as faith in the [[Soteriology|soteriological]] power of [[Amitābha|Amida Buddha]].<ref name=Yampolsky1990>{{Cite book|title=Selected writings of Nichiren|date=1990|chapter=Introduction|publisher=Columbia University Press|editor=Yampolsky, Philip B. |translator=Burton Watson |display-translators=etal |isbn=978-0231072601|location=New York|oclc=21035153|url=https://archive.org/details/selectedwritings00nich |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|3–4}}

The target of his tactics expanded during the early part of his career.  Between 1253 and 1259 he proselytized and converted individuals, mainly attracting mid- to lower-ranking samurai and local landholders<ref name=Stone1999c />{{rp|445}} and debated resident priests in Pure Land temples.  In 1260, however, he attempted to directly reform society as a whole by submitting a treatise entitled "''Risshō Ankoku Ron''" ("''Establishment of the Legitimate Teaching for the Protection of the Country''") to [[Hōjō Tokiyori]], the ''[[de facto]]'' leader of the nation.

In it he cites passages from the [[Humane King Sutra|Ninnō]], [[Bhaisajyaguru|Yakushi]], [[Mahasamnipata Sutra|Daijuku]], and [[Golden Light Sutra|Konkōmyō]] sutras.  Drawing on Tendai thinking about the non duality of person and land, Nichiren argued that the truth and efficacy of the people's religious practice will be expressed in the outer conditions of their land and society.  He thereby associated the natural disasters of his age with the nation's attachment to inferior teachings, predicted foreign invasion and internal rebellion, and called for the return to legitimate dharma to protect the country.<ref name=Yampolsky1990 />{{rp|6–7,12}}<ref name=Habito1999 /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Readings of the Lotus Sūtra, Kindle Edition|date=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press|others=Teiser, Stephen F., Stone, Jacqueline Ilyse. |first=Ruben L. F. |last=Habito |chapter=Bodily Reading of the Lotus Sutra |at=5585–5590 (Kindle locations) |isbn=9780231520430|location=New York|oclc=255015350}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=A Forum for Peace: Daisaku Ikeda's Proposals to the UN|editor-last=Urbain|editor-first=Olivier|publisher=I. B. Taurus|year=2014|isbn=9781780768397|location=New York|pages=479–486}}</ref> Although the role of Buddhism in "nation-protection" (''chingo kokka'') was well-established in Japan at this time, in this thesis Nichiren explicitly held the leadership of the country directly responsible for the safety of the land.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|250–251}}

==== Middle stage: 1261–1273 ====
During the middle stage of his career, in refuting other religious schools publicly and vociferously, Nichiren provoked the ire of the country's rulers and of the priests of the sects he criticized.  As a result, he was subjected to persecution which included two assassination attempts, an attempted beheading and two exiles.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Buddhism|last=Swanson|first=Paul|others=Keown, Damien, 1951–, Prebish, Charles S.|isbn=9781136985881|location=London|page=548|oclc=865579062|date = 2013-12-16}}</ref>  His first exile, to [[Izu Peninsula]] (1261–1263), convinced Nichiren that he was "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra (''Jpn. Hokke shikidoku'')," fulfilling the predictions on the [[Lotus Sutra#Outline|13th chapter]] (''Fortitude'') that votaries would be persecuted by ignorant lay people, influential priests, and their friends in high places.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|252}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sins and sinners : perspectives from Asian religions|date=2012|first=Jacqueline I|last=Stone|chapter=The sin of slandering the true Dharma in Nichiren's thought|pages=128–130|chapter-url=http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/The%20Sin%20of%20Slandering%20the%20True%20Dharma%20in%20Nichiren's%20Thought%20(2012).pdf|publisher=Brill|others=Granoff, P. E. (Phyllis Emily), 1947–, Shinohara, Koichi, 1941–|isbn=9789004232006|location=Leiden|oclc=809194690|access-date=20 February 2022|archive-date=13 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113124441/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/The%20Sin%20of%20Slandering%20the%20True%20Dharma%20in%20Nichiren%27s%20Thought%20%282012%29.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nichiren began to argue that through "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra," rather than just studying its text for literal meaning, a country and its people could be protected.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|190–192}}  According to Habito, Nichiren argued that bodily reading the Lotus Sutra entails four aspects:
:<li> The awareness of Śākyamuni Buddha's living presence.  "Bodily reading the Lotus Sutra" is equivalent to entering the very presence of the Buddha in an immediate, experiential, and face-to-face way, he claimed.  Here Nichiren is referring to the primordial buddha revealed in Chapter 16 ("Life Span of the Thus Come One") who eternally appears and engages in human events in order to save living beings from their state of unhappiness.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|191–192,201}}</li>
:<li>One contains all. Nichiren further developed the [[Zhiyi|Tiantai]] doctrine of [[Ten realms#three thousand realms in a single moment|"three thousand realms in a single thought-moment"]].  Every thought, word, or deed contains within itself the whole of the three thousand realms; reading even one word of the sūtra therefore includes the teachings and merits of all buddhas.  Chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, according to Nichiren, is the concrete means by which the principle of the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment is activated and assures the attainment of enlightenment as well as receiving various kinds of worldly benefit.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|190,192,201}}</li>
:<li>The here and now. Nichiren held that the bodily reading of the sūtra must be applicable to time, place, and contemporary events.  Nichiren was acutely aware of the social and political turmoil of his country and spiritual confusion of people in the [[Latter Day of the Law]].<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|193,201}}</li>
:<li>Utmost seriousness. True practitioners must go beyond mental or verbal practices and actively speak up against and oppose prevailing thoughts and philosophies that denigrate the message of the Lotus Sutra.  Nichiren set the example and was willing to lay down his life for its propagation and realization.<ref name=Habito2009 />{{rp|201}}</li>

His three-year exile to [[Sado, Niigata|Sado Island]] proved to be another key turning point in Nichiren's life. Here he began inscribing the ''Gohonzon'' and wrote several major theses in which he claimed that he was [[Visistacaritra|Bodhisattva Superior Practices]], the leader of the [[Bodhisattvas of the Earth]].

He concludes his work ''The Opening of the Eyes'' with the declaration "I will be the pillar of Japan; I will be the eyes of Japan; I will be the vessel of Japan. Inviolable shall remain these vows!"<ref>{{Cite book|title=Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy|last1=Carr|first1=Brian|first2=Indira|last2=Mahalingam|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=9781134960583|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xIwrBgAAQBAJ&q=nichiren|page=702|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=20 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220181009/https://books.google.com/books?id=xIwrBgAAQBAJ&q=nichiren|url-status=live}}</ref> His thinking now went beyond theories of karmic retribution or guarantees of the Lotus Sutra as a protective force.  Rather, he expressed a resolve to fulfill his mission despite the consequences.<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|259}}  All of his disciples, he asserted, should emulate his spirit and work just like him in helping all people open their innate Buddha lives even though this means entails encountering enormous challenges.<ref name=Anesaki1916 />{{rp|75}}

==== Final stage: 1274–1282 ====
Nichiren's teachings reached their full maturity between the years 1274 and 1282 while he resided in primitive settings at Mount [[Minobu, Yamanashi|Minobu]] located in today's [[Yamanashi Prefecture]]. During this time he devoted himself to training disciples,<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|261}} produced most of the ''Gohonzon'' which he sent to followers,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dolce|first=Lucia|date=1999|title=Criticism and Appropriation Nichiren's Attitude toward Esoteric Buddhism|url=https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2689|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=26/3–4|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=2 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602150120/http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2689|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|377}} and authored works constituting half of his extant writings<ref name=Stone1999a />{{rp|191}}<ref name=Christensen2001 />{{rp|115}} including six treatises that were categorized by his follower Nikkō as among his ten most important.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/T/58|title=ten major writings – Dictionary of Buddhism – Nichiren Buddhism Library|website=www.nichirenlibrary.org|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=14 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214190827/http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/T/58|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1278 the "Atsuhara Affair" ("Atsuhara Persecution") occurred, culminating three years later.<ref name=Stone2014>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacqueline I.|date=2014|title=The Atsuhara Affair: The Lotus Sutra, Persecution, and Religious Identity in the Early Nichiren Tradition|url=https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4334|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=41/1|pages=153–189|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=2 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602211423/http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/4334|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|153}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/A/109|title=Atsuhara Persecution – Dictionary of Buddhism – Nichiren Buddhism Library|website=www.nichirenlibrary.org|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-date=6 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106045048/http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/A/109|url-status=live}}</ref>  In the prior stage of his career, between 1261 and 1273, Nichiren endured and overcame numerous trials that were directed at him personally including assassination attempts, an attempted execution, and two exiles, thereby "bodily reading the Lotus Sutra" (''shikidoku'' 色読).  In so doing, according to him, he validated the 13th ("Fortitude") chapter of the Lotus Sutra in which a host of bodhisattvas promise to face numerous trials that follow in the wake of upholding and spreading the sutra in the evil age following the death of the Buddha: slander and abuse; attack by swords and staves; enmity from kings, ministers, and respected monks; and repeated banishment.<ref name=Stone2014 />{{rp|154}}

On two occasions, however, the persecution was aimed at his followers.  First, in 1271, in conjunction with the arrest and attempted execution of Nichiren and his subsequent exile to Sado, many of his disciples were arrested, banished, or had lands confiscated by the government.  At that time, Nichiren stated, most recanted their faith in order to escape the government's actions.  In contrast, during the Atsuhara episode twenty lay peasant-farmer followers were arrested on questionable charges and tortured; three were ultimately executed.  This time none recanted their faith.<ref name=Stone2014 />{{rp|155–156}} Some of his prominent followers in other parts of the country were also being persecuted but maintained their faith as well.<ref name=Christensen2001>{{Cite book |title=Nichiren: leader of Buddhist reformation in Japan|last=Christensen|first=Jack Arden|date=2001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KsztCdAZo9oC&q=izu|publisher=Jain Publishing Co|isbn=9780875730868|location=Fremont, CA |oclc=43030590|access-date=30 January 2018}}</ref>{{rp|117}}

Although Nichiren was situated in Minobu, far from the scene of the persecution, the [[Fuji, Shizuoka|Fuji district]] of present-day [[Shizuoka Prefecture]], Nichiren held his community together in the face of significant oppression through a sophisticated display of legal and rhetorical responses. He also drew on a wide array of support from the network of leading monks and lay disciples he had raised, some of whom were also experiencing persecution at the hands of the government.<ref name=Stone2014 />{{rp|165, 172}}

Throughout the events he wrote many letters to his disciples in which he gave context to the unfolding events by asserting that severe trials have deep significance. According to Stone, "By standing firm under interrogation, the Atsuhara peasants had proved their faith in Nichiren's eyes, graduating in his estimation from 'ignorant people' to devotees meriting equally with himself the name of 'practitioners of the Lotus Sutra.'"<ref name=Stone2014 />{{rp|166, 168–169}}  During this time Nichiren inscribed 114 mandalas that are extant today, 49 of which have been identified as being inscribed for individual lay followers and which may have served to deepen the bond between teacher and disciple.  In addition, a few very large mandalas were inscribed, apparently intended for use at gathering places, suggesting the existence of some type of [[conventicle]] structure.<ref name=Stone1999c>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Jacueline I.|title=Biographical Studies on Nichiren|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Biographical%20Studies%20of%20Nichiren%20(1999).pdf|journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies|volume=26/3–4|access-date=7 February 2018|archive-date=28 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328140344/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Articles%20on%20the%20Lotus%20Sutra%20Tendai%20and%20Nichiren%20Buddhism/Biographical%20Studies%20of%20Nichiren%20(1999).pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|446}}

The Atsuhara Affair also gave Nichiren the opportunity to better define what was to become Nichiren Buddhism. He stressed that meeting great trials was a part of the practice of the Lotus Sutra; the great persecutions of Atsuhara were not results of karmic retribution but were the historical unfolding of the Buddhist Dharma.  The vague "single good of the true vehicle" which he advocated in the ''Risshō ankoku ron'' now took final form as chanting the Lotus Sutra's ''daimoku'' or title which he described as the heart of the "origin teaching" (''honmon'' 本門) of the Lotus Sutra.  This, he now claimed, lay hidden in the depths of the 16th ("The Life Span of the Tathāgata") chapter, never before being revealed, but intended by the Buddha solely for the beginning of the Final Dharma Age.<ref name=Stone2014 />{{rp|175–176, 186}}