Editing Nichiren Buddhism (section)

==== 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}}