Editing Nichiren Shōshū (section)

==Religious doctrines==
[[File:Set of Nichiren Shoshu Juzu Prayer Beads.jpg|thumb|185px|Buddhist ''Juzu'' prayer beads with white cords and balls, the only color and format permitted within Nichiren Shoshu practice]]

Nichiren Shōshū doctrine extends the [[Tiantai]] classification of the Buddhist sutras into the following:
# Five periods of time + eight categories (五時八教, ''Goji-hakkyō'')
# The theory of 3,000 interpenetrating realms within a single life-moment (一念三千, ''Ichinen Sanzen'')
# Its world view of the ''Three Truths'' (三諦, ''San Tai'').

===The doctrine of "Buddhist Slander"===
The sect seeks to eradicate all other religions and vehemently rejects all forms of religious [[Interfaith dialogue|interfaith]] practices as both evil and [[heretical]], referring to any [[syncretism]] as "Slander" (謗 法, Ho–bo) against the [[Dharma]] taught by the founder Nichiren.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cf21a3bdd33250001f436dc/t/5f0ab7f9f82898308f87254d/1594537977291/What+is+slander.pdf|title=Question: What is Slander?}}</ref> It further maintains that directly supporting other religions outside the sect gains negative karma and brings grave punishment, disasters and generational suffering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://daimyojihokeko.jimdofree.com/入信と実践/|title=日蓮正宗入信と信仰の実践|website=大妙寺法華講}}</ref>

===The Laws of Karma and Rebirth===
The sect teaches that human children choose to be reborn to their parents based on the parents' accumulated karma of causes and conditions that existed from past and present lives. Accordingly, the sect further teaches that other life forms also generate their own karma based on [[cause and effect]] that does not recognize both space and time. These willed rebirths include humans, animals and other life forms (and vice versa) that choose to be reborn in whatever capacity to advance the Buddhist enlightenment of [[Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo]] in the universe.

===Expired teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha===
The sect claims that Shakyamuni's myriad forms of Buddhism have now lost their salvific power to gain [[Buddhahood]] for the modern age, designated at the [[Three Ages of Buddhism|Third Age of Buddhism]] since the year 1052 to the present. In addition, the school claims that Nichiren was fulfilling an [[eschatological]] prophecy made by [[Shakyamuni Buddha]] in Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra regarding the [[Three Ages of Buddhism]] which states:{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

{{Blockquote|"…Like the rays of the sun and the moon that dispel the darkness of phenomena, this person will practice in the world, dispel the darkness of all humanity and lead immeasurable numbers of bodhisattvas to finally attain the One Vehicle" – ''Chapter 21: The Mystical Powers of [[Tathagata]] Buddha.''{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} }}

===Interpretation of the Three Buddhist Jewels===
# Buddha –  Nichiren Shōshū teaches that Nichiren is the “''True Original [[Buddha]]''” for the modern times corresponding to the [[Three Ages of Buddhism|Third Buddhist Age]] and for all eternity.
# Dharma –  The [[Dharma]] is referred to by the sect as "The Mystic Law", referring to the ultimate teachings of Nichiren, crystallized in ''[[Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō]]''. The sect further teaches that this Mystic Law is the internal enlightenment of Nichiren himself called "Naisho" (内 証) and is the "Original True Buddha" from an infinite, mystical timeless point in the [[Universe]] (久遠元初, "Kuon–Ganjo"). Furthermore, the sect teaches that this enlightenment is physically embodied within the [[Dai-Gohonzon]] wooden mandala and was left for the posterity of future generations. The same definition of Dharma is accorded to its authorized, transcribed copies called "Gohonzon" that are loaned by the sect to its followers.
# Sangha –  The [[Sangha]] refers to one of Nichiren's senior disciples, [[Nikko Shonin]], its lineage of succeeding High Priests, along with the entire collective of Nichiren Shōshū priests who serve to teach, protect and preserve the doctrines and dogmas of Nichiren Shōshū.

Accordingly, the sect teaches that the [[Refuge (Buddhism)|Three Jewels of Buddhism]] are a single, inseparable entity that equally share the internal enlightenment of Nichiren. More specifically, the sect teaches that the Buddha and the Dharma are perpetrated and upheld by the Sangha priesthood (Heisei Shinpen). The common parlance used in the sect among believers to describe the three Buddhist treasures is termed "Buddha–Law–Priesthood".
[[File:Taisekiji Dai Gohonzon.jpeg|thumb|Photograph of the Dai-Gohonzon at Taisekiji, printed in Kumada Ijō's (熊田葦城) book ''Nichiren Shōnin'' (日蓮上人), 8th edition, p, 375, originally published in 1911.]]

===The "Three Great Secret Laws"===
According to the doctrinal beliefs of Nichiren Shoshu, Nichiren instituted the mastery of three spiritual disciplines:{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

# Precepts – upholding the Buddhist vows ("Jukai") of daily Buddhist practice
# Meditation – purifying the mind through chanting "[[Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo]]" ("Shodai")
# Wisdom – upholding the teachings of religion through the office of the Head Temple ("Kaidan")

Nichiren Shoshu teaches that Nichiren revealed the Three Great Secret Laws which matches the three above:{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

# The ''Dai-Gohonzon'' – as the Supreme Object of Worship, sourcing to the vow of Precepts.
# The ''Daimoku'' – of ''Nam Myoho Renge Kyo'' as the Supreme Invocation, sourcing to its meditational practice.
# The ''Dai-Sekiji no Honmon Kaidan'' (''Tai-sekiji'') – as the Platform of the High Sanctuary of Essential Teaching, sourcing to its authoritative office of Wisdom.

===On the Lotus Sutra===
The [[Lotus Sutra]] is the core basis of the teachings of the sect, and divides the book into two parts:
* "Theoretical Teachings" ( "Gate of Tracing", Jp: 迹 門 Shaku–mon) – Chapters 1–14
* "Essential Teachings" ( "Gate of Origin", Jp: 本 門 Hon–mon) – Chapters 15–28

The sect teaches that a significant difference between the two lies with the standpoint of who is preaching them. The Theoretical Teachings (Chapters 1–14) are preached by [[Shakyamuni Buddha]] who reached Buddhahood in [[Bodhgaya, India]]. On the other hand, Shakyamuni declares in the Essential Teachings (Chapters 15–28) that his enlightenment in India was only temporary, and that he in fact already attained Buddhahood in a mysterious, timeless point in the Universe.

As result of these interpretations of the [[Tendai]] school and Nichiren schools of thought, all the provisional Buddhas, such as [[Amida Nyorai]], [[Dainichi Nyorai]], and [[Yakushi]] Nyorai, were integrated into one single original Buddha.

Another doctrine taught by the sect is that  Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra does not reveal the cause or "seed" of enlightenment gained by Shakyamuni Buddha. Rather, this secret was revealed in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra by [[Ākāśagarbha]] ("Heavenly Jewel") Bodhisattva to Nichiren and his latter claim to the expressed public recitation of [[Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo]] through an alleged deeper understanding of the text.

Furthermore, the sect teaches that:
* The recitation of Chapter 2 is a self–declaration to reject and abolish the various religions and forms of Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni Buddha.
* The recitation of Chapter 16 (through a metaphysical reading) crystallizes this Buddhist secret (also called "Hidden Treasure") which gains a person the state of Buddhahood. The sect teaches that this hidden mystical secret is the practice of "Jigyo–Keta" (自 行 化 他) or the widespread propagation of the practice to non-believers.

===The meaning of ''Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo''===

The sect teaches that ''Nam-myoho-renge-kyo'' is the quintessential core practice of Nichiren's teachings,<ref name="auto"/> is weighted on heavily with great significance in the ''[[Ongi Kuden]]''. ''Nam-myoho-renge-kyo'' is explained in the ''Ongi Kuden'' as follows:<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gender equality in Buddhism|last=Masatoshi|first=Ueki|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2001|isbn=0820451339|pages=136, 159–161}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Shindoku
![[Chinese characters|Chinese]]
![[Sanskrit]]
!English
!Hermeneutic interpretation of Nichiren Shoshu
|-
|''Nam''
|南<br />無
|[[Namaskar]]
|Devotion
|Dedication of one's life purpose to the propagation of Myoho-renge-kyo and to [[Nichiren Daishonin]] as the Buddha who embodies the truth, the [[Dai Gohonzon]] wooden mandala of the Three Great Secret Laws in terms of both Buddhist theory and religious practice.
|-
|''Myoho''
|妙<br />法
|Sad[[dharma]]
|The "Mysterious Law"
|Ignorance and enlightenment are a single entity, both hell and heavenly states are also a singular essence.
|-
|''Renge''
|蓮<br />華
|Puṇḍarīka
|The [[Nelumbo nucifera]] (lotus flower)
|Singularity of both cause and effect (as symbolized by this flower representing the circulations of [[karma]].)
|-
|''Kyo''
|經
|[[Sutra]]
|Buddhist Sutra or teachings
|All phenomena through [[:ja:三世|three existences of past, present, and future]] as embodied by the Buddha of Compassion, [[Nichiren Daishonin]].
|}