Editing Nichiren (section)

=== Attempt at execution ===

The threat of [[Mongol invasions of Japan|Mongol invasion]] was the worst crisis in pre-modern Japanese history. In 1269 Mongol envoys again arrived to demand Japanese submission to their hegemony and the ''[[bakufu]]'' responded by  mobilizing military defenses.<ref name=Rodd1980 />{{rp|13}} The role of Buddhism in "nation-protection" (''chingo kokka'') was long established in Japan at this time and the government galvanized prayers from Buddhist schools for this purpose. Nichiren and his followers, however, felt emboldened that the predictions he had made in 1260 of foreign invasion seemingly were being fulfilled. Nichiren redoubled his efforts and continued to give regular lectures as more people joined the movement.<ref name=":0" /> Daring a rash response from the ''bakufu'', Nichiren vowed in letters to his followers that he was giving his life to actualize the ''Lotus Sutra''. He accelerated his polemics against the non-Lotus teachings the government had been patronizing at the very time it was attempting to solidify national unity and resolve. In a series of letters to prominent leaders he directly provoked the major prelates of Kamakura temples that the Hojo family patronized, criticized the principles of [[Zen]] which was popular among the samurai class, critiqued the esoteric practices of [[Shingon Buddhism|Shingon]] just as the government was invoking them, and condemned the ideas underlying [[Risshū (Buddhism)|Risshū]] as it was enjoying a revival.<ref name="Stone1999a" />{{rp|454–455}}<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|257}}His actions at that time have been described by modern scholars either as a high form of altruism,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy-6HiyApXsC&q=nichiren+|title=Altruism in World Religions|editor-last1=Neusner|editor-first1=Jacob|editor-last2=Chilton|editor-first2=Bruce|first=Ruben L.F.|last=Habito|author-link=Ruben Habito|chapter=Altruism in Japanese Religions: The Case of Nichiren Buddhism|date=8 November 2005|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=1-58901-235-6|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=1 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601210844/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy-6HiyApXsC&q=nichiren+|url-status=live}}</ref> or the ravings of a fanatic.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kr0KAAAAYAAJ&q=nichiren+madman|title=Buddhist Prophet Nichiren: A Lotus in the Sun|last=Petzold|first=Bruno|date=1978|publisher=Hokke Jānaru|page=1|access-date=13 October 2018|archive-date=3 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603050102/https://books.google.com/books?id=kr0KAAAAYAAJ&q=nichiren+madman|url-status=live}}</ref>

His claims drew the ire of the influential religious figures of the time and their followers, especially the Shingon priest {{nihongo|[[Ninshō|Ryōkan]]|良観}}. In September 1271, after a fiery exchange of letters between the two, Nichiren was arrested by a band of soldiers and tried by {{nihongo|Hei no Saemon|平の左衛門||also called {{lang|ja|平頼綱}} {{Transliteration|ja|Taira no Yoritsuna}}}}, the deputy chief of the [[Samurai-dokoro|Hojo clan's Board of Retainers]]. Nichiren considered this as his second remonstration to the government.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-6ghsWDMTAC&q=nichiren+%22second+remonstration%22&pg=PA102|title=Speeches in World History|last1=McIntire|first1=Suzanne|last2=Burns|first2=William E.|date=25 June 2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2680-7|page=102|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=1 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601192131/https://books.google.com/books?id=L-6ghsWDMTAC&q=nichiren+%22second+remonstration%22&pg=PA102|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Stone2003 />{{rp|257}}
[[file:Koso go-ichidai ryakuzu 高祖御一代略圖 (Concise Illustrated Biography of Monk Nichiren) (BM 2008,3037.12108).jpg|thumb|Depiction of the alleged execution event stopped by a bright orb]]
According to Nichiren's own account, he was sentenced to exile but was brought to Tatsunukuchi beach in [[Shichirigahama]] for execution. According to some traditional accounts, the execution was stopped at the final moment as "a brilliant orb as bright as the moon" arced over the execution grounds, terrifying Nichiren's executioners.<ref>"The Writings of Nichiren", p. 767</ref> Modern scholars have proposed alternative narratives for this story and question its historicity.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=Stone2003 />{{rp|257, 436 (note 99)}} Whatever the case, Nichiren himself believed he had undergone a transformative experience.<ref name=":0" /> After this event, Nichiren was exiled to [[Sado, Niigata|Sado Island]]. This incident has become known as the "Tatsunokuchi Persecution" and was regarded by Nichiren as a death-and-resurrection turning point.<ref name="Stone2003" />{{rp|257–258, 436 (note 100)}}<ref name="Anesaki1916" />{{rp|58}} In the Nichiren tradition this is called his moment of {{nihongo||発迹顕本|Hosshaku kenpon}}, translated as "casting off the transient and revealing the true"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/C/4#para-0 |title=casting off the transient and revealing the true &#124; Dictionary of Buddhism &#124; Nichiren Buddhism Library |publisher=Nichirenlibrary.org |date= |access-date=29 April 2022 |archive-date=23 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323143941/https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/C/4#para-0 |url-status=live }}</ref> or "outgrowing the provisional and revealing the essential."{{sfnp|Tanabe|2002|p=357}}