* 1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.

Love has been a practicing Buddhist since 1989, and has studied and practiced both Tibetan and Nichiren Buddhism.

All Japanese Kamakura sects of Buddhism ( Zen, Nichiren, Jodo ) have relaxed Mahayana vinaya, and as a consequence, vegetarianism is rare.

* 1222 – Nichiren Daishonin, Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism ( d. 1282 )

Another example is Nichiren Buddhism.

Based on the Lotus Sutra's teaching of what it describes as the " unsurpassed Dharma ", Nichiren Buddhism acknowledges the Four Noble Truths as the first sermon, but not as the final teaching of the Buddha.

* The Four Noble Truth in Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools with their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings, the most prominent being Nichiren Shu, Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai ; however, despite the differences between schools, all Nichiren sects share the fundamental practice of chanting daimoku.

To eliminate any possible doubts, Nichiren decided to spend some time at Mount Kōya, the centre of esoteric Buddhism, and also in Nara, Japan ’ s ancient capital, where he studied the Ritsu sect, which emphasized strict monastic discipline and ordination. During this time, he became convinced of the pre-eminence of the Lotus Sutra and in 1253, returned to Seichoji.

After making his declaration, which all schools of Nichiren Buddhism regard as marking their foundation ( 立宗: risshū ), Nichiren began propagating his teachings in Kamakura, then Japan's de facto capital since it was where the shikken ( regent for the shogun ) and shogun lived and the government was established.

This " true and correct form of Buddhism ", as Nichiren saw it, entailed regarding the Lotus Sutra as the fullest expression of the Buddha's teachings and putting those teachings into practice.

Based on prophecies made in several sutras, Nichiren attributed the occurrence of the famines, disease, and natural disasters ( especially drought, typhoons, and earthquakes ) of his day to teachings of Buddhism no longer appropriate for the time.

In his writings, Nichiren refers to his identity in a variety of ways, nevertheless always related to the Lotus Sutra, for example: " I, Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra ".. Of the many figures appearing in the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren chose his spiritual identity as that of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, and identified his goal as attaining Buddhahood: " From the beginning … I wanted to master Buddhism and attain Buddhahood ".

After his death, Nichiren has been known by several posthumous names intended to express respect toward him or to represent his position in the history of Buddhism.

Setting out to declare his own teachings of Buddhism, Nichiren started at the age of 32 by denouncing all Mahayana schools of his time and by declaring the correct teaching as the Universal Dharma ( Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō ) and chanting as the only path for personal and social salvation.

When Nichiren is exiled in 1261, Nichirō wants to follow Nichiren ; but Nichirō is forbidden to do so -- Postcard artwork, circa 1920s.

His third remonstration also went unheeded, and Nichiren — following a Chinese adage that if a wise man remonstrates three times but is ignored, he should leave the country — decided to go into voluntary exile at Mt.

Many of these survive today in the repositories of Nichiren temples such as Taiseki-ji ( 大石寺 ) in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, which has a particularly large collection that is publicly aired once a year in April.

While some schools regard this as features attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha others underline that he identifies himself as a votary of the Lotos Sutra :" Shakyamuni Buddha is the father and mother, teacher and sovereign to all living being ...” and similarly mentioning in his letter ' The Opening of the Eyes ':“ I, Nichiren, am sovereign, teacher, and father and mother to all the people ...”..

Preference for these titles generally depends on the school to which a person belongs, with " Shōnin " being commonly used within Nichiren Shū, which regards Nichiren as a Buddhist reformer and embodiment of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, while " Daishōnin " is the title used by followers of most, but not all, of the schools and temples derived from the Nikkō lineage, most notably the Sōka Gakkai, who regard Nichiren as ' The Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law ' and also Nichiren Shōshū, who regard Nichiren as ' The True Buddha ', or ' Buddha of True Cause '.

Nichiren attributed the turmoil in society to the invalid teachings of the Buddhist schools of his time, including the Tendai sect in which he was ordained: " It is better to be a leper who chants Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō than be a chief abbot of the Tendai school ".

There is a difference between Nichiren teachings and almost all schools of Mahayana Buddhism regarding the understanding of the Latter day of the Law, Mappō.

Nichiren Buddhism ( 日蓮系諸宗派: Nichiren-kei sho shūha ) is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese Buddhist reformer Nichiren ( 1222 – 1282 ).

Nichiren Buddhism is based on the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that all people have an innate Buddha nature and are therefore inherently capable of attaining enlightenment in their current form and present lifetime.

Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools.

Nichiren believed, that directly revealing one ’ s Buddha nature is possible through the practice of the Bodhisattvas who: “ do not carry out the practice of gradual progress.

Even though some groups dissociate themselves from other ( Nichiren )- Buddhists most Nichiren Buddhists enjoy a peaceful coexistence with other religious groups in modern times, in societies which are based on freedom of belief.

In the later context of developments the above mentioned claims served as a reason on which, what would later become, Nichiren Shōshū based its orthodoxy on Nichiren-Buddhism in general.

is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese monk Nichiren ( 1222 – 1282 ).

After the WWII, the Soka Gakkai emerged as a growing lay organization affiliated with and based on the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu.

Sōka gakkai members integrate their Buddhist practice into their daily lives, following the Lotus Sutra based teachings of Nichiren, a 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest.

In the 1930s Makiguchi and Toda broadened the organization's focus to social reform based on Makiguchi's theory of sōka and the tenets of Nichiren Buddhism.

The beliefs, religious practice and social orientation of the Sōka Gakkai movement derive from the Lotus Sutra based teachings of the thirteenth-century Buddhist monk Nichiren In the movement's formative years, Makiguchi and Toda found resonance between their ideas on education and the Nichiren's emphasis on individual empowerment, inner transformation and spirit of activism as key to social reform.

SGI practice is based on Nichiren ’ s recommendation to recite parts of the 2d and 16th Chapters of the Lotus Sutra, supplementing the chanting of the Daimoku.

SGI states its teachings are based on peaceful propagation of Nichiren Buddhism: " SGI remains committed to the role of dialogue in the advancement of peace, education, and culture ".

SGI is also criticized for its doctrinal teachings based on Nichiren Buddhism, perceived by some observers to be lacking tolerance towards other forms of Buddhism .. On the other hand, Nichiren Buddhism clarifies the way of peaceful and free expression in debates about various schools differences: “ Even in the case of the Nembutsu priests, the Zen priests, and the True Word teachers, and the ruler of the nation and other men of authority, all of whom bear me such hatred — I admonish them because I want to help them, and their hatred for me makes me pity them all the more ”.

This is based on a document dated the ninth lunar month of 1282 called the Nichiren ichigo guhō fuzoku-sho (" Document assigning all the teachings spread by Nichiren during his lifetime ").

Schools stemming from the other five elders, many of which are now amalgamated into Nichiren Shu based at Kuon-ji, reject this claim, as the document does not exist in Nichiren's hand or any of His immediate disciples.

During the Meiji period some Buddhism-influenced Shinshūkyō also appeared, including Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai, an organization based on Nichiren Buddhism, which would later be renamed Sōka Gakkai.

Nichiren Buddhism is based on the Lotus Sutra, one of the major Mahayana sources, in which the Buddha declared equality of all human beings and introduced the teaching of Buddha Nature as common to all people.

Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222 in the village of Kominato, Nagase District, Awa Province ( within present-day Chiba Prefecture ).

Two days later, on September 12, Hei no Saemon and a group of soldiers abducted Nichiren from his hut at Matsubagayatsu, Kamakura.

Nichiren, on the other hand, confirms that the teachings of the Lotus Sutra will flourish for all eternity, and that the Bodhisattvas of the Earth will propagate Buddhism in the future.

Nichiren Buddhists believe that the spread of Nichiren's teachings and their effect on practitioners ' lives will eventually bring about a peaceful, just, and prosperous society.

Some Nichiren schools see the incident of the attempted beheading as marking a turning point in Nichiren's teaching, since Nichiren began inscribing the Gohonzon and wrote a number of major doctrinal treatises during his subsequent three-year exile on Sado Island in the Japan Sea.

( The Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus ), Nichiren added to the title the word Namu ( devotion to ), and declared on 28 April 1253, the chanting of the phrase Nam ( u ) Myoho Renge Kyo as his basic practice for revealing one ’ s Buddha nature in daily life.

Intolerance towards Nichiren Buddhism did not cease after Nichiren ’ s death ( 1282 ), and the most famous persecution was the violent attacks on Nichiren temples in the 16th century, Kyoto, Japan: “ Nichiren temples in Kyoto were attacked by the monks from Mt.