Nichiren

Nichiren, birth name, Zennichimaro, (1222 – 1282) was a Buddhist priest, who brought Nichiren Buddhism, a branch school of Mahayana Buddhism, to Japan.

Nichiren was born in the fishing village of Kominato (today part of the city of Kamogawa within present-day Chiba Prefecture). The exact site of Nichiren’s birth is believed to be submerged right off the shore near Tanjō-ji, a temple that commemorates his birth.

Accounts of his lineage vary. Nichiren described himself as “the son of a Sendara (despised outcast), “a son born of the lowly people living on a rocky strand of the out-of-the-way sea,” and “the son of a sea-diver.” His parents named him Zennichimaro, which has variously been translated as “Splendid Sun” and “Virtuous Sun Boy” among others.

He began his studies at a local temple and at Kamakura, where he studied Pure Land Buddhism and Zen. He then studied Tendai Esoteric Buddhism at Mt. Hiei; Shingon Esoteric Buddhism at Mt. Kōya; and then the six established schools, especially Ritsu, at Nara. He concluded that the Lotus Sutra embodied the ultimate truth.

In 1253 Nichiren carried his message back to eastern Japan to the temple where he first studied to present his findings where, thanks to his charismatic personality, he acquired congregations of devoted followers, men and women, commoners and samurai.

Japan had suffered from a series of natural disasters, disease, and famine that had wiped out a large part of the population. Nichiren attributed these calamities to the kami (protective forces of the Buddha) abandoning the nation. In 1260 he wrote Risshō ankokuron (On Establishing truth to bring peace to the nation) and submitted it to Hōjō Tokiyori the retired Hōjō regent. In it he blamed believers in the Pure Land and Zen for the natural disasters that had afflicted Japan and warned of worse calamities to come – unless the government stamped out false teachings, Japan would suffer foreign invasion. Although the Hōjō ignored the work, it contents became known.  It prompted a severe backlash. Eventually he was arrested and exiled to the Izu peninsula.

Nichiren’s Izu exile lasted two years. It ended after the Mongols made threatening demands on Japan. Emboldened upon his return, believing his prophesy had been right, he continued attacking other Buddhist sects and called on the government to create a state based on the Lotus Sutra.

His own emphasis on the Lotus Sutra strengthened. In a 1264 essay, he stated that the title of the Lotus Sutra, “Nam(u)-myoho-renge-kyo,” encompasses all Buddhist teachings and its recitation leads to enlightenment, which was accessible to all.

The persecution continued and he was arrested and tried by Hei no Saemon (also called Taira no Yoritsuna), the deputy chief of the Hojo clan’s Board of Retainers. Though sentenced to exile, he was brought to a beach for execution. According to Nichiren’s account suddenly a brilliant orb appeared in the sky. The executioners became terrified and spared his life. He attributed his miraculous escape to the Lotus Sutra.

He was sent to Sado Island in the Sea of Japan to a small dilapidated temple located in a graveyard. Nichiren was accompanied by a few disciples and in the first winter they endured terrible cold, hunger, and threats from local inhabitants.

Nichiren was pardoned on February 14, 1274 and he eventually retired to Mt. Minobu, a mountain west of Mt. Fuji. He established a temple for the clerics he had ordained himself. To communicate with his followers, he issued pastoral letters. More than half of the extant letters of Nichiren were written during that time.

At the end of his life, Nichiren preached that the bodhisattva to whom the original Buddha had entrusted the Lotus sutra now inhabited his body. Buddhism had arisen in India, but it reached its ultimate moment of truth in Japan. In the name he chose for himself, the character for nichi represents both the light of truth and the sun goddess Amaterasu, symbolizing Japan itself. Ren signifies the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren envisioned Japan as the country where the true teaching of Buddhism would be revived and the starting point for its worldwide spread

After his death in 1282, he was bestowed the title Nichiren Dai-Bosatsu  (Great Bodhisattva Nichiren) by Emperor Go-Kōgon (1358) and the title Risshō Daishi  (Great Teacher of Rectification) was conferred posthumously in year 1922 by imperial edict.