Nichiren

Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. He declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of Buddhism, and insisted that the Sovereign of Japan and its people should support only this form of Buddhism and eradicate all others. He advocated the repeated recitation of its title, Nam(u)-myoho-renge-kyo, as the only path to Buddhahood and held that Shakyamuni Buddha and all other Buddhist deities were extraordinary manifestations of a particular Buddha-nature termed Myoho-Renge that is equally accessible to all. He declared that believers of the Sutra must propagate it even under persecution. He was a prolific writer and his biography, temperament, and the evolution of his beliefs have been gleaned primarily from his own writings. He claimed the reincarnation of Jogyo bodhisattva in a past life, and designated six senior disciples, of which the claims to successorship are contested. After his death, he was bestowed the title Nichiren Dai-Bosatsu (Great Bodhisattva Nichiren) by the Emperor Go-Kogon in 1358 and the title Rissho Daishi (Great Teacher of Correction) was conferred posthumously through imperial edict by the Emperor Taisho in 1922. Today, Nichiren Buddhism includes traditional temple schools such as Nichiren-shu sects and Nichiren Shoshu, as well as lay movements such as Soka Gakkai, Rissho Kosei Kai, Reiyukai, Kenshokai, Honmon Butsuryu-shu, Kempon Hokke, and Shoshinkai among many others. Each group has varying views of Nichiren's teachings with claims and interpretations of Nichiren's identity ranging from the rebirth of Bodhisattva Visistacaritra to the Primordial or "True Buddha" (Honbutsu) of the Third Age of Buddhism.