Nichiren Buddhism. Of humble birth, Nichiren (whose given name was
search of true Buddhism. In 1253, convinced that contemporary Buddhism
Sutra as the only means of salvation. Conflict with both religious and
civil authorities marked the remainder of his life. He condemned
).
See M. Kanko, The Nichiren Sect (1958); A. Masaharu, Nichiren the Buddhist Prophet (1966); T. Yutaka, Nichiren (1970); P. B. Yampolsky, ed., Selected Writings of Nichiren (1990).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press
Wikipedia
Nichiren (日蓮) (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282), born Zennichimaro (善日麿), later Zeshō-bō Renchō (是聖房蓮長), and finally Nichiren (日蓮), was a Buddhist monk of 13th century Japan. A controversial figure during his lifetime, he is the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, a major Japanese Buddhist stream encompassing several schools of often widely conflicting doctrine.
Lifetime
Birth, education, initial teaching
Nichiren was born in the fishing village of Kominato in the
province of Awa. Though Kominato still exists in today's
Chiba Prefecture, its site at the time of Nichiren's birth is believed to be submerged in the
Pacific off the coast of Chiba.
Nichiren
began his Buddhist study at a nearby temple, Seichoji (清澄寺, also called
Kiyosumi-dera), at age 11. He was formally ordained at 16 and took the
Buddhist name Zeshō-bō Renchō. He left Seichoji shortly thereafter to
study in Kamakura and several years later traveled to western Japan for more in-depth study in the Kyoto–Nara
area, where Japan's major centers of Buddhist learning were located.
During this time, he became convinced of the pre-eminence of the Lotus Sutra and in 1253, returned to Seichoji.
On April 28, 1253, he expounded Nam(u) Myōhō Renge Kyō for the first time, marking his Sho Tempōrin
(初転法輪: "first turning the wheel of the Law"). With this, he proclaimed
that devotion to and practice of the Lotus Sutra was the only correct
form of Buddhism for the present time period. At the same time he
changed his name to Nichiren, wherein the kanji character for nichi (日) means "sun" and that for ren
(蓮) means "lotus". The significance of this choice, as Nichiren himself
explained it, is manifold and rooted, among other things, in passages
from the Lotus Sutra. Simple explanations—such as "nichi stands for Japan"—though not wrong, should therefore not be taken by themselves or regarded as representing the whole story.
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 apparatus of government were seated. He gained a fairly
large following there, consisting of both priests and laity, and many
of his lay believers came from among the samurai class.
First remonstration with authorities and early years of teaching
Nichiren
was an extremely controversial figure in his own time, and many of the
schools stemming from his teachings continue to inspire controversy
today (see Nichiren Buddhism).
One common source of such controversy is the perception that Nichiren
Buddhists insist that only the school they follow is the correct form
of Buddhism, a conviction that started with Nichiren himself.
Some
groups today characterize Nichiren's efforts as an attempt to reform
contemporary Buddhism; Nichiren, however, was not trying to reform
other sects. Rather, his intent was to have government patronage for
them ceased and to dissuade people from practicing them because he was
convinced that the other schools were leading people down the wrong
path, away from the "truth of the Lotus Sutra," away from their
potential enlightenment, and towards more suffering. Nichiren stated
this purpose clearly, outlining it in the Risshō Ankoku Ron
(立正安国論: "Treatise on securing the peace of the land through the
establishment of the correct), his first major treatise and the first
of three remonstrations with the authorities. He felt that it was
imperative for the sovereign to recognize and accept the singly true and correct form of Buddhism (i.e., 立正: risshō) as the only way to achieve peace and prosperity for the land and its people and end their suffering (i.e., 安国: ankoku).
This "true and correct form of Buddhism," as Nichiren saw it, entailed
regarding the Lotus Sutra as the ultimate Buddhist teaching and
practicing it as he taught.
Based on prophecies made in several of Sakyamuni Buddha's sutras, Nichiren attributed the occurrence of the famines, disease, and natural disasters (especially drought, typhoons, and earthquakes)
of his day to the sovereign's and the people's adherence to all other
forms of Buddhism. He considered these to be heretical or, while
perhaps fit for a previous day, unfit for contemporary times, according
to a Buddhist view of time that divided history after Sakyamuni
Buddha's passing into three periods.
In his treatise, he also noted that, according to the same prophecies,
failure to adopt the correct form of Buddhism would leave the country
open to more and some as-yet unexperienced disasters, including armed
conflict and specifically internal rebellion and foreign invasion.
Nichiren submitted his treatise in July 1260.
Though it drew no official response, it obviously had not fallen on
deaf ears inasmuch as it prompted a severe backlash, especially from
among priests of other Buddhist sects. Nichiren was harassed
frequently, several times with force, and often had to change
dwellings; for example, he was exiled to the Izu peninsula in 1261 and nearly assassinated in November 1264.
Failed execution attempt—viewed by Nichiren as a critical turning point in his life
The
following several years were marked by successful propagation
activities in eastern Japan that generated more resentment among
priests of other sects and the authorities. After one exchange with an
influential priest called Ryōkan (良観), Nichiren was called in for
questioning by the authorities in September 1271.
He used this as an opportunity to address his second government
remonstration to Hei no Saemon (平の左衛門, also called 平頼綱: Taira no
Yoritsuna), a powerful police and military figure.
Two days
later, on September 12, Hei no Saemon and a group of soldiers abducted
Nichiren from his hut at Matsubagayatsu, Kamakura. Their intent was to
arrest and summarily behead him; but, according to legend, some sort of
astronomical phenomenon — a great flash of light—over the seaside
Tatsunokuchi execution grounds terrified Nichiren's executioners into
inaction. The incident is known by Nichiren Buddhists as the
Tatsunokuchi Persecution and regarded by many of them as a turning
point in Nichiren's lifetime called Hosshaku kenpon (発迹顕本).
Hosshaku kenpon
means "discarding the provisional and revealing the true": Nichiren, at
this point, discarded his "provisional" identity as a mortal priest and
began to reveal his "true" identity as the reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Jōgyō (上行菩薩) or as the True Buddha (本仏: hombutsu), depending on which school's interpretation you accept.
Unsure of what to do with Nichiren, Hei no Saemon eventually decided to banish him to Sado, an island in the Japan Sea known for its particularly severe winters and a place from which few returned.
This
exile, Nichiren's second, lasted about three years and, though harsh
and in the long term detrimental to his health, represents one of the
most important and productive segments of his lifetime of teaching.
While on Sado, he won numerous staunch converts and wrote two of his
most important doctrinal treatises, the Kaimoku Shō (開目抄: "On the opening of the eyes") and the Kanjin no Honzon Shō (観心本尊抄: "The object of devotion for observing the mind in the fifth five-hundred year period"), as well as numerous letters and minor treatises whose content contains critical components of his whole teaching.
It was also during his exile on Sado, in 1272, that he inscribed the first Gohonzon (御本尊), the mandala that he intended as a graphic representation (or, in some schools, as the very embodiment) of the essence of the Lotus Sutra—Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, or the "Mystic Law" of cause and effect that underlies all phenomena in the universe (see Nam Myoho Renge Kyo).
Nichiren was pardoned in February 1274
and returned to Kamakura in late March. He was again interviewed by Hei
no Saemon, who now was interested in extracting information from him
about a feared invasion by the Mongols: The appearance of several
Mongol messengers demanding Japan's fealty had spooked the authorities
into believing that Nichiren's prophecy of foreign invasion was about
to materialize (which it did in October; see Mongol Invasions of Japan). Nichiren, however, used the audience as yet another opportunity to remonstrate with the government.
Retirement to Mt. Minobu
His third remonstration also unheeded, Nichiren—following an old
Chinese adage to the effect that if a wise man remonstrates three times
but is ignored, he should leave the country—decided to go into
voluntary exile on Mt.
Minobu (身延山) in May
1274.
With
the exception of a few short journeys, Nichiren spent the rest of his
life at Minobu, where he and his disciples erected a temple, Kuonji
(久遠寺) and he continued writing and training his disciples. Two of his
works from this period are the Senji Shō (撰時抄: "On the selection of time") and the Hōon Shō (報恩抄: "Recompense of Indebtedness"), which, along with his Risshō Ankoku Ron, Kaimoku Shō, and Kanjin no Honzon Shō,
constitute his Five Major Writings.He also inscribed numerous Gohonzon
for bestowal upon specific disciples and lay believers. Many of these
survive today in the repositories of Nichiren temples such as Taisekiji (大石寺) in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, which has a particularly large collection that is publicly aired once a year in April.
Passing
Nichiren spent his final years writing, inscribing Gohonzon for his
disciples and believers, and delivering sermons. But his health began
to fail, and several people encouraged him to travel to hot springs for
their medicinal benefits. He left Minobu in the company of several
disciples on
September 8,
1282.
Upon arrival ten days later at the residence of Ikegami Munenaka, a lay believer who lived in what is now Ikegami, Tokyo, Nichiren sensed that his end was near and he began to make preparations. On September 25 he delivered his last sermon on the Risshō Ankoku Ron, and on October 8 he appointed six senior disciples—Nisshō (日昭), Nichirō (日朗), Nikkō (日興), Nikō (日向), Nichiji (日持), and Nicchō (日頂)—to continue leading propagation of his teachings after he was gone.
On October 13, 1282, at the hour of the dragon (around 8:00am), Nichiren "passed into nirvana"
in the presence of many disciples and lay believers. His funeral and
cremation took place the following day. His disciple Nikkō left Ikegami
with Nichiren's ashes on October 21, reaching Minobu on October 25.
Nichiren's original tomb is sited, as per his request, at Kuonji; at
least some of his ashes are also kept at Taisekiji.
Writings
Some Nichiren schools refer to the entirety of Nichiren's Buddhism as
his "lifetime of teaching," quite an apt description in light of the
number of writings he left behind. Many are still extant in his
original hand, some in full and some in fragments, and yet more survive
as copies made by his immediate disciples. Today, students of
Nichiren—whether as faithful or as academic—have access to well over
700 of his works, including transcriptions of orally delivered
lectures, letters of remonstration, and even graphic illustrations.
In addition to treatises written in kanbun
(漢文), a formal writing style modeled on classical Chinese that was the
language of government and learning in contemporary Japan, Nichiren
also wrote expositories and letters to disciples and lay followers in
mixed-kanji–kana vernacular as well as letters in simple kana for believers who could not read the more-formal styles, particularly children.
Some of Nichiren's kanbun works, especially the Risshō Ankoku Ron,
are considered exemplary masterworks of the style, while many of his
letters show unusual empathy and understanding for the down-trodden of
his day. Many of his most famous letters were to woman believers, whom
he often complimented for their in-depth questions about Buddhism while
encouraging them in their efforts to attain enlightenment in this
lifetime.
Several modern observers also read a political message into a number of his works, and during the pre-World War II
period the government even insisted that passages and even whole
documents be deleted from published collections of his works because
they were considered insulting to the emperor.
Nichiren's writings are known collectively as go-ibun or gosho
and are available in a number of compilations, some more comprehensive
than others. Several appear in Iwanami Shoten's 102-volume anthology of
classical Japanese literature published in the late 1950s and early
60s, as well as other similar collections of classical literature. The
most famous of the dedicated compilations is the Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshu
(日蓮大聖人御書全集: "The complete works of Nichiren Daishonin") compiled by
59th Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Hori Nichiko and first published in 1952 and revised and reprinted several times subsequently by Soka Gakkai. Taisekiji also issued a new compilation in 1994 called Heisei Shimpen Nichiren Daishonin Gosho (平成新編 日蓮大聖人御書). This book presents Nichiren's writings in chronological order starting with an essay authored in 1242 (around the time Nichiren was studying at Mt. Hiei in Kyoto) and including 81 works not published in the aforementioned Gosho Zenshu,
excluding 32 that had been previously published in another compilation
but since judged by this compilation's editors as unauthentic, and
identifying 17 whose authenticity its editors could not confirm. See
the references and external links below for access to English translations.
Nichiren's teachings after his passing
After Nichiren's death, his teachings were interpreted in different
ways by several of his disciples, in particular the six senior priests
(or elders) whom he named shortly before his passing. As a result,
Nichiren Buddhism encompasses several major branches and minor schools,
each with its own set of interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. Some
of these schools are more, and some less, similar to the others
depending on the detail, but the most significant differences focus on
schools' positioning of Nichiren in the development of Buddhist history
and their objects of veneration. See
Nichiren Buddhism: Schools and
Nichiren Buddhism: Doctrine and practices for more information.
Nichiren and the game of Go
Nichiren is considered by some to have been a master of the game of Go in his day. Greg Schneider, a University scholar, writes:
Nichiren, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, was reputedly
the greatest player of his day. He introduced the method of documenting
games for study, and thus one of his own games is said to be the first
recorded go game in history. However many scholars believe this to be a
19th century forgery.
Posthumous names and titles of respect
Since his passing Nichiren has been known by several posthumous names
intended to express respect for him or to represent his position in the
history of Buddhism. Most common among these are
Nichiren Shōnin (日蓮上人; usually rendered "St. Nichiren" in English) and
Nichiren Daishōnin
(日蓮大聖人; "Great Sage Nichiren"). Preference for these titles generally
depends on the school a person adheres to, with Nichiren Shōnin being
most commonly used and Nichiren Daishōnin preferred by followers of
schools derived from the Nikkō lineages. Japanese Nichiren Buddhists
always refer to Nichiren using one of these respectful forms of
address, or by a title of respect alone (e.g., "the
Daishōnin") and may be offended if the title is omitted (as in this article).
The Japanese imperial court also awarded Nichiren the honorific designations Nichiren Daibosatsu (日蓮大菩薩; "Great Bodhisattva Nichiren") and Risshō Daishi (立正大師; "Great Teacher Risshō); the former title was granted in 1358 and the latter, in 1922.
Addenda
See also
Sources
- The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Soka Gakkai, 1999.)
- Nichiren Daishōnin Shōden (日蓮大聖人正伝: "Orthodox biography of Nichiren Daishonin"), Taisekiji, 1981
- A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts, Nichiren Shoshu International Center (NSIC), Tokyo, 1983. ISBN 4-88872-014-2.
- Kirimura, Yasuji: The Life of Nichiren Daishonin. NSIC, 1980
Note: NSIC, publisher of the foregoing two works, is no longer connected with Nichiren Shoshu. - Heisei Shimpen Nichiren Daishonin Gosho (平成新編 日蓮大聖人御書: "Heisei new compilation of Nichiren Daishonin's writings"), Taisekiji, 1994
References
- Letters of Nichiren. Burton Watson et al., trans.; Philip B. Yampolsky, ed. Columbia University Press, 1996 ISBN 0-231-10384-0
- Selected Writings of Nichiren. Burton Watson et al., trans.; Philip B. Yampolsky, ed. Columbia University Press, 1990 ISBN 0-231-07260-0
Full disclosure statement:
Soka Gakkai retains the copyrights on the foregoing two works and
financed their publication; nonetheless, they show some deviation from
similar works currently published under Soka Gakkai's own name. - The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, hard cover, Burton Watson, Translator, Soka Gakkai, 2005, ISBN 4-412-01286-7
- The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism (Seikyo Press), Tokyo, 2002.
External links
作家
字體：小 中 大
