Nichiren-shu

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Nichiren-shū. A general designation for the Nichiren school, that is, all of the schools and sects that derive from the original teachings and vision of Nichiren (1222–82), even though it never existed as a unified school. All groups agreed with the main outlines of Nichiren's teachings. (1) The Lotus Sūtra stands at the summit of all Buddhist scriptures. It represents the culmination of all of the Buddha Śākyamuni's preaching and sets forth his complete vision in a straightforward fashion without resort to skillful means (upāya-kauśalya). One achieves liberation in this age of the Decline of the Dharma (Jap., mappō) by simply chanting its title (Jap., daimoku). (2) The teachings of the Lotus Sūtra have five principal aspects leading to its implementation: (a) Teaching: the contents of the sūtra itself; (b) Object: that the proper object to whom the teachings are directed is to be those who damage the true teachings; (c) Time: that the age of mappō is the appropriate time for beings to be saved by the sūtra; (d) Master: that Nichiren himself had been the most appropriate master to expound this teaching, as evidenced by the persecutions he had received as a result of his preaching; and (e) Country: that Japan was the right country where all the above four elements existed. (3) All other forms of Buddhism and all other religious practices whatsoever were distractions and impediments in the Way, to be discarded in favour of the chanting of the daimoku.

In spite of the agreement on the above three points, some controversy and schism occurred as certain groups adapted to current religious conditions more than others. Thus Nichiren's disciples experienced discord within the first generation after his passing. Nichiren had left no provisions for any kind of centralized control over the teachings and activities of his disciples, and so no unified school came into being. Each of his major disciples staked out their own territories and doctrines, and set up their own institutions. There were three major areas of disagreement. (1) The issue of fuju-fuse: this term, meaning ‘no receiving and no giving’, indicated a complete break with all other schools of Buddhism. Those who espoused this view held that only exclusive faith in the saving power of the Lotus Sūtra could bring peace and security, and put this view into practical action by eschewing all contact with other groups. Other leaders, while accepting the superiority of Nichiren's teachings, felt that some degree of cooperation and contact with other Buddhist schools did not endanger or vitiate the true teachings, and so they were more willing to make overtures to other institutions and engage in cooperative ventures and ceremonies. Proponents of the fuju-fuse position at first suffered punishment and exile for their unwillingness to work with others, and persecution induced them to band together as a school based on this principle. Finally, in 1876 the government granted permission for the establishment of the Fuju-fuse-ha. A second group, the Fuju-fuse Kōmon-ha, gained government recognition in 1882. (2) Shakubuku: this term means ‘to bend and shake’, and is used to describe an extremely confrontational style of proselytization. Some Nichiren groups adopted it and would harangue people on the streets and disrupt other religious gatherings, while other groups preferred other, less abusive forms of evangelization. (3) The status of the two major divisions of the Lotus Sūtra. The scripture is commonly divided into two sections, the ‘manifestation gate’ (Jap., shakumon) and the ‘origin gate’ (Jap., honmon). The first demonstrates that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas deploy expedient teachings as manifestations of the truth in order to assist beings to enlightenment (bodhi), while the second reveals the truth manifested in a more direct manner. Some Nichiren groups held that the sūtra was equally holy in all its parts, while others held that the ‘origin gate’, since it states the truth directly, is superior to the ‘manifestation gate’.

During the Meiji era (1868–1912), the various streams of Nichiren teaching coalesced into definite schools. Aside from the two Fuju-fuse schools listed above, the others are as follows. The Nichiren-shū, which advocated the equality of both sections of the Lotus Sūtra, formed in 1874. In the same year, five other branches gained recognition, all maintaining the superiority of the honmon section: Myōmanji, Happon, Honjōji, Honryūji, and Fuji-ha. These five all changed their names in 1891 to, respectively: Kempon Hokkeshū, Honmon Hokkeshū, Hokkeshū, Honmyō Hokkeshū, and Honmonshū. In 1900 the Daisekiji in Shizuoka broke from the Honmonshū to form the Nichiren-shū fuji-ha, changing its name in 1913 to the Nichiren Shōshū. It gained a wide following, and spawned a lay auxiliary group called the Sōka Gakkai (Value Creation Society) founded in 1937 by Makiguchi Tsunesaburō (1871–1944). This group broke from the Nichiren Shōshū and became independent in 1992.

Nichiren Shū. A collection of Japanese Buddhist sects in the Mahāyāna tradition which trace their origins to the 13th-cent. Tendai monk Nichiren, who sought to restore what he considered to be the orthodox teachings of the historical Buddha, Śākyamuni. Next to the Jōdo Shū (Pure Land Schools), the Nichiren tradition has the largest numbers of devotees of all religions in Japan today. There are currently, according to the Shūkyō Nenkan (Year-book of Religions), eighteen Nichiren Buddhist sects and nineteen Nichiren-related ‘new religions’ such as Reiyūkai, Risshō Kōseikai, Myōshikai Kyōdan, Sōka Gakkai, Nichiren Shōshū.