Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, is said to have inscribed the Dai Gohonzon.
Nichiren Buddhism (Japanese: ) is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (12221282) and is one of the Kamakura Buddhism schools.:239 Its teachings derive from some 300400 extant letters and treatises either authored by or attributed to Nichiren.Nichiren Buddhism generally sources its basic doctrine from the Lotus Sutra claiming that all sentient beings possess an internal Buddha-nature capable to gain Buddhahood in current life existence. There are three essential aspects to Nichiren Buddhism:
The faith in Nichiren's Gohonzon
The chanting of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo with varying recitations of the Lotus Sutra
The study of Nichiren's scriptural writings, called Gosho.:225After his death, Nichiren left to both his senior disciples and lay followers the mandate to widely propagate the Gohonzon and chanting the Daimoku in order to secure the peace and prosperity of society.:99Traditionalist Nichiren Buddhist temple groups are commonly associated with Nichiren Shsh and various Nichiren-sh schools. In addition, modern lay organizations not affiliated with temples such as Soka Gakkai, Kenshokai, Shoshinkai, Rissh Ksei Kai, and Honmon Butsury-sh also exist while some Japanese new religions are Nichiren-inspired lay groups.The Soka Gakkai International is often called "the most prominent Japanese 'export' religion to draw significant numbers of non-Japanese converts", by which Nichiren Buddhism has spread throughout the world.Nichiren upheld the belief that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest degree of Buddhist teachings and proposed a classification system that ranks the quality of religions:128 and various Nichiren schools can be either accommodating or vigorously opposed to any other forms of Buddhism or religious beliefs. Debate whether Nichiren's role as a Bodhisattvas of the Earth, a mortal saint, or an "Original Buddha" of the third age of Buddhism varies across its followers. Nichiren Buddhism is practiced in many countries. The largest groups are Soka Gakkai International, Nichiren Shu, and Nichiren Shsh.
Nichiren (6 April 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period.Nichiren: 77 : 1 declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of Buddhism, insisting 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.Nichiren was a prolific writer and his biography, temperament, and the evolution of his beliefs has been gleaned primarily from his own writings.: 99 : 442 He claimed the reincarnation of Jōgyō 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 (日蓮大菩薩, Great Bodhisattva Nichiren) by the Emperor Go-Kōgon in 1358 and the title Risshō Daishi (立正大師, 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 Shōshū, as well as lay movements such as Soka Gakkai, Risshō Kōsei Kai, Reiyūkai, Kenshōkai, Honmon Butsuryū-shū, Kempon Hokke, and Shōshinkai 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" (本仏, Honbutsu) of the Third Age of Buddhism.