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日蓮 （にちれん） [English]
出典: 百科事典
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日蓮上人像、京都市左京区妙伝寺 | 、、、、 |
日蓮上人像、長崎市本蓮寺 |
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日蓮 （にちれん） [English]
出典: 百科事典
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日蓮上人像、京都市左京区妙伝寺 | 、、、、 |
日蓮上人像、長崎市本蓮寺 |
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日蓮（にちれん）（貞応元年(1222)2月16日 - 弘安5年(1282)10月13日)[注釈 1]は、鎌倉時代の仏教の僧。鎌倉仏教の宗旨のひとつ日蓮宗 (法華宗) の宗祖[注釈 2]。滅後に皇室から日蓮大菩薩（後光厳天皇、1358年）と立正大師（大正天皇、1922年）の諡号を追贈された。 生涯
教え遺文日蓮は大量の書簡を自筆して弟子や信徒たちに発送し、信徒や弟子達もこれを大切に保管したため、現在でも真筆とみなし得る著作や書簡、断片は600点を越える[6] 。 
『如来滅後五五百歳始観心本尊抄』（巻頭部分、日蓮撰・筆、法華経寺蔵、国宝）
他四百余篇。 立正安国論詳細は「立正安国論」を参照
日蓮が文応元年(1260)7月16日[注釈 10]に得宗（元執権）北条時頼に提出した文書が立正安国論である。日蓮は、相次ぐ災害の原因は人々が正法である法華経を信じずに浄土宗などの邪法を信じていることにあるとして対立宗派を非難し、このまま浄土宗などを放置すれば国内では内乱が起こり外国からは侵略を受けると唱え、逆に正法である法華経を中心とすれば（「立正」）国家も国民も安泰となる（「安国」）と主張した。 その内容に激昂した浄土宗の宗徒による日蓮襲撃事件を招いた上に、禅宗を信じていた時頼からも「政治批判」と見なされて、翌年には日蓮が伊豆国に流罪となった。この事は「教えを広める者は、難に遭う」という『法華経』の言葉に合う為、「法華経の行者」としての自覚を深める事になった。 しかし、時頼没後の文永5年（1268年）にはモンゴル帝国から臣従を要求する国書が届けられて元寇に至り、国内では時頼の遺児である執権北条時宗が異母兄時輔を殺害し、朝廷では後深草上皇と亀山天皇が対立の様相を見せ始めた。 日蓮とその信者は『立正安国論』をこの事態の到来を予知した予言書であると考えるようになった。日蓮はこれに自信を深め、弘安元年（1278年）に改訂を行い（「広本」）、さらに2回『立正安国論』を提出し、合わせて生涯に3回の「国家諫暁」（弾圧や迫害を恐れず権力者に対して率直に意見すること）を行った。 一谷入道御書[「元寇」を参照
文永の役の際の元・高麗連合軍による対馬侵攻について、現在伝世されている日蓮の書簡のうち、建治元年五月八日付のいわゆる「一谷入道御書」に、日蓮が接した当時の伝聞が伝えられている[7] 。
この「一谷入道御書」は日蓮が佐渡配流中に世話になっていた一谷入道の女房に宛てて文永の役の翌々年に書かれたもので、その後段部分に文永の役における対馬の被害について触れたものである。これによると蒙古軍は上陸後、宗資国（総馬尉）以下の守護勢を撃退し、島内の民衆を殺戮、あるいは生捕りにしたりしたうえ、さらには捕虜としたこれらの住民の「手ヲトヲシテ」つまり手の平に穴を穿ち、紐か縄などによってか不明だがこれを貫き通して船壁に並べ立てた、という話を伝えている。ただし、後段にもあるように、日蓮のこの書簡にのみ現れ、「手ヲトヲシテ」云々が実際に行われたことかどうかは詳らかではない。 その他の書簡における蒙古襲来についての記載日蓮自身、「一谷入道御書」以降の書簡において何度か文永の役での被害について触れており、その度に掠奪や人々の連行、殺戮など「壱岐対馬」の惨状について述べており、朝廷や幕府が日蓮の教説の通り従わず人々も南無妙法蓮華経の題目を唱えなければ「壱岐対馬」のように京都や鎌倉も蒙古の殺戮や掠奪の犠牲になり国は滅びてしまうとも警告している。 例えば、建治二年閏三月五日に妙密に宛てた「妙密上人御消息」には、「日本国の人人は、法華経は尊とけれとも、日蓮房が悪ければ南無妙法蓮華経とは唱えましとことはり給ふとも、今一度も二度も、大蒙古国より押し寄せて、壹岐対馬の様に、男をは打ち死し、女をは押し取り、京鎌倉に打入りて、国主並びに大臣百官等を搦め取、牛馬の前にけたてつよく責めん時は、争か南無妙法蓮華経と唱へさるへき、法華経の第五の巻をもて、日蓮が面を数箇度打ちたりしは、日蓮は何とも思はす、うれしくそ侍りし、不軽品の如く身を責め、勧持品の如く身に当て貴し貴し」と記している[8]。 しかしながら、近年の研究によると、「一谷入道御書」以降の書簡では文永の役における壱岐・対馬などでの被害や惨状について幾度も触れられているものの、「捕虜の手に穴を開けて連行する」という記述は「一谷入道御書」以降の日蓮の書簡において類する言及は見られないため、文永の役での情報が錯綜していた時期に、あまり根拠のない風聞も書簡中に書かれたのではないかという推測がされている[9]。 四箇格言詳細は「四箇格言」を参照
日蓮は「諌暁八幡抄」などで他の仏教宗派を批判した際、四箇格言（しかかくげん）を述べた。真言亡国、禅天魔、念仏無間、律国賊の四つを謂う。ただし、自身はこれを四箇格言とは命名していない[10]。 日蓮門下の諸派
「日蓮宗#近現代の動向」も参照
日蓮を扱った作品伝記
一般信徒に向けた日蓮の伝記や書簡の整理は教団の拡大が進展する室町時代頃から本格的に始まる。室町時代、応仁の乱以降に日蓮宗の教勢拡大とともに教団内外の要請に応える形で各種の日蓮の伝記集が成立した。このうち『元祖化導記』と『日蓮聖人註画讃』が後代まで模範となる主要な日蓮伝の双璧となった。日朝の『元祖化導記』は日蓮の書簡を主要典拠として正しい日蓮の歴史像を明示しようという学究性の高い伝記であった。『元祖化導記』と時期を同じくして成立した円明院日澄（1441年－1510年）『日蓮聖人註画讃』はとりわけ日蓮の各種書簡と伝世された祖師伝説とを合わせて成立した絵巻による伝記であり、全国的な日蓮宗の布教網の拡大に合わせ、当時の日蓮宗徒や巷間に流布していた「超人的で理想的な祖師像」に合致した内容でもあった[11]。 『日蓮聖人註画讃』の第59段「蒙古来」は文永の役について「一谷入道御書」を主な典拠としており、「一谷入道御書」で日蓮が伝えた「手ヲトヲシテ船ニ結付」という文言はここでも現れている。特に『日蓮聖人註画讃』は室町時代から江戸時代にかけての一般的な（超人的な能力や神通力を具有する祖師としての）日蓮像の形成に強い影響を及ぼすことになる[12]。 『日蓮聖人註画讃』は江戸時代に入って幾度も刊本として出版されており、江戸時代における蒙古襲来関係の研究書では、津田元貫（1734-1815）『参考蒙古入寇記』や群書類従の編者でもある塙保己一（1746年-1821年）の『螢蠅抄』、橘守部（1781年-1849年）『蒙古諸軍記弁疑』などで頻繁に引用されている[13]。本来『日蓮聖人註画讃』は文永・弘安の役についての史料としては（日蓮の没後200年程たって成立したことからも明らかなように）二次的なものに過ぎないのだが、江戸時代における『日蓮聖人註画讃』の扱いは、橘守部が「日蓮画讃の如き実記」と述べているように「実記」として意識され、大抵は無批判に引用される傾向があった[14]。 『日蓮聖人註画讃』の文永・弘安の役についての史料価値についての批判的研究は、明治時代、明治24年（1891年）になって小倉秀貫が『高祖遺文録』などにある日蓮書簡の詳細な分析を通さないうちは史料とはみなせない、と論じるまで待たねばならない[15][16]。 明治期に入り、小倉と同じ1891年11月に山田安栄は日本内外の蒙古襲来関係の史料を収集した『伏敵編』を著した[17]。『伏敵編』は『善隣国宝記』や『異称日本伝』、『螢蠅抄』、『蒙古諸軍記弁疑』、大橋訥庵『元寇紀略』など江戸時代やそれ以前から続く蒙古襲来史研究の成果を批判的に継承したもので、従来から引用されて来た諸史料をある程度吟味しながら引用やその資料的な批判を行っている。一方で、『伏敵編』の編纂は、当時、福岡警察署長の湯地丈雄の主導で長崎事件（1886年）を期に進められていた元寇記念碑建設運動との関係で行われたものであり、日清戦争への緊迫した情勢を反映して、江戸時代からの攘夷運動の流れを組みつつも自衛のための国家主義を標榜するという山田安栄の思想的な表明の書物でもあった[18]。 山田安栄は『日蓮聖人註画讃』の「手ヲトヲシテ船ニ結付」についても論じており、『太平記』の記述「掌ヲ連索シテ舷ニ貫ネタリ」や、『日本書紀』と比較しつつ、「索ヲ以テ手頭ト手頭ヲ連結シタルニ非スシテ。女虜ノ手掌ヲ穿傷シ。索ヲ貫キ舷端ニ結著シタルヲ謂フナリ。」と述べ、捕虜となった人々の手首同士を綱や縄で結び付けているのではなくて、手のひらを穿って傷つけそこに綱を貫き通してそれらの人々を舷端に結わえ付けた、と文言の解釈を行っている[19]。さらに山田は、『日本書紀』の天智天皇の時代（662年）について書かれた高麗の前身の国家である「百済」での事例を引き合いに出し「手掌ヲ穿傷……」（手の平に穴をあけてそこへ縄を通す」の意）やり方を、朝鮮半島において古来より続く伝統的行為としたうえで[19]、この行為を蒙古というより高麗人によるとしている。
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（複数冊に分かれている作品の場合、出版年とISBNコードなどは、上巻もしくは第1巻のもの。） 脚注注釈
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Nichiren
Nichiren (日蓮) (April 6, 1222[1] – November 21, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra (entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese)— which contained Gautama Buddha's teachings towards the end of his life — as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment.[2][3][4] Nichiren believed that this sutra contained the essence of all of Gautama Buddha's teachings related to the laws of cause and effect, karma, and leading all people without distinction to enlightenment.[5][6][7][8][9][10] This devotion to the sutra entails the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (referred to as daimoku) as the essential practice of the teaching.[11] Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools such as Nichiren Shōshū, Nichiren Shu and lay movements such as Risshō Kōsei Kai or Soka Gakkai , each claiming to be the only true follower of their founder, with their own interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. However, despite the differences between schools, all Nichiren sects share the fundamental practice of chanting daimoku.[11] While all Nichiren Buddhist schools regard him as a reincarnation of the Lotus Sutra's Bodhisattva Superior Practices, Jōgyō Bosatsu (上行菩薩), some schools of Nichiren Buddhism's Nikkō lineages regard him as the actual Buddha of this age, or the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law and for all eternity.[12][13] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222[14] in the village of Kominato (today part of the city of Kamogawa), Nagase District, Awa Province (within present-day Chiba Prefecture). Nichiren's father, a fisherman,[15] was Mikuni-no-Tayu Shigetada, also known as Nukina Shigetada Jiro (d. 1258) and his mother was Umegiku-nyo (d. 1267). On his birth, his parents named him Zennichimaro (善日麿?) which has variously been translated into English as "Splendid Sun" and "Virtuous Sun Boy" among others.[16] The exact site of Nichiren's birth is believed to be submerged off the shore from present-day Kominato-zan Tanjō-ji (小湊山 誕生寺), a temple in Kominato that commemorates Nichiren's birth. In his own words, Nichiren stated that he was "the son of a chandala family who lived near the sea in Tojo in Awa Province, in the remote countryside of the eastern part of Japan."[17]
Nichiren began his Buddhist study at a nearby temple of the Tendai school, Seichō-ji (清澄寺, also called Kiyosumi-dera), at age 11.[18] He was formally ordained at 16 and took the Buddhist name Zeshō-bō Renchō (Rencho meaning Lotus Growth). He left Seichō-ji 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.[19][20] In 1233 he went to Kamakura, where he studied Amidism—a pietistic school that stressed salvation through the invocation of Amida (Amitābha), the Buddha of infinite compassion—under the guidance of a renowned master. After having persuaded himself that Amidism was not the true Buddhist doctrine, he passed to the study of Zen Buddhism, which had become popular in Kamakura and Kyōto. He then went to Mount Hiei, the cradle of Japanese Tendai Buddhism, where he found the original purity of the Tendai doctrine corrupted by the introduction and acceptance of other doctrines, especially Amidism and esoteric Buddhism.[21] To eliminate any possible doubts, Nichiren decided to spend some time at Mount Kōya, the centre of esoteric Buddhism, and also in Nara, Japan's ancient capital, where he studied the Ritsu sect, which emphasized strict monastic discipline and ordination. During this time, he became convinced of the pre-eminence of the Lotus Sutra and in 1253, returned to Seichoji.[22]
On April 28, 1253, he expounded Nam-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 and practice based on the Lotus Sutra was the correct form of Buddhism for the current time. At the same time he changed his name to Nichiren, nichi (日) meaning "sun" and ren (蓮) meaning "lotus".[23] This choice, as Nichiren himself explained, was rooted in passages from the Lotus Sutra.[24]
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 government was established. He gained a fairly large following there, consisting of both priests and laity. Many of his lay believers came from among the samurai class.
Among other things, in 1253 Nichiren predicted the Mongol invasions of Japan: a prediction which was validated in 1274. Nichiren viewed his teachings as a method of efficaciously preventing this and other disasters: that the best countermeasure against the degeneracy of the times and its associated disasters was through the activation of Buddha-nature by chanting and the other practices which he advocated.[25]
Nichiren then engaged in writing, publishing various works including his Risshō Ankoku Ron[26][27][28] (立正安国論?): "Treatise On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land",[29] his first major treatise and the first of three remonstrations with government 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 fullest expression of the Buddha's teachings and putting those teachings into practice. Nichiren thought this could be achieved in Japan by withdrawing lay support so that the deviant monks would be forced to change their ways or revert to laymen to prevent starving.
Based on prophecies made in several sutras,[30] Nichiren attributed the occurrence of the famines, disease, and natural disasters (especially drought, typhoons, and earthquakes) of his day to teachings of Buddhism no longer appropriate for the time.
Nichiren submitted his treatise in July 1260. Though it drew no official response, it prompted a severe backlash, especially from among priests of other Buddhist schools. Nichiren was harassed frequently, several times with force, and often had to change dwellings.
Nichiren was exiled to the Izu peninsula in 1261, and pardoned in 1263. He was ambushed and nearly killed at Komatsubara in Awa Province in November 1264.
The following several years were marked by successful propagation activities in eastern Japan that generated more resentment among rival priests and government authorities. After one exchange with the influential priest, Ryōkan (良観), Nichiren was summoned for questioning by the authorities in September 1271. He used this as an opportunity to make his second government remonstration, this time to Hei no Saemon (平の左衛門, also called 平頼綱: Taira no Yoritsuna), a powerful police and military figure who issued the summons.
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 behead him. According to Nichiren's account, an astronomical phenomenon — "a brilliant orb as bright as the moon" — over the seaside Tatsunokuchi execution grounds terrified Nichiren's executioners into inaction.[31] The incident is known as the Tatsunokuchi Persecution and regarded as a turning point in Nichiren's lifetime called Hosshaku kenpon (発迹顕本), translated as "casting off the transient and revealing the true," [32] or "Outgrowing the provisional and revealing the essential".[33]
Unsure of what to do with Nichiren, Hei no Saemon decided to banish him to Sado, an island in the Japan Sea known for its particularly severe winters and a place of harsh exile.
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 life. While on Sado, he won many devoted converts and wrote two of his most important doctrinal treatises, the Kaimoku Shō (開目抄: "On the Opening of the Eyes")[34] and the Kanjin no Honzon Shō (観心本尊抄: "The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind")[26][35] as well as numerous letters and minor treatises whose content containing critical components of his teaching.
It was also during his exile on Sado, in 1272, that he inscribed the first Gohonzon (御本尊).[36] This mandala is a visual representation, in Chinese characters, of the Ceremony in the Air. This ceremony is described in the 11th (Treasure Tower) to 22nd (Entrustment) chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Within these chapters it is revealed that all persons can attain Buddhahood in this lifetime and Shakyamuni transfers the essence of the sutra to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth led by Bodhisattva Superior Practices (Jogyo), entrusting them with the propagation of the essence of the sutra in the Latter Day of the Law. For Nichiren, the Gohonzon embodies the eternal and intrinsic Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which he identified as the ultimate Law permeating life and the universe.
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 Nichiren's prediction of an invasion by the Mongols. Mongol messengers demanding Japan's fealty had frightened the authorities into believing that Nichiren's prophecy of foreign invasion would materialize (which it later did in October of that year; see Mongol Invasions of Japan). Nichiren, however, used the audience as yet another opportunity to remonstrate with the government.
His third remonstration also went unheeded, and Nichiren—following a Chinese adage that if a wise man remonstrates three times but is ignored, he should leave the country—decided to go into voluntary exile at Mt. Minobu (身延山) in 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, Kuon-ji (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: "The Selection of the Time")[37] and the Hōon Shō (報恩抄: "On Repaying Debts of Gratitude"),[38] which, along with his Risshō Ankoku Ron (立正安国論: "On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land"), Kaimoku Shō ("The Opening of the Eyes"), and Kanjin no Honzon Shō ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind"), 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 Taiseki-ji (大石寺) in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, which has a particularly large collection that is publicly aired once a year in April.
Nichiren spent his final years writing, inscribing Gohonzon for his disciples and believers, and delivering sermons. In failing health, he was encouraged to travel to hot springs for their medicinal benefits. He left Minobu in the company of several disciples on September 8, 1282.
He arrived ten days later at the residence of Ikegami Munenaka, a lay believer who lived in what is now Ikegami, the site is marked by Ikegami Honmon-ji. 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 Nitchō (日頂)—to continue leading propagation of his teachings after his death. Nichiren Shoshu believe that Nichiren designated five senior priests, and one successor, Nikko.
On October 13, 1282, Nichiren died 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 on Mt. Minobu.[39]
The Kamakura period of 13th century Japan, in which Nichiren was born - was characterised by natural disasters, internal strife and confusion within Mahayana schools about whether: "...the world had further entered a period of decline" referring to the Latter Day of the Law.[40] Nichiren attributed the turmoil in society to the invalid teachings of the Buddhist schools of his time, including the Tendai sect in which he was ordained: "It is better to be a leper who chants Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō than be a chief abbot of the Tendai school".[41] Examinations of such breaks and continuities have been useful in illuminating the sources of Nichiren's ideas and to what extent Nichiren's thought is original or derivative of his parent tradition.[42] Setting out to declare his own teachings of Buddhism, Nichiren started at the age of 32 by denouncing all Mahayana schools of his time and by declaring the correct teaching as the Universal Dharma (Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō) and chanting as the only path for personal and social salvation.[43][44] At the age of 51, Nichiren inscribed the Object of Veneration in Buddhism,[45] the Gohonzon,"never before known" as he described it.[46] Other contributions to Buddhism were the teaching of The Five Guides of Propagation,[47] The doctrine of the Three Great Secret Dharmas[48] and the teaching of The Three Proofs[49] for verification of the validity of Buddhist doctrines. There is a difference between Nichiren teachings and almost all schools of Mahayana Buddhism regarding the understanding of the Latter day of the Law, Mappō. Nichiren, on the other hand, believed that the teachings of the Lotus Sutra will flourish for all eternity, and that the Bodhisattvas of the Earth will propagate Buddhism in the future.[50][51][52][53]
Nichiren criticized other Buddhist schools for their manipulations of the populace for political and religious control. Citing Buddhist sutras and commentaries, Nichiren argued that the Buddhist teachings were being distorted for their own gain. Nichiren stated his criticism clearly, in his Risshō Ankoku Ron[27] (立正安国論?): "Treatise On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land",[54][55][56] his first major treatise and the first of three remonstrations with government authorities.
After Nichiren's death, his teachings were interpreted in different ways. As a result, Nichiren Buddhism encompasses several major branches and schools, each with its own doctrine and set of interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. See Nichiren Buddhism.
Some Nichiren schools refer to the entirety of Nichiren's Buddhism as his "lifetime of teaching". Many of his writings still exist in his original hand, some as complete writings and some as fragments. Others survive as copies made by his immediate disciples. His existing works number over 700, including transcriptions of orally delivered lectures, letters of remonstration and illustrations.[57][58][59][60][61] Today's Nichiren schools can not agree however, which of his writings can be deemed authentic and which are apocryphal.[62] Nichiren declared that women could attain enlightenment,[63][64][65] therefore a great number of letters were addressed to female believers. Some schools within Nichiren Buddhism consider this to be a unique feature of Nichiren's teachings and have published separate volumes of those writings.[66]
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. He is also known for his "kanbun", many of his writings preserved in the libraries of the empire had been lost at the end of the Boshin War.
Some of Nichiren's kanbun works, especially the Risshō Ankoku Ron, are considered exemplary of the kanbun 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 women believers, whom he often complimented for their in-depth questions about Buddhism while encouraging them in their efforts to attain enlightenment in this lifetime.
During the pre-World War II period the Japanese government ordered Nichiren sects to delete various passages from his writing and prophecies which were considered by the military government as a challenge to the supremacy of the emperor.[67][dubious ]
The Five Major Writings that are common to all Nichiren Schools [68][69][70] are:
Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai International (SGI) revere Ten Major Writings of Nichiren. These are the five listed above and:[70]
In his writings, Nichiren refers to his identity in a variety of ways, nevertheless always related to the Lotus Sutra, for example: "I, Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra".[72] Of the many figures appearing in the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren chose his spiritual identity as that of Bodhisattva Superior Practices, and identified his goal as attaining Buddhahood: "From the beginning… I wanted to master Buddhism and attain Buddhahood".[73][74] In his post Tatsunokuchi's persecution writings, Nichiren referred to his person as parent, teacher and sovereign. While some schools regard this as features attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha others underline that he identifies himself as a votary of the Lotus Sutra:"Shakyamuni Buddha is the father and mother, teacher and sovereign to all living being..."[75] and similarly mentioning in his letter 'The Opening of the Eyes':"I, Nichiren, am sovereign, teacher, and father and mother to all the people...".[76]
After his death, Nichiren has been known by several posthumous names intended to express respect toward him or to represent his position in the history of Buddhism. Most common among these are Shōnin 日蓮聖人 Saint or Sage, and Daishōnin 日蓮大聖人 "Great Sage".
"Shōnin" is commonly used within Nichiren Shū, who regard Nichiren as a Buddhist reformer and embodiment of Bodhisattva Superior Practices.[77]
"Daishōnin" is the title used by followers of most, but not all, of the schools and temples derived from the Nikkō lineage, most notably Nichiren Shōshū[78][79] and Sōka Gakkai,[80][81][81] who regard Nichiren as 'The Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law'. Shakyamuni is seen as 'The Buddha of True Effect' as he only revealed the 'effect' of Buddhahood.[82]
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.
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