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Combination of several Japanese Buddhist schools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nichiren Shū (日蓮宗, School of Nichiren) is a combination of several schools ranging from four of the original Nichiren Buddhist schools that date back to Nichiren's original disciples, and part of the fifth:[2][3][4]
| Name of school | Founder |
|---|---|
| Minobu-san | Mimbu—Nikō |
| Hama-san | Nisshō |
| Ikegami-shu | Nichirō |
| Nakayama-san | Nichijō (also known as Toki Jōni) |
| Fuji-Fuse | Nikkō Shōnin (in part only) while some belongs to the Nichiren Shōshū Temple. |
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (January 2014) |
The school is often referred to as the Minobu Sect due to its prominence within the Mount Minobu area. The school's head temple, Kuon-ji, is located on Mount Minobu where Nichiren lived in seclusion and where he asked to be buried.[5][6] Another significant temple of the sect is the Ikegami Honmon-ji where Nichiren died. Accordingly, many of Nichiren's most important personal artifacts and writings, also considered to be National Treasures of Japan, are within their safekeeping.
The sect is also known for its more open and tolerant views of other Buddhist traditions, even mixing or incorporating various mixed Buddhist beliefs and Shinto practices into their own Nichiren Buddhist aesthetics, most notably the use of various religious statues, the red stamping practice of Shuin for novelty, esoteric combinations of Buddhist fortune-telling folk practices and Shinto magic rituals, as well as the tolerant photography and lax distribution of the calligraphic Gohonzon.
Nichiren Shū does not believe Nichiren designated a single successor, as taught for instance by Nichiren Shōshū, instead they maintain that he designated six senior disciples of equal ranking to succeed him.
The Six Senior Disciples designated by Nichiren were:
Nichiren Shū designates the Shakyamuni Buddha of Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra as the Eternal Buddha while Nichiren is regarded as the Jogyo Bodhisattva that possesses the mission in Chapter 21[8] as the "votary messenger" to uphold the true Dharma in the Latter Day of the Law.
The sect designates Shakyamuni as the "Original Buddha" and he alone occupies the central role in Nichiren Shū; Nichiren—referred to as Nichiren Shōnin ("Saint Nichiren")—is the saint who refocused attention on Shakyamuni by rebuking other Buddhist schools for solely emphasizing other buddhas or esoteric practices or for neglecting or deriding the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren Shu regards Nichiren's own writings—called Gosho or Goibun (御 遺 文) as commentaries or guides to the doctrines of Buddhism. They include the Five Major Writings of Nichiren in which he establishes doctrine, belief, and practice, as well as many pastoral letters he wrote to his followers.
The sect is highly selective about which Gosho writings it deems authentic. Many Gosho writings accepted by Nichiren Shōshū are not accepted as genuine by Nichiren Shū on grounds that scholars have not verified their authenticity. This dispute arises over the veracity of various disputed writings to be truly authored by Nichiren. The sect does not reject the alleged oral transmissions (including the Ongi Kuden) citing "pastoral value" but cannot be definitively asserted as Nichiren's own teachings.
The sect upholds five kinds of practices:
There are two type of practices expected of a believer:
In addition, other popular forms of Buddhist silent meditation (Shōdai-gyō), singing of hymnal praises, the artistic copying of the Odaimoku (Shakyō), and the study of fundamental Buddhist concepts such as the Four Noble Truths, Threefold Training, Noble Eightfold Path and Taking Refuge taught by Shakyamuni Buddha are also used as supporting practices in the sect. [9]
Nichiren Shū issues calligraphic Gohonzons to its members, but statue arrangements may also be used to represent the Gohonzon. In Nichiren Shū, the following may be used as the Gohonzon:[10]
All fully ordained Nichiren Shū ministers are able to inscribe and consecrate mandalas, but in practice few of them do. They usually bestow a copy of a Nichiren inscribed mandala, called the Shutei Gohonzon,[11] upon their members.
Holidays observed in Nichiren Shū:
Nichiren Shū first spread overseas with Japanese immigrants to the United States, then to the Kingdom of Hawaii, Brazil and other locations in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Presently, there are Nichiren Shū temples and Sanghas in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, much of South America, India, Korea, Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan), and Europe.[12]
Nichiren Shū also ordains non-Japanese and non-Japanese speaking men and women, and continues to expand its presence overseas. Nichiren Shū maintains relations with other Nichiren schools and non-Nichiren schools.
In 2010, Nichiren Shū described itself as a "religious organization consisting of about 5,000 temples, 8,000 ministers and 3.8 million members worldwide."[13]
The sect does not believe in the Dai-Gohonzon revered in Nichiren Shoshu to be superior to other Gohonzons,[citation needed] and rejects the claim that it was truly inscribed by Nichiren as fraudulent.[14][15][16][17]
Although the Dai Gohonzon in itself is a valid Mandala Gohonzon, this concept of a super Gohonzon that empowers all the others blatantly contradicted Nichiren Daishonin's teachings and, consequently, created a great feeling of mistrust with other temples of Nikko.[18]
Nichiren Shu shares similar teachings of Soka Gakkai which states the following:
First, the power of any Gohonzon, including the Dai-Gohonzon, can be tapped only through the power of faith. In other words, we should be clear that it is wrong to think that the Dai-Gohonzon alone has some kind of unique mystic power that no other Gohonzon possesses. The Dai-Gohonzon and our own Gohonzon are equal.[19]
The sect regards Nichiren as Visistacaritra and teaches that Shakyamuni Buddha is special because he was the original Buddha in recorded human history that demonstrated an exemplary model for the pursuit of Buddhism by his followers and disciples.[20]
Accordingly, Nichiren Shu shares the doctrine of The Three Great Hidden Dharmas (also known as "The Three Great Secret Laws"), but still differs them on the meaning:
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