28 April 1253

Declaration of the Lotus Sutra[edit]

"According to one of his letters, Nichiren returned to Seicho-ji Temple on 28 April 1253 to lecture on his twenty years of scholarship.[60]:246 What followed was his first public declaration of Nam(u) Myoho Renge Kyo atop Mount Kiyosumi. This marked the start of his campaign to return Tendai to the exclusive reliance of the Lotus Sutra and his efforts to convert the entire Japanese nation to this belief.[43]:233 This declaration also marks the start of his efforts to make profound Buddhist theory practical and actionable so an ordinary person could manifest Buddhahood within his or her own lifetime in the midst of day-to-day realities.[61]

At the same event, according to his own account and subsequent hagiography, he changed his name to Nichiren, an abbreviation of Nichi (日 "Sun") and Ren (蓮 "Lotus").[42]:34 Nichi represents both the light of truth and the Sun Goddess, symbolizing Japan itself. Ren signifies the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren envisioned Japan as the country where the true teaching of Buddhism would be revived and the starting point for its worldwide spread.[62]

At his lecture, it is construed, Nichiren vehemently attacked Honen, the founder of Pure Land Buddhism, and its practice of chanting the Nembutsu, Nam(u) Amida Butsu. It is likely he also denounced the core teachings of Seicho-ji which had incorporated non-exclusive Lotus Sutra teachings and practices. In so doing he earned the animosity of the local steward, Hojo Kagenobu*, who attempted to have Nichiren killed. Modern scholarship suggests that events unfolded not in a single day but over a longer period of time and had social, and political dimensions.[60]:246–247[30]:6–7

Nichiren then developed a base of operation in Kamakura where he converted several Tendai priests, directly ordained others, and attracted lay disciples who were drawn mainly from the strata of the lower and middle samurai class. Their households provided Nichiren with economic support and became the core of Nichiren communities in several locations in the Kanto region of Japan." - Wikipedia

*Hojo Kagenobo, the Samurai warlord of the parish was so enraged that Nichiren's teacher had to ferry Nichiren through a secret passageway out of the back of Seichoji temple and Nichiren narrowly escaped down the back of the mountain. The very first moment he declared Namu Myoho renge kyo, his life was placed in mortal danger. Next to the Christians in Japan, the Nichiren believers have suffered the most martyrs in the history of Japan. The Soka Gakkai has had ONE martyr in their entire ignoble history. This proves that they are not the true descendants of Nichiren.