Nichiren, Soka Gakkai and Komeito - Religion and Politics in Contemporary Japan - page 35

di s perceptions of it. Nichiren discusses these ideas in

such writings as the Kanjin no honzon sh -

ers according to one '

(Object of devotion for observing

the mind). The focus on changing one s conceptions and thereby experiences

of life is key to self-transformation and to acting di

'

erently in the world, but
it is also key to transformation of society. This runs like a red line through all
his later teachings.
Contextualising this idea, Stone (1999a) argues that Nichiren, with his close
ties to the Tendai tradition, has been central to the debates surrounding hon-
gaku thought or the idea in medieval Japan that an individual was a ' Buddha '

from the outset, independent of one s life state, and with no further need for

inner transformation. While this may at

'

first sight seem similar to Nichiren,
he could be said to actually reject hongaku thought (Asai 1945), a position
that was later modi ed by Tamura (1965). Yet for Nichiren, enlightenment

clearly meant awakening to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra (discussed in
Stone 1999b; cf. Sueki 1999). Asai (1999) shows that while in principle this
world is seen as the Buddha land, in reality it is not manifesting the Buddha
aspects but those of strife and disaster. Most radical about Nichiren was that
he wanted to actualise the Buddha land, distinctly di erent from hongaku

thought. Having faith in and spreading the teachings of the Lotus Sutra also
were clearly di

erent from either enlightenment as more theoretical or the
practice for monks or priests.
What is the message of the Lotus Sutra, then, and why does Nichiren see it
as superior to any other teaching? First, it teaches universal Buddhahood,
and with that the absolute value and limitless potential of human life in its
most true form, that of noble action of the Buddha path. This carries the
message of social action and teaching others about such a life, something that
essentially is a political act. Nichiren often seemingly lambasted other schools
of Buddhism, especially the Nembutsu, a term that refers particularly to the
Pure Land School founded in the twelfth century by H - nen. Chanting to the
name of Amida Buddha 2 Nichiren regarded as deluding oneself; did

not exist in another realm apart from in the process of transforming one

' heaven '

' s

own mind. This view is not di erent from the position of Tientai, or later

Saich -

822), who brought the teachings of the Lotus Sutra to Japan and
established the Tendai school of Buddhism. What made Nichiren con-
troversial was his insistence on the superiority of the Lotus Sutra, which
meant actively rebuking beliefs (shakubuku) contrary to those upheld by the
Lotus Sutra (such as the Nembutsu).
While the principle of ichinen sanzen has not been seen as part of hongaku
thought in and of itself, the idea that each individual is a Buddha just as they are
had developed in Kegon, esoteric (mikky - ), and Zen traditions. This meant
that ichinen sanzen was elaborated on in terms of such dominant discourses
(Asai 1999; cf. Stone 1999a). When it came to Nichiren, he drew a distinction
between traditional ideas of ichinen sanzen and his own doctrines. Nichiren
concretely equated the seed of Buddhahood with the

(767 -

five Chinese characters
that had come to represent the title of the Lotus Sutra My - h - -renge-ky - .

-