Nichiren proclaims the Lotus Sutra in Kamakura

1253

Standing on a Chiba beach at dawn, the fiery Japanese monk Nichiren chanted the title of the Lotus Sutra, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, and declared that all other forms of Buddhism were heresies. He was promptly exiled for his lack of tact. His school outlived his opponents, and his confrontational style of preaching became the template for Japanese Buddhist activism that persists into modern Soka Gakkai.