The Nichiren School founded in Japan by 13th-century Buddhist priest Nichiren, belongs to the Mahayana stream of Buddhism.

The doctrines of Nichiren Buddhism are derived from the Lotus Sutra widely regarded to be Shakyamuni Buddha’s most definitive teaching. Nichiren (1222 – 1282) taught that the core teaching of the Lotus Sutra is to be found in its title Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which expresses as the universal Law underlying all phenomena. Nichiren also emphasized that the key teaching in the Lotus Sutra is the Buddha’s revelation that all people can develop a life state similar to his own, called the Buddha nature or Buddhahood.

Nichiren established a practice of chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-rengekyo, an invocation that brings the individual in harmony with the universal Law, and thus unlocks the potentiality of an enhanced self empowered with wisdom and life force characteristic of the Buddha nature. Besides, Nichiren taught that this personal practice for one’s happiness should be complemented with one’s selfless act in enabling others to awaken likewise to their innate potential, an act that is synonymous with the Buddha’s compassion.