Nichiren founded a Japanese Buddhist school in which the most important practice was to chant “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō.” This chanting formula literally means, “I devote myself to the Myōhō-renge-kyō.” The Myōhō-renge-kyō is the Japanese pronunciation of the title of the Chinese translation of the Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtra by Kumārajīva, and is popularly known as the Lotus Sūtra. This formula is called Daimoku, which means “Title.” Nichiren Buddhists honor the Daimoku, and in most cases they prefix an honorific “O” to it, making it “O-daimoku,” and prefer “The Sacred Title” as the English translation of it. In formal rituals they sometimes call it Gendai, which means “The Title Having Profound Meaning.”
Nichiren Buddhism is, however, not so simple as it appears. Instead of “Myōhō-renge-kyō,” Nichiren sometimes used the expression “Myōhō-goji,” which means “The Five Words Beginning with Myōhō.” When he used this expression, he meant that the Myōhōrengekyō is something more than the title of a sūtra. Nichiren never clearly defined this “something.” He sometimes identified it with the Truth itself, and at other times used it as the expression of the Most Honorable One. It is no exaggeration to say that the development of the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism was accelerated by the controversies about the definition of the Myōhō-goji as conceived by Nichiren.
In the earlier period of his ministerial life, Nichiren was an ardent follower of Tendai Daishi and Dengyō Daishi. It may be safely said that he attempted at first to revive the genuine form of Tendai Buddhism. He was basically a Tendai priest in his younger days. It was a natural consequence that Bruno Petzold, a student of Tendai Buddhism, would be interested in Nichiren’s religion in his later years.
Bruno Petzold (1873-1949) was one of the few foreigners who studied Japanese Buddhism early in the twentieth century. He came to Japan in 1910, and soon afterwards he was attracted by Japanese Buddhism. He visited various Buddhist temples and observed Buddhist rituals and festivals. He especially studied the Tendai Sect, which was the springhead of almost all the Buddhist sects of Japan. He contributed many articles on the tenets of the sect to English and German Buddhist periodicals published in Japan, Germany, and other countries.
The major works by Bruno Petzold have not yet been published. They consist of the following manuscripts: Dengyō Daishi; the Quintessence of Tendai Teaching; the Tendai Teaching; Shō Shikan, all written in German, and the Classification of Buddhism in English.
During the life of Bruno Petzold, two important English books of Japanese authorship were published to introduce Nichiren Buddhism: Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet by Anesaki Masaharu, 1916, and Japanese Civilization: Its Significance and Realization, Nichirenism and the Japanese National Principles by Satomi Kishio, 1923. Bruno Petzold must have been much influenced by Satomi, judging from the fact that he used the edition of Nichiren’s works compiled by Satomi’s teacher, Tanaka Chigaku, under the title of Ruisan-kōso-ibunroku. As regards the doctrines of Nichiren Buddhism, Bruno Petzold used as his text Shimizu Ryozan’s Nichirenshū-kōyō to the extent that his understanding of Nichiren’s thought was flavored by the philosophy of Shimizu Ryozan. As far as his presentation of the life of Nichiren is concerned, some legendary traditions are given side by side with historically-proven facts. But the influences of Satomi Kishio and Shimizu Ryozan and the interpolation of legends into the life story of Nichiren do not adversely affect his outline of Nichiren Buddhism, which even today involves problems.
Nichiren Buddhism, which began seven centuries ago, and was about to be eliminated in the first few decades after its founding, obtained prosperity second to the Zen Sect in the capital Kyoto about a century after the death of Nichiren. It was suppressed by the government early in the Tokugawa Period, but was soon revived. The vitality of Nichiren Buddhism comes not only from the philosophy of Nichiren but also from his personality. Bruno Petzold was probably the best qualified person for an introduction of Nichiren Buddhism in which the Chinese Tendai Buddhist terms are abundantly employed. But he spent more time on the presentation of the personality of Nichiren, lest the characteristics of Nichiren Buddhism should be overshadowed by merely doctrinal argumentations.
Senchu Murano
Kamakura, Japan 1977
