Nichiren (1222-1282), like Honen and Dogen, taught a single, exclusive practice for the age of mappō. However, rather than assigning absolute significance to some existing discipline, as these teachers had, Nichiren initiated a new form of Buddhist practice. In this last age, he asserted, men and women of whatever capacity could attain Buddhahood in their present form by chanting the daimoku or title of the Lotus Sutra with the invocation Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō. Nichiren’s mappō thought stands out for its striking affirmation—in contrast to conventional pessimistic sentiments—that the present, degenerate Final Dharma age is actually the most ideal time for attaining Buddhahood.