Hi Peace For All
Nichiren is not the only person who has emphasise the importance
of focusing on Shakyamuni Buddha. In fact, the late Ven Yin Shu印順導師
has said the same thing in his book,The Way to BuddhahoodVerses
成佛之道.
“三世佛無量, 十方佛亦爾, 悲願來濁世, 禮佛釋迦文
Buddhas of the three periods are innumerable,
Buddhas of the ten directions are also countless.
Having come to this impure world because of his compassionate
vow,
Śākyamuni Buddha is deserving of our worship.
智圓悲無極,斷障無餘習,三德等究竟,方便示差別
His wisdom is perfect, his compassion infinite.
Overcoming all obstructions, he is totally without remnants of
habit.
These three virtues are equal and ultimate for all Buddhas,
But for the sake of skillful means, there are differences.”
Your Question
I have read that in Nichiren’s time, he openly condemned Pure
Land, Zen, Shingon and other Buddhist schools in Japan and said
saying the name of Amituofo is leading to hell of incessant
suffering. What did Nichiren make this statement that eventually
got him in series of troubles and persecution?
A Rissho University Professor has told Late Ven Sheng Yen 聖嚴法師,
founder of Taiwan Dharma Drum Mountain when he was studying there.
“Nichiren used strong admonition due to the hardening of people
heart in order to save them. If he is born in today Japan, perhaps
his method of saving people might be different. In order to save
the people, Bodhisattva need to use appropriate means due to the
condition and one cannot be attached to a particular mean.
Nowadays, Nichiren Shu scholars do not take the strong condemnation
in Dharma propagation nor are they critical about other Buddhist
sects.”
《留日見聞》Pg 427,
我目前在日蓮宗的立正大學大學院，所接觸的多是日蓮宗的著名學者，但他們從不批評其他宗派，也無意說服任何宗派的人變為日蓮宗的信徒。我的指導教授，也是立大的校長坂本幸男博士，就曾當著各國留學生的面宣稱：日蓮聖人生於距今七百四十八年前的鎌倉幕府時代，由於當時的人心，才有那種言論和行動，用以挽救時弊。假如他生於今天的日本，他的思想就可能不是這樣了。菩薩化世，應病與藥，因緣活用，不可執著。可見日蓮宗學者的態度，並無「折伏」的色彩.
Besides, the late Ven Sheng Yen mentioned about Nichiren’s
unyielding spirit in facing the persecution. He thinks that
Nichiren is an accomplished Buddhist monk who is well versed in the
Buddhist Sutra and someone with real encounter with the Dharma.
That’s why, he can endure the hardship with traces in history.
日蓮（西元一二二二─一二八二年），宗崇《法華經》，主倡「南無妙法蓮華經」，以代表釋尊的一代時教，並以唱誦經題為一切行持法門的最上法門。在此必須指出，佛教在中國，各宗派之間雖也時有法義之爭的論戰，但終未見訴之於武力或暴力的事例，然在日本，舊宗與新派之間往往會由於所見的不同，而糾結了政治的武力施以殘酷的迫害，或者參與地方的黨爭，利用地方武力對付異己的宗派。親鸞受迫害，日蓮也受迫害，尤其是日蓮的精神，在某些場合，倒有點像基督教的耶穌或回教的穆罕默德，往往激情奔放，不顧一切威勢權力的壓制，依舊宣揚他自己的主張。當然，也唯有真正有了宗教經驗的人才能如此，所不同者，日蓮終其一生，仍是比丘的本色，行頭陀行而仍博涉內外群籍，鑽究三藏，功力尤勤，我們從數百萬言的《日蓮聖人御遺文》或《日蓮聖人全集》中看，他所注目的問題著實可觀，絕非一般的僧人可與之相比，他的確是一位行解並重，並且是確有所證的一位高僧，故在他的生涯之中，留下的神蹟傳說也不少。Pg
431-432
By the way, do note that there are some teaching differences
between Nichiren Shu and Nichiren Shoshu or SGI doctrine. The latter tend to see Nichiren as a
current Buddha whereas Nichiren Shu views him as a Bodhisattva.