“Nichiren Daishonin states, ”I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart.””
What is the Gohonzon?
Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon on October 12, 1279. Nichiren Shoshu's successive High Priests' transcriptions of the Dai-Gohonzon are the carved wooden or scroll Gohonzons that you see enshrined in our Temples and in the altars in members' homes. It is the object of worship in Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. The Gohonzon is the physical embodiment of both the Original Infinite Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and the enlightened life of the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin. It is the foundation and source of all Buddhist teachings.
When we chant to the Gohonzon, our own inherent Buddha nature itself awakens and emerges.
“Nichiren Daishonin states in:
“Attaining Enlightenment at the Initial Stage of Faith through the Lotus Sutra” (“Hokke shoshin jōbutsu-shō”)
”Once we chant Myoho-Renge-Kyo, this sound calls forth and manifests the Buddha nature of all Buddhas, all phenomena, all bodhisattvas, all people in the world of learning, all guardian deities, such as Bonten, Taishaku, King Emma, the sun and moon, innumerable stars, deities of the heavens and earth, and all living beings—including individuals in the worlds of hell, hunger, animality, anger, humanity, and rapture. The benefit of revealing this Buddha nature is immeasurable and unfathomable.” ”