Two thousand five hundred years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha sought to understand the inescapable sufferings of every human being � birth, aging, sickness and death � and the means to overcome them. Shakyamuni�s enlightenment occurred when he became awakened to the reality of the eternal and essential life which governs the constant universal cycle of birth, aging, sickness and death. The Buddha taught people to transcend their daily lives, which are uncertain and fleeting, in order to overcome these sufferings.

Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282) was a religious reformer who challenged the established religious structure of Japan, in which Buddhism had become a tool to maintain social order in the hands of an imperial and intellectual elite. Nichiren Daishonin was outspoken in his belief that the established religious order had strayed from the original intent of Shakyamuni Buddha�s intention to enlighten the common people and provide a practice that was accessible to all. Nichiren taught a self-empowered, egalitarian form of Buddhism based on the original Buddha�s teachings expounded in the Lotus Sutra.

The Daishonin�s teachings are simple: Buddhahood is a process that occurs in this lifetime and all people who practice this Buddhism can and should expect proof of the validity of these teachings now, not in some distant future or lifetime.