Honmon Butsuryu Shū (HBS) is a Buddhist sect founded upon the Lotus Sutra—the supreme and final teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was born in present day Nepal over 2,600 years ago. For fifty years, the Buddha taught a vast range of sutras to guide people according to their differing capacities and conditions. Among them, the Lotus Sutra stands above all as the King of Sutras, revealing the eternal and universal truth that every being possesses the potential for enlightenment.
Throughout history, countless practitioners have revered and studied the Lotus Sutra, but it was Nichiren Shounin (1222–1282) who discerned its true essence and revealed its living practice—the chanting of Odaimoku, “Namu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo.” This sacred invocation expresses the very heart of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion, enabling all people to awaken their Buddha-nature in daily life.
Inspired by Nichiren Shounin’s profound realization, Nissen Shounin (Seifu Nagamatsu, 1817–1890) founded Honmon Butsuryu Shu about 150 years ago in Japan. At a time when Buddhism had become limited to ritual and funeral services, Nissen Shounin sought to restore its original spirit—one of living faith and active propagation of the Buddha’s teachings for the happiness and enlightenment of all people.
The name Honmon Butsuryu Shu means “The Sect of the Buddha’s True Essence,” derived from the Honmon Happon—the eight chapters (15–22) of the Lotus Sutra that reveal the eternal and primordial nature of the Buddha. These chapters also describe Bodhisattva Jogyou, who vowed to spread the Odaimoku in the age of Mappō (the Latter Day of the Law). Nichiren Shounin is revered as the manifestation of this great bodhisattva, and HBS continues his mission today.
Morning prayers at the temple
At the heart of HBS practice is the devotion to the Gohonzon, inscribed with the Fine Dharma Namumyohorengekyo, and the sincere chanting of the Odaimoku. Through this practice, followers cultivate faith, purify their lives, and awaken to the boundless compassion of the Primordial Eternal Buddha.
HBS stands apart from other Buddhist sects by focusing purely on faith, practice, and the propagation of the Lotus Sutra, without political involvement or superstition. It honors Nichiren Shounin not as a deity, but as a great teacher who revealed the true path to enlightenment for all humankind.
Today, HBS continues to flourish, with over 400 temples in Japan and growing communities in Brazil, the United States, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, bringing together more than 300,000 practitioners who seek peace, wisdom, and happiness through the light of the Dharma.
In the spirit of the Lotus Sutra, Honmon Butsuryu Shu continues to guide people toward the realization of their innate Buddha-nature—illuminating lives and communities with the timeless truth of Namumyohorengekyo.