Nichiren Buddhism as a source of enlightenment for Jazz artists

“If I am a living legend, everyone is a living legend and everyone has that infinite potential: me and you” Herbie Hancock.

The development of one’s infinite potential is one of the fundamental sources of the Nichiren Buddhist branch.

I have read many articles about the pianist Herbie Hancock, in order to write an article about his background. In the course of my reading, I discovered that he was affiliated with the Nichiren religion. I wondered what this branch of Buddhism from Japan could do for you. Herbie Hancock is not the only jazz musician to practice Nichiren Buddhism, as saxophonist Benny Maupin preceded him.

The founder of this movement is Nichiren Daishonin, a Japanese Buddhist monk born on 16 February 1222 in Kominato. His parents, a fishing couple, entrusted him to a Buddhist temple at the age of 12 to study theology. In addition to his practice of Buddhism, he learned to read and write and vowed to become “the wisest man in Japan” before a statue of a Bodhisattva. His path was clear.

At the age of 16, he decided to devote his life to Buddhism and became a monk. He then traveled to the most important Buddhist centers in the country and discovered the great diversity of schools. After fifteen years of teaching, he defined the Lotus Sutra as the most appropriate teaching to answer his quest for wisdom.

He returned to where it all began for him, at the Seicho-Ji temple, to share his discoveries and expose his point of view. His ideas did not pass muster, and his vision of religion did not conform to the Nembutsu school. Despite the strong opposition, he did not give up and tried to make his teaching known.

Storms, floods, droughts and earthquakes hit Japan in 1256. In 1257, a great earthquake struck Kamakura. In 1259, a severe famine decimated the population. In this catastrophic period, Nichiren attributed the cause of the disasters to anger, greed and ignorance and pleaded for the re-establishment of respect for the dignity of life as a principle guiding society towards peace and harmony.

Nichiren was not heard, his treatise even aroused the hatred of other Buddhist schools, and he was hunted down, captured and condemned to exile on the hostile coast of the Izu Peninsula. Nichiren managed to escape and fought to spread his ideas on his return. The rest of his life followed this pattern until his death.

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