The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1690 page)

 
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Nicene Creed
.

A Christian statement of faith used in both E. and W.
Although it contains the
homoousion
, the creed does not originate from the council of
Nicaea
, nor probably from the later council of Constantinople (381) as traditionally held. It was, however, current as part of the
eucharist
by the 5th cent. All liturgical churches now use it.

 
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see
NICHIREN SH
SH
.

 
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(1222–82)
. Japanese Buddhist monk who was the founder of
Nichiren
Sh
, and whose name literally means ‘Sun Lotus’, ‘sun’ standing for Japan and ‘lotus’ for the
Lotus S
tra
. While young, he travelled to various temples in search of a form of religious teaching and practice which he could regard as ‘true Buddhism’. In Kamakura, he studied the teachings of
Pure Land school
(J
do Sh
) and
Zen
. Later, after a brief return visit to Seich
ji in his home village, he enrolled in the monasteries of Mount Hiei and began an intensive study of Tendai teaching and practice. Because of his radical ideas, he was driven out of Mount Hiei, and so he moved on to Mount K
ya to study the esoteric teachings and practice of the
Shingon
(‘True Word’) school of Buddhism. It was during his study on Mount K
ya that he finally concluded that the only true form of Buddhism was that taught by
Saich
(Dengy
Daishi, ‘great teacher Dengy
’), who had established the Tendai
(Chin.,
T’ien-t’ai
) School of Buddhism in Japan in the 8th cent. Saich
taught the superiority of the
Lotus S
tra
over all Buddhist s
tras. Nichiren, after discovering the
Lotus S
tra