The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1691 page)

for himself, returned to his home village and began preaching to the common people that enlightenment was available to every human being through simple trust in the truth (
dharma
) expressed in this s
tra.
The act of faith which Nichiren taught was the invocation of a specific
mantra
which he called
daimoku
, ‘sacred title’:
namu my
h
renge ky
, ‘I take refuge in the Lotus of the Wonderful Law S
tra.’
In Feb. 1260, Nichiren wrote his well-known essay,
Rissh
ankoku-ron
(Treatise on the Establishment of Righteousness to Secure the Peace of the State).
Because of the radicalness and outspokenness of his criticism of the government and his attacks against other schools of Buddhism, Nichiren was arrested in 1261 and exiled to the Izu Peninsula for two years. He was pardoned in 1264. However, Nichiren did not recant. He returned to Kamakura and began publicly denouncing the government in sermons he preached on the streets of the city. Nichiren was again arrested, this time receiving the death sentence. According to tradition, the executioner's sword was struck by lightning just at the moment he began to strike at Nichiren's neck. Whatever happened, the execution was stayed, and he was again sentenced to exile, this time on the isolated island of Sado in the Sea of Japan.
During the three years of his second exile on Sado Island (1271–4), Nichiren wrote
Kaimokush
(Treatise on Opening the Eyes) and
Kanjin Honzonsh
(Treatise on Contemplating the True Object of Worship).
Together with
Rissh
Ankokuron
and two later works,
Senjish
(Selection of the Time) and
H
onsh
(Repaying Kindness), these two treatises comprise Nichiren's major writings. Along with 230 letters collected in his
Gosho
(Sacred Writings) these serve as scripture for Nichiren Buddhism. Nichiren is also believed to have created the original Object of Worship, the
gohonzon
, a calligraphic inscription on wood of the invocation,
namu my
h
renge ky