Nichiren
1222–1282 · Japanese · Kamakura Period
Known for: The most combative Buddhist in history — told every other school they were going to hell and got exiled for it
Nichiren taught that the Lotus Sutra contains the only path to enlightenment and that chanting 'Nam-myoho-renge-kyo' grants access to Buddhahood. He attacked every other Buddhist school, predicted Mongol invasions (correctly), and survived two assassination attempts and two exiles.
Browse all 1,000 figures by category
Enable JavaScript to view the full "if they lived today" Q&A and personality profile.