California encephalitis orthobunyavirus type strain California encephalitis virus was discovered in Kern County, California, and causes encephalitis in humans. Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain that can cause minor symptoms, such as headaches, to more severe symptoms such as seizures.  Mosquitoes serve as its carrier and for this reason this virus is known as an arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus).

California encephalitis orthobunyavirus belongs to the Bunyavirales order of viruses. The La Crosse Virus from the same genus is also a common cause of encephalitis in the United States. Other viruses with similar disease symptoms but genetically unrelated include: Saint Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus.

Signs and symptoms
The incubation period of California encephalitis is usually 3–7 days.  An early symptoms phase of 1–4 days commonly precedes the onset of encephalitis, manifesting as fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, headache, lethargy and abdominal pain.

The encephalitis is characterized by fever, drowsiness, and lack of mental alertness and orientation. Seizures occur in 50% of children. Focal neurologic findings, like focal motor abnormalities and paralysis, irregular and abnormal reflexes develop in 20% of children.  10% of patients develop coma.

The total duration of illness rarely exceeds 10–14 days. Recurrent unprovoked seizures may occur even after the illness has passed; this develops in 20% of patients, especially those who had seizures during the acute illness. In adults, infection is asymptomatic, which means that the patient is a carrier of the infection, but experiences no symptoms or only mild feverish illness.

The mortality rate is less than 1% and most patients with encephalitis clinical symptoms recover completely. Up to 20% of patients develop behavioral problems or recurrent seizures.

Pathophysiology
Initial infection by the virus and primary spread of the virus causes the onset of non-specific symptoms such as headache and fever. Secondary spread and the multiplication of the virus in the CNS (central nervous system) causes symptoms such as stiff neck, lethargy and seizures.  It then can result in encephalitis, when inflammation of the brain, produced by infection by the virus, damages nerve cells, which affects signaling of the brain to the body.

After the virus enters the body via a mosquito bite, the virus undergoes local replication at the skin site where virus entered the body.  A primary spread of virus occurs, with seeding of the reticuloendothelial system, mainly in the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes.  With the ongoing replication of the virus a secondary spread occurs, with the seeding of the CNS.  Not all the cases reach this stage, depending on the efficiency of viral replication at the different stages and the degree of virus spread.  The California encephalitis virus invades the CNS through either the cerebral capillary endothelial cells or the choroid plexus.

Treatment
Treatments are given to manage the symptoms the patient is having.  In patients who are very sick, supportive treatment, such as mechanical ventilation, is equally important. Corticosteroids are used to reduce brain swelling and inflammation.  Sedatives may be needed for irritability or restlessness. Acetaminophen is used for fever and headache. Anticonvulsants are used to prevent seizures.  If brain function is severely affected, interventions like physical therapy and speech therapy may be needed after the illness is controlled.

Epidemiology

Factors influencing the transmission and control of arboviral encephalitis, in general, include: the season, geographical location, patient age, and the regional climate. There are approximately 75 cases reported per year.
In the US the highest occurrence is in the Midwestern states, with most cases occurring in the late summer to early fall. Outdoor activities, especially in woodland areas, are associated with an increased risk of infection.

History
It was first discovered and isolated in 1943, from mosquitoes collected in Kern County, California.  Two years later the first human cases of encephalitis were attributed to this new virus.  Three cases in total were reported, and all three cases were in residents of Kern County in the Central Valley of California.
In all three cases there was strong laboratory evidence confirming infection, due to the presence of neutralizing antibodies linked to California encephalitis.  Since then, most cases of encephalitis have been associated with the La Crosse virus, and California encephalitis is a rare cause of disease in the Western world.

The original California Encephalitis virus was isolated and put alongside fifteen other related viruses that are now categorized as the "California serogroup".  From 1996 to 1998, approximately three times as many reported human cases of arboviral encephalitis were caused by California serogroup viruses than were reported for western equine encephalomyelitis viruses, St. Louis encephalitis, and eastern equine encephalomyelitis viruses combined.

Subtypes
 California encephalitis virus (CEV) – type strain
 Inkoo virus (INKV)
 South river virus (SORV)

References

External links

Orthobunyaviruses
Viral encephalitis

California encephalitis orthobunyavirus


Solomon Molcho ( Shelomo Molkho), or Molkho, originally Diogo Pires (c. 1500 – 13 December 1532) was a Portuguese Jewish mystic and messiah claimant. When he met with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to urge the creation of a Jewish army, the emperor turned him over to the Inquisition and he was burned at the stake.

Early life
Nothing is known of Molcho's family or even the exact date of his birth. He was born in Portugal sometime between September 1500 and August 1502, probably to Marrano parents. His original name was Diogo Pires. He held the post of secretary to the High Court of Appeals of his native country. When the Jewish adventurer David Reubeni arrived in 1525 to negotiate with the king, ostensibly on a political mission from some of the ten lost tribes of Israel, Molcho wished to join him, but was rejected. He then circumcised himself, though without thereby gaining Reubeni's favor, and was forced to emigrate.

Mystic studies
Molcho became a master Talmudist and biblical exegesist, and then studied the Kabbalah with Joseph Taitazak. He himself inspired Joseph Caro and Shlomo Alkabetz. He then wandered as a preacher through Italy and Turkey and achieved a great reputation and suggested that the Messianic kingdom would come in 1535 or 1540. In 1529 Molcho published a portion of his sermons under the title Derashot, a book that was later renamed Sefer ha-Mefo'ar. Returning to Italy, he was opposed by prominent Jews including Jacob Mantino ben Samuel, who feared that he might cause unrest among the Jews.  He was given an audience before Pope Clement VII and gained his favor, as well as that of some Judeophile cardinals at Rome. He warned the Pope to leave Rome as the city would soon be flooded and he sent a message to the king of Portugal warning of an imminent earthquake. The occurrence of a deadly flood on October 8, 1530, and an earthquake in Lisbon on January 26, 1531, raised Molcho's reputation among the religious and political authorities.

Travels and execution
In company with David Reubeni, his mentor, he went in 1532 to Ratisbon, where the emperor Charles V was holding a diet. On this occasion, Molcho carried a flag with the Hebrew word Maccabi, the four letters מכבי which also signify an abbreviation for Exodus 15:11 "Who among the mighty is like unto God?". The three met for two hours, and while the exact content of the meeting was not recorded, letters written from the court at the time indicate Molcho proposed the establishment of a joint Jewish-Christian army to fend off the emperor's foreign enemies and, possibly, to reconquer the Holy Land. The emperor had both Molcho and Reubeni arrested and took them back to Italy. In Mantua an ecclesiastical court sentenced Molcho to death by fire. Molcho was taken to the stake in November or December 1532 (a Jewish tradition lists the date as 5th of Tevet 5293 but there are no records to confirm the date). It is claimed the emperor offered to pardon him on condition that he return to the Catholic Church, but Molcho refused, asking for a martyr's death. His mentor, David Reubeni, was exiled to Spain, where later he died.

Writings
Molcho published a book of homilies Derashot on the Bible entitled Sefer Hamefoar, based mostly on the Talmud and Midrash, in Salonika in late 1529. Two of his biographical letters, which also recount his dreams, were first published, in bowdlerized and censored form, in Amsterdam in 1660, in a book entitled Hayat Kaneh. Modern scholars have discovered several more works by Molcho, including a second book, which he had prepared for publication at the time of his death and which focused on Messianic redemption and emphasized the Kabbala, and a song, and the transcript of a synagogue lecture Molcho delivered in the spring of 1531. His second book, along with his homilies and other writings, including uncensored versions of his letters, were published as Kitvei Shlomo Molcho (The Collected Writings of Shlomo Molcho) in Jerusalem in 2019.

Molcho's writings and speeches highlighted the roles of the Messiah ben Joseph and the Messiah ben David in the process of redemption and stressed that redemption could come if Jews were faithful to God and his commandments or if the non-Jewish religious and political powers were exceedingly evil and oppressive. A dream Molcho had in 1526 apparently led him to believe he was destined to be either the Messiah ben Joseph or his precursor, but in none of his writings or speeches did he ever explicitly state this or proclaim himself the Messiah.

See also
 List of people burned as heretics
 Jewish Messiah claimants

References

 Encyclopædia Britannica

External links

The Jewish Museum of Prague preserves a robe and a flag of Molcho.
The Kabbalist Who Wanted a Jewish Army in 1532

1500 births
1532 deaths
16th-century converts to Judaism
16th-century Portuguese people
16th-century Sephardi Jews
Conversos
Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism
Executed Portuguese people
Jewish martyrs
Jewish messiah claimants
Jewish mysticism
Kabbalists
People executed for apostasy
People executed by Italian states
Jewish Portuguese writers
Portuguese people executed abroad
People executed by burning
People executed by the Spanish Inquisition

Solomon Molcho


The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré () is a basilica set along the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada,  east of Quebec City, and one of the eight national shrines of Canada. It has been credited by the Catholic Church with many miracles of curing the sick and disabled. It is an important Catholic sanctuary, which receives about a half-million pilgrims each year. Since 1933 they have included members of the Anna Fusco Pilgrimage from Connecticut, United States of America. The peak period of pilgrimage is around July 26, the feast of Saint Anne, the patron saint of sailors.

History
The basilica in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré was initially a shrine to honour Saint Anne. On March 8, 1658, settler Étienne de Lessard donated two frontal acres from the west end of his property to the Catholic Church, so that a chapel could be built. This chapel eventually became the site of the modern-day basilica. The chapel was built to provide a place of worship for the new settlers in the area  and to house a miraculous statue of St. Anne. The first reported miracle at the site happened during the shrine's construction.

A man named Louis Guimont was hired to help build the shrine even though he suffered from rheumatism. After placing three stones upon the shrine's foundation, Guimont was cured of all his ailments. This was followed by other testimonies of healed people, and the shrine soon grew in popularity. Many pilgrims came to the shrine hoping to receive a miracle while others, like Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and Queen of France, supported the shrine from a distance. Because of the popularity of the shrine, the building was enlarged several times to accommodate all the pilgrims. In the late nineteenth century, a basilica was constructed around the shrine. In 1876, the first basilica opened for worship.

This was destroyed in a fire on March 29, 1922. The present-day basilica was built in 1926 on the site of the prior church. Architects Maxime Roisin, Louis N. Audet and Joseph-Égilde-Césaire Daoust collaborated on the project from 1923 to 1931. After the end of the Great Depression, work on the interior resumed in 1937, and was finally completed in 1946.

Pilgrims are attracted from across Canada and the United States. Miracles are still believed to occur at the basilica. Two pillars near the entrance are filled with racks of crutches, canes, braces, and other signs of disabilities. Each item has been left by a pilgrim who reports being healed at the basilica.

The wooded hillside next to the basilica has a memorial chapel and a Way of the Cross, with life-sized Stations of the Cross. Higher up the hill the Convent of the Redemptoristines can be found. Built in 1906 and declared a historic site in 2001, it no longer operates as a convent and has essentially been abandoned in the early 21st century.

Architecture
The total length of the building is  long, and  wide; with a transept width of . The height of the building's steeple is .

Interior

Joseph-Émile Brunet designed twenty-four capitals (1948) for the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, which depict 52 religious subjects reflecting the life of Jesus. He sculpted 14 "Stations of the Cross" lining the walls of the cathedral, with stone statues of Saint Anne and Saints at the entrance of the cathedral. Joseph-Émile Brunet also created the fountain in front of the Basilica and the 7' 6"-high stone sculpture in niches that can be seen on entering the basilica, "Marie de L'Incarnation", "Saint Joseph", "The Virgin with Jesus", ""François de Laval", and "St. Joachim", in addition to a bronze sculpture of Kateri Tekakwitha, 6' 4" high.

References

External links

 Google 3D warehouse

St. Anne
St. Anne
Catholic pilgrimage sites
Roman Catholic national shrines in Canada
Buildings and structures in Capitale-Nationale
Tourist attractions in Capitale-Nationale
Heritage buildings of Quebec
Romanesque Revival church buildings in Canada
Saint Anne

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré


David Houghton is an English graphic artist, designer and photographer.

As a conceptual artist, his photographic work "explores and documents ordinary everyday images and situations that we normally overlook and take for granted". He has published two independent books of his work. An exhibition of his conceptual art entitled Journeys Within Japan was staged in the summer of 2007 as part of the Cambridge Open Studios project and later at the Basement Gallery in Ipswich. In December 2008 he was also a featured artist in the CAMBA art exhibition Six Days, alongside notable artists such as Jeremy Andrews.

Houghton's latest solo show is 'Time Watching', staged by the University of Hertfordshire at the Margaret Harvey Gallery in St Albans in March 2009.

In 2002 he appeared in the BBC1 television programme Beckham For Breakfast, when his travels around Japan with journalist Chris Hunt were featured in a video diary filmed by Hunt.  His photography of football fans and football culture around the world has been published in many magazines, including Match, Four Four Two, Football First and Sport First. As a CD sleeve designer,  his work has included What's It All About by Rinaldi Sings and The Mod Singles Collection by The Chords.

References

External links
Official Site - Dave Houghton's conceptual art and photography

Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
British graphic designers
English photographers

David Houghton (designer)


Christopher Martin (15821621) was a merchant by trade. He along with his family traveled on the Mayflower in 1620.

Martin, wife Mary, son Nathaniel and step-son Solomon all came from Billericay in Essex England.

The family did not believe in the Church of England.  In 1612, Martin and his wife would not take Holy Communion. Another time, Nathaniel and Solomon made the Church Vicar angry with during a service. Martin got into trouble because he would not give church officials the financial accounts he kept.

Martin and his family joined a Separatist church. They all wanted to go to the New World.  Martin sold his property and bought passage on the ship.

The people asked Martin to help them by buying supplies.  He did not spent the money wisely.  He purchased things like beer, wine, salted beef and pork, dried peas, fishing supplies, muskets, armor, clothing, tools, and other things to trade with the Native Americans.  One thing he purchased, the screw-jack, would be very useful to keep the Mayflower from sinking.

Voyage

There were two ships going to Virginia Colony, the Speedwell and the Mayflower.  Martin was assigned to be the leader of the passengers on the Speedwell but the ship needed repairs.  A fellow passenger and official of the trip, Robert Cushman said, that Martin will not listen to them, nor allow them to go ashore in case they should run away.  Some of the passengers quit the voyage to return to London and lost much or all of their money.  Others boarded the Mayflower which became very crowded.

Christopher Martin left on Mayflower in company with his wife Mary, his servant John Langmore and his stepson Solomon Prower. Nathaniel Martin stayed in England.

The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on 16 September 1620. There were 102 passengers and 30–40 crew. On 19 November 1620, the Mayflower spotted land. The Mayflower was supposed to land in Virginia Colony, but the ship was damaged and they were forced to land at Cape Cod now called Provincetown Harbor. They landed on 21 November. They wrote the Mayflower Compact, which made rules on how they would live and treat each other.  Christopher Martin signed the Mayflower Compact.  His step-son and his servant were too young to sign.

In Plymouth Colony
When the Mayflower was docked in the Harbor, Martin and other men went to land to find a place where they all could live.

In the winter of 1621 Martin, his wife, son and servant became ill and died.

Martin and his wife Mary were buried in the Cole's Hill Burial Ground, Plymouth.

There is a plaque in the United Reform Church in England to honor the Mayflower passengers.  The plaque names Christopher Martin, Marie (Mary) Martin, Solomon Prower and John Langerman.

References

Further reading
Robert C. Anderson. The Great Migration Begins. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995.
Robert C. Anderson. The Pilgrim Migration. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2004.
R. J. Carpenter. Christopher Martin, Great Burstead and The Mayflower. Chelmsford, Essex, 1982.

Mayflower passengers
1580s births
1621 deaths
People buried in Cole's Hill

Christopher Martin


Theo Wade Brown (26 May 1950 – 30 April 2002) was an English carpenter, designer and engineer.

Brown was also a bon viveur, amateur musician and genuine eccentric. With his handlebar moustache and long red hair, he was an unmistakable figure.

Brown was a well-known member of the London film special effects community, and one of the core team at the Computer Film Company that won a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for developing digital film technology.

Brown later designed the Northlight film scanner for the Computer Film Company scanner division (now Filmlight), and was responsible not only for its remarkable engineering design, but also its 1920s-style marble and steel appearance—an artistic flourish that was characteristic of Brown's approach to life.

Brown suffered from bipolar disorder which led eventually to his death.

In 2010, he was posthumously awarded a Scientific and Technical Academy Award for his work at Filmlight on the Northlight scanner technology.

External links

1950 births
2002 deaths
English carpenters
People with bipolar disorder
20th-century British engineers

Theo Wade Brown


Alps (, translit. Alpeis) is a 2011 Greek psychological drama film produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari and Yorgos Lanthimos and directed by Lanthimos. It stars Angeliki Papoulia, Ariane Labed and Aris Servetalis, and was co-written by Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou. It premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival where it won Osella for Best Screenplay, and also won the Official Competition Prize for New Directions in Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival in 2012.

Plot
The film opens with a gymnast complaining to her coach because he will not let her perform to a pop song, which he states she is not ready for. They are members of a group known as Alps, whose members offer, for a fee, to act as the recently deceased during visits to their grieving relatives. After a serious car crash involving a young female tennis player, the ambulance driver and leader of Alps, "Mont Blanc," recruits the assisting nurse into the group. The nurse, who has few obligations other than taking care of her ageing and widowed father, becomes "Monte Rosa" and grows attached to the tennis player, convincing herself that she will recover. The gymnast, believing she will die, states that she wants to be the stand-in for the tennis player after she passes. The tennis player does eventually die, and Monte Rosa offers the services of the Alps to her grieving parents while lying to the rest of the group that the girl has recovered.

Alps offers its services to various grieving parties, including a married man mourning his fun-loving mistress, a blind woman with a deceased, philandering husband, and a man who is mourning an old friend. The clientele instructs the members of Alps as to what they should wear, do, and say, constructing scenarios of their choosing, which sometimes crosses into emotionally intimate or sexual encounters; however, these scenes tend to be emotionless and transactional. Despite this, Monte Rosa grows attached to the role of the tennis player and spends a lot of time with the grieving family, cuddling with the tennis player's father and pretending to date a classmate.

The other members of Alps grow suspicious when Monte Rosa fails to show up to their meetings and lies about her whereabouts. Eventually the truth is discovered and Mont Blanc violently removes her from the group due to her dishonesty and incompetence. Monte Rosa visits her father, and her affected behavior when conversing with him implies that she has been attempting to act as a "stand-in" for her mother. When she attempts to fondle him, he slaps her, and she leaves. She visits a club she had patronized with him earlier in the film and aggressively tries to dance with another patron before returning to the tennis player's house. She breaks into the home, setting off the alarm, and climbs into bed before being forcibly thrown out by the father as she desperately attempts to initiate another scene with the family. Finding herself locked out of the home, she stands at the garage door, appearing lost and uncertain.

The gymnast finally performs elegantly to a pop song as her coach looks on proudly. After it is finished, she runs into his arms and tells him that he is the best coach in the world, mirroring an earlier scene in the film where they share a bizarre, sadomasochistic moment. After saying this, her expression falls and becomes cryptic, leaving their true relationship ambiguous.

Cast
Angeliki Papoulia as Nurse/"Monte Rosa"
Aris Servetalis as Ambulance Man/"Mont Blanc"
Ariane Labed as Gymnast
Johnny Vekris as Coach
Efthymis Filippou as Lighting shop owner
Stavros Psyllakis as Nurse's Father
Eftychia Stefanidou as Blind Lady
Sotiris Papastamatiou as Tennis Player's Father
Maria Kyrozi as Tennis Player
Tina Papanikolaou as Tennis Player's Mother
Konstadina Papoulia Nurse's Father's Girlfriend
Nikos Galgadis as Tennis Player's Boyfriend

Production
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou developed the premise for the film out of the idea of people who allege something which is fabricated, for example via prank calls or by announcing their own deaths. The story took form as they needed a setting which could work well cinematically. Lanthimos considers it the complete opposite of his previous film, Dogtooth, which he says "is the story of a person who tries to escape a fictitious world. Alps is about a person who tries to enter a fabricated world."

The film was produced by Tsangari's production company Haos Film, which had previously produced Lanthimos' 2005 film Kinetta. The budget included funding from the Greek Film Center. Filming started in October 2010. Some scenes were added on the set and parts of the dialogue were improvised by the actors.

Reception
The film premiered on 3 September 2011 in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. Lee Marshall of Screen Daily started by comparing Alps to the director's last film. He called it "a sort of Dogtooth 2", and wrote that "the cultured urban audiences turned on by the sheer kookiness of that film may feel a slight sense of déjà vu here." On the film in its own right, Marshall wrote: "Hollywood might have fashioned a weepie or a thriller out of the same material - and there are echoes here of some of Hitchcock's fascination with surrogates, from the Roger Thornhill/George Kaplan of North by Northwest to the Madeleine/Carlotta of Vertigo. But Alps is so intriguing because of what it refuses to explain... It's also a film which manages to juggle absurdist comedy with bleak tragedy, a yearning desire for human warmth with outbreaks of sudden violence, all the while maintaining an impressive control of tone."

In 2012, Roger Ebert reviewed Alps on his website, giving the film a rating of two-and-a-half out of four stars. He found the movie's thematic meaning complicated, and concluded that although Alps "is provocative and challenging, it is so completely self-contained that it has no particular emotional payoff... But Alps has the effect of a sterile exercise."

References

External links

 myFILM.gr
 News story on Alps

2011 drama films
2011 films
2010s psychological drama films
Films set in Greece
Films directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Greek drama films
2010s Greek-language films
2010s Greek films

Alps (film)


was a rōnin (masterless samurai) from Yamagata, and instructor in martial arts and military strategy, most famous for his involvement in the 1651 Keian Uprising which sought to overthrow Japan's Tokugawa shogunate. He is said to have been a man of great strength and good birth whose distaste for the shogunate stemmed primarily from a desire for revenge for the death of his father, killed by the shogunal army at the 1615 siege of Osaka. The identity of his father is not clear, but may have been Chōsokabe Motochika.

Originally a skilled student of Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, he later switched for Hōzōin-ryū, the most famous style of Sōjutsu, thus Marubashi's weapon of choice became the Jūmonji Yari, and with his skills and reputation as a martial artist, found work teaching martial arts and strategy. Marubashi met Yui Shōsetsu, later to be his partner in organizing the Keian Uprising, at the armorer shop run by the latter. At some point after 1645, the two began to plot their rebellion, which would revolve around starting a fire in the capital of Edo and using this as a distraction to allow the rebels entry into the castle.

They planned to strike shortly after the death of shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1651, but Marubashi fell quite ill at that time, and revealed secrets of the plot in his delirium. Before any part of the plot was initiated, Marubashi was arrested in Edo. Yui killed himself shortly afterwards, while Marubashi and a number of the other rebels were crucified, their families beheaded.

He is the titular figure in an 1870 kabuki play by Kawatake Mokuami also known as Keian Taiheiki.

References
Frederic, Louis. "Marubashi Chūya". Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Sansom, George. A History of Japan: 1615–1867. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1963. pp54–56.

1651 deaths
Japanese rebels
Japanese educators
Kabuki characters
Samurai
Year of birth unknown

Marubashi Chūya


HMS Cormorant was a 16-gun ship sloop of the Cormorant class in the Royal Navy, launched in 1794 at Rotherhithe. She captured four French privateers before an accidental fire destroyed her in 1796.

Career
The Cormorant was the name-ship of the initial batch of six ship-rigged sloops of the Cormorant Class ordered in February 1793 to a joint design by Sir John Henslow and William Rule, shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. After launch, she was taken down the Thames to Deptford Naval Dockyard, where she was masted and completed on 10 March 1794.

She entered service under Commander Joshua Morlock. Command passed in July 1794 to Commander Joseph Bingham, under whose command she sailed for Jamaica in February 1795.

Cormorant was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.

On 30 June 1795 Cormorant captured the French privateer Resource Républicain (or Resource République). Then on 27 November Cormorant captured the privateer Petit Créole. Under Bingham, Cormorant also captured the 14-gun privateer Alerte.

In March 1796 Commander Peter Francis Collingwood became her captain, though he is given as her captain when she captured the Vengeance on 19 January. On 21 March 1796 Cormorant supported the landing of troops for an attack on Leogane. The British discovered they were outnumbered and withdrew the next day. Later that year command passed to Commander Thomas Gott.

Fate
On Christmas Eve 1796, Cormorant caught fire by accident at Port-au-Prince and blew up; 95 of her crew were killed (including Gott). A newspaper reported that Gott had been giving a party to celebrate his accession to the command of Cormorant when the accident occurred.

Citations

References
 *

Cormorant-class ship-sloops
1794 ships
Maritime incidents in 1796
Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea
Sloops of the Royal Navy

HMS Cormorant (1794)


Eorpwald; also Erpenwald or Earpwald, (reigned from  624, assassinated c. 627 or 632), succeeded his father Rædwald as King of the East Angles. Eorpwald was a member of the East Anglian dynasty known as the Wuffingas, named after the semi-historical king Wuffa.

Little is known of Eorpwald's life or of his short reign, as little documentary evidence about the East Anglian kingdom has survived. The primary source for Eorpwald is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written by Bede in the 8th century. Soon after becoming king, Eorpwald received Christian teaching and was baptised in 627 or 632. Soon after his conversion he was killed by Ricberht, a pagan noble, who may have succeeded him and ruled for three years. The motive for Eorpwald's assassination was probably political as well as religious. He was the first early English king to suffer death as a consequence of his Christian faith and was subsequently venerated by the Church as a saint and martyr.

In 1939, a magnificent ship-burial was discovered under a large mound at Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk. Although Rædwald is usually considered to have been buried with the ship (or commemorated by it), another possibility is Eorpwald. Alternatively, he might also have had his own ship-burial nearby.

Background and family

By the beginning of the 7th century, southern England was almost entirely under the control of the Anglo-Saxons. These peoples, who are known to have included Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians, began to arrive in Britain in the 5th century. By 600, a number of kingdoms had begun to form in the conquered territories, including the Kingdom of the East Angles, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Almost no documentary sources exist about the history of the kingdom before the reign of Rædwald, who reigned until about 624. Sources of information include the names of a few of the early Wuffing kings, mentioned in a short passage in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in the 730s.

In 616, Rædwald defeated and killed Æthelfrith of Northumbria in the Battle of the River Idle and then installed Edwin as the new Deiran king. Whilst Edwin had been an exile at Rædwald's court, he had had a dream where he was told that if he converted to Christianity, he would become greater than any that had ruled before him. Steven Plunkett relates that, according to the version of events as told in the Whitby Life of St Gregory, it was Paulinus who visited Edwin and obtained his promise to convert to Christianity in return for regal power. After Edwin emerged as the ruler of Deira, with its centre at York, he became accepted as king of the northern Northumbrian province of Bernicia. Following his victory over the Northumbrians, Rædwald was not only king of the East Angles, but also the most powerful king amongst the rulers of the various English kingdoms, occupying the role which was later described by the term Bretwalda. He is thought by many to have been buried in the sumptuous ship burial at Sutton Hoo.

Eorpwald was the son of Rædwald by a wife whose name is not recorded. He had at least one brother, Rægenhere, and another sibling, Sigeberht, may also have been his brother. Rædwald used the letters R and E when naming two of his own sons (as did his own father when he and his younger brother Eni were named), which suggests that Eorpwald was the younger sibling and would only have become Rædwald's heir after his elder brother Rægenhere was slain in battle in 616.
It is unclear whether, as Bede understood, Sigebert and Eorpwald were brothers, or whether they shared the same mother but not the same father, as was stated by the 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury. According to the historian Barbara Yorke, Sigebert may have been a member of a different line of Wuffings who, as his rival, was forced into exile, in order to ensure that Eorpwald became king.

Accession and conversion to Christianity

Eorpwald was still a pagan when he became king of the East Angles, following the death of Rædwald in around 624. D. P. Kirby maintains that Sigeberht fled from East Anglia to Gaul during the internal strife that followed Eorpwald's accession and that the new king's paganism created tension between Christian and pagan factions within the kingdom, which resulted in a reduction in his influence. In 627, Edwin undertook the conversion of the peoples of Northumbria, Lindsey and East Anglia and at his prompting Eorpwald was, according to Bede, "persuaded to accept the Christian faith and sacraments". It can be calculated that this event occurred in 627, taking into account the years that Felix of Burgundy was known to have held the East Anglian bishopric. In contrast, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that Eorpwald's baptism took place during 632: "Her wæs Eorpwald gefullod", ("Here Eorpwald was baptized").

It is not known whether Eorpwald was baptised in East Anglia, Northumbria or Kent, but it is very likely that Edwin, now the senior ruler, was present as his sponsor. Higham suggests that because of the lack of proper facilities in East Anglia, it is likely that he was baptised by Paulinus at Edwin's centre of authority in Northumbria. The manner of Eorpwald's conversion indicated that he was a subordinate king and that Edwin was his overlord.

Following his baptism, Edwin's Northumbrian priests were in a position to be able to suppress pagan practices in Eorpwald's kingdom and convert the East Anglians. The conversion had the general political benefit of bringing the entire eastern seaboard from Northumbria to Kent, with the exception of Essex, under the dominion of Edwin and his Christian allies.

Death and sainthood
The conversion of Eorpwald's kingdom did not result in the establishment of any ecclesiastical infrastructure, such as the establishment of a see within the kingdom. Bede reported that soon after his conversion, Eorpwald was slain (occisus) by a heathen (uiro gentili) named Ricberht and that after he was killed, the kingdom reverted to heathen rule (in errore uersata est) for three years.

Eorpwald was the first English king to be killed because of his Christian faith. The circumstances are not recorded, so that it is not known whether Ricberht represented an internal East Anglian opposition to Christian rule, or if he was an emissary from abroad wishing to diminish Edwin of Northumbria's influence over the East Angles. The return of East Anglia to pagan rule does not necessarily mean that there was an overt struggle between the worship of the Anglo-Saxon gods and the worship of Christ, but could express a reaction against Christianity amongst the East Angles, prompted by Edwin's rise to power and his subsequent dominance over their king. The ancestry of Ricberht is unknown and it is unclear as to whether he ever ruled after he killed Eorpwald, but in 630 or 631, three years after Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht returned from exile in Gaul and became king of the East Angles.

At Sutton Hoo (near Woodbridge, in Suffolk) is the site of two 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, where it is believed that members of Eorpwald's dynasty were entombed under large earth mounds. Several East Anglian kings, including Eorpwald, have been suggested as possible candidates for the occupant of the burial site under Mound 1, discovered in 1939. Martin Carver has speculated that historians could use regal lists and other sources of information to identify the occupants, whilst acknowledging that no material evidence exists to support the theory that Eorpwald or other members of his family are buried there. He has used Eorpwald's relationship as the son of Rædwald to place him in either Mound 1 or 2.

According to Fleming's Complete History of the British Martyrs, published in 1904, King Eorpwald was venerated as a saint and a martyr by the English Church. His feast day is not known.

References

Sources

External links

627 deaths
East Anglian saints
East Anglian monarchs
7th-century murdered monarchs
7th-century Christian saints
7th-century English monarchs
Year of birth unknown
House of Wuffingas

Eorpwald of East Anglia


is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the traditionalist teachings of the 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282), claiming him as its founder through his senior disciple Nikko Shonin (1246–1333), the founder of Head Temple Taiseki-ji, near Mount Fuji. The lay adherents of the sect  are called Hokkeko members. The Enichizan Myohoji Temple in Los Angeles, California serves as the temple headquarters within the United States.

The sect is known for vehemently rejecting the various forms of Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni Buddha as incomplete, expired and heretical for the Third Age of Buddhism. Instead, the sect is based on the exclusivist teachings of Nichiren and the chanting of "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo" along with reciting curated portions of the Lotus Sutra.

The object worshipped by its believers is the Dai Gohonzon while its religious symbol is the rounded crane bird. Both its leadership and adherents claim that only their practice is "The True Buddhism" and ascribe the honorific title to Nichiren, as the "Sacred Original "True" Buddha" (御本仏, Go-Honbutsu) and the Dai-Shonin (大聖人, "Great Holy Teacher") while maintaining that the sole legitimate successor to both his ministry and legacy is Nikko Shonin and the successive high priests of the sect, led by the current 68th High Priest, Hayase Myo-e Ajari Nichinyo Shonin, who ascended to the position on 15 December 2005.

Historical name

Following the death of Nichiren, centuries of doctrinal divisions arose among various schools of Nichiren's followers. During the Meiji Restoration, numerous Nichiren sects were consolidated by the imperial government into several major schools: Nichiren Shu in 1874, Fuju-fuse and Fuju-fuse Komon in 1876, and in 1891 the five interrelated schools of Kempon Hokkeshu, Honmon Hokkeshu, Honmyo Hokkeshu, Hokkeshu, and Honmonshu.

In 1900, the Taiseki-ji temple split away from Honmonshu and renamed itself Nichirenshu Fuji-ha, or the Nichiren Shu (School) of the Fuji area, the branch of Taisekiji Temple, indicating the general naming of sects at the time. In 1913, the sect's name was changed to its current "Nichiren Shoshu." This changed was purportedly made by Emperor Taisho in reference to the sect's orthodox claims. The sect is also sometimes called Nichiren Masamune, based on the local Japanese dialect in Shizuoka.

Overview

Its head temple Taiseki-ji is located on the lower slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan. Taiseki-ji is visited regularly by Nichiren Shōshū believers from around the world who come to chant to the Dai Gohonzon, which they claim to physically embody the spirit of Nichiren in both wooden form and sumi ink.

Unlike other Mahayana Buddhist practices, Nichiren championed the Lotus Sutra as the only valid Buddhist practice and chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo as the only valid path for anyone to obtain Buddhahood regardless of one's position in life, condition of circumstances, gender and occupational role as well as not necessarily waiting to be reborn into another future life existence.

Nichiren Shōshū claims to operate over 700 temples and temple-like facilities (lay propagation centers) in Japan, as well as 24 temples outside Japan, and a membership of over 800,000 global adherents.

Nichiren Shōshū claims a direct lineage (yuiju ichinin kechimyaku sojo) of successive High Priests from Nikko Shonin, who they believe was originally chosen by Nichiren to carry on the propagation of his Buddhist practice in the Three Ages of Buddhism, a claim that other Nichiren Buddhist sects assert as well, such as Nichiren-shū but rejected by others. Nichiren Shōshū claims this lineage is accorded to them through the following documents (copies existing, the original documents were stored in a treasure box at Omosu Honmon-ji, but were stolen during a raid by the soldiers of Takeda Katsuyori in 1581) :
 "Document Entrusting the Dharma that Nichiren propagated throughout his Life" (日蓮–期弘法付属書, Nichiren ichigo guho fuzokusho)
 "Document Entrusting Minobu-san" (身延相承書, Minobu-san fuzokusho)
 The "One Hundred and Six Articles" (百六箇抄, Hyaku rokka-sho)

The current leader of the sect is the 68th High Priest, Nichinyo Shōnin (1935–). Nichiren Shōshū priests distinguish themselves from those of most other schools by wearing only white and grey vestment robes and a white surplice, as they believe Nichiren did.

By the imperial Daijō-kan Decree #133 of the Emperor Meiji since 1872, Nichiren Shōshū priests, like other Japanese Buddhist sects as well as other former traditionalist "celibate" lifestyles such as artisans and Geisha et cetera, have been permitted to marry.

Accordingly, the sect does not impose any regulations of Buddhist morality on gender or marital relationships, poverty or wealthy lifestyles, ranging from personal habits or vices, divorce, abortion, sartorial or dietary choices including the consumption of vegetables versus meat, dairy or alcohol, et cetera.

The sect also vehemently rejects monetary and material donations from non-members who are not registered or affiliated with a local branch temple, citing claims of "karmic impurity" from non-believers and those who belong to other religions. This position of not accepting alms from non-believers is taught by Nichiren in his "Letter to Ni'ike" ("Ni'ike gosho"), and by Nikko Shonin in his "Twenty-six Admonitions" ("Nikko yuikai okimon"). Accordingly, the offertory fee to register as a new member is strongly forbidden to be paid for by a fellow Hokkeko believer, except under rare circumstances of extreme poverty or dire homelessness.

The sect categorizes three forms of donations for its registered believers:
 The pro-active sharing of its religious practice to non-believers through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and Shakubuku.
 The offertory of food and monetary donations to sustain the local temple and its priests.
 The ancient Asian practice of gaining Buddhist merit (Japanese: 廻向, Eko) by providing free labor services (cleaning, volunteer work) for the temple.

The lay member organization of the sect, "Hokkeko–Rengo–Kai" is headquartered at the Grand Hodo-in Temple in Toshima, Tokyo.

List of venerated Buddhist scriptures

The following articles are highly venerated within the sect:
 The Threefold Lotus Sutra in all its three forms, (法華三部経, "Hokke–Sanbu–Kyo")
 Surviving letters of Nikko Shonin (2nd), Nichiu Shonin (9th) and Nichikan Shonin (26th)
 Surviving letters of Nichiren Daishonin called "Gosho":
 Securing the Peace of this Land by Propagating True Buddhism – (立正安国論, Rissho Ankoku Ron) – (1258)
 Opening Your Eyes from Blindness – (開目抄, Kaimoku-sho) – (1272)
 The True Object of Worship – (観心本尊抄, Kanjin-no Honzon-sho) – (1273)
 Selecting the Right Time – (撰時抄, Senji-sho) – (1275)
 Paying Back Your Debts of Gratitude – (報恩抄, Ho'on-sho) – (1276)
 Chanting the Title of the Lotus Sutra – (唱法華題目抄, Sho-hokke Daimoku-sho) – (1260)
 Taking the Essence of the Lotus Sutra – (法華取要抄, Hokke Shuyo-sho) – (1274)
 The 4 Stages of Faith + 5 Stages of Practice – (四信五品, Shishin Gohon) – (1277)
 My Letter to Mr. Shimoyama – (下山御消息, Shimoyama Gosho-soku) – (1277)
 The Oral Record Compilations of Ongi Kuden – (就註 法華経 口伝) Xu–Tzu Hokke–Kyo Ongi–Kuden ) – (1278)
 Questions and Answers on the True Object of Worship – (本尊問答抄, Honzon Mondo-sho) – (1278)

To a lesser extent, the following articles are revered as secondary or minor Buddhist scriptures:
 The ten volumes of Mohe Zhiguan (摩訶止観, "Great Concentration and Mind Contemplation"
 The MakaShikan Bugyoden Guketsu (摩訶止観輔行伝弘湺, "Commentaries on Mohe Zhiguan")
 The ten volumes of Hokke Gengi (滕華玄義, "Essentials of the Lotus Sutra")
 The Hokke Gengi Shakusen (滕華玄義釈箋, "Commentary on Hokke Gengi")
 The ten volumes of Hokke Mongu (滕華文句, "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra")
 The Sangyō Gisho (三経義疏, "Commentary on the Lotus Sutra").

Hokkeko

Lay believers belong to official congregations known as Hokkekō groups, designed to encourage solidarity among fellow members to study Nichiren Shoshu doctrines and plan one's Tozan pilgrimage to the head temple in Japan. Most attend services at a local temple or in private homes when no temple is nearby. Services are usually officiated by a priest, but lay leaders sometimes fill in when no priest is available. When they gather, believers frequently study Nichiren Shōshū teachings, particularly the various writings of Nichiren, called Gosho. A leader in a local group or district is called Koto while a widely held position on a grander scale was once called So-Koto, but is now no longer used. The present Dai-Koto leader of the Hokkeko Federation is Mr. Koichiro Hoshino.

The official symbol of Nichiren Shōshū is the crane bird (Tsuru) in a rounded shape (Tsuru-no-Maru). Another symbol is the eight-spoked wheel of the Noble Eightfold Path called Rimbo (Treasure Ring) as well as the tortoise crest for Nikko Shonin, who is considered by the school to be the sole and legitimate successor to Nichiren. The Three Friends of Winter combination crest is also present in temple altars, representing Nichimoku Shonin.

Religious doctrines

Nichiren Shōshū doctrine extends the Tiantai classification of the Buddhist sutras into the following:
 Five periods of time + eight categories (五時八教, Goji-hakkyō)
 The theory of 3,000 interpenetrating realms within a single life-moment (一念三千, Ichinen Sanzen)
 Its world view of the Three Truths (三諦, San Tai).

The doctrine of "Buddhist Slander"
The sect seeks to eradicate all other religions and vehemently rejects all forms of religious interfaith practices as both evil and heretical, referring to any syncretism as "Slander" (謗 法, Ho–bo) against the Dharma taught by the founder Nichiren. It further maintains that directly supporting other religions outside the sect gains negative karma and brings grave punishment, disasters and generational suffering.

The Laws of Karma and Rebirth
The sect teaches that human children choose to be reborn to their parents based on the parents' accumulated karma of causes and conditions that existed from past and present lives. Accordingly, the sect further teaches that other life forms also generate their own karma based on cause and effect that does not recognize both space and time. These willed rebirths include humans, animals and other life forms (and vice versa) that choose to be reborn in whatever capacity to advance the Buddhist enlightenment of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo in the universe.

Expired teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha
The sect claims that Shakyamuni's myriad forms of Buddhism have now lost their salvific power to gain Buddhahood for the modern age, designated at the Third Age of Buddhism since the year 1052 to the present. In addition, the school claims that Nichiren was fulfilling an eschatological prophecy made by Shakyamuni Buddha in Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra regarding the Three Ages of Buddhism which states:

Interpretation of the Three Buddhist Jewels
 Buddha –  Nichiren Shōshū teaches that Nichiren is the "True Original Buddha" for the modern times corresponding to the Third Buddhist Age and for all eternity.
 Dharma –  The Dharma is referred to by the sect as "The Mystic Law", referring to the ultimate teachings of Nichiren, crystallized in Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. The sect further teaches that this Mystic Law is the internal enlightenment of Nichiren himself called "Naisho" (内 証) and is the "Original True Buddha" from an infinite, mystical timeless point in the Universe (久遠元初, "Kuon–Ganjo"). Furthermore, the sect teaches that this enlightenment is physically embodied within the Dai-Gohonzon wooden mandala and was left for the posterity of future generations. The same definition of Dharma is accorded to its authorized, transcribed copies called "Gohonzon" that are loaned by the sect to its followers.
 Sangha –  The Sangha refers to one of Nichiren's senior disciples, Nikko Shonin, its lineage of succeeding High Priests, along with the entire collective of Nichiren Shōshū priests who serve to teach, protect and preserve the doctrines and dogmas of Nichiren Shōshū.

Accordingly, the sect teaches that the Three Jewels of Buddhism are a single, inseparable entity that equally share the internal enlightenment of Nichiren. More specifically, the sect teaches that the Buddha and the Dharma are perpetrated and upheld by the Sangha priesthood (Heisei Shinpen). The common parlance used in the sect among believers to describe the three Buddhist treasures is termed "Buddha–Law–Priesthood".

The "Three Great Secret Laws"
According to the doctrinal beliefs of Nichiren Shoshu, Nichiren instituted the mastery of three spiritual disciplines:

 Precepts – upholding the Buddhist vows ("Jukai") of daily Buddhist practice
 Meditation – purifying the mind through chanting "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo" ("Shodai")
 Wisdom – upholding the teachings of religion through the office of the Head Temple ("Kaidan")

Nichiren Shoshu teaches that Nichiren revealed the Three Great Secret Laws which matches the three above:

 The Dai-Gohonzon – as the Supreme Object of Worship, sourcing to the vow of Precepts.
 The Daimoku – of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo as the Supreme Invocation, sourcing to its meditational practice.
 The Dai-Sekiji no Honmon Kaidan (Tai-sekiji) – as the Platform of the High Sanctuary of Essential Teaching, sourcing to its authoritative office of Wisdom.

On the Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sutra is the core basis of the teachings of the sect, and divides the book into two parts:
 "Theoretical Teachings" ( "Gate of Tracing", Jp: 迹 門 Shaku–mon) – Chapters 1–14
 "Essential Teachings" ( "Gate of Origin", Jp: 本 門 Hon–mon) – Chapters 15–28

The sect teaches that a significant difference between the two lies with the standpoint of who is preaching them. The Theoretical Teachings (Chapters 1–14) are preached by Shakyamuni Buddha who reached Buddhahood in Bodhgaya, India. On the other hand, Shakyamuni declares in the Essential Teachings (Chapters 15–28) that his enlightenment in India was only temporary, and that he in fact already attained Buddhahood in a mysterious, timeless point in the Universe.

As result of these interpretations of the Tendai school and Nichiren schools of thought, all the provisional Buddhas, such as Amida Nyorai, Dainichi Nyorai, and Yakushi Nyorai, were integrated into one single original Buddha.

Another doctrine taught by the sect is that  Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra does not reveal the cause or "seed" of enlightenment gained by Shakyamuni Buddha. Rather, this secret was revealed in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra by Ākāśagarbha ("Heavenly Jewel") Bodhisattva to Nichiren and his latter claim to the expressed public recitation of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo through an alleged deeper understanding of the text.

Furthermore, the sect teaches that:
 The recitation of Chapter 2 is a self–declaration to reject and abolish the various religions and forms of Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni Buddha.
 The recitation of Chapter 16 (through a metaphysical reading) crystallizes this Buddhist secret (also called "Hidden Treasure") which gains a person the state of Buddhahood. The sect teaches that this hidden mystical secret is the practice of "Jigyo–Keta" (自 行 化 他) or the widespread propagation of the practice to non-believers.

The meaning of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo

The sect teaches that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the quintessential core practice of Nichiren's teachings, is weighted on heavily with great significance in the Ongi Kuden. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is explained in the Ongi Kuden as follows:

Ceremonies

Several ceremonies are conducted within Nichiren Shoshu, some as memorials for lauded figures, others in commemoration or celebration of momentous events, as well as life-cycle event ceremonies for individuals including conversion to Buddhism, marriages and funerals. Visitors who enter the temple may consider becoming a member by accepting the Gojukai ceremony which the lay believer accepts the precepts of Nichiren Shōshū and vow to defend and venerate the Dai-Gohonzon in their present existence and future existences if reborn once again. Nichiren Shoshu claims this tradition from the Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra where Shakyamuni Buddha passes his vow to the Visistacaritra Bodhisattva and his "infinite followers" along with the merits of the Seven Jewels of the Treasure Tower.

Former members who have not been active are allowed to receive the Kankai or reaffirmation vows.
 Gojukai ceremony for new members
 Kaigen-shu for consecrating and "opening the eyes" of Gohonzon, Nenju prayer beads and Buddhist gravestones
 Kankai-kishi ceremony for former members
 Gohonzon approval (dependent on priestly discretion)
 Kantoku ceremony for transferring ownership of an heirloom Gohonzon to a practicing descendant
 Toba (Stupa) memorials for dead relatives and friends
 Inscription for Kakocho memorial / ancestral book for the home altar
 Gokaihi ceremony at the Hoando, donation for the prayers and maintenance of the Dai-Gohonzon

Donations to a Nichiren Shōshū temple is highly regarded as private and is therefore always contained in small white envelopes labeled Gokuyo offering with a checklist that labels the purpose of ones donation. In addition, monetary donations from non-members is strongly prohibited.

The difference between a Nichiren Shōshū Gohonzon granted to lay believers by the priesthood and all other types is that they are the only ones specifically sanctioned and issued by Nichiren Shōshū. The following Gohonzons are issued if deemed worthy of the lay believer upon application:
 Joju type – a carved wooden platform or grand paper scroll with a special inscription that is reserved for grand temples and buildings, or descendants of who have protected the Dai Gohonzon or Head Temple during times of disaster.
 Regular sized katagi, or woodblock  –  commonly issued to practicing members
 Large size katagi Tokubetsu – granted depending on the Chief Priest highly commendable discretion
 mamori or pocket sized – issued to traveling practitioners

Regardless of their type, all Gohonzons issued by Nichiren Shōshū have been consecrated by one of the successive High Priests in a ceremony conducted in the Hoando building of Taiseki-ji temple. It is believed that this ceremony endows a Gohonzon with the same enlightened property of the Dai-Gohonzon, thus giving it the same power. Upon death, a Gohonzon must be returned to a Nichiren Shōshū temple. Unauthorized reproduction or photography of the Gohonzon is prohibited to believers.

Interpretation of Buddhahood

The sect teaches that personal enlightenment can be achieved in one's present life form existence  (即身成仏, Sokushin Jobutsu). The repetitive chanting of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is central and primary to their practice. Accordingly, the sect maintains that only by chanting these words to their object of worship (Jp, Hon–zon) that a human person (the minimal level of existence, and excluding animals, insects or insentient beings) is believed to change or eradicate the accumulation of negative karma and ultimately achieve both happiness and enlightenment. In this process of achieving benefits, obstacles overcome or personal wishes granted, the individual chooses to lead others to an enlightened state of being.

The phrase Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō is referred by the sect as the Daimoku (題目: "title") of the revered text, the Lotus Sutra. This stems from their belief that it is composed of Nam and the Japanese title of the Lotus Sutra, Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, as revealed by the founder Nichiren for widespread propagation consisting of the following components (termed "Powers of the Mystic Law"):

 The believer's practice (Gyō–riki: power of practice)
 Faith (Shin–riki: power of faith)
 Invoking the power of the Buddha (Butsu–Riki)
 Then coupled with the power of the Dharma inherent in the Gohonzon (Ho–riki).

This four-part combination of physical practice and religious faith are claimed to eradicate negative forms of karma, attract positive new karma and transcend to a happier and higher life status.

The current version of its daily practice consists of performing Gongyo, a recitation of the Lotus Sutra and chanting its words (Shodai). It consists of the prose section of Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra and the prose and verse portion of Chapter 16 along with five designated prayers.

This regimented practice when shared with non-believers (Jigyo–Keta) is regarded by the sect as the quintessential essence (called "True Cause") for gaining the life state of Buddhahood. Furthermore, it teaches that this secret was revealed by the Buddhist god  Ākāśagarbha at a large open garden during the training years of Nichiren prior to his attempted execution and revelation of enlightenment at Shichirigahama beach.

Object of Worship
The Dai Gohonzon (also called: Dai-Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of Essential Teachings) is a calligraphic mandala inscribed with Sanskrit and Chinese characters on a plank of Japanese camphorwood as the only object of worship by believers. The sect claims that Nichiren inscribed it on 12 October 1279 (Japanese: Koan).

The sect claims the ninpō-ikka or "Unity of the Person and the Buddhist Dharma" as one entity and the Dai Gohonzon is revered as the personification of Nichiren himself. Every Nichiren Shōshū temple and household possesses a gohonzon, or transcription of the Dai Gohonzon rendered by its successive High Priests.

The Dai Gohonzon is enshrined at the Hoando worship hall  within the Taiseki-ji Grand Main Temple complex grounds at the foot of Mount Fuji. The temple priesthood will only expose the image for constant public veneration once the conversion of the Emperor of Japan and  Kosen-rufu is achieved, maintaining the beliefs of Nichiren Shōshū as the primary religion in the world by Japanese imperial decree. Unlike the other Gohonzons enshrined at the Head Temple, it is not enshrined with shikimi branches nor Taiko drums.

Transcriptions of the Dai Gohonzon, made by successive High Priests of Nichiren Shōshū, are called gohonzon (go, honorific prefix indicating respect). Most gohonzons in temples are wood tablets in which the inscription is carved; the tablets are coated with black urushi and have gilded characters. Gohonzons enshrined in temples and other similar facilities are personally transcribed by one of the successive High Priests.

Hokkeko followers can make a request to receive a personal gohonzon to their local temple chief priest. These gohonzons are rituallyconsecrated facsimiles printed on paper using a traditional method and presented as a small scroll, measuring approximately 7 x 15 inches. The local chief priest sends all requests to the Head Temple. As these requests are granted, gohonzons are then delivered to the recipient's local priest and he bestows them on the individual members. In this ritual, the recipient vows to sincerely believe in Nichiren's teachings and to faithfully practice the religion and uphold its doctrines.

List of High Priests

 The dates denote the date of death of each high priest.

Expelled lay and priestly groups

The following groups, which had been associated with Nichiren Shoshu, were expelled in the years 1974 (Kenshokai), 1980 (Shoshinkai), and 1991 (Soka Gakkai).

Kenshokai (顕正会, Clear and Orthodox Group), 1974

In 1974, a lay group called Myōshinkō from the Myokoji Temple in Shinagawa ward in Tokyo was expelled by High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi from Nichiren Shōshū after holding a public protest against Soka Gakkai for claiming that the Shohondo building was the true and permanent national sanctuary of the Dai Gohonzon as mandated by Nichiren, even without the religious conversion of Emperor Showa. The group was known for being brazen in confronting Soka Gakkai and former High Priest Nittatsu Shonin, resulting in a lawsuit against him amidst public protest.

The group later changed its corporation name to Fuji Taisekiji Kenshōkai. Kenshōkai has been described as one of the fastest growing denominations of Buddhism in Japan. The Kenshokai sometimes uses an enlarged, variant copy of the Dai Gohonzon image from the year 1728 by Nichikan Shonin, the 26th High Priest of Head Temple Taisekiji, along with contemporary ones issued by the Taisekiji Head Temple. These Gohonzon images use the same brown ornamental border sourced and used by Nichiren Shoshu.

Shōshinkai (正信会, Orthodox Faith Group), 1980

In 1980, a group of Nichiren Shōshū priests and lay supporters called Shōshinkai (English: Correct Faith Group) were expelled from the Head Temple by 67th High Priest Nikken Shonin for questioning the legitimacy of the new head abbot Nikken and for criticising Soka Gakkai's influence on temple affairs. At the time, Soka Gakkai supported Nikken's claim to be the rightful successor of Nittatsu Hosoi as high priest. Shōshinkai continues to refer to itself as the true Nichiren Shōshū. Shōshinkai later founded a dissident association of Nichiren Shoshu priests seeking reformation and began transcribing their own version of the Gohonzon rather than taking a transcribed copy from one of the Nichiren Shōshū high priests. Most of them have aged or deceased, and their temples have since reverted to Nichiren Shoshu administration after their death, having been replaced with younger priests affiliated with the Head Temple Taiseki-ji. Some of these older priests have also joined other Nichiren sects or made their own, such as the case in Taiwan.

Soka Gakkai (創価学会, Value Creation Society), 1991

Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated the Soka Gakkai and the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) on 28 November 1991.

Soka Gakkai had emerged as a lay organization affiliated with one of the temples located in the Taiseki-ji complex, and founded by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who was converted by Sokei Mitani, the principal of Meijiro Kenshin Junior and Senior High School to Nichiren Shoshu on 4 June 1928. The organization grew under second president Jōsei Toda, and continued to base its teachings on Nichiren Shōshū until the development of doctrinal conflicts with the third Soka Gakkai President and Soka Gakkai International president, Daisaku Ikeda.

As early as 1956, such doctrinal conflicts simmered, evidenced by the alleged declaration of the second president of Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda, to the 65th High Priest Nichijun Shonin during the reconstruction of Myoden-ji Temple, claiming the organizational leadership no longer upheld Nichiren Shoshu doctrines.

On 10 May 1974, the vice-president of Soka Gakkai, Hiroshi Hojo, submitted a written report to Daisaku Ikeda proposing a schism with Nichiren Shōshū, using the example of Protestants and Roman Catholics as "differences". In response, High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi refused the proposal to create a board committee that would oversee temple affairs and its bookkeeping practices, while mentioning his gratitude for the construction of the Shohondo building. Furthermore, Nittatsu acknowledged the possibility of the split, and specifically threatened to place the Dai-Gohonzon back into the Nichiren Shōshū treasury building (御 宝 蔵,  Gohōzō) where only a select few faithful would be able to venerate the image.

These and other conflicts resulted in a complete and formal disassociation of the two sides after Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated the leaders of the Sōka Gakkai and stripped it of its status as a lay organization of Nichiren Shōshū in 1991. Ultimately, Daisaku Ikeda was excommunicated from the role of Sokoto or lay leader by High Priest Nikken, while the formal decree of excommunication invalidated the tax exempt status of Soka Gakkai under Japanese law due to its lack of temple affiliation.

Further causes of conflict came when the temple priesthood began to notice the construction of Community Centers instead of funding construction of new Nichiren Shōshū temples. On 30 September 1997, Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated all Soka Gakkai International members.

Criticism

Various criticisms of Nichiren Shoshu are often published by its former lay organization, the Soka Gakkai. In its dissenting group Soka Spirit that questions and opposes Nichiren Shoshu doctrines, the Soka Gakkai rejects both the priestly authority of the High Priest of Taisekiji and the intermediary role of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood as relevant or necessary in practicing Buddhism for a contemporary age.

Former practitioners often cite the orthodox beliefs of Nichiren Shoshu that places great emphasis on religious piety and religious ceremonies that prohibit tolerance for other cultures and foreign religious values under an atmosphere of orthodoxy. Chief among this is the prohibition of members to attend other religious venues, the purchase of Buddhist religious articles outside of its local Temple branches or the Taisekiji vicinity. Most significant is the alleged monopoly of Nichiren Buddhism through the devotional Tozan pilgrimages to the Dai Gohonzon. The donations, while voluntary, are granted for Toba memorial tablets, Kakocho ancestral books and the overwhelming Japanese conservative customs and mannerisms associated with Buddhist practice.

Furthermore, allegations of accepting Ofuda and Omamori Shinto talismans during the Second World War to support the Japanese Emperor Showa's patriotic war effort to maintain immunity from persecution was supposedly contradictory to its doctrinal beliefs to reject other religions, though both the temple priesthood and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi in his writings at the time did lend support for the world war effort as dictated by the Japanese Emperor. The first talisman dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu-Omikami enshrined at the Dai-Kyakuden Hall was installed by the Japanese Imperial Army.

The most prominent of these criticisms is the posthumous elevation of the High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu as the sole inheritor of the enlightened entity of the Buddha called the "Living Essence" or the Heritage of the Law, referring to its doctrinal office of Taisekiji while the Soka Gakkai claims to be the inheritor of Heritage of the Faith without any distinct priestly lineage. A longstanding negative sentiment is crystallized in the destruction of the Sho-hondo and other Soka Gakkai funded buildings which came from member donations during the 1970s. In addition, the alleged manipulation of Nichiren's writings called Gosho by either abbreviating or manipulating their interpretative meaning to suit a hierarchical sentiment is leveled as a criticism against the priesthood and its school.

Outside researchers such as author Daniel Metraux view the issue of perceived authority as the central point of the conflict:

See also
 Nichiren Shū

References

External links
 Official Nichiren Shoshu web site

Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Shōshū


For other wood frogs, see Wood frog (disambiguation).

The Australian bullfrog, Australian wood frog, water frog, Arhem Rana or wood frog (Papurana daemeli) is a frog from New Guinea and Australia.  It lives everywhere in New Guinea up to 1000 meters above sea level.  It lives in northern Queensland on the Cape York Peninsula and in the Northern Territory.  The Australian bullfrog is the only true frog that lives in Australia.  Scientists think the frog traveled to Australia from New Guinea.

This frog lives in rainforests, monsoon forests and other tropical forests.  It lives near bodies of water that do not dry up.  The frog hides in plants near the water.  The female lays thousands of eggs at a time.

This frog can be as large as 8.0 cm from head to end of the body.  It has a pointed head.  It can be light brown or dark brown.  It has two folds of skin down its back.

References

Frogs of Asia
Frogs of Australia

Papurana daemeli


Tiffany "Tiffani" Jane Wood (born 8 November 1977), briefly known as Tiffani Cummins, is an Australian singer and songwriter, who is a former member of female pop group Bardot. Wood later established an independent solo career, and released her debut solo album Bite Your Tongue in 2006.

Early life

Wood was born on 8 November 1977 in Newcastle, New South Wales. She developed an interest in performing from a young age, studied jazz dancing and eventually assisted younger students.

At age 12, Wood's mother Judy encouraged her to take up singing by joining the Young Talent Time talent school. Her teachers noticed her singing talent and at age 15, placed her into a show troupe "The Young Stars" which performed at various venues around New South Wales. During this three-year stint, Wood had her first experience of recording for an album and performing solo in front of large crowds, her biggest being the opening of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel where she performed in front of over 20,000 people.

During her schooling years, she entered and won numerous talent quests and played the lead vocal role in her 1994 school musical Murder in the Music Hall. She completed her Higher School Certificate in 1995, and the age of 18, became the lead singer of a cover band "Quiver". They performed a wide range of songs including Tracy Chapman, Pearl Jam, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, and Wood recorded original songs with the band.

She then moved to Sydney, where she studied at the Australian Institute of Music, and joined another cover band "The Anthill Mob".

Big break

In late 1999, at the age of 22, Wood auditioned for the first Australian series of Popstars, a reality television show which aimed to produce a new girl group. After selections for the group were finalised by the judges, she just missed out. However, after original member Chantelle Barry was forced out of the group in controversial circumstances, Wood was selected to replace her as the fifth member of the band, now known as Bardot.

Popstars was one of the most popular, highest-rating television programs in Australia of 2000 and with the group's overwhelming exposure, Bardot's debut single "Poison" and self-titled debut album both entered at number one on the Australian ARIA charts, achieving multi-platinum sales. Further singles "I Should've Never Let You Go" and "These Days" continued the group's successful assault on the Australian charts and in August, Bardot embarked on its first national tour. Wood performed with her bandmates at the ARIA Music Awards of 2001 for which they were nominated in three categories. Promotional tours were made in numerous countries including Singapore, Taiwan, New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom.

In 2001, Bardot returned to the spotlight with "ASAP", the first single from their second album. "ASAP" went Top 5 as did the following single "I Need Somebody". In November, Bardot released its second album Play It Like That, which achieved gold status upon release and performed before 90,000 music lovers at the Rumba festivals.

In early 2002, they embarked on their second national tour and released their final single "Love Will Find a Way", before deciding to "call it a day" in April of that year. At the girl's final public concert, performed live at Channel [V], Wood broke into tears, sad at the realisation that it was all coming to an end. Later in interviews, she stated that she and former bandmate Belinda Chapple were the two members keen to continue as a group.

Solo career
Like former Bardot bandmate Sophie Monk, Wood signed a solo recording contract with Warner Music and changed her name from Tiffany Wood to Tiffani Wood in order to avoid confusion with the 1980s American popstar Tiffany. The debut single, "What R U Waiting 4" re-introduced Wood back into the music scene, marketed as an organic, light pop-rock singer (similar to the likes of Michelle Branch, Alanis Morissette etc.). The track debuted at number 27 on the ARIA singles chart on 22 March 2004 and was one of the most-played songs on Australian radio in that month.

Behind the scenes, however, tensions between Wood and Warner Music grew. Wood insisted that the second single be a self-penned track but Warner Music already planned on releasing someone else's song as the next single. After failing to reach a compromise, Wood made the decision to leave behind her recording contract for the option of artistic freedom and ultimate career control.

In 2005, after leaving Warner Music, Wood decided to release her material independently and established her own record label Mudhoney Records. The first single "Devil in Your Soul" was released on 18 July and showcased a harder, fast-paced rock sound with electrical guitars, strong drum beats and a saucy vocal performance by Wood. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics, written by Wood and Richie Goncalves (who produced the song) took a stab at the music industry and how major record labels take advantage of their younger artists in order to make them 'marketable'. The single debuted at number 13 on the Association of Independent Records Labels (AIR) chart and spent numerous weeks in the Top 20.

In April 2006, Wood released her second independent single "Spin the Bottle" with a number of promotional commitments including a performance on the Seven Network's top-rating breakfast television program Sunrise. The song also featured in promotions for long-time Australian soap Neighbours in the lead up to the 2006 TV Week Logie Awards. The single was a success on the AIR charts, debuting in Top 5 and eventually peaking at number 2.

Wood has established a strong reputation for her live performances, headlining shows at nightclubs and numerous events across the country. In 2006, she put together a burlesque-styled show, drawing inspiration from the 1940s and Dita Von Teese for her latest look and style of performance. In July 2006, Wood appeared in a nude photoshoot for nude-art magazine Black+White

In September 2006, she released an up-beat cover of the Divinyls 1990 number one hit "I Touch Myself", receiving generally positive reviews. The single peaked at number 5 on the ARIA charts and was performed on the ARL Footy Show.

Her debut solo album Bite Your Tongue was released in October 2006 and features a collection of self-penned rock-pop songs touching on issues such as body image, falling asleep behind the wheel and the entertainment industry. Respected music critic Cameron Adams gave the album three stars, crediting Wood for her "powerful voice" and describing the record as "sassy".

In 2007, Tiffani Wood appeared in the stage musical Las Vegas Confidential – The Musical. In 2009 she reunited with Bardot bandmate Katie Underwood in the stage show Valentino.

In April 2020, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of Bardot's debut single "Poison", Wood, Chapple and Underwood reunited remotely online to perform the song.

Personal life

In December 2005, Wood publicly announced her engagement to UK born bouncer Neil Cummins, and the couple married on 28 January 2007. Photos from their wedding featured in OK! magazine. She gave birth to their first child, daughter Lillian Adel, on 18 April 2007. The couple have since separated and were divorced in May 2009.Wood has since given birth to 5 more children with her new husband.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

 Tiffani Wood at MySpace

1977 births
Living people
Musicians from Newcastle, New South Wales
Bardot (Australian band) members
Australian singer-songwriters
Australian Institute of Music alumni
Wood, Tiffani
21st-century Australian singers
21st-century Australian women singers
Australian women singer-songwriters

Tiffani Wood