I am no longer affiliated with the modern Kempon Hokke. The Kempon Hokke doctrines purport to be the doctrines of Nichiren Daishonin, Nichiju, and those of the martyrs of our faith. In practice, however, they too have sold out for the sake of profit, power, and support. In the spirit of neither giving nor receiving, I now declare myself a direct disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin, Nichiju Shonin, Nikkyo Shonin, and the martyrs of our faith. As proof of my direct discipleship to Nichiren Daishonin, I site a passage from The Letter to the Lay Priest Ichinosawa:
"Though people may claim to be disciples of Nichiren, if they do not possess some proof of that fact from my hand, you must not trust them."
I possess the writings of Nichiren Daishonin as proof.
I had been completely trusting you. I am sorry, but you are not going to take my words. You are going to imitate SGI against Nichiren Shoshu, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I esteem your decision as far as you take the responsibility as to your behavior.
ReplyDeleteI am going to imitate Nichiren, Nichiju, Nikkyo, and Nisshin.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason this is happening Mark. If you miss why, it's your blind spot. It all can be traced back to two elder priests turning against Nikko Shonin, once Nichiren had passed away,
DeleteEverything that happened later, that grew from that schism, with those sects abandoning Nikko, is just twisted branches. I have warned you before about what would happen and what I said to you has come true. Listen to the rest of what I have told you. Forget "sects" in America. American Buddhism at this time, has to be a much different style, then old Japanese Chinese or Indian Buddhism. Similarly, those following Jesus Christ, Moses or Krishna will have to come to new understanding eventually.
As far as your perpetual slander of "old" NSA, "old" Gakkai, or "old" Nichiren Shoshu even when good priests or good leaders were there, or various reformer priests in Nichiren Shoshu like Nichiu and Nichikan or Toda---you will have to severely apologize and renounce those pretend scholars, who like idiot savants, repeated the lies and shallow dogma that influenced you.
They are descendants of Gosho burners.
Understand what I am saying here. The Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu can only be criticized for individuals creating disunity along the way when leaders start stabbing each other in the back like ignorant fools and not respect other's Buddha heart.
Nikko lineage is in the heart. Even Nichiju said Nichiren was his master...not some projected, fictional, symbolic Shakyamuni that was an expedient means. written in Kashmir at the court of the Kushan kings!
In the meantime, the distinctions are ridiculous in the first place, for reasons you and many others, apparently do not understand.
The reason--is a lack of personal awakening. A lack of seriousness about practice. Distracted practice. All the answers are within.
Adhering to words and dogma stops further awakening, and people become prisoners of nijo.
The words and interpretations that were used as excuses for schisms are no dfferent from your own now, but you have strong American fath, even though your head is still stuck in 13th century craziness and somewhere else too.
Look how far down the slanderous Nichiren Shu schism branches, you climbed when you abandoned the real will of the Daishonin, being influenced by fake, elitist scholars with only vague understandings, that think Buddhism is stringing words together and making faith pronouncements.
Nichiren was well aware of the lunk-headed treachery two of the elder priests would bring. He knew they didn't get it. It must have really frustrated him to have lunk-headed disciples. He only blamed himself for being unable to reach them. He knew they weren't all going to play nice.
You are really missing something in your understanding of Nichiren. It is disrepect to Nichiren. What he taught is more then just scraps of paper writings, where only those you "know," are his, should you follow, because fake handwriting "experts" say so. Because Gosho Burners say so.
Nichiren was teaching that ALL true votaries are the eternal True Buddha. This was too radical for Japan. Only Nikko understood it. To even say it in public was political and social suicide.
Only to Nikko could Nichiren communicate the real meaning. Nichiren like all people, was limited to the words of a time and place and audience and a strange place it was.
The Shakyamuni of the Lotus Sutra was a symbol created by the founders of Mahayana, who were the real Bodhisattvas of the earth preceding Nichiren. Search for who those Four really were and then realize how they knew, to write such a Sutra! Then you will understand the real meaning of "interfaith." and the strictness of reality as it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nvrH6lPhW0
DeleteIs Nikkyo Shonin a Nichiren Shoshu high priest one of your mentors that you are referring to
No. Nikkyo is a martyr of the Nichiren faith who was excommunicated by the Kempon Hokke and then "rehabilatated" 150 years after his death, when the cowards of the Kempon Hokke no longer had to face the same persecutions as he.
DeleteHi Mark,I found this on the Kempon Hokke site, they say that you were excommunicated, didn't you choose to cancel your membership registeration because of their corruption of doctrinal and secular issues like I did with the SGI?
Delete"Please ignore Mark Rogow, Jerry Marcheso, Steave Polito (Stephen Paine) and Fred Wolff who are former believers of Kempon Hokke USA. They have not been qualified as a priest at all. They have not attended any basic lecture of Kempon Hokke, although they were believers of SGI/Niciren Shoshu. They always speak ill of others and make a lot of troubles. Because they don't have knowledge about the philosophy of Buddhism, they insist on wrong doctrines selfishly without having correct understanding to the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's Gosho. Now, they are trying to blame the priesthood of Kempon Hokke and establish own group, by using the name of Kempon Hokke or Jumon-ryu. They have been already excommunicated by Kempon Hokke. Causing disunity in the community of Sangha is one of the five deadly sins of Buddhism."
We are following in the footsteps of the martyr Nikkyo who too was excommunicated by the Kempon Hokke. We are in good company.
DeleteSo, perhaps I should hold my tongue on this, but perhaps not. I'm not, after all Kempon Hokke member, butI would like to explain why that is, why I choose to comment here and now, and why I think Shamon (Rev. Tsuchiya) has a point in his criticisms.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I came to the Kempon Hokke after a disruptive event in my life looking to address the concerns I had always had about the doctrines SGI has inherited from Nichiren Shoshu. This conversion was not easy for me, and in my opinion there are two fundamental reasons for this.
First of all, this blog spends more time condemning SGI as hellbound heretics than it does expounding on the teachings of Nichiren and Shakyamuni. Mark, you claim that simply reading the texts gives one a straightforward understanding, but the reality is that 1) not everyone draws the same conlusions that you, personally draw from the texts. This is an issue of hermeneutics. What's more there are often times where you seem to contradict yourself within one or two blog posts (though I give the benefit of the doubt and assume you have simply not expressed yourself clearly,) thereby making the points you wish to make with the texts you cite all that much more difficult to accept. It seems, at times, as if you are simply honoring your own opinion, you own interpretations of the texts, as the ultimate truth.
2) You also seem overly focused with making the point that SGI members are hellbound without making provision for their conversion. This behavior is more characteristic of Abrahamic religions like Islam, Christianity, and Judaism than it is of Buddhism. In focusing on NIchiren's writing that says that Mappo will have as few good friends as dirt under a fingernail when compared to the grains that comprise the world, you ignore Nichiren's larger goal of converting all of humanity to the teaching and transforming this whole Saha world into a Pure Land. Your stance makes Buddhism a practice for an exclusive elite rather than a mission for sowing the seeds of Buddhahood for all living beings.
3) You seem to view martyrdom - actually a means to an end - as the highest calling in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. This is completely illogical, perhaps even fanatical. You seem to view extreme persecution and the suffering that comes along with it as an end to itself rather than a means to spread the teaching during extreme circumstances. I don't think getting ourselves killed for the Dharma is the highest calling of Buddhism, nor does anything that Nichiren or Shakyamuni have left us indicate to me that we should measure our spiritual progress exclusively by how much we are reviled and abused. The tradition describes votaries as being abused for standing up for the teaching against persecution, not individuals seeking out conflict. As far as I can tell, you seem to interpret the scriptures of our tradition as calling for the latter.
I don't mean these words as a hurtful reproach, and certainly there are myriad faults of my own that you could point out, but I feel that I should make these issues known. As Rev Tsuchiya implies above, are responsible for our actions one way or the other. Please consider that despite your sincerity there are some very crucial things you (and even you, too, Shinkei) may be very wrong about.
With deep admiration and respect.
Gassho.
Nichiren was a scriptural Buddhist. your belief in esoteric transmission is pure Tendai. So is Nichiren Shoshu which is based on one big game of telephone and forged writings. The transfer document is Myoho renge kyo. Period. End of story.
ReplyDeleteLet me add. Wake up!!!
ReplyDeleteLet me add WAKE UP! Not to anyone in particular but if you
ReplyDeletesided with BS, harm and HATRED you DO need to wake up!
OMK
Hi. I don't know if you have seen on my blog a comment left for you by DEE GOLDBERG on 24 July 2013 on the SGI vs CULT page. To be honest I don't know why they didn't write to you directly. I thought they didn't know your new address, but as they commented on June 18th above they obviously did,
ReplyDeleteMark,
Since we last talked everything has changed for myself, you, and MP. I disagree that things will ever be the same and I don't mean that in a bad light, necessarily.
What direction you take will absolutely make a difference, for it is the will of Nichiren Daishonin that people respect Buddhism, do their practice in a safe and meaningful way, as well as to take care of members sincerely, have deeper faith, and have meaningful lives without slander, provocation, and being harassed.
You may disagree with the direction I have taken, but we are going in different directions due to me chanting and having an experience about the meaning of Nichiren Daishonin's life.
With that said I wish you, Romero, and MP well, but please consider what is going on with SGI, what you didn't know about KHS, what you didn't consider about Buddha statues, and try to realize what is best for everyone out there if you side with something that is going to lead people off of a straight path to Buddhahood and hurt people because it is not as helpful.
Just a thought, and we have been friends in the past and shared our views. Again, I wish to be honest with you. Please chant for a correct practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism if you believe in faith. That, I believe, will lead you to it!
OMK
The only thing that matters is preserving and propagating what Nichiren Daishonin actually taught, not what SGI, NST, NS, and the modern Kempon Hokke teaches. As the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin state, "lest they [the teachings] be lost.
ReplyDeleteBesides Alan, Dee is not one to go to for a cogent discussion of the teachings. She is one to be pitied and awakened. I have known her [on the internet] for 18 years.
ReplyDeletehi Mark, long time no see, great to encounter you again via your blog!
ReplyDeleteto all, I'm formerly known as the artist named karmagrrl ;)
my history: I have been practicing Kempon Hokke since I first encountered it in the '90s. I joined SGI in 1988, then Nichiren Shoshu in 1992, dissatisfied with both I simply prayed and studied. when I came across Kempon Hokke, I felt comfortable with the practice, and found fellowship with the members. some of the members had a schism and I don't care for drama, so I simply began again - alone again - with nothing but Namu Myoho Renge Kyo and the Lotus Sutra, plus various Nichiren writings I have collected.
I'm sad to hear, Mark, of your dissociation with KH and would like to learn more about your current spiritual practice. my email is mandalamama@me.com, contact me!
having been a sole praticioner for so long, with all sects of Nichiren seeming too tumultuous, I prefer to look at things from the outside. I have never understood why *anyone* who has encountered the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's teachings are threatened with the Avici hell ... it's said that one word of the Lotus Sutra places you on the path to enlightenment. though some may not visibly be on a path to enlightenment, surely all those people have had the seeds of enlightenment planted in their life?
so I figure as an American, without the funding to go to Japan and research everything for myself, the best I can do is keep it simple. I recite the Hoben and Juryo chapters, and Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. I don't allow myself to get entangled in drama of any kind. I'm just a single mom trying to raise my child as best I can.
I sorely miss having other people to study and practice with! I have no family, and live in an area with few Buddhists who openly practice anything. it is tempting to just "give up" and go to a SGI meeting in another town, just so I can take comfort in the crowd, hearing the bells and chanting, smelling the incense, enjoying the most simple fellowship. but my conscience always stops me, it says "you've progressed past this, go forwards not backwards."
so, where can I go now? I'm looking to connect with other people who practice similarly to me, but I'm not looking for any drama or squabbling over doctrine. even though it's very lonely, I feel being a sole practitioner for so long has had a soul-cleansing affect on me. getting caught in dogmatic conflict only wore me out and made me feel like less of a person for not practicing the "right" way. :(
mostly, I want to be able to teach my 9-yr-old daughter how to be a Buddhist, without confusing her with sectarian lines and arguments. she's learning about all religions (we attend some of the Unitarian Universalist church's services and she's enrolled in the education program) and she is very savvy, a great critical thinker. she knows something's "off" with me because my religion/ philosophy has no church or temple she can go to, no one to ask questions of, no book that explains everything clearly. she loves to chant and meditate, but doesn't understand why I remain alone.
sorry for the wall of text. *sheepish grin* Mark, and anyone, please shoot me an email and give me some ideas on how to move forward and be more involved somehow, and how to raise as Lotus sutra Buddhist child in the U.S.
You wrote this years ago, and may never see this post - but thank you. You precisely summed up my experience in your own. And while separated by distance and time, I felt the connection of the Sangha in your words and sentiment. When I too feel the lonely yearning for like-minded congegration, I will think of you, and all of us solo Nichiren Buddhists when I engage in my likewise simple, solo practice. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo!
DeleteHi Susan. Will write you soon with my perspective.
ReplyDeleteSGI is the only way to go! common sense prevails and that is why most common people around the world chose to follow SGI! You guys are traitors! just like Devadatta! he too attained buddhahood! We from the SGI consider you guys as our "good friend"
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, one thing I and the doc have in common is that we reject SGI because they favor Nichiren over Shakyamuni and Ikeda over Nichiren. While SGI encourages many common sense, self-help style approaches to life's problems, they unfortunately revere Ikeda the way Christians revere Jesus and their doctrines have diverged from the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren more than even Shoshu, making it truly questionable as to whether they can actually be called Buddhists. There are many kindhearted and sincere people in the Soka Gakkai who receive some benefit because of their genuine, though often blind, faith in the Gohonzon. But there is a great deal of trouble caused by SGI errant doctrines. That organization may eventually correct those errors that now teaches and spreads, but until then, you should understand that SGI is like the Mahasamgikas: numerous, but wrong. We are the Galileos of the true Law, and you guys, unfortunately, are geocentrists of faith.
ReplyDeleteMost common people are deeply stained with the Three poisons, Nichiren teaches,
ReplyDelete"The truth of Buddhism has nothing to do with the opinion of the majority. All that is important is whether a belief is in accord with the scriptures. And, further, the golden words of the Buddha have already informed us that in the age of the Latter Day of the Law those who uphold the Right Dharma would be few in number. Thus the Nirvana Sutra says that "those who uphold the Right Dharma are as few as the grains of earth on a fingernail, and those that slander the Dharma are as numerous as the earth in of all the ten directions" .