In Teaching Practice and Proof, Nichiren teaches us,
"How naive are those who cling only to the stump of one sutra without knowing which are superior and which inferior among all the sutras! Even if one cannot [read all the sutras and] discern this for oneself, there can be no mistaking that the Lotus Sutra is the only sutra whose truth was attested to by Shakyamuni Buddha, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas who are Shakyamuni’s emanations. Should one nonetheless view the Lotus Sutra as false and misread the Buddha’s words “I have not yet revealed the truth” as “I have already revealed the truth,” one’s distorted vision would be inferior even to that of cattle or sheep. Exactly what is meant by the passage in the “Teacher of the Law” chapter: “Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand” ? Does the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra not make it clear that Shakyamuni taught the practice of Buddhist austerities spanning myriads of kalpas before declaring, “In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth” ? These passages are nothing less than the Buddha’s own statements of the relative superiority of the various sutras he expounded during his some fifty years of teaching. The relative superiority of the sutras corresponds to whether or not they lead to Buddhahood."
The teachings of Value Creationism and Human Revolution do not lead to Buddhahood yet the SGI teaches these instead of the Lotus Sutra. They base their assertions on treatises and not the Lotus Sutra, not even the treatises of the Daishonin but rather those of Nichikan, Toda and Ikeda. They disgard the Lotus Sutra as too profund to be understood or not applicable to the people of the Latter day. They disgard the Lotus Sutra which leads to Buddhahood in one thousand out of one thousand instances while embracing the teachings of the Three Presidents that never once in seventy five years as practiced my millions and millions of SGI members has led to Buddahood, even in one instance.
Nichiren states in Those Initially Aspiring to the Way:
"Therefore, when people declare that their own sutra surpasses the Lotus Sutra, or that their own school is superior to the Lotus school, they are like persons of inferior rank calling someone of high rank a commoner, or retainers whose families have for generations been in the service of a certain lord turning against him and declaring him to be their servant. How can they escape grave retribution?"
Daisaku Ikeda's wisdom is as brilliant as the sun and moon, and his virtue is extolled far and wide, yet he is confused as to which teachings are shallow or deep, inferior or superior, and he has led millions of people astray. This is the reason that he has suffered personal and specific retribution.
Not reflecting nor learning a thing, he flaunts his knowledge and acts as if he were wise, though he is an ordinary person who regards the superior teachings as inferior and the inferior teachings as superior. He regards the powerless teachings of the Soka Gakkai as those leading to enlightenment and declares teachings inappropriate for the people’s capacity to be appropriate for them. Thus he believes that the teaching of Value Creation and Human Revolution is superior and the Lotus Sutra is inferior and that the former suits the people’s capacity but the latter teachings do not. (excerpted and paraphrased from the One Eyed Turtle and the Floating Log)
Nichiren states:
"Thus they place such pronouncements (Value Creation, Human Revolution, peace proposals) on the same level as the Lotus Sutra, considering the two to be of equal authority; or they regard these teachings as superior to the Lotus Sutra; or they reason that though their teacher’s pronouncements are inferior they are well suited to the capacity of the people." (The Teaching that Accords with the Buddha's Mind)
"Remember this about the theoretical and essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra: Which is shallow and which profound, which superior and which inferior, which lenient and which severe, and which subordinate and which primary must be judged in accordance with the time and the people’s capacity." (On Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas as the Object of Worship."
The SGI teachings are based on the gentle methods of the Theoretical Teachings rather than the strict and superior methods of the Essential Teachings. It has brought confusion to the Buddhist order.
Because they hate us and what we stand for, the ignorant people choose the SGI which is inferior and detest the superior. As Nichiren says, "It is as though one were to assert that a dog is braver than lion, or that the stars appear brighter than the sun."(One Eyed Turtle) We are considered men of erroneous views although we practice according to the teachings. Despite all this, "tears spring to my (our) eyes and joy fills my (our) entire body." (ibid. One Eyed Turtle)
Nichiren states:
"As more Buddhist sutras were brought to China, it became apparent that some were superior in content or more profound than others. They belonged to different categories such as Hinayana and Mahayana, exoteric and esoteric, provisional and true. To illustrate, all stones are invariably inferior to gold, but gold itself is divided into several grades. No gold found in the human world can match the gold mined from the Jambu River. But the gold from the Jambu River is in turn far less valuable than the gold stored in the Brahma heaven. In the same way, all the Buddhist sutras are like gold, but some are finer and more profound than others." (The Supremacy of the Law)
Toda was confused, believing the fools gold of the Taisekaji teachings were superior to the twenty-four carat gold of the Lotus Sutra and the authentic teachings of Nichiren. Spreading such vile teachings as these, the SGI members and leaders accumulate slander upon slander which, by now, has grown into a Mount Sumeru of slander. Is there any doubt that the world, far from being a better place for the spread of the SGI teachings, has become a boiling cauldron of death and despair? There is no doubt!
How can this most distressing of situations be remedied?
Nichiren states:
"I decided that I would not heed the claims of these eight or ten schools, but would do as the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai did and let the sutras themselves be my sole teacher, in this way determining which of the various teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime are superior and which are inferior."
To remedy this situation and repay our debts of gratitude to Shakyamuni Buddha, the Lotus Sutra, our parents, brothers, wives, and children and to all the people of Jambudvipa, we can do exactly as Nichiren did. We can investigate thoroughly the teachings of the various Nichiren sects matching them with the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin:
"Among the various sutras, there must be one that is the monarch of all. Yet the ten schools and seven schools I have mentioned all argue with one another over which of the sutras it is and can reach no consensus. It is as though seven men or ten men were all trying to be the monarch of a single nation, thus keeping the populace in constant turmoil.
Wondering how to resolve this dilemma, I made a vow. I decided that I would not heed the claims of these eight or ten schools, but would do as the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai did and let the sutras themselves be my sole teacher, in this way determining which of the various teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime are superior and which are inferior. With this in mind, I began to read through all the sutras.
In a scripture called the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha says, “Rely on the Law and not upon persons.” Relying on the Law here means relying on the various sutras. Not relying upon persons means not relying on persons other than the Buddha, such as the bodhisattvas Universal Worthy and Manjushri or the various Buddhist teachers I have enumerated earlier." (Repaying Debts of Gratitude)
and
Lastly, coming to the just and correct conclusion that it is the Hokke sect that is superior and the teachings of the Lotus Sutra alone that leads to Buddhahood, we can spread these teachings far and wide, repudiating the wrongs of the Soka Gakkai, the Nichiren Shoshu, provisional Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judeism. The world will become peaceful, calm, and secure.
When, "The Buddha is looked upon as the sovereign and the gods as his ministers; the relations between superior and inferior are correctly ordered in accordance with the rules of propriety, and therefore the nation should be well governed." (King Rinda) Then, we will experience a new world, a land of Eternal Quiescent Light.
January 1, 2009
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