HBS does not believe in the Lotus Sutra

THE OBJECT OF WORSHIP by Rev. Tetsujo Kubota 

In the Kanjin Honzon Sho, Nichiren explains the Object of Worship (honzon)
itself: 

The form of that Object of Worship: above the Saha of the Original Teacher
the Jewelled Stupa is in the void; to the left and right of Myoho renge kyo
within the the stupa are the Buddha Shakyamuni and the Buddha Taho and the
Attendants of Lord Shakya, the Four Bodhisattvas Jogyo and the others and
the Four Bodhisattvas Maiijushri, Maitreya and the the others are in the end
seats as the Entourage and the greater and lesser Bodhisattvas Converted by
the Manifestation and from other quarters are the myriad common people on
the great earth as if looking at the Cloud Pavillions and Moon Ministers. The
Buddhas of the Ten Directions are located on upon the great earth. It is
because they represent the Manifestation Buddhas and the Manifestation
Lands. An Object of Worship such as this did not exist in the more than
fifty years in the Buddha's time in the world. And during the eight years it
is limited to the Eight Chapters. (Showa teihon,712) 

Because of the words "it is limited to the Eight Chapters" in the above
text, the following of Nichiryu (1385-1464 C.E., from the Hommon Hokke Sect
derives) and Nissen (Nagamatsu Seifu,1817-1890 C.E.,  founder of Hommon
Butsuryu Sect) emphasize the Eight Chapters. 

The "Eight Chapters" means the "Chapter of Springing Forth" 15 to the
"Chapter of Entrustment" 22. The above text means: "This type of Object of
Worship did not exist during the more than fifty years in the Buddha's time
in the world. Even during the eight years when the Buddha preached the
Hokekyo, it was only in the Eight Chapters. 

Then when we ask what is central and important within the Eight Chapters, it
is the "Chapter of the Measure of Life" 16 as Nichiren Shonin says "the
Buddha of 'Measure of Life"' and "the Object of Worship of the 'Chapter of
the Measure of Life' of the Original Doctrine". Or to put it in opposite
terms, he never said such things as "the Buddha of the Eight Chapters" or
"the Object of Worship of the Eight Chapters". 

It is only because in the "Chapter of the Divine Powers" 21 there is the
Separate Entrustment for Propagation in the Age of the Latter Dharma from
the Original Buddha to the Bodhisattva Jogyo that he says "Eight Chapters".
The Three Divisions of the Original or Fundamental Dharma (hompo sandan)
also has the "Chapter of the Measure of Life" as its center. Further, in the
Honzon Sho it has: 

 
"Now the Saha World of the Original Time is the eternally-abiding Pure
Land apart from the three disasters and the four kalpas (eons). The Buddha
has not been extinguished in the past and will not be born in the future.
And those converted by Him are of the same essence. This is identical to the
very mind's three thousand [realms] fully possessed and the three types of
worlds". (Showa teihon, 712) 

When it says, "The Buddha has not been extinguished in the past and will not
be born in the future, it refers to that fact that the Buddha, that is, the
Great Benevolent Master of Teachings Lord Shakya from the beginningless most
distant past long ago until the eternal eons of the future is ever abiding
in the Saha World saving beings. The founder of the Hommon Butsuryu Sect and
Seifu Church, Seifu Nissen, cried out in a joyful passage: 

 
Ah, how blessed to have obtained a human birth, rarely to be had and to
have encountered the Buddha Dharma......... Though I have appeared in a
Buddha-less world, in the interim between the former Buddha and the next
Buddha, it is the time when the Sublime Dharma which Jogyo transmitted is
spreading. 

When he says, "a Buddha-less world, in the interim between the former Buddha
and the next Buddha", he does not even understand the above text of the
Honzon sho. While he reads the text of the Honzon sho, he kills the very
heart of the Honzon sho. 

"In front of the person who does not believe in the Hokekyo, the Buddha
Shakyamuni has taken His Entrance into Extinction but before the one who
believes in this Sutra, though it is after His Extinction, it is the time
when the Buddha is in the world. (On Guarding the State, Showa Teihon, 123) 

We can say that those who say things such as "a Buddha-less world, in the
interim between the former Buddha and the next Buddha", no matter how many
times they chant the ODAIMOKU, are those who do not believe in the Hokke.