Dear Blue Lady:

Dear Blue Lady: 

Others here attempt to awaken you from the perspective of common sense and the ways of the world. I will attempt to awaken you from the perspective of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin. 

"I, Nichiren am the foremost practitioner of the Hokekyo in Japan. If among Nichiren's disciples and lay donors you come later than me, then even before the God Brahma, the Emperor Shakra, The Four Great Celestial Kings or the Emperor of the Dharma Yama, proclaim, 'I am the disciple of the foremost practitioner of the Hokekyo in Japan, the priest Nichiren,' and you shall pass. 

This Hokekyo becomes a ship on the rivers of the Three Paths, the Great White Ox Cart on the Mountain of going Forth in Death, becomes a lamp on the paths of the underworld, and is a bridge to take us to the Spiritual Mountain. When you are at the Spiritual Mountain, seek at the ushitori (northeastern) gallery. I will certainly awa"it you. But it depends on the mind of faith of each one. If just the mind of faith is weak, no matter how much you call yourself a disciple or lay donor of Nichiren, by no means will you be accepted. If one is of two minds and merely the mind of faith is weak, think of it as the stone from a mountain rolling down into a valley or the rain from the sky falling to the great earth: There can be no doubt of the Great Avici Hell. At that time do not resent me, Nichiren: It really depends on the faith of each one. The fact that those who formed conditional links under Daitsu Buddha fell to hell and passed through kalpas more than the dust of lands in an easterly direction touched or untouched by ink drops made from the elements of a great trichilocosm (sanzen jintengo) and the group that put down the seeds of Buddhahood under the Original Buddha in the Most Distant Pass fell to hell and passed through kalpas more than the dust of five hundred thousands of tens of thousands of tens of millions of nayutas of asamkheyas of great trichilocosms (gohyaku jintengo) is because they met EVIL SPIRITUAL FRIENDS and believed in the Hokekyo in a neglectful manner. Really having the mind of faith, indeed, when you go to the Spiritual Mountain, seek for me, Nichiren. At that time I shall tell you in detail." (KHS, p. 541) 

Even meeting evil spiritual friends is dissuaded. What about seeking them out as you Blue Lady who remains in the Soka Gakkai? 

Nichiren writes in another letter: 

"Be that as it may, one should understand that, at present, when it comes to teachers, there is a difference between correct teachers and erroneous teachers, between good teachers and bad teachers. One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good. Even if their virtue is known throughout the country and their wisdom is as bright as the sun and moon, one should recognize that teachers who slander the Lotus Sutra are evil teachers and erroneous teachers, and refrain from approaching them. A sutra warns us on this point, “If there are slanderers of the Law, one should not dwell with them. If one draws near them and dwells with them, one will be bound for the Avichi hell.” 

No matter how honest and upright you may be, or how you may strive to be known as a worthy person in the secular or the religious world, IF YOU ASSOCIATE WITH EVIL PERSONS, then as a natural result you will find that in two or three instances out of ten you are following their teachings, and in the end you, too, will become an evil person. Thus the commentary says, “Though one may not be evil to begin with, if one associates with and is friendly with evil persons, one is bound in time to become an evil person oneself, and one’s evil reputation will spread throughout the world.” 

In the end, what we mean by erroneous and evil teachers are those priests in the world today who slander the Lotus Sutra. The Nirvana Sutra says: “Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. What you should fear are evil friends! . . . Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them.” The Lotus Sutra says, “In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked.” 

As I have pointed out so many times in the past, when teachers such as Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Bodhidharma, Hui-k’o, Shan-tao, Honen, Kobo of To-ji, Chisho of Onjo-ji, Jikaku of Mount Hiei, or Ryokan of Kanto read the golden words, “Honestly discarding expedient means, [I will preach only the unsurpassed way],” they take them to mean, “Honestly discarding the true teachings, I will preach only the expedient teachings.” When they read the passage that says, “Among the sutras, it [the Lotus Sutra] holds the highest place,” they take it to mean, “Among the sutras, it holds the lowest place.” And when they read, “[Among those sutras] the Lotus is the foremost,” they take it to mean, “The Lotus holds second place,” or “holds third place.” That is why I describe these various priests as misleading and evil teachers. Those that I call correct and good teachers are persons who take Shakyamuni Buddha’s golden words to mean just what they say, namely, that the other sutras represent expedient means and the Lotus Sutra represents the truth. 

In this connection, you should consult the “Entering the Dharma Realm” chapter, the seventy-seventh volume of the Flower Garland Sutra. The Lotus Sutra states, “A good friend is the great cause and condition by which one is guided and led, and which enables one to see the Buddha and to conceive the desire for supreme perfect enlightenment.” 

As the Buddha tells us, we should regard as correct teachers and good teachers those who honestly discard the doctrines of the four flavors and three teachings, the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana sutras that were expounded as expedient means, as well as the Nembutsu, True Word, Zen, and Precepts schools and the sutras upon which they rely, and expound Myoho-renge-kyo, “the one great reason for which the Buddhas appear in the world.” 

As for myself, I, Nichiren, having been born in Japan in the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law, have encountered the three powerful enemies and met with various types of calamity and trouble, just as the Thus Come One predicted would happen. But, without any thought for my person or my life, I chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. I ask you to consider with the utmost care whether I deserve to be called a correct teacher or an erroneous teacher. 

Each of the proponents of the various schools I have mentioned above declares that he beyond all others has grasped the meaning of and is practicing the Lotus Sutra. But none of them have been exiled to the province of Izu as I was in the Kocho era, or exiled to the island of Sado as I was in the Bun’ei era, or been led to the place of decapitation at Tatsunokuchi or faced the countless other difficulties that I have. If the sutra passages [that predict such difficulties] are true, then you should realize that I am the correct teacher, the good teacher, and that the scholars of the other schools are all erroneous teachers and evil teachers. 

In addition to these, there are a great many other passages in the sutras and treatises that make clear the distinction between these two types of teachers, the good and the bad. But I am sure you are already familiar with them, so I will not go into them here. 

How wondrous that in your letter you say that from now on you will reject the erroneous teachers of our time and will rely entirely upon me as the correct teacher! When the Thus Come One Shakyamuni, our original teacher, appeared in the world in order to expound the Lotus Sutra, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the other worlds, like shadows and echoes, came forth and assisted him in his efforts to spread the teachings. Now it seems that they have appeared here in Japan as envoys of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions to help me in my efforts to spread the teachings! 

The sutra says: “I will send persons conjured up by magic to other lands to gather together assemblies to listen to the Law. And I will also send [monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen] conjured up by magic [to listen to the preaching of the Law. These persons conjured up by magic will listen to the Law, believe and accept it], and abide by it without violation.”16 The “monks” who are spoken of in this passage refer to you. Therefore, when the sutra speaks of persons who “listen to the Law, believe and accept it, and abide by it without violation,” you need look no further than yourself. How can there be any doubt about it? 

Although the sutra speaks of those who, having heard the Law, “dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers,” there are persons like the three groups of voice-hearers who, after receiving the seeds of Buddhahood, reject the Mahayana, select the Hinayana, and sink into the five paths or the six paths for a succession of rebirths, but when the time to achieve Buddhahood arrives, they are able to obtain emancipation, one after another. How gratifying to think that you have now cast aside the erroneous doctrines and erroneous teachers of the Nembutsu, True Word, and other schools, and become a disciple of Nichiren! 

In any case, like me, you should condemn the slander of the Law committed by the followers of the other schools and cause them to reject the erroneous and embrace the correct. Then, when you arrive in the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light where the three kinds of Buddhas are seated, and appear before the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, you will ask, “Were Nichiren and I bound by a promise to be teacher and disciple from the beginningless past, or were we not? Was I sent as an envoy of Shakyamuni Buddha to assist him in his efforts to spread the teachings?” And when the Buddhas reply, “Just so!” then you, too, will understand in your own mind why these things happened. Therefore, you must by all means be diligent! You must be diligent! -- Reply To Sairenbo 

"The sutra states, “Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers,” and “If one stays close to the teachers of the Law, one will speedily gain the bodhisattva way. By following and learning from these teachers one will see Buddhas as numerous as Ganges sands.” A commentary says, “Originally one followed this Buddha and for the first time conceived the desire to seek the way. And by following this Buddha again, one will reach the stage where there is no retrogression.” Another commentary says, “In the beginning one followed this Buddha or bodhisattva and formed a bond with him, and so it will be through this Buddha or bodhisattva that one will attain one’s goal.” Above all, be sure to follow your original teacher so that you are able to attain Buddhahood. Shakyamuni Buddha is the original teacher for all people, and moreover, he is endowed with the virtues of sovereign and parent. Because I have expounded this teaching, I have been exiled and almost killed. As the saying goes, “Good advice grates on the ear.” But still I am not discouraged. The Lotus Sutra is like the seed, the Buddha like the sower, and the people like the field. If you deviate from these principles, not even I can save you in your next life." -- Nichiren Daishonin 

I repeat the teachings of the Nirvana Sutra: 

“Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. What you should fear are evil friends! . . . Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them.” The Lotus Sutra says, “In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked.” 

These are the business suited SGI "priests" and their followers.