The one thing the Honmon Butsuryu Shu has right

The daily drinking of Gohonzon offering water is salubrious. I had a cough for 8 weeks. 7 weeks ago, I gave myself a powerful steroid shot and a powerful broad spectrum antibiotic, and I was eating Ricola cough drops by the case. The cough would not go away. I coughed so hard I would vomit and many nights I slept for less than an hour. One week ago, instead of giving the dogs the Gohonzon water I began to drink it myself and low and behold, no more cough, I'm sleeping like a baby, and I have tons more energy. 

Why the Nichiren Shu is in many ways worse than Soka Gakkai

Critics and Opponents of Shakubuku in the Modern Times Part. 1

Author unknown 

During the Tokugawa period attempts had already began within the Nichiren tradition to codify doctrine based on Nichiren's writings, independently of the strong Tendai influence that had pervaded its seminaries. Crucial to such reformulations was the question of what role shakubuku should play in the changing era.

A pivotal figure in this connection was the scholar Udana-in Nichiki (1800-1859), one of the pioneers of modern Nichiren sectarian studies. Nichiki argued forcefully for abandoning traditional shakubuku in favor of the milder shoju. Although influenced by the accommodative Nichiren scholarship of the Tokugawa period, Nichiki's position derived explicitly from Nichiren's admonition that the method of spreading the Lotus Sutra Should accord with the times. 

He was acutely aware of mounting anti-Buddhist sentiment, having studied the critiques of Tominaga Nakatomo (1715-1746) and Hirata Atsutane (1776-1849) (see Ketelaar 1990, pp. 19-36) and having personally witnessed the ruthless suppression of Buddhism in the Mito domain (Miyakawa 1977, p. 122). Nichiki saw clearly that Buddhism had long since lost its intellectual hegemony, and that the Nichiren sect from then on would have to coexist, not only with other, more influential, forms of Buddhism, but with Confucianism, Nativism, and various European intellectual traditions. 

In his Gukyo yogi [Essentials of disseminating the sutra], Nichiki argued that shakubuku was inappropriate in an age when changing one's sectarian affiliation was prohibited by law. Criticizing other sects was also apt to provoke anger, making people adhere all the more firmly to their original beliefs and preventing them from learning the True Way. An effective expedient in Nichiren's time, shakubuku was now an outmoded approach that could only provoke contempt from educated people (J g en 1975, vol. 3, p. 5). 

Elsewhere, Nichiki wrote that the shakubuku method was readily misused by those deficient in scholarship and patience, and that those attached to its form often lacked the compassion that represents its true intent. Moreover, their arrogant attacks on other sects could drive previously innocent people to commit the sin of slandering the Lotus Sutra (Shiku kakugen ben [Discussion of the four declarations], Jogen 1975, vol. 4, p. 918). 

In the Sho shaku shintai ron [The choice of shoju or shakubuku], Nichiki welded such arguments to a reinterpretation of traditional mappo thought. Shakubuku, he said, had been appropriate during the first five hundred years of mappo a period defined in the Ta-chi ching [Great collection of sutras] as the fifth of five five-hundred-year periods in the decline of the Dharma following the Buddha's parinirvana (T #397, 15.365b). Calculating from the year 1052, which premodern Japanese scholars generally identified as the start of mappo, Nichiki concluded that this fifth five-hundred-year period, during which Nichiren had lived and taught, had ended in the year 1551 (Jogen 1975, vol. 4, p. 332). 

Moreover, in Nichiren's time Japan had been a country that slandered the Buddha Dharma, and so shakubuku was appropriate; now it was a country evil by virtue of its ignorance of Buddhism, so sh ju was preferred. Nichiki listed several occasions after the supposed 1551 turning point when, in his opinion, blind attachment to shakubuku had needlessly brought down on the sect the wrath of the authorities (J g en 1975, vol. 4, p. 596). 

Nichiki even asserted that the Rissho ankoku ron, long regarded as the embodiment of Nichiren's shakubuku practice, no longer suited the times (K jutsu zatt [Answers to various questions in the year 1850], J g en 1975, vol. 4, p. 972). Miyakawa Ryotoku suggests that in rejecting the Rissho ankoku ron for its connection with shakubuku, Nichiki also rejected its premise that the tranquility of the nation depends on establishing the True Dharma (1977, p. 125). If so, this represents a far greater departure from Nichiren's teaching than the mere adoption of a different form of propagation. It is ironic that in striving to implement Nichiren's admonition that propagation of the Lotus Sutra should fit the times, Nichiki arrived at a concept of the religion considerably different from Nichiren's. 

Nichiki's work has raised difficult hermeneutic questions about which elements define the Nichiren tradition and the extent to which they can be altered without compromising its integrity. Such questions are especially troubling for those involved in the formulation of normative doctrinal interpretations. Studies of Nichiki by Nichiren sectarian scholars today show a certain ambivalence, combining a frank admiration for his innovative attempts to meet the challenges of the Bakumatsu period with serious reservations about the extent to which he reread the doctrine (cf. ASAI 1958 and ONO 1977). Few if any Nichiren communities today engage in confrontational debate-style shakubuku, but there remains a general unwillingness to erase it from the rhetoric of orthodoxy in the explicit manner Nichiki proposed. 

Nichiki's disciples were to play key roles in guiding the Nichiren sect through the turbulent years of the early Meiji period, when the promulgation of the Shinto-Buddhist Separation Edicts, aimed at disestablishing Buddhism and promoting a Shinto based state ideology, sparked the brief but violent wave of anti-Buddhist persecution known as haibutsu kishaku. Foremost among these disciples was Arai Nissatsu (1890-1888), who in 1874 became the first super intendent (kanch) of several allied branches within the Nichiren sect (the present Nichirenshu was officially incorporated under this name in 1876). 

Like many other Buddhist leaders during the persecution years, Nissatsu saw intersectarian cooperation as his sect's sole hope of survival, a view reflecting his teacher Nichiki's position on the inappropriacy of continued confrontation." Nissatsu devoted much of his career to such cooperation, often in the face of criticism from within his own sect. 

Nissatsu was active in the Shosh D toku Kaimei (Intersectarian Cooperative League), organized in 1868 in an attempt to counter the Meiji government's anti-Buddhist policies. Like thousands of other educated priests, both Shinto and Buddhist, Nissatsu was inducted into the Daiky nin (Great Teaching Academy), the administrative center of the Kyo bush (Ministry of Doctrine), as a doctrinal instructor charged with disseminating the Shinto derived "Great Teaching" that formed the new state orthodoxy. While there, he supported the efforts of the prominent Nishi Hongan-ji leader Shimaji Mokurai (1858-1911) to have the Great Teaching Academy dissolved in the name of freedom of religion. 

Nissatsu was also instrumental in launching intersectarian Buddhist social welfare projects on the Christian model, instituting a program of prison chaplaincy in 1879 and founding an orphanage in 1876. In 1877 he joined such noted Buddhist leaders as Shimaji, Shaku Unsho, Fukuda Gyokai , and Ouchi Seiran in forming the Waky kai (Society for Harmony and Respect) to promote intersectarian understanding. 

While still at the Great Teaching Academy, Nissatsu is said to have produced a curious, ecumenical rereading of Nichiren's "four declarations." As mentioned above, the four declarations are "Nenbutsu leads to Avici hell, Zen is a devil, Shingon will destroy the nation, and Ritsu is a traitor." By assigning alternative readings to the characters and rearranging the syntactical markers that govern the Japanese reading of the text, Nissatsu produced: "Because we contemplate the Buddha, ceaselessly devils are quieted; because our words are true, traitors who would destroy the nation are subdued" (Makinouchi 1937, pp. 6~67). 

This completely undercuts the critical intent of the original reading. That Nissatsu would so radically alter a statement long considered fundamental to the tradition suggests not only his commitment to Nichiki's non-confrontational shoju approach but also his recognition of the difficulties posed by traditional Lotus exclusivism at a time when Buddhist leaders of all denominations saw the need to unite for their very survival. 

The moderation adopted by Nichiki and his disciples differed somewhat from that seen in earlier Nichiren Buddhism in that it represented, not the complacency of established institutions, but an active, creative attempt to respond to changing times. Other Nichiren Buddhists, however, reacted in a quite different manner. One can point, for example, to a sudden rise of shakubuku activity on the part of many lay Nichiren Buddhists in the Bakumatsu period, often in defiance of bakufu authority. A certain Surugaya Shichihye, a second hand clothes dealer active through his lay association in the study of Nichiren's writings, was banished from Edo and had his shop confiscated for practicing shakubuku against other sects. Akahata Jingyo, the son of a pharmacist in Nihonbashi, was thrown in prison and poisoned for displaying a flag emblazoned with the four declarations and criticizing the bakufu policy prohibiting changes of sectarian affiliation (Ishmawa 1977, p. 79). 

The reasons underlying this upsurge of shakubuku in the Bakumatsu period may perhaps be found in the writings of the Nichiren scholar and lay believer Ogawa Taid (1814-1878), said to have been Akahata Jingyo's teacher. Ogawa's Shinbutsu hokoku ron [On having faith in Buddhism and repaying one's obligation to the country], written in 1863, compares the crises afflicting late Tokugawa Japan--crop failures, epidemics, earthquakes, internal unrest, and foreign interference--to the disasters that ravaged the country in Nichiren's day and that prompted his writing of the Rissho ankoku ron. Then as now, Ogawa declared, "The safety of the nation depends on the prosperity of the Buddha Dharma" (Ogawa 1991, pg. 132). 

Ogawa was highly critical of those who advocated shoju as the appropriate practice for the age. Since only the Lotus Sutra had the power to secure the peace of the nation, he argued, shakubuku was the essential way to repay one's debt to Japan. However, he went on, the contemporary situation differed from that in Nichiren's time in that there now existed a well-established Nichiren sect unfortunately marred by internal corruption. Thus shakubuku must now entail not only challenges to other sects but a rigorous internal purification. "The time has come when both the Dharma of the ruler and the Dharma of Buddhism must undergo reformation," Ogawa warned (1991, p. 158). For Ogawa, such reformation clearly did not include the early Meiji Buddhist transsectarianism. 

In an 1872 petition to O Taku, governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Ogawa asserted that Nenbutsu, Shingon, Tendai, and other forms of Buddhism did not accord with the principles of "revering the kami and loving the nation"; he urged that they be abolished by the imperial court and that Nichiren's teaching alone be endorsed as the true Buddhism (Ogawa 1991, pp. 456~59).

By the second decade of Meiji, when Buddhist organizations were recovering from the anti-Budddhist policies of the immediate post-Restoration years, certain Nichiren clerics and lay leaders began to reassert the tradition's exclusive truth claim in a more forceful manner, bringing them into direct conflict with the new rhetoric of intersectarian unity. Attacks appeared in several Japanese Buddhist journals after two prominent Nichiren prelates wrote to John Barrows, chairman of the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, urging that "illegitimate" forms of Buddhism should not be represented at the Parliament (KETELAAR 1990, p. 160). Another, possibly related, incident involved the editing of the Bukky kakush koyo [Essentials of the Buddhist sects] compiled by the Bukkyo Kakushu Kyokai (Buddhist Transsectarian Committee), to which each of the major Japanese Buddhist traditions had been asked to submit an essay outlining its essentials of doctrine. 

Honda Nissho (1867-1931), a prominent cleric of the Nichiren denomination Kempon Hokke Shu, had been asked to edit the section dealing with the Nichiren tradition. Two subsections of his manuscript--one on the "four declarations" and the other on "admonitions against slander of the Dharma"-were rejected by Shimaji Mokurai, chief of the editorial board, as obstructive to the aims of the Transsectarian Committee. The resulting disagreement not only delayed publication for some years but escalated into a major ideological controversy, in the course of which Nissho, filed suit in the Tokyo courts. Though ultimately unsuccessful in having the editorial decision reversed, Nissho gained a great deal of publicity and used the opportunity to revive support for shakubuku within the Nichiren sect (Isobe 1931, pp 75-103; Kettlaar 1990, p. 198).

Lord Shakyamuni Buddha left us the one great medicine

"The Lord Shakyamuni assembled Taho Buddha as well as the other Buddhas who were his own emanations from throughout the ten directions and left the one great medicine, the five characters of Myoho renge Kyo, for the people of the Latter Day." (MW vol 3, The Mandala of the Mystic Law)

Shakyamuni Buddha bestows upon us the character Myo.

"But Shakyamuni [by bestowing upon us the character myo] has granted us as many benefits as if we ourselves had fulfilled all the practices of the six paramitas. This precisely accords with his statement, 'Now this threefold world is all my domain, the living beings in it are all my children.'" (MW vol 3, Letter to Nichimyo Shonin, pg 48-49)

"We worship the essential life state of the Buddha, not the Buddha himself." -- deluded SGI member

This is no different than the worship of Dainichi Buddha [if it were true that they worship the life state of the Buddha]. Who they really worship is the flesh and blood Daisaku Ikeda. Shakyamuni Buddha of the Original Doctrine, the Three Bodied Tathagata, too is flesh and blood but, unlike Daisaku Ikeda, he is one with the Law.

Those who change the Buddha's message are not worthy of being called the Buddha's messengers.

The very worst offender is the Soka Gakkai.

Buddha's milk or SGI koolaid?

"Youth should not seek an easy comfortable path. No one develops in a pampered environment. Youth should instead actively seek out challenges and hardships, transforming them all into valuable assets as they strive to become individuals of outstanding character and ability." -- Daisaku Ikeda

"As practice progresses and understanding grows, the three obstacles and four devils emerge in confusing form, vying with one another to interfere . . . " -- Nichiren Daishonin

and

"Then, although they do not seek emancipation, emancipation will come of itself, just as the poor woman, though she did not seek to be reborn in the Brahma heaven, was nevertheless reborn there."

Therefore, if you are practicing correctly with a correct faith, there is no need to actively seek hardships. Hardships will come of their own. There is no shortcut to Buddhahood nor are there effective strategies other than the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren also teaches that there is no conscious growth on the part of the baby. All the baby need do is drink its mother's milk.

You should understand that it is people like SGI who will destroy the teachings in no time at all.

"In addition the Great Teacher Miao-lo in the first volume of his Guketsu comments on this situation by saying , 'the people of today look with contempt on the sutra teachings and emphasize only the contemplation of truth, but they are making a great mistake, a great mistake indeed!"
  

"This passage applies to the people in the world today who put meditation on the mind and the dharmas first and do not delve into or study the teachings of the sutras. On the contrary, they despise the teachings and make light of the sutras...."

"Among the evil monks there will be those who practice meditation and, instead of relying on the sutras and treatises, heed only their own view of things, declaring wrong to be right. Unable to distinguish between what is correct and what is heretical, all they will do is face the clergy and lay believers and declare in this fashion, "I can understand what is right, I can see what is right." You should understand that it is people like this who will destroy my teachings in no time at all."

Tough guy Ikeda

"The Kenshokai used to be called the Myokan-ko. It was a rightist lay group of Nichiren Shoshu that was particularly radical in terms of its view that the "high sanctuary" should be declared a national sanctuary. When Nittatsu Shonin declined to identify the Shohondo as such, they became quite outspoken, and I think even violent, and were excommunicated. They have been carrying out intensive propagation efforts since then, and have been accused of coersion and various rough tactics. There was an arrest recently in Hokkaido of a Kenshokai member who beat up a prospective convert who changed his mind at the last minute. There were many witnesses to the incident and the arrest was reported in the local paper." -- SGI leader

What about Ikeda? The last ass he kicked was the old priest Ogasawara's. Tough guys those YMD's. I bet they could give 96 year old Rev. Kubota a good beating too

SGI's Gosho collection is NOT an excellent compilation of Nichiren's writings.

"The Gosho Zenshu is NOT an excellent compilation of Nichiren's writings. NO ONE in any scholastic circles uses it because it is so sectarian and unreliable. It also recklessly mixes forged letters with authentic letters of Nichiren, so there is no way of knowing which is which. In fact, the Gosho Zenshu has a disclaimer in the preface, which says, "This collection includes virtually all the writings that have since of old been treated as Gosho, WHETHER THEIR AUTHENTICITY HAS BEEN CONFIRMED OR NOT."

Nichiren Shoshu's and SGI's faulty circular logic

"I have frequently pointed out to these people that if we do not revere Nichiren Daishonin as True Buddha then it follows that we cannot attain Buddhahood. It follows that if the one is not, then the other cannot be either." -- Nichiren Shoshu member

Logic is not the be all and end all of Buddhism but it does have a place in Buddhist teachings. This assertion is illogical and therefore does not have a place in the teachings.

Nichiren Daishonin worshiped the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni of the 16th Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the teacher, source, substance and entity of Namu Myoho renge kyo and the Gohonzon or as Nichiren states, "The Buddha who is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo of the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching."

Therefore, what really follows is, if you wish to have the same Enlightenment as Nichiren Daishonin you must worship the same object as he. Your object of worship is not the same as his and therefore your Enlightenment is not the same. The SGI is even more deluded because they worship Daisaku Ikeda as the source. 

Nichikan's and Ikeda's role is to subborn True Buddhism.

The Original Buddha Shakyamuni's role is to be the object of worship in terms of the Person. Our role is to worship Him. Nichiren's role is to reveal the object of worship which he taught, "is in no way my invention" [because it is impossible to create or invent that which is uncreate and eternal]. Our role is to spread the five or seven characters of the Daimoku and the object of worship that Nichiren revealed. Nichikan's and Ikeda's role is to subborn True Buddhism.

Josei Toda's and SGI's abject arrogance

"At this time, the Buddha serenely arose form his meditation and addressed Sharihotsu." -- Lotus Sutra Chapter 2

Toda begins his lecture on the Second Chapter of the Lotus Sutra with:

"The first sentence of the Hoben Chapter means: At this time of Mappo, the True Buddha ...emerged in Japan as Nichiren Daishonin and addressed the people of Mappo". (p47) 

According to the Soka Gakkai, the correct way to read the Sutra is Toda's way, not Nichiren Daishonin's way. This is abject arrogance

The members who dared ask the question "Where'd all the money go?" were sent personal letters of expulsion via certified mail. Six in all.

RESULTS OF THE SPECIAL ZAIMU CAMPAIGN:

MEMO # CJT-69

DISTRIBUTE TO - TERR/HQ

INFORM TO - HQ CHIEFS

MEMORANDUM TO ALL TERRITORY AND HQ CHIEFS

FROM CHICAGO JOINT TERRITORY OFFICE

DATE: OCTOBER 9, 1989

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION WEEKLY REPORT - AS OF 10-8-89

CHICAGO TERR 1 -------------$106,821.87

" " 2-------------$39,132.89

" " 3-------------$128,991.81

" " 4-------------$240,519.73

Heartland terr.--------------------$111,964.62

Tennessee Terr-------------------$51,102.06

---------------------------------------------------------

$678,514.98

We are at 1/3 of our goal at this point. This month, October is the originally scheduled month for the Special Contribution, and we have to do our VERY BEST! [sic] The most important point is "Promotion of Significance." There are so many members to reach and explain this historic campaign.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The Ikeda auditorium in Chicago was never built.

Chinberg responds: The new Chicago Culture Center was built instead, Craig.

Response:

AT A COST OF 1/5 OF THE 3.5 MILLION COLLECTED. What happened to the other 2.8 Million?

The members who dared ask the question "Where'd all the money go?" were sent personal letters of expulsion via certified mail. Six in all.

Nichiren washed his body in cold sweat while Ikeda enjoys a hot bath.

"From the seventeenth day of the sixth month of the eleventh year of Bun'ei (1274), when I retired here [Mount Minobu], through the eighth day of the twelfth month of this year [1281], I have not ventured away from this mountain. For the past eight years I have become weaker year by year because of emaciating sickness and old age and my mental powers have waned. I have been ill since the spring of this year, and with the passing of autumn and arrival of winter I have grown weaker by the day and each night my symptoms have grown more severe. For more than 10 days now I have hardly been able to eat anything. Meanwhile the snow grows deeper and I am assailed by the cold.

My body is as cold as a stone, and the coldness in my breast is like ice. At such times, I warm up some sake and consume kakko, and it's as though a fire has been kindled in my heart, or like entering a hot bath. Sweat washes my body and the droplets cleanse my feet.

As I was happily thinking about how I might respond to your sincerity, tears welled up in my eyes...

While I, Nichiren, have been refraining from responding to letters from people on account of my illness, I am so saddened by this matter [of Shichiro Goro's death] that I have taken up my brush to write you. I, too, shall not be long in this world. I believe that I will certainly meet Lord Goro. If I should see him before you do, then I win inform him of your grief. Nichiren" (Gosho Zenshu, pp. 1583-84)

Cause and effect and karmic retribution

1632 17th HP Nissei (came from Yoho-ji) and opened the Dai-Gohonzon to the public.

1635 Taisekiji was burned down in a fire.

SGI senior leader Soren is correct about one thing, "SGI is a catch-all "humanist" pseudo Buddhist religion which masquerades as Nichiren Buddhism."

Soren, SGI Senior Leader says: Recognizing that other faiths exist and that adherents of other faiths not only possess in full measure the same fundamental humanity as followers of Nichiren Daishonin, but have valuable contributions to make towards a peaceful and healthy world, has been characterized by some of this ng's more clueless individuals as a move (on the part of the SGI) to create a catch-all "humanist" psuedo-Buddhist religion which masquerades as Nichiren Buddhism.

Nichiren says:

*BACKROUND: The Kenchoji Temple, A Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, was founded by Tokiyori Hojo, with the Chinese Zen monk, Doryu, as it's first abbot.

KENCHOJI DORYU NI ATAURU SHO: A Letter to Doryu of the Kenchoji Temple

Buddhist Temples stand in a row, and Buddhist doctrines are discussed in every house today in this country. Buddhism prospers in Japan more than in India or China, and the manners and behavior of Buddhist monks are like those of arhats who have mastered the six divine powers. However, these monks are as ignorant as birds and beasts. They do not know which sutra is superior in doctrine among thes utras preached by Sakyamuni Buddha during His lifetime. Discarding Sakyamuni Buddha, who is our master, teacher, and parent in this world, these monks seek refuge in Buddhas and bodhisattvas of other worlds. How can you say that they are not against their own teacher?

Therefore, I say: "Pure Land Buddhism is a way leading to the Hell of Incessant Suffering; Zen Buddhism is the act of heavenly devils, who hinder the Buddhist way; True Words (Shingon) Buddhism is an evil teaching leading to destruction of our nation; and Discipline (Ritsu) Buddhism is a false teaching by traitors." 

Contemplating on this, I, Nichiren, wrote a treatise in the first year of the Bunno Era (1260) or thereabout, entitling it Rissho ankoku-ron, and submitted it to the late Lord Saimyoji, Shogunal Regent Tokiyori Hojo, through Lay Priest Yadoya. The gist of the writing is that because the people in the country put faith in such evil teachings as Pure Land, True Words, Zen, and Discipline, calamities and disasters continue to plague this land, which will eventually be attacked by foreign troops. This is what I predicted in my Rissho ankoku-ron.

As a matter of fact, a letter of state arrived from the Mongol Empire on the eighteenth of this past first month just as I had predicted. Is this because devotional services performed by various temples lost the power to invoke divine protection? Or, is it because false teachings spread over this land?

Everybody in Kamakura, military rulers, as well as the ruled, looks up to Abbot Doryu of the Kenchoji Temple as if he were a Buddha, and reveres Abbot Ryokan of the Gokurakuji Temple as if he were an arhat. Besides, head monks of such temples as Jufukuji, Jokomyoji, Chorakuji, and Daibutsuden are highly respected.

In my opinion, however, they are self-conceited, evil monks who believe themselves to have understood the true intent of the Buddha while actually they have not. How can these monks chastise great Mongol troops by means of prayer? Besides, all the people in Japan, rulers and subjects, will be captured by the Mongols. Thus they will destroy their country in their present life, and will fall into the Hell of Incessant Suffering in a future life. You will surely regret it if you don't listen to me now.

To this effect, I have written to such persons as the Lord of Kamakura, the Lay Priest Yadoya, and Saemon-no-jo Taira, so you should get together for consultation.I, Nichiren, do not speak for selfish purposes. I speak only what is said in sutras and discourses. I cannot write in detail in a letter, but I expect to meet you in a public discussion. One finds it difficult to write what one wants to say, and to say what one has in mind.

Respectfully yours,

Nichiren

11th of the 10th month in the 5th year of the BunÆei Era (1268)

To Abbot Doryu of the Kenchoji Temple

Buddhist messiah Ikeda

Posted by SGI Canadian leader Keith Robinson

The Pioneer (India)

October 22, 1997

Section: City

Rajiv's Vision of India Hailed

STAFF REPORTER

New Delhi

For members of the Bharat Sokka Gakkai, and the distinguished guests invited by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, the rosy, diminutive figure of the Sensei (or Teacher), Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, brought bright new words of hope: guided by its ancient tradition, he said, India would propel the world into a time of New Humanism.

Buddhist messiah Ikeda was in Delhi at the invitation of the foundation. In his lecture at Jawahar Bhawan on Tuesday evening, he outlined the place India will hold in the 21st century with its technology- and market-driven leap towards a Renaissance, accordingm to him. "The central theme of my own life is this," he declares, "that a great revolution in just a single individual can change the destiny of an entire society and even of humankind."

The inspiration goes back to Ashoka's reign, a single individual who changed the world he lived in, he says, and to the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, another individual who had a "dream of an strong, independent, self- reliant India and in the front rank of the nations of the world in the service of mankind."

That was how chairperson of the foundation, Sonia Gandhi, introduced Dr. Ikeda, as the man who brings a message of hope and joy for everybody "in these days of pessimism and unrest all over the world." Former US Ambassador Dr. Abid Hussain presented Dr. Ikeda with a shawl on behalf of the foundation.

Dr. Ikeda is a Buddhist philosopher, author, poet and educator, as well as president of the Sokka Gakkai International, a Buddhist organization, which now has more than 12 million members in 128 countries, all known as votaries of the Lotus Sutra, including sports stars, filmstars and intellectuals.

Reverend Takahashi [Nichiren Shoshu] and Reverend Kubota [Kempon Hokke] like night and day

By Katsuko Metzger

Hahalu'u, Hawaii

On August 20, 1966, the groundbreaking ceremony for the first Nichiren Shoshu temple was conducted in Hawaii on land donated by President Ikeda. The following year, on May 13, 1967, the Gohonzon Enshrining Ceremony was conducted by High Priest Nittatsu Shonin.

The third priest to arrive at the temple was Chief Priest Gensho Nishino. Mr. Nishino had a pet bird that he loved very much. There were times when the bird got out of the cage and flew all over the Gohonzon room. I was very surprised at Mr. Nishino's careless attitude toward keeping the Gohonzon room clean.

On August 18, 1979, the Soka Gakkai donated a new temple located in Kaneohe, Hawaii. The Gohonzon enshrining ceremony held there was conducted by the fourth chief priest, Mr. Sugano. In 1980, Nikken and twenty-four priests visited Honsei-ji on their way back to Japan after a trip to the mainland.

After evening gongyo, the priests went to change their clothes. The conversation overheard among the priests was surprising. They said things to each other like: "Hey! You stupid bald head! Throw my clothes to me!" Here you go, you dumb priest!" I could not believe my ears. I never imagined priests spoke to each other with such disrespect. That night there was a dinner party for the priests and I was very surprised to see the amount of liquor they were drinking. It was then that I lost all respect for the priesthood.

In 1983, my husband and I moved to the island of Maui as managers for the Maui Community Center. The fifth chief priest, Tokudo Takeda, visited Maui several times for the Gohonzon conferral ceremony. He didn't want to stay at any of the convenient hotels, saying they were too cheap. He chose to stay in the most luxurious hotel on Maui. He also requested the best restaurants for meals.

My husband made it a point to always be at the airport early whenever Mr. Takeda came to Maui. On one occasion, the plane arrived earlier than scheduled and unintentionally my husband was a few minutes late. As soon as Mr. Takeda saw my husband, he yelled at him. "I was about to find a taxi!" My husband was very surprised at his impatience and rudeness regarding this situation.

In 1984, Shido Takahashi was assigned to Hawaii. On one occasion, while visiting Maui, he became inebriated. He then began boasting about a situation that had recently occurred. "Last month, I got a speeding ticket in my sports car. I enjoy racing cars," he said, "so as soon as I'm in my car I'm tempted to speed." As he drank a little more, he talked about how he enjoyed karaoke and suggested having a karaoke party during Christmas. He said he had purchased expensive karaoke equipment soon after he had arrived in Hawaii.

On another occasion, one early morning my husband and I went to the hotel to pick up Mr. Takahashi as he was to conduct the Gohonzon conferral ceremony. Upon our arrival, Mr. Takahashi said, "I overslept this morning," and went to the car with his face unwashed. We thought he would go directly to the site of the ceremony, but instead, he insisted on eating breakfast first. After the ceremony, on the way back to the hotel, he went shopping. I wondered when he planned to do morning gongyo.

Mr. Takahashi became deeply involved with ham radios. He even brought his radios to the Maui Community Center and made the members set up an antenna so he could communicate with other operators.

In my opinion, his behavior was like a spoiled son of a rich family playing with his toys and spending his time and money on his hobby.

One day Mr. Takahashi talked to my husband and me about his car, which was only a year old: "I'm bored with my sports car. I'll sell it to you for a good price. How about $10,000?" It was like a dream for us, since we were driving a ten-year-old dilapidated car. We really wanted it but didn't have the money. He said, "How about you pay me whenever you have the money?" We declined the proposal. I still can't understand his easygoing attitude toward money.

When the present priesthood problem arose, we had already moved back to Honolulu. At a temple service on January 13, 1991 Mr. Takahashi said to the audience: "As you may know, there is a conflict in the relationship between the priesthood and the Soka Gakkai. It is you who had the hardest time without a temple, and it is you who know this difficulty best."

The atmosphere in the room became serious and gloomy. Indeed, there was a time when there had been no temple in Hawaii, and a priest would visit once or twice a year from California to perform ceremonies.

Then he said, "You have supported this temple for a long time and I feel grateful. Therefore, I'll protect you even risking my own life. No matter what may happen between the priesthood and the Gakkai, at least in Hawaii, let's advance together in unity." We felt moved by his words but the truth was, he had previously mailed out hundreds of letters to the members of Hawaii slandering President Ikeda and instructing them to leave the SGI. When I found out about this, I became angry. I thought, "What did he mean by 'even risking his life' he would protect the members of Hawaii?" It is the Gakkai members and President Ikeda who have been protecting the temple and supporting various services at the temple, as well as donating money.

Now Mr. Takahashi is working steadily to increase his temple members through phone calls and letters without much success.

[This experience is from a book titled "Voices of the New American Renaissance. Vol. 6] 

Contrast their behavior to the Daishonin's or Reverend Kubota's. When we met in Oregon we all stayed at the same motel, ate the same food, and discussed nothing but Buddhism. In New York, he stayed at our house for four days. He did gongyo every morning at 6:00 am and then again when we woke up at 7:00 or 8:00 am and he is 79 years old. His clothes, though impeccably clean were all 40 years old. When we went out together he always chose to eat the least expensive thing on the menu, first looking to see what everyone else ordered so as to not be extravagant. When we went out to the street fares, he would eat Pizza and hot dogs along side of us. The "gourmet" food he most enjoyed in New York was bagles and lox. He was as overjoyed as a child to receive trinkets such as the empire state building and the statue of liberty and he had presents for everyone. When John Watt had a baby, he sent him two hundred dollars. He would try his best to shakabuku everyone, the concierges, the people in the street, the porters, our friends and neighbors. Rev. Kubota is a true priest and a humble human being.

"In this world the Buddha is eternal, transcending birth and death, and his disciples are also eternal." -- Nichiren

"The saha world Shakyamuni revealed in the Juryo chapter is the eternal pure land, impervious to the three calamities and the four cycles of change. In this world the Buddha is eternal, transcending birth and death, and his disciples are also eternal. That is why the three thousand worlds or the three realms of existence are within our own lives. The Buddha did not reveal this truth in the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sutra because the time was not right and he found his disciples not yet able to grasp the truth." -- The True Object of Worship

SGI discounts the transfer of merit and so, they discount Ichinen Sanzen.

"...He goes on to say that those who stand in the vanguard at that time win benefit as great as though they had given offerings to the Buddhas of the three existences and the 10 directions. And the Buddha also promises that he will transfer to such persons the benefits resulting from his own trials and the ascetic practices he underwent as a bodhisattva."

Listen up SGI slanderers, "Shakyamuni lives today; this is the age of the Buddha" -- Nichiren Daishonin

"For the cause of the Lotus Sutra, I, Nichiren, have likewise been driven from my dwelling and attacked on many occasions, suffering wounds on my body. My disciples have been killed. I have twice been condemned to exile in distant regions. And, once, I was almost beheaded. All this I bore for the sake of the Lotus Sutra.

The Buddha preaches in the Lotus Sutra that more than 2,200 years after his death, in the 5th 500-year period [i.e., at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law] when the Lotus Sutra is about to spread throughout the world, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven will take possession of people, abusing, striking, banishing or killing those who happen to take faith in this sutra, in an attempt to prevent them from propagating the sutra's teachings. He goes on to say that those who stand in the vanguard at that time win benefit as great as though they had given offerings to the Buddhas of the three existences and the 10 directions. And the Buddha also promises that he will transfer to such persons the benefits resulting from his own trials and the ascetic practices he underwent as a bodhisattva. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1415)

"Shakyamuni lives today; this is the age of the Buddha" -- Nichiren Daishonin (On the Buddha's Behavior) 
http://nichiren.info/gosho/BuddhasBehavior.htm

Good for the goose but not good for the gander?

"I recall my master's guidance at a meeting of the Suiko Kai in its early days. Perhaps you remember my mentioning it in the novel, The Human Revolution (see the Seikyo Times, November 1976, p.41). At that meeting, one of the youths asked President Toda, "Sir, people often tell us to go home loaded with honors. How should we consider this in our positions?" My master replied,"You boys seem to think that you can return to your hometowns in glory only after you have attained success or fame. To become the president of a well known enterprise, a university professor or a Cabinet minister-that may be glory for those outside of our organization. Yet no one knows how long such glory will last." -- Daisaku Ikeda, proud owner of more than 300 honors and awards

It is apparent that the people of the Soka nation neither adhere to nor protect the teachings

"The Benevolent Kings Sutra says, 'For a thousand ri around the seven disasters will not occur.' And the Lotus Sutra says, '[I will also shield and guard those who uphold this sutra], making certain that they suffer no decline or harm within the area of a hundred yojanas.' If the ruler of a nation propagates the correct teaching, then he is certain to be rewarded with results such as these. And if the people of the nation adhere to and protect this teaching, then how could any great disasters occur within their families? Again, the eighth volume of the Lotus Sutra says, 'Their wishes will not be in vain, and in this present existence they will gain the reward of good fortune.' And it says, “In this present existence he will have manifest reward for it.' And also, “He will in his present existence be afflicted with white leprosy.” And again, 'Their heads will split into seven pieces.' And in the second volume, 'If this person [should slander a sutra such as this], or on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy, or bear grudges against them, . . . When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avīchi hell.' And in the fifth volume, 'If people speak ill of and revile him, their mouths will be closed and stopped up.'”

There are no "wise disciples" [priests] in the SGI Order. Therefore, how can the Law long endure?

"The Nirvana Sutra says: 'Within the Order there are wise disciples who understand profound doctrines, while in secular circles there are pure-minded lay supporters. Thus the Buddha’s Law will long endure.' Thus the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai talked Mao Hsi and others into supporting him, and the Great Teacher Dengyō had Kunimichi and Hiroyo to rely upon."

The Two Places and Three Assemblies of the Lotus Sutra supports the doctrine of the Three Bodied Tathagata Shakyamuni who SGI rejects.

"Having thus undoubtedly regretted and reversed his previous teachings, he made clear his true intention, saying, “The World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now must reveal the truth,” and “For long he remained silent regarding the essential, in no hurry to speak of it at once.” Thereupon Many Treasures Buddha sprang forth from beneath the earth and added his testimony that what Shakyamunihad said is true, and the Buddhas of the ten directions assembled in the eight directions5 and reached with their long broad tongues to the palace of the great heavenly king Brahmā in testament. All the beings of the two worlds and the eight groups, who were gathered at the twoplaces and the three assemblies, without a single exception witnessed this.

In light of the above sutra passages, setting aside evil people and non-Buddhists who do not believe in Buddhism, with regard to those who, though Buddhist believers, have devout faith in provisional teachings preached before the Lotus Sutra such as the Nembutsu, and devote themselves to reciting it ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or as many as sixty thousand times a day without chantingNam-myoho-renge-kyo even once in the course of ten or twenty years, are they not like a person who, clinging to the transfer deed already nullified by his parent, refuses to accept its revised version? They may appear to others as well as to themselves to have faith in the Buddha’s teachings, but if we go by what the Buddha actually taught, they are unfilial people.

This is why the second volume of the Lotus Sutra states: “But now this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings in it are all my children. Now this place is beset by many pains and trials. I am the only person who can rescue and protect others, but though I teach and instruct them, they do not believe or accept my teachings.”

This passage means that to us living beings the Thus Come OneShakyamuni is our parent, our teacher, and our sovereign. AlthoughAmida, Medicine Master, and other Buddhas are sovereigns to us living beings, they are neither parents nor teachers. Shakyamuni is the only Buddha endowed with all three virtues and to whom we owe a profound debt of gratitude. There are parents and parents, yet none of them can equal Shakyamuni Buddha. There are all manner of teachers and sovereigns, but none as admirable as he is. Could those who disobey the teaching of this parent, teacher, and sovereign possibly not be abandoned by the heavenly gods and the earthly deities? They are the most unfilial of all children. It is for this reason that the Buddha said, “Though I teach and instruct them, they do not believe or accept my teachings.” Even if they follow the sutras preached before the Lotus and practice them for a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, or a million kalpas, if they do not believe in the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo even once, they will be unfilial. They will therefore be abandoned by the sacred ones7 of the three existences and the ten directions, and hated by both the heavenly gods and the earthly deities. (This is the first of the five guides for propagation.) -- Encouragement to a Sick Person

Ikeda Wisdom Academy "Protecting the Mentor and the Teachings"

"But before that, he had revealed his enlightenment in the form of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the words of this sutra are indeed the very soul of Shakyamuni Thus Come One. And since every single word constitutes the soul of the Buddha, Shakyamuni Thus Come One will protect those who practice this sutra as though he were protecting his very own eyes. He will accompany them just as a shadow accompanies a body. How then could the prayers of such persons not be answered?" -- On Prayer

In real Buddhism it is the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya who protects us.

More things that make no sense...see the latest SGI cult video on the "Lotus Sutra: http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/video/iwa/2015/aug_2/?v=aug2_15

Now go to the ten minute mark, "...and that's why we have a mentor". This assertion comes out of left field, not following one iota the point of attaining Buddhahood discussed immediately prior. In effect, this is inserting Ikedaism into the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of Nichiren. This is hardly protecting the teachings but rather the action of the personality cult of Ikeda to destroy the teachings.

"Soka Gakkai members share the same characteristics as the rest of the human race however I would say that they are among the best examples of our species." -- SGI member

"Concerning this web site, I find it to be the most negative and self-destructive piece of trash on the entire world wide web. Your continous slander of the Soka Gakkai will only bring you to the achivi hell of incessent suffering for many kalpas to come. I sincerely hope that Nikken steps down from his high and mighty throne and stands up like a real man and admiits his wrong doings to President Ikeda and the entire membership of the Soka Gakkai. There is only one organization that will be left standing and it won't be the Nikken sect. You have a lot of nerve to call yourselves Buddhist. I would describe you all as dogs wearing the robes of priests. Nichiren Daishonin would SHIT on you and use your faces to wipe his ASS. You may never in all of history be ever praised by the Buddha Nichiren Daishonin for the evil works that you have done to this planet and it's inhabitants. As far as I am concerned if the rest of the adherents of your concepts of what you so slanderously call Buddhism, die, as the ones that have in the past, I would not weap one tear for them. You have made a mockery of the concept of Buddhism. All of the trash on this web site should be deleted from the internet. The Soka Gakkai doesn't slander you so why in the hell should be so defensive in coming at us like you do? It is really strange that Nittasu Shonin died so mysteriously, isn't it? His body wasn't even cold before Nikken took over the Head Temple. He is not the priest that should inherit the position of High Priest. All of the leaders in the Soka Gakkai know this to be true. I am sure that Nittasu told President Ikeda who was legally to be in that position. Nikken Abe is a thief and a liar. He hates all of the members of the Hokkeko and never loved anyone else that was or wasn't a priest. Now all of you who belong to the slanderous Nikken Sect sleep in the same bed with DUNG. I stand by and watch all of the people you have swayed to come over to the temple die, get divorced, become ill, loose their jobs and status in life, their lives have been devastated and completely destroyed because they follow an evil priest that calls himself the living buddha. This is sick and demented. All of Nikken's teachings are for his benefit. He wants you to believe that he is the true buddha, he wants you to believe that everything he tells you is true. It is not, all that he tells you is false." -- Hellen Chinberg, very very proud leader of the kinder gentler SGI

"The honorary doctorates and professorships I have received [now numbering over 300].... I hope you will be proud of this. I have absolutely no doubt that this good fortune and benefit flows directly to you and your descendants. But your honors and awards are meaningless" -- Daisaku Ikeda

TRUE HONOR IN LIFE BY DR. DAISAKU IKEDA...

Sanmibo had lectured to the court noble and won approval. He reported this to the Daishonin, certain that his master would praise him. Contrary to his expectations, however, the Daishonin severely reprimanded him. It is likely that the Daishonin had long been aware of Sanmibo's desire for fame. He always bent his mind on discerning the inclinations of his disciples in order to lead correctly and help them to perfect themselves. There was no way for Sanmibo's mention of "the great honor" to escape the Daishonin's attention. The Daishonin clearly saw the disciple's fundamental nature reflected in this short phrase. Based on this sign he attempted to purge Sanmibo of his undesirable traits.

"Even if you should meet a bodhisattva of the highest rank, why should you think it anything special? Much less should you stand in awe of even Bonten or Taishaku. They are the servants of our father, Sakyamuni Buddha, who have been sent by him to govern his domain and support the priests who embrace the True Law. Bishamon and the other heavenly kings rule over the four quarters as guards appointed by Bonten and Taishaku. The rulers of the four continents are all the retainers of the four heavenly kings. But the ruler of this little island country of Japan would not even qualify as a retainer of the Wheel-Rolling Kings who reign over the four continents. He is nothing but an island chieftain."

This passage reveals that Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is the only religion capable of saving mankind for all time. The Dai-Gohonzon which we worship is called "the object of worship bestowed on the world," signifying that the unbounded mercy of the True Buddha and the infinite power of Nam~myoho~renge-kyo will benefit the people everywhere on earth from now on to eternity. The scope of the

Daishonin's Buddhism is by no means limited to one country alone. Nor is it a teaching like state-established religions of the past which allowed their leaders to remain comfortable in seats of authority and power. At various times in the past, a few people have tried to glorify Nichiren Daishonin as an ultranationalist or to establish his Buddhism as the official religion of the nation, but their actions only served to degrade true Buddhism and narrow its range. Let me cite an example. When militarism was on the upsurge in Japan, one of the other sects published a collection of lectures on the Daishonin's works, including this Gosho. However, in that book the part of this Gosho which refers to the ruler of Japan as nothing but an island chieftain was omitted. The authorities had probably demanded that this portion be removed. We can clearly see how much the deleted part opposed the nationalistic mentality prevalent in Japan in those days. And the very act to delete it was an outright attempt to cheapen the Daishonin's Buddhism.

"But the ruler of this little island country of Japan would not even qualify as a retainer of the Wheel-Rolling Kings who reign over the four continents. He is nothing but an island chieftain." This clearly shows the way Nichiren Daishonin looked at those who ruled Japan. With his broad perspective he was concerned with saving people all over the world. What grand vision he had! Always recalling his supreme state of life, we ourselves should live on cheerfully and dynamically, taking a broad view of everything.

By calling the retainer of this chieftain "his excellency," exulting over "his gracious invitation" and, what is more, by speaking of "the great honor" you had, are you not in essence expressing your low opinion of me, Nichiren?

From Sanmibo's letter the Daishonin saw that he held court nobles-that is, people of social standing-in high esteem and considered it a great honor to lecture on Buddhism to them. The Daishonin severely reprimanded the disciple for having such an attitude, because he realized that Sanmibo now based his life on worldly honor and no longer on Buddhism as he should. What is the greatest honor in life? It is to embrace the Mystic Law as disciples of the True Buddha. This is exactly what The Entity of Enlightenment means when it states, "Outcasts in the Latter Day are even more respectworthy than the kings and ministers during the two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days." As long as we stand on this spirit, the status or position of those to whom we teach the Law is of no consequence whatsoever.

Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism treats all people equally. We teach the Law to a nobleman in exactly the same way as we do to an ordinary person. For Sanmibo to boast of "the great honor" to lecture for a court noble obviously ran counter to the Daishonin's true intention. What, then, is the true honor for us Buddhists? I cannot help but recall the final passage in the Precepts for Youth written by my master. It states, "For a wise person it is a shame to be praised by a fool. But for him to be praised by the Buddha is a lifelong honor. Be resolved to lay down your lives in front of the Cohonzon." These are quite strong words, but they boldly depict the kind of life we should lead in order to deserve true honor. Sanmibo had been "praised by a fool," which he mistook for a 'great honor."

He had clearly strayed into the pitfall of seeking secular fame and fortune. A passage in Nikko Shonin's Twenty-six Articles of Warning states, "Those believers who are bent on obtaining honor and profit and are lax in their study of Buddhism shall not be called my disciples." With his own eyes Nikko Shonin had seen Sanmibo and others become tempted by fame and fortune and led to violate the Daishonin's admonition. He must have been filled with grief when he wrote the above article.

For us Buddhists there is no greater honor than to be "praised by the Buddha." Keeping this in mind, I want you to live your whole lives filled with great pride to know that you are members of the Soka Gakkai. For this is the only organization which has continued to practice exactly as the True Buddha teaches. As a result it has suffered all sorts of persecution, criticism and slander and, overcoming them all, has advanced a broad movement that is unprecedented in this history of Buddhism.

I recall my master's guidance at a meeting of the Suiko Kai in its early days. Perhaps you remember my mentioning it in the novel, The Human Revolution (see the Seikyo Times, November 1976, p.41). At that meeting, one of the youths asked President Toda, "Sir, people often tell us to go home loaded with honors. How should we consider this in our positions?" My master replied, "You boys seem to think that you can return to your hometowns in glory only after you have attained success or fame. To become the president of a well known enterprise, a university professor or a Cabinet minister-that may be glory for those outside of our organization. Yet no one knows how long such glory will last."

https://www.google.com/search?q=daisaku+ikeda+honors+and+awards&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=u&rlz=1T4LENN_en___US469&tbm=isch&source=univ&ei=sIYIUZXSIOi8igL2oYGQBQ&ved=0CF8QsAQ4Cg&biw=1311&bih=533

Nikko as sole successor is a major theme in the Daishonin's writings, The proof...

Moved by Maggie's story

http://mrbellersneighborhood.com/2012/01/cant-say-no

An SGI lottery ticket or an admission ticket into the Ceremony in the Air?

Most people gain no real understanding, merit, or benefit in the Soka Gakkai. Rarely, an SGI believer, due entirely to the causes he or she has made in the past, will appear to experience some benefit and merit despite SGI's erroneous doctrines, practices, faith, and mistaken object of worship. This is like playing the karma lottery. The Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin promise good fortune in this life and a fortunate birth in the next to 1000 out of 1000 persons. If you wish to manifest the same fortune and merit as Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin, you have to have the same faith and practice as they. It is impossible in the SGI because SGI faith and practice differs from theirs. SGI's Sangha too is different from Shakyamuni Buddha's and Nichiren's. In the Sangha of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, when you buy a ticket, you are buying an admission ticket to the Ceremony in the Air, not a lottery ticket to enrich the Soka Gakkai business suited priests.

The "thinking people" who actually matter

SGI member S.A. sinking ever deeper into the abyss of SGI propaganda writes: 

"The Soka Gakkai is automatically vindicated in the eyes of thinking people who are genuinely concerned about humanity and peace. It will never be vindicated in the eyes of the self serving. Among those with a degree of concern for humanity and peace, who are not entirely self-serving, but have chosen to follow Nikken and believe what he says, it will be vindicated when the fruits of the leap of faith they have taken become apparent to them." 

We, on the other hand, are vindicated by Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin, the "thinking people" who actually matter.

Har Har Hardy Har Har

SOKA GAKKAI SHIPS RADIOS TO CAMBODIA 

"At the request of the U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia, Soka Gakkai's Youth Peace Conference shipped 20,000 used radios and 100,000 dry cell batteries to Cambodia to help support democratic elections." (Source: Report From Japan, A Yomiuri News Service, July 31, 1992) 

It would have been better had SGI shipped radios and dry cell batteries to their 50,000 districts to help support democratic SGI elections. Har Har

Soka Gakkai is the Buddha's intent?

"The Daishonin's Buddhism is now being patiently spread throughout the world by the heartfelt and fearless efforts at dialogue by literally millions of Bodhisattvas of the Earth, rising from the "earth" of the common people's desire for peace and happiness. Only fools would oppose the Buddha's intent!" -- SGI leader

Sir, until you can prove: 1). That the core doctrines of your sect [the DaiGohonzon, Nikko as sole successor, interfaith, and Nichiren as original and eternal Buddha] derive from the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren Daishonin by producing some clear passages of proof; 2). That SGI's Mentor-Disciple teachings derive from the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren by producing some clear passages of proof; 3). and that the exorbitant salaries of top SGI leaders are justified in light of the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren, you are merely spreading lies and fabrications, not Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism, and certainly not the Buddha's intent.

Please understand, we will continue to oppose the SGI as long as it continues to lead the people down an erroneous path. We will continue to attack your erroneous doctrines and practices, first one and then another. Some of you will flee, others will retreat, and still others are captured to become the true disciples of Nichiren.

SGI commits the Wrong of choosing someone other than the Buddha as one's foremost teacher

Ratana Sutta, SN 2-1 cited by Nichiren

"I have never once heard of any SGI leader trying to take anyone's Gohonzon." -- SGI leader

What about the 30,000 Nikken Gohonzons that SGI members were coerced to return and were subsequently burned? I also know of two people, one, a former SGI member and the other, an active SGI member who were given guidance to return or discard their non-SGI Gohonzon. Angela Pasaro has a copy of the so-called DaiGohonzon and "Doris Fromage" has two copies of antique Nichiren inscribed Gohonzons. Neither destroyed nor discarded their non-SGI sanctioned Gohonzon but it is prohibited for SGI members to go to their homes to chant.

Ripley's Believe It or Not

"At one time, President Ikeda was living in an out of the way prefecture and when he moved, he left his omamori Gohonzon behind. You would have thought the statue of the Virgin Mary was crying tears of blood the way people flooded there to chant to it. The number of people who made a pilgrimage there far outnumbered those who went to see the Daigohonzon that year."

"Shakyamuni is dead." -- SGI member

"To the deluded and unenlightened I say that 
I have entered nirvana, 
Although, in fact, I am really here." 
(Chapter 16 Lotus Sutra) '

The SGI top Japanese senior leaders' $350,000.00 a year incomes come from capital gains on soy bean futures?

Paul: Aw but Jim, aren't your leaders paying you to debate?

Jim: Yeah right! We're all becoming millionaires ! ! Hahahahahahaha ... Thanks for the laugh, Paul.

Mark: Your not a top SGI Japanese Senior Leader, Jim. [Now we'll hear from Kathy: "What a racist you are", or "the top Japanese senior leaders are so poor that they can't even afford to drive to the Kaikan'', or "the top Japanese senior leaders are looking more and more like Ghandi every day", or "their $350,000.00 dollar a year incomes are from capital gains on soy bean futures", or "I know several top leaders who write romance novels", or...]

I would maintain my altar and remove any objects associated with Taisekeji/SGI, cranes, pictures of Ikeda, High Priest memorabilia, etc.

"I am on the verge of dismantling my altar and burning my Gohonzon but before I do could you please answer some questions:"

Question: Nichiren said that other forms of Buddhism had lost their power to help/save/enlighten the people. What did he base this on? 

Answer: He based this on three things: Scriptures such as the Daijuku Sutra (Sutra of the Great Assembly), Shugo Sutra (Sutra of Protection), Maya Sutra, Lotus Sutra and Nirvana Sutra; theoretical considerations, such as the relative profundity of the various teachings; and most importantly, an observation and correct appreciation of the actual events of the time and insight into the past and future. 

Question: What separates *your* branch of Nichiren Buddhism from the others? (Please, no name calling here. What are the *doctrinal* or *practical* differences?) 

Answer: "Our founder, the orthodox teacher Nichiju, took the Sutra text and Nichiren's Letters as absolute and proclaimed the Succession Through the Scrolls of the Sutra (kyogan sojo), spreading the teaching with the cry, "I adhere directly to Nichiren Daishonin'. The Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren are our doctrine. 

Other lineages have manufactured forgeries and called them "Letters" of Nichiren Shonin, Minobu which put together the Letter to Lord Hakii (Hakii done gosho) and the Taisekiji faction which forged the Two Successions (Nika sojo), the Selection on the Sublimity of the Original Cause (Hon'in myo sho), and the Selection of the Hundred and Six (Hyaku rokka sho) and others should die of shame before the Patriarch Nichiren Shonin. 

It is assertive propagation while undergoing persecution and beatings for the sake of thr Dharma by the Nichiju lineage since the founder, the Orthodox Teacher Nichiju, such as: The Onin Persecution when the Third Abbot of the Head Temple Myomanji, Nichinin, Nichijitsu and others spread the teaching unfazed by the torture of boiling water; the assertive transmission of the Way by the tenth Abbot Nichijun; the heroic deeds of Nittai in establishing the seven Hokke villages despite various persecutions; Nichigen, the twenty-sixth Abbot's persecution at Azuchi castle; and especially the twenty-seventh Abbot Nikkyo who continued to perform the forceful practices of the Lotus Sutra despite the amputation of his ears and nose and the killing of his young disciples, having incurred the animosity of the Tokugawa Shogunate; and the successive generations of Nikkyo, who day and night suffered persecution after persecution, oppression after oppression for the sake of the Dharma. They were beheaded, imprisoned, burned, and sent into distant exile on foreboding islands for twenty or thirty years and their martyrs' blood flowed as their noble lives were extinguished. Those of Nikkyo's lineage were contemptuously named the "New Disciples" by the general public but they themselves named themselves, "The Congregation of the Orthodoxy of the Original Doctrine" and "Those of the Right Old Doctrine of Nichiju". They [as we] boast[ed] that "we are in the direct lineage of Nichiren Daishonin but unfortunately, unlike us, they were forced underground in order to keep the fire of the faith going.

The people of the Right Old Doctrine in order to continue the Right Faith (sho shin) secretly founded the Daimoku Confraternity (called the Confraternity of the Daimoku of Inner Realization: Naisho Daimoku ko) and expounded the doctrine centered on the biographical traditions of the Three Teachers (Lord Shakya, Nichiren Daishonin, and Nichiju). 

It is this very fact that through the storms of religious persecution and suppression lasting three hundred tempestuous years they endured without falling into local folk religion but kept the doctrine that is a living example of the Succession Through the Scrolls of Sutra. It is something we boast of to other lineages and religions." -- Above answer taken from and slightly edited The Tradition and Doctrine of the Kempon Hokke sect by Tetsuju Kobota

Question: In *your personal view*, is there room for other Buddhist beliefs and practices? I'm curious here about personal insights, not the official party line. 

Answer: For better or worse, there will be other Buddhist beliefs and practices far into the foreseeable future but eventually, all the people will chant Namu Myoho renge kyo and worship the Eternal Buddha (Gohonzon). The Buddha's disciples will spread the Law in the manner most appropriate to the time. We refute the provisional teachings while praising the true teachings. 

Question: For the warring factions: is there any way to sincerely pray for the benefit of "the other side and is it possible to accept your differences and pray for peace at the same time? I ask these last questions because I am on the verge of dismantling my altar and burning my Gohonzon. The pure hatred I read here has me searching for another branch of Buddhism that's a little more, ya know, Buddhist. 

Answer: We pray for others constantly but if erroneous beliefs are permitted and are allowed to spread, Buddhism will be lost and all the people on earth will suffer. 

If it is a Nichiren Shoshu or an SGI Gohonzon that you intend to burn, as long as it is done respectfully and from a faith and understanding centered around the world of Buddha rather than the worlds of anger (hatred) and stupidity (ignorance), you will benefit from your decision. Then you can request a valid object of worship from us, as long as you continue to chant Namu Myoho renge kyo, have faith in the Eternal Buddha, and in the Sangha of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. I would maintain my altar and remove any objects associated with Taisekeji/SGI, cranes, pictures of Ikeda, High Priest memorabilia, etc. 

Question:Any suggestion for another branch of Buddhism that's a little more, ya know, Buddhist? 

Answer: Only the Nichiren Lotus Sutra faith leads to Buddhahood. 

Question: Will Buddhism survive in America given the loud in-fighting between and among the various Nichiren sects? (Here again, an explanation.  Many Americans are seeking a spiritual path, and Buddhism seems to be a trendy place to be these days (thanks largely to Hollywood). The Nichiren sects seem most interested in gaining converts. Therefore, I fear that many Americans will have their first quest for inner peace answered by a call to war. While I recognize (and sincerely appreciate) the many benefits of this practice, I have been driven away by the constant fighting and name-calling.  These petty squabbles will be forgotten in a very few years' time; what will the people then say of Nichiren Buddhism's power to help/save/enlighten?)

Answer: This Saha World is the Eternal Buddha Realm. It is forever. What matters is how many people you yourself teach to chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with the same faith as Nichiren.

Doctrine of the Main Enemy [Stalin] or Buddhist wisdom?

Martin, a Pure Land believer writes: A Nichiren believer wrote: "...from a Nichiren Buddhist perspective, if I turn someone away from a provisional teaching of Buddhism, I am acting like a father to him."  This is known as the doctrine of the Main Enemy (see Stalin, about 1932).

Me: Lets say you have a son. Your son is an A student who scored 1500 on his SAT's. He meets several worldly, cheerful, and youthful army recruiters who are lurking around the high school like cats spying for mice (an analogy to our so called Buddhist priests and present day Buddhist scholars). These recruiters tell your son of the greatness of the intelligence, chemical, biological, and radiation divisions of the Army. They take a special interest in your son, go out to eat with him, tell him about the Japanese, southeast Asian, and Italian women, the camaraderie, the special friendships he will develop in the army, and the peace and security of being among the worlds greatest fighting machine. They tell him he will have his choice of assignments and will get a bonus of $64,000 for a mere six years of service. You are a wise and perspicacious father who knows the truth about the army, these recruiters, their promises, and their practices. Your son has a chance to enter into the accelerated medical program of the Boston University Medical School on a full scholarship because of his original work on  the reversal of the reproductive mechanism of the HIV virus. Would you just sit back while your son made a decision that would adversely affect his destiny and possibly the destiny of all mankind (because of his brilliance and understanding of the mechanism of the growth and transmission of the HIV virus)? Would you not at least sit down with him and attempt to persuade him of the benefits and risks of the decisions that will shape his future and possibly the future of all mankind? Would you fail to tell him of the possibility that he might, rather than securing a choice research position in Army Intelligence, be placed in Infantry and sent to the front lines?

Don't liken me to Joseph Stalin. If you can not discern the relative profundity and merits of the various teachings both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, that is no fault of mine. 

"So Jim, what did Nichikan Shonin mean by "Namu each Successive High Priest" -- Nichiren Shoshu member Paul

SGI leader Jim: [No response]

Me: He meant that Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism is not practiced in Taisekeji.

The banal arguments of those who oppose both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders

http://philanthropyandphilosophy.com/

The Lotus Sutra envelops and expands the Hinayana [Lesser Vehicle]

The Buddha, in a Hinayana Sutra, states:

'Thus I remembered my various past lives -
the first life, the second life, the third life,
the fourth life, the tenth life, the twentieth
life, the thirtieth life, the fortieth life, the
fiftieth life, the hundredth life, the thousandth
life, the hundred thousandth life, the countless
formations of the universe, the countless destructions
of the universe, the formations and destructions of
the universe. I remembered what my given names had
been, what my surnames were, what my tribal names
were, what I ate, what pleasures and sorrows I experienced.'
And in the culmination of the Buddhas lifetime teachings:

THE TATHAGATA ANNOUNCES THAT HE HAS ENTERED NIRVANA -- 'Saddharmapundarika,' [Lotus Sutra] Chapter XVI

But the time since I really attained Buddhahood
is as long ago and distant as that.
It is just in converting the mass of beings by expedients
and causing them to enter the Buddha Way
that I create such a preaching as this. You good sons.
The Sutra Canons which the Tathagata expounds
are all for saving and liberating the mass of beings
I either preach my own body
or preach the body of another or show my own body
or show the body of another or show my own matter
or show the matter of another. The various words I preach
are all true and not empty. What is the reason?
The Tathagata knows and sees the appearance
of the Three Worlds in accordance with reality:
there is no Birth-and-Death,
whether backsliding or emerging;
likewise there is neither existence in the world
nor extinction; they are not real; they are not void,
they are not thus; they are not different.
It is not as the Three Worlds
see the Three Worlds. In such a matter as this
the Tathagata sees clearly
and is without error. Because the various beings
have distinctions of various types of natures
and various types of recollections, I, desiring
to cause various good karmic roots to be produced
by means of considerable causalities,
parables, and words, preach various kinds of dharmas:
The work of the Buddha which I perform
I have never once abandoned even for a brief time.
Thus the time since I attained buddhahood
is very great, long and distant. My life is immeasurable
asemkheyas of kalpas
and I abide forever and am not extinguished.
You good sons. The life which I
achieved by originally practicing the bodhisattva way
is not yet extinguished
and it is twice the above number.
However, though it is not now real extinction,
yet I thereupon proclaim, I am going to take extinction.'
the Tathagata thus converts
the masses of beings by expedients. What is the reason?
If the Buddha were to abide for a long time in the world,
people of poor virtue would not plant good karmic roots
Being poor and lowly
and greedily attached to the five desires
they would fall into the midst of the net of thought
and wrong views. If they saw the Tathagata
ever present and not extinguished
they would then give rise to arrogant licentiousness
and nourish a disdainful idleness and could not produce
the thought that I am difficult to encounter
nor the mind of reverence. For this reason the Tathagata
preaches by expedience. The Bhikshus should know:
it is difficult to encounter
the Buddhas' coming forth in the world."
What is the reason? Of the various people poor in virtue,
having passed through immeasurable hundreds of
thousands of tens of thousands of tens of millions of
kalpasthere are those who see the Buddha
and those who do not see. Because of this fact
I say these words: Bhikshus!.
It is difficult to be able to see the Tathagata."
These beings having heard such words
will necessarily produce
the thought that I am difficult to encounter
and nourish affectionate longing in their hearts
and adoring the Buddha, will then plant good karmic roots.
For this reason although the Tathagata is not extinct
yet He says that He is extinct. Furthermore, good sons,
with the various Buddhas, the Tathagatas,
the Dharmas all are thus.
Because they are for saving the masses of beings
they are all true and not empty.