What SGI could do to win our favor

Nichiren writes in Repaying Debts of Gratitude:

“Miao-lo wrote commentaries on T’ien-t’ai’s works in thirty volumes, the writings known as The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight,” The Annotations on “The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra,” and The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra.” Not only did these thirty volumes of commentary serve to eliminate passages of repetition in T’ien-t’ai’s works and to elucidate points that were unclear, but at the same time, in one stroke, they refuted the Dharma Characteristics, Flower Garland, and True Word schools, which had escaped T’ien-t’ai’s censures because they did not exist in China during his lifetime.”

This happened towards the end of the former half of the Middle Day of the Law. Then, in the latter half of the Middle Day, Nichiren writes about Saicho:

“Immediately he vowed to do something about the situation, saying,  ‘Because the people of Japan are all patrons of those who are slandering the correct teaching, the nation will surely fall into chaos.’ He thereupon expressed his criticisms of the six schools, but when he did so, the great scholars of the six schools and the seven major temples of Nara rose up in anger and flocked to the capital, until the nation was in an uproar. These men of the six schools and seven major temples were filled with the most intense animosity toward Saicho. But as it happened, on the nineteenth day of the first month in the twenty-first year of the Enryaku era (802), Emperor Kammu paid a visit to the temple called Takao-dera, and he summoned fourteen eminent priests— namely, Zengi, Shoyu, Hoki, Chonin, Kengyoku, Ampuku, Gonso, Shuen, Jiko, Gen’yo, Saiko, Dosho, Kosho, and Kambin— to come to the temple and debate with Saicho.”

After defeating them in debate, thanks to Saicho, Japan united under the provisional teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

Today, the disorder in the Nichiren community, with respect to the essential teachings, is much worse than the disarray during the Daishonin’s day regarding the provisional sects, let alone the situation among the various sects during the Middle Day. What’s more, the former ruling party in Japan supports the Komeito and therefore, the SGI. Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet wrote, quoting the Nirvana Sutra in the Opening of the Eyes:

“At that time, this sutra will be widely propagated throughout Jambudvipa. In that age there will be evil monks who will steal this sutra and divide it into many parts, losing the color, scent and flavor of the correct teaching that it contains. These evil men will read and recite this sutra, but they will ignore and put aside the profound and vital principles that the Thus Come One has expounded in it and replace them with ornate rhetoric and meaningless talk. They will tear off the first part of the sutra and stick it on at the end, tear off the end and put it at the beginning, put the end and the beginning in the middle and the middle at the beginning or the end. You must understand that these evil monks are the companions of the devil.”

This is the reality of the world today. The SGI has widely propagated the Lotus Sutra throughout the world but the teachings have lost the color, scent and flavor of the correct teaching that it contains. The SGI leaders and members read and recite this Sutra but they ignore and put aside the vital principles that the Thus Come One has expounded in it. They have replaced the vital principles with ornate rhetoric such as: “We chant the Lotus Sutra to refute the Lotus Sutra”; “Nichiren is the Original Eternal Buddha”; “Myoho renge kyo is the Original Eternal Buddha.”; “Nichiren said this but he meant that.”; and “The SGI is the only group of true believers”.

Is not the reality laid out in the Rissho Ankoku Ron, the reality of warfare, famine, fires, floods, drought, etc. upon us to an even greater degree than during the time of Nichiren, despite the widespread propagation of the Sutra throughout Jambudvipa? The reasons are, the Law has been changed and the Gohonzon has been altered, the vital principles of the Lotus Sutra have been forgotten, and there is no unity in the Nichiren Sangha.

And yet, there is not one person who says, “perhaps this man has reason for saying these things.” (A paraphrasing of a passage in Repaying Debts of Gratitude).

The SGI will continue to spread Nam(u) myoho renge kyo but will it spread the vital principles contained therein? Most importantly, will it spread the Great Secret Law of the Object of Worship?:

“Answer: ‘One: Japan and so on to the whole of Jambudvipa should uniformly take the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine as the Object of Worship.”

The Great Teacher Miao-lo states:

“Even people whose minds deviate from truth will gain great blessings if they form a relationship with an object of truth. But if a person forms a bond with an object that deviates from truth, even if that bond is free from the hindrances of doubt, he will be unable to foster the seed of Buddhahood.”

The SGI must return to the Gohonzon based on the Lord of Teachings, Shakyamuni Buddha of the Sixteenth Chapter of the Lotus Sutra for Kosen Rufu to be realized. It must repudiate the Nichiren as True Buddha Gohonzon of the Great Destroyer of Buddhism, Nichikan. This simple act would unify the Nichiren Sangha. The SGI would then be embraced by the disciples and believers of Nichiren and we would respect your peccadillos* and you ours. This action on the part of the SGI might even convince the Nichiren Shu to abandon their practice of the separate enshrinement of deities. If you fundamentally changed this one doctrine of the SGI faith, we would be overjoyed. We might bestow upon SGI members a Gohonzon based on Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine.