You got that right Blanche

"SGI Vice President Yoshiki Tanigawa, during his recent visit to the U.S., posed the question: For us, what does it mean that President Ikeda is putting the finishing touches on his life and eternalizing the foundation of the Soka Gakkai?

“In concrete terms, this means building the ranks of capable youth who seek Sensei as their mentor and who are committed to their vow of realizing their mentor’s ideals and visions,” he said (see April 7 World Tribune, pp. 10–11).

NO!

That is NO ONE's purpose in life aside from Ikeda's own! HE gets to pursue his own ideals and visions (knock yerself out, fella), but he does NOT get to impose his own preferences on others!

No one should be required to constantly keep someone else's priorities in mind, to be constantly checking everything in his/her life against that other person's "ideals and visions". NO! Each person must develop her/his OWN ideals and visions, based on each person's utterly unique individuality! NO ONE GETS TO COMMAND THAT!" -- Blanche Fromage of RedditSGIwhistleblowers

Interesting read on SGI's Boston Research Center now called the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning and Dialogue

https://www.reddit.com/r/sgiwhistleblowers/comments/86o12q/sgi_presence_in_ecourse/

SGI's damaged seeds

“Some people criticize me, saying, ‘Nichiren does not understand the capacities of the people of the time, but goes around preaching in a harsh manner—that is why he meets with difficulties.’ Other people say, ‘The practices described in the “Encouraging Devotion” chapter are for bodhisattvas who are far advanced in practice; [Nichiren ought to follow the practices of] the “Peaceful Practices” chapter, yet he fails to do so.’ Others say, ‘I, too, know the Lotus Sutra is supreme, but I say nothing about it.’ Still others complain that I give all my attention to doctrinal teachings. I am well aware of all these criticisms against me. But I recall the case of Pien Ho, who had his legs cut off at the knee, and of Kiyomaro (Pure Man), who was dubbed Kegaremaro (Filthy Man) and almost put to death. All the people of the time laughed at them with scorn, but unlike those two men, those who laughed left no good name behind them. And all the people who level unjust criticisms at me will meet with a similar fate. The ‘Encouraging Devotion’ chapter says, ‘There will be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of us.’ I observe my own situation in this passage. Why should it not apply to all of you as well? ‘They will attack us with swords and staves,’ the passage continues. I have experienced this passage from the sutra with my own body. Why do you, my disciples, not do likewise?” (pg. 209)

The SGI teach “Lesser doctrines”: Value creationism; human revolution; shoju in the degenerate age; mentor-disciple as the prime point of the Lotus Sutra; the inequality of those who chant the Daimoku; the purpose of the Juryo-hon is to smash the Hoben-pon and the purpose of Daimoku is to smash the Juryo-hon; Nichiren is the True Buddha; Namu Myoho renge kyo is the True Buddha; Namu Myoho renge kyo is incorrect, Nam Myoho renge kyo is correct; the Lotus Sutra has lost it’s efficacy in Mappo; the common man can not understand the Lotus Sutra or Gosho in Mappo without Sensei's guidance; prayers to repay one’s debt of gratitude to the Three Presidents, not the debt owed to Shakyamuni Buddha; the Nichikan Gohonzon; personal guidance; the list goes on and on. The concept, “innumerable meanings derive from one Law”, does not mean any base or mistaken concept is Buddhism.

The One Vehicle is Myoho renge kyo:

“Thus it was that the eight-year-old dragon girl was able to come out of the vast sea and in an instant give proof of the power of this sutra, and Superior Practices, a bodhisattva of the essential teaching, emerged from beneath the great earth and thereby demonstrated the unfathomably long life span of the Buddha. This is the king of sutras, defying description in words, the wonderful Law that is beyond the mind’s power to comprehend.” (Embracing the Lotus Sutra)

Nichiren does indeed teach, “Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo.” But he also teaches that the mandala Gohonzon (Original Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni) is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the Three Existences:

“If it is not the proper Object of Worship (Gohonzon), even though there be no falsehood [even if the practitioner is sincere] it will not form the seed [of Buddhahood]. The Daimoku of the Hommon [Doctrine of the Original of the Lotus Sutra] is the seed of Buddhahood. This is because the Eternal Shakyamuni of the Honmon has put his Causal Practices (his myriad practices that lead to enlightenment) and his Virtues of the Effect (the merits of the effect, which is Buddhahood) into the seven characters of Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo.” -- The True Object of Worship

and

“If one doubts the strength of the Buddha when he says, “I am the only person who can rescue and protect others”; if one is suspicious of the rope held out by the Lotus Sutra when its teachings declare that one can “gain entrance through faith alone”; if one fails to chant the Mystic Law which guarantees that “such a person assuredly and without doubt [will attain the Buddha way],” then the Buddha’s power cannot reach one, and it will be impossible to scale the embankment of enlightenment.” (Embracing the Lotus Sutra)

and again, it is not enough merely to believe in and chant the Mystic Law:

“Only when one understands all this clearly and believes in it can the Law manifest its power and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas bring benefit to the people. To illustrate, in kindling a fire, three things are needed: a good piece of steel, a good flint, and good tinder. The same is true of prayer. Three things are required— a good teacher, a good believer, and a good teaching— before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from the land.

A good teacher is a priest who is free from any fault in secular affairs, who never fawns upon others even in the slightest, who desires and is satisfied with little, and who is compassionate; a priest who reads and upholds the Lotus Sutra precisely as it teaches and also encourages and leads others to embrace it. Such a priest the Buddha has praised among all priests as the finest teacher of the Law.

A good believer is one who does not depend upon persons of eminence or despise those of humble station; who does not rely on the backing of superiors or look down on inferiors; who, not relying upon the opinions of others, upholds the Lotus Sutra among all the sutras. Such a person the Buddha has called the best of all people.

As for a good teaching, the Buddha has told us that this sutra, the Lotus, represents the foremost among all doctrines. Among all the sutras the Buddha “has preached,” among those he “now preaches,” and among those he “will preach,” this sutra is designated as foremost, and therefore it is a good teaching.” -- How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood 

Being a good believer is insufficient

As far as the “great good” of planting seeds, the SGI seeds are damaged because their Object of Worship is damaged [mistaken]. The beautiful saplings [SGI new members], as they mature, grow into crooked Taisekaji trees. It is better to convert one person to Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism than ten million to the Soka Gakkai.

"Everything the Soka Gakkai says is true IS true" -- SGI member

“Until it Decides to tell its members something different.” — Tsukimoto

"The truth must me negotiated." -- Joan Anderson top Soka Gakkai International leader

2/10/99 The 'Tanuki Bozu' (Soka Gakkai Raccoon Monk) incident by R. Boyce

"The following is from the February 1999 Living Buddhism, at p. 23, concerning the 1952 incident involving the Gakkai Youth Division and Rev. Jimon Ogasawara: "The youth division members met Ogasawara at one of the lodging temples on the head temple grounds and refuted his erroneous doctrine. Then they escorted him to the grave of Makiguchi where he wrote a letter of apology to the Daishonin for distorting the Daishonin's teachings. This is known as the Ogasawara incident."

What does it mean that Ogasawara was "escorted?" The following is a description of what actually happened from "Japan's New Buddhism" by Kiyoaki Murata, p. 96:

"On the eve of April 28, 1952, when Taiseki-ji held a major service to commemorate the founding of the Nichiren sect in 1253, Toda visited the temple with four thousand members of his Youth Division and assaulted Ogasawara. Toda felt justified in doing so to avenge his late teacher and demanded an apology from the octagenarian priest. When Ogasawara refused, the young men, who included Ikeda, later president of the Soka Gakkai, mobbed him and carried him on their shoulders, tagging him with a placard inscribed 'Tanuki Bozu' (Raccoon Monk). Ogasawara was taken to Makiguchi's grave, where he was forced to sign a statement of apology

Recalling this incident in an interview with the author [Murata] in July 1956, Toda admitted hitting the priest 'twice' and said that this was the cause of the extremely unfavorable press his organization then received -- which labeled Soka Gakkai as a 'violent religion.'"

The Living Buddhism article, concealing the violent nature of this incident, goes on to blame the Nichiren Shoshu priests who they claimed were upset, not by the priest's punishment but the fact that lay members were the agents of his punishment. However, it is obvious that they would have had legitimate concerns that several thousand goons had come to the head temple and employed violence during a major ceremony.

"Living Buddhism's" clearly disingenuous account of this incident undermines the credibility of SGI's ongoing series of revisionist history. Even when dealing with a known historical event, the Gakkai presents it in a distorted and dishonest manner."

2001 poem by World Poet Laureate Daisaku Ikeda

With an unflagging life-force

Like the immortal phoenix,

You are fully prepared

To take on any battle

On behalf of good-hearted, honest people.

Do not forget to avenge

The insults of those past persecutions!

Strive fearlessly

Until you have dispersed

Those antagonistic forces,

Those insane slanderers,

Who in those bitter days

Besieged

A champion of truth and justice!

Daisaku Ikeda's poem

WT E-Mail Express

July 13, 2001 | No. 120

Are personal threats part and parcel of SGI doctrine and policy?

Mark R. Rogow

06/10/2010

Dear Sirs:

Should we consider any or all of the views expressed by SGI leaders and members as official SGI doctrine and policy or if not, why not? Also, at what leadership level within SGI may we consider one’s views official, Chapter, Headquarters, Territory, Zone, or National?

I ask because I would like to know how seriously my readers and I should take the views expressed on my blog site, on the internet, and in my personal correspondences with SGI members.

Also, are personal threats part and parcel of SGI doctrine and policy? I don’t mean threats of falling into hell but more along the lines of bodily harm to myself and my family,

Sincerely, 

Mark R. Rogow 

disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin

SGI leaders are cowardly evildoers who merely resemble virtuous people

The 20th anniversary of SGI’s first refusal to publicly debate has come and gone. The Daishonin teaches: “Or if that is not the case and I myself am at fault, then you, the god of the sun, must show me so! Let those disciples be summoned to debate with me, and if I am bested in the argument and yet refuse to change my views, then you gods may take away my life!”

He also states: “For example, if a commanding general is fainthearted, his soldiers will become cowards.” He might as well be speaking about the “great generals” [top SGI-USA senior leaders] of Soka and their always victorious members, men like Danny Nagashima, Greg Martin, Bill Aiken, Ian McIlraith and the unpaid senior leaders and members.

Nichiren also teaches: “In battles soldiers regard the general as their soul. If the general were to lose heart, his soldiers would become cowards.” Since the generals of Soka have lost heart, you too will lose heart.

In his famous quote about the Great Sword of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren states, “Even a sword will be of no use to a coward.” He also states, “A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered.”; “...Nichiren’s disciples cannot accomplish anything if they are cowardly.”; and “You must never be cowardly, or you will become the object of ridicule.” Nichiren also states, “Greedy, cowardly, and foolish, they nonetheless pass themselves off as wise persons.” All of Soka’s money can’t buy these men courage. Is this why there are so many untimely deaths of SGI Senior leaders and their family members and so many unfulfilled dreams? Is it because SGI has replaced Shakyamuni Buddha with Daisaku Ikeda or is it because SGI leaders are cowards that the faith of so many Bodhisattvas of the Earth has been destroyed?

Let me be the first to ridicule these cowardly disciples of Daisaku Ikeda. Nichiren might well be talking about the SGI-USA seniors, in the following passages:

“Yet with the lay nun Linda Johnson, Guy Mccloskey, Ian McIlraith, Danny Nagashima , and the like, who are cowardly, unreasoning, greedy, and doubting, my words have no more effect than pouring water on lacquer ware or slicing through air.” I have fared no better than Nichiren Daishonin with these Soka men.

“I [ SUGGEST you begin the religious debate with these words:] “Although I am an ignorant layman, among the teachings I have heard, I was especially impressed by the passage in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra that reads, ‘Now this threefold world [is all my domain . . . ]’ ” This sutra passage means that this country of Japan is the domain of Shakyamuni Buddha. In addition to the fact that all the gods, such as the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, and Emperor Jimmu, and all the people, from the ruler of the nation on down, dwell within his realm, he is the Buddha to whom we living beings are greatly indebted for three reasons. First, he is our sovereign; second, he is our teacher; and third, he is our father. Among all the Buddhas of the ten directions, only Shakyamuni Buddha is endowed with these three virtues. Therefore, even if all the people of the country of Japan were to serve Shakyamuni Buddha wholeheartedly just as they now do Amida Buddha (or Daisaku Ikeda), if they were to place him side by side with another Buddha and treat him in the same manner, that would still be a grave error. For example, though someone were our own ruler and wise besides, if we were to shift our allegiance to the ruler of another country—for instance, if, while dwelling in Japan, we were to pay honor to the king of China or Koryö, and slight the sovereign of Japan— could we be called persons who honor the great sovereign of this country?”

He goes on to say:

“This is all the more true in the case of the SGI leaders who without exception have shaved their beards and donned business suits as disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. They are not the original disciples of Amida Buddha (nor of Daisaku Ikeda). Instead however, they who have no halls in their temples where Shakyamuni is enshrined or where the Lotus meditation is practiced, and who have neither painted nor wooden images [of Shakyamuni] nor even a copy of the Lotus Sutra, have set aside Shakyamuni Buddha, who is fully endowed with the three virtues. In each district, village, and household throughout the country, they have erected more images than there are stars in the sky of Amida Buddha (or Daisaku Ikeda), who possesses not a single one of these virtues, and they chant the name of Ikeda exclusively, sixty thousand or eighty thousand times a day. Although such acts appear to be most admirable, when we view the matter in the light of the Lotus Sutra, we find that these good people are guilty of offenses heavier than those of wicked men who daily commit the ten evil acts. Evil people do not rely on any Buddha whatsoever, so they cannot be accused of disloyalty. Moreover, if they should become good people, they might even devote themselves to the Lotus Sutra. Yet it is difficult to imagine that the people of Japan could ever turn their hearts with more seriousness and affection toward Shakyamuni Buddha than they do Amida Buddha (or Daisaku Ikeda), or toward the Lotus Sutra (than they do the Human Revolution). Thus, they are evildoers who only resemble virtuous people. And among evildoers, they are the worst of the most terrible slanderers and icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief, in all Jambudvipa. With regard to such people, Shakyamuni Buddha declared in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra, “When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avichi hell.”

According to SGI, Daisaku Ikeda is the actual True Buddha, Nichiren merely a theoretical Buddha

"Daisaku Ikeda is the Buddha of the modern age because he is a leader who knows how to fuse Buddhism into the daily lives of common mortals in terms of action. While Nichiren had to open the way in terms of theory and doctrine." -- Jodine of the Phillipines YWD senior leader

Refuting Ted Morino and the Soka Gakka

Ted: Even in the Lotus Sutra, the first half (from the 1st to 14th Chapter) is considered to be the theoretical teachings, but the second half (from 15th to 28th Chapters) is actual teachings and is regarded as more important. Depending upon the time and understanding of his disciples, the teachings have been changed (or developed). In other words, we have to study and understand the doctrines with open and flexible minds, not with Christian fundamentalist attitude..

Mark: With one fell swoop, Ted demolishes Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings that every character of the Lotus Sutra is a golden Buddha and he asserts that the teachings are developing. 

How can one develop that which is unconditioned, ageless, and deathless? The teachings are revealed, according to the time. That the teachings were perfect from the start is most difficult to believe and most difficult to understand. Nichiren has this to say in the Selection of the Time:

“Even though they did touch somewhat on this question, they did not make clear such vitally important doctrines as the ten mystic principles of the theoretical teaching and of the essential teaching, the fact that persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, the fact that the Buddha attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past, the fact that the Lotus Sutra is the foremost of all the sutras preached in the past, present, or future, or the doctrines of the hundred worlds and thousand factors and of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

They did no more than point a finger at the moon, as it were, or touch on some parts of the Lotus Sutra. But they said nothing at all about whether or not the process of instruction is revealed from beginning to end, whether or not the original relationship between teacher and disciple is clarified, or which teachings would lead to enlightenment and which would not.”

Ted writes, “We must study and understand with open and flexible minds”. This is nothing more than a s[l]ick rationale for altering the teachings, deprecating the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha, and self agrandizing the mentor and the SGI. What he is attempting to exalt is "the inferior thinking itself superior" which is one of the Fourteen Slanders.

On the other hand, Nichiren talks about pure faith as the key to understanding, not an open flexible mind. There are almost 700 references to faith and more than 400 references to mind in the writings of Nichiren Daishonin. Nowhere, not in one place, does Nichiren Daishonin associate or connect an open and flexible mind to faith. On the other hand, he teaches for example:

“The Lotus Sutra, however, contains such phrases as 'honestly discarding expedient means', 'all that you [Shakyamuni] have expounded is the truth”, 'honest and upright, gentle in intent,' and 'gentle, peaceful, honest, and upright.' Those who believe in this sutra, therefore, must have minds that are as straight and as taut as a bowstring or a carpenter’s inking line. One may call dung sandalwood, but it will not have the sandalwood’s fragrance. A liar never becomes a truthful person simply because one calls him honest. All the sutras are the Buddha’s golden teachings, his true words. When compared with the Lotus Sutra, however, they are false, flattering, abusive, or double tongued. The Lotus Sutra alone is the truth of truths. Only honest people can keep faith in this sutra, a teaching free from all falsehood. Certainly you are a woman who believes in the [Buddha’s] true words.”

Proclaiming that the Human Revolution is the Lotus Sutra of the present age is the worst possible slander of the Law according to Nichiren

“To ignore the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra and assert that other sutras stand on a par with it is to commit the worst possible slander of the Law, a major offense of the utmost gravity. No analogy could suffice to illustrate it. The Buddhas, for all their powers of magical transformation, could never finish describing its consequences, and the bodhisattvas, with all the wisdom at their command, could not fathom its immensity. Thus, the “Simile and Parable” chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, “If I were to describe the punishments [that fall on persons who slander this sutra], I could exhaust a kalpa and never come to the end.”

This passage means that not even a whole kalpa would be time enough to explain the full gravity of the offense of a person who acts even once against the Lotus Sutra.”

Proclaiming that the Human Revolution is the Lotus Sutra of the present age and teaching the Human Revolution and musings of Ikeda at the expense of teaching the Lotus Sutra is a serious slander. Those who do so will be punished according to the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin. Have we not already seen such punishment meted out by Shakyamuni Buddha and the Ten Demon Daughters against SGI Senior leaders?

Nichiren goes on to say:

“For this reason, a person who commits this offense will never be able to hear the preaching of the Buddhas of the three existences, and will be cut off from the doctrines of the Thus Come Ones, who are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Such a person will move from darkness into greater darkness. How could he escape the pains and sufferings of the great citadel of the Avichi hell? Could a thoughtful person fail to dread the prospect of lengthy kalpas of misery?” (Embracing the Lotus Sutra).

Please reflect on your association with the SGI. You should chant the Daimoku with faith in the Lotus Sutra and the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni while avoiding slanderers [except to correct their mistakes].

Prayer for the deceased

“By this merit, may the souls of the ancestors of the ………… family and of all the sixfold relations of their lineage* be free from sufferings and obtain the pleasure of peace. May they wake up from delusion and attain enlightenment. May they escape from life and death at once and attain the Great Bodhi. And also, may all sentient beings, the myriad souls of the Dharma realm, benefit equally. Namu Myoho renge kyo.”

*Father, mother, wife or husband, children, older and younger siblings.

SGI fosters the life condition of Hunger [Greed]

“For instance, some say, “You can overcome your problems if you do shakubuku, if you promote Seikyo Shimbun you can be happy. You can be happy if you try to do more zaimu.” This is a life condition of hunger. You are always expecting something in return. If you don’t overcome your problem you will resent having made the effort. This is different from the life condition of Bodhisattva. The Daishonin states: “Self and others rejoice together.” — Lisa Jones.  SGI fosters the life condition of Hunger

Don’t forget Rapture, the big pay-off for Hunger!! As most of those reading here, the lower six worlds are tightly chained together and those chains are what really enslaves people to a group like the SGI cult. If you score big in one world and you wind up being dragged through the other five. Like winning at the casino, you keep going back for the rush. Successfully shakubuku someone and you go looking for two more. Never time to raise those people who you’ve shakubukued because the “organizational tempo” was just too high.

I also think this makes a negative case for Shomon and Engaku (Learning and absorbtion) since all of the SGI/NSA literature is wrapped around the Shin-gyo-gaku mindset (faith, practice, study) in which you are strongly encouraged to buy study materials, practice excessively and “believe” in the dogma. Kind of seals you into the equation when taken in total.

In my thirty years of practice I looked long and hard for people who lived up to Bodhisattva and found none. I did meet lots of “false buddha’s” (i.e. people who were book smart but were, like myself, trapped in the lower six worlds and totally self absorbed in their SGI persona’s.) Boddhisattva is also known as “humanity” and I’m afraid the organizational practices and goals seem to be aligned in the opposite direction.

As an aside, at one leaders meeting after seeing the projections for shakubuku in a campaign one of my fellow leaders observed that if we stayed on that growth rate we would have converted every man, woman and child in the world within 20 years. Nice goal but totally unrealistic, and frankly stupid. No one was encouraged at that meeting, just annoyed. And as a commentary on the leadership, pushing out something like that to the members was unmerciful and unenlightened. Just setting everyone up for disappointment and guilt (i.e. those worlds of jigoku and chikushou) -- Former SGI member

Nichikan versus Nichiren

Nichikan teaches:

1. The twenty eight chapter book is the Lotus Sutra for Shoho [Former Day]

2. The Maka Shikan is the Lotus Sutra for Zoho [Middle Day]

3. The Dai Gohonzon is the Lotus Sutra for Mappo [Latter Day]

Nichiren teaches:

"To say that Great Concentration and Insight and the Lotus Sutra are identical in nature is to equate a commentary by a Buddhist teacher with the pronouncements of the Buddha himself, which is a very grave error. How much more fallacious is it, then, to assert that Great Concentration and Insight is superior to the Lotus Sutra! That such an assertion should appear at this time must be some plan of the Buddhas and gods whereby they mean the votary of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law to make clear to all the difference between the sutra teachings propagated by those who were taught and converted by the Buddha in his true identity and the teachings of those taught and converted by the Buddha in his transient status, between the Middle Day of the Law and the Latter Day of the Law, and between those entrusted with the theoretical teaching and those entrusted with the essential teaching. From this it is evident that among the followers of the present-day Tendai school those who put forth such a fallacious view are men who are unaware of the debt of gratitude they owe to T’ien-t’ai, the founder of their school, and that they cannot escape blame for this error."

The Life of the Original Buddha of the Most Distant Past

"Further, the Law of the Lotus Flower of the Sublime Dharma is the unchanging law which has existed in all its fullness from the beginningless beginning, the beginningless Most Distant Past. In other words, we may call it the Life of the Original Buddha of the Most Distant Past." -- The Tradition of Nichiren Doctrine by Rev.Tetsujo Kubota

Proof of Kempon Hokke's sect complicity in slander

                   Myomanji head temple of the Kempon Hokke sect

"To avoid complicity (yodozai), do not give religious offerings to other sects or religions or receive the religious offerings from those who do not accept the above doctrine and do not attend the   services of other sects."

PROOFS:

"If there are bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasikas, upasikas, who put forth coarse, evil words and blaspheme the True Dharma, and creating this grave karma, never repent and have no penitence in their minds.... in that True Dharma they never have the mind to guard, spare, erect or establish but disparage, attack, slight and belittle and have many errors and faults in their words.... these also one names, 'heading towards the way of the icchantikas.' Only excluding classes of icchantikas such as these, if one donates to the remaining ones, it is to be praised" (Great Parinirvana Sutra 10: T.12.425a-b).

"If they are blasphemers, one ought not to abide together with them and likewise not approach and be intimate with them; if one approaches and is intimate and abides together with them, at once one heads toward the Avici Hell" -- Jurinkyo Sutra (Sutra of Ten Wheels) "Chapter of the Multitude of Good Appearances" (T.13.704b, cited  at Nambu Rokuro dono gosho, STN, v. 1, 487; Chu Hokekyo, v. jo, 2-79).

"Although nourishing (yashinau) the monks of the various sects of the Tendai, Shingon, and others of the present age outwardly appears, indeed, to be good [karmic] roots, inwardly it is a great evil surpassing even the Ten Evils and Five Rebellious [Sins]" (Chie bokoku gosho, STN, v.2, 1130).

"Only one should exclude and put away the blasphemous offerings of those of the Shingon, Zen Sect, Nembutsu and so on. For example, they are like adhering to and reverencing the Emperor Shakra [King of the Devas or Gods] while exalting and esteeming the asuras [the enemies of the Gods]"(Jomyo shonin gohenji, STN, v. 2, 1300). -- Translations by Graham Lamont

Why does SGI disguise their internal conflicts in Singapore, Italy, Spain, Ghana, and Argentina in the name of Kosen Rufu?

‘For Marxists, consensus is a highly ideological concept used to perpetuate class rule by attempting to disguise the extent of conflict within society. The idea of consensus became associated with the debate about ‘the end of ideology’, and the supposed replacement of conflict about basic values and goals by harmony about the ends to be attained.” — Max Weber

The mystical Nichiren by Matthew Presseau

“One of the remarkable things that Nichiren did, in my opinion, was to fuse esoteric theory into  actual practice in that he saw that the actions of his body in this world were capable of creating more merit than any visualization practices. That what some did in theory in visualization, Nichiren actually did in this life – he read the Lotus Sutra with his body, not just with mudras, and that living itself was a constant mudra. The persecutions he endured were the persecutions of great beings sent to test his resolve and create the circumstances where he could have the opportunity to give his life for the Lotus Sutra. This is the mystical Nichiren." -- Matthew Presseau

Regarding the top SGI senior leaders

Let them earn their own way through the world like the laymen and laywomen of the Buddha founded sect.

Patent application Soka Gakkai for Namu Myoho renge kyo

Patent application SGI

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo 

In January 1972, the Soka Gakkai, at the request of its President, Mr. Daisaku Ikeda, filed several patent applications at the National Office of Industrial Property, concerning the trade mark “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.” The publication, in the Official Journal of the Japanese filing of this mark, is dated June 20, 1974. Complaints were filed by organizations affiliated with the School Minobu and other Nichiren Shu affilliates who also recite Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, Rissho KOSEIKAI MYOCHIKAI Kyodan of Tokyo, the MYODOKAI Kyodan, DAIHEKIKAI Kyodan of Osaka.The approval was canceled on May 20, 1977. It's ‘worth noting that the Soka Gakkai filed 17 other brands “trademark” as “Shohondo”, “Dainippon Komeito,” “From Nichirenghe Zan”, the ancient name of Mount Fuji, etc..

Extracted from the French magazine “Le Bouddhisme de l’Ecole Fuji”, No. 17 December 1992 – Part following the No. 15, in turn, translated from “Nichiren Dai” – November 1992 (from a footnote on the page text of the 41 ° course held in the Great Hall of the Reading Taisekiji)

Question for your top SGI senior leaders: "Why did SGI file a patent and trademark application for Namu Myoho renge kyo?"

SGI members lack faith

Ikeda proudly boasts that he never had any formal education. He was a graduate of “Toda University”. Toda taught him everything he ever needed to know, mathematics, history, business, sociology, science, literature, and the arts.

I say to you, his disciples, that you lack faith in the mentor. If you really had faith, you would forego college and would study the writings of Ikeda exclusively. You will learn everything you need to know about business, mathematics, literature, language, philosophy, science, music, engineering, and the arts. If you follow the mentor, you will be bestowed with awards and honors from ten thousand miles afar, become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams, and be revered as if you were Arhats possessing the six transcendental powers.

Now wake up. There is no power in the Soka Gakkai teachings. None.

In the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, the nail that stick up is adorned with garlands.

We are as disparate a groups of individuals as those disciples of Nichiren during his lifetime. SGI leaders, on the other hand, are as uniform in their politics, their religious views, their mannerisms, the cadence of their speech, the uniformity of their teachings, their lack of tolerance for members who think out of the box, and [at one time], even their dress, facial hair, and the length of their hair [the men]. In the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, the nail that stick up is adorned with garlands. In SGI, it is hammered down.

SGI by-laws

In 1966, the SGI by-laws [which remain in effect] were further changed so that:

1. - The president is also the “official representative” of the Gakkai.
2. - He is manager of all its affairs.
3. - He has the power to convoke the Leaders Meeting (of all 21 responsible officials).
4. - He appoints and dismisses all the other responsible officials.
5. - He appoints and dismisses all the vice-general directors, the directors and all “other necessary officials.”
6. - He holds office for life.
7. - He chooses his own successor. 

Makiguchi admits that the Soka Gakkai is engaged in the fault of "mixing

“Soka Kyoiku-gakkai is unique in that it is a combination of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin and my own philosophy of values. By becoming a Nichiren Shoshu priest I would be unable to teach anything except the doctrine of their faith, therefore I will not enter this sect.” (Showa Tokko Dan Atsu Shi — History of Oppression by the Secret Police in Showa Period, Part IV.)

This proves that they can never know the great favors of Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin.

SGI makes Nichiren cry sorrowful tears

“I met a woman once who had recently quit her fairly-new Nichiren [SGI] practice. When I asked her why, she told me that when she related her expressed desire to penetrate and actualize the Gohonzon, it had been met with suggestions that she would be better off chanting for a television set or a car.”– From newbuddhist.com under search Nichiren

Dropping the character Mu

In SGI's writings, the character Mu has been dropped ten billion times. Nichiren, on the other hand, never once in forty years ever dropped the character Mu.

"In the ninth volume of the Nirvana Sutra we read: “Good man, there are icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief. They pretend to be arhats, living in deserted places and speaking slanderously of the correct and equal sutras of the great vehicle. When ordinary people see them, they all suppose that they are true arhats and speak of them as great bodhisattvas.” It also says: “At that time, this sutra will be widely propagated throughout Jambudvīpa. 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."

"Again, a single character equals innumerable others, for the validity of the sutra was attested to by the Buddhas of the ten directions. The treasures bestowed by a single wish-granting jewel equal those bestowed by two such jewels or by innumerable jewels. Likewise, each character in the Lotus Sutra is like a single wish-granting jewel, and the innumerable characters of the sutra are like innumerable jewels. The character myō was uttered by two tongues: the tongues of Shakyamuni and Many Treasures. The tongues of these two Buddhas are like an eight-petaled lotus flower, one petal overlapping another, on which rests a jewel, the character of myō.

"A single character of the Lotus Sutra is like the great earth, which gives rise to all things. A single character is like the great ocean, which contains the water from all rivers. A single character is like the sun and moon, which illuminate all four continents.

"Similarly, though we gather together all the various sutras, such as the Flower Garland Sutra, the Āgama sutras, the Correct and Equal sutras, the Wisdom, Nirvana, Mahāvairochana, and Meditation sutras, they could never equal even a single character of the Lotus Sutra."

"...Every single character in this sutra represents the true intention of the Buddhas, and every brushstroke of it is a source of aid to those who repeat the cycle of birth and death. There is not a single word in it that is untrue."

“The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, before which I bow my head, in its single case, with its eight scrolls, twenty-eight chapters, and 69,384 characters, is in each and every one of its characters the true Buddha who preaches the Law for the benefit of living beings.”

"Every single character in this sutra represents the true intention of the Buddhas, and every brushstroke of it is a source of aid to those who repeat the cycle of birth and death. There is not a single word in it that is untrue."

"If one discards one word or even one brushstroke of the sutra, the offense is graver than that of one who kills one’s parents ten million times over, or even of one who sheds the blood of all the Buddhas in the ten directions." 

"The eighth volume of The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight” states, “So long as a person does not try to depart from the sufferings of birth and death and aspire to the Buddha vehicle, the devilwill watch over him like a parent.” This passage means that, even thougha person may cultivate roots of goodness, so long as he practicesNembutsu, True Word, Zen, Precepts, or any teaching other than theLotus Sutra, he will have the devil king for a parent. The devil king will possess and cause other persons to respect him and give him alms, and people will be deluded into believing that he is a truly enlightened priest. If he is honored by the sovereign, for instance, the people are sureto offer him alms. On the other hand, a priest who incurs the enmity of the ruler and others [because of the Lotus Sutra] is surely practicing the correct teaching."

For this reason alone, SGI is not Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism. For this reason alone, not one Gakkai member receives the boundless benefit of the Law.

Strange and bizarre SGI

SGI shuns and castigates those who follow the correct law while praisng Islam.

Abandoning the Lotus Sutra and the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, the SGI misunderstands Buddhism and the world in which we live. Ignoring and sugar coating reality has become the mantra of the Soka Gakkai while they shun and castigates those who follow the correct Law. The most glaring example is, those who point out the very nature of Islam, the Q’uran, and its followers and believers, are severely criticized and rebuked by Soka Gakkai members. Copying, reading, reciting and analyzing those many dozens of passages of the Q’uran that advocate cheating, lying, killing, and maiming in the name of Islam is more fraught upon than the actual cheating, lying, maiming and killing itself that is being perpetrated by the followers and believers of Islam in the name of Islam.

How horrible when someone from the west widely publishes a video of the Islamists sawing through the neck of an American or Englishman. How horrible when someone publishes a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb strapped to his turban. Far more energy and resources are spent remonstrating and calumniating those who reveal the ugly face of Islam than against those who are the ugly face of Islam.

It is bad enough, the doctrinal and theoretical basis of Islam. The real reality of Islam is ten billion times more sinister. Afghanistan’s puritanical Taliban Islamic militia demolishing statues in Bamiyan, including two towering ancient stone Buddhas, was designed to stop the worshipping of “false idols”. How much worse will be their enmity and actions should Islam take hold against the votaries of the Lotus Sutra who worship the Gohonzon? Islam nearly destroyed Buddhism and killed millions of Buddhists in India. How much worse will it be 2500 years after the Buddha’s passing if the malignancy that is Islam once again takes hold? Compare and contrast the “puritanical Islamists” to the pure believers of Christianity, such as the Quakers and Mennonites? Compare the Islamic fundamentalists and Mohammad to the votaries of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin? Who is strapping bombs to women and mental defectives and blowing up innocent men, women, children, and animals in the pet market?

There are two ways of propagating the Lotus Sutra: The gentle method and the break and subdue method. To convert the Quakers and Mennonites of the world, we employ the gentle practices. To convert the Islamists, we employ the break and subdue practices. These bearded turbaned men of Islam are in Hell now and after they die they will go to Hell. Those who would rob the life of the votaries of the Lotus Sutra [and without doubt, since they have no compunction of taking the life of their fellow religionists, they would rob us of our life], must be routed.

Who will be the first to die if Islam reigns supreme? It will be those who chant Namu Myoho renge kyo, revere Shakyamuni Buddha, and worship the Gohonzon. This is not the imaginings of a man who needs help, it is clearly written in the Islamic Holy Book, the basis of Shariah. According to Sharia, they may spare believers in God, the Christians and the Jews but they may not compromise with Pagans or the Buddhist believers in the True Law.

These men of Islam are not politically correct. They are fervent, profound, and serious believers in the Q’uran and the tenets of Islam. They would rather die or preferably have you die than allow you to uphold even a sentence or phrase of the True Law let alone the Object of Worship for the salvation of all mankind. They will not sugar coat your “heresies” or lifestyle. They will not overlook your “apostacies”. They will hold you accountable for going against their Law. They are merciless.

If these men gain ascendency there will be no more Lotus Sutra; no more SGI; no more NST; no more Nichiren Shu; and no more Kempon Hokke. The propagation of Namu Myoho renge kyo will be outlawed, the men will be killed, the women will be incorporated into their harems, and our children will become the next suicide bombers or exclusive students of Islam. Society and civilization as we know it will cease to exist and we will return to the middle ages. All positive discourses will cease and humanity will be reciting the Q’uran day and night at the expense of scientific and philosophical advancement.

I will not be cowed by Patrick, Phillip Bret, Daisaku Ikeda, Barack Obama, George Bush, Osama Bin Laden, nor Shamon Tsuchiya. I would rather die than see you die or witness a halt to the flow of the Buddhist Law.

"Shakyamuni Buddha is the original teacher for all people." -- Nichiren

“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."

With my deep respect,

Nichiren

"Catholics are our older brothers." -- Daisaku Ikeda

World Tribune, May 24, 1993, p. 4 (Ikeda speech of May 3, 1993)

“Catholics have experienced a history of suffering; they have walked a path of bitter struggle. Viewed in that vein, I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that Catholics are our older brothers.”

Except for Makiguchi, no one from SGI has ever been martyred and, unlike the jesuits and the master Nichiren, Ikeda has hardly lived even a day as a mendicant. He’s lived like a Pope, the rich lifestyle, everyone kissing his hands and feet, the vast Vatican and Soka art treasures bought off the backs of the people donating every bit of their extra money to the Church and Soka.

Ikeda is the lay-Pope of the East and the Soka Gakkai is modeled after Rome [Vatican].

The Catholics are the older brothers of the SGI while other Nichiren Buddhists, our priests, members, and our Lotus Sutra “theology,” are lower than dirt to them.

You know who is actually lower than dirt don’t you? Who are the real betrayers and traitors of the Nichiren faith?

Next time you do gongyo in front of the Nichikan Gohonzon, think about it… On second thought, find a blank wall to chant to, if you really wish to be illumned about this issue. The Nichikan Gohonzon has too much baggage and too too many demons.

SGI holds a grudge against Shakyamuni Buddha

SGI’s 2010 video presentation of Ikeda’s lecture on The Supreme Leader of the World Gosho is [was?] available on the SGI-USA website. Nothing, not one word was said about the grave consequences of abandoning Shakyamuni Buddha which is a major point of this writing. 

Nichiren Daishonin states in this writing:

“….However, they are alike in that they all abandoned Shakyamuni Buddha. There is no doubt, therefore, that our country will be ruined. This is a teaching that has never yet been revealed. Keep it strictly to yourself.

If there are any among my followers who are weak in faith and go against what I, Nichiren, say, they will meet the same fate as did the Soga family. I will tell you the reason. It was due to the efforts of father and son, Soga no Iname and Umako, that Buddhism came to be established in Japan. They could have held the same position as Brahma and Shakra at the time of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni’s appearance in this world. Because they had brought Mononobe no Okoshi and his son Moriya to ruin, they became the only influential clan in the country. They rose in rank and controlled the nation, and their family enjoyed high prosperity. But Umako grew so arrogant that he had Emperor Sushun assassinated and many princes killed. Moreover, his grandson, Iruka, had his retainers put twenty-three of Prince Shotoku’s children to death. Thereupon Empress Kogyoku, following the advice of Nakatomi no Kamako, had a statue cast of Shakyamuni Buddha and prayed to it fervently. As a result, Iruka, his father, and the entire Soga family all perished at once.

Draw your own conclusions from what I said above. Those among my followers who fail to carry through their faith to the end will incur punishment even more severe. Even so, they should not harbor a grudge against me. Remember what fate Sho-bo, Notobo, and others met.”

Daisaku Ikeda, SGI leaders, and many general members hold a grudge against Nichiren Daishonin, the Lotus Sutra, and especially Shakyamuni Buddha. You will see for yourselves how their lives turn out.

There is no Gojukai

Nichiren did not write one thing on a Gojukai. There is only the Daimoku. The Daimoku is the transmission. Gojukai was invented by the established sects ad a means of control and finance. 

"I am the only true mentor" - Daisaku Ikeda

I posted the following quote by Daisaku Ikeda: 

“I am the only true mentor." 

An SGI leader responded, "Sensei was saying that he was the 'only true mentor' of himself." Another SGI member [CL] responded:

"I agree, this kind of statement (whether through mis-translation both linguistically and/or culturally) makes a person like myself a bit uncomfortable. However, I never feel that, perhaps because I am a fairly new member (having done a ton of research prior to my joining, surveying the Buddhist landscape for years, from academia to personal interactions to Internet to within my own head and heart, etc..) I am being “conditioned”. The reason for this, I think, is that I do not feel a sense of what we might call “guilt” for having an uncomfortable feeling about a statement such as this (“I am the only true mentor”) I can say this with great clarity of mind. I can say this because in the Middle Way of Mahayana, one must not become attached to the uncomfortable feeling one might get when ordinary humans like President Ikeda make these kinds of statements from time to time. I would say that the life-narrative of Ikeda is a true one insofar as he can call himself the “only true mentor” of himself and he can also call himself the “only true disciple” as well, just as you and I and everybody else can. That is the beauty of the stand-alone spirit, the beauty of the individual honored by the Lotus Sutra which is honored by so many.

Therefore, one must also not be attached to the idea that he is not an ordinary human being who is both mentor and disciple at the same time!

Also, I might add that we should just ponder for a moment the profound nature of having the Internet, both an engine of great research as well as a boiling cauldron of slander, all at once! Perhaps, many years ago, the absence of such a tool hindered the NSA member from exploring various aspects of the modern Buddhist landscape and one was locked inside the literature of their chosen “path”. Buddhism was, is and will always be “free to choose”. We will ALL win!" -

Henry, still another SGI member responded:

'This CL seems to have gained an enlightened perspective from observing his own mind and the attachments formed therein. I like it. Let’s win like CL says!

Thanks for posting Mark!"

My response:

Your welcome. You are in the minority here in your thoughts about CL, SGI, and CL's “enlightened” perspective. Let me see if I can’t change your mind:

I will deconstruct another one of his posts and see if his perspective jives with the reality of SGI, the Lotus Sutra, and what might be Nichiren’s perspective of the SGI. I feel a little uncomfortable speaking for the Great Man Nichiren but I see few standing up for those principles for which Nichiren lived and died, other than myself and a handful of other disciples and believers.

CL states:

“The organization that President Ikeda constructed has developed into an international network of Nichiren Buddhist Sanghas of ordinary laypeople, each one a president of the SGI, under the authority of one Law, the Mystic Law, and one precept, the Diamond precept, is taken.”

The first thing Nichiren would strike would be his name, from "Nichiren Buddhist sanghas". The second thing he would strike would be “Buddhist”. What the SGI practices is not the faith of Nichiren. I say this because Nichiren believed in the Transmission Through the Scrolls of the Sutra (following the Law and not the person) and he believed in Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Both principles the SGI fail to uphold.

Is SGI Buddhist? One definition of Buddhism that accords with the Lotus Sutra is, “The Teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha.” Another definition of Buddhism that accords with the Lotus Sutra is, “The various groups that both adopt the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and venerate Shakyamuni Buddha.”

The SGI teachings do not accord with the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, especially his highest teaching, Myoho renge kyo. Advocating that we close, ignore, abandon, Myoho renge kyo while chanting Myoho renge kyo, is certainly not the highest teachings of Shakyamuni, Myoho renge kyo, or Lotus Sutra.

Certainly the SGI doesn’t venerate Shakyamuni, their members calling him derisively, the “easter bunny”, “Santa Claus”, and “Shakkie”, for example.

As far as embracing the One Precept, the Diamond Precept, I have already shown, in refuting the deceased SGI Study Department chief Shin Yatomi’s essay on the precepts, that SGI is confused about the matter of the Diamond precept and mixes the clean (Diamond precept) with the unclean (Hinayana precepts).

Cl uses the language of impropriety that is one of the hallmarks of SGI non-Buddhism:

“It can not be broken by “dogma”, “doctrine”, or the ‘words and letters of Mark Rogow”, nor by the “bad experiences of Mark Rogow with various organizations in the not too distant past.”

Response: Only by truth will the SGI be broken. It will be broken [and broken up] by the truth. Not even Makiguchi who substituted “Truth” for “Gain” can destroy the power of Truth. He can throw out truth like he threw out Shakyamuni Buddha but he can not destroy truth just as he can not destroy Shakyamuni Buddha.

CL’s last paragraph reads: “Uphold the Mystic Law and chant daimoku, practice with a sangha, and study broadly with good intentions and act on those good intentions in order to fight physical, verbal, and ideological injustices which seek to disrupt the unity of humanity’s shared buddhahood.”

This sounds noble, not unlike, “Truth, Justice, and the American way” – Superman. Also, not unlike Superman, it is based on a fantasy.

The fantasy is that SGI “upholds the Mystic Law”. Its indiscretions in this regard are too numerous to list. Suffice it to say that the SGI doesn’t even uphold its own Charter. How can it uphold the Mystic Law? Study broadly is a fantasy. It is enough to cite the many years of the precious members time wasted (over the last twelve years or so) devoted to studying only Ikeda's interpretation of Nichiren's writing, The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life and Death, The World Tribune, the Human Revolution, and the New Human Revolution.

The last half of his last paragraph reads:

“and act on those good intentions in order to fight physical, verbal, and ideological injustices which seek to disrupt the unity of humanity’s shared Buddhahood.”

This is Gakkai speak, to fight all those who criticize the Soka Gakkai, especially the Nichiren Shoshu but certainly not limited to them. They fight the disciples and believers of Nichiren, the most peaceful group of people the world has ever seen but protect and nurture the Islamists and the provisional Buddhists who do actually, “disrupt the unity of humanity’s shared Buddhahood.” This last passage is therefore, more fantasy from the lips of CL, hardly an "enlightened" perspective.

Be careful who you follow

Which Daisaku Ikeda do you trust and which one do you follow, the 1984 one or the current one?.. confusing huh?

In the video, in the Q & A at the end, (http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/03/worst-sgi-lecture-on-lotus-sutra-yet.html) we are told that Daiseku Ikeda is so busy writing guidance that the translation committee can't keep up.

We are also told about the decision to give up teaching faith in the Dai-Gohonzon and that SGI's Mr Harada, explaining this decision, said that it was holding back world wide kosen-rufu.

With such an active and present (though rarely seen) Daisaku Ikeda, surely such a change was sanctioned by him.

We are told (rightly) that the Dai-Gohonzon has no basis in Gosho. We are also told that "the priests just made a whole bunch of stuff up."

So here's Daisaku on faith, practice and study in 1984 and of course the Dai-Gohonzon and those priests who just made a whole bunch if stuff up. 

One might be forgiven for wondering why, with such an emphasis on study of the Gosho, nobody, let alone one with the depth of understanding of the "mentor" Daisaku Ikeda, didn't spot the fact that the Dai-Gohonzon had no basis in Gosho or that the priests had made a whole bunch of stuff up.

And if he had realised those two things, why he was happy to give this type of guidance and make these types of speeches?

Buddhism In Action Volume 1

1984.

ISBN 4-88872-015-0 C1315

Daisaku Ikeda

Pages 33 & 34

"Needless to say, the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary inscribed for all mankind is the most fundemental basis of the movement of the Nichiren Shoshu Soka Gakkai. The Dai-Gohonzon has been preserved and handed down within Nichiren Shoshu from the founder, Nichiren Daishonin, to his successor, Nikko Shonin, and then to the third high priest, Nichimoku Shonin, up to the present high priest, Nikken Shonin. I hope therefore we will courageously dedicate ourselves to studying Nichiren Daishonin's teachings in order to deepen our faith and to propogate true Buddhism in each country or community, as we follow the high priest's guidance, and respect the traditions and doctrines of Nichiren Shoshu.

" 'Practice' mentioned in the above passage means doing gongyo, chanting daimoku and doing shakabuku for the sake of others as well as ourselves. "study" in the same passage, means studying Nichiren Daishonin's teachings. Only those who are devoted to the two ways of practice and study can be called Nichiren Shoshu believers and Nichiren Daishonin's disciples. If you are negligent in these, you may be said to be running counter to the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. When you are consistent in these two fundemental ways, you are practicing Buddhism correctly.

"Etch deeply in your heart the phrase, "Both practice and study arise from faith. Faith means accepting the Dai-Gohonzon as absolute, and devoting yourself to the cause of kosen-rufu.

Page 92 (ibid)

"As I have said repeatedly, it is nothing other than the Dai-Gohonzon that is the basis of our worldwide of our worldwide kosen-rufu movement. It is my honour that I have been able to use what little ability I am endowed with in order to blaze a trail for future world peace as well as fir the furtherance of kosen rufu in Japan where the Dai-Gohonzon is kept."

Pages 139-140 (Ibid)

"One of the purposes of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is to develop one's life condition. Every human being has sufferings. Flesh is, as they say, heir to suffering. The sufferings of those who have little or no faith in the Gohonzon may become even worse and tend to create a life-condition confined to the three evil paths. In contrast, the sufferings of those who do believe in the Gohonzon can be transformed into the driving force for changing their negative karma, cultivating virtue and good fortune, and attaining Buddhahood. Such change is possible only through determined faith and chanting daimoku. This is the Buddhist principle that earthly desires are enlightenment. Moreover, one may experience sufferings because of one's practice of faith and activities for kosen- rufu. Enduring such sufferings should be interpreted as part of Buddhist practice to develop one's supreme life condition.

"I joined Nichiren Shoshu when I was nineteen, and tomorrow, on August 24, I will have completed 34 years of practice. I am very grateful to the Dai-Gohonzon for the fact that during all this time I have been able to exert myself for the cause of kosen rufu without interruption. Sickly as I was, I have become increasingly healthy and have been able to work for kosen-rufu as tenaciously as anyone. I will continue to pray to the Dai-Gohonzon for a longer life span so that I can devote myself even more to the cause of kosen-rufu of the world."

Page 182 (ibid)

"Last night and tonight there was a beautiful full moon. The Daishonin's Buddhism is complete and perfect, like the full moon. The ultimate entity of his Buddhism is embodied in the Dai-Gohonzon, which is the cluster of blessings of the entire universe. We should strive to be as complete as we day and night practice faith and chant daimoku to the Dai-Gohonzon, the manifestation of the great Law which is the perfect and impeccable entity of life."

Page 262 (ibid)

"The fundemental place of worship for this movement is the Head Temple of Nichiren Shoshu. Taho Fuji Dai-Nichiren-zan Taiseka-ji, where the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctury of true Buddhism bestowed on all mankind is enshrined, and it is high priest Nikken who presides over it. As, followers of Nichiren Shoshu and under the guidance of high priest Nikken, we must continuously strive on the basis of true Buddhism to lay the foundation for peace and culture, which will eventually secure world peace and culture through individual happiness. This is the mission of the Soka Gakkai."

Pages 290 - 292 (ibid)

"We absolutely deny violence. Friends of the world who embrace the Mystic Law advance together in spiritual unity toward the cause of lasting peace, but let us respect the manners and traditions of our respective countries.

"No one can be further from the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin than one who self-righteously thinks that he alone is respectworthy. From the day the Daishonin first chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, declaring true Buddhism, he committed himself to life long propogation in his desire to achieve the great cause of kosen-rufu. Therefore as his disciples and followers of true Buddhism we exert ourselves in the two ways of practice and study for the individual cause of attaining Buddhahood in this life and the common goal of kosen-rufu with absolute faith in the Dai-Gohonzon.

"Arrogance and conceit are causes for shame to any Buddhist. No matter how an arrogant a person may try to justify himself with seemingly righteous arguments, in the depths of his life he is yeilding to the fundemental darkness and inherent devilish nature in his life.

"We believe in the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of true Buddhism, follow the high priest Nikken, and immerse ourselves among the people in order to talk with those who face troubles, those who seek the Law, and those who search for a more meaningful way of life. We should remember that we are living noble and respectworthy lives, introducing "the Buddhism of the sun" to more and more people in many countries of the world.

"The text quoted says "Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism." This is a very strict teaching. To put it briefly, Nichiren Daishonin definitely asserts that if "practice and study" are discontinued, there can be no Buddhism if the sowing, which Nichiren Daishonin gleaned from the depths of the Juryo chapter as the only direct path to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law.

"Thr ulimate entity of this Buddhism is, needless to say, the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of true Buddhism, which had been strictly protected and preserved by successive high priests of Nichiren Shoshu for some seven hundred years. At the present time we celebrate the very rare occasion of the seven hundredth anniversary of the Daishonin's passing, the heritage of the Law has been transmitted and is being assumed by the sixty-seventh high priest, Nikken Shonin, its integrity unimpaired.

"No matter who may question the heritage of the present high priest, this is an indisputable fact, beyond any doubt. During the days of Nichiren Daishonin, there were some priests who presumuptuously went against Nichiren Daishonin, the original master of true Buddhism. Today, there are some defrocked priests who have turned against the high priest. I cannot help but feel from their example how difficult yet how essential it is to maintain faith in the orthodoxy of true Buddhism.

"We have to be aware therefore, that only when we single-mindedly devote ourselves to the Dai-Gohonzon and exert ourselves in the "two ways of practice and study" on the basis of this prime point can we find the true significance of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism and attain enlightenment in this lifetime.

"After all is said and done, "faith" for us, as followers of Nichiren Daishonin, means to believe in the Dai-Gohonzon. When we begin with faith in the Dai-Gohonzon, the entity of the Mystic Law which pervades the entire universe, and steadily advance on the path of "practice and study", we can open the door to "the palace of the ninth consciousness" developing the supreme state of life eternally and brilliantly.

"At the same time, with this supreme life force that surges from within through "faith", we will further advance along the path of "practice and study" so that we can lead more and more people throughout the world to faith in the Dai-Gohonzon and realise the great cause for kosen-rufu."

Did Daisaku Ikeda believe any of this when he spoke it? And what has it been replaced by? The teaching of mentor-disciple, with not only the Dai-Gohonzon cast aside but more importantly, faith in the Gohonzon relegated and the emphasis on studying Nichiren's writings directly changed to studying Human Revolution and SGI interperative lectures and guidance instead.

Baby, bathwater, bath and bathroom all tossed out together. What's left in the SGI to help cleanse one's deluded life and help one attain enlightenment? Oh that's right, the bond of mentor and disciple. And where did it lead all those people who took these words of their mentor to heart in 1984?...

And as for "denying violence" how does that fit with allowing a change to Japan's peace constitution? Is that Buddhism in Action?

One should be careful, it seems, who one follows...

Nichiren and Eagle Peak

Nichiren speaks about Eagle Peak more often and comprehensively after the Sado Island Exile [after 1274]. It is only natural that one's thoughts turn to the afterlife as one approaches death. Nichiren knew that his exhaustive efforts, hardships, persecutions, and endless debates would soon take their toll. It is a wonder that Nichiren lived as long as he did.

“Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was a practitioner at the initial stage of rejoicing; Nichiren is an ordinary practitioner at the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth *.”

Nichiren, like ourselves, had recently received the seed of Buddhahood from the Original Buddha (Honbutsu). For countless kalpas, we have neither heard the Law nor practiced the Lotus Sutra. This is not to say that our Buddha-field (Buddha-nature) is not fertile soil for the Buddha seeds but we have not encountered the seeds of Myoho renge kyo for a very long time. Being common mortals at the stage of Myoji Soku (first hearing the name and the words of the Truth or Myoho renge kyo), we have various worries and doubts, especially concerning the afterlife. These doubts and uncertainties come to the fore when we have a near death experience, lose a loved one, or are coming to the end of our lives. I am sure that even Nichiren experienced these feelings and he was acutely aware of the even more intense uncertainties experienced by his disciples and believers. For this reason, Nichiren made the afterlife an important part of his teachings after 1274:

"The way of attaining Buddhahood is just like this. Though we live in the impure land, our hearts reside in the pure land of Eagle Peak. Merely seeing each other’s face would in itself be insignificant. It is the heart that is important. Someday let us meet at Eagle Peak, where Shakyamuni Buddha dwells. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo." [1279]

"The moon sets and rises again; the clouds disperse and then gather once more. Even heaven must regret and earth lament that this man has gone away and will never come again. You yourself must feel the same. Rely upon the Lotus Sutra as nourishment for your journey, and quickly, quickly set out for the pure land of Eagle Peak so that you can meet him there!" [1280]

"Surely your late husband is in the pure land of Eagle Peak, listening and watching over this sahā world day and night. You, his wife, and your children have only mortal senses, so you cannot see or hear him, but be assured that you will eventually be reunited [on Eagle Peak]." [1274]

"The priest Nichigyō’s death was indeed pitiful. I recited the Lotus Sutra and chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for him here in Minobu, sincerely praying to Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions to receive him on Eagle Peak." [1274?]

"Now you must shun and abandon this heartless world, entrusting yourself to the Lotus Sutra, in which the late Shichirō Gorō placed his faith, and quickly reach the eternally abiding and indestructible pure land of Eagle Peak. Your son’s father is on Eagle Peak; his mother remains in the sahā world. I sympathize with the feelings of the late Shichirō Gorō, who is in the interval between the two of you." [1280]

"As you well know, a sutra says that the boy Virtue Victorious,1 who offered a mud pie to the Buddha, was later reborn as King Ashoka, who ruled over most of the southern continent of Jambudvīpa. Since the Buddha is worthy of respect, the boy was able to receive this great reward even though the pie was only mud. Shakyamuni Buddha teaches, however, that one who makes offerings to the votary of the Lotus Sutrain the latter age for even a single day will gain benefit a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times greater than one would by offering countless treasures to the Buddha for one million kalpas. How wonderful then is your having wholeheartedly supported the votary of the Lotus Sutra over the years! According to the Buddha’s golden words, in the next life you are certain to be reborn in the pure land of EaglePeak. What remarkable rewards you will gain!

This is a mountainous place, remote from all human habitation. Not a single village is found in any direction. Although I live in such a forsaken place, deep in this mortal flesh I preserve the ultimate secretLaw inherited from Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, at EaglePeak. My heart is where all Buddhas enter nirvana; my tongue, where they turn the wheel of the Law; my throat, where they are born into this world; and my mouth, where they attain enlightenment. Because this mountain is where this wondrous votary of the Lotus Sutra dwells, how can it be any less sacred than the pure land of Eagle Peak? This is what [The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra means when] it says, “Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; since the person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred.” The “Supernatural Powers” chapter reads, “Whether in a forest, beneath a tree, in monks’ quarters... in such places have the Buddhas entered nirvana.” Those who visit this place can instantly expiate the offenses they have accumulated since the infinite past and transform their evils deriving from the three types of action into the three virtues.

A suffering traveler in central India once came to Heat-Free Lake toquench p.1098the fires of anguish in his heart. He proclaimed that he could fulfill his desire, “as a clear cool pond can satisfy all those who are thirsty.” Although Heat-Free Lake and this place are different, the principle is exactly the same. Thus, Eagle Peak of India is now here at Mount Minobu in Japan. It has been a long time since you were last here. You should come to see me as soon as you possibly can. I am looking forward eagerly to seeing you.

How can I describe your sincerity? In truth, it is splendid!" [1281].

There are more than 200 additional citations for Eagle Peak in the writings of Nichiren. 

Every “advanced” religion and most primitive religions address the question of an afterlife. Most of Nichiren’s followers had the mistaken idea of an Eternal Paradise ingrained in their psyche due to the influence of the Pure Land teachings. This is not unlike we of the western world who have the Christian idea of heaven ingrained into our psyche. Even Chapter twenty-three of the Lotus Sutra takes into account the universal teaching of an Eternal Pure Land. The compassion and mercy of the Buddha and Nichiren is not to destroy the belief in this hopeful place, mistaken though it may be, but rather to utilize it so that we could believe ever more fervently in the Supreme Law.

“This is the place we live to enjoy happiness”. This is the place where we and our loved ones will be reborn to again experience the joy of the Law. Whenever the Buddha in the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, let alone in the Lotus Sutra, talks about “assurance of no rebirth” or Nichiren talks about going to Eagle Peak, what they are referring to is no rebirth in the Lower Six Realms [Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Tranquility, and Rapture].

Our prayers for the deceased are that they be free from sufferings, that they wake up from delusions, and that they attain Enlightenment (the Great Bodhi).

Eagle Peak is the intermediate state, the Land of Actual Reward, where we meet our teachers Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin before again returning to this Saha World to sow the seeds of Buddhahood in the people's lives.

While here in the manifest state, we return to the Gohonzon, the Land of Actual Reward [Eagle Peak] here on earth where we again meet our teachers Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin before we sow the seeds of Namu Myoho renge kyo within the lives of our families and friends. As Nichiren teaches, “There is no discontinuity between the three existences of past, present, and future.”

Life is unmoderated

Since life itself is un-moderated, I will continue to host the only un-moderated Nichiren blog and forum on earth. Sitting on the dock of Fukushima Bay at 3:00 pm, watching the tide roll away, just wastin’ time. Then, within a moment... gone, never to be heard from again. No one to moderate the Tsunami, no one to moderate the hundred thousand year + half life of uranium and plutonium. But people would moderate free speech thinking that it will protect them from what, looking foolish, sounding lame, crushing defeat, alienating people? Why? They are agenda laden cowards who fool themselves into believing that by controlling free speech, they control the world. When they are 90 years old, they won’t even be able to control their own bowels. We, the disciples and believers of Nichiren and Nichiju fear no man or woman, beast, or natural disaster. Our futures, actual proof, theory, theology, doctrine, and hearts are pure. We are secure. Be heard!

Eagle Peak: Repairing broken human beings

Dear Stace:

Lets not forget the SGI’s bizarre “prime point” of the Lotus Sutra [the oneness of mentor and disciple]. Some of us grow up to be adults. We refuse to be treated as children and actually read and study the Lotus Sutra and Gosho. Some of us actually believe that those who chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with strong faith in the Gohonzon, Lotus Sutra, and Shakyamuni Buddha are emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha and are Three Bodied Tathagatas in their own right. I believe that the Soka Gakkai will continue to hemorrhage unhappy members. Fortunately, we are willing to galvanize these broken human beings and repair their injured faith and practice.

Nichiren's literal interpretation of the Lotus Sutra is at odds with Josei Toda's and Dsissku Ikeda's

The Treatise On Protecting The Nation by Nichiren Daishonin reads:

“Again, it is written, 'Whosoever receives and keeps this Lotus Sutra, reads it, correctly bears it in mind, practices it, writes and copies it, let it be known that such a person beholds Sakyamuni Buddha face to face, and hears the words of this sutra directly from the Buddha’s mouth. Such a one thus, also venerates Sakyamuni Buddha in person.'

This passage means that the Lotus Sutra and Sakyamuni Buddha are one. For those who don’t believe in the Lotus Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha has gone to extinction and does not appear anymore, but for those who believe in this sutra, even though it is said that he has gone to extinction, the Buddha is present in this world.

Again it is written,

'After I have attained Buddhahood and have gone on to nirvana, if there is any place in the ten directions where the Lotus Sutra is preached, with my stupa, I will be there and manifest myself in that place to hear the sutra being preached, and will attest to the truth of the sutra.'

This passage means that when we ordinary beings of this latter age of the dharma recite the august title of the Lotus Sutra, Prabaratna Tathagata, on account of his vow, will come and be present.” (STN 1, 123: 8–14-9)