"Why would the Ikeda Sect attach their stories from the quasi-trilogy The Human Revolution to the True teachings of Buddhism of Shakyamuni as taught by Nichiren Daishonin?
The SGI organization has appended their ongoing narrative of the Human Revolution to the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, which by all readings of Nichiren Daishonins extant writings, is an uninvited chapter – at least in this religion. Therefore, it is highly inappropriate for many reasons. Firstly, does Nichiren Daishonin state that the Buddha Shakyamuni promises a life of human revolution through chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo? Does Nichiren not say that the Lotus Sutra and Daimoku will have power for 10,000 years and more to come? Yes, that is what Nichiren says. He does not say – wait for the next guy to hand out another chapter. It is as if Nichiren Daishonin himself knew this would happen in the future, as it happened in the past, and wrote like a maniac his whole life to show how the Nembutsu did it, how the Shingon did it, how the Pure Land did it, how the religions that cropped up via words and phrases from the teachings of Shakyamuni – to show us to teach us to spot a fake when we see it. Let’s honor the life he spent writing for us by acknowledging the SGI as one of those forgeries of religions.
As to the merits of the Human Revolution, while it carries a catchy theme, it has no bearing or relevance to the practice of Buddhism as taught by Shakyamuni or Nichiren Daishonin. It is simply a story with a catchy title, and while tempting as it is to go into the flaws of the ongoing narrative (as in, geesh! Are they still talking about that?), it might be better to reserve judgment of Ikeda’s philosophy, and just concentrate on separating this idea of Ikeda’s being somehow related to Nichiren and from actual Buddhism.
There may be many reasons why the SGI likes the idea of attaching The Human Revolution and the life of Shin’ichi Yammamoto (who, as everyone should know, this hero, this larger than life, miracle worker is none other than the self-aggrandizing Ikeda) - as he goes through the world and causes such a change in the world due to his lion-like behavior against all evils.
However, let’s not forget that this is a story, not even a parable, and one that has over-extended the use of artistic license to add "art" to the heroes and the villains. It is a story told by one man, even though the origins were ascribed to Josei Toda who in reality was a malnourished, alcohol abusing, vitamin deficiencient despot whose life was marked by dark hallucinations and who ultimately died of cirrhosis. But the true SGI disciple gives title credit, not to Toda since, the Human Revolution is but the thinly veiled testimony of Shin ichi Yamamoto, if it weren’t for Daisaku Ikeda, the dreams of the SGI would not have ever gotten off the ground. They know this in their hearts [even though they weren’t there in the early days] because Ikeda is a political powerman, a narcissist and one who also ultimately pits himself against Nichiren Daishonin.
The true SGI disciple learns early on not to make a distinction between Nichiren and Ikeda. That Nichiren and Ikeda are one, like the water in the vessel, that will take the shape of whatever container the water it poured into. Everyone else looks at the situation without the eyes of the SGI member and simply see a short, podgy megalomaniac, extending his T-rex arms no further than his rotund body. He is one of grandiose delusions of beating out Nichiren Daishonin in his elocutionary skills, believing his knowledge of the Lotus Sutra vastly superior to his and rarely giving credit to Shakyamuni and never to those who did the translations, not even to those who gave their lives [if they aren't SGI]. Mostly, Ikeda's putting on airs of being a Buddha while engaging in a perverse competition with the True Masters reveals his true nature . . . Suffice it to say, Ikeda is highly competitive [World of Anger].
If there is the need to show you some proof of Ikeda's angry competitive nature, here it is: ‘World Poet Laureate’ status that he received from a company [World Poet Laureate Society] that he purchased with same name and then bestowing that title upon himself; the outpouring of monies to various legitimate universities and institutions of higher learning in order to buy his way into the circle of intellectuals while collecting honorary degrees along the way; his hiring ghost writers to re-invent the big “human revolution’ movement in America where he plucks out George Williams and inserts Shin’ichi in his stead [by the way, leaving George Williams with no pension, no retirement, no humane acknowledgement of his 40 years of work in the SGI]; and above all, Ikeda's complete disregard of all that Nichiren taught. This latter point is evidenced by the manner in which he takes the wonderful words and phrases from Nichiren’s writings and intermixes them with his own, in order to turn all attention unto himself and thus subliminally creating the the illusion that he himself is the relevant person. At the same time, flattering his disciples that Nichiren is smiling down on them all. This blessing from Ikeda is supposed to confirm that they are in fact, Nichiren’s disciples, . . . as is he. I can only say to Ikeda, thank you for making my point.
Look at America today – look at Japan today – look at the world today! What did your human revolution do, other than cause a schism between people and their own sense of reality, their own conscience, their own trust in their gut decision-making, and their sense of perception. The SGI disciples are charged and guarded, with inflammatory and toxic emotions for anything that may hint at any criticism of Ikeda. This is another way of validating the idea that Ikeda is more infallible than the pope.
Even though Ikeda has made many well documented mistakes, he himself could care less, so his disciples dismiss it as well. It is only important if Sensei says it is important. When a scandal arises within the SGI, the good disciples of Ikeda are taught that there really are never scandals in SGI – there are only rumors -- until that time, of course, when they receive his ‘guidance’ about how to view the event. Only with ‘faith’ in this new viewpoint [President Ikeda’s divine providence] which of course is handed down to his immediate underlings and which is ultimately trickled down to the local community centers to be disseminated to all the members, can one truly understand the why of the bad occurrence --or maybe just a seemingly bad occurrence – because we "know" from Nichiren [as usurped and twisted by Ikeda] that the the aspect of all phenomena is sometimes temporary, sometimes illusional but there is always the promise that it will reveal itself later as an omen of righteousness.
Of course, it never does, but if you are a true disciple, that becomes immaterial because to look back is ho gammyo [living in the past] and not proper. As a member of this organization for 27 years, I can attest to the degree of mind bending that goes on in order to make Ikeda and the SGI organization appear the correct path.
On the other hand, Nichiren Daishonin’s knowledge of Shakyamuni’s teachings, the Lotus Sutra, the world, the event of omens and phenomena are all thus: They are real; they are true; they are based on the teachings of the World Honored One. Nichiren Daishonin, unlike Ikeda, never utilized another’s teaching without proper discovery nor did he insert his own ideas when explicating another's teachings. Least of all did he alter the teachings. For example, he always assigned the articulation of the theory of ichinen sanzen to T’ien T’ai, rather than pretending that he himself came upon the theory himself through his understanding of the Lotus Sutra.
There is no sane comparison of Ikeda to Nichiren Daishonin. The Daishonin never sought fame, power, money, provence. As reasonable as Ikeda makes it sound that he needed these things to change the world, all I ask is look at your own bank accounts: Count the money you gave the SGI, and compare it to the money in your bank account; count all the daimoku and ‘guidance’ you followed, and look at the condition of your life and the rest of the world; take an assessment of how much of your life you gave up to allow Ikeda the space and support to be who HE is and ask yourself if that is true courage or the act of a coward who is afraid to venture out and live his or her own life, afraid to rely on your own wits and your own heart.
You want to be accountable? Then check out the failing economies in Europe and around the world. Check out the Fukushima disaster which continues to threaten the world’s environment and its people or the implosion of excess of an unbridled Wall Street culture [which is NOT a free market but rather the mono-economic cloning of virtual dollars that will again burst eventually if left unchecked]. I implore you to live a real life, read Nichiren Daishonin’s writings with a heart as to what Nichiren and Nichiren alone is saying, and then take courageous action as his disciple." -- former SGI member
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