Published by Soka Spirit Editor
Posted on October 20, 2009
In our practice to the Gohonzon, the Daishonin stresses our individual and direct relationship with the Gohonzon. In this regard, he writes to one believer: “No matter how earnestly Nichiren prays for you, if you lack faith, it will be like trying to set fire to wet tinder. Spur yourself to muster the power of faith” (WND, 1000-01). Daishonin makes it clear that each practitioner’s relationship with the Gohonzon must be without any sort of intermediary. To derive the ultimate benefit of Buddhism, we cannot depend on someone else’s prayer—not even the Daishonin’s—although he encourages us to pray for the happiness of others as he himself constantly did. For example, the Daishonin writes from his exile to his persecuted followers: “I am praying that, no matter how troubled times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground” (WND, 444). The Daishonin cautions us not to depend on someone else’s prayer and at the same time encourages us to pray for the sake of others through his own example. From his seemingly contradictory statements emerges the essential point of the Daishonin’s Buddhism: Our faith must be self-reliant but not selfish.
When this fundamental teaching about our faith and the Gohonzon is distorted, we have cause for great concern. Furthermore, if such corruption of the Daishonin’s basic doctrine goes unchecked too long, the essence of the Daishonin’s Buddhism will be lost. Currently the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood is attempting to alter this basic teaching about the Gohonzon. It claims: “If one has correct faith following the guidance of the High Priest, then benefit will result. However, even if one possesses a traditional Gohonzon, if the person worshipping it slanders the High Priest of the conferral of the lifeblood of the Law, . . . there will be no benefit.”[1] The senior executive priests also assert: “The Daishonin, who is the true Buddha, the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary, and the successive high priests are to be respected as one and the same in their inner identity.”[2] Put simply, from the perspective of Nichiren Shoshu, no matter how earnestly people pray to the Gohonzon, unless they follow the high priest, they cannot receive any benefit, let alone attain Buddhahood.
In Nichiren Shoshu’s doctrinal scheme, one’s prayer to the Gohonzon is secondary to one’s obedience to the high priest. The temple members appear to pray to the Gohonzon. In the innermost reality of their consciousness, however, they are praying through the high priest, if not to the high priest. This is a misdirection that undermines their ability to overcome suffering.
They state: “The master gives his sanction to a disciple’s enlightenment…. The sanctioning of the object of worship by the High Priest, who is the only person to be bequeathed the Daishonin’s Buddhism, is what makes the attainment of Buddhahood possible…”(Refuting the Soka Gakkai’s “Counterfeit Object of Worship”: 100 Questions and Answers [West Hollywood: Nichiren Shoshu Temple, 1996], p. 8).
“(Believers should have) single-minded faith in him [the high priest] as the living body of Shakyamuni (Nichiren)” (September 2008 Nichiren Shoshu Monthly, p. 22).
“All objects of worship enshrined at local temples and in believers’ homes are imbued with the inner enlightenment of the Dai-Gohonzon…The High Priests inherit that profound ability [transcribe Gohonzon] as sole heirs to the Heritage…the Dai-Gohonzon is the perfect embodiment of the True Buddha’s inner enlightenment, and is the source from which all other Objects of Worship originate.” (December 2008 Nichiren Shoshu Monthly, p. 7)
By claiming that the heritage of the Law and the power of the Gohonzon are held exclusively by the high priest, they have altered the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism to expand their own powers and gain control over their practitioners. What is, in reality, accessible to all believers is now portrayed as existing only within the exclusive purview of the high priest. This is not the teaching of Nichiren Daishonin.
—Based on an essay by Shin Yatomi
[1] The Nichiren Shoshu Doctrinal Research Committee. Refuting the Soka Gakkai’s “Counterfeit Object of Worship”: 100 Questions and Answers. West Hollywood, CA: Nichiren Shoshu Temple, 1996. p. 15.
[2] The letter sent to the Soka Gakkai from the senior executive priests dated on Sep. 6, 1991. Trans. by Shin Yatomi.