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1. Why the Soka
Spirit? |
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Achieving kosen-rufu, from
one perspective, is a war of words. We struggle to convince
people of the truth of this Buddhism through the words
we speak and write. And we have all probably experienced
just how hard this can be, whether in explaining our Buddhist
practice to our family members or in discussing matters
regarding Nichiren Shoshu.
We have worked especially hard over the last several years
to find the best words to spell out the temple issue:
the SGI's stance toward Nichiren Shoshu's determined efforts
to confuse people about Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.
Sometimes we have used language that has been too emotional,
and our point has been lost on our listeners. Other times,
we have not emphasized the seriousness of the issue enough;
our way of introducing it has caused people to see it
as unrelated to their daily practice.
We have learned that there are certain words and terms
that we must be careful to explain fully or use sparingly
or even avoid. If we say that the priesthood is evil,
for instance, it helps to explain what we mean each time
by the word evil; we have to share how the Daishonin uses
this word to refer to priests who promote distorted versions
of Buddhism.
A few years ago, many members expressed dissatisfaction
with the term temple issue. They felt that it did not
reflect our spiritual basis for this movement. Temple
issue did not really capture what we are doing, they argued.
This is why, in December 1999, SGI-USA's Central Executive
Committee adopted Soka Spirit, a name that New York members
had come up with, as a suggested new name for this movement.
The name Soka Spirit derives from the "Soka Gakkai
spirit" that SGI President Ikeda often cites. After
all, educating people about Nichiren Shoshu's true intent
is synonymous with the Soka Gakkai spirit to counter selflessly
any forces that threaten this Buddhism and to make sure
that we protect the Law for the people, for the future,
based on the example set for us by the Daishonin. This
has been the spirit of the successive Soka Gakkai presidents,
who have withstood great persecution, including unjust
imprisonment, for their kosen-rufu activities.
Our war of words must always begin with the resolve to
make the Soka Gakkai spirit our own, to live the Soka
Gakkai spirit, to move with this spirit.
This one sentence sums up what Soka Spirit is all about:
It is to continue, to the best of our ability with our
words, with our hearts, with our actions the struggle
for the Law in America.
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(Originally published, World
Tribune, Feb. 18, 2000)
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