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August 9, 2002 -- No. 147 |
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The Justice Chronicle,
provided by Soka Gakkai International-USA, is a free monthly
e-mail in support of the Soka Spirit movement. Soka Spirit
is the SGI's educational effort to create value and deepen
our understanding of Nichiren Buddhism through increased
awareness of issues surrounding the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood
and the spiritual foundation of the SGI movement.
NOTICE
The Justice Chronicle will be taking a two-week break. It will resume on Aug. 30 with No. 148. Thank you for your support!
1) A JOURNEY OF FAITH WITHIN: THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS OUTSIDE LEADS TO UNHAPPINESS INSIDE
In this serialized article, which appears in the June issue of Living Buddhism, SGI-USA Study Department Vice Leader Shin Yatomi revisits the issue of pilgrimage, and discusses the meaning of faith in the Dai-Gohonzon.
LANDS ARE NOT PURE OR IMPURE IN THEMSELVES
The priesthood today often quotes the following passage from the Daishonin's writings to stress the sanctity of the head temple grounds: 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 (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 1097). As context often decides the meaning of a word or passage in any text, it is important to know the context of this passage. First of all, his place in the above passage refers to Mount Minobu where the Daishonin was living, not to the head temple.
The Daishonin wrote this letter to Nanjo Tokimitsu upon hearing about his serious illness. At the beginning of the letter, he states, I hope you will recover soon and come to see me (WND, 1097). Obviously the Daishonin wanted his sick disciple to recover as quickly as possible; he wished to motivate Tokimitsu by giving him a concrete goal to visit Mount Minobu. In the same letter, the Daishonin explains that the character and quality of the environment depend upon people and, ultimately, upon the teaching and philosophy they uphold: Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; since the person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred (WND, 1097).
Throughout this letter, the Daishonin praises Tokimitsu for his steadfast faith and practice over the years. The Daishonin makes it clear that the
emarkable rewards Tokimitsu would enjoy are due to his selfless dedication to the spread of the Daishonin's teaching, not to any future visit he might make to see the Daishonin.
Nichiren Buddhism is not bound to a specific locality; it is a universal teaching aimed at improving our inner state and thereby transforming our environment. In the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, he succinctly makes this point: Where you uphold and embrace the Lotus Sutra is the place of practice. It is not to be found elsewhere. The place of practice is the dwelling place of the living beings of the ten worlds (Gosho Zenshu, 781). In The Persecution at Tatsunokuchi, the Daishonin explains that one can attain Buddhahood through his or her selfless dedication to the Lotus Sutra as its votary. He states, Every place where Nichiren meets persecution is the Buddha land (WND, 196). No place is in and of itself a Buddha land; a place may become a Buddha land because the people there reveal their innate Buddhahood through their faith and practice. It is not that people become Buddhas because they visit a Buddha land; rather, a land becomes a Buddha land in its relationship to Buddhas being there.
It is all too human to imagine that our difficulties will magically disappear once we stand on supposed 'sacred grounds' and breathe its 'sacred air.' We must not, however, allow such human weakness to prevent us from challenging ourselves wherever we are. Any notion of pilgrimage that encourages an escapist attitude toward life's reality goes against Nichiren Buddhism. After all, if we are to undertake a journey toward genuine happiness, it is our journey of faith within.
Ultimately, to transform our environment into a Buddha land, we must first become Buddhas ourselves. As the Daishonin states: Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside oneself; both lie only within one's own heart. Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person. The Lotus Sutra reveals this truth, and one who embraces the Lotus Sutra will realize that hell is itself the Land of Tranquil Light (WND, 456). What matters most is not where we are, but what state of life we build within our lives.
Seven in a series.
2) DISTORTING THE HISTORY OF THE KANAZAWA PERSECUTION
This article appeared in the June issue of Living Buddhism.
In its efforts to promote pilgrimage, the priesthood also misrepresents an event known in the history of the Fuji school as the Kanazawa Persecution. During the eighteenth century, believers in Kanazawa sincerely practiced and spread Nichiren Buddhism despite oppression by the local government. It is said that some believers from Kanazawa visited the head temple secretly at night when their lord's traveling party passed through the Fuji area on their way to and from Edo (present-day Tokyo). The priesthood writes: Even now, the story of the 'Tozan of Stealth' is recounted at Myoki-ji temple in Kanazawa. We must store the thought deep in our hearts that it is this kind of noble faith, with the Head Temple as the source, which builds the path to our future and eternal attainment of Buddhahood (Nichiren Shoshu publication Dai-Nichiren: The Correct Way of Faith in Nichiren Shoshu, special edition, p. 9).
What the priesthood does not tell us about the Kanazawa Persecution is the fact that their priesthood extended practically no support to lay believers during the persecution. In 1727, the 28th high priest, Nissho, sent a request to the governor of Kanazawa asking for permission to build a temple in the area, but it was denied. Nissho could have appealed the governor's decision to the shogunate government, but decided against it.
From then on, the lay believers of Kanazawa were left on their own, and apparently the priesthood did not wish to have anything to do with them. As Nichiko Hori, the 59th high priest and renowned historian of Nichiren Buddhism, comments on the probable reason why Taiseki-ji did not appeal the governor's decision: One of the reasons why Taiseki-ji did not act on the last resort was that it was concerned about bringing danger to itself in dealing with the powerful provincial government (Essential Writings of the Fuji School, vol. 9, p. 291).
Deserted by the priests from whom they expected to receive encouragement and support, the Kanazawa believers, nevertheless, continued to seek Nichiren Daishonin's teachings. This is the truth behind what the priesthood calls the pilgrimage of stealth by Kanazawa believers.
In the end, five believers were imprisoned, and one of them died in confinement; fourteen were placed under house arrest; and many were harshly interrogated. No priest at the head temple was persecuted in connection with these events. Abandoned by the priesthood, the lay movement in the area eventually died out. (For more details, please see The Untold History of the Fuji School, pp. 79-83.)
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