An Overview of the Priesthood Issue

For some 700 years, the priesthood has been charged with the responsibility to protect the Dai-Gohonzon and perpetuate the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. The mission of the SGI—since its inception in 1930 (as the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai)—has been the Daishonin’s mandate to propagate the Law throughout the world, to accomplish kosen-rufu. The SGI has taken Nichiren Shoshu from a small, poor Buddhist sect and made it into a world religion through the sincere efforts of its membership.

Thus the priesthood’s role has been primarily one of protection while the Gakkai’s has been one of propagation. Yet there have been periodic conflicts throughout their history, culminating the spiritual independence of the SGI from an authoritarian priesthood.

The following is an outline of the history and key issues. The SGI response to the priesthood’s excommunication order was to submit a petition in December 1991 with more than 16 million signatures requesting the resignation of the high priest.

Shortly after Nichiren Daishonin’s passing in 1282, the five senior priests turned away from his legitimate successor, Nikko Shonin, forming sects that turned their backs on the founder’s original spirit and intent and subverted his teachings. Hakiri Sanenaga, the lord of the Minobu area, where the Daishonin had spent his remaining years, and the location of the main temple, conspired with senior priest Niko to incorporate into the Daishonin’s Buddhism practices that the Daishonin himself had strictly deemed improper. Because of this, Nikko Shonin, the Daishonin’s closest disciple and the second high priest, left Mount Minobu and later founded Head Temple Taiseki-ji at the foot of Mount Fuji.

As Nikko Shonin wrote in his “Twenty-six Admonitions”: “(Article 1) The doctrines of the Fuji School must not differ in the least from the teachings spread by the late master.” And: “(Article 6) Lay believers should be strictly prohibited from visiting [heretical] temples and shrines. Moreover, priests should not visit slanderous temples, and shrines, which are inhabited by demons, even if only to have a look around. To do so would be a pitiful violation [of the Daishonin’s Buddhism]. This is not my own personal view; it wholly derives from the sutras of Shakyamuni] and the writings of Nichiren Daishonin.”

Upon the death of third high priest, Nichimoku Shonin, there was a dispute over who would hold the authority of high priest over the property of the head temple. The priesthood split into two factions that contended for the correct lineage and although co-existing on the same head temple grounds, they refused to talk to each other for seventy years.

On one occasion, the ninth high priest, Nichiu, had to be absent from the head temple grounds for a period of time. While he was gone, the three priests he left in charge of management sold the entire temple property and assets including the Dai-Gohonzon. High Priest Nichiu later had to recover all that had been lost.

After High Priest Nichiu, the tradition of remonstrating with the government, based on the spirit the Daishonin had established with his submission of “Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” ended.

As confirmed by the Essential Writings of the Fuji School, during the reign of the seventeenth high priest (mid-seventeenth century), Nissei, a statue of Shakyamuni was permitted to be placed on the altar as an object of worship at eleven local temples, and the recitation of the entire Lotus Sutra was also permitted rather than just the “Expedient Means” and “Life Span” chapters designated by Nichiren Daishonin as the essential teachings. These practices were not fully corrected and the sect was not fully restored to purity until the twenty-sixth high priest, Nichikan (early-eighteenth century). He was known as the restorer of Nichiren Shoshu.

In the seventeenth century, by government decree, all Japanese citizens were assigned to local Buddhist temples in order to distinguish them from Christians. This was the beginning of the parish or danka system. As representatives of the government, the temples fulfilled a public census function, keeping records such as births, deaths, marriages etc. This provided the temples with a guaranteed economic base that inhibited propagation. It gave the local priest unprecedented power in the community because to be banished from one’s temple was tantamount to becoming a non-person.

During the Meiji Era (1867–1912), the government allowed and encouraged priests to marry and raise families, a break in the traditional role of the priest as monk. This was done with the intention of weakening the status of the Buddhist clergy in the eyes of the people, to foster the growth of Shinto. It not only increased the priests’ economic dependency but also their wives and children took on a “special” status, and the sons of many priests were allowed through nepotism to become priests themselves.

This “culturalization” of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, incorporating elements of Japanese society and customs into temple rituals and customs belies the universality of his teachings. The result of this special position of the temple priest in society was the emergence of what became known as “funeral Buddhism,” where formalities took precedence over doctrine and funerals became the priests’ specialty.

Today, Nichiren Shoshu priests overly stress the importance of bestowing posthumous names and offering memorial tablets to the deceased when, in fact, these practices did not originate from the Daishonin’s Buddhism. While the priesthood focused on ritual and formality, the Daishonin’s Buddhism was being propagated among diverse cultures around the world by the SGI.

Japan’s militarist government of World War II made Shinto the state religion and ordered all temples and citizens to accept a talisman issued by the Ise Shrine and pray for the defeat of Japan’s enemies. The sixty-second high priest, Nikkyo (r. 1937–1945), feared that if he refused to accept the Shinto talisman and were imprisoned, the lineage of Nichiren Shoshu would be in jeopardy. This fear, however, was unfounded as there were two retired high priests still alive at the time (Nichiko, the fifty-ninth; and Nichiryu, the sixty-first) who could have maintained the lineage in the event of anything befalling High Priest Nikkyo. Actually other Nichiren sects successfully resisted the government’s decree. Furthermore, this attitude ran counter to the spirit of the Daishonin himself, who did not hesitate to remonstrate with the authorities of his day even when his life was at imminent risk.

The Soka Gakkai’s first president and general director, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda respectively, were summoned to Head Temple Taiseki-ji and told that the laity of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai should also accept the Shinto talisman. Makiguchi, understanding the Daishonin’s intent in this regard, adamantly rejected the temple’s order, strictly adhering to the teachings of the Daishonin, which expressly prohibit such slander of the Law.

 Makiguchi’s action is supported by the words of Nichiren Daishonin and the second high priest, Nikko Shonin. In his writings, Nichiren Daishonin states, “As the Buddha taught in his will, to ‘follow the Law, not people,’ you should not trust those who do not preach in accordance with the sutra, no matter how wonderful they may appear” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 9).

In the “The Twenty-six Admonitions of Nikko” Article 17 states, “Do not follow even the high priest if he goes against the Buddha’s Law and propounds his own views.”

Makiguchi, Toda and top leaders of the organization had been arrested for refusing to compromise with the authorities; Makiguchi and Toda were subsequently imprisoned. Makiguchi’s courageous stand infuriated the priesthood, which issued a notice banning Gakkai leaders and Makiguchi himself from the head temple. Makiguchi died in prison of malnutrition. Toda was released two years later, near the end of the war, to find the lay organization and his business affairs a shambles. Through this ordeal Toda awakened to his mission to accomplish kosen-rufu and began to rebuild the Soka Gakkai.

On June 17, 1945, a fire broke out on the grounds of the head temple destroying several buildings including the Reception Hall. A Shinto altar that had been enshrined in the Grand Study just the day before was also destroyed by the fire, and tragically High Priest Nikkyo died in the flames.

As Toda began his struggle to put the organization back together, he was appalled by conditions at the head temple and vowed to rebuild it. In initiating organized monthly pilgrimages by Soka Gakkai members to worship the Dai-Gohonzon at the head temple, Toda and the Gakkai provided the priesthood with much needed funds. Previously some priests had suggested that the head temple be opened to the public, for a fee, as a tourist attraction. Toda saw this as totally inappropriate. Reconstruction costs and new buildings were financed by Soka Gakkai members. Through today, the lay organization has built and donated to the priesthood more than 350 temples throughout Japan and around the world, as well as land and numerous buildings and renovation projects at the head temple.

In 1972, the Grand Main Temple, Sho-Hondo, was completed through donations from Gakkai members throughout the world.

In July 1979, after the death of the sixty-sixth high priest, Nittatsu, Nikken assumed the position of high priest. At that time, former attorney for the Gakkai, Masatomo Yamazaki, it was subsequently discovered, had been hatching plots to manipulate the priesthood. (Yamazaki, was disbarred and served a three-year prison sentence for extortion against the Soka Gakkai.) By inciting anti-Gakkai priests, he gained considerable influence within Nichiren Shoshu. This radical faction of priests trampled upon the desire cherished by High Priest Nittatsu, their late master, for the harmonious unity between priesthood and laity. They attempted to destroy the Soka Gakkai, accusing it of deviating from the teachings. This band of some 200 priests became renegades, eventually challenging the validity of High Priest Nikken’s claim to the office. They were expelled by High Priest Nikken in the early 1980s and formed their own sect, which they called Shoshinkai.

We can define authoritarianism as a state in which obedience to authority is favored over individual freedom, and in which there is little control over how authority is exercised.

By July 1990, the priesthood had devised and documented a secret plan called “Operation C.” Its purpose was to dismantle the SGI and reorganize the membership under direct control of the priests. The plan was subsequently leaked to the SGI and published in the Nov. 9, 1991 issue of the Seikyo Shimbun (and Nov. 18,1991 SGI-USA Newsletter). It is clear from this document that the priesthood had no desire to reach an accord with the SGI but has been motivated by the desire to destroy the very organization that is accomplishing kosen-rufu.

At the Thirty-fifth Headquarters Leaders Meeting on Nov. 16, 1990, President Ikeda spoke about the requisites of a modern world religion. He referred to words by the sixty-fifth high priest, Nichijun, confirming and praising the Soka Gakkai’s ingenuity and efforts in advancing kosen-rufu, and he talked about the importance of the organization’s peace and culture movement to propagate the Law. At the beginning of this meeting, the “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was sung. An erroneous transcription of a surreptitiously obtained audio tape of this meeting was later produced by the priesthood, and statements from this transcription as well as other statements out of context were used to attack the Soka Gakkai. The priesthood also claimed that the “Ode to Joy,” whose German lyrics contain references to “gods,” is slanderous for Buddhists to sing.

On Dec. 27, 1990, the priesthood unilaterally revised the “Rules of Nichiren Shoshu” to facilitate the dismissal of SGI President Ikeda, Soka Gakkai President Akiya and other top leaders as head of all lay organizations and senior representatives respectively. An article added to the rules states that believers could be punished for criticizing the high priest. This was the first step in implementing “Operation C.”

By the end of 1990, the Soka Gakkai had repeatedly asked to meet with the priesthood to discuss any differences or complaints. But the priests insisted on handling matters only through one-sided written correspondence and have refused face-to-face dialogue short of a formal apology from SGI President Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai.

On March 5, 1991, General Administrator Fujimoto sent a “Communiqué” to SGI President Ikeda informing him that the priesthood was rescinding its policy to entrust him “with responsibility for providing guidance to overseas members and to not extend recognition to any overseas organization of lay believers not affiliated with the SGI.” SGI General Director Akiya, in a memorandum three days later, stated: “It appears clear that the priesthood ultimately aims for the dissolution of the Soka Gakkai and the formation of lay associations whose membership will obediently yield to its wishes…. It is President Ikeda and the leaders of the SGI in various countries who have encouraged, inspired, protected, educated and supported those children of the Buddha; this despite their being criticized as members of a cult or sect, despised, laughed at, and disparaged and reviled as heretics by people without the least knowledge of Buddhism. It is also President Ikeda and the SGI leaders who have helped develop the members’ faith through teaching them about the practice of gongyo and propagation, about the importance of study, about respecting the priesthood, and about the significance of going on tozan or pilgrimage. However, asserting its authority, the priesthood, with a curt memorandum, now casually announces its intention to lure the members away from the SGI and usher them into groups formed under the direction of priests and local temples.”

In July 1991, all responsibilities for pilgrimages (tozan) to the head temple (previously managed by the Soka Gakkai) were assumed by Nichiren Shoshu.

In a lengthy request for continued dialogue on the subject, addressed to High Priest Nikken, SGI General Director Akiya made the following points:

“As you know, the current pilgrimage system monitored by the Soka Gakkai was initiated in October 1952 with the utmost sincerity of the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, who wished to protect the head temple. At that time, soon after World War II, the head temple was extremely destitute; at one time, it was on the verge of becoming a tourist site.

“Forty years have passed since then, and the Soka Gakkai literally has made President Toda’s spirit to protect the head temple its own.

In the meantime, the Soka Gakkai has made every possible effort to establish accident-free pilgrimages for the members, while providing them with thorough guidance in faith to keep in mind in seeing the Dai-Gohonzon. This is a well-known fact.

“It is significant that, after the inauguration of the third Soka Gakkai president, Daisaku Ikeda, world kosen-rufu progressed and many overseas members began to visit the head temple in tremendously high spirits. Thus far, a total of seventy million visits have been conducted, creating a picture of prosperity in faith on a global scale that was never before witnessed in the history of Nichiren Shoshu.

“The sixty-fifth high priest, Nichijun Shonin, stated that ‘Nichiren Daishonin would have been greatly delighted if ten million people should visit the head temple—a great achievement that will shine forth in the history of 10,000 years in the Latter Day of the Law.’ We are convinced that the great footprints of faith and practice, which the Soka Gakkai has left to this day through pilgrimages to the head temple, has always been watched over by Nichiren Daishonin himself. However, on March 16 of this year, the Rev. Yagi, executive director of the Internal Affairs Bureau, sent a notification to the Soka Gakkai Headquarters that the priesthood would terminate the current pilgrimage system managed by the Soka Gakkai beginning July 1, only three months away. This notice obviously deviated from common sense. We were shocked in the depths of our hearts by its abruptness and unreasonableness.

“The priesthood refused to consider any proposal to postpone changing the pilgrimage system to engage in adequate dialogue on the subject.”

On Nov. 8, 1991, the SGI received a document signed by High Priest Nikken and General Administrator Fujimoto demanding that the organization disband. The document claims that the original doctrine of Nichiren Shoshu teaches that faith in the high priest is the religion’s foundation and that priests are essentially superior to believers. The priesthood said because the SGI opposes this principle, it must dissolve as a lay organization, not just in Japan, but worldwide.

Soka Gakkai President Akiya stated that legally, as an independent religious organization, the SGI is not bound to obey such an order and that the organization “will continue unchanged” along its present course of promoting activities for peace, culture and education based on the Daishonin’s Buddhism.

The June 1991 issue of Dai-Nichiren, the priesthood’s monthly magazine, carried an article that claims High Priest Nikken is the “Daishonin of modern times.”

In a July 30, 1991 letter to senior Gakkai leaders, senior priests stated that the high priest exclusively is as honorable as the Dai-Gohonzon and is one with it. They claimed that our faith in the high priest as well as the Dai-Gohonzon must be absolute.

On Sept. 9, 1991, these senior priests wrote that “The true Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin, the Dai-Gohonzon, the High Sanctuary, and the successive high priests are all equally respectworthy and one in their respective enlightenment. “

Last year, Nichiren Shoshu temples in the United States distributed an article that gives a new definition of faith. It says: “The only way to get benefit is to worship and be obedient to the priest in your local temple. The local priest must worship and be obedient to the high priest as the Daishonin’s replacement. Believers cannot worship the high priest directly. This order cannot be changed. Therefore, the ‘master’ for believers of local danto groups is their local priest. Your local priest is your teacher representing the high priest who is equal to Nichiren Daishonin. This is the master and disciple relationship…. Believers’ only concern should be to worship the priest, be obedient and give gokuyo (offerings). This is the practice of correct faith and the path to enlightenment.” This argument was also presented in the priesthood’s order to disband the SGI.

The former Secretary of the Nichiren Shoshu Overseas Bureau, Kido Fukuda, in au August 1991 speech to acolytes, proposed the idea that High Priest Nikken is the true Buddha (because he exists in the present) while Nichiren Daishonin is transient and provisional (because he is of the past).

Earlier that year, Chief Priest Hoyu Takano, a member of the Nichiren Shoshu Council, suggested that the high priest possesses the entirety of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, while The Writings of Nichiren Daishoninconstitutes only a part of the Daishonin’s teachings.

In letters to the Soka Gakkai, the priests state that by asserting the equality of the priesthood and laity in terms of faith, the Soka Gakkai is “seeking to destroy the Three Treasures of Buddhism.” The Three Treasures of Buddhism are the treasures of the Law, the Buddha and the Priest. Specifically, the Dai-Gohonzon represents the Law, Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha, and Nikko Shonin, the Priest. The Soka Gakkai has never said anything to belittle the significance of the Three Treasures but has asserted that by arrogantly defining himself as one of—indeed as embodying all of—the Three Treasures while asserting that lay believers do not, Nikken is himself “destroying the Three Treasures.”

That all people, regardless of position, possess the Buddha nature and are equal is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism. The Daishonin writes: “Now Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters are also doing this. In the Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. ” (WND-1, 299). The “Treasure Tower” here indicates the Gohonzon and our inherent Buddhahood.

On Aug. 18, 1984, High Priest Nikken himself stated: “It is totally erroneous to think that the priests alone hold a correct view. It is also wrong to think priests alone are great and noble, and it is seriously wrong in view of Buddhism to think lay believers are a step lower than the priesthood.” And yet, in a letter to SGI General Director Akiya dated Jan. 12, 1991, General Administrator Fujimoto wrote: “If lay believers speak as if they are equal to priests, they lack courtesy and propriety, and will destroy the order between priesthood and laity…. To say that the priesthood and laity are essentially equal and to try to promote harmony between priesthood and laity with a sense of equality are expressions of great conceit. In fact, they correspond to the five cardinal sins—to destroy the unity of Buddhist practitioners.”

In January 1991, High Priest Nikken accused President Ikeda, in several speeches, of misinterpreting the significance of the Grand Main Temple, the Sho-Hondo, at the groundbreaking ceremony held in 1968. The Sho-Hondo was completed in 1972 with ninety-nine percent of the donations from Soka Gakkai members around the world and is where the Dai-Gohonzon is enshrined. At that time, the sixty-sixth high priest, Nittatsu, quoted several passages from Nichiren Daishonin where he entrusts the construction of the high sanctuary for the Dai-Gohonzon to future disciples at the time of kosen-rufu. President Ikeda’s remarks were based on these comments by High Priest Nittatsu.

A month later, in February 1991, High Priest Nikken corrected those portions of his speech dealing with the Sho-Hondo in the Dai-Nichiren magazine. He acknowledged that President Ikeda’s interpretation was based on views expressed previously by the sixty-sixth high priest.

The order the priesthood sent on Nov. 8. 1991, calling for the Soka Gakkai to disband, condemns the organization for” deviating from the significance of the Three Treasures and ignoring the correct lineage (of Nichiren Shoshu).”

Yet, on July 27, 1977, High Priest Nittatsu explained at the fourteenth general assembly of the Federation of Hokkeko Groups: “As people who carry out the practice of faith, we naturally venerate the Three Treasures. But, in a broad sense, it can be said that the priests and lay believers all individually represent the treasure of the Priest, in the sense that each of us protects, studies and then transmits the Buddha’s Law to future generations.

“Nevertheless, if we have the attitude that because we propagate Buddhism and carry out propagation activities, we are the treasure of the Priest and other people should worship us, then we are guilty of arrogance.

“The fundamental tenet of this school is that we should revere the Three Treasures of the Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin and, as the treasure of the Priest, Nikko Shonin.”

Although the roles of high priest, priest and laity differ in terms of their specific mission to protect the Three Treasures, both priesthood and laity are equal and can be regarded as part of the Treasure of the Priest, under Nikko Shonin, the primary Treasure of the Priest.

In speeches and in the Dai-Nichiren, the argument has now been made by the priesthood that the primary Treasure of the Priest is now Nikken, who embodies the other two treasures, making him equal to or superior to Nichiren Daishonin and the Dai-Gohonzon. They quote the guidance of the twenty-sixth high priest, Nichikan, which states that the successive high priests inherit the “entity of the Law which embodies the oneness of the Three Treasures.” They argue that this means the high priest embodies the Treasure of the Priest, which in turn embodies the other two.

But this new elevation of the status of the high priest is a manipulation of terms. High Priest Nichikan stated that while the Three Treasures are intrinsically one and the same, they vary in importance from an external perspective. High Priest Nichikan’s guidance states: “The Treasure of the Law (the Gohonzon) is enshrined in the center, while the Treasure of the Buddha and the Treasure of the Priest are enshrined on the left and right respectively.” This refers to the traditional arrangement of carved images of Nichiren Daishonin and Nikko Shonin on either side of the Gohonzon enshrined in the Grand Reception Hall at the head temple.

Whenever High Priest Nichikan refers to the Treasure of the Priest, it is clear that he means Nikko Shonin specifically, not the successive high priests. As High Priest Nittatsu explained: “Nichimoku Shonin, the third high priest, was known as the ‘lord of the chair’…. He and subsequent high priests merely inherited and passed on the teachings like a container carrying water…. Therefore, none of the successive high priests are equivalent to Nichiren Daishonin. If any of you erroneously writes that the high priest is Nichiren Daishonin himself, then this will be a great source of problems. Please be very clear on this point.”

The priesthood has charged that the SGI seeks to destroy the pure heritage of the Law. While the priesthood has, throughout its 700-year history, served the role of protecting and perpetuating the teachings with varying degrees of responsibility, the heritage of faith that the Daishonin himself describes is hardly the priesthood’s sale domain.

In “Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life” Nichiren Daishonin states: ” Be resolved to summon forth the great power of faith, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the prayer that your faith will be steadfast and correct at the moment of death. Never seek any other way to inherit the ultimate Law of life and death, and manifest it in your life. ” (WND-l, 218). In the same writing, he states: ” All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death. Herein lies the true goal of Nichiren’s propagation. When you are so united, even the great desire for widespread propagation can be fulfilled. But if any of Nichiren’s disciples disrupt the unity of many in body but one in mind, they would be like warriors who destroy their own castle from within. ” (WND-l, 217).

In response to the priesthood’s request to disband, the SGI initiated a petition in November 1991 stating that High Priest Nikken has so strayed from the spirit and teachings of Nichiren Daishonin—to transmit the Law correctly, to pursue kosen-rufu wholeheartedly, to cherish and protect the believers most compassionately—that he is unfit to continue as high priest and should step down. More than 16.2 million signatures (including some two million from outside Japan) have been gathered.

Since before World War II, the Soka Gakkai has fervently protected the head temple and the successive high priests for the sake of kosen-rufu. Because of this support Nichiren Shoshu temples have become among the wealthiest in all Japan.

Perhaps because they no longer need to depend on the Soka Gakkai for financial support as they had in the past, some priests began treating members with increasing contempt. Members complained of priests being arrogant and exhibiting extravagant behavior unseemly for priests of the Mystic Law.

Although the Soka Gakkai leadership was aware of this behavior, they said nothing at first, hoping the priests would correct themselves. But when it became increasingly an obstacle in faith, raising doubts among members, Gakkai leaders felt a responsibility to say something. These issues were raised at a communication conference with the priests in July 1990 and assurances were given. But by this time the priesthood’s plan to destroy the SGI, “Operation C,” was already in existence.

To cause confusion and doubt among the Buddha’s disciples is one of the gravest slanders and a formidable obstacle to kosen-rufu. The teachings of Buddhism state that the struggle between the Buddha and devilish forces will naturally appear at the time of kosen-rufu. Today, as at no time in history, Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism has been flourishing worldwide due to the efforts of the SGI.

In Santa Monica, Calif., on Sept. 29, 1991, SG] President Ikeda stated: “As lay believers, we, too, may encounter persecutions or unpleasantness from others because of our correct practice of [the Daishonin’s] Buddhism. But by overcoming these kinds of obstacles we can develop great good fortune of a magnitude that truly defies the imagination. Viewed in this light, I hope you will be convinced that the current problems (with the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood) have profound significance for the further great advance of the SGI.”

As stated in the Jan. 27, 1992 SGI-USA Newsletter, which carried the refutation to the priesthood’s “Notice of Excommunication”:

“The Soka Gakkai has, from its inception, been dedicated to the realization of kosen-rufu, carrying out Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings exactly as he taught. It has based everything on the Gohonzon and Nichiren’s writings and will always continue to do so.

“The priesthood’s contentions of slander by the Soka Gakkai have no basis in the teachings and are based instead on the clear deviations from correct doctrine. Nichiren’s warning about priests becoming corrupt have proven true.