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June 13, 1994
Volume 4, No. 2 (Part 2)
II. DEVIATIONS FROM THE DAISHONIN?S
TEACHINGS; DISTORTING THE GOSHO
Fact 1:
On June 28, 1992, you gave a lecture at Myosetsu-ji temple.
Following the lecture, you met with an SGI member and
made statements along the following lines: “The
Gosho is not for everyone to use. It is arrogant for you
to think you understand the Gosho. It [the Gosho] is not
for everyone. The Daishonin did not write these letters
for everyone. People who received Gosho did not show them
to anyone .... It is arrogant that Soka Gakkai members
carry the Gosho and quote from it one sentence here and
one sentence there as if they understand it.”
Question 1:
The “Twenty-Six Admonitions of Nikko,” written
on Jan. 13, 1333, were left by the second high priest
for all people, “for the sake of eternal protection
and salvation” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1619).
The third admonition reads as follows: “There will
[in the future] appear persons who slander our school,
saying that the Gosho are forged writings. You must not
associate with such evil priests.”
The 11th admonition reads: “Followers of this school
should engrave the teachings of the Gosho in their lives
and thereby inherit the ultimate principles expounded
by the Master .... ”
Can you, as a priest of the same school, declare that
you are practicing Buddhism in accordance with Nikko Shonin?s
guidelines?
The 65th high priest, Nichijun Shonin, made clear that
these were admonishments of the tendency then prevalent
to consider the Daishonin?s teachings from the standpoint
of T?ien-t?ai?s doctrine. He made the point as follows:
“The Daishonin?s teachings are determined in every
respect by the Daishonin?s Gosho.”
With the great desire to achieve kosen-rufu and save all
humanity, Nikko Shonin said to “engrave the Gosho
in your hearts,” and Nichijun Shonin as well said
to “decide everything based on the Gosho.”
Taking these words to heart, SGI members reconfirm the
importance of the Gosho on a daily basis and exert our
utmost efforts in studying the Gosho. However, your statement
on June 28, 1992, absolutely goes against the admonitions
of Nikko Shonin and the guidance of Nichijun Shonin, and
above all, the spirit of the Daishonin. As a priest, how
do you reconcile your statement with the words of your
masters, Nikko Shonin and Nichijun Shonin? Please answer.
Fact 2:
Quoting from a passage in the Shintei Gosho, Nichiren
Shoshu Ceremonies states that: “The deceased rely
on the benefits of offerings from their relatives. So
you should offer your benefit to them to relieve their
suffering” (Shintei Gosho, vol. 1, p. 72).
In your lecture on Feb. 21, 1993, at a memorial service,
you quoted a paragraph from the book Nichiren Shoshu Ceremonies
(p. 86) and stated: “By having a memorial service
performed, a person can prolong his own life and accumulate
tremendous benefits. He will foresee the future and will
gradually be free of suffering and hardship.”
Furthermore, in the “NST Newsletter” of September
1993, the statement is made: “even if you have the
internal cause of faith, if you separate yourself from
Myosetsu-ji Temple, or external relation, you…are
likely to be defeated by your environment and go taiten.”
Question 2:
As the Daishonin?s disciples, we would like to ask you
some fundamental questions about faith, and how it is
that we attain enlightenment. We are aware that our enlightenment
is achieved through the power of the Buddha and the power
of the Law which are inherent in the Gohonzon, and the
powers of faith and practice within ourselves. It is not
in the least dependent on either a third party or an outside
force.
In the Gosho “On Attaining Buddhahood,” the
Daishonin states:
However, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo,
if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing
not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching. “Inferior
teachings” means those other than this sutra, which
are all provisional and transient. No provisional teaching
leads directly to enlightenment, and without the direct
path to enlightenment, you cannot attain Buddhahood, even
if you practice lifetime after lifetime for countless
aeons. Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime is then impossible.
(MW-1, 3-4)
In light of this Gosho, there are clear errors to be seen
in material distributed at Myosetsu-ji temple. According
to what you stated, whether or not we can attain enlightenment
seems to depend on the toba service and other offerings.
But do fundamentals of the Buddhist practice lie anywhere
other than in exerting ourselves in faith, practice and
study?
The passage in the Nichiren Shoshu Ceremonies book, “The
deceased rely on the benefits of offerings from their
relatives .... ” is quoted from “In Praise
of the Ten Kings in the Showa Shintei Nichiren Daishonin
Gosho, vol. 1, and attributed in your handout to Nichiren
Daishonin. However, Nichiko Shonin, the outstanding scholar
of Nichiren Daishonin?s Buddhism, deliberately omitted
this writing from the Gosho Zenshu. Are you aware that
it has been demonstrated from a scholarly standpoint that
this writing, “In Praise of the Ten Kings,”
is fraudulent (i.e., not written by the Daishonin)? If
you are, the intention of including such writings can
be said to lie in your desire to enslave believers to
the temple and collect contributions by playing on the
believers? fear of death and their longings for deceased
relatives.
Also, please explain why and how a toba service will enable
a person to foresee the future.
It is stated in the September 1993 issue of NST Newsletter,
“[I]f you separate yourself from Myosetsu-ji Temple,
or external relation, you…are likely to be defeated
by your environment and go ?taiten?.” What is the
doctrinal basis for this statement? Does this mean that
practitioners of the Daishonin?s Buddhism who live in
places where it is virtually impossible to visit a temple
are condemned never to become enlightened in this lifetime?
Please clarify this point based on the Gosho.
III. Clarifying the Real
Premise of Faith Based on the Gohonzon
Fact 1:
In the study material entitled “Myosetsu-ji Temple
Oko Ceremony, The Person and the Law” dated Nov.
21, 1993, it is stated: “If you think of those of
us who chant to the Gohonzon as birds, and the Dai-Gohonzon
as Mount Sumeru, then you can understand this Gosho passage:
?Birds which draw near to Mount Sumeru turn golden in
color...? (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1536). The Mount Sumeru here
is the head temple, Taiseki-ji.”
Regarding the significance of tozan (making a pilgrimage
to the head temple) in the present day, you quoted a Gosho
passage, “Those who visit this place can instantly
expiate the sins they have committed from the infinite
past...” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1578).
Question 1:
You have intentionally interpreted “Mount Sumeru”
or “this place” to mean only Taiseki-ji, with
the goal of encouraging members to go on tozan. However,
in the same Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin stresses the importance
of faith and embracing the Lotus Sutra. He in no way implies
that being in or going to a specific place is of itself
an expression of faith. Please clarify your views on this
point.
Nittatsu Shonin gave very clear guidance on this point:
“The Gohonzon enshrined in your altar is, itself,
the life of Nichiren Daishonin” (Sept. 7, 1962,
in Odawara).
The current high priest, Nikken, made this very clear
in his own lecture on Nov. 20, 1979:
When we revere our founder, Nichiren Daishonin, as the
original Buddha existing from time without beginning who
appears in the “Juryo” chapter of the Lotus
Sutra, and when we chant daimoku morning and evening,
diligently, with single-minded faith, whether before the
Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of True Buddhism, which
is the embodiment of his life, or before the Gohonzon
enshrined in each followers? homes, which are the emanations
of that Dai-Gohonzon, there is no doubt that we will definitely
attain Buddhahood in our present form.
The Daishonin wrote to his follower, Lord Matsuno, whom
he had never met:
How is it that you can have faith in Nichiren, though
you have never met him? It is, no doubt, the result of
good causes you have planted in your life in the past.
You are certain to attain Buddhahood in your next life.
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 1379)
The Daishonin praised Lord Matsuno?s faith and declared
that Lord Matsuno would definitely “attain Buddhahood”
in his next life.
Again, in the Gosho, it is stated: “The place where
those who practice the Lotus Sutra dwell is itself the
Pure Land. Why should one bother to search for it elsewhere?”
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 72).
All the above passages attest to the fact that faith based
on the Dai-Gohonzon, and one?s physical presence in front
of the Dai-Gohonzon have no relation to one another; practice
for others with a selfless spirit and strong faith to
promote kosen-rufu is indeed “faith based on the
Dai-Gohonzon.” What is your view on this?
On the other hand, one lacking in faith cannot be said
to be practicing “based on the Dai-Gohonzon,”
even if seated directly in front of it.
As we have pointed out in this letter, Taiseki-ji has
become a realm of slander, due to the misguided views
of the high priest and of priests like yourself. Nikko
Shonin states in the “Twenty-Six Admonitions of
Nikko,” “You should not sit together with
slanderers of the Law at religious ceremonies, for fear
of suffering the same punishment as they” (Gosho
Zenshu, p. 1618).
Elsewhere, he says, “If we do not disavow those
evil teachers who go against Nichiren Daishonin, we will
be committing an offense ourselves” (Hennentai Gosho,
p. 1734).
Further, in the “Rissho Ankoku Ron,” Nichiren
Daishonin states: “[Y]ou must never give alms to
a person who has slandered the Law” (MW-2, 38).
Now that the head temple has become infested with slanderers,
going on tozan without remonstrating with the current
high priest is tantamount to accepting slander. What is
your view on this?
Fact 2:
At the Hokkeko General Meeting held at Myosetsu-ji on
Sept. 19, 1993, you publicly stated that conferral of
the Gohonzon by the SGI is “the greatest slander
committed in the 700-year history of Nichiren Shoshu.”
Additionally, in the “NST News Special Issue”
which you distributed, it is stated that Honorary President
Ikeda and his Soka Gakkai were “Thieves of the Law.”
It is further stated that due to their act of conferring
the Gohonzon, the Soka Gakkai has severed its ties to
the Dai-Gohonzon, and has become a heretical religious
organization that is removed from the teachings of Nichiren
Daishonin.
Question 2:
The Soka Gakkai began to confer Gohonzon on believers
throughout the world after receiving a sincere and passionate
offer from the Rev. Narita of Joen-ji temple in Tochigi
Prefecture, Japan. The Rev. Narita offered the use of
Nichikan Shonin?s Gohonzon, which is in possession of
Joen-ji temple, as the basis for Okatagi Gohonzon. Needless
to say, the Gohonzon that Nichikan Shonin transcribed
is an exact replica of the Dai-Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren
Daishonin on the “twelfth day of the tenth month
in the second year of Koan,” and bestowed upon all
people. We wonder how you can make such a statement in
public, with full knowledge of the fact that this Gohonzon
is an exact image of that transcribed by the 26th high
priest of Nichiren Shoshu, who restored Nichiren Daishonin?s
teachings to the center of Nichiren Shoshu and lived his
life based totally on the Dai-Gohonzon! Please give clear,
concrete evidence to support your denial of the legitimacy
of this Gohonzon and your claim that this Gohonzon transcribed
by Nichikan Shonin is counterfeit.
Underlying the conferral of the Gohonzon is the profound
compassion of the Daishonin, who inscribed his enlightenment
to the Mystic Law for the sake of ordinary people in eternal
ages to come, and left it for all to worship. His spirit
is clear for all to see:
Showing profound compassion for those ignorant of the
gem of ichinen sanzen, the True Buddha wrapped it within
the single phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, with which he then
adorned the necks of those living in the Latter Day. (MW-1,
82)
If Nichiren?s compassion is truly great and encompassing,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years
and more, for all eternity .... (MW-4, 272)
When considering which person or organization is “qualified”
to confer the Gohonzon, the fundamental criterion must
be the degree to which that person or organization acts
in accord with this spirit of the Daishonin?s spirit.
It is clear that only the SGI, the organization which
received the inheritance of faith from Nichiren Daishonin,
possesses the qualification to spread the law for the
sake of the enlightenment of all people in the Latter
Day of the Law. In the “Heritage of the Ultimate
Law of Life,” the Daishonin states simply and plainly
that faith is the only way to be part of this heritage:
Be resolved to summon forth the great power of your faith,
and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the prayer that your
faith will be steadfast and correct at the moment of your
death. Never seek any other way to inherit the ultimate
law and manifest it in your life. Only then will you realize
that earthly desires are enlightenment and the sufferings
of life and death are nirvana. Without the lifeblood of
faith, it would be useless to embrace the Lotus Sutra.
(MW-1, 25)
When one considers who it is that has brought kosen-rufu,
the Daishonin?s will, to over 115 countries around the
world and over 16 million members, it is clear who has
truly inherited the teachings from the Daishonin, is it
not?
Conclusion
In the “Rissho Ankoku Ron,” the Daishonin
states:
The Lotus Sutra says: “There will be monks in that
evil age with perverse views and hearts that are fawning
and crooked who will say they have attained what they
have not attained, being proud and boastful in heart.
Or there will be forest-dwelling monks wearing clothing
of patched rags and living in retirement who will claim
they are practicing the true Way, despising and looking
down on the rest of mankind. Greedy for profit and nourishment,
they will preach the Dharma to white-robed laymen and
will be respected and revered by the world as though they
were arhats who possess the six supernatural powers....
Constantly they will go about among the populace, seeking
in this way to slander us. They will address the rulers,
high ministers, Brahmans and great patrons of Buddhism
as well as the other monks, slandering and speaking evil
of us, saying ?These are men of perverted views who preach
the doctrines of heretical sects?... In a muddied kalpa,
in an evil age there will be many different things to
fear. Demons will take possession of others and through
them curse, revile and heap shame on us .... The evil
monks of that muddied age, failing to understand the Buddha?s
expedient means, how he preaches the Dharma in accord
with what is appropriate, will confront us with foul language
and angry frowns; again and again we will be banished”
.... If we do not admonish the evil monks, how can we
hope to do good? (MW-2, 15-16)
The Daishonin further states in the “Shijuku-in
Gosho”:
Ignorant and simple-minded people have failed to look
to the clear, correct dictates of the sutras and have
vainly believed instead in the secret transmissions that
have been orally handed down from mentor to disciple.
Though they claim to be practicing the prayer of the “secret
Law,” there is no real proof of its efficacy.
So it is that Heaven and Earth show signs of strange natural
disasters, and catastrophes are rife in our land. It is
all because true Buddhism is not distinguished from false
Buddhism and wise priests are not distinguished from foolish
ones. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 848)
The priesthood, insisting on erroneous views of an empty
“heritage” and “high priest worship,”
has become a heretical Buddhist sect, completely opposed
to the Daishonin?s teachings. The time has come for the
New York Youth Division of the SGI-USA, who are the direct
disciples of Nichiren Daishonin, to rise up and crush
the false teachings of Nikken and people like you, Mr.
Nagasaka, who blindly follow him.
We insist upon your sincere response to this questionnaire
by April 28, 1994.
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