 |
|
 |
|
|
November 10, 2000
Seventy Years of Soka Spirit
EDITORIAL
By Jeff Farr
Associate Editor
The strong stance that the SGI took when Nichiren Shoshu
started to act against our membership a decade ago was
at first a surprise to many of us. But looking back over
the Soka Gakkai?s 70-year history, we can see how our
organization has a fearless tradition of protecting the
people.
It was at a frightening time for Japan that the Soka Gakkai
was founded. With Emperor Hirohito coming to power, Japan
became increasingly nationalistic and militaristic. As
many countries headed toward World War II, Japan?s leadership
seemed eager to join them.
The Soka Gakkai?s appearance on Nov. 18, 1930, pointed
Japan and the world in another direction—toward
peace. First and second Soka Gakkai presidents Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi and Josei Toda, based on their study of Nichiren
Daishonin?s writings, decided that selflessly spreading
this Buddhism was the best way to avert the immense human
disaster looming before them.
This is why, in June 1943, Makiguchi put himself at great
personal risk. When the priesthood summoned Soka Gakkai
leaders to the head temple and ordered them to accept
the Shinto talisman—under which the government was
attempting to unify all religious groups in the war effort—Makiguchi
soundly refused. He knew that the Daishonin would have
forbade such compromise.
A friend recently asked me: “Why does the SGI keep
going back to the incident with the Shinto talisman? Why
is this emphasized so much?” Makiguchi?s refusal
was an important moment in the history of Buddhism; it
was when Soka Spirit—the fearless faith to protect
the people that is the heart of Buddhism—reappeared
after a long absence.
The Daishonin writes that “life flashes by in but
a moment. No matter how many terrible enemies you may
encounter, banish all fears and never think of backsliding”
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 395). He also
says that “the lion king fears no other beast, nor
do its cubs. Slanderers are like barking foxes, but Nichiren?s
followers are like roaring lions” (WND, 997). Makiguchi
showed in June 1943 that he had inherited the spirit of
these passages. Accepting the Shinto talisman would have
meant compromising the Daishonin?s teachings and slandering
the Lotus Sutra. He knew that the people would be led
to more suffering, so he could not let himself fear the
consequences of saying what had to be said.And despite
the harsh conditions he faced when he was subsequently
imprisoned, Makiguchi continued to speak out. He even
tried to teach his interrogators the truth of this Buddhism.
As The Untold History of the Fuji School chronicles, when
asked if he considered Japan an evil society, Makiguchi
responded: “[The Daishonin] states that a nation
will experience disasters —such as internal strife,
revolution, famine and pestilence — and be led to
ruin [if it slanders the Lotus Sutra]. Our past history
indicates that we experienced such incidents and similar
national disasters. The cause for the current Japan–Sino
conflict and the war in greater East Asia lies in the
nation?s slander of the Law” (p. 122).
Essentially, he was unbegrudgingly giving his life for
the sake of the Law with this statement. Consider to whom
he was saying this—officials working for the emperor,
whom they regarded as divinity. To tell them that the
Pacific War was due to Japan?s slander of the Law was,
in their eyes, the height of blasphemy. And this was in
a country with no freedom of belief at the time.
Makiguchi?s death in prison came at age 73, from malnutrition.
It was Nov. 18, 1944— the 14th anniversary of the
Soka Gakkai?s founding. His spirit, though, has never
died. President Toda inherited it to rebuild the organization,
which was in ruins after the war. And SGI President Ikeda
brought the same spirit with him to America and the world,
sharing it with all of us.
“Let us return to the time of the Daishonin!”
President Ikeda often says. The Soka Gakkai?s 70th anniversary
reminds us to also return to the time of Makiguchi. Although
the world has changed drastically in recent decades, if
we practice with the same resolve that he had, the Soka
Spirit tradition will never die.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
