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May 10, 2002
Making a Vow is the Basis
of Buddhism
(SGI North American Bureau Director, Normiasa Saito)
Norimasa Saito, North America bureau director
for the SGI, recently made a whirlwind trip to 12 cities
in the United States. The following are some of the points
he made to encourage SGI-USA members in faith.
A vibrant wave of propagation has been sweeping across
Japan since the beginning of this year. As you may know,
Japanese society is having a very difficult time economically,
politically and spiritually. These nationwide propagation
efforts have been geared toward helping people throughout
the country. As a result, tens of thousands of people
in Japan have newly embraced Nichiren Buddhism. Fundamental
to this accomplishment has been the hours of daimoku chanted
by members everywhere. Determined daimoku—daimoku
focusing on the happiness of specific individuals—has
been the key to their success in propagation.
Making a pledge for kosen-rufu is pivotal in practicing
Nichiren Buddhism. Interestingly, all personal prayers
fall into place when we fulfill our vow for others? happiness
and the promotion of kosen-rufu.
Recently, I had a talk with a 17-year-old girl. When I
first met her, I immediately noticed cuts on her arm.
She told me they resulted from cutting her own arm with
a razor. Her self-hatred seemed to compel her to do so,
especially when she was alone. This tendency developed
due to past abuse from her mother.
I said to her: “Even though your mother abused you
so much in your childhood, saying to you it would be better
if you had never been born, the teachings of Buddhism
would never agree. According to Buddhism, you are a Buddha
in essence. This means you have the greatest potential
within your life to become happy and to make other people
happy as well. In other words, your life is the most precious
thing in and of itself.”
She began to chant. Five days later, she called me. “Somehow,
the urge to cut my arm has begun to disappear,”
she told me. “I am starting to love myself. I really
want to practice to the Gohonzon.”After witnessing
the positive changes in her life, her boyfriend also began
to practice. Of course, since they are both young, they
will continue to see many ups and down in their lives.
But I can confidently say she will no longer be so vulnerable
to the darkness in her mind now that she has had a glimpse
of the beauty of her life.
The Soka Spirit movement
is being solidified throughout the SGI-USA
It is a historical fact that almost all people, whether
they currently practice within the SGI or with Nichiren
Shoshu, first encountered Nichiren Buddhism through people
who grew up in faith with the SGI. In this respect, it
is clear that the essence of the SGI embodies the Buddha?s
force or the functions of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
In contrast, the current Nichiren Shoshu, which is expounding
its own new teachings, making absolute obedience to High
Priest Nikken Abe the top priority over the power of faith
in and practice to the Gohonzon, has taken every possible
action to undermine Nichiren Buddhism.
If Nichiren Shoshu, instead of claiming that it represents
the correct mainstream teaching of Nichiren Daishonin,
admitted that what it teaches today is something different
from what the Daishonin taught, then the temple issue
would be a non-issue. However, as long as they proclaim
they represent the correct teachings of the Daishonin,
we need to continue to point out the difference between
the current Nichiren Shoshu?s doctrines and what the Daishonin
really taught.
The more closely counterfeit money resembles real money
the more dangerous it is. The relationship between the
SGI and Nichiren Shoshu is just like that between genuine
and counterfeit money. We need to continue to prove that
what is counterfeit is counterfeit in order to enable
people to correctly practice Nichiren Buddhism.
In the final analysis, the essential nature and function
of High Priest Nikken is none other than what Buddhism
terms the devil king of the sixth heaven, the function
that obstructs the flow of kosen-rufu. This perception
is vital in carrying out correct faith today. And happily
enough, many SGI-USA members have solidly mastered this
awareness, thus forging on along the correct path of faith.
Justice is only justice when
it prevails over injustice
In the days of Shakyamuni, Devadatta attempted to do away
with Shakyamuni?s life and his Buddhist order. In the
days of the Daishonin, Ryokan, the most highly regarded
priest of the time, and Hei no Saemon, a military leader,
loathed the Daishonin, attempting to kill him and end
his efforts to propagate the Mystic Law.
In the early days of the Soka Gakkai, during the leadership
of presidents Makiguchi and Toda, the military government
upheld the state religion of Shinto and engaged itself
in destroying the movement.
And during SGI President Ikeda?s leadership, great obstacles
appeared one after another—sometimes in the form
of attacks from the media, sometimes in the form of political
authority, and recently in the form of the religious authority
of High Priest Nikken and the priesthood. But the SGI,
under the leadership of President Ikeda, has defeated
the onslaught of all of these destructive forces and,
in the process, grown even stronger in its commitment
to world kosen-rufu.
It was because Shakyamuni prevailed over the negative
influence of Devadatta that he was able to expound the
“Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in
which he proclaimed that even evil people can attain Buddhahood.
In other words, through winning over Devadatta, he was
able to extend his compassion to such a person. Herein
lies a significant Buddhist principle that addresses the
issue of the Buddha?s absolute compassion. When we say,
“Buddhism is win or lose,” we are basing this
upon the premise that only through our decisive victory
does it become possible to extend our compassion even
toward the enemies of Buddhism.
Along the same lines, the Daishonin revealed his enlightenment
by defeating Ryokan and Hei no Saemon, who instigated
various plots against his life. And because of his victory
over them he could say, “I pray that before anything
else I can guide and lead the ruler and those others who
persecuted me” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
p. 402).
Conversely, if Shakyamuni had been defeated by the machinations
of Devadatta, or if the Daishonin in his time had been
killed by his enemies, there would be no correct flow
of Nichiren Buddhism for the sake of people?s happiness
today. Because of their victory and the ensuing expression
of their compassion as Buddhas, we can embrace the Mystic
Law today. These enemies of Buddhism can therefore be
viewed as ultimately functioning to assist in revealing
the correct teachings. In this respect, President Ikeda
has said, “Justice is only justice when it prevails
over injustice.”
It is vitally important for each SGI member to develop
the ability to discern the negative influence that currently
comes from the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood. The spirit
to protect people from this influence should be the basis
of all our efforts to promote every aspect of kosen-rufu.
In other words, this is the time that we should indeed
ponder the true meaning of, and put into action, the passage
“Rather than offering up ten thousand prayers for
remedy, it would be better simply to outlaw this one evil”
(WND, 15).
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