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7. November 2005 : The Importance
of Knowing Right From Wrong |
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Dave Baldschun
SGI-USA
Study department leader
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1)
A primary focus of Nichiren Daishonin’s life
was discerning correct from incorrect teachings—true
from false views of Buddhist teachings. He was motivated
by the understanding that people who follow religions
or teachings contrary to the ultimate reality will
eventually suffer.
2) To propound distorted teachings without ever
knowing the truth is one thing; but to know the
truth and still propagate distorted teachings under
the guise of the truth is another thing altogether;
hence, Nichiren’s outrage.
3) The Soka Gakkai’s firm and unchanging position
since the first and second presidents has been to
advance in complete accord with the Lotus Sutra
and the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. |
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A primary focus of Nichiren Daishonin’s
life was discerning correct from incorrect teachings—true
from false views of Buddhist teachings. He was motivated
by the understanding that people who follow religions
or teachings contrary to the ultimate reality will eventually
suffer. If Buddhist faith were merely belief in inconsequential
tales of fantasy, knowing true from false wouldn’t
matter. But it does matter.
If our faith undermines our potential, we will fail to
bring forth the power to overcome life’s challenges.
Upholding people’s absolute right to embrace the
religion of their choice does not equate to accepting
all teachings as equal.
Nichiren’s overriding concern was to relieve misery.
Driven by profound compassion, he established the correct
Buddhist faith and practice for our age. His is a teaching
that regards as paramount the inherent dignity and value
of human life. Views that diminish the sanctity of life,
that devalue life in the name of monetary gain, nationalism
or religion itself, are erroneous. They lead people to
behave in ways unbecoming to a human being. This is the
theme of Nichiren’s seminal thesis “On Establishing
the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,”
—that the fundamental Law of life will not only
lead to individual happiness but also the happiness of
society.
We get an understanding of Nichiren’s sensibilities
by reading his writings. He strictly admonished Buddhist
schools that misconstrued the Buddha’s teachings
and oppressed or weakened the people. An outstanding exception
was the Great Teacher Dengyo (767–822) in Japan
who gained widespread recognition for establishing the
Lotus Sutra as the highest of all Buddhist teachings.
After Dengyo's death, however, the doctrine of the Tendai
sect was eroded by True Word school esotericism. Jikaku
(794–866) became the Tendai sect’s third high
priest in 854. He preached that the Mahavairochana Sutra
was the highest of all Buddhist scriptures, with the Lotus
Sutra in second place. The supremacy of the Lotus Sutra,
which Dengyo dedicated his entire life to establish despite
many persecutions, was completely ignored by a so-called
legitimate successor.
The Tendai sect in particular offended Nichiren. He had
devoted his life to clarifying the Lotus Sutra as the
supreme teaching of Shakyamuni. Based on that sutra, he
established the correct Buddhist practice for the Latter
Day of the Law. Therefore, his disappointment at the defilement
instigated by the Tendai school was huge. In referring
to the dominant sects of his time that he had convincingly
discredited—Zen, Nembutsu and True Word—Nichiren
said this of the Tendai sect and Jikaku: “And yet
there is something that is more evil than these three
teachings, so evil that it is a hundred, thousand, ten
thousand, million times more difficult to believe”
(WND, 569). In other words, to propound distorted teachings
without ever knowing the truth is one thing; but to know
the truth and still propagate distorted teachings under
the guise of the truth is another thing altogether; hence,
Nichiren’s outrage.
Imagine his outrage at the priests he had chosen as successors
who, after his death, proclaimed that they belonged to
the Tendai sect. We can also imagine how outraged and
disappointed Nikko must have been. Enough so that he wrote
about it repeatedly in his later years to alert those
of us in the future.
In 1274, Nichiren wrote his view of defiled teachings,
“Let the audience judge for themselves the seriousness
of the offense that derives from following the partial
and mistaken doctrines of their school and forsaking the
very teaching that all Buddhas of the three existences
verified with the words: ’All that you [Shakyamuni
Buddha] have expounded is the truth!’ Could any
thinking person fail to discern which is true and which
is false? Then, strictly denounce the teachers of their
school.
“How naive are those who cling only to the stump
of one sutra without knowing which are superior and which
inferior among all the sutras!” (WND, 477)
Nichiren tells us that when there is confusion over Buddhist
teachings, we should immediately “devote one’s
attention to rebuking slander of the correct teaching...
It is, in fact, an important principle of Buddhist practice”
(WND, 126). I don’t know what the parishioners of
Tendai temples did about their school or what any of the
laity did as their teachings morphed from correct to distorted.
I do know what the Soka Gakkai International does under
similar circumstances.
The Soka Gakkai’s firm and unchanging position since
the first and second presidents has been to advance in
complete accord with the Lotus Sutra and the teachings
of Nichiren Daishonin. The Soka Gakkai has strictly followed
the Daishonin’s mandate to accomplish kosen-rufu
and “strive in faith and be known as a votary of
the Lotus Sutra, and remain my disciple for the rest of
your life.” He says, “If you are of the same
mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth;
(“True Aspect of All Phenomena” WND, 385)
and “Those who call themselves my disciples and
practice the Lotus Sutra should all practice as I do”
(“On Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas as the Object
of Devotion” WND, 978).
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Why is it important to discern
between correct and incorrect teachings? |
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What is the basis of the SGI
stance in regards to the correct view of Nichiren
Buddhism? |
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Why did Nichiren Daishonin
speak out so strongly against the Tendai school? |
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Under the leadership of SGI President Ikeda, the SGI has
spoken out strongly against the distortions of Nichiren
Buddhism expounded by the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood.
Based on Nichiren’s views of the Tendai sect, we
can imagine his anger over Nichiren Shoshu’s doctrines
of an infallible high priest and the Gohonzon’s
power originating in priestly ritual rather than faith.
Just last September, Reverend Yudo Maruoka stated: “There
are those, such as the members of the Ikeda Soka Gakkai,
who now promote falsehoods, claiming that all people inherently
possess the capacity of the Buddha of Limitless Joy from
the infinite past of kuon-ganjo. They propound the heretical
doctrine of common mortals as Buddhas” (Nichiren
Shoshu Monthly, September 2005, p. 8).
That common mortals are Buddhas is a fundamental tenet
of Nichiren Buddhism. The Daishonin states this on numerous
occasions in his writings. For example, in “Letter
to the Sage Nichimyo,” he writes: “Bound as
we common mortals are by earthly desires, we can instantly
attain the same virtues as Shakyamuni Buddha, for we receive
all the benefits that he accumulated. The sutra reads,
‘Hoping to make all persons equal to me, without
any distinction between us.’ This means that those
who believe in and practice the Lotus Sutra are equal
to Shakyamuni Buddha” (WND, 323).
It would be much easier if chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
were as simple as a magician invoking abracadabra. Then
anyone in any group could chant and get the same result.
But it is not so. Nichiren explains this throughout his
writings. One of the most famous is in “On Attaining
Buddhahood in This Lifetime” where he writes: “Nevertheless,
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 an inferior teaching” (WND,
3). In chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he says, “there
is a difference” (WND, 756).
This is why the SGI way of practice is crucial. We must
never lose the spirit of faith established by the three
presidents Makiguchi, Toda and Ikeda and followed by millions
of SGI members around the world.
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