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2. Soka Spirit: The Best
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Matilda Buck
SGI North America Vice Women's Leader
 I
deeply respect the guests and new members who come to
our SGI-USA meetings. They are, consciously or unconsciously,
seekers of a fundamental truth and a way to use it to
better their lives. Even to better the world.
When I began my own search in 1972, I wasn’t thinking
in terms of world peace; I just wanted a happy family,
which seemed like an impossible goal. I began chanting
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo because I was so desperate to climb
out of a dark cave of unhappiness.
As a new SGI member, I heard a lot about Daisaku Ikeda,
much of it connected to the opening that year of the Grand
Main Temple, the sanctuary for the Dai-Gohonzon on the
grounds of the head temple in Japan. Under Mr. Ikeda’s
leadership, the lay organization was responsible for having
the temple designed, financed and constructed, and I am
proud to have been a part of that monumental effort. I
went with several hundred American members to see it for
myself. During that trip, and on a later visit he made
to the United States, SGI President Ikeda met with and
touched the lives of many American members.
But I was not one of them. Time after time, I heard members
talk about meeting and speaking with President Ikeda,
describing his compassion and his care. I began to feel
left out, sort of like the girl who doesn’t get
invited to the prom.
Then, during President Ikeda’s visit to the United
States in 1974, I was invited to a small dinner with him
in La Jolla, Calif., my hometown. I walked into the restaurant
and found our dinner party in a tiny, makeshift room that
held only about 10 people. As I entered, President Ikeda
was speaking very strongly to two Nichiren Shoshu priests
assigned to the two (at that time) American temples.
“You keep referring to ‘your’ temple,”
he said firmly. “Never forget that this temple was
built by the efforts of sincere members. It is not your
temple.”
This was my first personal encounter with President Ikeda.
Although I grasped his keen awareness of each member’s
contribution and the conviction to make sure it was never
overlooked, still I did not entirely understand the significance
of that event. Then, in 1991, when he and the SGI were
excommunicated from Nichiren Shoshu, I finally realized
I had witnessed something important—the legacy of
the Soka Gakkai presidents to stand firm in ensuring the
correct spirit of Nichiren Buddhism.
Last month, 30 years after that encounter, I sat in that
same restaurant with my large and very happy family, something
that seemed unobtainable in the beginning of my Buddhist
practice. I felt deep appreciation for that 1974 encounter,
which had imprinted on my heart the awareness that respecting,
protecting and humbly exerting ourselves for members is
a sure way to practice with the same spirit as Nichiren
Daishonin.
I am convinced that my Buddhist practice within the SGI
organization has enabled me to change my tendency toward
despair and dissolution, which once described the history
of my family. I am happy to share this conviction with
new members and guests. I want to convey the importance
of understanding the definitive times in which we find
ourselves. Humanity’s evolution is at a critical
point. Will we survive and create a great step toward
a just and peaceful world, or will we destroy ourselves?
This is also a pivotal moment in the history of Buddhism.
Will the great empowering and egalitarian teaching of
the Lotus Sutra prevail? Will Nichiren Daishonin’s
teaching, which gives every human being access to enlightenment,
be spread correctly? I believe that 30-plus years ago,
President Ikeda was pointing out the very thing that eventually
led to the clear separation between the SGI and Nichiren
Shoshu.
Since 1991, the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood has claimed
the absolute authority of the high priest and has designated
themselves the only qualified interpreters of Nichiren
Daishonin’s teachings. This perception of priestly
superiority over believers has driven the temple away
from the Daishonin’s true intention.
Here are the Daishonin’s words from one of his most
important works, “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law
of Life”: “Shakyamuni Buddha who attained
enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that
leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human
beings are in no way different or separate from one another.
To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit
the ultimate Law of life and death. This is a matter of
the utmost importance for Nichiren’s disciples and
lay supporters, and this is what it means to embrace the
Lotus Sutra” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
p. 216).
Contrast these words with this excerpt from the temple’s
own publication in which High Priest Nikken Abe writes:
“Currently, the Ikeda Soka Gakkai has proclaimed
that ‘the true Law has spread throughout the world
and has formed a tremendous flowing river.’ I have
also learned that the organization has announced ‘how
important it is to befriend the people of the world and
to be well liked by them,’ and ‘how essential
it is to respect other religions and cultivate a mutual
understanding.’ These considerations represent the
frivolous utterances of those who do not know the true
teachings of Buddhism” (November 2003 Nichiren Shoshu
Monthly, p. 6).
I present this contrast because, to a newcomer, the fact
that we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, just
as Nichiren Shoshu followers do, could seem to be the
same act. The difference lies in the fundamental recognition
and practice of Nichiren Daishonin’s intention for
humanity’s emancipation. The difference enables
us to truly work with his intention for world peace. The
difference is that it brings about our individual human
revolution, leading us on our individual path to happiness.
That’s why it is so important that we explain to
our newcomers about Soka Spirit and the history of the
evolution from Nichiren Shoshu.
How tragic it would be for even one person to have found
the great means of bringing forth Buddhahood only to be
diverted to another, seemingly similar, path that is incapable
of leading that individual to his or her deepest happiness.
Someone once suggested that it’s in our DNA to look
for a sage, for mystic answers, for a cleric who “understands
all.” Nichiren Daishonin teaches the practice of
awakening our innate Buddhahood and living with the vow
of a Buddha to help all people to the Buddha state. This
is the greatest teaching for the times we are in. Many
people bringing forth their great human potential, developing
their life state, will fundamentally change society; in
other words, it is the solution to the problem of how
to achieve true world peace.
Reflecting back on that dinner in 1974, I can see that
President Ikeda has been consistent and unwavering in
his commitment to humanity. In 2003, he said: “Nichiren
Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon so that we who live in
this evil age of the Latter Day can activate our Buddha
nature and bring forth the splendid flower of our humanity,
our inherent enlightened nature. He bequeathed us the
Gohonzon and taught that all people are equally worthy
of the highest respect. We of the SGI have put this teaching
into practice in our daily lives, and by doing so we have
shared with the world the way to deeply respect the lives
of all human beings” (November 2003 Living Buddhism,
p. 26).
Let us take the utmost care in helping our new members
off to the best-informed start.
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(Originally published in the World
Tribune, May 28, 2004)
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