Recently I was told a story of a member who was visited and found to have received a Gohonzon from “another source”. The story went on to say that the persons visiting delivered warnings of slander, and assured the member being visited that the Gohonzon came from someone outside SGI, therefore they were themselves slanderers and probably were among those trying to start their own sect.
Of course they explained in detail that our SGI Nichikan Gohonzon is the correct Gohonzon and others are not.
Regardless of right or wrong, I do feel bad for the member. We’re not suppose to be about religious authority, but we’re all still human and human nature prevails.
The thing about the Gohonzon… I don’t claim to be an authority or a historian on Nichiren’s Buddhism but this one has always escaped me, that Nichiren’s own Gohonzons are somehow not correct rather Gohonzons from our ex-priesthood are.
I’ve heard the reasoning behind both sides. Fact is I probably know more than your average ex-NSA member. In truth I’d be the first to admit that SGI doesn’t have many true historians and those few we have are strongly guided by SGI policy.
Since 1990 it seems that alternate Nichiren groups have proliferated on the internet. The internet has give even that most insignificant entities a presence. It’s become a simple matter to “beat” SGI in the Nichiren game. There’s always a more fundamentalist viewpoint to rally behind. All a groups needs to do is tighten the screws of Nichiren theology and presto! Instant orthodoxy.
What has always made me uncomfortable is the history, culture and language barrier. I’ve seen break-away Nichiren groups pick and chose what points they wish to uphold in order to distinguish themselves from SGI.
Funny stuff really - the Daigohonzon real or fake? Chant Nam or chant Namu? Nichiren the true Buddha? All of these things are in truth mostly intangible to me personally. I think they would be difficult to verify concretely even for a Japanese scholar, how much more allusive for someone without access to original documents and books?
All this being said I wonder often about people I meet, and how they really look at Buddhism, or what attracted them to Buddhism in the first place. I’ve heard that in modern times Japan has become infatuated with Christianity. That would make sense. New sights, new images, new culture all seeming exotic and desirable. The grass is always greener on the other side, neh?
This is how many Americans discover Buddhism I think. Incense, priests, temples, bells - all things Asian. Asiatic fashion and culture is becoming more and more attractive and common place, especially in California.
When I was introduced to Buddhism it was all about Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. I know this is childish in retrospect but the offer of chanting a magical phrase to get what you wanted, that worked for me. Since then I have gradually discovered the Buddhism inside NSA/SGI.
This is all I have to offer in defense of SGI - we practice. As a group we aren’t the smartest, perhaps we aren’t the cleverest or the best read in Buddhist theology, but we are trained to practice and in the end I believe, with all my faith and all my heart, that Buddhism is about practice. Once you strip away the culture and history from any particular country through which Buddhism has passed you’re left with practice in one form or another.
I was looking through a Tricycle magazine the other day and saw a picture of a woman in beautiful Buddhist priests robes. I thought “how strange, in the country of those robe’s origin they’re like work clothes while in the Western world she is wearing something of status and ego”. In America I think the appropriate dress for a Buddhist priest would be a school janitor’s uniform -Forest green Ben Davis pants and matching shirt. Black leather belt, black work shoes with rubber safety soles…
And don’t forget the white with red lettering name patch with your first name… The kind they use in auto repair shops…
Mine would say DON, and I would probably wear my little gold statistics pin I received from Pres. Ikeda, or would that also be too showy?
Wow Don, you found your voice! Loved your post. You made some wonderful points.
“This is all I have to offer in defense of SGI - we practice.”
VW: I absolutely agree that the most impressive thing about SGI is the consistent assiduous practice of their members.
“In America I think the appropriate dress for a Buddhist priest would be a school janitor’s uniform -Forest green Ben Davis pants and matching shirt. Black leather belt, black work shoes with rubber safety soles…”
VW: I couldn’t agree more. For ladies it could be the school lunch lady uniform complete with hair net. Hard to go on an ego trip while wearing a hair net. (smile)
VW
Hi, Don! I'm very, very happy to see a new post from you - and a very interesting and insightful one at that. I am in complete agreement about your "practice" point. All Buddhism is about practice, and that's something the Gakkai really brings to the table - the practice itself and the ability to practice with others. And you don't have to pay a lot of $$ for a fancy retreat to practice with others, either. It is a true working-man's Buddhism, and that mission -- to bring Buddhism, enlightenment, whatever you want to call it, within the grasp of the "regular Joe" is truly noble. I have always loved the Gakkai for that and always will. In fact, I think if you talk to people who have left the Gakkai, many of them would say the same thing.
At one point, you say, "I've seen breakaway groups pick and choose which points they wish to uphold in order to distinguish themselves from SGI". Im curious to know which groups you are referring to. I don't see the issue quite this way. In regard to picking and choosing, the SGI itself is actively engaged in "picking and choosing" as we speak - it has chosen, for example, not to emphasise the Rissho Ankoku Ron -- perhaps it's a political correctness choice, perhaps it's a desire to steer clear of Nichiren's association of earthquakes with the practice of Zen Buddhism (somewhat problematic in light of 20th century plate tectonics). For whatever reason, the picking and choosing is going on as we speak. Constantly. The Gakkai also "picks and chooses" not only for the sake of orthodoxy or "truth", but in order to distinguish ourselves from others, even when this process may create disunity in the Nichiren community generally. I.e., we pick and choose to characterize Nichiren gohonzons as "evil" when there is no gosho support for that, and we pick and choose to continue to rub a 700-year old grudge in our relations with the Nichiren Shu. We pick and choose to characterize centuries-old Nichiren Shoshu doctrine as "innovations of Nikken" in order to avoid admitting that Presidents Makiguchi and Toda may have made mistakes. All these decisions are the result of picking and choosing -- it's just that the average American (like you or me,or any well-read member) is not invited to particpate in that process, and so American values like honesty and religious liberty are not critical to the picking and choosing.
I also don't think that other groups necessarily pick or choose their emphasis in order to distance themelves from the Gakkai - they may genuinely wish to adhere to the princples of Rissho Ankoku and they go about it as they see fit. That's America. Or they may want to include more basic, broad Buddhist study because they feel it is fundamental to understanding Nichiren's Buddhism. Since this kind of study (for example, a group which compares translations of the Lotus Sutra or allows discussion of any commentary other than President Ikeda's) is not officially authorized by the SGI Study Department, people have to form other groups in order to discuss these texts. I'm not studying the Lotus Sutra every Sunday in a conference call in order to distinguish myself from the SGI, I'm doing it to study the Lotus Sutra - something which the Gakkai does not allow study groups to do, except through President Ikeda's commentary. If the Gakkai allowed that activity, I would gladly have done it there. Other than the Gakkai's refusal to sanction this sort of study (which is the reason for the group's creation to begin with), the Gakkai may not be relevant to peoples' decisions at all. The individuals' sole motivator may be a seeking mind. Certainly, those people who do leave the Gakkai will go through a period of sorting out Buddhism from the organization's customs, but that's all that process is - a sorting through.
Finally, can anybody here explain this odd (yet common) characterization of people "trying to start his or her own sect?" Other than the Nichiren Buddhist Association of America (which is mostly just a website), who do they mean? I've probably got my ear as close to the ground on this kind of thing as anybody, and I have no idea what these alleged alternative "sects" are and who the slanderers who are creating them are. Just curious. I don't know if there are actually such people out there or if this is just an attempt to attribute evil, distorted ego-based motives to independent study? Anyway, thanks again for another cool blog - please keep it up. I really enjoy what you bring to the table. Thanks, Byrd in LA
Posted by: Byrd in LA at June 20, 2006 05:29 PM
The first verse from the poem "Faith in Mind" by Seng-ts'an:
"The Way to the Ultimate is not hard to find;
simply give up picking and choosing.
Just by not giving in to hatred and craving
will your heart and mind be as clear and bright
as the realm beyond the opposites;
Let but a hair's breadth of discrminatory thought arise
and you have made Heaven and Earth
strangers to each other"
So according to Seng-ts'an, avoiding picking and choosing is much preferable to getting entangled in picking and choosing.
;)
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Hi, Don. Byrd referred some of us to this blog with a link on the SGI Int'l board. I love your opening comments, and do agree that we sometimes do make too much of ancient history, especially when it comes to which gohonzon, and all of that stuff. You expressed my sentiments on that beautifully.
SGI does have the practice part down. I have noticed, and really noticed recently, among some of my friends in NST and NSHU that we all share so much in terms of our sincere practice. When we take away the spats and disagreements over dogma, we have so much in common in terms of basic practice. That's my take on it, anyway.
Love your blog.
Ca Moon Child - SGI - USA - CA
I like your idea of a janitors suit for priests. Well actually I don't as I see no reason for priests whatsoever, but I agree they should not be put on a pedestal. I think in those other countries while the buddhist robes do not seem as exoctic they still command much (too much?) respect and they are not viewed as lowly workers. As to your remarks about scrolls, it's ridiculous for anyone to say one or another is valid or invalid. I do think though that a sangha has an obligation to see that a person who comes for teachings is instructed properly. And for that reason I can understand the non-acceptance from other sources. Of course there can be an endless debate over what proper instruction is, and in the end everyone will do as they see fit. One other related point. SGI seems to always be branded as exclusivist, and I don't see that. We hold a couple of different doctrinal points on which we maintain we are correct and are unwilling to abandon for greater unity. Beyond that I think we are much more willing to work with other buddhists than they are with us.
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