Edited From the KHK Archives .
According to tradition, Nichiren's six senior disciples collected his writings at Ikegami in Musashi province on the first anniversary of his death. These works were called the "rokunai gosho" (cataloged writings). A year later, they were said to have gathered those writings that had eluded their first compilation effort, terming these works the "rokuge gosho" (uncatalogued writings).
The entire "rokunai" collection did not appear in its entirety until the Genna Era (1615-1623) and the "rokuge" collection in Kanbun 2 (1665). Early on, scholars
recognized that, in the course of this long compilation process, works written by individuals other than Nichiren had been incorporated into the collections and transmitted as authentic works. Forgeries became a problem early on. Nikko, in his "Nikko yuikai okibumi" (Nikko's last admonitions), traditionally dated 1333 (the year of Nikko's death) warns against associating with those who forge gosho and condemns them as "parasites in the body of the lion".
Yamakawa Chio (1879-1956) proposed a basis for distinguishing the forged from the genuine writings by assembling all the reliable documents in Nichiren's own hand, placing them in chronological order, and then using them as a "normative gosho" against which questionable texts might be evaluated. Another scholar, Suzuki Ichijo, proposed that the "authenticated works must be writings that [are in] Nichiren's own handwriting. He asserted that writings of doubtful authenticity had been incorporated in the "rokunai, rokuge and later collections of complete works". He felt that these must be investigated and removed, if found to be forged, to protect the purity of the body of Nichiren's authentic works."
Taisekiji has asserted that the essence of Nichiren's doctrine was expressed in those works that reflect the influence of medieval (chuko) Tendai original enlightenment thought. But many of these works, such as the 106 Comparisons, were not written by Nichiren. They go against the strict doctrinal positions that are the basis of the five major works of Nichiren which are indisputably authentic. At least 55 gosho, reflecting "chuko Tendai", are probable forgeries of later disciples. Such well known works as the "Shoji Ichadaiji Kechimyaku Sho" gosho which the SGI has just announced is the centerpiece of their year long study campaign for 2008, the "Abutsubo" gosho, the "Shoho Jisso sho"(The True Aspect of Life), "Issho Jobutsu Sho"(On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime) and even the "San dai Hiho Sho" (Three Great Secret Laws) are listed among the works that are probable forgeries. These works do not exist in Nichiren's hand, the copies are far removed from the time of the six senior disciples, they borrow heavily from "chuko Tendai" original enlightenment thought, and the San dai Hiho asserts that the official sanctuary must be built by imperial decree. Also, the"original enlightenment thought" in these writings differs from the "original enlightenment thought" of the earlier(pre-medieval) Tendai that Nichiren taught in his authenticated Gosho, particularly those before 1260. The "chuko Tendai" tradition adulterates the Lotus doctrine with elements from Zen, Pure Land and Shingon, thus mixing the pure with the provisional. After the early period of Nichiren's authenticated works (1242-1260), few of his known writings have even pre-medieval original enlightenment thought as their central theme. Moreover, the forged works use certain terms and expressions that do not appear in Nichiren's genuine writings, terminology that didn't even develop until after Nichiren's death.
Here lies the principle of textual parsimony, the basing of interpretive work solely on undisputed texts, few of which, especially after 1260, deal with "original enlightenment thought". Over a hundred genuine works of Nichiren survive in his own hand. Others are copies by reliable sources, usually associated with close disciples.
Asai Endo, holds that medieval Tendai stressed only the Buddhahood inherent in ordinary people. It disregarded even the stage of, "hearing the Dharma and embracing it with faith." He termed this, "a confusion of theory and practice." Nichiren is a teacher who championed the return to orthodoxy of the faith and practice, rejecting the purely theoretical identification of the Buddha and the ordinary person, as set forth in medieval Tendai. Medieval Tendai emphasized originally inherent Buddha nature (bussho) while Nichiren stressed receiving the seed of Buddhahood (busshu) by chanting the daimoku with faith.
Of the fourteen writings addressed to Sairen-bo, none survive in Nichiren's own handwriting and very little is known about him. All the works addressed to him focus on concepts related to medieval Tendai original enlightenment thought. The Shoho Jissho Sho ("True Entity of Life", or the "True Entity of All Phenomena" or more correctly, the "Reality of the Dharmas"), is one of the writings to Sairen-bo, replete with Chuko Tendai and believed to be a forgery.
So, the lack of a surviving holograph (written in Nichiren's own hand), or other independent verification, and the use of terminology related to "chuko Tendai original enlightenment thought" are serious considerations in assessing Nichiren's actual thinking. Hence, it is prudent to focus on the authenticated writings of Nichiren, then branch out cautiously to the questionable writings and judge their merits against the standard of the major works of Nichiren, such as the "Kanjin Honzon Sho", "Kaimoku Sho", "Senji Sho", "Ho'on Jo" and "Rissho Ankoku Ron".