Kempon Hokke Hogwash Hit Pieces
On Nichiren's Gohonzon for Practicing Kanjin
The Ita-Dai-Go-Honzon Issue
A Kempon Hokke Hit Piece:
"Let recap the so-called dai-gohonzon?/01"
As I mentioned previously, most of our information about Nichiren has come from Nichiren Shoshu. Meanwhile, one of the primary sources of alternative information, in English, has been another small School, one known as Kempon Hokke. Among other things, they put together an anti-SGI, anti-NSS web page:
I recently examined a series of claims they made about the Taisekiji Dai Gohonzon, in an article called:
1. Board mandalas first appeared in the later Muromachi Period (post 1333 AD), long after Nichiren's death. These board mandalas were associated with Hokke fraternities and Hokke Halls that sprang up in the Muromachi period.
The term "Hokke Shu" ( or Hokke Ko, which is "Lotus Sutra confraternity), which is written on the so-called dai-gohonzon, was not used during Nichiren's lifetime but several decades later. In fact, the Tendai sect took the Nichiren temples to court over the use of the term, "Hokke Shu", which, up till the Muromachi period, was used exclusively by the Tendai sect.
The Tendai sect regarded the Nichiren movement as just an offshoot of the legitimate Tendai sect, and therefore exerted its right to the use of the name, "Hokke Shu" (Lotus Sect). This tell tale discrepancy of the term "Hokke Shu" (or Hokke Ko) places the date of the so-called "dai-gohonzon" well beyond its supposed date of 1279.
Allegation: Board mandalas first appeared in the later Muromachi Period (post 1333 AD), long after Nichiren's death.
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Reply: This is really a moot point. There is no reason to think there was ever any prohibition against board Mandalas in Nichiren's School. Nichiro himself is said to have engraved Daimoku tablets. As did Nippo. Certainly, the craft of engraving mandalas on boards existed in Nichiren's time.
Engraving did require greater skill than writing on paper. It was also much easier to transport scrolls. So I can understand why board mandalas would not become more common until later on, after Nichiren Buddhism was more accepted. This was also the case with Statuary Gohonzon. But I see no reason why Nichiren would not have condoned engraved board mandalas, just as he condoned Statuary Gohonzon.
Allegation: These board mandalas were associated with Hokke fraternities and Hokke Halls that sprang up in the Muromachi period.
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Reply: This is probably true. But also a moot point. Statuary Gohonzon were commonly associated with Nakayama and Minobu after Nichiren's passing. But that does not mean they did not exist earlier.
Allegation: The term "Hokke Shu" ( or Hokke Ko, which is "Lotus Sutra confraternity), which is written on the so-called dai-gohonzon, was not used during Nichiren's lifetime but several decades later.
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Reply: Patently false. Nichiren referred to his followers as members of the Hokke Shu, in many authentic Gosho. "
"Bring forth the great power of faith and establish your reputation among all the people of Kamakura and the rest of Japan as Shijo Kingo of the Hokke sect." Shijo Kingo dono gohenji
The mention of the Hokkeko is a red herring. The term on the Taisekiji Mandala is Hokke Shu.
Allegation: In fact, the Tendai sect took the Nichiren temples to court over the use of the term, "Hokke Shu", which, up till the Muromachi period, was used exclusively by the Tendai sect.
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Reply: This is a "Straw Man". Until 1321-1334 or so, Nichiren Hokke Shu was a Reform Movement within Tendai. This was reiterated by Nissho himself, soon after Nichiren's passing, circa 1284.
Allegation: The Tendai sect regarded the Nichiren movement as just an offshoot of the legitimate Tendai sect, and therefore exerted its right to the use of the name, "Hokke Shu" (Lotus Sect).
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Reply: Yes, and the Nichiren Hokke Shu regarded themselves as the true Tendai Hokke Shu. They viewed Enryakuji & Onjoji and other Tendai Temples as corrupted by Shingon Shu.
"Seicho-ji had first belonged to the Tendai-Hokke sect which adhered to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra passed down from T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo of China to Dengyo of Japan. But later it fell under the influence of, first, the Shingon sect with its mystic rituals, and later, the Jodo or Pure Land sect with its reverence for Amida Buddha." -- Ho-on Sho
It appears that Nichiren used Hokke Shu {Dharma Flower School}as a generic term for followers of the Lotus Sutra.
Allegation: This tell tale discrepancy of the term "Hokke Shu" (or Hokke Ko) places the date of the so-called "dai-gohonzon" well beyond its supposed date of 1279.
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Reply: No, that is circular reasoning, based on false premises. There may be valid objections to the way NSS and SGI have promoted their Great Gohonzon. But, so far, this looks more like a hit piece than an objective study. The use of the term "Hokke Shu", in this context, actually adds credibility to the 1279 date.