Robin Beck

"It is true that there are works in the Nichiren collection that most scholars regard as forgeries. They are contained in the supplement (zokuhen) to the Shõwa teihon collection. The problem is how to
treat those works that are contained in the main part (seihen) but whose authenticity has been questioned by scholars"

"The writings belonging to Nichiren B are included in the seihen division of the Shõwa teihon collection, and they are not separated from those of Nichiren A. It was mainly owing to the critical studies following Asai that Nichiren B emerged as a large category distinguished from Nichiren A."

-- Fumihiko

Anyway, this discussion was a loser for you from the very beginning of this thread, and I got you beat "hands down" on it already. You just
didn't do your homework, and you just can't justify or reconcile the fact that BOTH of those Gosho -- "Reply to Kyo'o" & "The Person and the Law" -- are & always have been published in their entire Gosho collection -- "Showa teihon Nichiren Shonin ibun" -- by the Nichiren Shu
From: Reginald Carpenter - view profile
Date: Mon, Apr 17 2006 5:30 am

Charles wrote:

"...I have come to the realization that the only thing I can rely on is daimoku and the Gohonzon..."

And your own innate wisdom, Charles...That's the whole point, isn't it?

I do wish we could address the issue of authenticity, and it should be done by the SGI...but the bottom line is that the Gosho still has to stand on its own merits based on content and not authorship...

There are favorite passages of mine which are of questionable authenticity...but if they work for me, I use them...

Only when the intent of Nichiren is distorted and usurpted do I have a problem...and there has been a lot of that in Nichiren Shoshu...and indirectly, in the SGI...but things are changing...slowly but surely.

David

Robin:

I'm a bit excited too, but in some ways preoccupied also. When I first saw that there are suspicions about "Reply to Kyo-o" - I thought, o my god no! not that one! Let "Rissho Ankoku Ron" be a forgery but not "Reply to Kyo-o" - which I find a very tender and beautiful Gosho.

However, truth is truth and I think looking into these things is really important. I just looked up "Three Kinds of Treasure" at the Coffeehouse and that has the unfortunate "U" classification too. My other favorites are "Letter to Nikke" and "The Fourteen Slanders", "New Year's Gosho", "On Attaining Buddhahood", "The Eight Winds" - I'm hoping that some of these can emerge unscathed!

IIRC Jacqueline Stone refers to some Japanese work done by computer analysis over the disputed gosho (a field I believe called "Styleometry") - that might be really helpful in dealing with some of these historically unauthenticated works.

On potential consequence of looking into the disputed gosho is that you find doubtful provenance for very loved Gosho. That might be a good recruiting thing for Nichiren Shoshu, where tradition prevails over any sense of authenticity. You might get loads of people thinking: "It ain't kosher, but it sure tastes good!"

Anyway, looking forward to whatever you dig up from this research.

Steve

"Like some others, I feel like my study of Buddhism has been renewed - or rather, even after 32 years of practice, I find myself starting my practice anew."

Wow! I did not say that, but I was thinking it. In fact, I am a bit excited. The thing is, the forged Gosho issue is more difficult than Taisekiji's silly transmission dox. That is why I have stayed
away from it so far.

Various factions seem to reject those grey area letters they disagree with; but accept others that are consisistent with their views.

This is an area that SGI should investigate and then update the background. If a Gosho is suspect, we should know why. Or if a Gosjo is A+ authenticated, we shoyld know the details.

For exanple, did a copy of "Reply to Kyo'o" magically appear just in time to support Nichikan's theories? Who made the copy, and when? What do they say happened to the original? Is the story credible?

Robin:

Thanks for this. Forged Gosho, a history of manufaactured texts, invented theories ascribed to the master, and the Pinnocheo principle. Like some others, I feel like my study of Buddhism has been renewed - or rather, even after 32 years of practice, I find myself starting my practice anew.

Now being completely open to the truth of Buddhism, I have come to the realization that the only thing I can rely on is daimoku and the Gohonzon. Outside of that, everything else is suspect.

Charles