Reverend Greg

New Year's Blog

1990 marks a crucial time in the history of American Nichiren Buddhism. It was in that year that Nikken Shonin, then the Highpriest of Nichiren Shoshu, excommunicated Daisaku Ikeda and the other leaders of the Soka Gakkai International. As with most important events this one would prove to be mutli-layered and dimensional.

One of the things this did was to provide an umbrella for many very disgruntled members and former members of the Soka Gakkai to hide under. The “Temple Group”, as SGI would later refer to the Nichiren Shoshu (NSS) lay-movement would take on a distinct identity in later years, though in those first few years after the split, the temple was mostly populated by those who simply could never get along in SGI, and those who left because of something some leader said or did that they could not reconcile.

In my recollection, living and practicing in the Sillycon Valley of the San Francisco Bay Area, we had only one or two families disconnect from SGI in order to remain with the Temple, which was Myoshin-ji in Pinole, California. One such family’s mother, we learned later, had aspirations for both her sons to enter the NSS priesthood. This seemed curious to me then, and more so now, as few American’s had even the slightest clue what was involved with entering a Japanese Buddhist priesthood, or if even such a thing was possible. The Father soon was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to leave the family to seek rest and recuperation in peace with a relative. Looking back, as they were a Hispanic family, I also recall that they had come from Catholic backgrounds and this may have accounted for the priesthood fixation, as it has with many Americans who have, since 1990, sought refuge with NSS under the care and authority of the priests.

What is not openly discussed is the actual history of events, moods and subtle nuances of time as it passed during the 90’s. Our “Soka Spirit” movement, which would become a significant movement within the SGI Youth Division, took many years to form. The temple incident was strictly a hush-hush and taboo discussion topic and was not openly discussed for many years after it happened. American SGI had no precedent to learn from in dealing with such an event, and virtually no appreciation for it’s importance in later years.

Only now in this last year has discussion surrounding the events of the actual beginning of this conflict begun to be openly discussed. The schism between the priesthood and the SGI came to a initial peak in 1979. At that time Pres. Ikeda stepped down, in true Japanese fashion, from his position as President of the Soka Gakkai, and was moved laterally to the Soka Gakkai International. In fact I learned a few years later in a personal discussion with Mr. Yoshimachi, an SGI leader of some weight and importance, that at that time Pres. Ikeda clearly did not feel he had the support from the membership to stand up to the already authoritarian priesthood.

All of these events are poorly recorded, and even my recollection of them is jaded by my personal geographic location and my own individual perspective. No one seems interested in recorded actual events, not without strongly slanting them to one advantage or another. As I have stated in previous articles, the Japanese are habitual liars and lying is an historical part of their cultural heritage.

There was another phenomenon particular to the post-1990 excommunication - the appearance of other Nichiren sects. Interestingly, even today few SGI members understand the proliferation of separate and individual Nichiren traditions. Few SGI members began practicing with an interest in Buddhism at all, rather the desire to experience the benefits of practicing Nichiren’s Buddhism.

The ranks of Nichiren Shu swelled slightly as many of the drop-out Gakkai members claiming to want to have nothing to do with politics and in-fighting between the SGI and NSS sought refuge there. Other sects which previously had minimal presence, such as Honmon Butsuryu Shu and Kempon Hokke appeared in the form of cyber sanghas, groups which only existed as internet forums with members communicating only by way of e-mail and messaging via USENET forums such as alt.religion.Buddhism.Nichiren.

Today yahoo groups and other forums have proliferated in a myriad of different forms all claiming some correct version of Nichiren faith. These have always interested me, for many reasons. The most significant curiosity has to do with the very nature of sangha itself, as the word is used in Buddhism.

Sangha: Sanskrit; a term for the Buddhist monastic community.

I was reminded recently by a post from a Nichiren Independent on one of the many such discussion forums to which I am subscribed, of the implications of practicing Buddhism in cyberspace. The post had to do with a request for experiences to be shared. For anyone not familiar with Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism, the cornerstone of the SGI is the discussion meeting. In the discussion meeting it is the personal experience or testament of the benefit of one’s practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo that stands as the pillar of every successful discussion meeting.

Needless to say a cyberspace Buddhist sangha cannot share their experiences in the same fashion as in a face-to-face discussion meeting, rather experiences must be written and posted on a forum. This negates much of the most important qualities of sharing an experience - the non-verbal communication, enthusiasm and other personal human qualities that go hand-in-hand with sharing a personal story.

Most internet users, I believe, perhaps haven’t spent sufficient time “doing the math” of what cyber communication really is. One of the most important things to consider is that without a human being relaying a personal story, the reader is left only with words printed on a computer screen. In order for a persona to be present, the reader must create said persona from their own mind. In essence without knowing the person who posted the experience, the essence of the individual “saying” the words is actually a creation of the reader’s mind, not a true representation of the writer.

This reality sheds what I feel are catastrophic realities on all Buddhist cyber sanghas. In the Soka Gakkai, a difficult aspect of practice in our organization is dealing with all sorts of people, including people we would normally not associate with. We have a cross-section of our US population with representatives of all ethnic racial peoples, peoples of all sexual preference and those from every imaginable life-experience. This makes the SGI a truly international sangha and it is from this wide-based personal association that many inconspicuous benefits arise.

Compare this to the earlier Buddhist sects to come from overseas, such as the American Buddhist Churches of the Nembutsu sect which were present in the US at the end of the 19th Century, and later the esoteric and intellectual American Zen movement. Nichiren Shu made it’s advent in Hawaii much earlier on, shortly after the turn of the Century. All of these groups however and specifically the Buddhist Church were centered around the Japanese community and were virtually 100% Japanese. In this respect their sangha was actually a cultural shelter more than an active Buddhist community.

The cyber sangha, I believe, is destined to the same fate, merely existing as a shelter for the “socially challenged” rather than those sincerely seeking the benefit of sincere Buddhism practice. I do not call a curse on the Nichiren Independents - quite the opposite I wish the best of results from anyone who seeks to embrace the Gohonzon and Daimoku of Nichiren, as well as his writings and teachings.

In SGI there is a bifurcation of Buddhism, in my interpretation. There is both Nichirenism, and the tradition of the Gakkai itself in the form of daily practice, it’s educational tradition and other aspects that are distinctly unique to both the Soka Gakkai and the legacy of the three Presidents. The sooner SGI members come to fully understand this divisional synergy, the better off they will be in the future.

Soka Gakkai has, after 1990, come to recklessly throw about the term “orthadox Nichiren Buddhism”. Many of us parrot such slogans as “just as Nichiren teaches”, and “return to Nichiren's Teachings”.

Orthodox is a hard word and one that has a specific and narrow meaning. I cringe every time this word is used at a Gakkai meeting. I understand it feels good to say it, but our Buddhism is far from orthodox. I hope that as the years unfold we will come to both understand the difference between our Buddhist practice and orthodox Nichiren Buddhism, as well and the inevitability that all things evolve. Orthodox can all too quickly come to mean “stuck” in many ways.

Having spent a considerable amount of time studying the writings of Nichiren, as well as the traditions of other sects, it has become clear to me, since just after our split with Nichiren Shoshu, that its teachings are neither orthodox nor even historically accurate. Additionally it must be made clear in the Soka Gakkai that we still largely attempt to uphold this aberrant form of Nichiren’s Buddhism.

There are Nichiren traditions that fit the label “orthodox”, and Kempon Hokke comes immediately to mind. We in the Soka Gakkai should understand that we are a lay movement, not a traditional Nichiren Sect. SGI members should come to realize that one aspect of the events of 1990 is that we can be free and not enslaved by the authority of a twisted and fantastical tradition, one which more closely resembles the Catholic Church rather than a true Buddhist tradition.

More importantly as Soka Gakkai faithful we are not each obligated to study Nichiren’s teachings in an academic and scholarly fashion. Everyone should strive to find their niche. For those of us who do wish to study, the time has come to begin to sort out that which is real and discard that which has been invented to serve ulterior agendas.

SGI exists to provide a path for every person to become happy through the practice of Nichiren’s Buddhism. Our tradition is one of personal practice and a community which is broad and varied. Whether we like it or not, not everyone who encounters SGI will remain. For those who are fortunate to be able to practice in SGI, we need to make study and personal practice our own personal responsibility and take ownership of our personal understanding of the teachings of Nichiren. Until this happens our Buddhism will in affect be owned by someone else.

Happy New Year

Rev. Greg

Posted by revgreg at December 26, 2007 08:17 PM