There are those Nichiren Shoshu believers that believe that if something happened to the Daigohonzon, the actual physical plank Gohonzon possessed by Nichiren Shoshu at the head temple Taisekiji, that true Buddhism would be destroyed. Soka Gakkai still seems determined to uphold faith in the object, though we deny now that it is the central focus point of our faith, rather considering it merely the advent of Nichiren’s life.
Shakyamuni is the lord of our universe. He is the Buddha who, appearing in this world, is tasked with teaching the Lotus Sutra, the true teaching of life in our known world. Nichiren understood this and his advent was to re-clarify this truth, re-market it if you will, for us who live in the evil latter day of the law.
In “old school" datacommunications Nichiren would be the DCE, not the DTE. DTE stands for Data Terminal Equipment, or the originating computer or end terminal device. What is a terminal? Well, yeah – just go with me on this… Data Communications Equipment includes the modem and other pieces of communication that help transmit the data over a distance. In the case of long-haul transmission – in the old old days – the transmitted signal, the data, would degenerate as it traveled over copper wire and so a datacomm path would employ the use of a “repeater” to read, clarify, repackage and transmit the signal over another length of copper. When I first began my faith in Nichiren’s Buddhism, I was actively working with these principles. If that doesn’t date me, I don’t know what would….
The distance in my analogy of course, is time. Time measured in hundreds of years. Nichiren clarified the true teaching of the universe which Shakyamuni himself transmitted (not invented) for the next distance throughout the future.
As seen through this example we must realize that the Fuji School, with their Daigohonzon, claim that Nichiren embodied this process of the transmission of the true law by creating, or causing to be created, a physical object which – according to Nichiren Shoshu - would embody his very life. Wars have been fought, whole peoples have been destroyed over less of an issue of a holy relic. Belief in holy objects are, in my opinion, not Buddhist in principle or practice.
Never mind for the moment that there is no historical support for the authenticity of the Daigohonzon (perhaps a mass historical conspiracy on behalf of the entire Nichiren world against the poor little backwater sect, Nichiren Shoshu) or that Nichiren does not make any mention of this advent (maybe his Gosho “On Inscribing the Daigohonzon" was lost, stolen, or purposely destroyed, again by other jealous Nichiren sects). The fact is, a holy relic intended to embody the actually true teaching of our known universe….
It just doesn’t make sense. Not to me anyway.
I do not mean to be overly sarcastic. I, as an individual Nichiren believer was there in that very moment that Alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren was created on usenet. I, in my naïve Nichiren Shoshu of America bliss got personally pounded by Bruce Maltz as I tried hopelessly to defend the authenticity of the Daigohonzon, something I had never heard questioned prior. I have traveled a long road of gradual and painful understanding.
There was a moment in the mid-90’s when, in a state of sincere confusion, I realized I had no idea – in that moment anyway – what Buddhism was for. What was the whole point anyway? Buddhism is a system, I finally decided, a system of living ones life on this Earth, as brief as it is, with understanding and fulfillment. We hope also that through our practice of Buddhism we can determine, or at least have an influence on, the circumstances of our next life, if there is in fact to be one at all.
For those who still uphold faith in the super-Gohonzon of Nichiren Shoshu I say, it’s alright. The very nature of religion is such that it is virtually made-up out of thin air. History and theological doctrine will never stand up to the force of human imagination. By that I mean there is no historical fact that can’t be discounted, or religious documentation that cannot be re-interpreted. In the end we will believe what we wish to believe and rearrange reality to fit that belief.
All I wish to advocate is – make sure from time to time that your beliefs are working for you and if what you believe does in fact fulfill you. If it does then “go you in peace”.
Just don’t ask me to support your delusion….
Rev. Greg Dilley, Shidoshi
We see ourselves from the outside in. Our society has promoted this as a matter of commerce in the form of extreme consumerism. Our appetite for material possessions has become bulimic while our sense of spiritual fulfillment remains quite anorexic.
Having said this I must also state that I believe spirituality too has become fraught with consumerism, to the point that most of the people of this Earth confuse spirituality with the absence of material wealth. Somehow the two, we imagine, are not mutually inclusive. Americans tend to consider spirituality something that must come from a source far removed from our own industrialized and materialized world. Anything with an Indian or Chinese name must be good, it would seem. “Guru”, “Sensei” are words that have extra value but in their own language mean only “teacher”. It becomes hard to find the real value in any spiritual path, difficult to strip away the fashion from the value, the form from the function, until finally the path of spiritual development becomes itself another possession, much like a new car, or fancy new clothes serving only to decorate our view of ourselves from – the outside in.
When I write of “outside in” I mean the very thing, the act of viewing oneself always as an outside observer, which one does naturally when adopting a particular fashion or style – it is natural to think of looking at ourselves as though we were in the audience. This too is a naturally occurring stage of adolescent development, the stage when a young person, usually in the pre-teen or teenage years, becomes overly sensitive to the idea that “everyone is watching me” and "everything I do is being watched by everyone". If one is to grow into adulthood, a process which is not necessarily automatic, an individual must adjust this process to a workable tolerance, i.e. tweaking this sense of “everyone’s is watching me” to a level that is more in accord to the reality that everyone is not watching everyone all the time. The vast majority of people conform very politely into commonly accepted fashions and appearances in any particular society. Being noticed actually take extra effort!
For example, the USA has developed an appetite for SUV’s, (sport utility vehicle) and despite the rising fuel costs and deteriorating economy there seems to be no end to the vehicles that leave the lots in record numbers. SUV’s are tremendously expensive and define the term “overkill”. Few buyers of these behemoths ever take advantage of the attributes that are standard with the giants, such as four wheel drive, high clearance, great towing power. The extreme majority of SUV drivers use their vehicles for the same purpose as owners of sedans, compact cars and for some even bicycles – day to day transportation to and from work, home, school and errands.
Yet, we love these cars. We love how we think we look in them – powerful, omnipotent, rich. Men’s sexual organs increase in size, women become more sexually attractive, at least in our minds, as we see ourselves from the outside in.
If we are to see ourselves from the inside out, we must face the reality of the purchasing decisions we make. Most American’s have no financial savings. Most of us are a paycheck or two away from homelessness. We become slaves to employment choices we no longer choose and loose any freedom and fulfillment our money could bring us. The richer we become the more debt we incur and we have to work for our money instead of allowing our money to work for us as it would if we made better financial choices. If you can finance it, you can afford it becomes the policy for most Americans even when financial stress is the primary reason for the failure of our relationships and destruction of the family unit.
Seeing ourselves from the inside out is the simplest and most sincere form of spiritualism. In requires self-reflection and the painful path of self-discovery. It demands that we come to grips with what really makes us happy instead of trying to become happy chasing an image based on merely form, merely on fashion.
Without self-discovery - which leads to self-knowledge - we are no better than pseudo-spiritual wannabes, material possession drug addicts, running from one fix to another…
This is substance abuse in its most human form, and abuse in any form is…
fraught with peril….
Rev. Greg Dilley, Shidoshi