Question of the Week: “A New Question For November”

not at all — didn’t Nichiren say he wasn’t the follower of any established sect, nor the founder of a new sect?

The first thing is that I don’t think we need any “sects” at all. I was quite encouraged a couple of years ago when Nichiren Shu H.Q. said that we should really stop translating “Shu” as “sect.” Unfortunately, “shu” is a hard word to translate. “School”? “Order”? “Lineage”? None of them really work well.
What is needed are not sects but new Sanghas. A Sangha may follow the teachings of a particular teacher or method or approach. Obviously Zen Sanghas are going to be different than Nichiren Sanghas. Rinzai Zen Sanghas have a different feel than Soto Zen Sanghas. Nichiren Shu will have a different feel than Rissho Kosei Kai or Reiyukai or the Gathering of Friends. And each Sangha has a different scope, different ways of doing things and organizing. But in not being “sects” they don’t have to be sectarian. They don’t have to advertise themselves as the only ones getting it all right because obviously all the others are flawed.
Another thing is this - I believe that we are at the stage of the introduction of Nichiren Buddhism to North America (and elsewhere) wherein it is still important to learn from those who have grown up with it. They know Nichiren Buddhism in its original context and it is their heritage. I think those of us who are converts should have a bit of humility about this. And even as we adapt Nichiren Buddhism (or Buddhism itself for that matter) we need to take into account that it is very possible for us to have a skewed or biased view because of our own cultural assumptions and presumptions. I don’t think that Japanese-Buddhists are necessarily anymore virtuous or wiser than other Buddhists - but if it is a Japanese lineage of Buddhism that we are going to take up we should do so in cooperation with them and not presume that we know all we need to know. There is in fact so much that has not even been translated or translated well by Nichiren himself. And then there is all the stuff Nichiren took for granted, and all the methods and ways of doing things that he taught person to person and didn’t need or want to write down. So there is another reason we don’t need any new sects in my view - because we haven’t learned everything there is to learn from the traditional lineages.
Another consideration I have is this - everyone seems so eager to set up their own organizations and begin appointing leaders or collecting dues or signing people up. Though it might seem a bit strange for someone who is part of a formal set up like Nichiren Shu - I think this is the wrong approach to emphasize. What I emphasize in San Francisco and Marin Co. is just getting people together to chant Odaimoku and discuss the Dharma. It’s true that some of the people who have come to practice with me have taken jukai and formally become part of Nichiren Shu - but that was at their initiative. It is not the point of my meetings - and because it is not being pushed people feel safe when they come to practice with me - they are not going to be pressured into joining anything or signing off on some sectarian creed. Even at the San Jose Temple it is like that actually - people are always welcome to join our activities - but it is left to the initiative of the people who come to us whether they want to join up, take jukai, or receive the Shutei Mandala. If anything we make people work for those things first - learn more, practice more, make sure that is what they really want. And when people do study with us at San Jose - we all study together. Even though there are priests present - we all take turns presenting material and everyone has something to learn from the experience and insights of the others. It’s not about one person, even the priests, presuming to have all the answers and teaching the benighted what’s what.
This is why I have problems with cases where people seem to be trying to set up some new sect or movement. It seems to be about signing people up, setting oneself up as a teacher (with no regard for working within a larger context of other teachers who can provide a check and balance), giving or more often selling Gohonzon-mandalas, and making a case that everyone else’s approach is wrong and that is why one is setting up a new faster, better, bolder correct organization. It just sounds like SGI all over again to me.
What I really like about the Gathering is that Bill and Jean have never tried to make it out to be anything but a gathering of their friends who get together to practice and discuss Nichiren Buddhism and/or to share with each other their insights and sometimes other practices and techniques (like yoga or tai-chi). There is no grand agenda. The Ankers have not tried to set themselves up as the new leaders for a new movement. They have not set up some program for bestowing Gohonzons nor have they set about dissing all the other schools or groups in order to make a case that only the Gathering has it right. They even invite guest speakers from other groups so they can hear a spectrum of views and experience a variety of approaches. And the only time they have collected money (as far as I know) is when a visiting teacher needed expenses covered or as a courtesy offering. In short, the Ankers and the Gathering have really impressed me because they managed to find the Middle Way of Sangha building without straying into the excesses of self-aggrandizement, presumption, the setting up of hierarchies, engaging in the picking of favorites or putting down of perceived rivals, or making themselves out to be the only people other people need to come to in order to practice Nichiren Buddhism correctly. This is why when I get calls or emails from the LA area I almost always refer them to the Ankers.
This is not to say that I think all new Sanghas (or even the Gathering for that matter) should not eventually have a more formal process of helping people establish a practice, or that they should not have leaders. Eventually every informal gathering of friends type Sangha will either disperse in time or it will morph into something that is able to conitnue on into future generations. When that happens, I hope that the leadership and structure that comes into being will be one that is (1) as democratic as the Nichiren Order of North America, (2) as financially transparent as the Nichiren Order of North America, (3) has teachers who are as trained in the traditional teachings and methods as the Nichiren Order of North America or any of the other traditional and more wholesome and sane Nichiren lineages, (4) will remain open to other schools and points of view - just as Nichiren Shu has invited guest speakers such as Christian pastoral counselers to speak at its events or Rissho U professors who present challening findings, or reps. from other schools of Buddhism to address particular topics.
To me it is not about sects, it is about Sangha building. And one can build Sanghas that follow the sectarian, top-down, presumptuous model of the SGI, or the more nonsectarian, democratic, accountible and well-trained model of what I see in the Nichiren Shu or Rissho Kosei Kai or many of the other Buddhist groups I have encountered. It is not that I think Nichiren Shu is the only way to be (that would be the very sectarianism I have a problem with) but that I think Nichiren Shu has traits (despite its flaws) that I think are those which healthy Sanghas should take up or develop if they are to transition from small informal groups to established long term movements.
I’ll end with this - I think there are people who even when they were still officially SGI leaders outgrew that model - such people would fit in very well with Nichiren Shu but I look forward to their contributions to Nichiren Buddhism regardless of whether they join us, remain independent, join some other group, or create something new. Then there are some others who have long since left SGI for some other brand of Nichiren Buddhism or to set up something of their own but who to my mind have not outgrown (at least in some ways) SGI models and habits and approaches. This concerns me far more than whether or not people establish new sects.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

All,
While I respect everyone’s opinion on this matter, I have to honestly say that my SGI sangha is one of the most genuine, “bottom-up” grassroots experiences I have ever had in my life and this is coming from a very “stand-alone” person like myself, not exactly a social climber or people person, definately not a ‘joiner.’ I’ll tell you one thing, though, being in the SGI has, through the alchemy of practice, forged a new way of my understanding of and having compassion for all people.
Namaste,
cl

Dear All:
I have to chime in, in the ten minutes I have before work. there is only one sect, one Sangha in Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism: The sect/Sangha of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Nichiren’s sect/Sangha is the Hokke sect, the Buddha founded sect. In other worlds (besides Saha) and at other times (besides Mappo), there are other sanghas founded by other Buddhas (besides Shakyamuni) and other leaders (besides Jogyo). Since we live in Saha and we are in Mappo, don’t you think we should join the Buddha founded sect led by Jogyo, the Hokke sect?
Mark

>>>>>Whether this can be achieved without brewing even more rancor and divisiveness within the Nichiren community as a whole, would be my biggest concern.
I wonder at times if rancorous people are attracted to Nichiren Buddhism; if there is a flaw in the practice, or if there are other factors? Even in the political discussions, Nichirenists seem to have a need to put down those who disagree with them.
Maybe one possibility is that we are influenced by the Soka Gakkai concepts of unity, one mentor for all, and one true sect? Is there is a need for some people to see everyone not on their side as enemies? Is there a lack of self confidence that requires agreement for self affirmation?
I notice that some ssem to be very anti-Gakkai and anti-Ikeda. I was almost always ambivalent about both. I wonder if those who are strongly against were once strongly for?
I see the same sort of thing in the election. After weighing everything, I prefer McCain over Obama. However, I am not giddy or excited about the prospect. I am not looking for a President, or a Sensei, or a sect to inspire me.
At any rate, I think that since Nichiren Buddhism stresses one’s own insight; the sub-division is natural. I think what is needed is more respect and appreciation of, or at least tolerance for the insights of others; more exchange of ideas and less effort at persuasion.
gassho
robin