A DOCTRINAL OVERVIEW

The Soka Gakkai Taisekiji (Fuji Ha) sect ...

Even as early as 10 years after Nichiren's death, there were many distortions of Nichiren's
basic doctrines. There were many forgeries attributed to Nichiren and there were traditions
based on "secret transmissions" that had no basis in historical or doctrinal reality. The Buddha
of the Lotus Sutra."

These teaching derives from the "Hokkekyo" (Lotus Sutra)-based works of T'ien-t'ai (538-597
AD) of China and Dengyo (767-822 AD) of Japan, and clarified by Nichiren (1222-1282) of
Japan, who distilled the teaching into the formula"Namu-myoho-renge-kyo" (the title of the Lotus Sutra), established the supreme mandala called the "Gohonzon" and wrote many treatises on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, especially as it relates to the present age.

There are many sects and organizations that invoke Nichiren's name and adopt aspects of his teachings, but few keep his doctrines intact and actually try to practice them, just as the historical Nichiren mandated. For example the Taisekiji (Fuji Ha) sect and the modern-day Soka Gakkai utilize the "daimoku" in a truncated form (they have abbreviated the chant by changing "Namu" to "Nam") but they have replaced the Original Buddha Shakyamuni, as described in the 16th Chapter
of the Lotus Sutra, with Nichiren himself, something that Nichiren never advocated.  This idea did
not appear until the 17th century, hundreds of years after Nichiren's death.  Likewise, they have created an "ita Mandala" (board or plank mandala) to replace all authenticated Nichiren gohonzons (written in Nichiren's own hand).  This so-called "dai-Gohonzon" did not appear until 1488, more than two centuries after Nichiren's death. The handwriting and composition of this "dai-Gohonzon"
is highly suspect.  Taisekiji bases it's theology on "secret oral transmissions" and many forged documents.  During and after Nichiren's death, many Buddhist teachers used the principle of
"secret oral transmissions" to justify their teachings. It has led to many twisted interpretations of Nichiren's doctrine.

 There are no such secret transmissions. The true transmission or succession lies in the scrolls of
the Lotus Sutra and is transmitted directly from Original Buddha, found in the Lotus Sutra, to the believer.  This principle is called "kyogan Sojo." There is no special secret doctrine handed to one disciple alone. There is no intermediary between the believer and the Lotus Sutra.  When one takes faith in the Lotus Sutra, as elucidated by Nichiren himself (and we must base this on his authentic writings, rejecting all forgeries) then we have the true succession from the eternal Original Buddha Shakyamuni of the 16th Chapter of the the Lotus Sutra, to the believer directly.  Those who place their faith in "secret transmissions" outside of the words of Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra are likely
to be fooled by spiritual tyrants.  Any faith in an external hierarchy or "succession" (Taisekiji and Soka Gakkai are the best examples) places the teaching and the benefits outside of the individual practitioner.  However, Nichiren admonished his followers to "never seek this teaching outside
of yourself".  He often quoted the Nirvana Sutra ("Daihatsu-nehan-gyo") which says "Rely on
the Dharma: do not rely on human beings.  Rely on (innate Buddha) wisdom: do not rely on consciousness." Likewise, Dengyo Daishi (founder of the Tendai school in Japan and Nichiren's predecessor in transmitting the teachings of the Lotus Sutra) said, " Place reliance on the Buddha's preaching: do not believe the oral transmissions" (Hokke Shuku, DDZ, V. 3, 245.)

Nichiren's teachings are especially relevant for this time period (called the "Mappo" or "Degeneration of the Law") in which secular and religious struggles are rampant and Buddhist teachings, apart from the ultimate teachings of the Lotus Sutra,  lose efficacy to lead to Buddhahood.  This degeneration was predicted in the "Daijikkyo Sutra" (the Great Collection Sutra) where the decline was laid in
five "five-hundred-year" periods.  Thereafter the "Mappo" would exist until the coming of the next
historical Buddha, Maitreya ( also called "Ajita").  In these subsequent "five-hundred-year" periods, all buddhist sutras preached before the Hokekyo (Lotus Sutra) will degenerate and whatever is left
of these pre-Hokekyo teachings and their accompanying practices will be just an empty shell. If these"provisional" sutras are followed and the Lotus Sutra is discarded or disparaged, then the provisional teachings will lead to "hell" in future lifetimes.

In such simplistic terms this kind of karmic retribution seems too apocalyptic, but the predictions are rooted in the deepest of Buddhist introspections, far beyond the meditative capacity of people in a degenerate age.  Truly, the ultimate reality can only be shared between Buddhas....common mortals are swayed by the illusions that create the mosaic of mundane life.  The Lotus Sutra is the only vehicle to cross the sea of suffering and end the cycle of birth-and-death.  By faith in this ultimate teaching of the Original Buddha, one is assured of buddhahood, even though understanding is not yet developed.  All this is "ceded" or granted by the Original Buddha to the believer in the Lotus Sutra, and is mirrored in the practice of chanting the "daimoku" (great title) of "Namu myo ho renge kyo".  Since the pollution of the age is great and the shallowness of the beings is inherent, the "medicine"
of the Lotus Sutra is profound and deceptively simple. The Lotus Sutra and, more particularly, the quintessence of the Lotus Sutra, or the "daimoku" "Namu-myoho-renge-kyo" will spread at the same time of struggle and destruction, precisely when other buddhist teachings lose their curative powers.  The text of the Lotus Sutra clearly indicates that even when the other buddhist teachings disappear, the Great Pure ("White") Dharma of the Lotus Sutra will be propagated over the world, according to the principle of "correct time" (i.e. our present age).  It is the "medicine" to cure the ills of this time period.

For this time period, it is only through the Lotus Sutra that Buddhahood for all is assured.  Faith in pre-Lotus Sutra teachings will lead to "hell" (the three lower states of existence, i.e. the various hells, the realm of hungry ghosts and the animal realm respectively) and cannot lead to Buddhahood.
The Lotus Sutra, at the very least, blocks rebirth in the three lower realms, and promises Buddhahood, even "within this very body and this very lifetime".  It also is the path to rapid lessening of karmic hindrances, accumulated from countless lifetimes of ignorance, anger and stupidity.

In all other sutras, the historical Shakyamuni, who seemingly first attained enlightenment under
the Bodhi tree in India three-thousand years ago, is the one who preaches provisional teachings
or answers questions according to the capacities of the audience.  However, in the Lotus Sutra,
the historical Shakyamuni reveals his true identity as the transcendent Original Buddha, always enlightened since before beginningless time .  In the Lotus Sutra, this transcendent Original Buddha declares that his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree was a "skillful means" to lead people to the goal of universal enlightenment for all.  Likewise, the Buddha's death ("Nirvana") is also a "skillful means" to bring people to the ultimate teaching, found only in the depths of the Lotus Sutra.  In reality, the Buddha has always been enlightened and he never dies but exists even now and forever.  The cycle of life-and-death is an illusion that imprisons sentient beings in the "Saha"(triple) world or our world of endurance and suffering.  The ultimate reality (which is depicted in Nichiren's mandala, the "Gohonzon") is a transcendent, timeless and deathless enlightenment that is the legacy of all sentient beings.  Faith in the Lotus Sutra immediately gives us the "cause and effect" accumulation of the Buddha's merits and practice.  Since it is the teaching of the Original Buddha, it is "difficult to believe and difficult to accept", unlike the provisional sutras, which where preached according to the capacities of the listeners.  However, it is the direct path to Buddhahood.

Taisekiji (the Fuji Sect) has spawned Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai.  The latter is a lay organization that has separated itself from Nichiren Shoshu (the official sect name of Taisekiji).
The theology of Taisekiji and Soka Gakkai is far removed from the original teachings of Nichiren.
In truth, they derive their doctrines from later teachers.  These later abbots of Taisekiji adopted the popular trends of the Muromachi Period.  These were the trends of "chuko Tendai" (medieval Tendai) and this school possessed a particular vocabulary that sets it apart from Nichiren's authentic ideas.  Expert scholars can spot this vocabulary easily.  It is heavily influenced by the Muromachi ideas of "original enlightenment" and "you are the buddha just as you are".  These ideas of "original enlightenment" were used by Dengyo and Nichiren, but in a very different and even cautious way.
By the time of the late Muromachi, these terms had come to mean quite a different concept. In
short, these ideas that form the basis of Taisekiji theology were developed long after Nichiren and
his immediate successors had died. Successive abbots of Taisekiji came up with viewpoints that reflected their own opinions.  When these opinions conflicted with Nichiren's own words, then Taisekiji would re-interpret Nichiren.

The 9th abbot, Nichi-u (who first presented the so-called "dai-Gohonzon" to the world, in 1488)
and the 26th abbot, Nichikan wrote many works that basically said, "Nichiren said this, but he really meant something else" ..and they would re-interpret the words, according to their viewpoints. A modern example of something like this in the Western context is the example of Emanuel Swedenborg.  Swedenborg claimed to have experienced supernatural visions, and, according to
the "instructions" that he received, he wrote sweeping allegorical interpretations of the scriptures.  Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church is another example of such "latter day" re-interpretation of earlier scripture.  The departure from orthodoxy is easy to spot.

In the case of Taisekiji, they have replaced the Original Buddha Shakyamuni of the Lotus Sutra,
with Nichiren himself.  In every Gosho ("writing" ), Nichiren identifies the true Buddha as the Eternal Shakyamuni....in fact, Nichiren carried a statue of Shakyamuni with him until the day he died.  Yet, Taisekiji overcomes this insistence of Nichiren's to constantly write about the "Eternal Shakyamuni" by stating that he really meant himself, but he was too humble to come out and say it.  There is no mention in any of Nichiren's writings of such a notion. Neither can it be found in the writings of his immediate disciples, even Nikko, who founded Taisekiji.  (Nikko only spent 18 months at Taisekiji.  He spent the next 36 years of his life at Kitayama Hommonji, where most of his authentic works are kept.  He died there in 1333, the same year as his disciple, Nichimoku, of Taisekiji, died. Nikko never returned to Taisekiji again . If the so-called "dai-Gohonzon" existed at that time, then Nikko never made mention of it, nor did he return to Taisekiji to ever view it.  Nikko is buried at Kitayama Hommonji and his grave faces Minobusan, the original temple founded by Nichiren.)

In the "Rissho Ankoku Ron" and other major writings, Nichiren stated repeatedly that the troubles
of Japan stemmed from having abandoned the Original Buddha Shakyamuni and having replaced him with other Buddhas, such as Dainichi, Yakushi, or Amida Buddha.  It seems illogical that Nichiren would warn against abandoning the Eternal Shakyamuni, only to have later Taisekiji abbots replace this Eternal Shakyamuni with Nichiren himself!  One only has to read the words of Nichiren to realize how inconsistent this idea is with Nichiren's most basic beliefs.

The first mention of the idea of "Nichiren as True Buddha" surfaces  in the 17th Century. A
great many forgeries have been created within Taisekiji ( a common trait among many schools of
Buddhism in Japan), all to bolster their claims.  Unfortunately, they go against the words of Nichiren.  Even the "Major Works of Nichiren", translated by Soka Gakkai, must constantly translate the constant references that Nichiren makes to the "Eternal Shakyamuni" but they add footnotes that claim Nichiren was really referring to himself.

Unfortunately, the "casting off" of this Eternal Shakyamuni has the effect of gutting the practice as described by Nichiren.  It literally stems the flow of benefit and cuts off the rewards of the practice.  What is left is a pale imitation of what Nichiren actually practiced himself.  When the Eternal Shakyamuni is re-introduced into the practice of the believer, the real benefits, merits and "profound joy" of chanting is brought to life.  Without this key component, as practiced by Nichiren himself, the practice of Taisekiji and Soka Gakkai is a counterfeit lifeless ritual.  The illusion of benefit bolstered up by the "socializing" network of these two organizations. Likewise, the tendency to "deify" either the current High Priest, Nikken, or Daisaku Ikeda is a crutch to keep people attached to either Taisekiji or Soka Gakkai.  It has nothing to do with the practice of the Lotus Sutra as Nichiren intended it.  The glorification of a "fake mandala" (the so-called "dai-Gohonzon, which renders all other authentic Nichiren gohonzons "worthless", according to the exact words of Nichi-u, the 9th High Priest who first introduced this mandala, two hundred years after Nichiren's death) is doubly pernicious because it also cuts off the connection between the real Nichiren and his authentic representation of the Gohonzon.

 

From the Analects of the Kempon Hokke
(Edited and revised by S. Polito)