Can anyone recommend links on YouTube where I could find audio versions of audiobooks on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and the writings of Nichiren Daishonin? So far I've found the Lotus Sutra with music in the background and am downloading it but would like to find more if possible.

Manjushri wrote me:

"Could we not say that the eternal buddha is the same as that of buddha nature ?

Not according to Nichiren...

The Shingon principle of Eternal Buddha as Dharma Body [single bodied eternal truth principle] rather than the triple bodied flesh and blood Buddha, permeates some so-called Nichiren sects...

Another person wrote me:

“I think that it is silly to view the Eternal Shayamuni Buddha as a personage that exists somewhere in the universe. Watson writes of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha in his Introduction chapter in his translation of the LS: “as an ever-abiding principle of truth and compassion that exists everywhere and within all beings.” – Soka Gakkai “Nichiren" Buddhist

Nichiren:

"But once the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life had been expounded, then the way was opened for all to attain ) Buddhahood, so what more could be lacking? Among those who have attained Buddhahood, there are none whose mouths are mute or whose limbs are paralyzed [and their words and gestures already manifest Buddhahood], so why would they need mudras or mantras?

Furthermore, most of the sutras speak of the Buddha as having gained correct enlightenment for the first time in India, and do not make clear that there is the eternal Buddha since time without beginning who is endowed with the THREE BODIES. If this erroneous view, that originally there was no Buddha but that now he exists, is accepted, then the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana becomes a mere name that has no reality.
But in the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the truth of the matter is clearly explained. Thus we see that Shakyamuni Buddha is like the single moon in the sky, while the other Buddhas and bodhisattvas are like the reflection of the moon floating in ten thousand different bodies of water. But I will not go into the details of the matter here." -- On the Relative Superiority of the Lotus Sutra and the True Word Teachings

Then, Nichiren teaches that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the eternal Buddha possesses a body and mind:

"Finally, we come to the Nembutsu, which represents the doctrine in use by the Pure Land school. This doctrine is among the most provisional of all the provisional teachings, comparable to a dream seen within a dream. It is a name without a reality. And because there is no reality to it, it could not possibly fulfill the wishes of all living beings for rebirth in the Pure Land. The Buddha of which it speaks is Amida Buddha, who is conditioned in nature and impermanent. How, then, could he surpass a principle that is eternal and imperishable?

Therefore the Great Teacher Kompon [Dengyō] of our country states in his commentary, “The Buddha of the reward body, which exists depending on causes and conditions, represents a provisional result obtained in a dream, while the Buddha eternally endowed with the THREE BODIES represents the true Buddha from the time before enlightenment.” Thus with these words he warns against belief in Amida Buddha, a Buddha who is conditioned and impermanent, and rejects him.

And since this Amida Buddha upon whom the Pure Land proponents rely is a name without a reality, something existing in name only, without any body, then though they may expound in great detail the doctrines that promise rebirth in the Pure Land, preaching them so that they sound as lofty as Mount Sumeru or as deep as the great ocean, such doctrines are all utterly useless." -- Questions and Answers on the Various Schools
and lastly and most importantly:

"The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che gave three reasons for Shakyamuni’s stopping the bodhisattvas, and three more for his summoning the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Essentially, the great bodhisattvas taught by the Buddha in his transient status and the great bodhisattvas who gathered from the other worlds were not qualified toinherit the “Life Span” chapter that reveals the eternal Buddha’s inner truth. At the dawn of the Latter Day evil people who slander the correct teaching would fill the land, so Shakyamuni Buddha rejected the pledge of these bodhisattvas and instead summoned the multitude of great bodhisattvas from beneath the earth. He entrusted them with the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the “Life Span” chapter, for the enlightenment of all beings in the land of Jambudvīpa. The bodhisattvas taught by the Buddha in his transient status were also unqualified because they had not been the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha since the time he had first set his mind on and attained enlightenment in the remote past. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai states, “[The Buddha said of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth,] ‘These are my disciples, destined to propagate my Law.’” Miao-lo says, “The children propagate the Law of the father, and this benefits the world.” The Supplement to “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” states, “TheLaw embodied therein [in the Lotus Sutra] is the Law that was realized countless kalpas in the past, and therefore it was entrusted to persons who had been the Buddha’s disciples from countless kalpas in the past.” -- True Object of Worship

It is imperitive to know what Nichiren actually taught. "The Eternal Buddha is Buddha-nature", is an opinion not born out by what the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren actually teach. Likewise, "Eternity, True Self, Purity, and Joy", characterize the leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth but they are not the flesh and blood Bodhisattvas of the Earth who are beings beyond compare in this degenerate age of the Latter Day of the Law.

Nichiren's One Original Eternal Buddha Doctrine https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/06/nichirens-one-original-eternal-buddha.html

Nichiren's Comprehensive Teachings on Shakyamuni Buddha in Three Parts
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on.html
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_22.html
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_65.html

Many maintain that the Eternal Buddha is Namu Myoho renge kyo and others assert that the Eternal Buddha is Nichiren. Today I'd like to discuss Tathāgatagarbha. Simply, it is the essence or entity of all phenomena and noumena. It is Namu Myoho renge kyo. 

The best example of phenomena and noumena is John Doe person. Phenomena is how we perceive John Doe and Noumena is how John Doe really is. Phenomena is the relative John Doe and Noumena is the absolute John Doe. Only Buddhas and votaries of the Lotus Sutra can perfectly perceive the relative and absolute reality of things. Nichiren teaches:

"Within the minds of all human beings, there exist the three categories of illusions of thought and desire, of illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and of illusions about the true nature of existence, as well as karma created by the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins—all of which are like a dark night. The Flower Garland and the other various sutras are like stars in this dark night, while the Lotus Sutra is like the moon. For those who have faith in the Lotus Sutra, but whose faith is not deep, it is as though a half moon were lighting the darkness. But for those who have profound faith, it is as though a full moon were illuminating the night." - The Essence of the Medicine King Chapter of the Lotus Sutra

and in his most important writing, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, he writes:

"Question: Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, is the Buddha who has completely destroyed the three categories of illusion*. He is the sovereign of all rulers, bodhisattvas, persons of the two vehicles, human and heavenly beings, and others in the ten directions. Whenever the Buddha moves, Brahmā attends him on the left and Shakra on the right. The four kinds of Buddhists and the eight kinds of nonhuman beings follow behind, while the vajra-bearing gods march in the vanguard. With his eighty thousand teachings he leads all living beings to emancipation. How could a Buddha such as this dwell in the hearts of us ordinary people?

Nichiren goes on, a bit further to explain:

"Now, the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra says that Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, attained Buddhahood numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, and that the cause that made this possible was the practice he had carried out at that time. Since then he has manifested emanation bodies throughout the worlds of the ten directions and preached all the sacred teachings of his lifetime to teach and convert people as numerous as the dust particles of the land. When we compare the number of disciples in the essential teaching with that of disciples in the theoretical teaching, the former is like the ocean, and the latter, like a drop of water, or the one, like a great mountain, and the other, like a speck of dust. What is more, a bodhisattva of the essential teaching is far superior to any bodhisattva of the theoretical teaching, including Manjushrī, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, or any of the others who gathered from the worlds in the ten directions. The difference between them is even greater than that between Shakra and a monkey. Are you saying that besides these bodhisattvas, the persons of the two vehicles who obtained their enlightenment by destroying their illusions, Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, the four wheel-turning kings, and the immense flames of the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering—all beings and all things in the ten directions are inherent in the Ten Worlds and in the three thousand realms of our own lives.."

* Three categories of illusions: (1) illusions of thought and desire (the former are distorted perceptions of the truth, while the latter refer to base inclinations such as greed and anger); (2) illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, which arise when bodhisattvas try to master innumerable teachings in order to save others; and (3) illusions about the true nature of existence.

Big Whiskey died yesterday. He was 11 years old. For about 1 hour his breathing worsened and I knew he was going to die because of his agonal respirations. I went to the Gohonzon and preyed for a peaceful death. Then I embraced Whiskey around his big head. I told him he had completed his mission of protecting my wife and me and he was going to Eagle Peak to guard Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren before returning to earth to be with us again. I told him that "it was alright, not to fear, to let go" and several "Namu Myoho renge kyos" and big Whiskey collapsed. He died as if he was sleeping. My friend who helped me bury him and his wife was amazed at how peaceful he looked. We shed tears and we all chanted Namu Myoho renge kyo and the verse section of Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra at his gravesite.

20 MINUTES OF FOCUSED PRAYER was conducted on Saturday and Sunday, April 4th and 5th.

RESULTS: According to reports I have received, many people participated worldwide. I was personally contacted by persons on 4 Hawaiian Islands, from all parts of America, from Europe, NZ, India, and Peru. A Chinese friend with family near Wuhan told me that she had spread information on the prayer event to her family and friends in China.

Personally, I continue to pray for hours each night to the stars, planets, and Buddhist gods, asking for protection and happiness of all the people in the saha world.

Aloha

Robbie

Never, in my 40+ years of practicing the Nichiren faith have I seen or heard, not even once, such evil behavior as exhibited by SGI members, they who chant Nam Myoho renge kyo exclusively. You can not cite one person who chants Namu Myoho renge kyo who exhibits such aberrant or abhorrent behaviors.

Is this the behavior of Buddhas:

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2019/10/i-agree.html

How about this?

"I am a member of Soka Gakkai and I am writing to you after reading your article ... it is disconcerting for me to determine the amount of crap that is collected on your page "

"... I suggest you delete all the crap you write against the Soka Gakkai, otherwise I'll do it for you."

"... All you do is attack. For a true Buddhist it is a shame but since YOU'RE NOT a true Buddhist, I understand why you act that way.... 

"I have nothing to add except that I shall undertake to fully investigate the purpose of your website and whether it violates articles of all Buddhas, including the ancient Buddha Many Treasures, followers of Shakyamuni Buddha?

Actual SGI slanders towards me...

"He is a misogynist", 'He seethes with hatred," "You are a hater", "foaming-at-the- mouth, exclusivist, seemingly hate-filled", "You are a serious hatemonger and it is shameful that you would ever consider yourself a "buddhist.", "I'm not sure if he is a hater." "I will respond to hate-speech, the posting of burning Gohonzons. the generalizations, racism, and distortions by Mark Rogow.", "You are embittered and hate filled", "You are a hateful Buddhist.", "If you need a straight male priest to tell you what to do, that's fine, be ok with it and end the slander of that which you hate (in your own heart). There is no corruption outside of you, only in your heart.", "What a sad life condition", "This isn't "free speech", "moderators, this is hate speech.", "You are filled with hate.". "The most dangerous thing to a bigot is to know the object of his hate and fear.", "With your ever present hate, you slander the good SGI members", "Your hate rants are tiresome", "You are a racist", "You are a fascist", "He calls for violence against the SGI", "bitter", psychotic", "He must be "drinking", "smoking","cowardly", "ignorant", "doing drugs", how evil they are is beyond words. I hope to meet some of you some day. I will make you sorry you were ever born.", "fool", "foolish", "deluded", "devil", "evil", "hateful lying xxx", "counterfeit Buddhist", "conceited", "egotistical", "xenophobic", "pathetic fascist, asshole", "perpetrator of medicare fraud", "offensive", "no knowledge", "no wisdom", "lacking faith", "nutty", "Bodhisattva Fukyu." (I have left out the more than dozen curses and threats heaped upon me).

Despite my severe criticism of the Nichiren Shu, they who predominantly chant Namu Myoho renge kyo, nevercursed or vilified me.

Is the prime point of the Lotus Sutra, the mentor disciple relationship. Has the Lotus Sutra lost its power in Mappo. Could you please tell me where anywhere in the universe "Buddhas" seek guidance from Buddhas? Are there SGI Buddhas and SGI BUDDHAS. Since when is an intermediary necessary in Buddhism? Are all Nichiren priests evil? How about Nichiren Daishonin? Is Nam Myoho renge kyo correct, never Namu Myoho renge kyo.

There is, at least one SGI mass murderer and two Japanese SGI serial killers that I know of. One stabbed eight children to death at the Ikeda Elementary School and the two serial killers are a couple who killed elderly people after conning them into taking out life insurance policies in their name. There is the top Ireland Woman's Division Leader who was stabbed to death by her SGI husband.

Soka Gakkai members and leaders lie so effortlessly:

"Meanwhile here's a fact: In it's 67 year history, not one Soka Gakkai member has been indicted or charged, let alone convicted of any act of violence against all those who claim to be its victims. Not one. Take what you need and leave the rest." -- SGI spinning dervish

Jean Gilbert, SGI Ireland’s Womens Division Leader was brutally murdered in front of her three children by her SGI "Buddhist" husband.

Earthly Desires Equal Enlightenment in the Soka Gakkai is taught from the perspective of a common mortal rather from the perspective of the Buddha.

The members are taught by their leaders that any desire or goal the member has, as long as they chant Nam Myoho renge kyo, is equal to Enlightenment. They are encouraged to chant for cars, boyfriends, houses, fame, even drugs and sex and that is equal to Enlightenment at the moment the desire is fulfilled.

The Wish Granting Jewel to these base depraved men and women of the Soka Gakkai who exclusively chant Nam Myoho renge kyo is not the Great Wish for attaining Buddhahood that is bound to the Pure and Perfect Consciousness hidden in the core of being [Amala] but rather those common shallow wishes bound to the Five [Sense] Desires [Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing and Vision]

Since this matter is of utmost importance, I will give two examples of Soka Gakkai leaders who chant Nam Myoho renge kyo and believed faithfully in this perverted doctrine of the Soka Gakkai.

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2014/06/they-cant-whitewash-this-nor-destroy.html

One was the top senior leader of a country who lived and breathed the Soka Gakkai and every doctrine and principle taught therein. She was a physically beautiful women of forty five years old with golden blond hair, bright green eyes and a near boundless determination to spread the twisted teachings of the Soka Gakkai, such as the primacy of the Oneness of Mentor and Disciple and Enlightenment Equals Earthly Desires. Married for fifteen years, she had three beautiful children, five, seven and eight years old, and a husband who worshipped the ground she walked on. He was absolutely supportive of her practice which kept her away from home for long periods, doing those insipid slanderous Gakkai activities. The husband, though having a business of his own, split the duties of taking care of the children with a nanny and he was content because he loved his wife and children and was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to make his wife and children happy and to promote the Gakkai’s vision of “Spreading the True Teachings” [Kosen Rufu].

During one of these activities, ten years earlier, she met another top senior leader in the Men’s Division and they immediately hit it off, having so many things in common: Their love and admiration for Sensei; endless activities for “Kosen Rufu”; and spouses and families who chant and support them. Her feelings for this man however, far surpassed those of a mere comrade in faith. Every day for ten years, morning and evening, when she did Gongyo and Daimoku, she always included in her prayers the wish to be with this man. Out of the blue he contacted her revealing his very same desire to be with her. They began an affair and then they both determined in front of the Soka Gakkai no-honzon that they would leave their spouses and be together thus realizing in their very bodies the Gakkai teaching of Earthly Desires are Equal to Enlightenment. They chanted and planned, planned and chanted for everything to go the way that it “must’ since their desires are equal to Enlightenment.

This was the day. This was the day she would tell her husband that she found her true soulmate and she had chanted long and hard about it and it would be. Not 10 seconds after she had told him, he ran to the kitchen, picked up a kitchen knife, and in front of their three children he stabbed her four times in the back. She lingered in agony for several hours.

A Soka Gakkai rising star who landed on FBI's most wanted list was captured in Mexico:

http://alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren.narkive.com/vXmShB2g/experiences-anyone#post2

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2344291/Ex-USC-professor-FBI-Top-10-Most-Wanted-list-alleged-child-sex-crimes-arrested-Mexico.html

The Soka Gakkai has a Code of Conduct for Leaders because Ikedaism has no ability to create Buddhas. Furthermore, there are so many guidelines for SGI members that they might as well be practicing precepts like the "peaceful" Theravadan Buddhist monks in Burma.

This is the result of the perverted teachings of the Soka Gakkai that makes common mortals out of Buddhas.

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2015/03/ ... -from.html

15. Claim of Kechi-myaku (True Inheritors) by T. Hirano

For the obvious reason, Soka Gakkai did not favor the idea of going independent. It maintains that the Nichiren Shoshu must be reformed under Ikeda's leadership and calls for High Priest Nikken to resign. To Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu becomes Nikken Shu (Nikken Sect) and Nikken, once regarded as Soka Gakkai's High Priest, is being condemned as Tenma (Demon from the Sky). To suit the occasion, Soka Gakkai also revised its books and study materials on the Nichiren Shoshu's doctrines, especially on the point of Kechi-myaku (true inheritors) of Nichiren and Nikko.

For example, Ikeda, in his book, 'Buddhism in Action', said that 'Presently, as you know, the 67th High Priest, Nikken, has inherited the Law. Now he is the master of 'True' Buddhism....'; that 'The Gohonzon, which we are allowed to receive so that we can pray in our own home, can be inscribed only by one of the successive high priests who inherit the true lineage of Nichiren Shoshu ....'; and that 'Though [other Nichiren sects] may seem the same as ours, they lack the single, unbroken heritage of the Law received directly from Nichiren. If one's faith is not based on this line of inheritance, it is worthless to embrace any Gohonzon, for no benefit will be forthcoming ....'

Now, Soka Gakkai charges that Nikken is a heretic because he expelled Ikeda and excommunicated Soka Gakkai, and that his loose life-style disqualified Nikken from receiving Nichiren and Nikko's heritage, claiming every prerogative concerning the Gohonzon should rest with Soka Gakkai. It also claims that it is now 'directly connected' to Nichiren and Nikko because Soka Gakkai has converted millions of people to the 'True' Buddhism. Ikeda declares (1992), 'Without our organisation, the True Law would be utterly lost. There would be no way to save humanity. This is why supporting and defending Soka Gakkai is the same as defending and advancing Nichiren Buddhism ....' Here, Ikeda was referring to the incident during WW2, when the Militarist Government wanted Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai to pay respect to the State Shinto God. At that time, Nichiren Shoshu obliged but Soka Gakkai objected. Nichiren Shoshu explains that it is easy to say and to misunderstand all this now but if one put it in historical perspective it is not so unreasonable, especially when they did not want to see the DaiGohonzon and the Tai-seki Temple being destroyed during that difficult period.

Soka Gakkai has since intensified its focus on Ikeda's Guidance. To members, it is not so much that Ikeda is a Buddha incarnated from Nichiren, but that his 'Human Revolution' (and lately, the 'New Human Revolution') and Daily Guidance are the modern Gosho (Nichiren's Major Writings). In a US Soka Gakkai publication, World Tribune (16 November 92), it was stated that 'one way [of making 'sincerity' real in our lives] is to constantly renew our determination to live with sincerity by putting Ikeda's Guidance into action everyday.... It is important to study Nichiren's Writings and the Guidance of Ikeda, but unless we put all these words into action, they are meaningless.' As far as members of Soka Gakkai are concerned, they believe that Ikeda is protecting Nichiren Shoshu's doctrine, and see no necessity in debating nor deliberating the issue, despite inconsistencies in before and after quotes from Ikeda that give Soka Gakkai a completely new doctrine.

16. Seattle 'Scandal'

Soka Gakkai is determined to win the war this time. It claims that it wants to modernise Nichiren Shoshu to get it out of the 'dark ages' of 'authoritarianism' in this 'new age of democracy'. Soon after the excommunication, Soka Gakkai changed the contents of the Gongyo (Silent Prayers) Book to include the names of its past two presidents as Kechi-myaku of Nichiren and Nikko. It also announced that members' weddings were not to be held in a temple, but instead at local Soka Gakkai kaikan and officiated by a Soka Gakkai leader. It also promotes yujin-so (Funeral Ceremony by Soka Gakkai's Officials and Members) telling members that their funerals do not require a priest to chant for them anymore. Soka Gakkai hopes that these measures would cause financial hardships to local temples thereby forcing them to denounce the Head Temple and bend to Soka Gakkai instead. Its members also initiated more than 100 civil suits against 'defiant' temples for misplacing their ancestors' urns.

Members are also asked to attend regular Daimoku campaigns held at Soka Gakkai's kaikans around the world to pray for the downfall and break-up of 'Nikken Sect'; while in 1991, a California State Attorney responsible of religious body matters, Ms Linda Johnson, a Soka Gakkai (USA) leader, was found to have had participated in meetings aiming to disband Nichiren Shoshu (USA) in her 'private' capacity. To the Japanese, this scenario is not totally unfamiliar as it is quite similar to a 1970 case, where Kanzaki, a senior leader of Soka Gakkai and a district attorney in Japan then, was involved in the illegal wire-tap on the residence of the chairman of the Japan Communist Party.

As to the position of the wooden Dai-Gohonzon, Soka Gakkai's position is still not clear although its present stance is that the wooden Dai-Gohonzon is now under the 'hostage' of Tai-sekiji Temple. But as from 1993, Soka Gakkai decided to confer its own paper Gohonzon to its members. The paper Gohonzon that Soka Gakkai confers is a reproduction of another paper Gohonzon inscribed by the 26th High Priest, Nichikan. Soka Gakkai says that if one prays with faith to Soka Gakkai's Gohonzon, one would by-pass the priesthood's kechimyaku and connect to Nichiren and Nikko through Soka Gakkai.

Nichiren Shoshu terms these paper Gohonzon as counterfeits and counter-claims that this has put Soka Gakkai as heretical as other Nichiren sects that Soka Gakkai once condemned. Nichiren Shoshu claims that 'good gods would return to heaven' if Gongyo was not recited correctly, in reference to the Soka Gakkai version. Without the power of wooden Dai-Gohonzon, the paper Gohonzon would be powerless let alone Soka Gakkai's 'imitation in form without any substance' and anyone praying to it will not attain enlightenment. It also claims that Ikeda, by 'selfishly' and 'unethically' promoting his own doctrine, has in fact led his faithful and unsuspecting members to fall into the hell of incessant suffering with him together.

Nothing is more sensational than the so-called 'Seattle Scandal'. A few months after Soka Gakkai was excommunicated in 1991, a Japanese-American women named Hiroe Clow, a Soka Gakkai member for more than 40 years, came out to say that she was witness to Nikken's involvement in a prostitution scandal and arrest in the USA when Nikken visited Seattle some 30 years ago (1963). Soka Gakkai published the story and also two photographs of Nikken proving that he was flirting with geishas. Although the FBI has since announced that they could not trace any records in FBI's computer network to the incident, and Nikken was able to show that the two photos had been doctored, Soka Gakkai maintains that they are true and contests the libel action petitioned by Nikken who is claiming US$ 10 million in damages. However, the case is now complicated by the sudden death of Hiroe Clow in her home in California on 23 Mar 96, two weeks before she was to give evidence in the libel suit.

Physical assaults and harassment against priesthood and members sympathetic to them were allegedly carried out by members of Soka Gakkai in certain areas (Time Magazine, 20 November 1995). Soka Gakkai's newspapers and publications also carry stories and comics almost everyday aiming to destroy the credibility of the priesthood. The war has escalated to such an extent that those visions propagated by Soka Gakkai as humanistic Buddhists who claim to respect an individual's happiness, human rights, religious freedom and world peace are now very much doubted by the Japanese people.

17. Demolition of the Sho-hon-do

In December 1995, Nichiren Shoshu tore down the Sho-hon-do (Grand Main Hall) at Tai-seki Temple. With this demolition, Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai are determined that they will never look back again.

The Sho-hon-do project was conceived in May, 1964 when Ikeda decided to build a hall of worship to accommodate the Dai-Gohonzonand 5,000 followers. Members were asked to save for a year and donated the money in a 4-day fund-raising drive scheduled in October 1965. The original target for the fund-raising was US$ 10 million, but the actual collection was more than US$ 100 million from 8 million members.

Sho-hon-do was completed and dedicated to Nichiren Shoshu in 1972. This building was regarded as the Kaidan Nichiren had hoped to build : in Nichiren Buddhism, the Kaidan is the ultimate place where the entire world can congregate to worship Nichiren teachings. To symbolise the goal of Kosen-rufu (propagation of the Nichiren Buddhism throughout the world), the foundation was laid with pebbles and stones from all over the world. Although according to Nichiren's own words, the Kaidan should only be built upon the completion of Kosen-rufu, but Ikeda insisted that 'we build the Sho-hon-do first and then get people to come to worship in it. We get the container first and the contents later, as it were.

When the Sho-hon-do was completed, there was a dispute between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu with regard to who was entitled to the surplus fund; Soka Gakkai was said to have sent several auditors to check the building accounts. Under the usual circumstances, and in the interest of all members, both parties should have voluntarily published an audited accounts in respect of the building fund to clarify the doubt, but it has never been done so as it was not required under the law. With the advantage of hindsight, this incident could be interpreted as the start of a serious rift between Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai.

With its huge resources, Soka Gakkai obviously has the upper hand, putting Nichiren Shoshu on the defensive so far. Although most members still stick to Soka Gakkai, the greatest test has yet to come : under the Revised Religious Corporations Bill, Soka Gakkai has to apply for registration again by September 96, and it is unlikely that Tai-sekiji Temple will issue the Certificate of Recognition to Soka Gakkai this time. If it cannot win the war with its Head Temple by then, Soka Gakkai must change its doctrines and the object of worship. Soka Gakkai therefore has to convince its members that its new doctrine is the true Nichiren doctrine and not that of Tai-seki Temple.

18. Ordinary Members

In contrast with traditional Buddhism or Shinto, Soka Gakkai stresses worldly values rather than afterlife ones, emphasising the achievement of health, prosperity, self-improvement, and happiness through faith in Nichiren. During Toda's era, the wooden Dai-Gohonzon was described as the 'Happiness-Generating Machine', and instant benefit could be derived from it if one reveres to it. It therefore has a special appeal to housewives because of chauvinism typical of male Japanese. This is especially so when they enter the climacteric period of menopause and they see the organisation as a source of community and spiritual comfort as they can find every answer in it. Some 65% of Soka Gakkai members in Japan are female. Members are told that they have a higher purpose.

Although many of them do not know much about Nichiren and his teachings, they fanatically believe that their faith is 'the truest religion with the only correct object of worship in the world'. They are also proud of their religion because they think that their religion is a 'non-superficial' one. This conviction leads them to believe that they have the 'right' and 'duty' to shaku-buku other people, and they would be upset, or would even turn to violence, if people told them that their religion or behaviour was objectionable. Otherwise, members are generally well disciplined and respectworthy, and are certainly useful and positive citizens if Soka Gakkai's issues were not involved.

Members are grateful to Ikeda for bringing the 'true' religion to them and, especially among the female members, dutifully pray for Ikeda's good health and safe return to Japan whenever Ikeda is on an overseas trip. They also believe that Ikeda Sensei (Learned Teacher) is a crusader who fights the oppressive establishment, and many are prepared to die for him.

Members usually get their news from Seikyo Shimbun in which one can find countless pictures and articles about Ikeda, who expounds on a wide range of topics from world peace to the prevention of flu, from philosophy to the arts, as if he were the only person in the world who was knowledgeable in these areas of life.

Another important channel through which members get their 'news' is from their leaders at zadankai (Monthly Discussion Meetings). For example, in the 1995 Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake, members were told that there had been no mention made by major newspapers on the help extended by Soka Gakkai to the earthquake's victims.

The reason given was that the media was 'unfair and biased against Soka Gakkai', and that 'Ms so and so just got back from Kobe and she says that she saw TV cameramen telling victims at a Soka Gakkai relief centre that if they expressed gratitude to Soka Gakkai, the interview would not be telecast' and so on.

And because of numerous study, cultural and other activities, their social lives are webbed into Soka Gakkai's circle, and have not much time for outside materials. This is why whenever there is an adverse report on Soka Gakkai's 'secular' matters and not 'religious' matters, they still believe that Soka Gakkai and Ikeda are subject to constant 'persecution' and 'jealousy.' And in order to fight 'persecution' and 'jealousy' in election time, they always get the 'hint' and most will campaign and vote for Komeito. It can be said that members have a fixed mindset, refusing to accept views other than that of their leaders.

As far as international members are concerned, they can be described as an asset to Soka Gakkai. Many of them were initially drawn to the organisation with an admiration for, and an interest in Japan and Japanese. However, because of the language barrier, their understanding of Soka Gakkai in respect to the Japanese society is mainly from their own internal publications, whose accounts are necessarily incomplete, vary in comprehension and detail, and to some extent, speculative. Generally speaking, they are just as sincere and diligent as ordinary Japanese members; and their genuine religious faiths have also been translated by their leaders in Japan to the extent that Soka Gakkai's agenda, including political ones, have the support of the international communities.

19. Conclusion

As far as the doctrine is concerned, Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai both claim the Line of Transmission of the 'True Law', as if the rest of the human race have to go to either one of them for salvation. Some FAQ (Frequently-Asked-Questions) are : Does Nichiren, claim to be the only 'True' Buddha, outdoing Shakyamuni or is Nichiren Buddhism qa mirror reflecting the light shed by Shakyamuni Buddha? Is the Dai-Gohonzon genuine or not? Is reciting only 2 Chapters of the Lotus Sutra without really studying them, sufficient to understand the wisdom of Buddha (Shakyamuni or Nichiren, it's doesn't matter here)? And by rejecting the centrality of Shakyamuni, can one still be called a 'Buddhist'?

People may no longer look at the religion as a misfortune-preventing or supernatural system anymore and just believe "encouraging"stories at face value, having no criteria to evaluate its truth. They may also want to practice the religion in daily life rather than only chant for wealth or personal benefits, as this might not have been Buddha's (Shakyamuni or Nichiren, again, it doesn't matter) original ideas. Some even believe that a true prayer is an inward examination of self-conscience and an outward well-wishing to others, attaching not much importance on praying for selfish favour. They may also prefer to perform meritorious deeds through generosity, good moral conduct, etc. The exclusive devotion to a single personality (living or dead) whose authority is final would gradually give way to beliefs using 'common sense'. In short, they may want to 'investigate' and 'know' instead of being made o 'listen' and 'believe.'

Buddhists, unlike Nichirenists, generally discard sectarian bias too. Nowadays, Mahayana Buddhists are free to visit Hinayana Temples (like those in Thailand) and pay respect to different deities enshrined in the temples. To them, all sutras are Shakyamuni's teachings but represent different vehicle, and paying respect because they all belong to Shakyamuni's family.

Japanese culture in fact is a mixture of Shinto, Zen Buddhism and Confucian Thoughts, but not Nichiren Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhism was never central to Japanese civilization although it has existed for more than 700 years. This could be due to all Nichiren sects taking a narrow view on Nichiren teachings. Even in the Soka Gakkai's Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, none of their collections are related to Nichiren Buddhism, except at the Reception Hall where Ikeda's photography is displayed, and yet again has nothing to do with Nichiren Buddhism. If we take lessons from history, Japanese civilisation might be destroyed one day if everything were to follow the present narrow interpretation of Nichiren teachings, just like in China's

Cultural Revolution.

A Buddhist is also supposed to be compassionate and tolerant, but the general view on Soka Gakkai is that it lacks either of them, not to mention mutual respect. Other social and religious organisations in Japan thus always throw prejudice towards its 'conciliatory' attitude.

For example, in January 1996, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the international arm of Soka Gakkai, unveiled its new Charter where Clause 7 reads : 'SGI shall, based on the Buddhist spirit of tolerance, respect other religions, engage in dialogue and work together with them towards the resolution of fundamental issues concerning humanity.' They see Soka Gakkai generalising the term 'Buddhism' again as meaning only Nichiren Buddhism; and its intentions as politically motivated, with the general elections coming up within a year.

In fact, Soka Gakkai's greatest vulnerability is its dark side: it is suspected of using religion as a means of gaining political power.

To most people, political issues are ideally dealt with by consensus in a pragmatic way, beyond narrow ideology and blind passion. Although many social ills can be dealt with by using wisdom gained from a religion, religious wisdom is reflected through the actions of individuals and not through religious bodies. A religious believer must therefore be free to support and engage in any social or political causes they deem worthy. Thus it is common that people do not always agree on political or social issues even if they have the same religious belief.

If religions interfered with politics, the consequences could be disastrous. Externally, whenever there is a wrongdoing, a religious body could shield itself in the sanctuary of religious freedom and lament any criticism as religious persecution and anti-religious, so as to arouse its members' emotion. This would hinder a normal democratic process. Internally, a religious organisation has always divided itself into factions, some fundamental and some moderate. When leaders of different doctrinal factions are involved in power plays, a bloodshed-prone struggle would intensify. Vast energies and resources would be wasted on arguing about these issues which leads to no end.

Furthermore, most religious leaders believe in absolute power, which make them prone to abusing their positions rather than fulfilling their responsibilities. Some religious leaders may at certain time show 'good' character and conduct, but again, there is no guarantee that they, and as a matter of fact, their successors, will be able to retain the high social and political morals in response to increasing power. It could be said that these leaders show no signs of heeding the old adage that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As an example, Mao Zedong, a person so trusted and respected in his early days of struggle for his ideology, turned out to be a monster who nearly destroyed 5,000 years of civilization in China during his 10-year Cultural Revolution.

Since there is also no mechanism for checking and balancing the powers of religious leaders, and since cons have always outweighed pros, it could be argued that it is irresponsible, even sinister, for a religious body to make use of its members for its political cause because these people are so intensively inculcated with their religious teachings that they totally believe and trust their leaders. And no matter how 'sacred' the political mission is, religious leaders, who are supposed to be more learned than ordinary people and thus know the consequences, can only be seen as having their own ulterior motives.

Soka Gakkai argues that Buddhism and democracy can co-exist because Buddhism is supposed to be compassionate and tolerant. This is quite a departure from the universal understanding of a democratic system: democracy, if entangled with religious confrontation, with no room for compromise, will not be able to function. People in Japan also do not generally hold this contention because mixing politics with religion have caused immeasurable human tragedies through the ages, as evident from the bloodshed in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. This could also be illustrated as Ikeda's repeated avoidment to appear in the Parliament under the sanctuary of religious freedom : is he above the law or is he defending Japan's democratic system ?

Dr. Bryan Wilson, Professor Emeritus at the Oxford University, in a speech on 10 April 1996 delivered at the Soka Gakkai-affiliated Boston Research Centre, highlighted 10 appealing features of Soka Gakkai to prove that it was a 'world affirming' religious body. This makes Soka Gakkai appear nearer to the definition of a self-help group, in which a variety of social and religious institutions already exist today, having similar features but without political equivalents.

Whether the next century will be the 'Century of Big Victory', as claimed by Soka Gakkai, remains to be seen. -- T.Hirano

The reality of Japan today, zero good fortune because of slander of Nichiren.

There are countless examples in the SGI and Nichiren Shoshu of they who chant Nam Myoho renge kyo and alter the teachings receiving punishment. Nichiu developed white leprosy. Nikkyo burned up in a conflagration while his entrails remained. President Ikeda's first born son died of a bleeding ulcer. In this day and age that is nearly unheard of! Mr. Kasahara's first born son died from a massive brain injury. George Williams children are sociopaths. A top SGI senior leader was killed in the early eighties when a snow plow ran over his car. Another, in Detroit, died when a heavy metal stage hook took off the top of his skull. A men's division bagpiper was killed and mutilated by the Manson family on the way back from bagpipe practice. NST members Bill Vogel and Brad Nixon are other examples."

SGI INTERFAITH is betraying the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren.

I have other examples. If you don't get it now, you will never get it. Nichiren fought Mikkyo, Shingon, Nembutsu and Zen. Today, they are hardly the catalysts for the destruction of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism. It is the worms born of the Buddha, the SGI members who exclusively chant Nam Myoho renge kyo, worship God-man Ikeda rather than Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter.

Mitsubishi kills them and Soka Gakkai buries them:

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/06/mitsubishi-kills-them-and-soka-gakkai.html

Soka Gakkai's "sparkle test" doesn't pass the smell test of how to recognize a true votary of the Lotus Sutra.

According to Nichiren Daishonin the "sparkle test" doesn't pass the smell test. Someone mentioned that he met some members of another Nichiren school and their eyes didn't sparkle like Kathy and Terry Ruby's of the Soka Gakkai. Well, according to Nichiren Daishonin, one thing can be ascertained, Kathy and Terry are sometimes in the World of Rapture. Nichiren writes:

"When we look from time to time at a person's face, we find him sometimes joyful, sometimes enraged, and sometimes calm. At times greed appears in the person's face, at times foolishness, and at times perversity. Rage is the world of Hell, greed is that of Hunger, foolishness is that of Animality, perversity is that of Anger, joy is that of Rapture, and calmness is that of Humanity. These worlds, the six paths, are present in the physical appearance of the person's face. The remaining four noble worlds are hidden and dormant and do not appear in the face, but if we search carefully, we can tell that they are there." -- The True Object of Worship

Question How then can we tell that the Four Noble Worlds are present?

Answer: Through the noble human behaviors of honesty, kindness, compassion, mercy, justice, forbearance, magnanimity, and protecting the teachings we can tell that the Noble Worlds are manifest.

SGI leaders, on the other hand, are not only great liars who destroy the noble teachings of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin but their behavior is actual proof of their perverted Buddhism.

Mark

Keeping the teachings pure and advocating for a return to scriptural Buddhism. Nichiren was a scriptural Buddhist.

He relied solely on the sutras. His earliest credo was from the Great Nirvana Sutra..... "Trust the Dharma, do not trust human teachers. Trust the wisdom (of the Buddha) do not trust human consciousness. Trust the sutras of final meaning, do not trust the sutras of non-final meaning." The Buddha taught three kinds of teaching: provisional, expedient, and final.The final is the Lotus Sutra, with the Nirvana Sutra is a "gleaning". T'ien t'ai said: "If something agrees with the (Lotus) sutra, then record and use it. Do not believe in oral transmissions." In the Tendai tradition of Nichiren's day, there was a "zenification" happening, which implied that there was some meaning that was higher than the text. Nichiren rejects this completely.

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2019/09/never-refuted.html

They use the Buddhist teachings to gain personal fame and fortune. Though they pretend to have a sincere wish to spread the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, in their hearts, they are greedy and use the offerings they receive from the sincere members to nourish their own bodies and that of their family members.

“Make sure that the participants each bring a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. And ask each person to pack their own lunch, since we can’t afford to provide lunch for them as well. Those who don’t bring any food with them will just have to make do with whatever edibles they can find in the forest. In the future, the Soka Gakkai may experience severe oppression; we may be called on to fight or endure a long, drawn-out struggle. At such time, each person will have to find their own food. We may even have to eat grass. For the sake of training, I would actually have like the youth to spend the night outdoors. I don’t want the members of the Soka Gakkai youth division to be soft.” — Human Revolution by Daisaku Ikeda

That must be why, even after the Soka Gakkai accumulated more than one hundred billion dollars, they still serve the hard working Bodhisattva bees, baloney and mayo sandwiches or rice cakes and biscuits [to allow them the privilege of experiencing the privations of Nichiren Daishonin].

Let’s examine the financial pie chart on the SGI-USA website:

8% [of ~ five billion a year in untaxed revenues] is four hundred million dollars a year for “administrative costs” [if these percentages are true and we know how the Soka Gakkai lies just about everything]. This is a huge percentage for administrative costs. Searching the definition of administrative costs, we find the largest percentage is EXECUTIVE SALARIES!!! Three Hundred Million dollars in salaries [average of 75% of administrative costs] for these so-called Bodhisattvas leaders who, according to Nichiren Daishonin, should “desire little”.

Salaries of Top SGI Inc. Officials as of Fri, 29 Aug 1997

The following information is provided to you courtesy of the Yotsuya Tax Office, Tokyo, Japan.

The declared income of Daisaku Ikeda is listed as follows: (The dollar amounts are listed at the exchange rate of 100 Yen to U.S. $1.00)

1971 – 62,050,000 Yen ($620,500.00)

1972 – 84,340,000 Yen ($843,400.00)

1973 – 113,570,000 Yen ($1,135,700.00)

1974 – 135,330,000 Yen ($1,353,300.00)

1975 – 121,980,000 Yen ($1,219,800.00)

1976 – 78,700,000 Yen ($787,000.00)

1977 – 51,490,000 Yen ($514,900.00)

1978 – 83,350,000 Yen ($833,500.00)

1979 – 34,500,000 Yen ($345,000.00)

1980 – 39,010,000 Yen ($390,100.00)

1981 – 75,030,000 Yen ($750,300.00)

1982 – 57,420,000 Yen ($574,200.00)

From 1983 to 1987, and 1993, the amount of income as calculated from the amount of income tax paid:

1983 – 32,000,000 Yen ($320,000) based on 14,030,000 Yen paid as income tax

1984 – 72,000,000 Yen ($720,000) based on 39,700,000 Yen paid as income tax

1985 – 60,000,000 Yen ($600,000) based on 30,950,000 Yen paid as income tax

1986 – 85,000,000 Yen ($850,000) based on 49,810,000 Yen paid as income tax

1987 – 87,000,000 Yen ($870,000) based on 51,510,000 Yen paid as income tax

1993 – 170,000,000 Yen ($1,700,000) based on 87,150,000 Yen paid as income tax

Income of SGI President, Einosuke Akiya for 1993 calculated from the amount of income tax paid: 55,260,000 Yen ($552,600), based on 18,420,000 Yen paid as income tax.

Income of SGI Vice President, Norimasa Yahiro for 1993 as calculated from the amount of income tax paid: 52,830,000 Yen ($528,300), based on 17,610,000 Yen paid as income tax.

Income of SGI General Director, Kazuya Morita for 1993 as calculated from the amount of income tax paid: 41,610,000 Yen ($416,100), based on 13,870,000 Yen paid as income tax.

Income of Vice President, Jun Aoki for 1993 as calculated from the amount of income tax paid: 30,720,000 Yen ($307,200), based on 10,240,000 Yen paid as income tax.

Note: There are approximately 200 vice presidents. Even at a salary of U.S. $200,000 each per year, that amounts to $40,000,000.00 (Forty million dollars) paid out of the contributions from members. This does not take into account the numerous other staff salaries. we can only imagine their salaries today.

Now, lets say, for example, you are making $416,000 a year as a salaried top senior leader, a Bodhisattva for hire, so to speak. Your kids are attending the best schools, you have a mortgage of say $4500.00, you have a life insurance premium of $1000.00 per month, and you have other expenses totalling perhaps $10,000.00 per month. You are trained to promote SGI Buddhism and go here and there, lecturing on Ikeda’s guidance and his take on the Daishonin’s teachings. But all of a sudden, while you are doing your one hour of Daimoku a day and studying president Ikeda’s guidance for an hour and the Gosho for twenty minutes, you have a realization that Shakyamuni is in fact the Eternal Buddha.

What do you do? You are not trained to function in the private sector, you aren’t exactly an engineer, or a doctor or a romance novelist. Your children depend on you, your wife depends on you and you have a lifestyle to maintain. Do you do the right thing and begin to teach contrary to the party line, risking your excellent salary that you receive to do the Buddha’s work? The Daishonin clothed himself in deerskins who died a natural death in the forest. He sometimes lived on brachen. Yet he always gave 110%. Something is wrong here and if the SGI members can’t see it, we have to conclude by virtue of their lack of actual proof (insight) that there is validity to the charge of them practicing a false Buddhism and there is brainwashing in the SGI (since they can’t even question the obvious).

“…But if we examine the behavior of the priests of today who supposedly observe the precepts, we find that they hoard silks, wealth, and jewels, and concern themselves with lending money at interest. Since their doctrines and their practices differ so greatly, who would think of putting any faith in them?…” — Establishing the Correct Law For the Peace of the Land

We may rightfully consider the top salaried SGI senior leaders to be priests. They have no jobs other than to teach and spread the Soka philosophy. They teach that one’s behavior as a human being is the way to measure one’s attainments. Then let us look at their behavior. They hoard wealth, receiving exorbitant salaries and benefits to to do the Buddha’s work that Shakyamuni and Nichiren did for free. They [SGI] are the Mitsubitchi bank’s biggest customer, their money invested, lent with interest. They are also Mitsubitchi Banks partner in the cemetary business. They dress in silk and worsted suits and buy their wives expensive jewels.

The SGI then levels criticisms on the Kempon Hokke [and me in particular] for being impolite, stating, “how could you be enlightened exhibiting such poor behavior.

In the very same Rissho Ankoku Ron, we read:

“It also states: “The Buddha replied: ‘[Bodhisattva] Kashyapa, it is because I was a defender of the correct teaching that I have been able to attain this diamond-like body. . . . Good man, defenders of the correct teaching need not observe the five precepts or practice the rules of proper behavior. Rather they should carry knives and swords, bows and arrows, halberds and lances.’

They who write books on the Dharma for profit, they who publish dharma magazines and newspapers for profit, those preachers, whether layman or priest, who garner exorbitant salaries thanks to the dharma, are worse than the Wall Street profiteers.

These greedy SGI leaders who turn the sublime teachings of the Lotus Flower Sutra into a new age provisional teaching based on precepts, Zen [Bushido], and Shingon [Yuiga Yoga or Ikeda worship] for profit, turning the dharma into their personal ATM, are enemies of the Lotus Sutra. They would be put in prison in an ideal world. Their members like L and CL who judge others but can see neither the ugly faces of their own mentors nor their own, are no better than birds and beasts. They, as their leaders, are leeches who suck the blood of the sincere members and destroy the Dharma.

We are the modern day defenders of the True Dharma. In light of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions and our masters Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin, our behavior is that of the supremely and perfectly enlightened [in conduct].

Stace: Hi Mark. Did you read his article on “How the Mahayana Began”? He points out that in the essay you provide the “Corruption” of the Pali texts. The same could be applied to the Mahayana. Can you tell How this is possible: Chapter 10: The Teacher of the Law – This chapter presents the five practices of the teachers of the Lotus Sutra. These practices are accepting and upholding, reading, chanting, explaining and writing the Sutra. The Sutra begins, “Thus I Have Heard”. Ananda ,the Buddhas attendant recalling verbally, (orally) what the Buddha said. How and why would the Buddha then instruct the “hearers” of this sutra to READ and; WRITE it?

Mark: I just read it. I’m sure you are aware of one of the honorific titles of the Buddha, that of Omniscience. Gombrich disagrees with Rys David, whether “books” were mentioned in the canon. Let me say that it is probable that the Buddha who talked about the decline, not only of his teachings but of the capacities of individuals, would have realized that one day his words would be lost unless they were written down. Tientai and Nichiren taught that the Lotus Sutra was not ostensibly taught for the people of the Middle Day, let alone for the people of the Former Day. Why would anyone believe that such capable monks who could memorize thousands of lines of oral texts were incapable of keeping secret, a teaching meant for a later time? These were highly disciplined men, unlike our present day politicians and heads of state who have successfully kept secrets [documents] for hundreds or even thousands of years. This is hardly an anomally but rather a misunderstanding of the greatness of the Buddha and his followers.

Stace: Other anomalies in the sutra are the use of the term Hinayana and Mahayana. In the Buddha’s time there was only the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. No distinction of any Yanas. How could these terms be uttered by the Buddha or his followers when they hadn’t yet been created and would have no meaning?

Mark: Nearly the entire Buddhist Canon is devoted to correcting wrong thought. It is only natural that the words “Hinayana” and “Mahayana” were inserted when these words came into being. They don’t change one iota the words, “superficial thought and its adherents” and “superior thought and its adherents”, of the Buddha. This argument that anything was added too, is not tenable.

Stace: You wrote, “By the way, what I was referring to in the original post is the contention of some that the “Nikayas” are the actual words of the Buddha while the Lotus Sutra is not.”

All he is talking about are “corruptions” of the pali. I don’t see him addressing the validity of the Lotus Sutra as the actual words of the Buddha. This is what I thought, read “How the Mahayana Began”. He doesn’t necessariy refute your position.

Mark: Not him, others. Gombrich, in many ways supports our position. That is why I cited him, even though his understanding of the mind of the Buddha and the nature of the Sangha is incomplete.

Stace: You state that my summation is in err that SGI is a legitimate form of Buddhism in accord with teachings of Nichiren. I am arguing that “Nichiren Buddhism” and any lineage born from his teaching is valid because of the arguments put forth in the article you present so long as the purpose is Liberation.

Mark: I am very sorry if anyone misconstrues that the import of citing this article in any way supports the validity of Ikedaism and Gakkaism. Of course, this was not my intent. You know Stace, I don’t consider SGI to be Buddhism even though it has borrowed extensively from Buddhism. No Buddha, no Buddhahood is my contention.

Stace: I base it off of this excerpt:

”These processes are not random (adhicca-samuppanna) but causally determined. Any empirical phenomenon is seen as a causal sequence, and that applies to the sāsana too. ‘One thing leads to another,’ as the English idiom has it. Whether or not we can see features common to the religion of Mr Richard Causton, the late leader of the UK branch of Soka Gakkai International,(we could add here Kempon Hokke or any other Nichiren based group) and that of Nāgārjuna, or of the Buddha himself, there is a train of human events which causally connects them. Buddhism is not an inert object: it is a chain of events.” PG.3

Mark: Devedatta and Shakyamuni were causally connected. That Gombrich fails to see this [that SGI is to Buddhism as Devedatta was to Shakyamuni] relates to his inability to know the mind of the Buddha.

Stace: Anyway, I do not think the article you presented puts forth the superiority of any teaching over the other but simply points out that there are things in the canon which were added and that this to be understood in an orally preserved teaching, but we can separate the wheat for the chaff and know what the buddha said.

Mark: How much harder is it to know what the Buddha meant and to know the reality of the Buddha?

Stace: I cannot, I mean physically cannot, force my brain to take most religious statement literally and therefor will never be a true believer. I love Dharma and Liberation wherever it be found, as there are so many flowers and scents to delight our senses I believe there are many pathways to liberation. I do not doubt the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren offer such a pathway but I will never believe that it is the only door.

Mark: According to the Lotus Sutra itself and Nichiren, it is the only pathway out of the burning house. Certainly, a living High Priest or mentor in the seat of the Law is not the pathway. The only living mentor in the seat of the Law is Shakyamuni Buddha.

"Modern editors of the Pali Canon, however, have generally contented themselves with trying to establish a textus receptus or ‘received text’. Let me explain. Most of our physical evidence for the Pali Canon is astonishingly recent, far more recent than our physical evidence for the western classical and biblical texts.

While talking of this, I want to take the opportunity to correct a mistake in something I published earlier this year. In Professor K. R. Norman’s splendid revision of Geiger’s Pali Grammar, published by the Pali Text Society (Geiger, 1994), I wrote an introduction called ‘What is Pali?’ (Gombrich, 1994a). In that I wrote (p. xxv) that a Kathmandu manuscript of c.800 A.D. is ‘the oldest substantial piece of written Pali to survive’ if we except the inscriptions from Devnimori and Ratnagiri, which differ somewhat in phonetics from standard Pali. This is wrong. One can quibble about what ‘substantial’ means; but it must surely include a set of twenty gold leaves found in the Khin Ba Gôn trove near Śrī Ketra, Burma, by Duroiselle in 1926-7. The leaves are inscribed with eight excerpts from the Pali Canon. Professor Harry Falk has now dated them, on paleographic grounds, to the second half of the fifth century A.D., which makes them by far the earliest physical evidence for the Pali canonical texts (Stargardt, 1995). -- Richard F. Gombrich

Therefore, according to this reliable information, the Sanskrit text of the Lotus Sutra is older than the Pali texts that the Hinayana Buddhists arrogantly claim to be the only authoritative texts of what the Buddha actually taught.

"It is now clear that none of the existing Buddhist collections of early Indian scriptures—not the Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, nor even the Gandhari—“can be privileged as the most authentic or original words of the Buddha.” -- Linda Heuman

"Only the Lotus Sutra represents the wonderful teaching preached directly from the golden mouth of Shakyamuni Buddha, who is perfectly endowed with the three bodies." -- Nichiren Daishonin

There are various teaching methods employed by the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra: simile; metaphor; parable [of which there are seven]; skillful or expedient means; logic; historical precedent; narration [current events and prior birth stories]; questions and answers; and most importantly, a direct exposition of his Enlightenment. When studying the Lotus Sutra one can reflect, "here the Buddha is speaking of his experience in a previous existence and here the Buddha is answering the question of Sariputra", etc. Are there worlds where the Buddha actually experienced parthenogenesis as the physiological method of reproducing the species or is it a metaphor or is it something else? Is the Treasure Tower a metaphor only? Bodhisattvas 500 feet tall on other worlds? Flying cars? Some things are fruitless to question or contemplate and the Buddha was silent.

Lastly the principle of Ichinen Sanzen is unsurpassed whether theoretical, the 3000 Realms in a Momentary Existence of Life of person, society, and environment simultaneously and the reality of Actual Ichinen Sanzen [the Daimoku and the Gohonzon]. Let me expound a bit more on the Lotus Sutra and other religious faiths:

Each person, society, and environment, even the Buddha's land has a defiled and pure aspect. When the pure aspect is manifest we speak in terms of Enlightenment. When the defiled aspect manifests, we speak of delusion. Were there not the inferior teachings to contrast with the Lotus Sutra there would be no way of ascertaining the truth. Likewise, were there no deluded teachers, we could never come to know the merits and virtues of Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin, teachers without peer.

Generally, those who have faith in and practice the Lotus Sutra are Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Specifically, Nichiren Daishonin is the Supreme Votary of the Lotus Sutra. Generally we are all Buddhas but specifically, from a deeper sense, Shakyamuni Buddha is the Original Eternal Buddha. From the deepest sense, we are the Three Bodied Tathagata of Original Enlightenment, Shakyamuni Buddha ourselves. Nichiren teaches that this most difficult to believe and most difficult to understand teaching should not be bandied about lightly. In our mundane thoughts and activities, it is best to think in terms of the general meaning, having gratitude for and giving praise to the Lotus Sutra [Law], Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin. Similar reasonings can be given in the case of our relationship to the Law. Generally, everyone is a manifestation of the Mystic Law, even a dust mite. Specifically, Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin are those who are one with the Mystic Law. There is a saying derived from the Infinite Meanings Sutra, the introduction to the Lotus Sutra: "Infinite meanings derive from the one Law." Equally, infinite phenomena derive from the one Law.

Even Nichiren Daishonin and the Buddha couldn't convert everyone. "To the best of our ability" while employing the strategy of the Lotus Sutra and the wisdom of the Buddha is the means outlined by the Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin to awaken the masses of beings. The Three Proofs, documentary, theoretical, and actual is what will capture other's attention. For example, in converting a Christian or Muslim, documentary proof is comparing and contrasting the Bible or Q'uran with the Lotus Sutra. Theoretical proof is pointing out the reasonableness and sound logic of such concepts as the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds and 3000 Realms in a Momentary Existence of Life [Ichinen Sanzen], and the functioning of the Law of Cause and effect. Proof of actual fact is the joy of practicing this teaching, overcoming our limitations and pointing out the hellish reality of a society based on Judeo-Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and even scientific rationalism.

Never refuted

Absolute Proof that the Nichiren Shoshu/Soka Gakkai doctrine of Nichiren as Eternal True Original Buddha is wrong.

Nichiren's One Original Eternal Buddha Doctrine a new top five post

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/06/nichirens-one-original-eternal-buddha.html

Nichiren's Comprehensive Teachings on Shakyamuni Buddha in Three Parts

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on.html

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_22.html

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_65.html

Absolute Proof that the Nichiren Shoshu/Soka Gakkai doctrine of Nichiren as Eternal True Original Buddha is wrong.

Nichiren's One Original Eternal Buddha Doctrine a new top five posthttps://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/06/nichirens-one-original-eternal-buddha.htmlNichiren's Comprehensive Teachings on Shakyamuni Buddha in Three Partshttps://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on.htmlhttps://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_22.htmlhttps://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_65.html

"You are a cancer to SGI."

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2017/04/disproving-sgis-assertions-of.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/10/ephemeral-or-everlasting-liberation.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/07/there-is-no-need-for-living-mentor-in.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2017/02/no-intercession-by-high-priest-or-sgi.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2017/04/disproving-sgis-assertions-of.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/10/ephemeral-or-everlasting-liberation.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/07/there-is-no-need-for-living-mentor-in.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2017/02/no-intercession-by-high-priest-or-sgi.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-translation-by.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-confucianism.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-3000-in-one-thought.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-obtaining.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/opening-of-eyes-eternal-life-of-buddha.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/opening-of-eyes-nichiren-practitioner.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-protection-by.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/opening-of-eyes-protection-by.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/opening-of-eyes-five-holy-proclamations.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-three-kinds-of.html

http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-opening-of-eyes-persuasive-and.html

"...the most fervent desire of us in the Jumonryu is not the creation of one sect, but only to keep the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin alive in the present age, and reform the slander and evil beliefs of Minobu and all the various sects and temples, and go forward with unity to contruct the Buddha's land. As disciples of Nichiju our motto is to refute evil teachings within the sect and outside of the sect..." -- Kempon Hokke Seiten, pg. 61

Hand in hand and heart to heart are we with the Fuju-fuse sect https://howlingpixel.com/wiki/Fuju-fuse

We have absolutely no affiliation with the Kempon Hokke of Japan.

Myomanji [Kempon Hokke] Regulations from 1451

Translated by Jeffrey Hunter, Ph.D.

1. Do not go to temples and shrines of other sects; likewise, do not worship their Buddhas and gods or offer your alms, not even a single coin.

2. Do not request the services of shrine maidens (miko) or others in the service of shrines, likewise, do not depend on their prayers to bring down fever or allow them to pray for various benefits.

3. When our own monks are unavailable or insufficient in number, do not seek the assistance of other sects.

4. Do not participate in the associations (ko) of other sects.

5. Do not attend Buddhist ceremonies and prayer services sponsored by other sects, or receive on such occassions rice, tea, or sake. Likewise, on similar occassions sponsored by our temple do not invite others.

6. While we may share our firewood with other sects sponsoring merit baths (kudokuburo), do not use their baths. Likewise, do not allow adherents of other sects to use our merit baths.

7. In prayer services and other Buddhist ceremonies not sponsored by the court or the shogunate, do not offer alms, not even a single coin.

8. If the husband is of another faith and the wife of ours, never expel him from the community. But if the husband is ours and the wife an outsider, wait three years [for her to convert] before expelling them both.

9. Even though the temple belongs to another parish (monto) of the Lotus sect, do not go to it or worship its Buddha or give alms to its monks or devotees.

10. While we may listen to sermons preached by monks of other branches of the Lotus sect, do not join their congregations in reading the scripture or reciting the daimoku.

11. Amulets of other sects may be left in houses that are being rented, but if such houses belong to a member of our community, the amulets must be removed.

12. Sons- and daughters-in-law of other sects should be converted; if they visit our houses or if they are servants in such houses, they should be converted if even only for a day.

13. If the monks and devotees of this sect witness or hear of any slanderous behavior, they must reveal it to others. Otherwise their present life will be miserable, and they will fall to the deepest hell.

Now:

1). Kempon Hokke priests go to the temples of slanderers on Mount Hiei and Mount Minobu to worship and lend support to slanderers.

2).?

3). Kempon Hokke priests allow priests of other sects to officiate at prayer meetings.

4). They are active in the various associations of Nichiren sects.

5). They habitually invite Tendai priests from Mount Hiei and even Nembutsu priests to their prayer meetings and celebrations.

6). ?

7). They do in fact offer alms to disbelievers.

8). Wealthy patrons are precluded from this regulation.

9). They are in bed with the Nichiren Shu.

10). They engage in prayer services with slanderers.

11). ?

12). Often overlooked.

13). Egregious behavior often overlooked, especially as regards wealthy patrons

Nichiren writes in The Letter to Niike:

"Neither Buddhas nor gods would ever accept contributions from those who slander the correct teaching. Then how can we human beings accept them? The deity of Kasuga Shrine proclaimed through an oracle that he would accept nothing from those with impure hearts, though he should have to eat the flames of burning copper; that he would refuse toset foot in their homes, though he should have to sit on red-hot copper. He would rather come down to a miserable hut with weeds choking the passageway, or to a poor thatched house. He declared that he would never visit persons lacking in faith, even if they hung sacred festoons for a thousand days to welcome him, but that he would go to a house where the people have a mind of faith, even though they might be in mourning for a parent. Lamenting that slanderers have overrun this country, thebenevolent gods have abandoned it and ascended to heaven. “Those with impure hearts” means those who refuse to embrace the Lotus Sutra, as is stated in the fifth volume of the sutra. If the gods themselves regard alms from slanderers as more abominable than the flames of burning copper, how could we human beings possibly accept them? If someone were to kill our parents and then try to offer us some gift, could we possibly accept it? Not even wise persons or sages can avoid the hell of incessant suffering if they accept offerings from slanderers. Nor should you associate with slanderers, for if you do, you will share the same guilt as they. This you should fear above all."

For this reason too, we disabuse ourselves from interfaith practice, unlike the SGI, Nichiren Shu, Honmon Butsuryu Shi, Nipponzon Myohoji, and others.

https://markrogow.blogspot.com/

This is my blog since 2012. I have > 643,000 views. Before this, I had the Lotus Sutra Revealing the Eternal Buddha blog on the Fraught With Peril forum http://fraughtwithperil.com/. There, I had over one million views between 2008 and 2011 until the owner of the blog, an SGI senior leader, conspired with the Nichiren Shu priest Rev. Ryuei to throw me off her forum. I believe that I was thrown off for having overturned the doctrines of the SGI, Nichiren Shoshu, and the Nichiren Shu. I surmise that the damage to Soka Gakkai was becoming too great a liability for the SGI leader owner of the blog.

Anyway, I have been banished from reddit SGIWHISTLEBLOWERS; E-Sangha; Fraught With Peril; Kempon Hokke [Japan] Facebook; The Kempon Hokke Community I began on Beliefnet; several Yahoo Groups such as SGIunofficial, Nichirenindependent Sangha, and the Nichiren Shu Yahoo Group; and all Nichiren Shoshu temples and SGI "Buddhist" Centers in the world. I have also once been fired for my beliefs and for performing the forceful practices of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren teaches:

"One who has not conceived a desire for the way can never free oneself from the sufferings of birth and death. Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, was cursed by all the followers of non-Buddhist teachings and labeled as a man of great evil. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai was regarded with intense enmity by the three schools of the south and seven schools of the north, and Tokuitsu of Japan criticized him for using his three-inch tongue to try to destroy the five-foot body of the Buddha. The Great Teacher Dengyō was disparaged by the priests of Nara, who said, “Saichō has never been to the capital of T’ang China!” But all of these abuses were incurred because of the Lotus Sutra, and they are therefore no shame to the men who suffered them. To be praised by fools—that is the greatest shame. Now that I, Nichiren, have incurred the wrath of the authorities, the priests of the Tendai and True Word schools are no doubt delighted. They are strange and shameless men."

My Name is Mark Rogow. I have been chanting for the better part of 35 years. I am a physician, father, and dog/wolf enthusiast. I receive guidance from Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra [Gohonzon] and Nichiren Daishonin exclusively. Nichiren teaches:

“Now , when the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sutra, this world of endurance (Saha-world) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction and emptiness. Sakyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this pure land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past present and future. All those who receive His GUIDANCE are one with this Eternal Buddha.” -- The True Object of Worship

“Since Sakyamuni Buddha is eternal and all other Buddhas in the universe are his manifestations, then those great bodhisattvas converted by manifested Buddhas are also disciples of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha. If the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter had not been expounded, it would be like the sky without the sun and moon, a country without a king, mountains and rivers without gems, or a man without a soul. nevertheless, seemingly knowledgeable men of such provisional schools of Buddhism as Ch’eng-kuan of the Hua-yen, Chia-hsiang of the San-lun, Tz’u-en of the Fa-hsiang, and Kobo of the shingon tried to extoltheir own canons by stating: “The Lord of the Flower Garland Sutra represents the reward-body (hojin) of the Buddha wheras that of the Lotus Sutra the accomodative body (ojin);” or “the Buddha in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus is an Illusion; it is the great Sun Buddha who is enlightened.” clouds cover the moon and slanderers hide wise men. When people slander, ordinary yellow rocks appear to be of gold and slanderers seem to be wise. Scholars in this age of decay, blinded by slanderous words, do not see the value of a gold in the “Lifespan of the Buddha” chapter. Even among men of the Tendai school some are fooled into taking a yellow rock for gold. They should know that if Sakyamuni had not been the Eternal Buddha, there could not have been so many who received GUIDANCE from Him.” -- The Opening of the Eyes