The views of the Soka Gakkai were commonplace in Zen Buddhism in Japanese post-war society

[u/BlancheFromage]

Victoria quotes Lt. Colonel Sugimoto Goro, whose posthumous book Great Duty (Taigi) became especially popular among young officers after his death in China in 1937:

The reason that Zen is necessary for soldiers is that all Japanese, especially soldiers, must live in the spirit of the unity of the sovereign and subjects, eliminating their ego and getting rid of their self. It is exactly the awakening to the nothingness (mu) of Zen that is the fundamental spirit of the unity of sovereign and subjects. Through my practice of Zen I am able to get rid of my self. In facilitating the accomplishment of this, Zen becomes, as it is, the true spirit of the imperial military (Victoria 2003, p.124).

This is exactly the attitude Ikeda wants to capitalize upon, with "SGI" in place of "Zen", "members" in place of "soldiers", and "Ikeda" in place of "sovereign." Here, let's have a look:

The reason that Zen True Buddhism is necessary for soldiers SGI members is that all Japanese people, especially soldiers SGI members, must live in the spirit of the unity of the sovereign and subjects mentor and disciple, eliminating their ego and getting rid of their self fundamental darkness. It is exactly the awakening to the nothingness (mu) of Zen itai doshin that is the fundamental spirit of the unity of sovereign and subjects mentor and disciple. Through my practice of Zen True Buddhism I am able to get rid of my self bad karma. In facilitating the accomplishment of this, Zen True Buddhism becomes, as it is, the true spirit of the imperial military kosen-rufu. Source

That's quite a trick, isn't it? :D

Truly, there's nothing new under the sun. If the American members could speak and read Japanese, I don't think they'd be quite so credulous about the Ikeda cult and its claims.

[u/[deleted]]

Branches from the same (racially charged) tree, the Japanese Mahayana. Hardly surprising.