Questions and Answers on the Temple Issue
3. WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT NIKKEN?
The pamphlet Issues Between the Nichiren Shoshu
Priesthood and the Soka Gakkai, Vol. 5, describes many ways
in which Nikken Abe, as head of Nichiren Shoshu, has acted counter
to the teachings and spirit of the Daishonin's Buddhism. Among
them:
1) He plotted to destroy the harmonious unity
of believers.
This refers to the scheme that Nikken
himself dubbed "Operation C11 (the plot to discredit SGI
President Ikeda and dissolve the Soka Gakkai. Details of this
operation are reported in SGI-USA Newsletter, vol. i, no.
6, November 18 ,1991, issue.)
2) He is the cause for the decadence and corruption
of the priesthood.
Nikken's personal grudge against the
SGI seems to stem in part from SGI's decision to speak out against
the widespread extravagance and corruption within the priesthood,
as typified by Nikken's own opulent lifestyle.
3) He conspired with disgruntled former members
and sensationalist journalists to defame the SGI.
It is well known that long-time anti-Gakkai
plotter Masatomo Yamazaki, and anti-Gakkai journalist Isao Dan,
have conspired with Nikken in his campaign against the Soka Gakkai.Yamazaki,
who was imprisoned three years for extortion, wrote a letter to
Nikken advising him which publications would be wining to print
scandalous articles about the Gakkai without verifying facts.
4) He rejects dialogue and treats members
with disdain.
Nikken never responded to the Soka Gakkai's
repeated requests for dialogue after the temple unjustly accused
it, although the Gakkai leadership - including President Ikeda
- had visited Taiseki-Ji
on a monthly basis for many years. Nikken has
instructed priests explicitly to be more concerned about getting
members to leave the Gakkai than about those members' faith and
happiness.
5) He betrayed the laity's sincere faith in
the priesthood.
Hundreds of Nichiren Shoshu temples,
from which the priesthood operates to attack the SGI's kosen-rufu
movement, were donated by the Soka Gakkai. In addition, much of
the priesthood's finances and assets derive from the donations
of Soka Gakkai members made over the decades. Nevertheless, he
has been using these venues to denounce these very people.
6) He promotes the danto (direct temple
membership) movement, which he formerly regarded as an incorrect
way of propagating the Law.
Nikken is behind efforts by temples to
rmislead SGI members about their organization in order to entice
them to join the temple. He also plays a key role in the global
dissemination of false and defamatory articles and rumors about
the SGI.
7) He stopped issuing the Gohonzon to SGI
members.
Nikken used the Gohonzon and the members'
faith in it in an attempt to bait Gakkai members to Join the temple.
He eventually refused to issue the Gohonzon to SGI members. His
aim was to gain adherents by being the only source of Gohonzon
for new believers.
8) He excommunicated the SGI.
It is now a historical fact that Nichiren
Shoshu, a clerical body headed up by Nikken and consisting of
no more than 1,000 priests, excommunicated the global organization
of the Daishonin's Buddhism that comprises some 10 million practitioners
in 128 nations. This is an act unprecedented in the history of
world religion.
9) He altered the doctrines of Nichiren Daishonin's
teachings.
In the Daishonin's teaching, any ordinary
person who sincerely embraces the Gohonzon and chants the Mystic
Law is viewed as a true Buddha. Nikken preaches the view that
he is the sole possessor of true enlightenment; that others can
only hope to attain this state in the future through their connection
to him.
10) He exerts the power of an absolute dictator
within the priesthood.
Nikken has changed Nichiren Shoshu's
bylaws arbitrarily, time and again, to stifle any criticism of
his leadership from the laity and any opposition from within the
priesthood.
Priests who have left Nichiren Shoshu in protest
of Nikken's actions unanimously agree that the priesthood had
no justifiable reason for attacking the Soka Gakkai from the outset.
From their view as insiders, the entire situation was triggered
by Nikken's ego and emotionalism.
While the Soka Gakkai's original purpose remains
unchanged, Nikken's perverse nature has placed him in direct opposition
to the noble cause of kosen-rufu. While he may insist that as
high priest he is the sole possessor of the Law, the Law is not
something one can possess. It belongs to everyone, and is inherent
in everything.
These are among the many reasons why Nikken is
unfit to serve as high priest, and why the SGI has called for
his immediate resignation.
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