Questions and Answers on the Temple Issue
9. I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO VISIT A NICHIREN
SHOSHU TEMPLE. IS IT ALL RIGHT TO GO?
To visit or not visit a Nichiren Shoshu temple
is each individual's choice, but the SGI encourages its members
not to because the temple has diverged from the Daishonin's Buddhism
and is actually trying to destroy it.
On the surface, there may seem to be little difference
between attending activities at a Nichiren Shoshu temple or an
SGI-USA community center. The temple might even seem aesthetically
more attractive to some - the large wooden Gohonzon with gold
lettering, golden decorations and ornaments around the altar,
etc. At both places, people gather to chant Nammyoho-renge-kyo
and recite the sutra before the Gohonzon. But chanting to the
Gohonzon alone is not all there is to the Daishonin's Buddhism
- the philosophy that he espoused, which informs our prayer, is
integral to correct practice. It is in this area that the priests
and the temple have completely strayed.
The Daishonin writes in "The
True Entity of Life," "If you are of the same mind
as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth" (MW-I,
93). To be "of the same mind as Nichiren" means chanting
with the same spirit and understanding as the Daishonin's. It
means summoning the courage to practice for oneself and for others
- to strive for kosen-rufu.
There is no better place to gain this understanding
of the Daishonin's passionate resolve to help all people than
in the SGI. All SGI activities are based on the Daishonin's own
words, as preserved in the letters he wrote to his disciples.
In addition, our activities are based on his spirit of "practice
for others."
The direct connection we in the SGI have with
the Daishonin's teachings and spirit helps us to Practice correctly
and most effectively. Without this philosophical and spiritual
backbone, it becomes difficult to pray powerfully and summon the
wisdom and energy to win in our lives.
It is therefore also essential that we avoid
supporting the temple's efforts dedicated to destroying our movement.
In "On
the Buddha's Behavior," Nichiren Daishonin warns:
Those who endeavor to practice the Buddhist Law and who
care about what happens to them in future lives should know
what a fearful thing it is to slander the Lotus Sutra (mw-I,
198)
Since many temple activities are occasions where
temple members and guests make financial donations, the SGI encourages
its members not to attend. If we make contributions to the temple
- whether through physical, spiritual or financial support - it
follows that we are supporting those who are slandering Buddhism,
which means we ourselves are party to the negative cause they
are creating.
In the past, SGI members made financial donations
to the priesthood, trusting its faith and humanity. This act was
definitely registered in their lives as a good cause. But the
priesthood has now betrayed that trust and is using those funds
to attack those who contributed them. The gravity of the negative
cause committed by the priesthood is unfathomable. In any case,
the sincerity shown all along by the SGI members will continue
to shine in their lives as good fortune.
Temple members sometimes invite SGI members to
participate in pilgrimages to the head temple in Japan, stating
that they need not renounce their SGI affiliation to do so. Then,
they say, they can see the Dai-Gohonzon, the Gohonzon inscribed
by the Daishonin for all humanity. Those who have gone, however,
have been approached by priests and others who vehemently denounced
the SGI and President Ikeda. In addition, they were required to
offer a donation to attend.
There is no value to be created in seeing the
Dai-Gohonzon if members must also financially support the temple's
efforts to, in effect, destroy Buddhism. In fact, the members
of the priesthood have attempted to exploit its possession of
this Gohonzon inscribed for all humanity, and the members'
desire to see it, as a means to entice people to follow and support
them.
The state of life Nichiren Daishonin manifested
has been described as that of "The Buddha of Absolute Freedom."
The Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon so that all people could
awaken to this absolutely free and unfettered state of life. It
is therefore impossible to imagine that Nichiren Daishonin would
expect us to be so constrained in our faith that we should feel
we must blindly obey and kowtow to whomever might possess the
Dai- Gohonzon, no matter how malicious or ill-intentioned they
might be.
Back to the Table of Contents
| 
