This new study series will cover Soka Spirit topics to be presented by a youth or student division member at Soka 2030 meetings on the last Sunday of each month.
What is the purpose of religion? Does it support people’s growth or attempt to control them?
At this time, when many might view the idea of organized religion as off-putting or symbolic of dogmatism, it’s important to reaffirm the true purpose of Nichiren Buddhism (as practiced by the Soka Gakkai). It is a religion that aims to establish equality and respect for everyone.
What key factor led to the Soka Gakkai’s development worldwide? Its spiritual independence from the authoritarian Nichiren Shoshu priesthood.
On Nov. 28, 1991, Nichiren Shoshu sent their “Notification of the Excommunication of the Soka Gakkai from Nichiren Shoshu,” deliberately severing ties with more than 12 million believers throughout the world. It was their desperate attempt to intimidate the lay believers of the SGI, but it backfired.
Instead, Ikeda Sensei declared Nov. 28 to be the Soka Gakkai’s Day of Spiritual Independence!
On Dec. 27, 1991, the Soka Gakkai sent Nichiren Shoshu a document titled “Seeking the Resignation of Nikken as Nichiren Shoshu High Priest,” signed by 16.25 million people,[1] demonstrating just how much the priests had underestimated the unity and faith of the SGI members.
A philosopher once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[2]
That’s why, 34 years later, it’s still vital for us to study and discuss this history.
Let’s review some of the significant errors of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood.
The Authoritarian Nature of the Priesthood
Did you know that the priesthood viewed lay believers as less than their family pets?
The order: Chief priests rank highest at local temples, followed by their wives, children and then pets. Local lay believers are inferior even to their pets.[3]
Nowhere in Nichiren Daishonin’s writings do we read about such a hierarchy. He clearly states:
Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate Law of life and death. (“The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 216)
The Lotus Sutra teaches that all people deserve supreme equality and respect. To say otherwise is to reject the Lotus Sutra and the Daishonin’s words.
The So-Called Infallibility of the High Priest
A core tenet of the priesthood is the veneration of the high priest as an infallible person with absolute authority.
A basis for this claim is their belief in a mysterious heritage or lineage that one high priest passed down to the next.[4]
But Nikko Shonin, Nichiren’s direct successor, disagrees. In his Twenty-Six Admonitions, he writes, “Do not follow even the high priest if he goes against the Buddha’s Law and propounds his own views” (Gosho zenshu, new ed., p. 2196 [Gosho zenshu, p. 1618]).
The Daishonin also made clear that his goal was to lead all people, regardless of their status or background, to receive the heritage of faith: “Nichiren has been trying to awaken all the people of Japan to faith in the Lotus Sutra so that they too can share the heritage and attain Buddhahood” (“The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,” WND-1, 217).
Emphasis on Ritualistic Practice
Why do the priests emphasize Buddhist rituals? Because they make a living off of things like funeral and memorial services, bestowing posthumous Buddhist names and issuing wooden memorial tablets placed beside people’s graves.
Nichiren Daishonin didn’t institute such rituals. The priesthood developed these customs over the centuries, causing lay believers to depend on them. They say, for instance, that the deceased cannot attain Buddhahood unless a priest conducts their funeral.
In contrast, in The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren Daishonin states: “Now when Nichiren and his followers perform ceremonies for the deceased, reciting the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the ray of light from the daimoku reaches all the way to the hell of incessant suffering and makes it possible for them to attain Buddhahood then and there. This is the origin of the prayers for transference of merit for the deceased” (p. 17). Here, Nichiren clarifies the unfathomable power of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Studying the differences between the authoritarian priesthood and the people-centered Soka Gakkai, it is clear that the priests strayed from Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings by focusing on formality, authority and profit.
On the other hand, the Soka Gakkai has flourished due to our concrete efforts to treasure each person and advance worldwide kosen-rufu in direct accord with Nichiren’s intent.
—Prepared by the SGI-USA Youth Division
March 21, 2025 World Tribune, p. 10
References
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