Нитирэн-сёсю: Традиция и учение японского буддизма

Branch of Nichiren Buddhism

Nichiren Shōshū (日 蓮 正 宗) is a branch of Nichiren Buddhism based on the traditionalist teachings of the 13th century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282), claiming him as its founder through his senior disciple Nikko Shonin (1246–1333), the founder of Head Temple Taiseki ji, near Mount Fuji. The lay adherents of the sect are called Hokkeko members. The Enichizan Myohoji Temple in Los Angeles, California serves as the temple headquarters within the United States. The sect is known for vehemently rejecting the various forms of Buddhism taught by Shakyamuni Buddha as incomplete, expired and heretical for the Third Age of Buddhism. Instead, the sect is based on the exclusivist teachings of Nichiren and the chanting of "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" along with reciting curated portions of the Lotus Sutra. The object worshipped by its believers is the Dai Gohonzon while its religious symbol is the rounded crane bird. Both its leadership and adherents claim that only their practice is "The True Buddhism" and ascribe the honorific title to Nichiren, as the "Sacred Original "True" Buddha" (御本仏, Go Honbutsu) and the Dai Shonin (大聖人, "Great Holy Teacher") while maintaining that the sole legitimate successor to both his ministry and legacy is Nikko Shonin and the successive high priests of the sect, led by the current 68th High Priest, Hayase Myo e Ajari Nichinyo Shonin, who ascended to the position on 15 December 2005.

Following the death of Nichiren, centuries of doctrinal divisions arose among various schools of Nichiren's followers. During the Meiji Restoration, numerous Nichiren sects were consolidated by the imperial government into several major schools: Nichiren Shu in 1874, Fuju fuse and Fuju fuse Komon in 1876, and in 1891 the five interrelated schools of Kempon Hokkeshu, Honmon Hokkeshu, Honmyo Hokkeshu, Hokkeshu, and Honmonshu. In 1900, the Taiseki ji temple split away from Honmonshu and renamed itself Nichirenshu Fuji ha, or the Nichiren Shu (School) of the Fuji area, the branch of Taisekiji Temple, indicating the general naming of sects at the time. In 1913, the sect's name was changed to its current “Nichiren Shoshu.” This changed was purportedly made by Emperor Taisho in reference to the sect's orthodox claims. The sect is also sometimes called Nichiren Masamune, based on the local Japanese dialect in Shizuoka.

Lay believers belong to official congregations known as Hokkekō groups, designed to encourage solidarity among fellow members to study Nichiren Shoshu doctrines and plan one's Tozan pilgrimage to the head temple in Japan. Most attend services at a local temple or in private homes when no temple is nearby. Services are usually officiated by a priest, but lay leaders sometimes fill in when no priest is available. When they gather, believers frequently study Nichiren Shōshū teachings, particularly the various writings of Nichiren, called Gosho. A leader in a local group or district is called Koto while a widely held position on a grander scale was once called So Koto, but is now no longer used. The present Dai Koto leader of the Hokkeko Federation is Mr. Koichiro Hoshino. The official symbol of Nichiren Shōshū is the crane bird (Tsuru) in a rounded shape (Tsuru no Maru). Another symbol is the eight spoked wheel of the Noble Eightfold Path called Rimbo (Treasure Ring) as well as the tortoise crest for Nikko Shonin, who is considered by the school to be the sole and legitimate successor to Nichiren. The Three Friends of Winter combination crest is also present in temple altars, representing Nichimoku Shonin.

The sect seeks to eradicate all other religions and vehemently rejects all forms of religious interfaith practices as both evil and heretical, referring to any syncretism as "Slander" (謗 法, Ho–bo) against the Dharma taught by the founder Nichiren. It further maintains that directly supporting other religions outside the sect gains negative karma and brings grave punishment, disasters and generational suffering.

The sect teaches that human children choose to be reborn to their parents based on the parents' accumulated karma of causes and conditions that existed from past and present lives. Accordingly, the sect further teaches that other life forms also generate their own karma based on cause and effect that does not recognize both space and time. These willed rebirths include humans, animals and other life forms (and vice versa) that choose to be reborn in whatever capacity to advance the Buddhist enlightenment of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo in the universe.

The sect claims that Shakyamuni's myriad forms of Buddhism have now lost their salvific power to gain Buddhahood for the modern age, designated at the Third Age of Buddhism since the year 1052 to the present. In addition, the school claims that Nichiren was fulfilling an eschatological prophecy made by Shakyamuni Buddha in Chapter 21 of the Lotus Sutra regarding the Three Ages of Buddhism which states:

Buddha – Nichiren Shōshū teaches that Nichiren is the “True Original Buddha” for the modern times corresponding to the Third Buddhist Age and for all eternity. Dharma – The Dharma is referred to by the sect as "The Mystic Law", referring to the ultimate teachings of Nichiren, crystallized in Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō. The sect further teaches that this Mystic Law is the internal enlightenment of Nichiren himself called "Naisho" (内 証) and is the "Original True Buddha" from an infinite, mystical timeless point in the Universe (久遠元初, "Kuon–Ganjo"). Furthermore, the sect teaches that this enlightenment is physically embodied within the Dai Gohonzon wooden mandala and was left for the posterity of future generations. The same definition of Dharma is accorded to its authorized, transcribed copies called "Gohonzon" that are loaned by the sect to its followers. Sangha – The Sangha refers to one of Nichiren's senior disciples, Nikko Shonin, its lineage of succeeding High Priests, along with the entire collective of Nichiren Shōshū priests who serve to teach, protect and preserve the doctrines and dogmas of Nichiren Shōshū. Accordingly, the sect teaches that the Three Jewels of Buddhism are a single, inseparable entity that equally share the internal enlightenment of Nichiren. More specifically, the sect teaches that the Buddha and the Dharma are perpetrated and upheld by the Sangha priesthood (Heisei Shinpen). The common parlance used in the sect among believers to describe the three Buddhist treasures is termed "Buddha–Law–Priesthood".

The Dai Gohonzon (also called: Dai Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of Essential Teachings) is a calligraphic mandala inscribed with Sanskrit and Chinese characters on a plank of Japanese camphorwood as the only object of worship by believers. The sect claims that Nichiren inscribed it on 12 October 1279 (Japanese: Koan). The sect claims the ninpō ikka or "Unity of the Person and the Buddhist Dharma" as one entity and the Dai Gohonzon is revered as the personification of Nichiren himself. Every Nichiren Shōshū temple and household possesses a gohonzon, or transcription of the Dai Gohonzon rendered by its successive High Priests. The Dai Gohonzon is enshrined at the Hoando worship hall within the Taiseki ji Grand Main Temple complex grounds at the foot of Mount Fuji. The temple priesthood will only expose the image for constant public veneration once the conversion of the Emperor of Japan and Kosen rufu is achieved, maintaining the beliefs of Nichiren Shōshū as the primary religion in the world by Japanese imperial decree. Unlike the other Gohonzons enshrined at the Head Temple, it is not enshrined with shikimi branches nor Taiko drums. Transcriptions of the Dai Gohonzon, made by successive High Priests of Nichiren Shōshū, are called gohonzon (go, honorific prefix indicating respect). Most gohonzons in temples are wood tablets in which the inscription is carved; the tablets are coated with black urushi and have gilded characters. Gohonzons enshrined in temples and other similar facilities are personally transcribed by one of the successive High Priests. Hokkeko followers can make a request to receive a personal gohonzon to their local temple chief priest. These gohonzons are rituallyconsecrated facsimiles printed on paper using a traditional method and presented as a small scroll, measuring approximately 7 x 15 inches. The local chief priest sends all requests to the Head Temple. As these requests are granted, gohonzons are then delivered to the recipient's local priest and he bestows them on the individual members. In this ritual, the recipient vows to sincerely believe in Nichiren's teachings and to faithfully practice the religion and uphold its doctrines.

The following groups, which had been associated with Nichiren Shoshu, were expelled in the years 1974 (Kenshokai), 1980 (Shoshinkai), and 1991 (Soka Gakkai).

In 1974, a lay group called Myōshinkō from the Myokoji Temple in Shinagawa ward in Tokyo was expelled by High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi from Nichiren Shōshū after holding a public protest against Soka Gakkai for claiming that the Shohondo building was the true and permanent national sanctuary of the Dai Gohonzon as mandated by Nichiren, even without the religious conversion of Emperor Showa. The group was known for being brazen in confronting Soka Gakkai and former High Priest Nittatsu Shonin, resulting in a lawsuit against him amidst public protest. The group later changed its corporation name to Fuji Taisekiji Kenshōkai. Kenshōkai has been described as one of the fastest growing denominations of Buddhism in Japan. The Kenshokai sometimes uses an enlarged, variant copy of the Dai Gohonzon image from the year 1728 by Nichikan Shonin, the 26th High Priest of Head Temple Taisekiji, along with contemporary ones issued by the Taisekiji Head Temple. These Gohonzon images use the same brown ornamental border sourced and used by Nichiren Shoshu.

In 1980, a group of Nichiren Shōshū priests and lay supporters called Shōshinkai (English: Correct Faith Group) were expelled from the Head Temple by 67th High Priest Nikken Shonin for questioning the legitimacy of the new head abbot Nikken and for criticising Soka Gakkai's influence on temple affairs. At the time, Soka Gakkai supported Nikken's claim to be the rightful successor of Nittatsu Hosoi as high priest. Shōshinkai continues to refer to itself as the true Nichiren Shōshū. Shōshinkai later founded a dissident association of Nichiren Shoshu priests seeking reformation and began transcribing their own version of the Gohonzon rather than taking a transcribed copy from one of the Nichiren Shōshū high priests. Most of them have aged or deceased, and their temples have since reverted to Nichiren Shoshu administration after their death, having been replaced with younger priests affiliated with the Head Temple Taiseki ji. Some of these older priests have also joined other Nichiren sects or made their own, such as the case in Taiwan.

Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated the Soka Gakkai and the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) on 28 November 1991. Soka Gakkai had emerged as a lay organization affiliated with one of the temples located in the Taiseki ji complex, and founded by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who was converted by Sokei Mitani, the principal of Meijiro Kenshin Junior and Senior High School to Nichiren Shoshu on 4 June 1928. The organization grew under second president Jōsei Toda, and continued to base its teachings on Nichiren Shōshū until the development of doctrinal conflicts with the third Soka Gakkai President and Soka Gakkai International president, Daisaku Ikeda. As early as 1956, such doctrinal conflicts simmered, evidenced by the alleged declaration of the second president of Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda, to the 65th High Priest Nichijun Shonin during the reconstruction of Myoden ji Temple, claiming the organizational leadership no longer upheld Nichiren Shoshu doctrines. On 10 May 1974, the vice president of Soka Gakkai, Hiroshi Hojo, submitted a written report to Daisaku Ikeda proposing a schism with Nichiren Shōshū, using the example of Protestants and Roman Catholics as "differences". In response, High Priest Nittatsu Hosoi refused the proposal to create a board committee that would oversee temple affairs and its bookkeeping practices, while mentioning his gratitude for the construction of the Shohondo building. Furthermore, Nittatsu acknowledged the possibility of the split, and specifically threatened to place the Dai Gohonzon back into the Nichiren Shōshū treasury building (御 宝 蔵, Gohōzō) where only a select few faithful would be able to venerate the image. These and other conflicts resulted in a complete and formal disassociation of the two sides after Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated the leaders of the Sōka Gakkai and stripped it of its status as a lay organization of Nichiren Shōshū in 1991. Ultimately, Daisaku Ikeda was excommunicated from the role of Sokoto or lay leader by High Priest Nikken, while the formal decree of excommunication invalidated the tax exempt status of Soka Gakkai under Japanese law due to its lack of temple affiliation. Further causes of conflict came when the temple priesthood began to notice the construction of Community Centers instead of funding construction of new Nichiren Shōshū temples. On 30 September 1997, Nichiren Shōshū excommunicated all Soka Gakkai International members.