I’ve completed reading “Buddhism for Today: A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra,” and selected a number of quotes by Nikkyō Niwano that I will use in my upcoming daily 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra blog posts. I have enough of these quotes to spread over most of 2020.
Niwano’s insights into the Lotus Sutra are thought-provoking and I find those I’ve set aside inspiring. But his teachings are not without areas that present a problem for me. I emphasize that this is my problem. I wrote about this earlier when I introduced Buddhism for Today. Risshō Kōsei-kai, the organization Niwano founded in 1938 with Mrs. Myoko Naganuma, is not Nichiren Shu, and when the two differ on a doctrinal point, I’m going to rely on Nichiren Shu teachings. What follows are some quotes that I set aside as problematic.
[In Chapter 16] the Buddha then revealed his tactful methods in detail: “Good sons! All the sutras which the Tathāgata preaches are for the deliverance of the living. Whether speaking of himself or speaking of others, whether indicating himself or indicating others, and whether indicating his own affairs or the affairs of others, whatever he says is all real and not empty air.” …
In Risshō Kōsei-kai, when a member is admonished by a leader, he calls it “merit” (kudoku). It is indeed an unpleasant and unwelcome thing for anybody to be scolded or admonished by others. But since the Buddha’s salvation is often extended to us through such scoldings and admonitions, our salvation is realized when we receive these warnings with gratitude. The words “indicating the affairs of others” are most important, and we should always bear them in mind in our daily lives.
Buddhism for Today, p226-228
I spent 25 years practicing with Soka Gakkai and its lay-leader organizational structure. Perhaps that taints my view of scoldings during group counseling. The Risshō Kōsei-kai website’s “Basic Practice of Faith” describes the practice in this way: “One of the most important of Rissho Kosei-kai’s religious activities is a unique form of group counseling known as hoza. The members of a hoza group usually sit together in a circle, creating a warm, intimate atmosphere for open discussion. Members share problems and raise questions in the hoza as the other members listen and respond with compassion, trying to understand his or her problem, situation, and emotions.” Where does scolding belong in a Lotus Sutra-focused practice?
The word “repentance” has two meanings and applications. One is repentance in a general sense, the confession of our own past physical and mental misdeeds. Our minds are purified by such repentance, and because it frees us from a sense of sin, we feel greatly refreshed. There are cases too numerous to mention of Risshō Kōsei-kai members recovering from disease or being freed from family problems just by confessing their misdeeds before fellow members in group-counseling sessions. Psychoanalysts, especially those practicing depth analysis, have applied this principle in helping many disturbed people.
Recovery from illness is, of course, dependent on our repentance, whose true value consists in disclosing our buddha-nature.
Buddhism for Today, p423
I’m more than happy to accept the idea that repentance can have an effect on physical illness. Scientifically, this is an example of the non-dual nature of mind and body. We can make ourselves sick. It’s even an apt example of the Buddhist concept of our delusions causing our suffering. But “Risshō Kōsei-kai members recovering from disease or being freed from family problems” as a credit to their practice of repentance is just too close to Soka Gakkai’s “if you are sick chant; if don’t get better, chant more.” In Soka Gakkai, “cases too numerous to mention” of members being rewarded are standard fare for group meetings. For me, a practice focused on personal reward seems more appropriate for a hungry spirit than a Bodhisattva seeking to bring all sentient beings to the Buddha way.
Sakyamuni Buddha revealed that he instructed living beings occasionally by speaking of himself or speaking of others, occasionally by indicating himself or indicating others, and occasionally by indicating his own affairs or the affairs of others. Whatever he says is all real and not empty air — that is, there is nothing useless in what he says; all is for the purpose of elevating people and leading them to real enlightenment.
Here lies the vastness and profundity of the Buddha’s teaching. Buddhism is not opposed to Christianity, Islam, and other teachings of great sages, such as Confucius, Mencius, and Lao-tzu. We understand that such saints and sages are the appearance of the Buddha in other forms and that their teachings are the manifestation of the Buddha’s teachings in other forms. I do not say this because I am a Buddhist but because so long as the Buddha is the great truth and great life of the universe, there can be no truth that is not included in the Buddha, and no law other than that of the Buddha. Accordingly, a narrow-minded Buddhist who indiscriminately criticizes other religions and thinks, for example, that Buddhism is a true religion, while Christianity is not, cannot claim to be a true Buddhist.
A right teaching is right regardless of who preaches it. Truth is truth regardless of who proclaims it. Buddhists revere a person who leads all living beings by such a right and true teaching as “the Buddha.” It follows naturally that they should not set themselves in opposition to other religions.
Buddhism for Today, p228-229
I’m not prepared to go this far. I don’t object to describing the eternal Sakyamuni Buddha as the lifeforce of the universe and the source of all right teachings. For me that falls within the realm of personal interpretation as illustrated in the infinite meanings described in the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings. But to suggest that all religions arise from the eternal Sakyamuni’s teaching is just too far. The historical Buddha was not adverse to calling out wrong views held by religions of his day. Nichiren, of course, famously opposed those who did not base their faith on the Lotus Sutra. Niwano even defends Nichiren’s actions as necessary in this time.
Later in the book, Niwano offers a guideline for how to approach these differences in religions and religous practices:
Buddhism itself is a gentle teaching. This teaching is of course “right,” but it is not “self-righteous” in the sense of being opinionated and obstinate. As stated in the explanation of the Middle Path, the teaching of Buddhism is always in perfect accord with the truth, and its expression has the flexibility of perfect freedom. Therefore, a true Buddhist should not be obstinate or bigoted but should be flexible in accordance with the truth. Such an attitude is that of being gentle in mind.
Buddhism for Today, p250
These are, indeed, words to live by.
[T]he Buddha is an absolute existence. He exists everywhere inside and outside us and is constant, from the infinite past to the infinite future. He is an existence inseparable from us even if we want to part form him. Therefore, he is an absolute existence.
The Buddha can be compared to the air. Air always exists around us and even within our bodies. We cannot live for a moment without air, though we usually do not think about its existence. When we are confined in a small room and feel claustrophobic because of stale air, we open the windows and let in fresh air. At such times we are aware of the importance of air.
In the same way, the Buddha is the existence from which we cannot separate ourselves even if we want to, and which always causes us to live. He is an absolute and infinite existence. For this reason, we can devote ourselves to believing in the Buddha, depending upon him, and leaving everything to him.
Buddhism for Today, p220
This is an odd concept to apply to the Eternal Buddha Sakyamuni. For me it comes too close to the descriptions of the Judeo-Christian God. As a Buddhist, I believe in the emptiness of dependent origination. Susan Mattis, in her essay in A Buddhist Kaleidoscope, page 252-253, offers an excellent explanation of my view:
For Chih-i as for Nāgārjuna there is no reality or truth to be realized beyond the play of the ephemeral, conditioned elements of the realm of dependent origination; the ultimate, middle truth is nothing other than the realization of the true aspect of the phenomenal realm, that is, its empty, conditioned existence. This identity of ultimate truth and phenomena is for Chih-i the central and unequivocal teaching of the Lotus Sutra, the message embodied in the image of the Buddha pervading all realms of existence.
The Buddha’s teachings instruct us not to regard the changeable as the unchangeable. If we view things thoroughly and clearly, we can see all changes. To act according to changes with a flexible mind is the right way of living. At the same time, we should not be too bound by change, cither. To feel that we cannot do anything as well as young people because we have grown older, are too old to work efficiently any longer, and want only to live in comfort for the rest of our days is a way of thinking that is too influenced by change. There should be something unchanging within us even as we grow older. To make the best use of our experience, brains, technical skills, leadership, dignity, and other qualities, and to work for the benefit of people and society for our entire life is the right way to live. …
So far we have been considering elderly people; let us now give some examples involving young people. Women have come to have equal rights with men under the law since the postwar constitution of Japan was promulgated. This was a dramatic change from the prewar days. In the new constitution women have been granted equal human rights, but they have not changed in their physical structure, which enables them to give birth to and nurture babies. They are unchangeable in this respect. If women try to behave like men in everything simply because equality of the sexes has been guaranteed in the constitution, it represents a way of thinking that is restricted by change and is inconsistent with reason. Though there may have been some Japanese women who intentionally behaved like men, most have assumed a modest manner. Among them, some women who have listened to the teachings of the Buddha have lived in a reasonable and womanly manner and have indeed been women worthy of Buddhism.
Buddhism for Today, p234-235
Niwano was born in 1906 to a farm family in northern Japan. His cultural attitude toward Japanese women behaving like men, and one assumes men behaving like women, is to be expected. It will be interesting to see whether Risshō Kōsei-kai changes such references when it re-issues this book in the future. Judging by what Risshō Kōsei-kai did to the Lotus Sutra when it re-edited its English translation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra last year, I expect references to “reasonable and womanly manner” and “women worthy of Buddhism” to disappear.
About five hundred years after the Buddha’s extinction, a belief centering on Amita Buddha (also called Amitābha and Amitāyus) began to spread from western India. Its believers sought rebirth in the Pure Land, the paradise of Amita, by relying completely on the power of this buddha. Although this buddha is regarded as having great compassion and the power to bring all living beings to the Pure Land, this faith is incomplete so long as it suggests the idea of salvation through relying absolutely on his power. It is impossible for living beings to achieve rebirth in the Land of Amita Buddha unless they realize the universal truth and endeavor actually to live according to it. The salvation of this buddha will be realized when people seek wisdom and practice the way leading to the perfection of their character. So that all living beings might not misunderstand this or fall into depending completely on the power of Amita Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha added the conditional phrase, “If there be any woman who hears this sutra and acts according to its teachings.” The faith of Amita Buddha will display its true power by virtue of the truth taught in the Lotus Sutra.
Buddhism for Today, p364
This Niwano quote comes in reference to the Medicine King chapter’s explanations of the benefits of hearing that chapter and specifically a woman being reborn in Amita Buddha’s western paradise. My problem here is the ambiguity. What does Niwano mean when he says, “The faith of Amita Buddha will display its true power by virtue of the truth taught in the Lotus Sutra”?
See Understanding the 12-Linked Chain of Causation, a lengthy comparison of Niwano’s explanation of the 12 linked chain of causation with Rev. Ryuei McCormick’s explanation in his new book, Open Your Eyes: A Nichiren Buddhist View of Awakening.