On Jan. 1, 2015, I walked to my car after a Soka Gakkai New Year’s Gonyo at the the Sacramento SGI Community Center. The angrily folded lyrics of Forever Sensei were clenched in my hand. Concluding what was supposed to be a Nichiren Buddhist service with the worship of a man who leads the Soka Gakkai International organization was just too much.
I vowed in that parking lot on that day that I would defeat the inertia that had kept me in Soka Gakkai and correct my course.
Yesterday, May 14, 2016, was the 500th day since that particular part of my journey began. I truly feel I have joined the path to a Place of Treasures in my journey with the Nichiren Shu community.
Overcoming that inertia was a real challenge. I joined Nichiren Shoshu of America (before the SGI and temple split) in 1989. I was married in a service at the Nichiren Shoshu Temple in Pinole in 1990. When the SGI-Temple divorce came at the end of 1991, I stayed with Soka Gakkai. I never felt a lay organization could ever properly stand alone but I couldn’t see joining a temple that would excommunicate those who wouldn’t toe the line.
In December 2014, I knew my attachment to Soka Gakkai was held by a thin thread. In anticipation of the end, I sent an email to the Nichiren Buddhist International Center asking, “Is there an active program for helping Nichiren followers to transition from Soka Gakkai to Nichiren Shu? And, in particular, is this available in Sacramento?”
No one responded, and when I called I was told that, No, there is no such program. Nor is there one at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.
In the past year, I’ve watched as visitors were genuinely welcomed to services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. I was certainly welcomed, and today feel a full member.
Still, I’d like to see an effort to make it easier for others to overcome that inertia I felt and join a Buddhist practice that focuses on the Buddhism where “anyone is said to have the potential to become the Buddha if they awaken to the truth behind the universe and humans beings, which can be understood through studying the teachings of the Buddha.”
Part of that effort could be framed around this explanation of the various Nichiren lineages written by Nichiren Shu priest Rev. Shoryo Tarabini.
In particular, I single out this advice Rev. Tarabini offers the person who asked the question:
What is most important is to practice our faith and study as the Buddha Sakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin taught us, so that we can grow, truly understand Buddhism, practice and live it just like the Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin did; and so that we and all those around us can be freed from suffering, become satisfied with life, become happy, and attain perfect enlightenment just as the Buddha.
It is not necessary to harbor ill feelings towards the Soka Gakkai, nor towards anyone else for that matter. Maybe everything they taught you was not entirely correct, but their help has nourished you up until today. Maybe they have strayed from the main path of Buddhism. But they did introduce you to Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings and the Lotus Sutra. They opened a door for you. They have also created some doubts questions in your life about Buddhism. For all of this, you should be grateful.
Several people attending today’s online service broadcast from Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, in Charlotte, North Carolina, are former SGI members, including Rev. Ryusho Jeffus.
At the conclusion of the service a woman who is new to Buddhism expressed her appreciation for the introduction provided by Ryosho Shonin. It’s a sentiment I second.