Originally Posted by
Jundo
Just a footnote to drop in ...
Not all Nichiren Buddhists are Sokka Gakkai (SGI), which is a new religion which sprung out of Nichiren Buddhism in the 1930s, then later cut ties with (or, more precisely, had ties cut by) the mainstream Nichiren Sect. I would agree that SGI shares much in common with many evangelical churches in America, with an emphasis on proselytizing, faith, "pie in the sky when we die" and "prosperity gospel" whereby their chanting is supposed to have this worldly benefits of health, success and more money in the bank. There is also something of a pyramid structure like multi-level marketing, which means the people at the top get great benefit. They are powerful in Japan, including politically with their own major political party, and most of their millions of members were gathered when people left the countryside to move into the cities during the 20th century, but thus left the social structure and temples of their small villages and needed something to fill their isolation and lack of ties in the big cities. They are not alone, and there are literally hundreds of such "new religions" in Japan based on Nichiren teachings in some way (or Shinto, or some combination thereof), but Sokka Gakkai is one of the largest.
That said, not all Nichiren Buddhists are Sokka Gakkai, and my wife's family are mainstream Nichiren Buddhists. Nichiren was quite an interesting fellow from around Dogen's time in the 13th century who might be compared to Joseph Smith (the founder of the Mormon Church) or maybe Martin Luther. He declared his own revelations in which faith in the Lotus Sutra, and simply reciting one's faith in the title of the book (Namu Myōhō Renge Kyo: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra, a chant called the "Daimoku"), was enough to bring salvation and rewards in this life and the next. It is not even so necessary to read the book itself, just have faith in it and chant the Daimoku. In fact, Nichiren taught that that is the ONLY way to salvation in these fallen times! It also started as very evangelical back in the day, but soon evolved into a sect of Buddhism virtually indistinguishable from any other in Japan (also comparable to the modern Mormons in that way). In fact, as I often say, the average parishioner of any Nichiren or Soto Zen temple in Japan would probably be hard pressed to tell you the doctrinal differences, or much about the deeper doctrines at all.
But in any event, all these groups and churches, whether Sokka or Mormon, Soto Zen or Nichiren, are filled with many nice people.
Gassho, Jundo
STLah
Sorry to run long