With this issue, we begin publication of the next chapter of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's continuing saga of the origins of the Soka Gakkai, The Human Revolution, which is written in novel form. This new chapter is titled, 'Declaration.'
A note to readers: the numerals following the title in each sub-headline (Declaration 1, Declaration 2, etc.) correspond with the regular installments that appear in the Seikyo Shimbun, the Gakkai's daily newspaper in Japan. Many of our bilingual readers have requested and appreciate the inclusion of these numbers for reference.
Declaration 1
The river of kosen-rufu flowed onward, cascading down mountains and turning into waterfalls as it surged over steep cliffs. When boulders blocked its path, spray rose energetically as its flow gathered even more momentum. The volume of this river was swelling rapidly toward a membership of 750,000 households; it was now impossible for anyone to stem its flow.
The dynamic current of 'Soka' cut a swath of silver through the vast plains of society, turning them into lush, green fields.
On Aug. 30, 1957, a long procession could be seen marching through the city of Hyuga in Miyazaki Prefecture. It filled the road leading from Tomitaka Station, on the Nippo railway line, to the city's Jozen-ji temple, and from its ranks the singing of Soka Gakkai songs resounded through the rows of houses in the still morning air.
It was a small town and the townspeople whispered to one another in astonishment as they stood along the side of the road and watched the procession go by.
"What on earth is this procession all about?' they wondered.
The faces of the marchers were bright as they walked with pride and confidence, joyfully singing songs unfamiliar to the locals.
"I'm not sure," one of the townspeople said, "but didn't Jozen-ji temple recently become a Soka Gakkai temple? This parade seems to have something to do with that."
On this day, seven temples in Hyuga were transferring their affiliation to Nichiren Shoshu, including Jozen-ji temple, which had been the main temple of the Myohon-ji sect of Hota. A ceremony to solemnize this event would be conducted at Jozen-ji, while the parade was held to celebrate the occasion.
In those days, most Japanese people had never even heard the name 'Nichiren Shoshu.' Moreover, the name 'Nichiren' would frequently evoke images of the Soka Gakkai and its practice of shakubuku.
Indeed, it had been the Soka Gakkai's bold struggle for kosen-rufu [exemplified by its rigorous shakubuku efforts] that had convinced Jozen-ji temple to return to the fold of Nichiren Shoshu.
The procession was truly a grand sight to behold. About 2,000 Soka Gakkai members marched through the city, led by the car that carried High Priest Nichijun. The line of people seemed to go on and on, with those at the very end of the procession only setting off after those in the front had already arrived at the temple.
Such an event was surely unprecedented in Hyuga City.
The next day, the local newspapers, including the local editions of the national newspapers, carried reports of seven Hyuga temples merging with Nichiren Shoshu and the great procession that had accompanied the event.
The chief priest of Jozen-ji temple, Nichietsu Obara, stood at the temple entrance to welcome those who had taken part in the procession. Having come through a storm of hardships and obstacles in the course of realizing this occasion, the chief priest's face was now slightly flushed, mirroring the deep emotion he felt.
Established in 1333 by a priest called Nichie, Jozen-ji had a long history. It had originally been a temple of the Fuji school established by Nikko Shonin at Taiseki-ji. Nichie, however, had followed a priest named Nichigo, who left Taiseki-ji and established the Myohon-ji in the town of Hota in Awa province. With this, Jozen-ji aligned itself with the Myohon-ji sect and became the main temple of that school in the Hyuga region.
Much later, when the various Nichiren sects were ordered to merge into three main sects by the military authorities during World War II, Myohon-ji, Jozen-ji and the other temples of the Myohon-ji sect in Hyuga were merged with the Minobu sect.
Now, Myohon-ji of Hota, the head temple with which Jozen-ji was affiliated, had petitioned to rejoin the ranks of Nichiren Shoshu, and the merger was approved by Taiseki-ji in March 1957.
Declaration 2
The ceremony marking the return of Myohon-ji temple to Nichiren Shoshu was conducted at Taiseki-ji on April 7, 1957. Later, on April 28, a special service was also held at Myohon-ji to mark the occasion.
With the decision of the head temple, Myohon-ji in Hota, to join Nichiren Shoshu, Jozen-ji and the seven other temples in Hyuga decided to follow suit.
Behind Myohon-ji's decision to merge with Nichiren Shoshu were the tenacious shakubuku efforts of a Soka Gakkai member [who refuted the heretical allegiance and practices of the temple].
Just as ships and schools of fish are carried along by ocean currents, so the rising tide of kosen-rufu generated by the Soka Gakkai inspired a new current in the history of Nichiren Shoshu.
It was around 1948 or ë49 that the Soka Gakkai first embarked on propagation activities in the Awa District of Chiba Prefecture, where Myohon-ji of Hota was located. Eventually, a district organization was established in the town of Katsuyama, with the first district general meeting being held there in 1953.
On the day of that meeting, one of the men's division members heard a leader from Tokyo say that it seemed strange for Myohon-ji to belong to the Minobu sect, when it originally belonged to the order established by Nikko Shonin. The leader's words were indelibly etched upon his mind.
If the temple originated form Nikko Shonin, he thought, then it ought to leave the Minobu sect as quickly as possible, return to the correct practice of faith and strive to accomplish kosen-rufu together with the Soka Gakkai. Someone, he felt, ought to stand up and say so.
This conviction grew within him with each passing day, until finally, he visited one of Myohon-ji's branch temples and received a letter of introduction to the head temple. He and some other Soka Gakkai members then went to Myohon-ji and requested an audience with the head priest.
This Soka Gakkai member had no understanding of complex doctrinal issues. Passionately explaining that it was wrong for a temple that derived its roots from Nikko Shonin to belong to the Minobu sect, he simply urged the priest to meet with leaders from the Soka Gakkai and hear what they had to say.
The man's earnestness and sincerity moved the heart of Myohon-ji's head priest, Nissho Fuji, and a meeting with Soka Gakkai leaders was realized. This tremendous breakthrough was achieved, not through the use of position or title, but as a result of one individual Soka Gakkai member's passion for kosen-rufu.
Nissho Fuji, who had become head priest after his temple's merger with the Minobu sect, had harbored doubts concerning the Minobu school's distortion of the Daishonin's teachings, which extended even to confusion regarding the object of worship. This had led him to have grave misgivings about the merger. From the standpoint of reason, it did not make sense that his temple, which derived from Nikko Shonin's lineage, affiliated itself with the Minobu sect, which denied that Nikko Shonin embodied the 'Treasure of the Priest,' and which extolled the virtues of Hakiri Sanenaga, [the Lord of Minobu Province whose slander of the Daishonin's teachings led Nikko Shonin to leave Minobu and establish the head temple at Taiseki-ji].
Bending before the authority of Japan's military government, the Minobu sect further distorted the teachings, displaying none of the qualities of justness, conscience or conviction appropriate to those who cherish genuine faith.
As a result of his meeting with Soka Gakkai leaders, Head Priest Fuji resolved to disassociate himself and his temple from the Minobu Sect and merge back with Taiseki-ji. The biggest problem he faced, however, was persuading his parishioners and the priests at the branch temples to support his decision, and thus carry out a smooth transition. If he tried to force the issue to abruptly, it could easily upset the parishioners and cause a major obstacle to restoring ties with Nichiren Shoshu.
He therefore took the tack of first separating from the Minobu sect and allowing Myohon-ji to stand alone as an independent temple for a time. However, as soon as the steward of Myohon-ji and his colleagues, who harbored animosity toward the Soka Gakkai, caught wind of what was really going on, they began to openly oppose the head priest and incited the parishioners and the priests of its nearby branch temples to put a halt to the process.
Declaration 3
Learning of the difficulties Myohon-ji was facing in returning to Nichiren Shoshu, Soka Gakkai leaders immediately set about meeting and holding repeated in-depth discussions with the temple's leading parishioners. The parishioners' understanding deepened as a result, and eventually the majority favored reaffiliation with Nichiren Shoshu.
Nissho Fuji, the head priest of Myohon-ji, for his part, exerted himself to win the support of the branch temples. One priest who offered positive support and acted in concert with the head priest at the time was Nichietsu Obara, the chief priest of Jozen-ji temple.
Chief Priest Obara, it happened, was closely acquainted with retired High Priest Nichiko Hori of Nichiren Shoshu. The high priest had once visited Jozen-ji temple and spent close to a month there researching old documents. The chief priest, then in training as an acolyte, had served him at that time. Since then, the chief priest had continued to admire and respect High Priest Nichiko. It was precisely for this reason that he had sought to uphold the teachings of Nikko Shonin, in spite of his temple's affiliation with the Minobu sect. Thus, when talk arose of merging with Nichiren Shoshu, Chief Priest Obara strongly approved of the idea. He firmly resolved in his heart to enable every branch temple of Jozen-ji in Hyuga to return together to Nichiren Shoshu. However, one of these branch temples, Jogyo-ji of Miyazaki City, completely opposed the plan. The reasons underlying Jogyo-ji's opposition were actually as follows:
In the summer of the previous year, 1956, a parishioner of Jogyo-ji temple had decided to join the Soka Gakkai at the introduction of one of the lay organizations' members. Enraged over this, the temple's chief priest petitioned the Soka Gakkai, challenging it to a religious debate. The administrative office of the Minobu sect, hearing of the proposal, ordered the priest to abandon his request, feeling that a public debate with the Soka Gakkai would be too reckless. Having experience a humiliating defeat in their debate with the Soka Gakkai in March 1955 in the city of Otaru in Hokkaido, the leaders of the Minobu sect must have been painfully aware that they had no chance of winning a second debate. Moreover, because the chief priest of Jogyo-ji had informed the newspapers of his planned debate with the lay Buddhist organization, it was highly likely that a Minobu sect defeat would receive extensive coverage in the press.
However, the chief priest of Jogyo-ji was angered by the Minobu sect's directive to cancel the debate, feeling that it had made him lose face. He promptly seceded from the sect and declared his temple's independence, calling on other temples in his prefecture to do the same.
It was right in the midst of this internal conflict that concrete discussion about merging with Nichiren Shoshu began to take place. Moreover, it was a time when the Jogyo-ji chief priest's animosity toward the Soka Gakkai was already flaring, leading him to vehemently oppose Chief Priest Obara and attempt to undermine the other temples' plans for a merger with Nichiren Shoshu.
Nevertheless, Chief Priest Obara's determination was firm. He regretted the slanderous mistake of allowing his temple to be affiliated with the Minobu sect, and earnestly made his rounds advocating a merger with Nichiren Shoshu. As a result, six temples -- Honzen-ji, Honsho-ji, Hozo-ji, Myokoku-ji, Honken-ji and Honren-ji -- at last agreed to merge with Nichiren Shoshu. The chief priest's strong resolve to return to Nichiren Shoshu stemmed from his having witnessed with his own eyes the Soka Gakkai's dynamic advance toward kosen-rufu. This had come about a year earlier, when he had been invited to attend the inaugural meeting of a new Soka Gakkai chapter in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Declaration 4
At this inaugural chapter meeting in Fukuoka, Chief Priest Obara experienced firsthand the spirit and energy of the Soka Gakkai. For some time past, the chief priest had had a strong interest in the Soka Gakkai, which had been making great strides in propagating the Daishonin's Buddhism. And now, for the first time, he could see for himself the Soka Gakkai in action.
Filled with lay believers earnestly calling for the achievement of kosen-rufu, the meeting overflowed with a fiery passion for propagating the Law.
Later, speaking of his impression of that occasion, Chief Priest Obara related to a Soka Gakkai member in his acquaintance:
"As a priest, I had talked about kosen-rufu. But that [Soka Gakkai meeting] was the first time I could truly understand the meaning of the word kosen-rufu. The Gosho says: "if he fails to study Buddhism and to refute its slanderers but simply spends his time in idleness and chatter, then he is no better than an animal dressed in priestly robes" (MW-3, 215). The thought that, I would end up being "no better than an animal dressed in priestly robes" if I allowed things to continue as they were, hardened my determination to leave the Minobu sect and join forces with Nichiren Shoshu.
"The emergence of the Soka Gakkai is truly mysterious. Without the Soka Gakkai, kosen-rufu would be impossible. I am convinced it is an organization that has appeared in order to carry out the Buddha's intent and mandate."
Though Chief Priest Obara had been connected with the Minobu sect, he was convinced that the spirit of Nichiren Daishonin lies in accomplishing kosen-rufu, and he had striven in earnest to reach out to the believers in his parish to offer them guidance in faith.
Most of his parishioners, however, paid little heed to his appeals. In spite of his unsparing efforts to encourage them, only three people out of the 800 households who belonged to his temple could do gongyo. And when it came to shakubuku, not a single person attempted to propagate the teachings to others.
Small wonder, then, that he could not suppress his astonishment when he witnessed the courage and fearlessness with which the Soka Gakkai went about its shakubuku campaigns. It seems that Chief Priest Obara -- who saw in the lay organization the dream he had envisaged and tried, but failed, to achieve -- genuinely sensed that the true spirit of Nichiren Daishonin pulsated within the Soka Gakkai.
The Buddhist service marking the return of the seven temples of Hyuga to Nichiren Shoshu began at 9 a.m. and was solemnly conducted by High Priest Nichijun [who led the assembly in ceremonial gongyo]. The attendance of General Director Takeo Konishi and other Soka Gakkai leaders only added to the joy of the 2,000 members assembled -- for the return of the Hyuga temples marked the birth of seven new castles of the Mystic Law in the area. As the members commenced chanting daimoku together, their voices grew even stronger.
At the end of ceremonial gongyo, Chief Priest Nichietsu Obara of Jozen-ji temple, stood up to give a speech. Though he spoke softly, his words contained an intense resolve:
"As one who serves the Buddha, I had long wondered whether it was right to allow things to remain as they were -- I wondered whether I was truly transmitting the heart and mind of the Buddha to those who had been genuinely supporting my temple. These thoughts filled me with the realization that I would be unable to face the Daishonin [if I allowed things to continue as they were].
"I do not have that many more years to live. So I thought that I should like to end my days striving earnestly to explain to my parishioners and the people with whom I have contact what it means to believe in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism."
Declaration 5
Chief Priest Obara spoke each word with great feeling.
"If I did not transmit and spread true faith, I felt certain the Daishonin would reprimand me. That is why I seriously resolved to return to the sprit of Nichiren Daishonin.
"The temple's entire premise has been mistaken up to now. This is my fault. Things degenerated as far as they did because I failed to speak up when I should have. There is no one else to blame. I humbly beg each of you to forgive me."
These sincere and honest words, expressions of regret over the mistakes of the past, touched the hearts of participants, some of who wiped tears from their eyes.
Briefly outlining the events leading to his temple's reaffiliation with Nichiren Shoshu, and expressing his deep appreciation to Nichijun Shonin, Chief Priest Obara then declared with deep conviction:
"There is something I must now state. the Daishonin's practice of propagation stemmed from his profound compassion. Today, the Soka Gakkai is committed to bringing the same compassion to the people of this nation. I have been watching the Soka Gakkai since its inception. It is the only organization that accords with the spirit and intent of the founder, Nichiren Daishonin."
These words, a cry from deep within, expressed his firm conviction. As chief priest, he had fervently longed for kosen-rufu while experiencing great anguish and suffering over his temple's affiliation with the Minobu sect and the slander of the Law that it entailed.
The Soka Gakkai members who jammed the temple's main hall broke into loud applause, a sound that reverberated like waves crashing on Hyuga's shore at the dawn of a new day. It was a joyous roar produced by the billowing waves of kosen-rufu.
The reaffiliation with Taiseki-ji had been a difficult uphill climb. From the moment he proposed merging back with Nichiren Shoshu and called on his parishioners to join the Soka Gakkai, most of them had stopped visiting the temple. [And for a priest of such a small regional temple] losing parishioners was synonymous with one's livelihood.
Around that period, someone asked Chief Priest Obara, "How are you going to eat from now on?" He responded by pointing to a well in front of the temple hall, saying, "I'll survive for a good three or four days, even if I live on nothing but water." He dismissed such a foolish question with a smile and replied in a dauntless manner. He actually did not have a single grain of rice at the time. The pitifully small amount of barley he did have, he managed to stretch out for half a year.
The official reaffiliation with Nichiren Shoshu, however, did not mark the end of the struggle. It was merely the beginning.
The majority of the parishioners felt that the temple had not so much returned to Nichiren Shoshu as been taken over by the Soka Gakkai. Moreover, when Chief Priest Obara gave strict and thorough guidance urging each family to resolutely discard any slanderous religious objects, he encountered tremendous resistance.
In those days, Buddhist images and Shinto talismans could be found enshrined in the homes of any of the parish families.
On one occasion the parishioners even mobbed the temple, covering the grounds with banners that read, "The Evil Priest Nichietsu." The chief priest remained unperturbed and calmly quoted passages from the Gosho to the encroaching crowd, earnestly striving to make them understand the real spirit of Nichiren Daishonin.
Declaration 6
Those parishioners who opposed the Soka Gakkai left Jozen-ji en masse and eventually founded their own temple. However, Chief Priest Obara was not perturbed by this in the slightest. He was convinced that as long as the Soka Gakkai existed, kosen-rufu would be achieved. Nothing else was necessary.
Chief Priest Obara was born in Hyuga in 1898 and entered the priesthood in 1906. Later, he studied at Toyo University and Nihon University. After he became chief priest of Jozen-ji temple, he also contributed substantially to his community, serving as chairman of the Hyuga City Committee for Public Safety and as a member of the District Court Arbitration Committee. Later, within the clergy, he became chief of regional branch temples and attained prominence as an elder teacher. Everyone admired him for his upright character and the concern he showed for others.
Until the end of his life, he cherished the Soka Gakkai members above all. Whenever members visited his temple he would address them with utmost politeness, irrespective of their status or position, and say with a warm smile, "Thank you for traveling such a long distance...." And if, when invited to preside over funeral services, he learned that the family was of modest means, he would bring a gift of money for the family that would likely exceed their offering for his services.
He was also known to frequently hand out buns and sweets to youth division members who used the temple to hold their meetings. He would often say, "I'm grateful that Soka Gakkai members use this temple. This way, it can serve a purpose for kosen-rufu."
Moreover, aside from one occasion when he asked for contributions for a major renovation of the temple's stone stairway in 1930, Chief Priest Obara never solicited the believers for donations. Nor did he engage in practices -- common at other temples -- such as setting minimum amounts for offerings or posting signs promoting perpetual memorial services for the deceased [for a set, lump-sum donation]. This was because he felt that offering should come spontaneously from the believers.
While preserving the religious tradition of a pious priest of modesty and wisdom, he would begrudge no expenditure if it were for the encouragement of the members. At the same time, he was extremely frugal with his own expenses. His meals were always simple, often consisting of a mere helping of rice gruel.
If members volunteered to work in the garden or repair the temple facilities, he would always pitch in and help. Though the others tried to stop him, he would tell them instead, "Please take a rest," and quietly go about the work of moving heavy stone blocks by himself.
He did away with formalities, seeking only to preserve those that accorded with the spirit of the founders, Nichiren Daishonin and Nikko Shonin, and applying that spirit to modern times. For this reason, he refrained from the practice of erecting wooden toba [the traditional memorial tablets for the deceased, for which temples charged believers]. If someone specifically requested a toba be erected he would fashion one out of paper [thus saving the believers the price of a wooden tablet].
In later years, when a cemetery was established at Jozen-ji, Chief Priest Obara had all the plots and gravestones made in a uniform shape and size, and he named the cemetery "Equality Park." This was prompted by his firm belief in Nichiren Daishonin's egalitarian spirit and rejection of discrimination on any basis, including that of wealth and social status.
The honorable priest Nichietsu Obara passed away on Aug. 19, 1980, at 83. This respected teacher, who lived his life in accord with the sublime spirit of Nichiren Daishonin, continued to love, praise and protect the Soka Gakkai until the very end. In the eyes of this eminently pious priest, the Soka Gakkai's selfless devotion to kosen-rufu must have appeared as the embodiment of the principle of Bodhisattvas 'emerging form the earth' depicted in the Lotus Sutra.
(Seikyo Times, February 1993, No. 379, p. 43-51) © 1992 by World Tribune Press