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Nikken's End #2A: Where's the Transfer Box, Nikken & Nichinyo? +^
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Disbasing Zen Stories
Nov 1, 2023, 4:40:06 AM11/1/23
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Nikken's End #2A: Where's the Transfer Box, Nikken & Nichinyo?
Nikken's End ? or NIKKEN ZENned ? You be the judge ...
. "What distinguished the Indian system from that of the
. ancient Western world is the absence of slavery. The
. caste system made formal slavery unnecessary in ancient
. India."
.
. - from The Two Classes of the Four-Fold Caste System, by
. Sudheer Birodkar.
In Nikken's Threefold World, which is "the world of unenlightened beings who transmigrate within the Six Paths" ** [Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity and Heaven] ... the 2nd chapter describes the structure of Nikken's World of Hunger.
** Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism
____ Background for Toxic Zen Stories ____________
https://groups.google.com/group/alt.zen/msg/b4ad0ce368728934?hl=en
________ Table of Contents _______________________
.
. What Is The Transfer Box
. For Nichiren Shoshu
.
. How Did Nikken Steal The Succession?
.
. How Did Nikken Get Away With It?
.
. Definition of Hunger (Gaki)
.
. Getting Some Help
.
. The Survivor Gita
__________________________________________________
________ What Is The Transfer Box ________________
________ For Nichiren Shoshu ?
It is a tradition, and not just in the Fuji School, that when a temple changes hands, the outgoing, old Chief Priest gives the incoming, new Chief Priest a black lacquer box, held in a handkerchief (to prevent the acidic oil from fingerprints from dulling the shiny black lacquer surface). This transfer is done in a ceremony, with lots of formality.
What is NOT commonly known, is that the High Priest of a school, is like a Chief Priest, and there is a Transfer Box for the entire School. (You would have thought that Nikken would not be oblivious to this as he hijacked the Fuji School at Nittatsu's death, but read on.)
Originally, Nikko Shonin was appointed at the end of Nichiren's life, as the Chief Priest of Kuon-ji Temple at Minobu, which was Nichiren Daishonin's main temple. This meant that Nikko was in charge, even though he was not appointed "High Priest", per se.
When Nikko was undermined by the Five Senior Priests, in particular Niko, and Hakiri Sanenaga, who was the steward of the land containing Kuon-ji (Sanenaga became a Tendai Priest, he commissioned a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, made pilgrimages to Shinto shrines, made donations for the construction of a stone tower of the Pure Land teaching in Fukushi Village, and had a Pure Land seminary built), so that Nikko was forced out of Minobu.
Nikko and Nichimoku then made the Fuji School, with the head Temple at Taisekiji. The first transfer of Taisekiji was the transfer between Nikko Shonin and Nichimoku Shonin.
So there has been a Transfer Box for the Fuji School, and it contains a lineage list with the names written for each High Priest, minus Nissei the 17th, who was scratched off when the statues of Shakyamuni he erected at Taisekiji were removed.
So, where is the Transfer Box for the Fuji School, which is in the care of the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood?
Here's the Prologue from the 7-chapter book "The Self-Appointed High Priest" by Meiei Koitabashi (http://nstemple.readyhosting.com/), that explains precisely this point ...
. Nikken Does Not Have the "Transfer Box"
.
. The "Transfer Box" is a box of 45 square cubic centimeters.
. It is a black-lacquered, time-honored, wooden box. It is
. usually wrapped up in golden cloth. This box had been kept
. by successive high priests since olden times. It was
. strictly preserved on a locked shelf in the Treasure House
. at the head temple during the time of the former high
. priest. The head temple's secretary kept the key, and no one
. was allowed to open it without the high priest's permission.
. In other words, possessing this box was tangible evidence
. that its possessor was a legitimate high priest of Nichiren
. Shoshu.
.
. However, this important box which Nikken is supposed to
. have, is not in his possession at this time. The whereabouts
. of the transfer box became an issue behind the scenes after
. Nittatsu Shoshu fell into critical condition.
.
. Gisei Yoshida (also known as Nichiyu), the priest who was
. first notified by the hospital that Nittatsu Shonin was in
. critical condition, ordered Jison Nomura, director of
. Taiseki-ji, to look for the transfer box in the Treasure
. House. However, no matter how hard Nomura tried, his effort
. is said to have been in vain. Where in the world did the
. transfer box go?
.
. One priest remarked, "High Priest Nittatsu is said to have
. long ago promised the box to Sugano of Daisen-ji temple."
. Mr. Sugano is Nittatsu Shonin's son-in-law, the person
. closest to the high priest while he was still alive. He is
. the person most likely to know the truth about Nikken's
. illegitimate ascension to the position of high priest.
. Interestingly, he was promoted last October to the class of
. noke in the Nichiren Shoshu hierarchy.
.
. A very interesting story recently came to our attention,
. which may verify the priest's statement about the
. whereabouts of the transfer box. According to this story,
. Nikken once visited Daisen-ji temple in Kunitachi, Tokyo, to
. try to obtain the transfer box from Sugano. The whereabouts
. of this transfer box is a crucial matter for Nikken because
. a formal Nichiren Shoshu transfer ceremony would follow the
. traditional procedure, which would definitely involve the
. transfer box. The ceremony begins with the initial
. announcement of it, followed by the appointment of the Chief
. Executive or General Administrator as witness. Security
. guards are also designated for the ceremony. Even if the
. transfer box is not present at the site of the ceremony, it
. can be easily proven by those present that the ceremony was
. legitimately held. In Nikken's case, however, he insists
. that the transfer ceremony between Nittatsu Shonin and him
. was held informally and privately, not in public. Because of
. this assertion, his possession of the transfer box is all
. the more important.
.
. It was under such circumstances that Nikken tried to carry
. out his plan to acquire the transfer box from Sugano. On
. January 13, 1981, one and a half years after he took office,
. Nikken decided to visit Daisen-ji temple. Nikken was
. accompanied by four noted priests: Giko Hayase, then general
. affairs bureau chief and also overseas bureau chief; Gikan
. Hayase; Shin'ei Yagi, Nikken's foremost disciple; and
. Shinsho Abe, Nikken's son.
.
. Referring to this event, Gikan Hayase later recalled, "My
. role was security." Gijun Hayase, husband of Nikken's
. daughter, reportedly has said, "My brother (Gikan Hayase) is
. very physical. He is powerful. So he was sent as a bodyguard
. at that time." Actually, Gikan Hayase was known as foremost
. in physical fights within Nichiren Shoshu. His nickname was
. "Kan-chan of (Ike)fukuro," which means that his infamous
. name as a fighter is widely known in the Ikebukuro area of
. Tokyo. Incidentally, Gikan Hayase is the also the person who
. actually carried the transfer box from the head temple to
. the residence of the 65th high priest, Nichijun Shonin, when
. Nichijun Shonin transferred the heritage to Nittatsu Shonin.
. He is the man who recorded in detail how the transfer
. ceremony took place between the two previous high priests.
. Therefore, he knows very well how important the transfer box
. is.
.
. On that day, Nikken and his entourage headed to Daisen-ji
. after an oko lecture at the head temple. Shinsho Abe was
. their driver. Upon their arrival at Daisen-ji temple, Yagi
. attempted to enter the temple, but he could not get in,
. because Sugano intimidated the young Yagi by saying to him,
. "Hey, young punk!"
.
. While Shin'ei Yagi and Shinsho Abe were left outside as
. security guards, Nikken, Giko Hayase, and Gikan Hayase sat
. face to face to discuss the matter with Sugano in a room
. inside the temple. In the middle of their conversation,
. Nikken brought up the matter, saying, "By the way ...."
.
. Sugano immediately understood what Nikken wanted to talk
. about. Sugano lost no time in making his point, "Didn't you
. receive the heritage...?" In reply, all Nikken was able to say
. was, "Ah, yes. Yes, I did."
.
. Nikken had powered his way into the guest room of Daisen-ji,
. but he could not touch upon the matter of the transfer box.
. For him to mention it at all, would prove that he had not
. received the heritage from the former high priest. It is
. said that Nikken could not say anything about the transfer
. box and had to leave Daisen-ji empty-handed.
.
. It is certain that Nikken does not possess the transfer box
. even today.
.
. It has been confirmed that Jitoku Kawabe, who knows every
. detail about Nikken's ascension to the position of high
. priest, once mentioned to several priests within Nichiren
. Shoshu, "Nikken does not have the transfer box at hand." And
. Kawabe once accidentally said to a Gakkai leader, "The
. transfer box does not exist at the head temple." Concerned
. about his careless remark, he later called back the leader,
. saying to him to remedy his mistake, "As a matter of fact,
. it was in a safe of the Internal Bureau of the head temple."
. The leader, who was ignorant of the significance of Kawabe's
. first remark on the transfer box, is said to have good-
. naturedly responded to Kawabe's second call, "That was good
. for you."
.
. In 2002, which marked the 750th anniversary of the
. establishment of true Buddhism, doubts about the legitimacy
. of Nikken as high priest of Nichiren Shoshu flared up again.
.
. What triggered it was the fact that Nichiren Shoshu lost at
. the Supreme Court in three separate legal cases. The
. arguments for these cases were that Nichiren Shoshu demanded
. three seceded temples to return their temple buildings to
. Nichiren Shoshu. In these court cases, Nichiren Shoshu could
. not prove to the court's satisfaction that High Priest
. Nikken was a legitimate high priest of Nichiren Shoshu.
.
. In the meantime, just before Nichiren Shoshu celebrates its
. 750th anniversary, Nikken brought forth a new theory,
. claiming that Nichiren Daishonin founded Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
. on two different occasions, first in March and the second in
. April, 1253. Eventually, Nikken carried out a new ceremony
. called "A Great Ceremony to Celebrate the Opening of the New
. Teaching" on March 28, 2002, thus adding fuel to the
. argument about his illegitimacy.
.
. To wipe out these doubts, Nikken formed a group called
. "Nichiren Shoshu Youthful Priests' Group for Refuting
. Erroneous Teachings" in August 2002 and had it write a
. document to rebut the doubt of his legitimacy.
.
. However, as expected, no mention was made in this document
. about the transfer box. When it comes to the issue of the
. transfer box, Nikken can't do anything about it, so he has
. no choice but to remain quiet. There must be serious reasons
. why he can't touch upon this subject.
.
. 59th High Priest Nichiko Hori described the contents of the
. transfer box as this: "Documents related to the 'One Hundred
. and Six Articles (Hyaku Rokka Sho)' and 'On the True Cause
. (Hon'nin-myo Sho)' and a piece of paper that carries the
. names of the successive high priests who participated in
. their respective transfer ceremonies." It is said that the
. piece of paper that Nichiko Hori refers to is something like
. a lineage chart that specifies who transferred the heritage
. to whom.
.
. The next question is whether this piece of paper carries the
. name of Nikken Abe as 67th high priest of Nichiren Shoshu.
Well, that was an eye-opener.
It certainly explains the Hellish state of existence that Nikken and the rest of us have enjoyed ever since 1979. He must have really struggled with these strings of lies, trees of lies and interlinked nested cyclic graphs of lies. He must need a database just to keep this all relatively straight in his head.
What would cause someone to want to go through all this, for such a horrible end, to be almost certainly denounced after one's tenure is over?
Hunger for power and arrogant authority over others, as only those brought up in elitism know ... that's what drives the elite to do things unimaginable to the average people who uncorrupted by inherited family prestige and power.
The founder of the Fuji School, Nikko Shonin foresaw all of this and moved to prevent these kinds of problems in his 26 Admonitions to his followers in the Fuji School. Nikkos's 25th Admonition states categorically ...
. 25. My disciples should conduct themselves as holy
. priests, patterning their behavior after that of the
. late master. However, even if a high priest or a
. priest striving for practice and understanding
. should temporarily deviate from [the principle of]
. sexual abstinence, he may still be allowed to remain
. in the priesthood [as a common priest without rank].
.
. I have set forth these 26 articles for the sake of the
. eternal salvation and protection of humankind. Those who
. violate even one of these articles cannot be called
. disciples of Nikko.
.
. thirteenth day of the first month of the third year of
. the Genko era (1333).
.
. Nikko(Seal)
.
. Note: THE Fuji school is the line of Nikko Shonin's
. followers. The "late master" is Nichiren Daishonin.
.
. (from Living Buddhism 4/1998)
Not having heirs to inherit power, was and is the only way to even begin to preclude the kind of corruption that Nikken epitomizes.
________ How Did Nikken Steal The Succession? ____
This monumentally audacious act of hijacking the leadership of the Kosen Rufu priesthood would seem to require much planning, and a real conspiracy to pull off, how was this done?
From the same book ...
. The Decision Was Made in the Nishi-okuban Room (the High
. Priest's Secretary's West Office) for Nikken to Become the
. Next High Priest
.
. The facts are as follows:
.
. It was early morning of July 22, 1979. Nittatsu Shonin's
. body was delivered to the reception room of his quarters.
. Recitation of the sutra and chanting of daimoku by his
. relatives and those close to him at the head temple had just
. concluded.
.
. Keido Hosoi and Takudo Hosoi (who are both Nittatsu Shonin's
. sons), Jiun Sugano (Nittatsu Shonin's son-in-law), and some
. others were chatting in the high priest's secretary's west
. office (called the Nishi-okuban room). General Administrator
. Abe, who was supposed to lead the recitation of the sutra
. and the chanting of daimoku beside the deceased body of the
. former high priest at 7:15 AM, made an appearance. Upon
. seeing them, Abe asked, "Did you hear anything about who'll
. succeed him?" Obviously, Abe was asking about the
. transmission of the heritage.
.
. Jiun Sugano replied, "Aren't you, Mr. General Administrator,
. succeeding him?" Hearing Sugano's words, Nikken murmured,
. "Oh, is that right? Yes, you're right…" Wearing a complex
. expression on his face, he nodded ponderously.
.
. Actually, it was not on April 15, 1978, the date Nikken
. later alleged he had received the heritage from Nittatsu
. Shonin, but through the words that Sugano uttered above that
. it was decided that Nikken would be the next high priest.
.
. A person who was versed in the feelings of Nichiren Shoshu
. executive priests commented, "At the time, the possible
. candidates to be the next high priest were either Mr.
. Nichiji Hayase or Mr. Abe. The general sentiment on the part
. of senior priests was that Mr. Abe would perhaps be a better
. choice. That is why Mr. Abe was chosen."
.
. Nichiren Shoshu makes a big fuss out of transferring the
. heritage from high priest to high priest. But the above
. statement shows the essential characteristics of how the
. heritage had been transferred within Nichiren Shoshu from
. high priest to high priest.
.
. Why did they choose Abe, not Hayase? In those days, there
. were two major factions in Nichiren Shoshu. One was the
. Hokikai group, that is, the Hayase family's faction. The
. other was the Myokankai group, which was Nittatsu Shonin's
. disciples' faction. They were at variance with each other.
. Nichiji headed the Hokikai group, and Nittatsu Shonin's
. disciples did not like the idea of giving the heritage to
. this group. The Myokankai is said to have satisfied itself
. by nominating Abe for the next high priest.
.
. What was the Myokankai group thinking when Nittatsu Shonin
. passed away without designating anybody for the next high
. priest? It was inconceivable in Nichiren Shoshu for a high
. priest to die without selecting his successor. According to
. the school's philosophy, there must not be any form of
. discontinuity in the transmission of its heritage.
. Therefore, the Myokankai group was forced to select the next
. high priest, whoever he may be. Because of the urgency, the
. Myokankai group is said to have chosen Nikken as the next
. high priest.
.
. When Nikken was dealing later with the Shoshinkai (a group
. that doubted his authenticity as 67th high priest), he took
. advantage of this dilemma by saying, "If you insist that I
. did not receive the heritage, it will follow that Nittatsu
. Shonin, whom you respect, passed way without transferring
. the heritage to anybody."
.
. When Nittatsu Shonin passed away, the matter that most
. concerned Keido Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi, and Jin Suga was that
. they had to avoid a situation wherein Nittatsu Shonin had
. failed to nominate his successor. So, put another way,
. Nikken did not become high priest because he received the
. heritage. He became one because Sugano responded to him in
. the Nishi-okuban room, saying "Aren't you, Mr. General
. Administrator, succeeding him?"
.
. At the executive priests' conference held a few hours later,
. Nikken brought forth his own story, stating "As a matter of
. fact, I did receive the heritage on April 15 of the previous
. year." This statement by Nikken was his way of reacting to
. Sugano's decisive words.
.
. In the trial against the Shoshinkai group (who opposed him
. as high priest), Nikken failed to disclose what had actually
. happened in his alleged heritage transference on April 15 of
. the previous year. He could not answer any practical
. questions raised in court about the so-called transference,
. such as "When did it happen?" "In which room did it happen?"
. "In what way did you receive the heritage?" etc.
.
. Nikken once stated to a group of teacher-priests, "My diary
. says that I did receive the heritage on April 15." However,
. he did not present the diary during the trial as evidence.
Man, what an incredible and bold liar. He was truly a conspiracy of one.
________ How Did Nikken Get Away With It? ________
It is one thing to seize the day, and another to keep it.
So how did Nikken hijack such a large institution, with so many warring factions and keep it within his grasp?
From the same book ...
. Nikken's First Challenge Was to Put Jiun Sugano Under His
. Control
.
. In sadness, the head temple was making preparations for the
. funeral ceremony of Nittatsu Shonin. The Gohonzon was
. enshrined at the reception room of the high priest's
. quarters with his futon placed with his pillow to the north.
.
. While three hundred people, including the general
. administrator, executive priests, other priests, acolytes,
. and priests' families were chanting and awaiting the return
. of the high priest's body, the car carrying the high
. priest's body arrived at the head temple at 6:40 AM. General
. Affairs Bureau Director Eido Fujimoto, Giko Hayase, Takudo
. Hosoi, and Shoken Hagaihara all returned to the head temple
. with the body of the deceased high priest.
.
. Kando Tono later described how the body of Nittatsu Shonin
. was handled, in the article he wrote for Dai-Nichiren,
. monthly magazine of Nichiren Shoshu, under the title "On the
. Informal Funeral of Nittatsu Shonin." His article served as
. an official report of the informal part of the funeral:
.
. "As the rain continued to fall in sadness, with clouds
. covering the eastern skies, Mr. Kaname Sugiura held up a
. large, ceremonial umbrella. Financial Bureau Director, Rev.
. Hoko Yamaguchi, Rev. Jijo Doizaki, Rev. Zuido Ito, and Rev.
. Todo Miyake, each wearing a pair of white gloves, carried
. the body of the deceased high priest from the entrance gate
. to the reception room. "After changing the clothes of the
. deceased high priest and putting three kinds of ceremonial
. robes on him, the general administrator (Nikken) led the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku. The
. high priest's body was laid on the futon in the reception
. room. After the sutra recitation and daimoku chanting were
. done, the general administrator shared a few words. He
. stated that, even though all the priests were naturally
. saddened by the sudden passing of the high priest, they
. should realize that it was time for the entire Nichiren
. Shoshu to unite for the protection of the True Law. We must
. show our appreciation to the late high priest by conducting
. his funeral ceremony with all our sincerity.
.
. "After words from the senior director (Mitsuhisa), the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku
. ceaselessly was led alternately by executive priests and the
. high priest's representative disciples. This continued until
. 7 PM, when the coffin of the high priest was moved to the
. Grand Reception Hall for the temporary wake that would be
. held in the evening. Incense smoke offered for the repose of
. the high priest filled the reception room of the high
. priest's quarters."
.
. The high priest's family members, relatives, and many other
. guests made a line to offer incense for the late high
. priest, while the senior director of the Internal Bureau
. handled all the visitors. The high priest's bereaved family
. and disciples shaved the head and face of the deceased high
. priest after 9 AM. In the meantime, the Internal Bureau was
. busy making a schedule for the informal and formal parts of
. the funeral, reserving places for these ceremonies, and
. dealing with mass media.
.
. What were Nichiren Shoshu priests thinking in the midst of
. this turmoil?
.
. Their thought was: "Nittatsu Shonin passed away all of a
. sudden. Yet, the heritage of Nichiren Shoshu that has been
. transferred from high priest to high priest must never be
. severed even a moment. This is hossui shabyo, the principle
. in which the heritage of the Law is transferred just as the
. water in a cup is transferred to another cup… How should we
. resolve this situation, where obviously no transfer ceremony
. occurred between Nittatsu Shonin and any other priest who
. could be his successor."
.
. Complicated emotions and heavy feelings enveloped the hearts
. of the executive priests of Nichiren Shoshu. As a matter of
. fact, as Nittatsu Shonin's body returned to the head temple,
. some priests had already begun to maneuver about who would
. succeed him.
.
. Nichiji Hayase, former general administrator, openly asked
. Misako, the former high priest's wife, "Madam, is there
. anything that is written?" Irritated a bit by Hayase's
. insensitive question, Misako is reported to have replied, "I
. have no idea."
.
. About the same time this conversation took place between
. Hayase and the wife of Nittatsu Shonin, Giko Hayase, husband
. of the late high priest's second daughter, was seen going
. through Nittatsu Shonin's memos and writings in the
. Gohonzon-transcription room in the high priest's quarters.
.
. What did not make sense at all was the remark that Nikken
. made in the Nishi-okuban room: "Did you hear anything about
. who'll succeed him?" The question that Nikken asked Keido
. Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi, and Jiun Sugano did not sound at all
. like something uttered by the person who would later claim
. that he had received the heritage from Nittatsu Shonin. At
. the point when Nikken made this remark, he was not saying
. that he had received the heritage from the former high
. priest – he was asking who had. Obviously, Nikken's remark
. indicates that he was a third party with regard to the
. transmission of the heritage. In other words, he was asking
. from his point of view as general administrator, expressing
. his concern about who would succeed the former high priest
. who suddenly died.
.
. However, Sugano's response was "Didn't you receive the
. heritage..." which Nikken did not expect to hear from
. Sugano. We wonder how Nikken felt after hearing this
. response.
.
. Nichiren Shoshu priests in general knew that Nikken was
. eager to become a high priest. When he was the chief priest
. of Heian-ji temple in Kyoto, he had his wife send to the
. head temple a gorgeous basket of mushrooms worth tens of
. thousands of yen to amuse Nittatsu Shonin.
.
. At one time, the tombstones of the successive high priests
. were moved to another location. It was during the time of
. the construction of the Sho-Hondo. On that occasion, part of
. Nikken's father's ashes could not be located, but it was
. decided that his tombstone would still be moved regardless.
. Angered by this decision, some of Nikkai's disciples were
. ready to complain to Nittatsu Shonin about this treatment.
. But Nikken and his mother, Myoshuni, begged them not to do
. so, saying, "If you should go ahead, it would hinder my
. future success." This episode is well-known among Nikkai's
. disciples, who felt badly toward Nikken because of it: "You
. don't care about your father's ashes simply because you want
. to become the next high priest."
.
. Here is another laughable story. A notice board was put up
. at the time of the completion ceremony of the Sho-Hondo.
. When the notice board was brought to the place where it was
. supposed to be placed, Nichiji Hayase and Shinno Abe
. reportedly said, "This is written so poorly. Who wrote it?"
. As soon as an acolyte said, "Nittatsu Shonin did," Nikken is
. said to have replied, "On second thought, this is really
. written well." This is another episode that shows how
. careful Nikken was to not displease Nittatsu Shonin. Is this
. not the World of Animality?
.
. Nikken, with complicated feelings in his heart, led the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku for the
. deceased high priest at 7:15 AM. After that, Nikken
. realized, due to his conversation with three members of
. Nittatsu Shonin's bereaved family, that "They did not hear
. anything from Nittatsu Shonin about his successor. Sugano,
. who I at first thought might succeed him, seems to have
. received no heritage from Nittatsu Shonin. Not only that,
. surprisingly, Sugano nominated me as next high priest."
.
. What became clear to Nikken was that Nittatsu Shonin passed
. away without transferring the heritage to anybody. He
. realized that Nichiren Shoshu would need to get through this
. very serious situation where no new high priest has been
. nominated. It was imperative not to break the lineage of the
. transmission of the heritage of Nichiren Shoshu. And he
. realized that the Hosoi family had chosen not Hayase, but
. Nikken as the successor. He realized that becoming the 67th
. high priest was in his grasp. Resisting feelings of joy,
. Nikken racked his brains to conceive of a conspiracy, the
. most important one in his lifetime.
.
. Nikken said to himself, "When should I say I received the
. heritage? It can't be too recent. It should be at least one
. year ago. What is the best timing for me to make this
. announcement? I'd better start at tonight's wake. Do I have
. to do any groundwork? I'd better talk to Sugano first to
. make him side with me without fail. Then, I'd better hold a
. meeting of the executive priests. Is there anyone who would
. oppose my ascension? Nichiji Hayase would possibly be one."
.
. It was then that Nikken, using the date of "April 15, 1978,"
. created a scenario to take the position of high priest in
. Nichiren Shoshu. During the recitation of the sutra and the
. chanting of daimoku for the deceased high priest, what
. occupied his mind was not his prayer for the late high
. priest but a plot to appoint himself as high priest. This is
. indeed a scheme beyond most ordinary people's sensibilities.
.
. After the first ceremony was over, Nikken lost no time in
. taking action. First, he had to have Jiun Sugano, head of
. the Myokankai group that is the foremost group in Nichiren
. Shoshu and husband of Nittatsu Shonin's daughter, side with
. him. A witness testifies, "I think it was between 8 AM and 9
. AM, after the ceremony, that Nikken and Jiun Sugano had a
. serious talk that lasted about half an hour at the general
. administrator's room. Several people saw them speaking."
.
. The content of their talk must have been extremely serious.
. As soon as Nikken came out of the room, he saw some acolytes
. who were there to serve tea, and he said to them furiously,
. "What are you doing here? Were you here while I was talking
. inside?"
.
. Around 9 AM, Gakkai leaders, who arrived at the head temple,
. visited the high priest's quarters to pay homage to the late
. high priest. They encountered Jiun Sugano, who was fresh
. from his talk with Nikken, when they were about to enter the
. reception room. Sugano seemed elated and surprised the
. Gakkai leaders by making this irrelevant remark: "I
. understand my turn will come after the next high priest."
.
. Sounding intoxicated, Sugano is said to have mentioned to a
. person close to him, "I'll persevere for at least ten
. years."
.
. There is no knowing what was discussed between Nikken and
. Sugano during their half-hour conversation. >From Sugano's
. remarks, we can guess what they discussed. Nikken must have
. said to Sugano: "You'll be high priest after me. I'll do it
. right for you, so don't worry." It is easy to believe that
. Nikken gave Sugano a promise like that. Additionally, Nikken
. must have promised Sugano an important position under his
. new leadership, in return for asking Sugano to support him
. against the forces of Hayase's group.
.
. And in fact, on August 2 right after Nikken took office,
. Sugano was appointed to the position of General Affairs
. Bureau director while also maintaining the Overseas Bureau
. Director. It was extremely favorable treatment for Sugano.
.
. However, their sweet relationship did not last long. Many of
. Nittatsu Shonin's disciples became active against Nikken and
. formed the Shoshinkai group to fight against him. Jiun
. Sugano became the symbol of anti-Nikkenism among activist
. priests in Nichiren Shoshu. Nikken released Sugano from his
. new position after only three months; he must have realized
. that it would be dangerous to keep Sugano in that position.
.
. As a result, Sugano has been excluded from the mainstream of
. Nichiren Shoshu for the past twenty years, while Nikken
. still stays in power. Sugano was completely fooled by
. Nikken's promises.
.
. Nikken Makes Sudden Revelation at Special Session of
. Executive Priests Time went by quickly. At 11:10 AM, an
. executive priests' meeting was urgently convened in the
. reception room of the east quarters of the high priest's
. secretary. Present were Nikken as general administrator;
. Hoei Shiina (Niccho), chief executive; and Nichiji Hayase, a
. representative of the noke priests.
.
. An executive priests' meeting can be defined as a Nichiren
. Shoshu officers' meeting. If the high priest were alive,
. this meeting would be attended by the high priest (chief
. administrator), the general administrator, and the chief
. executive. With the passing of High Priest Nittatsu, the
. members of the executive priests' meeting were just Nikken,
. the general administrator, and Shiina, the chief executive.
. But Nikken also dared to include Hayase, who was not a
. formal member of the executive priests. Nichiji Hayase at
. first could not see why he had to attend this meeting, but
. it is said that Hayase, surprised at the unexpected
. invitation, made himself attend it, even if he was not so
. excited about it.
.
. Hidden behind the idea of involving Hayase in the executive
. priests' meeting was Nikken's agenda. He must have thought:
. "Now I have Sugano under my control. Next I'll do the same
. with Hayase." His reasoning must have been something like
. this: "A problem would arise if a decision were formally
. made at a meeting where Hayase was not present. The Hokikai
. group, which upholds Nichiji, would not be quiet about my
. ascension to the position of high priest. It would be much
. better for me if I could invite Hayase to the executive
. priests' conference and move everything toward my
. succession. Clause 3 of Article 14 of the Rules of Nichiren
. Shoshu stipulates, 'In case the high priest cannot select
. his successor for unavoidable reasons, the general
. administrator, the chief executive, or noke priests shall
. discuss who will be next high priest.' Even if problems
. should occur later, I could insist that (with the inclusion
. of Nichiji in the executive priests' meeting) the meeting
. was actually a meeting for selecting the next high priest as
. stipulated by the Rules of Nichiren Shoshu."
.
. Thus, the scenario that Nikken created was successfully put
. into action. He succeeded in involving Nichiji in his scheme
. to usurp the position of high priest in Nichiren Shoshu.
. Nikken had Shiina say in the announcement during the
. temporary wake for the deceased high priest, "With the
. special attendance of Rev. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji) at the
. executive priests' meeting …" which gave the impression to
. everyone that "Nichiji agrees with Nikken's succession."
. Using Nichiji was a particularly sneaky move by Nikken.
.
. At the executive priests' meeting, Nikken stated: "I've not
. told anyone this, but on April 14 last year, the high priest
. and I were alone together at his quarters at the head
. temple, and he privately made reference to his intent to
. transmit the heritage to me. And at that time I received
. from him profound instructions about the teachings. This I
. would like to disclose now." (Dai-Nichiren, September 1979
. issue)
.
. It was at that moment that Nikken defeated his foremost
. rival, Nichiji Hayase. His first strike was decisive enough
. for him to win, even before Hayase realized there was a
. battle being fought. Later, Nikken triumphantly described
. his honest feelings at that moment. Reform priest Kodo
. Yoshikawa stated, "Right after Nikken took office as high
. priest, he spontaneously said, 'I thought Mr. Hayase may
. have received the heritage from Nittatsu Shonin, but Hayase
. remained quiet. So I decided to take the position of high
. priest.'" Mr. Yoshikawa said that quite a few young priests
. heard Nikken say this.
.
. It is obvious that Nikken is a self-appointed high priest.
. He has provided no evidence to justify his assertion. When
. Nikken stated, "When the high priest and I were alone
. together…" no one could present any proof that Nikken was
. lying. Even though the story was implausible, there was
. nothing any one could say. All Nichiji Hayase, who could
. have become the 67th high priest, could do was to just watch
. how things unfolded in favor of Nikken. Thus, the executive
. priests' meeting ended with confirmation of Nikken's self-
. appointment as new high priest.
.
. Hayase must have felt awfully chagrined, as soon as he
. realized that he had been taken in by Nikken. He must have
. said to himself, "I didn't expect that Abe would bring up
. even the specific date…. Damn it."
.
. Suppressing his usual hot temper, Nichiji barely attended
. the temporary wake for the deceased high priest. As soon as
. the wake was over, Nichiji hurriedly returned to Tokyo. It
. was a harbinger of the subtle relationship between Nikken
. Abe and Nichiji's Hokikai group.
.
. Nikken may have successfully bested Nichiji Hayase, but he
. was still very much concerned about whether the Hokikai
. group would support or oppose him. Some priests related to
. the Hokikai group shared this information: "On the morning
. that Nittatsu Shonin passed away, Nikken, fresh from the
. executive priests' meeting, said to me very seriously,
. 'Please support me, as I have accepted the responsibility as
. new high priest.' At that time, he also said, 'I'll be OK
. even if Mr. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji Hayase) should play the role
. of high priest for a while.' All I could say to him was 'It
. would be great if you became high priest.' How could say to
. him, 'Yes, you're right. Mr. Kanmyo-in should have the
. position.'"
.
. This statement eloquently depicts Nikken's exact frame of
. mind about his self-appointment. His casual remark that
. "I'll be OK even if Mr. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji Hayase) should
. play the role of high priest for a while" signifies that
. Nikken's story was self-made. The above statement also shows
. that the transmission of the heritage is a very political
. issue in the minds of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood.
.
. In contrast to Nichiji, who was so disappointed, Nikken
. began to behave convincingly as the new high priest after
. the executive priests' meeting.
.
. There was a discussion going on outside the room where the
. executive priests' meeting was held. Responsible priests
. were talking about where the wake should be held. Taiken
. Hisamitsu, chief director of the head temple, insisted,
. "Since the midnight gongyo is always conducted at the Grand
. Reception Hall, we should use the Grand Lecture Hall for the
. wake. Nikken, who happened to join the discussion, said,
. "I'd like to hold it at the Grand Reception Hall."
. Hisamitsu, who was Nittatsu Shonin's chief secretary (and
. may have wanted to show his authority), would not change his
. original idea. A witness says this turned into a dispute
. between Nikken and Hisamitsu. Neither of them showed any
. sign of changing his original idea, and the discussion came
. to a halt. At last, Nikken said, "Mr. Hisamitsu, you don't
. understand. I'll be the next high priest." This statement by
. Nikken had the result of giving him the final say. Hisamitsu
. had no choice but to succumb to Nikken on the spot. The wake
. was thus decided to be held at the Grand Reception Hall,
. where an altar was set up for the ceremony.
.
. Gakudo Nomura, chief priest of Myoko-ji in Tokyo, tapping a
. desk with his fan before the executive priests' meeting, is
. said to have spoken a little high-handedly to Nikken,
. "Shinno, what will you do later?" Because Nomura was senior
. to Nikken in the hierarchy of Nichiren Shoshu, Nomura used
. this casual language to Nikken.
.
. Nikken went to the executive priests' meeting. As soon as
. they heard that it was decided at the executive priests'
. meeting for Nikken to be the next high priest, Nomura and
. other priests all prostrated themselves to Nikken, showing
. their absolute obedience to the new high priest.
.
. Chief Priest Hoshin Nakajima stated, "On the way to the
. wake, I met with Shinsho Abe, Nikken's son and had a talk
. with him. He said, 'Who will become a new high priest?' I
. replied, 'I wonder who.' Then, we found out that Shinsho's
. father had become new high priest, which astonished me."
.
. At 2 PM, Nittatsu Shonin's body was placed in a coffin with
. shikimi leaves all over it.
.
. In the early evening, his coffin was moved to the Grand
. Reception Hall in a procession led by Aoyama, director of
. the head temple. Nikken carried the Gohonzon, General
. Affairs Director Fujimoto carried the late high priest's
. posthumous ihai, followed by Keido Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi,
. Gyokudo Hosoi, other disciples, the high priest's bereaved
. family members and relatives. After the coffin was
. enshrined, the sutra was recited and daimoku was chanted
. under the leadership of Nikken.
.
. A black and white bunting was hung all over the eastern side
. of the Grand Reception Room.
.
. The Gohonzon was enshrined with shikimi decorating the altar
. covered with white cloth. Seats were prepared for the high
. priest's family members and executive priests. Behind the
. seat of the ceremony leader were placed a number of incense
. burners. One side of the audience was occupied by priests,
. while the other side was reserved for lay believers with
. Soka Gakkai Honorary President Ikeda in the front.
.
. Sudden Announcement Made about New High Priest During
. Daimoku Session for Deceased High Priest Incense was offered
. in the following order: the chief executive, the assembly
. chairperson, Nichiji, officers, Taiseki-ji priests, general
. priests, the high priest's family members, acolytes, Soka
. Gakkai leaders, Hokkeko leaders, and general believers.
. Recitation of the sutra was done at 8:05 PM. Hoei Shiina,
. chief executive and chairperson of the funeral, shared his
. words. He then made a sudden announcement of the
. transmission of the heritage. Shiina said:
.
. "I have an important announcement. At 11:10 AM this morning,
. an executive priests' meeting was urgently convened at the
. head temple, and this meeting was attended by General
. Administrator Abe, Chief Executive Shiina (that is myself),
. and Mr. Kanmyo-in, who is noke and was specially invited to
. attend this meeting. Discussions were made about matters
. following the passing of High Priest Nittatsu. "General
. Administrator Abe served as special chairperson of this
. meeting, and he made an important announcement at the outset
. of the executive priests' meeting." (Here, Chief Executive
. Shiina exactly quotes what Abe said.)
.
. "High Priest Nittatsu had been experiencing health problems
. for the past few years. Especially because of his heart
. problems, he had to be hospitalized several times for the
. treatment of his heart. Since he knew his heart ailment
. could suddenly take his life, he prepared for the situation
. that might arise after his sudden passing. His profound
. consideration made him assure the ceaseless transmission of
. the heritage, the most vital issue of this school. His
. profound preparedness and consideration impresses us.
.
. "This disclosure at the executive priests' meeting deeply
. moved all of us who were present, and we all vowed to follow
. the new high priest with absolute obedience.
.
. "I hope that all of you, both priests and lay people in
. Nichiren Shoshu, respect the new high priest, and achieve
. true unity between priesthood and laity under his leadership
. to deal with these difficult times inside and outside
. Nichiren Shoshu. As we do our very best for the great
. objective of kosen-rufu under the new high priest, let's
. repay our debt of gratitude to the former high priest,
. Nittatsu Shonin. This concludes my announcement." (Dai-
. Nichiren, 1979 September issue)
.
. Hisamitsu's speech publicly endorsed Nikken's ascension to
. the position of high priest in Nichiren Shoshu. However, the
. truth is not that Nikken privately received the heritage
. from Nittatsu Shonin but that Shinno Abe, through his
. scheming on July 22, 1979, stole the positions of chief
. administrator of Nichiren Shoshu and 67th high priest of the
. head temple. Hoei Shiina's announcement at the wake did not
. necessarily give the priesthood a good sense of security
. about the appointment of the next high priest. Quite a few
. priests felt that things had gone too smoothly, for on July
. 20, two days before the passing of Nittatsu Shonin, two
. priests, Kyodo Seto of Jakunichi-bo lodging temple and Jisei
. Nakamura of Sessen-bo lodging temple went to see Nittatsu
. Shonin at the hospital. At that time, Nittatsu Shonin said
. to them, "I am OK. I am sorry I worried you all. I'll be
. back to the head temple after spending four or five days
. here for recuperation, so please don't worry." There is no
. wonder that some priests expressed their concern about the
. too smooth announcement of the appointment of the new high
. priest.
.
. Also, Nikken's nichi-go issue came out, as introduced in the
. prologue of this book.
.
. It was announced: "The decision was made. His nichi-go title
. is Nikken. Because his father's nichi-go is Nikkai, he chose
. Nikken for his name."
.
. This announcement was made by Yagi at midnight and it made
. some priests realize that Nikken's ascension to the position
. of the high priest was actually a political decision, while
. other priests wondered if Nichiren Shoshu would fare well
. under such a shallow-minded high priest.
.
. An elderly priest, who resided at the head temple, shared
. this impression: "I thought that the new high priest would
. be Nichiji Shonin. The headline of next day's issue of the
. Shizuoka Shimbun read, 'The successor is Abe Nichiji.
. However, coupled with his father's name Nikkai, the new high
. priest's name became Nikken.' At first I thought he was
. playing with his name. But later on, I found out he was
. serious about this new name, and I became concerned about
. his integrity as high priest. I wonder how he is taking the
. nichi-go title that he received from his mentor. He really
. showed a poor example here. His arrogance and frivolousness
. concern me."
.
. Incidentally, there is a follow-up story about Nikken's
. self-naming. Hoei Shiina, who played a vital role in making
. the announcement about the new high priest at the wake
. ceremony, became noke half a year later, and named himself
. Nikken (a different Chinese character for the ken part of
. Nikken). Because of the same pronunciation as the new high
. priest's nichi-go title, Nikken asked Hisamitsu to change
. his nichi-go name, and Hisamitsu, following Nikken's
. request, changed his name from Nikken to Nitcho.
.
. It is obvious that Nikken obtained the position of high
. priest through lies and conspiracies. As we go over what
. actually happened before he became high priest, we see so
. many questionable things that surround his ascension. Later
. on, those young priests who left Nichiren Shoshu and formed
. the Shoshinkai group began to doubt Nikken's story about
. receiving the heritage from the former high priest.
An alternate definition of Hunger (Gaki) below ... would simply have a picture and the name of Nikken Abe.
But there still remains that nagging question ... Nikken & Nichinyo, where's the Transfer Box for Nichiren Shoshu? And what are you going to use for the transfer as you hand the High Priest position to Nichinyo (Gikan) Hayase as the 68th High Priest?
Here's what I think they simply had to do, as an expedient, to get around this pesky problem. (IMHO)
. A NEW Transfer Box has been constructed and prepared for the
. transfer of the High Priest's office in Nichiren Shoshu. It
. will now function as the old, outdated Transfer Box did, as
. the physical proof of the heritage of the High Priest that
. was transferred from the last High Priest.
.
. Shinryo Ishii, who has had some experience with boxing
. things up (he receives his illegal porn shipments at
. Taisekiji in fake boxes of Gohonzon), was naturally just the
. trusted Uchideshi for this job.
.
. This was tricky, because Nikken has never seen the original
. Transfer Box, at least not up close !!! And he can't trust
. anyone who has, to tell him what it looks like. (We would
. hope that the approximation is SOMEWHAT close if he
. counterfeits the box. It would be extraordinarily
. embarrassing to find out in court, that he missed some key
. detail.)
.
. The problem comes from the lineage chart, which is in the
. hand of over sixty successive High Priests and presents a
. profundly difficult challenge in forging a new one.
.
. I believe this won't be a problem though, Nikkenism is not
. Nikko's Fuji School anyway.
.
. So, the NEW Transfer Box for Nikken Shu has the same
. dimensions and appearance (we think) as the old, out-dated
. one for Nichiren Shoshu, but with ALL NEW contents.
.
. The list of the High Priest's names who participated in the
. Transfer Ceremony has only one name on it, which never
. appeared on the original list for the lineage of Nichiren
. Shoshu: Nikken Abe.
This is what will constitute an all new form of transfer, in the Nikken Shu. It's either that, or a Marcel Marceau pantomime with a non-existent Transfer Box !!!
________ Definition of Hungry Spirits (gaki) ______________
From the SGI Dictionary:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/84
hungry spirits ［餓鬼］ (Skt preta; Jpn gaki): Also, hungry ghosts. Spirits who suffer from hunger and thirst as karmic retribution for their greed, selfishness, and jealousy while they were alive. Buddhist scriptures describe hungry spirits as beings with throats as small as needles and distended bellies. The realm of hungry spirits is said to be located five hundred yojanas beneath the earth, above the realm of hell. In that realm, food and drink turn into flames and torment the inhabitants. The realm of hungry spirits is one of the three or the four evil paths. From the standpoint of the doctrine of the Ten Worlds and their mutual possession, it represents a potential state or condition of life in which one is tormented by relentless craving. Hungry spirits are called preta in Sanskrit, which in ancient India meant the spirits of the dead. In China and Japan, the story of Maudgalyāyana's saving his mother from the realm of hungry spirits is well known. See also service for deceased ancestors.
________ Getting Some Help _______________________
If you are a Nichiren Shoshu Priest, or a Hokkeko member from anywhere in the world, and are thinking about switching to the SGI call (310) 260-8900 or contact the Headquarters at SGI Plaza:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Soka+Gakkai+International+-+USA/@34.0205633,-118.4979288,17z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x80c2a4c8ce37f2e7:0x918d68e31aa2b5e4!2s606+Wilshire+Blvd,+Santa+Monica,+CA+90401!3b1!8m2!3d34.0205589!4d-118.4957401!3m4!1s0x80c2a4c8bc1aaae7:0x8b8af06c5597de63!8m2!3d34.0208086!4d-118.4958896?hl=en
Tell them that you are a Nichiren Shoshu Priest or Hokkeko member, and wish to speak to someone about the SGI, and what to do.
________ The Survivor Gita _______________________
Who will replace the "Sen'ou Nezumi" ?
Nikken, the Usurper King of the Rats at Taisekiji, has been replaced by Nichinyo, who is an angry member of the elite, due to too many blows to the head. A little punchy, and brief in his rule, since Nikken has plans for his son to take over.
One thing that is known for certain: There will be a new Rat King. And quickly there will be another.
Another thing that is known for certain: All the alliances will change, and more than once. Anyone that has watched Survivor knows this.
Rule Number Zero:
The War of the Rodents can only be won by ... King Rat.
More to come ... These questions will be answered !!!
-Chas.
_____________________________________________
LS Chap. 16 .....
All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.
At that time I tell the living beings
that I am always here, never entering extinction,
but that because of the power of an expedient means
at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not,
and that if there are living beings in other lands
who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe,
then among them too
I will preach the unsurpassed Law.
Nikken's End ? or NIKKEN ZENned ? You be the judge ...
. "What distinguished the Indian system from that of the
. ancient Western world is the absence of slavery. The
. caste system made formal slavery unnecessary in ancient
. India."
.
. - from The Two Classes of the Four-Fold Caste System, by
. Sudheer Birodkar.
In Nikken's Threefold World, which is "the world of unenlightened beings who transmigrate within the Six Paths" ** [Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity and Heaven] ... the 2nd chapter describes the structure of Nikken's World of Hunger.
** Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism
____ Background for Toxic Zen Stories ____________
https://groups.google.com/group/alt.zen/msg/b4ad0ce368728934?hl=en
________ Table of Contents _______________________
.
. What Is The Transfer Box
. For Nichiren Shoshu
.
. How Did Nikken Steal The Succession?
.
. How Did Nikken Get Away With It?
.
. Definition of Hunger (Gaki)
.
. Getting Some Help
.
. The Survivor Gita
__________________________________________________
________ What Is The Transfer Box ________________
________ For Nichiren Shoshu ?
It is a tradition, and not just in the Fuji School, that when a temple changes hands, the outgoing, old Chief Priest gives the incoming, new Chief Priest a black lacquer box, held in a handkerchief (to prevent the acidic oil from fingerprints from dulling the shiny black lacquer surface). This transfer is done in a ceremony, with lots of formality.
What is NOT commonly known, is that the High Priest of a school, is like a Chief Priest, and there is a Transfer Box for the entire School. (You would have thought that Nikken would not be oblivious to this as he hijacked the Fuji School at Nittatsu's death, but read on.)
Originally, Nikko Shonin was appointed at the end of Nichiren's life, as the Chief Priest of Kuon-ji Temple at Minobu, which was Nichiren Daishonin's main temple. This meant that Nikko was in charge, even though he was not appointed "High Priest", per se.
When Nikko was undermined by the Five Senior Priests, in particular Niko, and Hakiri Sanenaga, who was the steward of the land containing Kuon-ji (Sanenaga became a Tendai Priest, he commissioned a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, made pilgrimages to Shinto shrines, made donations for the construction of a stone tower of the Pure Land teaching in Fukushi Village, and had a Pure Land seminary built), so that Nikko was forced out of Minobu.
Nikko and Nichimoku then made the Fuji School, with the head Temple at Taisekiji. The first transfer of Taisekiji was the transfer between Nikko Shonin and Nichimoku Shonin.
So there has been a Transfer Box for the Fuji School, and it contains a lineage list with the names written for each High Priest, minus Nissei the 17th, who was scratched off when the statues of Shakyamuni he erected at Taisekiji were removed.
So, where is the Transfer Box for the Fuji School, which is in the care of the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood?
Here's the Prologue from the 7-chapter book "The Self-Appointed High Priest" by Meiei Koitabashi (http://nstemple.readyhosting.com/), that explains precisely this point ...
. Nikken Does Not Have the "Transfer Box"
.
. The "Transfer Box" is a box of 45 square cubic centimeters.
. It is a black-lacquered, time-honored, wooden box. It is
. usually wrapped up in golden cloth. This box had been kept
. by successive high priests since olden times. It was
. strictly preserved on a locked shelf in the Treasure House
. at the head temple during the time of the former high
. priest. The head temple's secretary kept the key, and no one
. was allowed to open it without the high priest's permission.
. In other words, possessing this box was tangible evidence
. that its possessor was a legitimate high priest of Nichiren
. Shoshu.
.
. However, this important box which Nikken is supposed to
. have, is not in his possession at this time. The whereabouts
. of the transfer box became an issue behind the scenes after
. Nittatsu Shoshu fell into critical condition.
.
. Gisei Yoshida (also known as Nichiyu), the priest who was
. first notified by the hospital that Nittatsu Shonin was in
. critical condition, ordered Jison Nomura, director of
. Taiseki-ji, to look for the transfer box in the Treasure
. House. However, no matter how hard Nomura tried, his effort
. is said to have been in vain. Where in the world did the
. transfer box go?
.
. One priest remarked, "High Priest Nittatsu is said to have
. long ago promised the box to Sugano of Daisen-ji temple."
. Mr. Sugano is Nittatsu Shonin's son-in-law, the person
. closest to the high priest while he was still alive. He is
. the person most likely to know the truth about Nikken's
. illegitimate ascension to the position of high priest.
. Interestingly, he was promoted last October to the class of
. noke in the Nichiren Shoshu hierarchy.
.
. A very interesting story recently came to our attention,
. which may verify the priest's statement about the
. whereabouts of the transfer box. According to this story,
. Nikken once visited Daisen-ji temple in Kunitachi, Tokyo, to
. try to obtain the transfer box from Sugano. The whereabouts
. of this transfer box is a crucial matter for Nikken because
. a formal Nichiren Shoshu transfer ceremony would follow the
. traditional procedure, which would definitely involve the
. transfer box. The ceremony begins with the initial
. announcement of it, followed by the appointment of the Chief
. Executive or General Administrator as witness. Security
. guards are also designated for the ceremony. Even if the
. transfer box is not present at the site of the ceremony, it
. can be easily proven by those present that the ceremony was
. legitimately held. In Nikken's case, however, he insists
. that the transfer ceremony between Nittatsu Shonin and him
. was held informally and privately, not in public. Because of
. this assertion, his possession of the transfer box is all
. the more important.
.
. It was under such circumstances that Nikken tried to carry
. out his plan to acquire the transfer box from Sugano. On
. January 13, 1981, one and a half years after he took office,
. Nikken decided to visit Daisen-ji temple. Nikken was
. accompanied by four noted priests: Giko Hayase, then general
. affairs bureau chief and also overseas bureau chief; Gikan
. Hayase; Shin'ei Yagi, Nikken's foremost disciple; and
. Shinsho Abe, Nikken's son.
.
. Referring to this event, Gikan Hayase later recalled, "My
. role was security." Gijun Hayase, husband of Nikken's
. daughter, reportedly has said, "My brother (Gikan Hayase) is
. very physical. He is powerful. So he was sent as a bodyguard
. at that time." Actually, Gikan Hayase was known as foremost
. in physical fights within Nichiren Shoshu. His nickname was
. "Kan-chan of (Ike)fukuro," which means that his infamous
. name as a fighter is widely known in the Ikebukuro area of
. Tokyo. Incidentally, Gikan Hayase is the also the person who
. actually carried the transfer box from the head temple to
. the residence of the 65th high priest, Nichijun Shonin, when
. Nichijun Shonin transferred the heritage to Nittatsu Shonin.
. He is the man who recorded in detail how the transfer
. ceremony took place between the two previous high priests.
. Therefore, he knows very well how important the transfer box
. is.
.
. On that day, Nikken and his entourage headed to Daisen-ji
. after an oko lecture at the head temple. Shinsho Abe was
. their driver. Upon their arrival at Daisen-ji temple, Yagi
. attempted to enter the temple, but he could not get in,
. because Sugano intimidated the young Yagi by saying to him,
. "Hey, young punk!"
.
. While Shin'ei Yagi and Shinsho Abe were left outside as
. security guards, Nikken, Giko Hayase, and Gikan Hayase sat
. face to face to discuss the matter with Sugano in a room
. inside the temple. In the middle of their conversation,
. Nikken brought up the matter, saying, "By the way ...."
.
. Sugano immediately understood what Nikken wanted to talk
. about. Sugano lost no time in making his point, "Didn't you
. receive the heritage...?" In reply, all Nikken was able to say
. was, "Ah, yes. Yes, I did."
.
. Nikken had powered his way into the guest room of Daisen-ji,
. but he could not touch upon the matter of the transfer box.
. For him to mention it at all, would prove that he had not
. received the heritage from the former high priest. It is
. said that Nikken could not say anything about the transfer
. box and had to leave Daisen-ji empty-handed.
.
. It is certain that Nikken does not possess the transfer box
. even today.
.
. It has been confirmed that Jitoku Kawabe, who knows every
. detail about Nikken's ascension to the position of high
. priest, once mentioned to several priests within Nichiren
. Shoshu, "Nikken does not have the transfer box at hand." And
. Kawabe once accidentally said to a Gakkai leader, "The
. transfer box does not exist at the head temple." Concerned
. about his careless remark, he later called back the leader,
. saying to him to remedy his mistake, "As a matter of fact,
. it was in a safe of the Internal Bureau of the head temple."
. The leader, who was ignorant of the significance of Kawabe's
. first remark on the transfer box, is said to have good-
. naturedly responded to Kawabe's second call, "That was good
. for you."
.
. In 2002, which marked the 750th anniversary of the
. establishment of true Buddhism, doubts about the legitimacy
. of Nikken as high priest of Nichiren Shoshu flared up again.
.
. What triggered it was the fact that Nichiren Shoshu lost at
. the Supreme Court in three separate legal cases. The
. arguments for these cases were that Nichiren Shoshu demanded
. three seceded temples to return their temple buildings to
. Nichiren Shoshu. In these court cases, Nichiren Shoshu could
. not prove to the court's satisfaction that High Priest
. Nikken was a legitimate high priest of Nichiren Shoshu.
.
. In the meantime, just before Nichiren Shoshu celebrates its
. 750th anniversary, Nikken brought forth a new theory,
. claiming that Nichiren Daishonin founded Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
. on two different occasions, first in March and the second in
. April, 1253. Eventually, Nikken carried out a new ceremony
. called "A Great Ceremony to Celebrate the Opening of the New
. Teaching" on March 28, 2002, thus adding fuel to the
. argument about his illegitimacy.
.
. To wipe out these doubts, Nikken formed a group called
. "Nichiren Shoshu Youthful Priests' Group for Refuting
. Erroneous Teachings" in August 2002 and had it write a
. document to rebut the doubt of his legitimacy.
.
. However, as expected, no mention was made in this document
. about the transfer box. When it comes to the issue of the
. transfer box, Nikken can't do anything about it, so he has
. no choice but to remain quiet. There must be serious reasons
. why he can't touch upon this subject.
.
. 59th High Priest Nichiko Hori described the contents of the
. transfer box as this: "Documents related to the 'One Hundred
. and Six Articles (Hyaku Rokka Sho)' and 'On the True Cause
. (Hon'nin-myo Sho)' and a piece of paper that carries the
. names of the successive high priests who participated in
. their respective transfer ceremonies." It is said that the
. piece of paper that Nichiko Hori refers to is something like
. a lineage chart that specifies who transferred the heritage
. to whom.
.
. The next question is whether this piece of paper carries the
. name of Nikken Abe as 67th high priest of Nichiren Shoshu.
Well, that was an eye-opener.
It certainly explains the Hellish state of existence that Nikken and the rest of us have enjoyed ever since 1979. He must have really struggled with these strings of lies, trees of lies and interlinked nested cyclic graphs of lies. He must need a database just to keep this all relatively straight in his head.
What would cause someone to want to go through all this, for such a horrible end, to be almost certainly denounced after one's tenure is over?
Hunger for power and arrogant authority over others, as only those brought up in elitism know ... that's what drives the elite to do things unimaginable to the average people who uncorrupted by inherited family prestige and power.
The founder of the Fuji School, Nikko Shonin foresaw all of this and moved to prevent these kinds of problems in his 26 Admonitions to his followers in the Fuji School. Nikkos's 25th Admonition states categorically ...
. 25. My disciples should conduct themselves as holy
. priests, patterning their behavior after that of the
. late master. However, even if a high priest or a
. priest striving for practice and understanding
. should temporarily deviate from [the principle of]
. sexual abstinence, he may still be allowed to remain
. in the priesthood [as a common priest without rank].
.
. I have set forth these 26 articles for the sake of the
. eternal salvation and protection of humankind. Those who
. violate even one of these articles cannot be called
. disciples of Nikko.
.
. thirteenth day of the first month of the third year of
. the Genko era (1333).
.
. Nikko(Seal)
.
. Note: THE Fuji school is the line of Nikko Shonin's
. followers. The "late master" is Nichiren Daishonin.
.
. (from Living Buddhism 4/1998)
Not having heirs to inherit power, was and is the only way to even begin to preclude the kind of corruption that Nikken epitomizes.
________ How Did Nikken Steal The Succession? ____
This monumentally audacious act of hijacking the leadership of the Kosen Rufu priesthood would seem to require much planning, and a real conspiracy to pull off, how was this done?
From the same book ...
. The Decision Was Made in the Nishi-okuban Room (the High
. Priest's Secretary's West Office) for Nikken to Become the
. Next High Priest
.
. The facts are as follows:
.
. It was early morning of July 22, 1979. Nittatsu Shonin's
. body was delivered to the reception room of his quarters.
. Recitation of the sutra and chanting of daimoku by his
. relatives and those close to him at the head temple had just
. concluded.
.
. Keido Hosoi and Takudo Hosoi (who are both Nittatsu Shonin's
. sons), Jiun Sugano (Nittatsu Shonin's son-in-law), and some
. others were chatting in the high priest's secretary's west
. office (called the Nishi-okuban room). General Administrator
. Abe, who was supposed to lead the recitation of the sutra
. and the chanting of daimoku beside the deceased body of the
. former high priest at 7:15 AM, made an appearance. Upon
. seeing them, Abe asked, "Did you hear anything about who'll
. succeed him?" Obviously, Abe was asking about the
. transmission of the heritage.
.
. Jiun Sugano replied, "Aren't you, Mr. General Administrator,
. succeeding him?" Hearing Sugano's words, Nikken murmured,
. "Oh, is that right? Yes, you're right…" Wearing a complex
. expression on his face, he nodded ponderously.
.
. Actually, it was not on April 15, 1978, the date Nikken
. later alleged he had received the heritage from Nittatsu
. Shonin, but through the words that Sugano uttered above that
. it was decided that Nikken would be the next high priest.
.
. A person who was versed in the feelings of Nichiren Shoshu
. executive priests commented, "At the time, the possible
. candidates to be the next high priest were either Mr.
. Nichiji Hayase or Mr. Abe. The general sentiment on the part
. of senior priests was that Mr. Abe would perhaps be a better
. choice. That is why Mr. Abe was chosen."
.
. Nichiren Shoshu makes a big fuss out of transferring the
. heritage from high priest to high priest. But the above
. statement shows the essential characteristics of how the
. heritage had been transferred within Nichiren Shoshu from
. high priest to high priest.
.
. Why did they choose Abe, not Hayase? In those days, there
. were two major factions in Nichiren Shoshu. One was the
. Hokikai group, that is, the Hayase family's faction. The
. other was the Myokankai group, which was Nittatsu Shonin's
. disciples' faction. They were at variance with each other.
. Nichiji headed the Hokikai group, and Nittatsu Shonin's
. disciples did not like the idea of giving the heritage to
. this group. The Myokankai is said to have satisfied itself
. by nominating Abe for the next high priest.
.
. What was the Myokankai group thinking when Nittatsu Shonin
. passed away without designating anybody for the next high
. priest? It was inconceivable in Nichiren Shoshu for a high
. priest to die without selecting his successor. According to
. the school's philosophy, there must not be any form of
. discontinuity in the transmission of its heritage.
. Therefore, the Myokankai group was forced to select the next
. high priest, whoever he may be. Because of the urgency, the
. Myokankai group is said to have chosen Nikken as the next
. high priest.
.
. When Nikken was dealing later with the Shoshinkai (a group
. that doubted his authenticity as 67th high priest), he took
. advantage of this dilemma by saying, "If you insist that I
. did not receive the heritage, it will follow that Nittatsu
. Shonin, whom you respect, passed way without transferring
. the heritage to anybody."
.
. When Nittatsu Shonin passed away, the matter that most
. concerned Keido Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi, and Jin Suga was that
. they had to avoid a situation wherein Nittatsu Shonin had
. failed to nominate his successor. So, put another way,
. Nikken did not become high priest because he received the
. heritage. He became one because Sugano responded to him in
. the Nishi-okuban room, saying "Aren't you, Mr. General
. Administrator, succeeding him?"
.
. At the executive priests' conference held a few hours later,
. Nikken brought forth his own story, stating "As a matter of
. fact, I did receive the heritage on April 15 of the previous
. year." This statement by Nikken was his way of reacting to
. Sugano's decisive words.
.
. In the trial against the Shoshinkai group (who opposed him
. as high priest), Nikken failed to disclose what had actually
. happened in his alleged heritage transference on April 15 of
. the previous year. He could not answer any practical
. questions raised in court about the so-called transference,
. such as "When did it happen?" "In which room did it happen?"
. "In what way did you receive the heritage?" etc.
.
. Nikken once stated to a group of teacher-priests, "My diary
. says that I did receive the heritage on April 15." However,
. he did not present the diary during the trial as evidence.
Man, what an incredible and bold liar. He was truly a conspiracy of one.
________ How Did Nikken Get Away With It? ________
It is one thing to seize the day, and another to keep it.
So how did Nikken hijack such a large institution, with so many warring factions and keep it within his grasp?
From the same book ...
. Nikken's First Challenge Was to Put Jiun Sugano Under His
. Control
.
. In sadness, the head temple was making preparations for the
. funeral ceremony of Nittatsu Shonin. The Gohonzon was
. enshrined at the reception room of the high priest's
. quarters with his futon placed with his pillow to the north.
.
. While three hundred people, including the general
. administrator, executive priests, other priests, acolytes,
. and priests' families were chanting and awaiting the return
. of the high priest's body, the car carrying the high
. priest's body arrived at the head temple at 6:40 AM. General
. Affairs Bureau Director Eido Fujimoto, Giko Hayase, Takudo
. Hosoi, and Shoken Hagaihara all returned to the head temple
. with the body of the deceased high priest.
.
. Kando Tono later described how the body of Nittatsu Shonin
. was handled, in the article he wrote for Dai-Nichiren,
. monthly magazine of Nichiren Shoshu, under the title "On the
. Informal Funeral of Nittatsu Shonin." His article served as
. an official report of the informal part of the funeral:
.
. "As the rain continued to fall in sadness, with clouds
. covering the eastern skies, Mr. Kaname Sugiura held up a
. large, ceremonial umbrella. Financial Bureau Director, Rev.
. Hoko Yamaguchi, Rev. Jijo Doizaki, Rev. Zuido Ito, and Rev.
. Todo Miyake, each wearing a pair of white gloves, carried
. the body of the deceased high priest from the entrance gate
. to the reception room. "After changing the clothes of the
. deceased high priest and putting three kinds of ceremonial
. robes on him, the general administrator (Nikken) led the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku. The
. high priest's body was laid on the futon in the reception
. room. After the sutra recitation and daimoku chanting were
. done, the general administrator shared a few words. He
. stated that, even though all the priests were naturally
. saddened by the sudden passing of the high priest, they
. should realize that it was time for the entire Nichiren
. Shoshu to unite for the protection of the True Law. We must
. show our appreciation to the late high priest by conducting
. his funeral ceremony with all our sincerity.
.
. "After words from the senior director (Mitsuhisa), the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku
. ceaselessly was led alternately by executive priests and the
. high priest's representative disciples. This continued until
. 7 PM, when the coffin of the high priest was moved to the
. Grand Reception Hall for the temporary wake that would be
. held in the evening. Incense smoke offered for the repose of
. the high priest filled the reception room of the high
. priest's quarters."
.
. The high priest's family members, relatives, and many other
. guests made a line to offer incense for the late high
. priest, while the senior director of the Internal Bureau
. handled all the visitors. The high priest's bereaved family
. and disciples shaved the head and face of the deceased high
. priest after 9 AM. In the meantime, the Internal Bureau was
. busy making a schedule for the informal and formal parts of
. the funeral, reserving places for these ceremonies, and
. dealing with mass media.
.
. What were Nichiren Shoshu priests thinking in the midst of
. this turmoil?
.
. Their thought was: "Nittatsu Shonin passed away all of a
. sudden. Yet, the heritage of Nichiren Shoshu that has been
. transferred from high priest to high priest must never be
. severed even a moment. This is hossui shabyo, the principle
. in which the heritage of the Law is transferred just as the
. water in a cup is transferred to another cup… How should we
. resolve this situation, where obviously no transfer ceremony
. occurred between Nittatsu Shonin and any other priest who
. could be his successor."
.
. Complicated emotions and heavy feelings enveloped the hearts
. of the executive priests of Nichiren Shoshu. As a matter of
. fact, as Nittatsu Shonin's body returned to the head temple,
. some priests had already begun to maneuver about who would
. succeed him.
.
. Nichiji Hayase, former general administrator, openly asked
. Misako, the former high priest's wife, "Madam, is there
. anything that is written?" Irritated a bit by Hayase's
. insensitive question, Misako is reported to have replied, "I
. have no idea."
.
. About the same time this conversation took place between
. Hayase and the wife of Nittatsu Shonin, Giko Hayase, husband
. of the late high priest's second daughter, was seen going
. through Nittatsu Shonin's memos and writings in the
. Gohonzon-transcription room in the high priest's quarters.
.
. What did not make sense at all was the remark that Nikken
. made in the Nishi-okuban room: "Did you hear anything about
. who'll succeed him?" The question that Nikken asked Keido
. Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi, and Jiun Sugano did not sound at all
. like something uttered by the person who would later claim
. that he had received the heritage from Nittatsu Shonin. At
. the point when Nikken made this remark, he was not saying
. that he had received the heritage from the former high
. priest – he was asking who had. Obviously, Nikken's remark
. indicates that he was a third party with regard to the
. transmission of the heritage. In other words, he was asking
. from his point of view as general administrator, expressing
. his concern about who would succeed the former high priest
. who suddenly died.
.
. However, Sugano's response was "Didn't you receive the
. heritage..." which Nikken did not expect to hear from
. Sugano. We wonder how Nikken felt after hearing this
. response.
.
. Nichiren Shoshu priests in general knew that Nikken was
. eager to become a high priest. When he was the chief priest
. of Heian-ji temple in Kyoto, he had his wife send to the
. head temple a gorgeous basket of mushrooms worth tens of
. thousands of yen to amuse Nittatsu Shonin.
.
. At one time, the tombstones of the successive high priests
. were moved to another location. It was during the time of
. the construction of the Sho-Hondo. On that occasion, part of
. Nikken's father's ashes could not be located, but it was
. decided that his tombstone would still be moved regardless.
. Angered by this decision, some of Nikkai's disciples were
. ready to complain to Nittatsu Shonin about this treatment.
. But Nikken and his mother, Myoshuni, begged them not to do
. so, saying, "If you should go ahead, it would hinder my
. future success." This episode is well-known among Nikkai's
. disciples, who felt badly toward Nikken because of it: "You
. don't care about your father's ashes simply because you want
. to become the next high priest."
.
. Here is another laughable story. A notice board was put up
. at the time of the completion ceremony of the Sho-Hondo.
. When the notice board was brought to the place where it was
. supposed to be placed, Nichiji Hayase and Shinno Abe
. reportedly said, "This is written so poorly. Who wrote it?"
. As soon as an acolyte said, "Nittatsu Shonin did," Nikken is
. said to have replied, "On second thought, this is really
. written well." This is another episode that shows how
. careful Nikken was to not displease Nittatsu Shonin. Is this
. not the World of Animality?
.
. Nikken, with complicated feelings in his heart, led the
. recitation of the sutra and the chanting of daimoku for the
. deceased high priest at 7:15 AM. After that, Nikken
. realized, due to his conversation with three members of
. Nittatsu Shonin's bereaved family, that "They did not hear
. anything from Nittatsu Shonin about his successor. Sugano,
. who I at first thought might succeed him, seems to have
. received no heritage from Nittatsu Shonin. Not only that,
. surprisingly, Sugano nominated me as next high priest."
.
. What became clear to Nikken was that Nittatsu Shonin passed
. away without transferring the heritage to anybody. He
. realized that Nichiren Shoshu would need to get through this
. very serious situation where no new high priest has been
. nominated. It was imperative not to break the lineage of the
. transmission of the heritage of Nichiren Shoshu. And he
. realized that the Hosoi family had chosen not Hayase, but
. Nikken as the successor. He realized that becoming the 67th
. high priest was in his grasp. Resisting feelings of joy,
. Nikken racked his brains to conceive of a conspiracy, the
. most important one in his lifetime.
.
. Nikken said to himself, "When should I say I received the
. heritage? It can't be too recent. It should be at least one
. year ago. What is the best timing for me to make this
. announcement? I'd better start at tonight's wake. Do I have
. to do any groundwork? I'd better talk to Sugano first to
. make him side with me without fail. Then, I'd better hold a
. meeting of the executive priests. Is there anyone who would
. oppose my ascension? Nichiji Hayase would possibly be one."
.
. It was then that Nikken, using the date of "April 15, 1978,"
. created a scenario to take the position of high priest in
. Nichiren Shoshu. During the recitation of the sutra and the
. chanting of daimoku for the deceased high priest, what
. occupied his mind was not his prayer for the late high
. priest but a plot to appoint himself as high priest. This is
. indeed a scheme beyond most ordinary people's sensibilities.
.
. After the first ceremony was over, Nikken lost no time in
. taking action. First, he had to have Jiun Sugano, head of
. the Myokankai group that is the foremost group in Nichiren
. Shoshu and husband of Nittatsu Shonin's daughter, side with
. him. A witness testifies, "I think it was between 8 AM and 9
. AM, after the ceremony, that Nikken and Jiun Sugano had a
. serious talk that lasted about half an hour at the general
. administrator's room. Several people saw them speaking."
.
. The content of their talk must have been extremely serious.
. As soon as Nikken came out of the room, he saw some acolytes
. who were there to serve tea, and he said to them furiously,
. "What are you doing here? Were you here while I was talking
. inside?"
.
. Around 9 AM, Gakkai leaders, who arrived at the head temple,
. visited the high priest's quarters to pay homage to the late
. high priest. They encountered Jiun Sugano, who was fresh
. from his talk with Nikken, when they were about to enter the
. reception room. Sugano seemed elated and surprised the
. Gakkai leaders by making this irrelevant remark: "I
. understand my turn will come after the next high priest."
.
. Sounding intoxicated, Sugano is said to have mentioned to a
. person close to him, "I'll persevere for at least ten
. years."
.
. There is no knowing what was discussed between Nikken and
. Sugano during their half-hour conversation. >From Sugano's
. remarks, we can guess what they discussed. Nikken must have
. said to Sugano: "You'll be high priest after me. I'll do it
. right for you, so don't worry." It is easy to believe that
. Nikken gave Sugano a promise like that. Additionally, Nikken
. must have promised Sugano an important position under his
. new leadership, in return for asking Sugano to support him
. against the forces of Hayase's group.
.
. And in fact, on August 2 right after Nikken took office,
. Sugano was appointed to the position of General Affairs
. Bureau director while also maintaining the Overseas Bureau
. Director. It was extremely favorable treatment for Sugano.
.
. However, their sweet relationship did not last long. Many of
. Nittatsu Shonin's disciples became active against Nikken and
. formed the Shoshinkai group to fight against him. Jiun
. Sugano became the symbol of anti-Nikkenism among activist
. priests in Nichiren Shoshu. Nikken released Sugano from his
. new position after only three months; he must have realized
. that it would be dangerous to keep Sugano in that position.
.
. As a result, Sugano has been excluded from the mainstream of
. Nichiren Shoshu for the past twenty years, while Nikken
. still stays in power. Sugano was completely fooled by
. Nikken's promises.
.
. Nikken Makes Sudden Revelation at Special Session of
. Executive Priests Time went by quickly. At 11:10 AM, an
. executive priests' meeting was urgently convened in the
. reception room of the east quarters of the high priest's
. secretary. Present were Nikken as general administrator;
. Hoei Shiina (Niccho), chief executive; and Nichiji Hayase, a
. representative of the noke priests.
.
. An executive priests' meeting can be defined as a Nichiren
. Shoshu officers' meeting. If the high priest were alive,
. this meeting would be attended by the high priest (chief
. administrator), the general administrator, and the chief
. executive. With the passing of High Priest Nittatsu, the
. members of the executive priests' meeting were just Nikken,
. the general administrator, and Shiina, the chief executive.
. But Nikken also dared to include Hayase, who was not a
. formal member of the executive priests. Nichiji Hayase at
. first could not see why he had to attend this meeting, but
. it is said that Hayase, surprised at the unexpected
. invitation, made himself attend it, even if he was not so
. excited about it.
.
. Hidden behind the idea of involving Hayase in the executive
. priests' meeting was Nikken's agenda. He must have thought:
. "Now I have Sugano under my control. Next I'll do the same
. with Hayase." His reasoning must have been something like
. this: "A problem would arise if a decision were formally
. made at a meeting where Hayase was not present. The Hokikai
. group, which upholds Nichiji, would not be quiet about my
. ascension to the position of high priest. It would be much
. better for me if I could invite Hayase to the executive
. priests' conference and move everything toward my
. succession. Clause 3 of Article 14 of the Rules of Nichiren
. Shoshu stipulates, 'In case the high priest cannot select
. his successor for unavoidable reasons, the general
. administrator, the chief executive, or noke priests shall
. discuss who will be next high priest.' Even if problems
. should occur later, I could insist that (with the inclusion
. of Nichiji in the executive priests' meeting) the meeting
. was actually a meeting for selecting the next high priest as
. stipulated by the Rules of Nichiren Shoshu."
.
. Thus, the scenario that Nikken created was successfully put
. into action. He succeeded in involving Nichiji in his scheme
. to usurp the position of high priest in Nichiren Shoshu.
. Nikken had Shiina say in the announcement during the
. temporary wake for the deceased high priest, "With the
. special attendance of Rev. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji) at the
. executive priests' meeting …" which gave the impression to
. everyone that "Nichiji agrees with Nikken's succession."
. Using Nichiji was a particularly sneaky move by Nikken.
.
. At the executive priests' meeting, Nikken stated: "I've not
. told anyone this, but on April 14 last year, the high priest
. and I were alone together at his quarters at the head
. temple, and he privately made reference to his intent to
. transmit the heritage to me. And at that time I received
. from him profound instructions about the teachings. This I
. would like to disclose now." (Dai-Nichiren, September 1979
. issue)
.
. It was at that moment that Nikken defeated his foremost
. rival, Nichiji Hayase. His first strike was decisive enough
. for him to win, even before Hayase realized there was a
. battle being fought. Later, Nikken triumphantly described
. his honest feelings at that moment. Reform priest Kodo
. Yoshikawa stated, "Right after Nikken took office as high
. priest, he spontaneously said, 'I thought Mr. Hayase may
. have received the heritage from Nittatsu Shonin, but Hayase
. remained quiet. So I decided to take the position of high
. priest.'" Mr. Yoshikawa said that quite a few young priests
. heard Nikken say this.
.
. It is obvious that Nikken is a self-appointed high priest.
. He has provided no evidence to justify his assertion. When
. Nikken stated, "When the high priest and I were alone
. together…" no one could present any proof that Nikken was
. lying. Even though the story was implausible, there was
. nothing any one could say. All Nichiji Hayase, who could
. have become the 67th high priest, could do was to just watch
. how things unfolded in favor of Nikken. Thus, the executive
. priests' meeting ended with confirmation of Nikken's self-
. appointment as new high priest.
.
. Hayase must have felt awfully chagrined, as soon as he
. realized that he had been taken in by Nikken. He must have
. said to himself, "I didn't expect that Abe would bring up
. even the specific date…. Damn it."
.
. Suppressing his usual hot temper, Nichiji barely attended
. the temporary wake for the deceased high priest. As soon as
. the wake was over, Nichiji hurriedly returned to Tokyo. It
. was a harbinger of the subtle relationship between Nikken
. Abe and Nichiji's Hokikai group.
.
. Nikken may have successfully bested Nichiji Hayase, but he
. was still very much concerned about whether the Hokikai
. group would support or oppose him. Some priests related to
. the Hokikai group shared this information: "On the morning
. that Nittatsu Shonin passed away, Nikken, fresh from the
. executive priests' meeting, said to me very seriously,
. 'Please support me, as I have accepted the responsibility as
. new high priest.' At that time, he also said, 'I'll be OK
. even if Mr. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji Hayase) should play the role
. of high priest for a while.' All I could say to him was 'It
. would be great if you became high priest.' How could say to
. him, 'Yes, you're right. Mr. Kanmyo-in should have the
. position.'"
.
. This statement eloquently depicts Nikken's exact frame of
. mind about his self-appointment. His casual remark that
. "I'll be OK even if Mr. Kanmyo-in (Nichiji Hayase) should
. play the role of high priest for a while" signifies that
. Nikken's story was self-made. The above statement also shows
. that the transmission of the heritage is a very political
. issue in the minds of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood.
.
. In contrast to Nichiji, who was so disappointed, Nikken
. began to behave convincingly as the new high priest after
. the executive priests' meeting.
.
. There was a discussion going on outside the room where the
. executive priests' meeting was held. Responsible priests
. were talking about where the wake should be held. Taiken
. Hisamitsu, chief director of the head temple, insisted,
. "Since the midnight gongyo is always conducted at the Grand
. Reception Hall, we should use the Grand Lecture Hall for the
. wake. Nikken, who happened to join the discussion, said,
. "I'd like to hold it at the Grand Reception Hall."
. Hisamitsu, who was Nittatsu Shonin's chief secretary (and
. may have wanted to show his authority), would not change his
. original idea. A witness says this turned into a dispute
. between Nikken and Hisamitsu. Neither of them showed any
. sign of changing his original idea, and the discussion came
. to a halt. At last, Nikken said, "Mr. Hisamitsu, you don't
. understand. I'll be the next high priest." This statement by
. Nikken had the result of giving him the final say. Hisamitsu
. had no choice but to succumb to Nikken on the spot. The wake
. was thus decided to be held at the Grand Reception Hall,
. where an altar was set up for the ceremony.
.
. Gakudo Nomura, chief priest of Myoko-ji in Tokyo, tapping a
. desk with his fan before the executive priests' meeting, is
. said to have spoken a little high-handedly to Nikken,
. "Shinno, what will you do later?" Because Nomura was senior
. to Nikken in the hierarchy of Nichiren Shoshu, Nomura used
. this casual language to Nikken.
.
. Nikken went to the executive priests' meeting. As soon as
. they heard that it was decided at the executive priests'
. meeting for Nikken to be the next high priest, Nomura and
. other priests all prostrated themselves to Nikken, showing
. their absolute obedience to the new high priest.
.
. Chief Priest Hoshin Nakajima stated, "On the way to the
. wake, I met with Shinsho Abe, Nikken's son and had a talk
. with him. He said, 'Who will become a new high priest?' I
. replied, 'I wonder who.' Then, we found out that Shinsho's
. father had become new high priest, which astonished me."
.
. At 2 PM, Nittatsu Shonin's body was placed in a coffin with
. shikimi leaves all over it.
.
. In the early evening, his coffin was moved to the Grand
. Reception Hall in a procession led by Aoyama, director of
. the head temple. Nikken carried the Gohonzon, General
. Affairs Director Fujimoto carried the late high priest's
. posthumous ihai, followed by Keido Hosoi, Takudo Hosoi,
. Gyokudo Hosoi, other disciples, the high priest's bereaved
. family members and relatives. After the coffin was
. enshrined, the sutra was recited and daimoku was chanted
. under the leadership of Nikken.
.
. A black and white bunting was hung all over the eastern side
. of the Grand Reception Room.
.
. The Gohonzon was enshrined with shikimi decorating the altar
. covered with white cloth. Seats were prepared for the high
. priest's family members and executive priests. Behind the
. seat of the ceremony leader were placed a number of incense
. burners. One side of the audience was occupied by priests,
. while the other side was reserved for lay believers with
. Soka Gakkai Honorary President Ikeda in the front.
.
. Sudden Announcement Made about New High Priest During
. Daimoku Session for Deceased High Priest Incense was offered
. in the following order: the chief executive, the assembly
. chairperson, Nichiji, officers, Taiseki-ji priests, general
. priests, the high priest's family members, acolytes, Soka
. Gakkai leaders, Hokkeko leaders, and general believers.
. Recitation of the sutra was done at 8:05 PM. Hoei Shiina,
. chief executive and chairperson of the funeral, shared his
. words. He then made a sudden announcement of the
. transmission of the heritage. Shiina said:
.
. "I have an important announcement. At 11:10 AM this morning,
. an executive priests' meeting was urgently convened at the
. head temple, and this meeting was attended by General
. Administrator Abe, Chief Executive Shiina (that is myself),
. and Mr. Kanmyo-in, who is noke and was specially invited to
. attend this meeting. Discussions were made about matters
. following the passing of High Priest Nittatsu. "General
. Administrator Abe served as special chairperson of this
. meeting, and he made an important announcement at the outset
. of the executive priests' meeting." (Here, Chief Executive
. Shiina exactly quotes what Abe said.)
.
. "High Priest Nittatsu had been experiencing health problems
. for the past few years. Especially because of his heart
. problems, he had to be hospitalized several times for the
. treatment of his heart. Since he knew his heart ailment
. could suddenly take his life, he prepared for the situation
. that might arise after his sudden passing. His profound
. consideration made him assure the ceaseless transmission of
. the heritage, the most vital issue of this school. His
. profound preparedness and consideration impresses us.
.
. "This disclosure at the executive priests' meeting deeply
. moved all of us who were present, and we all vowed to follow
. the new high priest with absolute obedience.
.
. "I hope that all of you, both priests and lay people in
. Nichiren Shoshu, respect the new high priest, and achieve
. true unity between priesthood and laity under his leadership
. to deal with these difficult times inside and outside
. Nichiren Shoshu. As we do our very best for the great
. objective of kosen-rufu under the new high priest, let's
. repay our debt of gratitude to the former high priest,
. Nittatsu Shonin. This concludes my announcement." (Dai-
. Nichiren, 1979 September issue)
.
. Hisamitsu's speech publicly endorsed Nikken's ascension to
. the position of high priest in Nichiren Shoshu. However, the
. truth is not that Nikken privately received the heritage
. from Nittatsu Shonin but that Shinno Abe, through his
. scheming on July 22, 1979, stole the positions of chief
. administrator of Nichiren Shoshu and 67th high priest of the
. head temple. Hoei Shiina's announcement at the wake did not
. necessarily give the priesthood a good sense of security
. about the appointment of the next high priest. Quite a few
. priests felt that things had gone too smoothly, for on July
. 20, two days before the passing of Nittatsu Shonin, two
. priests, Kyodo Seto of Jakunichi-bo lodging temple and Jisei
. Nakamura of Sessen-bo lodging temple went to see Nittatsu
. Shonin at the hospital. At that time, Nittatsu Shonin said
. to them, "I am OK. I am sorry I worried you all. I'll be
. back to the head temple after spending four or five days
. here for recuperation, so please don't worry." There is no
. wonder that some priests expressed their concern about the
. too smooth announcement of the appointment of the new high
. priest.
.
. Also, Nikken's nichi-go issue came out, as introduced in the
. prologue of this book.
.
. It was announced: "The decision was made. His nichi-go title
. is Nikken. Because his father's nichi-go is Nikkai, he chose
. Nikken for his name."
.
. This announcement was made by Yagi at midnight and it made
. some priests realize that Nikken's ascension to the position
. of the high priest was actually a political decision, while
. other priests wondered if Nichiren Shoshu would fare well
. under such a shallow-minded high priest.
.
. An elderly priest, who resided at the head temple, shared
. this impression: "I thought that the new high priest would
. be Nichiji Shonin. The headline of next day's issue of the
. Shizuoka Shimbun read, 'The successor is Abe Nichiji.
. However, coupled with his father's name Nikkai, the new high
. priest's name became Nikken.' At first I thought he was
. playing with his name. But later on, I found out he was
. serious about this new name, and I became concerned about
. his integrity as high priest. I wonder how he is taking the
. nichi-go title that he received from his mentor. He really
. showed a poor example here. His arrogance and frivolousness
. concern me."
.
. Incidentally, there is a follow-up story about Nikken's
. self-naming. Hoei Shiina, who played a vital role in making
. the announcement about the new high priest at the wake
. ceremony, became noke half a year later, and named himself
. Nikken (a different Chinese character for the ken part of
. Nikken). Because of the same pronunciation as the new high
. priest's nichi-go title, Nikken asked Hisamitsu to change
. his nichi-go name, and Hisamitsu, following Nikken's
. request, changed his name from Nikken to Nitcho.
.
. It is obvious that Nikken obtained the position of high
. priest through lies and conspiracies. As we go over what
. actually happened before he became high priest, we see so
. many questionable things that surround his ascension. Later
. on, those young priests who left Nichiren Shoshu and formed
. the Shoshinkai group began to doubt Nikken's story about
. receiving the heritage from the former high priest.
An alternate definition of Hunger (Gaki) below ... would simply have a picture and the name of Nikken Abe.
But there still remains that nagging question ... Nikken & Nichinyo, where's the Transfer Box for Nichiren Shoshu? And what are you going to use for the transfer as you hand the High Priest position to Nichinyo (Gikan) Hayase as the 68th High Priest?
Here's what I think they simply had to do, as an expedient, to get around this pesky problem. (IMHO)
. A NEW Transfer Box has been constructed and prepared for the
. transfer of the High Priest's office in Nichiren Shoshu. It
. will now function as the old, outdated Transfer Box did, as
. the physical proof of the heritage of the High Priest that
. was transferred from the last High Priest.
.
. Shinryo Ishii, who has had some experience with boxing
. things up (he receives his illegal porn shipments at
. Taisekiji in fake boxes of Gohonzon), was naturally just the
. trusted Uchideshi for this job.
.
. This was tricky, because Nikken has never seen the original
. Transfer Box, at least not up close !!! And he can't trust
. anyone who has, to tell him what it looks like. (We would
. hope that the approximation is SOMEWHAT close if he
. counterfeits the box. It would be extraordinarily
. embarrassing to find out in court, that he missed some key
. detail.)
.
. The problem comes from the lineage chart, which is in the
. hand of over sixty successive High Priests and presents a
. profundly difficult challenge in forging a new one.
.
. I believe this won't be a problem though, Nikkenism is not
. Nikko's Fuji School anyway.
.
. So, the NEW Transfer Box for Nikken Shu has the same
. dimensions and appearance (we think) as the old, out-dated
. one for Nichiren Shoshu, but with ALL NEW contents.
.
. The list of the High Priest's names who participated in the
. Transfer Ceremony has only one name on it, which never
. appeared on the original list for the lineage of Nichiren
. Shoshu: Nikken Abe.
This is what will constitute an all new form of transfer, in the Nikken Shu. It's either that, or a Marcel Marceau pantomime with a non-existent Transfer Box !!!
________ Definition of Hungry Spirits (gaki) ______________
From the SGI Dictionary:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/84
hungry spirits ［餓鬼］ (Skt preta; Jpn gaki): Also, hungry ghosts. Spirits who suffer from hunger and thirst as karmic retribution for their greed, selfishness, and jealousy while they were alive. Buddhist scriptures describe hungry spirits as beings with throats as small as needles and distended bellies. The realm of hungry spirits is said to be located five hundred yojanas beneath the earth, above the realm of hell. In that realm, food and drink turn into flames and torment the inhabitants. The realm of hungry spirits is one of the three or the four evil paths. From the standpoint of the doctrine of the Ten Worlds and their mutual possession, it represents a potential state or condition of life in which one is tormented by relentless craving. Hungry spirits are called preta in Sanskrit, which in ancient India meant the spirits of the dead. In China and Japan, the story of Maudgalyāyana's saving his mother from the realm of hungry spirits is well known. See also service for deceased ancestors.
________ Getting Some Help _______________________
If you are a Nichiren Shoshu Priest, or a Hokkeko member from anywhere in the world, and are thinking about switching to the SGI call (310) 260-8900 or contact the Headquarters at SGI Plaza:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Soka+Gakkai+International+-+USA/@34.0205633,-118.4979288,17z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x80c2a4c8ce37f2e7:0x918d68e31aa2b5e4!2s606+Wilshire+Blvd,+Santa+Monica,+CA+90401!3b1!8m2!3d34.0205589!4d-118.4957401!3m4!1s0x80c2a4c8bc1aaae7:0x8b8af06c5597de63!8m2!3d34.0208086!4d-118.4958896?hl=en
Tell them that you are a Nichiren Shoshu Priest or Hokkeko member, and wish to speak to someone about the SGI, and what to do.
________ The Survivor Gita _______________________
Who will replace the "Sen'ou Nezumi" ?
Nikken, the Usurper King of the Rats at Taisekiji, has been replaced by Nichinyo, who is an angry member of the elite, due to too many blows to the head. A little punchy, and brief in his rule, since Nikken has plans for his son to take over.
One thing that is known for certain: There will be a new Rat King. And quickly there will be another.
Another thing that is known for certain: All the alliances will change, and more than once. Anyone that has watched Survivor knows this.
Rule Number Zero:
The War of the Rodents can only be won by ... King Rat.
More to come ... These questions will be answered !!!
-Chas.
_____________________________________________
LS Chap. 16 .....
All harbor thoughts of yearning
and in their minds thirst to gaze at me.
When living beings have become truly faithful,
honest and upright, gentle in intent,
single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.
At that time I tell the living beings
that I am always here, never entering extinction,
but that because of the power of an expedient means
at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not,
and that if there are living beings in other lands
who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe,
then among them too
I will preach the unsurpassed Law.
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