In what seemed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, Nichiren Shoshu priests would make the Gohonzon, empower them with an "Opening of the Eyes" ceremony at the Head Temple, and present them to new members in a Gojukai ceremony. Members would in turn give financial support to the priesthood, including building new temples and maintaining them. Each member would enshrine the Gohonzon in the home, making offerings of fruit and incense, and chant gongyo, parts of the Lotus Sutra and its title, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, each morning and evening.

According to Nichiren Daishonin's teachings, the Gohonzon is the Supreme Object of Worship, the material manifestation of the Law in Buddhism. By reciting the Lotus Sutra daily to the Gohonzon, the Nichiren Buddhism practitioner builds a relationship with the eternal laws of cause and effect and is able to experience life in the flow of that Universal Law. Individuals might "chant for" something, such as a job or a boyfriend or a new car. In the process, the job, the boyfriend, or the car might turn up or might not, but the practitioner feels that by being part of the eternal law he or she gets exactly what is needed. In any case, life is sacralized and made meaningful. That perfect job does not come along by chance, but as a manifestation of changing one's karma as influenced by one's faith in and practice of chanting. The smallest things in life have eternal implications. Our busy, materialistic, and often alienated world is made into a deeply meaningful place for one's karma to be played out. The fractured quality of modern life is made whole by the individual's relationship to the Gohonzon.

During the time of its association with Nichiren Shoshu, Soka Gakkai members had minimal contact with Nichiren Shoshu priests.

Priests conducted marriage ceremonies and funerals, led the chanting ritual during pilgrimages to the head temple at Mt. Fuji and periodically at local temples, and of course bestowed the Gohonzon on new members. They also, with Soka Gakkai participation, edited study materials and editions of Nichiren's writings. On the other hand, Soka Gakkai members had intense contact with Soka Gakkai leaders. In the late sixties and early seventies, the Soka Gakkai community center could become the focus of the member's life, with almost nightly activities including community events and shakubuku. Soka Gakkai members formally prayed for all the Nichiren Shoshu High Priests from Nikko Shonin to the present in their daily chanting ritual, but it was for the Third President of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda (1928- ), that they felt the greatest respect and admiration.

President Ikeda, a teenager during the war, seemed to see the possibilities for the fulfillment of Nichiren Daishonin's teachings in the postwar period. Not only would Nichiren's Buddhism spread throughout Japan, but conversion of new members would become a global mission. In a way, President Ikeda's vision of spreading Japanese Buddhism to the world was parallel to the vision of Japanese businesses in their plans to make Japan part of a global economy. Before the first Toyota or Datsun rolled onto American shores, in 1960 Daisaku Ikeda had formally established the organization, Soka Gakkai, that would disseminate the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin in North America. It was the first successful Japanese import not only to the United States but also to countries throughout the world. Today there are Soka Gakkai members in 128 countries, including an official count of 300,000 North American members supporting seventy community centers and a weekly newspaper. Soka Gakkai also funds several affiliated institutions including Soka University with two campuses near Los Angeles, the Florida Nature and Culture Center in Fort Lauderdale, the Toda Peace Institute in Honolulu, and the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Through the years of Soka Gakkai's expansion it maintained its symbiotic relationship with the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood. Soka Gakkai recruited members who in turn built temples and made financial contributions to support the priesthood. In the United States, six Nichiren Shoshu temples were built. The priesthood, with its claim of authority going back to Nichiren, the first High Priest, and the second High Priest Nikko Shonin in the 13th century, conveyed legitimacy on the Soka Gakkai organization. There were some signs of strain through the years, though these were mostly behind the scenes. For example, in a 1973 edition of the Soka Gakkai publication Seikyo Times, the completion of the new Head Temple at Mount Fuji was celebrated jointly by then High Priest Nittatsu Shonin and President Ikeda. Pictures show them smiling at one another as they greeted dignitaries and blessed the fountains with water from a sacred spring. Other articles in the magazine include member experiences, study materials from the works of Nichiren Daishonin, and guidance and writing by Daisaku Ikeda. At that point it seemed to be a peaceful coexistence.

An open conflict erupted in 1978 when President Ikeda was ousted as Soka Gakkai leader and replaced by Hiroshi Hojo. Mr. Ikeda became honorary President of Soka Gakkai and became full-time President of Soka Gakkai International, an organization he had founded in 1975. President Ikeda's picture was taken down from meeting rooms in members' homes and in community centers, though within a year it had been put up again. It must be noted that although Soka Gakkai has always called its leader "President" he has not been democratically elected by the entire membership, as few religious leaders are. Rather the Board of Directors (currently 72 individuals representing 30 different countries) elects him. The President is then considered to have authority by virtue of this designation. President Ikeda's charisma both then and now reinforced his official status.

From the point of view of the priesthood, President Ikeda and other Soka Gakkai leaders had deviated from their own commitment to the Nichiren Shoshu faith as originally established by second President Toda in 1950. They had broken their promises to serve the Head Temple for the advancement of kosen-rufu, to have all Soka Gakkai members register at their local temples, to adhere to the doctrines of the Head Temple Taiseki-ji, and to honor the three Treasures of Nichiren Shoshu, the Buddha (Nichiren Daishonin), the Law (the Dai-Gohonzon), and the priesthood as embodied in the successive Nichiren Shoshu High Priests. By breaking these original promises, the Soka Gakkai leadership had deviated from true Buddhism. President Ikeda and Vice President Tsuji apologized to the High Priest in a tozan at the Head Temple on November 7, 1978, with Vice President Tsuji stating that, for a number of years, the Soka Gakkai had cultivated the idea that President Ikeda should be held in high esteem. While this feeling may come naturally, we must exhibit restraint, so that this kind of expression does not become excessive.

President Ikeda, who unofficially some members had felt to be a reincarnation of Nichiren Daishonin himself, was not to put himself in competition with the High Priest. His apology was accepted by the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood. In fact some 100 priests who still felt the Soka Gakkai to be in error, the Shoshinkai Group, were themselves disciplined and expelled from Nichiren Shoshu in 1980 for failing to accept the reconciliation.

In retrospect, though, the Soka Gakkai leaders' apology was insufficient to heal the deep-seated priesthood-laity conflict. From the priesthood view, that apology was hypocritical and never sincere. From the Soka Gakkai view, the apology was necessary to maintain even a semblance of cooperation with the priesthood, but it was never truly accepted. The issues of disagreement at this point, focusing on such diversions of the faith as integrating western music into Soka Gakkai culture festivals, were picayune and served to mask the fact that the priesthood just simply did not share Soka Gakkai's vision of how to accomplish kosen-rufu. The ensuing conduct by the High Priest strained relations to the breaking point.

The Split Between the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood and the Soka Gakkai
In the late 1980's, tensions between the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood led by High Priest Nikken Shonin and the Fifth Soka Gakkai President Einosuke Akiya (1930-) had once again begun to build. Issues of authority, finances and interpretation of Nichiren Daishonin's teachings proved unresolvable, and in 1991 the High Priest (1) excommunicated all Soka Gakkai members. Technically, they excommunicated the organization, I was told, but that individual members would be free to practice at the temples if they renounced Soka Gakkai. In any case, Nichiren Shoshu priests would no longer perform weddings, funerals, or bestow Gohonzon for Soka Gakkai members. Nichiren Shoshu temples, including the Head Temple at Mt. Fuji where the most sacred object of Nichiren's legacy, the Dai-Gohonzon, was enshrined, were made off-limits to Soka Gakkai members. Soka Gakkai members would no longer support the priesthood with loyalty and money. The years of the relationship that had given mutual legitimacy to the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood and the Soka Gakkai were at an end.

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NOTES:
1.  It is interesting to note that at this time in America a group of disgruntled former members centered in the New York area were not satisfied with either the Soka Gakkai apology or the official priesthood acceptance of it. Led by Reverend Kando Tono they recommended disbanding Soka Gakkai and centering all lay Nichiren Shoshu worship at the Nichiren Shoshu temples. 425 Nichiren Shoshu believers sent a petition to the Head Temple and the SGI leadership in Japan to that effect. They now exist as a separate Nichiren Sect led by Rev. Tono.

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