Chapter 7 - Concluding Thoughts

What does the future hold for the North American Buddhist movement? At this point in time Buddhism is still the fastest growing religion on our continent but if we want this trend to continue some house cleaning might be necessary. As someone who attends activities where different Buddhist Schools interact it saddens me to report that dislike for groups that are not "us" is becoming the accepted norm.

Theravada teachers and students routinely dismiss all Mahayana practitioners as "non Buddhist." A question I have asked but have never had answered by any of the people who made these comments to my face is "if the entire Mahayana world is non Buddhist, what exactly are they?"

Mahayana students do not do any better in this regard; although everyone accepts Theravada students as fellow Buddhists they often disparage other Mahayana organizations. The greater the success of the organization, the more they are disliked and the harsher the slander becomes. The SGI is presently the largest Mahayana School in the world and it is routinely slandered, sneered at or again, dismissed as "non Buddhist."

Yet, when inter Buddhist group activities are planned the SGI is always invited to participate. I attend these events and sit and listen to teachers tell their students to chant mantra on a daily basis because of its value to the development of samadhi but then these same teachers will flatly state that Nichiren Buddhists do not practice properly because they devote themselves to chanting mantra!

There is no logic to any of this, but there seldom is where hatred is concerned. The time to free our communities from this verbal brutality is now. If we do not rebuke these misguided "teachers" who misbehave this way now the future of the Buddhist movement in North America may be seriously compromised. Many new students are now reluctant to become involved with organized communities because they do not want to hate anybody or become involved in the senseless violence.

However, a comprehensive visit to Internet chat rooms and discussion forums will quickly demonstrate that Nichiren Buddhists are often the worst of offenders. Many young Nichiren students dismiss all other Buddhist Schools as "not Buddhist" and have nothing good to say about anyone involved in other styles of practice.

In one of his most important Teachings, “The Opening Of the Eyes” Nichiren wrote, “Those who seek the truth of Buddhism, however, should reject one sided views, transcending disputes between one"s own sect and others, and should not treat others with contempt.” (Part two)

Even worse is the ongoing feud between the various Nichiren Schools. The most heart rending lies and distortions are hurled back and forth with little regard for who is hurt in the fallout. Of course, many of the most vicious statements are intended to hurt their recipients but these misguided students seem to forget that others are also reading these vile messages and forming opinions of Nichiren Buddhism based on what they are seeing. For many people this is the only exposure they will have to any kind of Buddhist thinking in this lifetime; how could they possibly form a positive opinion? This is a tragedy that will be the cause of incredible future suffering for the misguided students that choose to behave in this irrational manner.

Love for all sentient beings was the central message taught by Nichiren. It is impossible to read the Gosho and not to ascertain that this was the driving force that motivated all of his actions. In “The Opening Of The Eyes” Nichiren wrote, “…I vowed to summon up a powerful and unconquerable desire for the salvation of all sentient beings and never to falter in my efforts.” (Part One) As students who profess to be following the Teachings of Nichiren we must strive to achieve that same level of love and compassion for all beings. At the very least we must learn to politely close our mouths and not respond to hatred with any kind of negativity.