This new study series will cover Soka Spirit topics to be presented by a youth or student division member at Soka 2030 meetings on the last Sunday of each month.
Nichiren Daishonin called out: “My wish is that all my disciples make a great vow.”[1] What is this great vow?
“The ‘great vow,’” he says, “refers to the propagation of the Lotus Sutra.”[2]
He urged his disciples, regardless of status or background, to unite in spreading Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to create a flow of respect, happiness and empowerment for all humanity.
Over 700 years later, our Soka movement is actively fulfilling that vow.
For centuries, however, this flow of the Mystic Law stagnated under the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood. Only with the Soka Gakkai’s founding in 1930 was Nichiren’s “great vow” revived. Let’s examine how the priesthood veered from Nichiren’s intent.
Child High Priests and Other Deviations of the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood
By the 1980s, some 200 years after Nichiren’s death, the priesthood had lost sight of Nichiren’s great vow. In that period, a 13-year-old was appointed as high priest, followed in 1526 by a 9-year-old.
These appointments raised doubts whether such young priests could uphold Buddhist doctrine. To silence such criticism, a patron priest introduced the baseless idea that high priests were infallible reincarnations of Nichiren—a claim not found in Nichiren’s writings.[3]
These appointments of child high priests followed feudal customs where young children succeeded as heads of their family estates, guided by adult stewards. In line with this trend, the priesthood, lacking successors within their ranks and to gain influence, recruited children of powerful feudal lords.
Further deviations occurred between 1596 and 1692 when nine consecutive high priests came from Yobo-ji, a temple that focused on worshipping the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha rather than the Gohonzon.[4]
Meanwhile, in the early 1600s, the Tokugawa shogunate restricted religious propagation and installed a parish system requiring all citizens to register with Buddhist temples to prove they weren’t Christian. Under this new parish system, temples gained government-like authority, issuing work and travel permits and confirming parishioners’ deaths to certify they were not Christian.
With this power, priests began promoting and profiting from rituals and ceremonies, such as granting posthumous Buddhist names, conducting funerals inscribing memorial tablets and making seasonal visits to cemeteries. To conduct these rituals, they solicited financial donations, making them lucrative sources of income for priests. This rise of “funeral Buddhism” made Buddhist practice less spiritual and more transactional.[5]
Even today, Nichiren Shoshu priests solicit donations for prayer services, even from newcomers who know little about Buddhism. The priesthood has a long history of focusing on rituals and profiteering more than on propagation and encouraging self-reliant faith.
The Soka Gakkai Revives Nichiren’s Teachings
Without the Soka Gakkai’s emergence in the 1930s, when the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood was barely surviving, Nichiren Buddhism may have been lost.
With Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s leadership, Soka Gakkai members began to study and take action based on Nichiren’s writings, engaging in the daily practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and reciting gongyo, and developing self-reliant faith. He initiated our discussion meeting movement, calling it a gathering that offers “experimental proof of a life of great good,”[6] where people share how Buddhism applies to daily life.
Josei Toda, on the day of his inauguration as second Soka Gakkai president, vowed to propagate Nichiren Buddhism to 750,000 households. He declared: “If my goal should not be achieved by the end of my life, you need not hold a funeral for me.”[7] His vow awakened thousands to their inherent identity as Bodhisattvas of the Earth, laying the foundation for our Soka movement. Soon after becoming president, he led the Soka Gakkai’s effort to compile the complete writings of Nichiren Daishonin, called the Gosho zenshu (Jpn) or Gosho, to make the Daishonin’s teachings accessible to all people.
As third Soka Gakkai president, Ikeda Sensei led the global spread of Nichiren Buddhism. At the founding of the Soka Gakkai International on Jan. 26, 1975, he famously urged: “Rather than seeking after your own praise or glory, I hope that you will dedicate your noble lives to sowing the seeds of peace of the Mystic Law throughout the entire world. I shall do the same.”[8]
His actions embodied Nichiren’s spirit. In stark contrast to the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood’s pursuit of power and profit, he exemplified a life dedicated to the happiness of all humanity.
Our efforts throughout this year to share Buddhism with more young people align directly with Nichiren’s call for his disciples to “make a great vow” for the happiness of all humanity for countless generations to come.
May 9, 2025 World Tribune, p. 9
References
- “The Dragon Gate,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1003. ↩︎
- The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 82. ↩︎
- See The Untold History of the Fuji School, pp. 47–48. ↩︎
- See Ibid., pp. 53–54. ↩︎
- See Ibid., pp. 56–58. ↩︎
- The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, p. 116. ↩︎
- The Human Revolution, p. 563. ↩︎
- The New Human Revolution, vol. 21, p. 33. ↩︎
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