The Lotus Sutra and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi
and Josei Toda

Koichi Miyata

T

HE Soka Gakkai is an organization of a new religious movement
which is founded on Buddhism. It was established by Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi (1871–1944) and Jogai (later Josei) Toda (1900–1958) in
1930. Makiguchi and Toda interpreted Buddhism so as to be well suited
to modern times. Therefore the Soka Gakkai is also based on their interpretations of Buddhism. And now the Soka Gakkai has been propagatedworldwide by the leadership of Daisaku Ikeda.
A main creed of the Soka Gakkai is that the Lotus Sutra is thesupreme Buddhist scripture of all. The Lotus Sutra was created in
Mahāyāna Buddhism, which tried to interpret Buddhism differently
from Hı̄nayāna Buddhism for salvation of all sentient beings.
In the 13th century a priest Nichiren (1222–1282) in Japan, for the
first time, interpreted the Lotus Sutra to be well suited to the Latter Dayof the Law (mappo), and he established the Three Great Secret Laws
which were, he argued, the only way to attain Buddhahood in the LatterDay. The Soka Gakkai believes that Nichiren’s interpretations of the
Lotus Sutra were valid on the whole. Furthermore Nichiren thought thata Buddha was a person who attained Buddhahood, namely, the highest
state of life, or the noblest character. And lastly he emphasized social
responsibility of religion in Rissho ankoku ron (On Establishing theCorrect Teaching for the Peace of the Land).
In early Showa era Makiguchi and Toda found out the significance ofNichiren’s interpretations of Buddhism (Nichiren’s Buddhism) and they
established the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society,the former organization of the Soka Gakkai) in 1930, so they started a
new religious movement. In this paper I would like to describe
Nichiren’s interpretations of the Lotus Sutra in the first part. And I
would like to describe how Makiguchi and Toda accepted and interpreted the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s Buddhism, which lays the foundationof some religious ideas of the Soka Gakkai.

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Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra
NICHIREN’S CHOICE OF THE LOTUS SUTRAAND HIS UNIQUE INTERPRETATIONS
Two Reasons of Nichiren’s Choice of the Lotus Sutra
After Nichiren took tonsure and became a priest, he studied Buddhism
hard. Soon he had a question as follows. “Though there are many sectsof Buddhism, what was the final intention of the Buddha Shakyamuni?”
And he followed the saying in the Nirvāna. Sutra that one should rely on
the Law (sutras) and not upon persons (priests). So he was engaged incomparative studies of many sutras, and he came to the conclusion that
the Lotus Sutra is the supreme sutra of all.1
There are, Nichiren thought, two reasons why the Lotus Sutra is thesupreme sutra of all. First, according to T’ien T’ai’s doctrine of the five
periods and eight teachings, the Lotus Sutra is the sutra which shows
the final intention of the Buddha Shakyamuni. In the Immeasurable
Meanings Sutra (Muryogi kyo),2 a passage tells that all other sutras
which have been taught before it, are not the final sutra and that they areinferior to it. And in the introduction of the Lotus Sutra, there is a suggestion that the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra was taught before theLotus Sutra (L.S., p.5). And in Nirvāna. Sutra, which was taught last by
the Buddha Shakyamuni, there is a suggestion that the Lotus Sutra issuperior to the Nirvāna. Sutra (On Repaying Debts of Gratitude,
W.N.D., p. 692). So Nichiren concluded that the Lotus Sutra is thesupreme sutra of all.
Secondly as for salvation of all sentient beings, in the Lotus Sutra
there are two teachings which have not been taught in any other sutras.
The first teaching is that persons of the two vehicles (Hı̄nayānists) will
be able to attain Buddhahood. These two kinds of persons can’t attain
Buddhahood in other Mahāyāna sutras. And the second teaching is thatthe Buddha Shakyamuni attained Buddhahood in reality at an inconceivable distant time in the past and has been saving sentient beings
since then. So the Buddha Shakyamuni who was born in India wasmerely a provisional manifestation of that eternal Buddha Shakyamuni.
Nichiren thought that the Lotus Sutra tells that the eternal Buddha andhis first disciples, Bodhisattvas who rise up out of the ground, will saveall sentient beings in the Latter Day of the Law when other sutras can’tsave. So the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren believed firmly, is the supreme sutraof all especially in the Latter Day of the Law.

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Nichiren’s Unique Interpretations of the Lotus Sutra
Nichiren called the Buddha Shakyamuni, T’ien T’ai (538–597), Saicho(the great teacher Dengyo, 767–822) and himself the four teachers of
the three countries, namely India, China and Japan because they madethe orthodox faith and disseminated the Lotus Sutra (On the Buddha’s
Prophecy, W.N.D., p. 402).
Using the doctrine of the ten factors of existence in the Expedient
Means of the Lotus Sutra (L.S., p. 24), T’ien T’ai taught the doctrine ofthree thousand realms in a single moment of mind in Moho chihkuan(Great Concentration and Insight). A mind in a single moment has the
Ten Worlds such as hell; the worlds of hungry spirits, animals, asuras,
and men; heavens; the worlds of voice-hearers (śr āvakas), cause-awakened ones (pratyekabuddhas), bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. And each of
the Ten Worlds is endowed with all Ten Worlds in itself (this is called
the concept of mutual possession of the Ten Worlds). Thus there are
100 worlds altogether. These 100 worlds are endowed with ten factorsof existence. Thus there are conceived to be 1,000 realms. These 1,000
realms are endowed with the three realms of existence: the realm ofsentient beings, non-sentient beings, and the five components(skandhas) of body and mind, which constitute all beings, sentient or
non-sentient.
Thus the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment ofmind explains systematically that all beings are endowed with 3,000
realms, which are the real inner structure of all beings. This doctrine
shows a view of the world that there is a perfect harmony among all
beings. In contemporary words, the doctrine of three thousand realms ina single moment of mind shows what the ultimate Enlightenment is.
Nichiren inherited the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single
moment of mind and he said more directly that the doctrine was theprinciple of attaining Buddhahood for all beings. He emphasized thatthe concept of mutual possession of the Ten Worlds explained the principle of attaining Buddhahood for all beings. And he said that all
Mahāyāna sutras except the Lotus Sutra denied that persons of two
vehicles could attain Buddhahood. So strictly speaking, all other sutras
did not show the concept of mutual possession of the Ten Worlds theoretically. Therefore Nichiren concluded that none of sentient beings
could attain Buddhahood by means of all other sutras.
Moreover Nichiren expressed three thousand realms in a single
moment of mind as the seed of Buddhahood (The Object of Devotion
for Observing the Mind, W.N.D., p. 365). At this point three thousandTHE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA

59

realms in a single moment of mind are not only the inner real structureof all beings, which was T’ien T’ai’s interpretation, but also the seed of
Buddhahood, which was directly the matter of concern for unenlightened sentient beings. Nichiren wrote the relation between three thousand realms in a single moment of mind as the seed of Buddhahood andNichiren’s Buddhism in The Object of Devotion for Observing the
Mind. “Showing profound compassion, for those who can not comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single
moment of mind, the Buddha wrapped it within the five Chinese characters, (namely Myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo, which is the Chinese name of the
Lotus Sutra), with which he then adorned the neck of the ignorant people of the Latter Day (W.N.D., P. 375).” Nichiren argued that three
thousand realms in a single moment of mind as the seed of Buddhahood
was in the Latter Day of the Law nothing but Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Nichiren expressed clearly that the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day was
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, that is to say, the Three Great Secret Laws,
which were Nichiren’s original interpretations.
Nichiren compared his Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with T’ien T’ai’s three
thousand realms in a single moment of mind and described the former
as actual practice, which was based on the essential teaching of the
Lotus Sutra, and the latter as only theory, which was based on the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra (The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, W.N.D., p. 375). So Nichiren concluded that in the Latter
Day Nichiren’s interpretations of the Lotus Sutra, namely Nichiren’s
Buddhism, was superior to T’ien T’ai’s three thousand realms in a single moment of mind.
THE OUTLINE OF NICHIREN’S BUDDHISM
The Three Great Secret Laws as the Central Dogmas
As mentioned above, Nichiren inherited the Buddha Shakyamuni, T’ien
T’ai, Saicho and propagated the Lotus Sutra. And he showed that his
original ways of attaining Buddhahood, namely the Three Great SecretLaws, are well suited to the Latter Day of the Law. The Three Great
Secret Laws are honmon no honzon (the object of devotion of the essential teaching), honmon no daimoku (the invocation, or daimoku of theessential teaching), and honmon no kaidan (the sanctuary of the essential teaching).
The object of devotion of the essential teaching is a mandala
inscribed on paper or on wood with Chinese and Sanskrit characters
representing the Mystic Law as well as the Ten Worlds, including Bud-

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dhas. Before Nichiren inscribed honzons, the statues and the pictures of
Buddhas and bodhisattvas had been the objects of devotion mainly. In
The Four Debts of Gratitude, Nichiren wrote, “The Law is the teacher
of all Buddhas. It is because of the Law that the Buddhas are worthy ofrespect (W.N.D., p. 44).” Nichiren thought that the Law is superior to
Buddhas and that we should believe in the Law as the object of devotion. So Nichiren inscribed many honzons in which the Mystic Law,that is to say, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, was inscribed at the center and thenames of sentient beings of the Ten Worlds were inscribed around it.
The invocation, or daimoku of the essential teaching is to chant thesacred title of the Lotus Sutra, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, with belief in theobject of devotion of the essential teaching. Before Nichiren, the waysof practicing the Lotus Sutra were, for lay believers, the five kinds ofpracticing, which are described in the Lotus Sutra such as reciting theLotus Sutra and copying the Lotus Sutra with hands. And for priests it
was to concentrate and gain an insight of the mind which is described in
T’ien T’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight. These ways of practicing
were possible only for those who were the rich and the educated. So
many people could not practice by these ways. Nichiren showed an easy
way of practicing the Lotus Sutra in order to propagate the Lotus Sutra
to people of every class.
The sanctuary of the essential teaching is to erect an ordination platform where the object of devotion of the essential teaching should beenshrined. Nichiren was influenced by Saicho’s movement for seeking
permission to erect the Mahāyāna ordination platform on Mt. Hiei to theimperial court. So he seemed to think that the ordination platform of theessential teaching should be erected in the future under permission of
the imperial court and the shogunate as milestone of spreading theessential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, that is to say, Nichiren’s Buddhism, abroad widely throughout Jambudvı̄pa.
Some Features of Nichiren’s Buddhism(a) Negation of status system and dignity of life
As I have mentioned above, Nichiren explained by the doctrine of three
thousand realms in a single moment of mind that the Lotus Sutra is the
only sutra that promises attaining Buddhahood for all sentient beings.
Nichiren showed that every person is endowed with Buddhahood in hislife. In The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, Nichiren wrote,“The Buddha Shakyamuni in our lives is the eternal Buddha since time
without beginning, who obtained the three bodies more than numberlessmajor world system dust particle kalpas ago (W.N.D., p. 365).”

THE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA61

As every person has a clean world of Buddhahood and a possibilityof attaining Buddhahood, all people are substantially equal as the noble
children of the Buddha. So the differences of status and social positionsin this world are religiously meaningless. In The Selection of the Time,
Nichiren wrote, “Those concerned about their next life would do betterto be common people in the Latter Day of the Law, than be mighty
rulers during the 2,000 years of the Former and Middle Days of the Law(W.N.D., p. 544).” In The Letter from Sado, Nichiren wrote, “Nichiren,
who in this life was born poor and lowly to a chandala, the lowest classfamily (W.N.D., p. 303).” In the Kamakura period when the status system was strict, Nichiren’s calling himself as the lowest class extended
the circle of solidarity which overcame the strict status system. This
was a revival of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s opinion which had denied
the caste system in India.
The thought that every person is endowed with a world of Buddhahood formulated the thought that life is most precious of all because
every sentient being is endowed with a noble world of Buddhahood in
its life. In On Prolonging One’s Life Span, Nichiren wrote, “One day oflife is more precious than all the treasures of the major world system(W.N.D., p. 955).”(b) The doctrine of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime as a theory ofhappiness
Nichiren thought that salvation should mean attaining Buddhahood inthis lifetime. Nichiren criticized other sutras, because these sutra taughtthat people would be able to attain Buddhahood after countless kalpas
of austere practice and denied that people would be able to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. To believers of the Jodo sect who thought theywould be reborn in the pure land (Sukhavati) of Amitabha, Amida Buddha in the next existence of life, Nichiren told that the teaching of thepure land of Amida Buddha was only a provisional teaching and that
this sahā land which we lived was the only pure land. In Letter to the
Lay Priest Ichinosawa, Nichiren wrote “Amida Buddha dwells in a landthat is located a hundred thousand million worlds away and has not theslightest connection with this sahā world (W.N.D., p.529).” And
Nichiren criticized the teachings of the Jodo sect because they neglected
this life and world.
As a step toward attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime, Nichirenemphasized a teaching in The Parable of the Medical Herbs of the
Lotus Sutra. “Once these living beings have heard the Law, they will
enjoy peace and security in their present existence and good circum-

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stances in future existences (L.S., p. 99).” So Nichiren admitted positively happiness in this world. To some believers who suffered from diseases or poverty, Nichiren taught lessening their karmic retributions andprayed kindly for them to recover. In Winter Always Turns to Spring,
Nichiren wrote, “Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter, but winter always turns to springs. Never, from ancient times on,
has anyone heard or seen of winter turning back to autumn (W.N.D., p.
536),” and encouraged them to do their best with hope.
Although Nichiren admitted happiness in this world, the ultimate
happiness is to attain Buddhahood, which can be obtained throughendurance of religious persecution and preservation of faith and practicing missionary work. In Happiness in This World, Nichiren wrote,“There is no true happiness other than upholding faith in the Lotus
Sutra. This is what meant by ‘peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences.’ Though worldly
troubles may arise, never let them disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even sages or worthies (W.N.D., p. 681).”(c) The significance of On Establishing the Correct Teaching for thePeace of the Land
According to a passage of The Life Span of the Thus Come One of the
Lotus Sutra, “(From having attained Buddhahood), I (the Buddha) havebeen constantly in this sahā world, preaching the Law, teaching andconverting (L.S., p. 225),” Nichiren thought that there was no pure land,
the land where a Buddha lived, except this sah ā world. But Nichiren
didn’t think this world was exactly like a Pure Land, an ideal world. In
On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,
Nichiren described the life of people who suffered from natural disasters, a plague, a famine. Nichiren submitted it to the Kamakura shogunate, because he wanted to save suffering people by alteration of shougunate’s policy. So Nichiren didn’t think “the peace and security of theland” as the peace and security of the court and the shogunate. Rather,he thought it as a founding of an ideal world where all people weresecured.
Nichiren didn’t regard people as powerless beings who waited forsalvation passively. In On Establishing the Correct Teaching for thePeace of the Land, he wrote, “The nation achieves prosperity throughthe Buddhist Law, and the Law is proven worthy of rerevence by thepeople who embrace it (W.N.D., p. 18).” It is the people who should
propagate the correct teaching, the Law and found a peace and secureworld. In this respect, On Establishing the Correct Teaching for theTHE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA

63

Peace of the Land attached importance to people who participated inthis world actively on the base of faith. So Nichiren seemed to insist
social reformation not for the dominating class but for people who suffered.
In other words, believers, who believe in Nichiren’s Buddhism,
should try to found an ideal society in this world. They should not besatisfied with religious activities only in the narrow religious sphere.
Because the secular laws are not different from the Buddhist Law,
which is meant by a passage of Expedient Means of the Lotus Sutra,“These phenomena are part of an abiding Law, the characteristics of theworld are constantly abiding (L.S., p. 41),” the believers of Nichiren’s
Buddhism should try to realize social justice and to found an ideal society on the base of faith.

Some Religious Ideas of the Soka Gakkai
and the Lotus Sutra
The significance of Nichiren’s Buddhism which I mentioned above has
not always been inherited by the Nichiren sects which were derived
from Nichiren. Under the long regulation of religions in the age of theTokugawa shogunate, the significance of Nichiren’s Buddhism had been
neglected by them. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda found out
the significance of Nichiren’s Buddhism. So the creeds of the Soka
Gakkai are based on their discovery and interpretations of Nichiren’s
Buddhism. Some religious ideas of the Soka Gakkai are based on
Makiguchi’s acceptance of Nichiren’s Buddhism in 1928 and his interpretations of it by his original theory of value. And also they are basedon Toda’s Enlightments in prison, where he was sent because of his
objection to the military government. His Enlightment was that Buddhahood was one of the state of life, one of the Ten Worlds of life, andthat Toda himself was also one of the bodhisattvas who emerged fromthe earth, which is described in The Emerging of the Earth of the Lotus
Sutra. So the religious ideas of the Soka Gakkai are formed as the modern development of Nichiren’s Buddhism.
The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (the former organization of the Soka
Gakkai) was founded by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda in1930. It was an organization of educational reform movement to realize
Makiguchi’s original ideas of education, namely, Ideas of Education for
Creating Values. And Makiguchi thought that to realize his educational
ideas Nichiren’s Buddhism should lie at the base of the organization, so

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the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai had some elements of religious movement.
In 1940 Makiguchi became president of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai andaltered general principles and the regulations of the Soka Kyoiku
Gakkai. After then the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai activitated a religious
movement mainly. Afterwards the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai opposed thereligious policy of the military government of Japan and refused acceptance of talismans of Ise shrine (Japanese emperor’s shrine). So the
Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was oppressed and accused of being guilty of theMaintenance of the Public Order Act and disrespect of majesty.
Makiguchi died in prison in 1944 and Toda was not let out of prison
until a month before when Japan was defeated.
When Toda reconstructed the organization, he changed its name to
the Soka Gakkai. And the Soka Gakkai acquired its own license of areligious corporation independently of the Nichiren Shoshu and developed its own religious movement.
THE FOUNDING OF THE SOKA GAKKAI—TSUNESABURO
MAKIGUCHI’S RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
Makiguchi’s Career of Religions and His Choice of Nichiren’s Buddhism
In 1928 Makiguchi converted to Nichiren’s Buddhism through an educator, Sokei Mitani, who was a lay believer of the Nichiren Shoshu. In
his career of religions, Makiguchi had been interested in Protestantism,
Zen Buddhism and one of Nichiren sects, which was led by Chigaku
Tanaka, who was president of the Kokuchukai (one of nationalistic religious bodies). However Makiguchi didn’t believe in them3 (about
Makiguchi’s early religious wandering, see my paper, pp. 48–49).
Makiguchi explained that he could not believe in them because thesereligions were incompatible with his ideas of philosophy and science.
Under the influence of Western modern civilization after the Meiji
Restoration, Makiguchi trusted in scientific knowledge to a certain
extent and he didn’t believe in such religions as were incompatible with
scientific knowledge.
And as Makiguchi had taken an active part in education, he thoughtthat development of personality, which was formed by self-awakeningof social cooperations, was as important as realization of individual
happiness. So he sought for a religion which promoted both individual
happiness and social responsibility.
So Makiguchi had a criterion for choice of religion and he sought fora religion which met it. At last he found that Nichiren’s Buddhism,
which he accepted through Mitani, met the criterion. He explained as

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follows (ibid., pp. 50–51).
Concerning whether a religion is compatible with scientific knowledge, he wrote that Nichiren’s Buddhism had three types of proofs(proofs by documentary evidence, by logical reasoning and by demonstrations of actual facts) which established Buddhist truth. And he wrotethat these types of proofs were similar to scientific ways of proofs,
which were constituted by rational theories and experimental proofs oftheories by demonstrations of actual facts. Although the objects, which
many other religions devoted, were personified deity or Buddhas who
had absolute powers of salvation, the object which Nichiren’s Buddhism devoted, was the Law for becoming a Buddha oneself. He argued
that a Buddha led a life based on the Law and attained Buddhahood(ibid.), that is, the noblest personality. Makiguchi distinguished between
religions which embraced a personified deity or Buddhas and thosewhich embraced a Law, and argued that the latter had an affinity with
science. Makiguchi couldn’t believe in Christianity because he thought
it was incompatible with scientific knowledge.
Concerning whether a religion promoted both individual happinessand social responsibility, Makiguchi might think that Zen Buddhism
promoted individual happiness because it taught how to get individual
peace of mind, but it wasn’t interested in social responsibility. Of all
Japanese Buddhist sects, Nichiren’s Buddhism took the strongest interest in social issues, and Nichiren’s On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land showed that it was important for religious
people to criticize those in power from a viewpoint of their religious
faith. So because Makiguchi thought we should choose a religion which
promoted social responsibility, it was natural that he chose Nichiren’s
Buddhism.
Nichiren attached importance to the saying of the Nirvāna. Sutra thatone shouldn’t rely on persons but on the Law. Makiguchi also regarded
the saying as important and interpreted the saying as a democratic principle. He wrote that Nichiren’s Buddhism was a religion well suited to astate governed by rule of law (ibid., p. 52). So he accepted Nichiren’s
Buddhism not through Chigaku Tanaka, who worshipped the emperorof Japan, but through Sokei Mitani, who was a democrat.
Makiguchi accepted Nichiren’s Buddhism in such a way as mentioned above. It showed that he accepted Nichiren’s Buddhism under his
own interpretations. Makiguchi had his own ideas of religion and hechose Nichiren’s Buddhism as well suited to his ideas of religion. So heinterpreted Nichiren’s Buddhism originally by his own ideas of religion.

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An Original Religious Movement Led by Makiguchi
Because Makiguchi attached importance to the saying that one shouldn’t rely on persons but on the Law, he read directly Nichiren’s text andhe tried to understand Nichiren’s Buddhism without traditional interpretations which had been handed down by priests of the Nichiren Shoshu.
One of Makiguchi’s original interpretations was an interpretation of
Nichiren’s Buddhism by his original theory of value. Both the Lotus
Sutra and Nichiren taught that the laws of society were nothing but the
Buddhist Law. Makiguchi interpreted this teaching as following. Boththe Buddhist Law and the laws of society teach the laws of cause andeffect. The laws of society such as natural sciences and social sciences
teach the law of cause and effect which can be applied only to a narrowsphere that each science studies. In opposition to the laws of society the
Buddhist Law teach the law of cause and effect which can be applied toall spheres. So the Buddhist Law, Makiguchi thought, are compatible
with the laws of society, and the former can include the latter (ibid., pp.
51–52).
And Makiguchi formulated a plan of value science whose aim was tofind the law of cause and effect concerning human happiness and toprovide guiding principles for people to attain the greatest happiness,based on the assumption that in order to achieve the same effects, onemust generate the same causes. Makiguchi thought that the existence ofreligion was justified only when it provided the value of fulfilling people’s prayers for happiness in their lives. So Makiguchi thought that,with the methodology of value science, it was possible to measure howmuch value a religion could provide and to compare all religions
through value science. Makiguchi was confident that the superiority, interms of value, of Nichiren’s Buddhism would be borne out by his value
science research methodology (ibid., pp. 54–56).
By the interpretation that Nichiren’s Buddhism gives believers
rewards and slanders punishments by the Law (ibid., pp. 56–59),
Makiguchi asserted that Nichiren’s Buddhism gave an individual person
value of benefit and developed an original religious movement, which
tried to prove experimentally value in human life. When Makiguchi
developed the new religious movement, he didn’t let Soka Kyoiku
Gakkai belong to a lay believer’s organization of the Nichiren Shoshu’s
temples (ibid., pp. 62–65). And he thought that small discussion groups,
where Makiguchi and lay leaders gave guidance of religious faith andwhere people shared common religious experiences, were more important than preaching by priests in a temple. This new religious move-THE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA

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ment, which was founded on Makiguchi’s axiological interpretations of
Nichiren’s Buddhism, released Nichiren’s Buddhism from traditional
faith form of the Nichiren Shoshu. The Nichiren Shoshu had been sustained by a system of supporters of a Buddhist temple and held funerals
as its important task. Makiguchi changed Nichiren’s Buddhism from
Buddhism for the next life to Buddhism for this life.
And Makiguchi thought that he should develop Nichiren’s Buddhism
not only as religion which promoted individual value of benefit but also
as religion which promoted social value of goodness. Makiguchi as wellas Nichiren believed that social security and peace could be attained bycorrect teaching, so to propagate Nichiren’s Buddhism was in itself
good. Because Makiguchi inherited Nichiren’s belief that the Lotus
Sutra was the supreme sutra of all, he criticized severely that the
National Shintoism, which the military government of Japan compelled
the people to believe, was a wrong religion. Makiguchi appealed believers of Nichiren’s Buddhism to do a great good life that, following
Nichiren’s admonition against the Kamakura shogunate, one should
admonish against the military government under being determined to be
oppressed.
Makiguchi criticized the Nichiren Shoshu because they were ready tocompromise with the National Shintoism. In spite of Makiguchi’s
protest, the Nichiren Shoshu decided to receive Shinto talismans fromIse shrine. And when the administrative office of the Nichiren Shoshu
ordered the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai to receive Shinto talismans from Iseshrine, Makiguchi refused the demand. After then the Soka Kyoiku
Gakkai separated from the Nichiren Shoshu. The Soka Kyoiku Gakkai
was oppressed organizationally in 1943 and Makiguchi died in prison in
1944.
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SOKA GAKKAI—DEEPENING OF
INTERPRETATIONS OF NICHIREN’S BUDDHISM BY JOSEI TODA
Two Enlightments Which Toda Attained in Prison
The reconstruction of the Soka Gakkai after the World War II started
when Josei Toda experienced religious Enlightments in prison. Toda
read eagerly and repeatedly the Lotus Sutra there.
Makiguchi interpreted Nichiren’s Buddhism from his theory of value,and showed usefulness of Nichiren’s Buddhism in this life. And heinterpreted a Buddha as a person who becomes the noblest person andemphasized that Nichiren’s Buddhism had social significance. But he
did not relate deliberately his interpretations to the Lotus Sutra and68

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Nichiren’s teachings. He used an axiology of beauty, benefit and goodness, which was developed in the second volume of the Soka Kyoikugaku Taikei (A System of Value-Creating Pedagogy), as framework ofinterpretations of Nichiren’s Buddhism.
Toda abandoned the Makiguchi’s framework for a while in prison,and tried to understand Nichiren’s Buddhism directly by reading theLotus Sutra. Then he came to a passage of the Immeasurable Meanings
Sutra, which was supposed to be an introductory sutra of the Lotus
Sutra. There was a passage that Buddha’s body was explained in 34
negative phrases (Toda, vol. 8, p. 500).4 After then he wondered what a
Buddha was in reality. He chanted daimoku and thought about it forsome months, and at last he realized that a Buddha was a life itself. He
explained his realization in Seimei ron (An Essay Concerning Life.
Toda, vol.3, pp. 5–22) which appeared in the Daibyakurenge in 1949.
In the essay, Toda quoted some passages of the Lotus Sutra andNichiren’s texts and explained life as follows. Life is eternal; it has
existed in the past, exists now, and will exist always in the future, andcontinues in conformity with the law of cause and effect. Life exists not
only in living beings, but also in the whole universe, which contains
inanimate beings. In short the whole universe is life itself and is filledwith life force. And Toda accepted an idea of next existence of individual life after this life’s death and he explained that individual life after
death unites with the whole life of the universe. This essay explained
T’ien T’ai’s doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment ofmind by Toda’s original keyword “life.” Toda united the Lotus Sutra,
T’ien T’ai’s doctrine and Nichiren’s Buddhism by using a term “life”
and the essay orientated the Soka Gakkai’s interpretations of Buddhism
by the keyword “life.”
After he found out an interpretation of a Buddha as a state of life,
Toda read still more the Lotus Sutra in prison and he came to a problem
why the Lotus Sutra was taught as a whole. In a morning when he concentrated on the problem, a vision occurred to him, that is, as one ofbodhisattvas who emerged from the earth, he attended an ceremonial
meeting in an empty space, which was described in the Lotus Sutra(Toda, vol. 3, p. 108, also vol. 8, pp. 517–520). By this religious vision
he realized his religious mission that he should save people who suffer
by the propagation of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law.
The Ideological Development of Nichiren’s Buddhism by Josei Toda
From Makiguchi, Toda inherited some ideas of religion that religion
should provide values in this life and that religion should not be incom-

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69

patible with sciences. Toda explained these ideas in Kagaku to shukyo(Science and Religion, Toda, vol.3, pp.23-31) and Kofuku ron (An Essay
on Happiness, Toda, vol. 3, pp. 32–40). But there was an originality inthese papers that he used theory of life, which he had realized in prison,
as framework to interpret Buddhism. Toda explained Buddhism in An
Essay on Happiness as follows. “Religions have developed to seek
truths in human inner world (Toda, vol. 3, p. 34).” Buddhism argues that
there are laws of polluting and cleansing life. When each sentient beingcommits bad and foolish deeds, its deeds pollute its life badly. The
badly polluted life can’t be in harmony with the rhythm of the universe,
and it loses life force and feels unhappy. There is only one way tocleanse a badly polluted life in the Latter Day of the Law, that is, topractice the Three Great Secret Laws. If a person practices these Laws,
he can cleanse and strengthen his life and feel happy.
Because Toda emphasized rewards by belief in Nichiren’s Buddhism,
the Soka Gakkai was considered generally as one of new religious
movements whose purpose was to give people this-worldly benefits. But
Toda distinguished three different kinds of benefits in Dai riyaku ron(An Essay on Great Benefits, Toda, vol. 3, pp. 148–175). The first kindof benefit is this-worldly benefit that believers can get over poverty anddiseases. The second is to obtain vigorous life force on which our daily
life rests. The third is to obtain Buddhahood which is eternal happinessand is above this-worldly happiness. Toda explained that a Buddha is aperson who continues to save sentient beings with vigorous life force
and kind-hearted mercy whenever he is reborn in the cycle of reincarnation (Toda, vol. 3, p. 171).
As missionary works had advanced well, Toda showed in Kosen rufu
to bunka katsudo (Spreading the Lotus Sutra Abroad Widely Throughout Jambudvı̄ pa and Cultural Activities, Toda, vol. 1, pp. 186–195) thatthey should establish honmon no kaidan (the sanctuary of the essential
teaching), that is to say, to erect an ordination platform for Nichiren’s
Buddhism, which was the unrealized goal of the Three Great SecretLaws. In order to establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching, theSoka Gakkai should develop propagation of honzons (the objects ofdevotion) on a large scale and make people understand the significanceof Nichiren’s Buddhism (Toda, vol. 1, pp. 192–3). After then theywould be able to establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching, that is
to say, to erect an ordination platform for Nichiren’s Buddhism as anational ordination platform. Toda argued in Obutsu myogo ron (AnEssay on the Harmonious Relation between Politics and Buddhism,
Toda, vol. 1, pp. 200–253) that, in order to realize policy that social

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THE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA

prosperity would be in keeping with individual happiness, the Soka
Gakkai should commit political activities to establish the sanctuary of
the essential teaching as a national ordination platform. In Toda’s argument a secular purpose that social prosperity would be in keeping withindividual happiness (ibid., p. 252) and a religious purpose that theyshould establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching as a national
ordination platform (ibid., p. 200) weren’t distinguished. Because
Toda’s proposal wasn’t examined legally, later the Soka Gakkai was
criticized that to establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching as anational ordination platform is against the principle of separation ofchurch and state in the Japanese Constitution.
In the Kamakura period when Nichiren lived, it was taken for granted
that the imperial court and the Kamakura shogunate protected or
oppressed some religious groups and there was no idea that state should
be separated from church. So Nichiren seemed to have an idea that,from the case of Saicho’s movement to erect an ordination platform for
Mahāyāna Buddhism in Mt. Hiei under permission of the court, theyshould establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching under permission of the court and the shogunate. But in 1970 under the leadership ofDaisaku Ikeda, the third president of the Soka Gakkai, it was formallydecided that they would establish the sanctuary of the essential teaching
not as a national ordination platform but as a private ordination platform
which would be erected by many people’s contributions. The reason
why the Soka Gakkai denied a national ordination platform is that the
principle of separation of state and church was constituted in modern
times from the critique that the state should not oppress freedom ofbelief and that the Soka Gakkai was also oppressed by the military government during the war. So the Soka Gakkai thought highly of the principle of separation of state and church which would secure freedom ofbelief institutionally. And to be better suited to the principle, the Soka
Gakkai decided to separate members of assemblies from the managing
staff of the Soka Gakkai and to entrust political activities to the Komei
Party which had no religious purposes and to restrict themselves to support activity. Now the Soka Gakkai develops such activities as cultural,
peace and educational movements which are based on religious movement.
Abbreviations
W.N.D. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 1999.
L.S.
Tr. by Burton Watson, The Lotus Sutra, New York: Columbia University
Press, 1993.

THE LOTUS SUTRA AND MAKIGUCHI AND TODA

71

Notes
1

Nichiren’s early important writing the Kokka shugo ron (On Protection of a Country) has not been translated into English yet. In Japanese version of this paper I citedmany passages from this writing. But for convenience of English readers who can’t readJapanese, I rewrote some passages and cited them from W.N.D.. There have been manyargumnents about which texts were really written by Nichiren himself. And there aresome uncertain texts in W.N.D.. But I think even if these texts hadn’t been written by
Nichiren, they were in harmony with Nichiren’s religious thoughts in the main.
2
Today this sutra is regarded as a scripture which was made in China in fifth century. But it had been regarded as Shakyamuni’s teaching from its appearance until 1954,
when Enichi Ocho wrote Muryogi kyo ni tsuite (On the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra)
and argued that the sutra had been made in China in fifth century.
3
Makiguchi’s writings have not been translated precisely into English. But a few
years ago my paper Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s View of Religion was translated into English (The Journal of Oriental Studies, vol. 5, Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Philosophy,
1995, pp. 48–66). So I would like to cite as many passages of Makiguchi’s writingsfrom my paper as possible.
4
Toda’s writings have not been translated into English yet. So I can’t help citing his
Japanese texts Toda Josei Zenshu (The Complete Works of Josei Toda, Vol. 1–8,
Tokyo: Seikyo Shinbunsha, 1981–1989).