SGI-USA Memo
April 30, 2001
Memo No. PLN-030

To: All Region, Zones and Office Managers
Distribute to: All SGI-USA Members
From: SGI-USA Member Services Center
Subject: Distribution of Gohonzon and Statement about IRG

It is hoped that the following memo will help all SGI-USA leaders
share a correct understanding about distribution of
Gohonzon and the the Independent Reassessment Group (IRG)

If you have any questions, please contact Margie Hall in the Member
Services Center at (310) 260-8933 or via email
at mhall@....

Thank you very much.
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It is hoped that the following will help all SGI-USA leaders share a
correct understanding

about the distribution of Gohonzon.


Heritage of Faith Is Key to Bestowal of Gohonzon


In recent months, some SGI-USA members have received or distributed
reproductions of
Gohonzon from various sources, including Internet sites. Some have
also scanned these
Gohonzon, including the Nichikan- and Nikken-transcribed Gohonzon, and
uploaded them to
their own Web sites.


While Internet distribution of the Gohonzon is a fairly recent
development, Gohonzon
from several Nichiren sects have been available in Japan for decades.
Since before second Soka
Gakkai President Josei Toda's time and continuing today, many of these
sects have sold
Gohonzon at their temples. These groups do not respect the Gohonzon as
the ultimate object of
devotion in the Latter Day of the Law but rather view the Gohonzon
merely as a good luck
charm of sorts that can be commercially sold.

In the United States, we have had little opportunity to encounter
these various Nichiren
schools, though some of their supporters have now become active on the
Internet. In Japan,
however, Soka Gakkai members have witnessed a stark contrast between
the advancement of
the SGI and these other groups and between the benefit of their
respective followers. Because
these groups mostly descend from the "five senior priests," who
betrayed the Daishonin and his
teachings soon after his death, they therefore misinterpret the
Daishonin's Buddhism, and their
followers misunderstand the Daishonin's intent. Therefore, it is
highly unlikely that any Soka
Gakkai member would receive or pray to a Gohonzon from such
sources—even if it were a
replica of a Gohonzon inscribed in the Daishonin's own hand.

The Daishonin himself very carefully chose those believers for whom he
inscribed and
conferred the Gohonzon. "Faith like yours is so extremely rare that I
will inscribe the treasure
tower [Gohonzon] especially for you," he wrote his disciple Abutsu-bo,
"You must never
transfer it to anyone but your son. You must never show it to others
unless they have steadfast
faith. This is the reason for my advent in this world" (The Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 300).

In "Reply to Niiama," he writes, "Because your resolve does not seem
to wane, I will give you
the Gohonzon (WND, 469).

The Daishonin granted the Gohonzon only to those who demonstrated a
high degree of
commitment. His successor, Nikko Shonin, also maintained this
strictness. The Daishonin's
community of believers understood that such strictness was an
expression of his compassion.
To save people from slandering the Gohonzon by taking it lightly, the
Daishonin did not want
to give it to people unaware of its deep significance.

Today, the SGI has accepted the responsibility to confer the Gohonzon
in this strict and
compassionate spirit. As part of this body of believers dedicated to
fulfilling the Daishonin's
will, each of us share in that responsibility.

When it comes to matters concerning the Gohonzon, faith is most
important. As Nichiren
Daishonin states: "Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself…. This
Gohonzon also is found
only in the two characters for faith" (WND, 832). For us, this means
the heritage of faith we
share as members of the SGI. The Daishonin describes this heritage in
part as unity. "All
disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of
many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among
themselves to become as
inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim," he writes.
"This spiritual bond is the
basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and
death. Herein lies the true
goal of Nichiren's propagation. When you are so united, even the great
desire for widespread
propagation can be fulfilled. But if any of Nichiren's disciples
disrupt the unity of many in body
but one in mind, they would be like warriors who destroy their own
castle from within."
(WND, 217)

The Gohonzon that we pray to together is, in one sense, a focal point
for the unity the
Daishonin is referring to.

As SGI members, we honor, support and share in the responsibility to
protect and
propagate the Gohonzon and correct faith in it. As the most
responsible and diverse group of
believers in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, we have spread his
teachings to 163 countries and
territories; we have made his writings and other study materials
widely available; we have built
community centers throughout the world—all carried out in the spirit
of realizing the
Daishonin's will for kosen-rufu, the eternal happiness and security of
humanity. This proves
that the SGI possesses the heritage of faith. No other body of
Buddhist practitioners today is
doing so.

Other groups or interests engaged in distributing Gohonzon fail to
regard the Gohonzon
with the spirit and faith the Daishonin intended. To receive or
distribute the Gohonzon from
such sources is tantamount to supporting their misconceptions. To do
so would only create
confusion and disharmony within the SGI's community of believers and
thus may serve to
undermine one's own faith and that of others.

Therefore, out of reverence for the Gohonzon and concern for the
happiness of those who
receive it, SGI-USA wishes to clarify that it supports the conferral
of Gohonzon only as done
within the SGI, the correct body of believers upholding the
Daishonin's teachings today. We do
not support or condone the distribution, receipt or reproduction of
any Gohonzon in any other
manner.