It's like a martyr complex, only more bossy.
People with a Nichiren Complex think they are being persecuted by any and all forms of authority -- the government, organizations, members of organizations, websites -- all because they are among the very few people on the planet who are practicing the Lotus Sutra correctly.
People with a Nichiren Complex feel it is their duty to rebuke others, telling them to repent and reform their ways to accord with the Lotus Sutra. They pretend to speak for Nichiren. All criticism is viewed as an attack, and further proof that they are persecuted martyrs.
Know anyone who fits that description?
I'd say Ikeda is a sufferer, as are many of his "disciples." But the Nichiren Complex isn't confined to SGI. You can find many sufferers online, too, representing other groups and anti-groups.
Nichiren himself was genuinely persecuted, banished by his government, nearly executed by soldiers. In his time, some of his followers, too, were persecuted, such as those killed by soldiers at Atsuhara. Nichiren was strict (yet paradoxically all-inclusive) in his view of how the Lotus Sutra is to be practiced. He earned his place in the Buddhist Hall of Fame.
Sufferers of the Nichiren Complex take Nichiren's life and behavior not as an instructive example, but as something to emulate literally. This is a dialogue killer. There's no possibility of real discussion with someone who thinks he or she speaks for Nichiren. There can be no peace between factions who each think they embody Nichiren's will and spirit.
The sangha of people who practice Nichiren Buddhism is so screwed up because of a large number of practitioners who have developed a Nichiren Complex. Some groups actually nurture the development of a Nichiren Complex.
That's my theory about what's wrong with our community. What do you have to say?
9 comments
You sound like Auntie. Whatever the problems of our Nichiren community, we can't let it get in the way of our individual practice and growth. We have to keep chanting and studying if we want to move our movement, such as it is, beyond the crap.
As an ex Nichiren complex sufferer I would like to add my input into the history of how and why this happens. Now, my history is a bit loose as to dates (actually, none offered), but accurate as to content, so no one blow a fuse over that.Not long after the death of Nichiren this complex arose when the Japanese started their little chant, Nembutsu leads to hell, Zen is the devil, etc. This is group think, and the nature of human beings is that we are all subject to this. You see this type of thing not only in religion, but anywhere you find a group of people with a cause, especially when that cause is justifiably a correct one.Later, there was a group of believers that had made their village into a fortress and refused to pay taxes. Unfortunately, the priests of Mt. Hiei went in and leveled the village, which caused the leaders of the Nichiren community to rethink their strategy and become less strident in their cause. Actually, they were devastated.The problem with this kind of group think is that it has as its basis the idea that the end justifies the means. This is the core problem, because in Buddhism we are responsible for our actions, and if the cause is a bad one then no outcome is justified no matter how good it is. In fact, it is the means that justify the end, and if we were taught this one little fact then maybe we wouldn't have this problem with credibility today.
Though I completely understand (at least, I think as much as I can) your statement about the Nichiren Complex, I so wished you had named it after someone else, i.e. Ikeda or Nikken. I think to ascribe those traits of delusions of persecution or continual rebukes to Nichiren is not the substance or soul of the man, whom I believe could have gone toe to toe with Jesus in terms of his affect of compassion, mercy and and confidence in what he knew to be true (truly the inverse of feeling persecuted).Unfortunately, we do not have the archetype of Nichiren resonating within our consciousness to the extent that we have of Jesus or (god forbid) Ikeda due to our culture and modern media. All we know of Nichiren is the continual historical reference to him as a "militant" monk, even though I choose to believe his "militancy" was much more akin to Gandhi's or MLK's, with a little Japanese bushido thrown in.Therefore, can we perhaps agree to dispense with the term Nichiren Complex? Ikeda complex would be so much more accurate and I think not quite so creative of bad karma... As an Adlerian psychotherapist (Adler invented the term inferiority complex), I well understand the power a couple of words can have and I would HATE it if the name Nichiren got to be synonomous with Nichiren Complex some ten or twenty years from now. Ikeda Complex I can live with.
There's a complex, all right. As a post-complexee, I am gratified to say that I escaped before the condition became acute and irreversible. It gradually became recognizable to me over time, many years during which I told myself, "It must be me". (the fact that I didn't have the complex). The most telling experience I recall occurred sometime during the mid 80's when I attended a meeting in L.A. The leader (female) became increasingly agitated as she described Nichiren's martydom, and the debt we owned because of it. The poor woman absolutely lost it in front of all the young women present, crying almost hysterically, and loudly proclaiming the enormity of the debt. Being from a Catholic background, it occurred to me that an exorcist might be called in for a consult. Interestingly, I bacame very ill immediately following the meeting, and barfed all the way back up to my home in San Luis Obispo. That was some dark energy I encountered. This poor woman was so overidentified with Nichiren (I think that is the root of the complex) she projected onto the attendees a hyper-neurosis that I can only now call: The Nichiren Complex. And so it is.
Cris, I agree it's not Nichiren's fault his name has been perverted. I agree the phenomenon could better be called an Ikeda Complex, but Ikeda has too much power and wealth. Nichiren was never wealthy. He never commanded an army of millions. Ikeda has a Napoleon complex, IMO -- he's a little man with an inflated sense of his importance with an army to stroke his ego. A Nichiren complex happens to people who feel small, isolated and disenfranchised. They have no army. They feel all they have it the Lotus Sutra, and they alone are the true defender of that teaching.Cris, I am not a psychologist. I'm shooting from the hip. Like ashwoo, I had what i would call a Nichiren complex at one point. I have no qualification to make a medical diagnosis, no. I thought I was a warrior in the Nichiren model, that's all. What else can you call that but a psychological disturbance?Cris, you are the credentialed professional here, and I will give your word a lot of weight. Is there not some effed-up conception of Nichiren and emulation of Nichiren's martyrdom/strictness in the Nichiren community? I don't mean to call you out, but I would be interested in more comment from you.
I absolutely agree and empathize with everything you have said and I do understand how the Ikeda complex is more Napoleonic in his development of symptoms as a perversion and distortion of his power, wealth and minions.My problem is simply with the linguistics. I just cringe to hear Nichiren's name associated with the symptoms you describe, even as I understand you have an excellent point... and I certainly don't want to diminish that. When you say "small, isolated and disenfranchised," I identify so much with the 10's of thousands of Americans currently taking up arms against the Obama revolution or the homeless, mentally ill adults that I deal with every day in my job, that it is hard for me to see how that derives from anything Nichiren had to offer. I believe I understand your point -- the subjective and sad relationship so many develop with Nichiren as a means toward validating their own sense of mission, purpose and value in life. In fact, I have been saying for many years that the effed-up conception of Nichiren that you speak of (and which is so true) is specifically an example of how the fundamental darkness that derives from our Western Judeo-Christian heritage filters the American perception of the Daishonin and leads us to incorrect conclusions about his intractability and martyrdom. Correctly or not, I perceive and adore Nichiren as an Asian Jesus (and keep in mind I am Jewish, at least ethnically) -- except that he was vastly superior in two ways: 1) He came up with a concrete practice (tool for developing faith) and wrote it all down; and 2) he, in fact, was no martyr -- he survived (unlike Jesus), created the Gohonzon and lived to a reasonably old and fulfilled life.Maybe it should be the Gakkai complex.... lol... I truly don't know. I just know I can't rid myself of the queasy sense I get when I hear or read the term, "Nichiren Complex," and I simply feel it important that we not, as you say, perpetuate the perversion of his name. That said, your points are all well taken and I disagree with none of them. It's just the words (and perhaps, as an erstwhile writer, I'm just too damn sensitive) that I don't like but, then again, I believe both the Daishonin's life and the Gohonzon are powerful enough to weather any verbiage storm. So, I will acquiesce to whatever decisions you and others decide to make concerning the term "Nichiren Complex." Take care...
I would be willing to relinguish any attachment to the term "Nichiren complex", and replace it with "Gakkai complex". I think it covers both Nichiren and Ikeda without naming either. It's implied. That's assuming the phenomenon does not exist in other Nichiren sects. My exposure to other sects is minimum, (even though I spent years in Nichiren Shoshu - but it was Gakkai) but I do have some exposure. It would lead me to say that the Gakkai probably exhibits the greatest manifestation of this complex so far. Where else do you find the level of group think/speak in terms of not only Nichiren Buddhism or any other Buddhist sect for that matter? But I'm rambling now, and have probably too much to say about this matter to leave me exhausted just thinking about it. I only know for sure my own experience. I went down a rabbit hole so deep that when I did come up for air I had actually missed almost two decades. I had to catch up by going back to school and majoring in political science, philosophy, women studies, and communication to bring myself into the world. Until then I ran from job to job, never allowing myself to mentally engage in my own thought process or develop an intellect. My life was a disaster. Done rambling.
Interesting reading. Good points, all.
I was talking with someone about this issue and she said she calls it "True-Believer Syndrome." She said it was an idea articulated by Eric Hoffer (sp?) who noted that all True Believers are alike in many way, regardless of the belief system. Communism, Christianity, Atheism, Buddhism, it does not matter what the beliefs are. True Believers speak and act like True Believers.Let me go look this up and not be lazy...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...Ah, that's better. Basically, it's about fanaticism.I totally agree that it is not fair to blame Nichiren for the way fanatics behave. I think you can be a true believer (lower case) without being a fanatic. Just maybe, true true true believers aren't at all fanatical.