"The non-Buddhist teachers claimed that the Buddha offered only one way to enlightenment, but that they had ninety-five. In the same way, the renegade disciples say, 'Though the priest Nichiren is our teacher, he is too forceful. We will spread the Lotus Sutra in a more peaceful way.' In so asserting, they are being as ridiculous as fireflies laughing at the sun and moon..." (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, pg. 306)

"If we merely rely upon the commentaries of various teachers and do not follow the statements of the Buddha himself, then how can we call our beliefs Buddhism? To do so would be absurd beyond description!" (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, pg. 56)

"One who condones evil is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"How you and the NBAA explain Shakabuku has been a great help to me. By nature, I am not a proselytizer, but I have found inspiration in the writings on the website by you and others on the topic of Shakabuku, and find myself sharing Nichiren's Buddhism with others with new enthusiasm, and even pointing out the errors of other religions to their adherents (I am a seminary graduate and student of comparative religion, so I have a lot of ammunition for this sort of thing), more and more often.

"I'm liking the changes that I am seeing in myself and the new energy infusing my practice. I would like to correspond more about the NBAA and its take on the teachings of Nichiren, for I find that as I read the Gosho and I read the website, there's a pretty darn good match. " -- Ernesto Torres, Los Angeles, CA

Shakubuku, while being the most discussed subject in the writings from Nichiren, is seldom written about by Nichiren Buddhists. We'd like to refocus on the topic as a major issue of the practice of Nichiren Buddhism. These first essays are our introduction to the topic.

Shakubuku: In the Footsteps of Nichiren
by Marge Kirkpatrick

Never Disparaging
by Shannon Heimburg

Breaking the Unity Over the Teaching of Shakubuku
A letter written to an SGI member in response to a criticism that shakubuku isn't an important enough issue over which to separate ourselves from SGI.

Gongyo
Essay on the meaning of the Life Span Chapter and the purpose of the gongyo ceremony. You can also download a file to hear us doing English gongyo to just listen or do it together with us.

Organizational Differentiation Chart
Here's a chart that shows at a glance some of the important differences in the religious teachings between Nichiren Buddhist organizations. It can be confusing to either old or new Buddhists to try to grasp why Nichiren Buddhists are so divided. But there are some critical differences that really are important to each person's practice of Buddhism. This chart will help the reader sort this out for themselves. Anyone who follows NBAA's web site knows that we only discuss matters relevant to the attainment of enlightenment. This chart is about such matters. If anyone from the organizations listed disputes this information we will gladly update the chart accordingly (see information about updating the chart at the top of the chart itself).

Letters
letters by NBAA members to others about Buddhism
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Weekly Quotes
by Marge Kirkpatrick

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