joe dees wrote:
Nichiren inspired a number of sects, each* with its own brand of intolerance. The asterix after "each" in that previous sentence is there because I can think of one very notable exception to my generalization. Nichiren advocated discarding the entire cannon of Buddhist scripture save the Lotus Sutra, and I believe that Rissho Kosei-kai, one of the "New Religions" which sprang up in post WWII Japan was inspired by Nichiren's thought. They share his emphasis on the Lotus Sutra, but Nikkyo Niwano, the religion's founder, taught that ALL religions were legitimate expressions of an underlying truth, and Rissho Kosei-kai has, as an organization, devoted an enormous amount of their resources towards the goal of establishing inter-faith dialogs and cooperative exchanges.
It's a funny world.
-KMO