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Copyright 1993 by the Christian Research Institute.
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"I was A Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist For 14 Years" (an article from
the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 3: Number 1, 1990) by
Jim Stephens.
    The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron Rhodes.


From the TESTIMONY column:
The personal testimony of Jim Stephens.
-------------

    The accident report read, "Cause: Act of God."

    I was in a train station in Japan, making a pilgrimage to the
head Buddhist temple Daisekiji at the foot of Mount Fuji, when a
young man -- in perfect English -- warned: "Beware the winds of
Himeiji!" Three and one-half hours later, I was leaning over to
put some postcards into my travel bag and heard someone yell a
warning in Japanese. The next thing I knew, a sign weighing nearly
200 pounds came crashing down on my back. I was in shock and my
right arm was paralyzed. I couldn't believe this was happening to
me!

    The railroad authorities didn't want to take responsibility
for what had happened. They offered me money as a bribe; they
wanted to forget the accident had ever happened. But I refused the
offer, after obtaining advice from the U.S. embassy. Had I
accepted the money, the embassy told me, that would have relieved
the railroad authorities of all obligations and responsibility.

    This episode caused me to become very discouraged, and I
desperately needed someone to lean on. In a wheelchair and all
alone, I decided to seek help from leaders at the Soka Gakkai
Buddhist headquarters in Tokyo. But my efforts were in vain. They
had no compassion whatsoever for me or my unfortunate turn of
events; they simply urged me to continue my pilgrimage, even
though I was confined to a wheelchair.

    I remember asking myself at the time, "Why? Why don't these
Buddhist leaders help me? Don't they see my condition? Don't these
Buddhists -- who have been practicing _far longer_ than I -- have
any compassion at all?"

    After this experience, I had no desire to finish the
pilgrimage. All I wanted to do was go home to my loving family. So
I flew back to the United States. To say the least, I was
beginning to have major doubts in my mind about Buddhism.

    Accidents have a way of bringing us face to face with life's
precious realities. As a Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist, I had for
fourteen years invested my energy, prayers, and hopes for a better
life in the philosophy of Nichiren Daishonin, a thirteenth-century
Japanese monk who claimed to have found the "true Buddhism." In
the United States his followers are organized by the Nichiren
Shoshu Academy (NSA), also known as Soka Gakkai. The main goal of
NSA is "Kosenrufu," or "world peace through the propagation of
Buddhism." And for years, I had enthusiastically sought Kosenrufu.

    As I reflect back on those years, it strikes me that my
commitment to NSA could be questioned by none. As a young Nichiren
Shoshu Buddhist, I became a member of the Brass Band -- a musical
group founded specifically for the young men's division of NSA.
The band was intended as a training activity for developing
character in young men. As a member of this band, I attended a
multitude of conventions and was often called to the headquarters
for musical performances for overseas dignitaries.

    I also helped build the Malibu Training Center and Santa
Monica headquarters (both in California). I became a senior leader
(or elder) of the young men's division at the Santa Monica
headquarters, and was a graduate of the Nichiren Shoshu study
department. By this time, my life had become thoroughly and
unconditionally committed to Kosenrufu.

    It was not long after this that I decided to make a pilgrimage
to Japan -- a decision largely motivated by my yearning for truth.
I had become deeply involved in my commitment to see Buddhism
spread throughout the United States, but I found a tremendous lack
of translated material. As a result, I began to search. Little did
I know that I would soon uncover some things that would give me a
new perspective.

    Open forums and meetings with fellow Buddhists began to shed
a new (and negative) light on the Buddhist religion for me. During
these sessions, like-minded Buddhists began to ask questions like,
"Why must we have a picture of sect President Daisaku Ikeda on the
wall? Doesn't that make it look like we're worshipping him? Why
must we wear white? Why can't men wear beards? Why must men and
women sit apart from one another? And where is all the money going
in NSA?" We felt that we should have a little more control over
what was going on.

    During one period, some of the Japanese leadership attended
the meetings and were later overheard behind closed doors saying,
"these meetings must be stopped." And so, one by one, the meetings
_were_ stopped. This caused me a great deal of disillusionment.

    As a senior leader in NSA, I encountered more and more
hypocrisy in the upper leadership levels and made sincere attempts
to resolve organizational and philosophical deficiencies. However,
these attempts were only met by deceit, jealousy, power maneuvers,
and even threats against my life. I made a last-ditch effort by
talking with top Soka Gakkai leaders, but it only confirmed my
need to talk to President Daisaku Ikeda, "master" of the sect, who
is praised and glorified by Nichiren Shoshu devotees. (Ikeda's
picture is prominently placed near Nichiren Shoshu altars
worldwide.)

    I tried to make legitimate appointments with President Ikeda
by letter, by phone, and in person -- only to be denied and pushed
aside. But -- undaunted -- I was _determined_ to see him. One day
he was coming out of the World Culture Center in Santa Monica
(which is the North American headquarters for NSA), and was
heading for his car behind a wall of Buddhist bodyguards. I rushed
across the street to within just a few feet of him and cried out
to him. I _know_ that he heard me, but he refused to even look my
way. I was coldly shunned as he got into his limousine and sped
away. At that point, I was a spiritually broken man. I felt
totally lost.

    Even after that incident, I was unwilling to abandon fourteen
years of Buddhist practice, and yet I was noticing in myself more
and more depravity until I could scarcely identify with a pure
conscience anymore. The leaders were not the only hypocrites. I,
too, was living a lie. I was painfully lost in a spiritual
wasteland and was weighed down with sin. I realized that while
Buddhism had benefited me in many ways, it ultimately led to a
spiritual dead end. As a great wise man, King Solomon, once said:
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads
to_ death_" (Prov. 16:25).

    But God was soon to show me the way to _life._ One day a young
Christian architect friend of mine, Laurie, who had been sharing
with me earlier, came into the blueprint store where I was
working. My spiritual hunger prompted me to confide in her that I
was seeking spiritual truth. She responded by saying, "I've got a
present for you that I'll bring by tomorrow." As she left, she
looked back at me behind the counter and said, "I've been praying
for you." I was deeply moved by her concern for me.

    The next morning, there was a package waiting for me with a
card on top which said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." There
were also two books: one by J. Isamu Yamamoto called _Beyond
Buddhism,_ and another by Josh McDowell, _More Than a Carpenter._
After reading these books, I wondered, "Could this be the perfect
Master I was seeking, but didn't know?"

    Soon after this, another Christian friend named Craig saw my
spiritual confusion, and challenged me to "go home and get down on
my knees and pray and ask God whether I ght in Buddhism. Often top
Nichiren Shoshu leaders would mockingly exclaim, "Can you believe
a religion that worships a dead man on a cross?" But here in this
book was the Living Master -- the One my heart had sought so
desperately in men.

    I was then introduced by my father to a pastor from a church
in Santa Monica who shared the truth of the Living God with me. He
read to me the words of Christ: "I am the bread of life; he who
comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall
never thirst." Convicted of my sin against a holy God, I laid down
my burden at the Savior's feet and gave my life to Him. That
night, my wife -- a Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist for 16 years -- also
believed. What grace!

    Nichiren, the self-proclaimed Japanese True Buddha that we had
followed for so many years, said that if he found a teacher
greater than himself he would follow him. In our case, _we_ were
found by a greater Teacher -- the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the eternal God, before whom "every knee shall bow."
Hallelujah!

    (_Editor's Note:_ Do you know someone involved in Nichiren
Shoshu Buddhism? Would you like help in how to share Christ with
this person? If so, Jim Stephens would like to hear from you.
Write him at: The Institute of Buddhist Studies, P.O. Box 4796,
Panorama City, CA 91412.)

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End of do***ent, CRN0009A.TXT (original CRI file name),
"I Was A Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist For 14 Years"
release A, July 6, 1993
R. Poll, CRI

(A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter for their help in
the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.)
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