Hokkekō
Hokkekō (法華講 Hokke kō) is a lay organization affiliated with the Nichiren Shōshū school of Japanese Buddhism and the name most Nichiren Shoshu temple congregations are known by. Hokke is a reference to the Lotus Sutra (妙法蓮華経 Myōhō-Renge-Kyō or 法華経 Hokekyō), the Buddhist scripture Nichiren Shoshu bases its teachings on, and kō (講) in this usage means "lay group" or "congregation". [1]
History
Historical references to temple congregations as Hokkekō or Hokkekōshū (法華講衆) date back to at least the 13th century. Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282), the founder of Nichiren Shōshū, also referred collectively to his lay followers as Hokkekōshū in the dedication written on the Dai-Gohonzon, the school's object of veneration, inscribed on October 12, 1279. Nichiren Shoshu attributes the appellation Hokkekō to this usage by Nichiren Daishonin. Hokkekō is the name given to Nichiren Daishonin's believers who died at the Atsuhara persecution. They are affiliated with the head temple at Taiseki-ji in Japan.
Organization
In addition to being what congregations of Nichiren Shoshu temples (close to 700 in Japan and 20 in other countries) have traditionally called themselves, Hokkekō is also used loosely in reference to all temple congregations (local Hokkekō chapters) collectively. When used this way, it can be understood to mean the national Hokkekō umbrella organization in Japan and Hokkekō groups that encompass the congregations of Nichiren Shoshu temples outside Japan.
The Japanese umbrella organization, officially called the Hokkekō Rengō Kai (Hokkekō federation), is related to Japanese Buddhism and was incorporated under Japanese law in 1962. Its headquarters is located at Nichiren Shoshu's head temple Taisekiji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan, and it maintains a chapter at each local temple.
Hokkekō groups tend to be organized fairly loosely and are generally unregimented. Whereas some members are very active in temple-based propagation and other activities, others come only for a monthly service called o-kō (or, more formally, go-hōon o-kō (御報恩御講), "meeting to show gratitude to the Buddha"), the annual Oeshiki ceremony on the anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin's passing, and other temple events.
Hokkekō experienced a spurt of fast growth in the early to mid 1990s following a split between the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood and Soka Gakkai over doctrinal and practical differences. Friction between the two surfaced as 1990 drew to a close, sparking an inflow of Soka Gakkai members into Hokkekō that accelerated for a while after Nichiren Shoshu expelled Soka Gakkai from being one of its lay organizations on November 28, 1991. Though Nichiren Shoshu still considered individual Soka Gakkai members as lay followers until a rule change in 1997, most mistakenly believed that they had been excommunicated along with the Soka Gakkai organization and its executive leaders. Hokkekō growth has since slowed substantially but is now more organic.
Hokkekō is not affiliated with any political organizations.