Answer

For the reasons I have given so far, it is clear that belief in a God is incompatible with Buddhism.

If the causes of inequality in the world, such as happiness and unhappiness, good and evil, wealth and poverty, beauty and ugliness, are attributed to an omnipotent deity, then all human efforts and ethics to overcome inequality will be meaningless. This also leads to the question of why the omnipotent God imposes such injustice and inequality on his creatures. It is, after all, a question of karma. We alone are responsible for what happens to us. The 57^ème High Priest Nisshō Shōnin wrote: "The mind that thinks everything is the retribution of its own causes and effects is Buddha".

Let's compare the notions of God and Buddha

First, let's look at the gods who appear in the stories.

First of all, God, the God of creation as taught in Christianity and the other monotheistic religions, is a character born of the words of a prophet (scripture) and has never appeared on earth.

Secondly, there are human beings, animals and others who have been transformed into gods for man's convenience.

The beings called 'gods', such as Tenri-O-no-Mikoto in the Tenri religion or Tenchi Kin-No-Kami in the Golden Radiance religion, are also imaginary beings that their founder suddenly mentioned one day, as if their image had suddenly come to mind. These gods have never appeared in the world, which makes belief in them extremely difficult.

Some Shinto shrines, such as the Tenmangu, Meiji Jingu and Toyokuni temples, are dedicated to historical figures such as Sugawara no Michizane, the emperor or Toyotomi Hideyoshi, or to animals considered to be 'gods', such as foxes (Inari) and crocodiles (Kompira).

However, these are only 'divinities' who were worshipped as 'gods' of their own accord, based on feelings of reverence for great figures, the political agendas of the time, or human thought and convenience, in order to use the magical powers of animals or appease the hauntings of the dead.

First of all, just because a person has done great deeds, is worshipped by many people and has died, it doesn't mean that he or she immediately becomes a "god" or a precious being who saves people.

And even if that were possible, there would be gods all over the world, in which case who should we worship as "gods"?

And even if, because they died, those who fought each other in life have both become gods, which of these two gods should we pray to so that our wishes are granted?

Thirdly, let us now examine the existence of "God".

Originally, the term "god" was a product of nature worship, stemming from the idea that each of the various natural actions in the universe possessed its own mysterious life, or tamashii (soul). Consequently, the existence of God, as originally conceived, did not refer to a single personality or individuality, nor was it an object of worship invited to be enshrined in shrines or other places.

For example, one of the gods worshipped in Japan is Amaterasu. She is considered to be Japan's imperial ancestral god (worshipped in the sanctuary of Ise), but in fact she is simply the sun.

The sun warms the earth with its great power and is the source of life for all living things. It's important to be grateful for the great benefits of the sun and nature. However, venerating the sun itself by personifying it does not give it any magical powers or enable it to perform miracles.

It only means that the benefits of the sun (Amaterasu) are an object of gratitude.

So, the greater the benefits of this action of nature, the more people can live in peace and abundance.

In Buddhism, the action of the deities is motivated by the merits of the correct Dharma, when the deities of the various heavenly bodies taste the flavour of the correct Dharma (Nam-Myōhōrengekyō), that is to say when the natural world is enriched by the merits of the Lotus Sutra.

Benefiting from the luminous majesty of the Buddha and the power of the marvelous Dharma, they protect human life and exercise their power to protect society, as beneficent deities.

Fourthly, the existence of the "Buddha".

Secondly, as far as Buddhas are concerned, most of the numerous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas described in the Buddhist scriptures have never appeared on earth. The Thus-coming Amida venerated by the Nenbutsu schools (schools of the Pure Land) and the Thus-coming Dainichi venerated by the Shingon school are all roles (characters) that appeared in the accounts of the teachings of the Buddha born in India, and who never existed.

Why then did the revered Shakya speak of so many imaginary Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in his preaching?

In order to explain the true nature of the cosmic world of Dharma and the origin of life, the Buddha tried to present the functions and virtues of his own life in a figurative and anthropomorphic way that was easy to understand.

For example, the figure of the bodhisattva Monju was described as symbolizing the Buddha's work of wisdom, that of the bodhisattva Maitreya as symbolizing the work of compassion, while the power to prevent and cure disease was described through the stories of the Buddha Yakushi, the bodhisattva Yaku-ō, and so on. All these characters were simply described in the sutras to illustrate the various powers and virtues inherent in the Buddha's life.

It is therefore important to know that all the Buddhas other than Shakyamuni are either fictitious, or evoked by Shakyamuni to guide people, or manifestations of the powers that he himself possessed.

(This means that neither Amitabha, nor Dainichi, nor any other. are objects of faith).

On the other hand, Shakyamuni Buddha actually appeared in history and, when he came into contact with people's suffering, he personally showed great compassion, left the abode and, after a long period of ascetic practice, became Buddha and presented teachings for saving beings. Consequently, those who believe in Buddhism should not be fascinated by the various Buddhas, but should base their beliefs on the teachings preached by Shakyamuni Buddha, that is to say the sutras.

With this basic principle in mind, it is important to remember that Shakyamuni Buddha preached the ultimate teaching, the Lotus Sutra, as the culmination of a lifetime of activity in spreading his teaching. This Lotus Sutra is, in the words of the Buddha himself, "the true and highest teaching".

In his Lotus Sutra, he announced the emergence of the fundamental Buddha, who would appear at the time of the End of the Dharma. This is because,

All those who lived at the same time as Shakyamuni Buddha and all those born in the two thousand years following his extinction could be saved by his virtues and powers, but in the "End of the Dharma" after two thousand years, no one can be saved solely by his teachings (those of Shakyamuni Buddha).

In the End of the Dharma, the true Buddha will appear and preach the original Dharma (Nam-Myōhōrengekyō), hidden at the root of the Lotus Sutra, in order to fundamentally save all people. Such is the prophecy of Shakyamuni Buddha.

As stated above, Nichiren Daishōnin appeared in the End of the Dharma and guided the beings of that period, whom even Shakyamuni Buddha could not save, through Nam-Myōhōrengekyō of the Lotus Sutra, and revealed the Gohonzon for the attainment of eternal Buddhahood of all people in the future. Nichiren Daishōnin is the Fundamental Buddha.

Nichiren Daishōnin showed the Buddha's state of life in reality, based on a human personality.

This teaches that even we, all ordinary beings, if we follow the example of Nichiren Daishōnin and chant Nam-Myōhōrengekyō as a personal practice and for the conversion of others, we will then be able to open up the Buddha's precious state of life within our lifetime.

Let's digress for a moment.

What is the difference between the Divinities and the Buddha?

People who believe in Divinities often say that they are higher than the Buddha and that they therefore attach more importance to these Divinities. However, in essence, the Divinities and the Buddha are not on the plane of inferiority or superiority to each other. In other words, the Divinities and the Buddha have different roles.

The difference between the roles of the Divinities and the Buddha can be broadly classified as follows: the Divinities protect people from afar and the Buddha guides them.

For example, the divinity of the Moon illuminates people's steps to prevent them from falling into the path at night.

However, the light of the moon does not protect against the risk of the person taking the wrong path, different from the indications, and falling into a ravine.

That's why we need someone who can point us in the right direction and say: "This road is dangerous; this is the right way".

This is the role of the Buddha.

The Buddha is a being who teaches and guides us on the right path to follow as human beings. We can therefore say that what we need to believe in to follow the path to a happy life is not faith in God or deities, but in the Buddha's Dharma (in particular in the End of the Dharma, the Lotus Sutra).

The real problem that concerns us is that many practitioners of our Buddhism address the Gohonzon as a God. They pray to the Gohonzon, as one would to a God or a Saint. The NichIren Shōshū is the only school to place the Gohonzon at the center of its creed. It speaks of it as the one great secret Dharma, including the Daimoku and the High Sanctuary.

Curiously, the Sōka Gakkai, even when it was part of the organizations affiliated to the NichIren Shōshū, gave more importance to the Daimoku, as do the other Nichiren schools. It spoke of the "law of the universe", which is in fact just another formulation of God. This is probably why it is so popular with those who reject God without rejecting the thought of the divine.