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Has anyone heard about Nichiren Buddhism?

budding_flowerbudding_flower
edited May 2011 in Buddhism Basics
Has anyone heard about this sect of Tendai Budhhism in Japan?

Comments

  • N2BN2B
    Yes!! what do you want to know about it?

    http://www.sgi-uk.org/

    Their main practice is to chant 'nam myoho renge kyo' every day!!
    It explains everything in their link above..

    Some people dont like it very much as it seems abit 'cult like' and not real buddhism...but i suppose its more of a 'modern buddhist practice'

    Check it out, i know friends who are Nicherin Buddhists...
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited May 2011
    No, we've never heard of it before. ;) We had a few people come on the forum from this sect before (together as a group), but they were completely oblivious to being respectful of the traditions of others. They'd go into everyone's threads and say basically "don't worry about this issue, your tradition is wrong, you must adhere to the Lotus Sutra" yada yada. Eventually they got banned.

    That's not to say anything against Nichiren, only that we've had Nichiren followers cause problems. Everyone is entitled to their views, as long as they're not forcefully denouncing everyone else's views and telling everyone they must believe what they believe.
  • ihbryantihbryant
    To be fair, Nichiren Buddhism is a lot larger than SGI, though SGI has the largest presence in the United States. Nichiren Shu also has a presence here. I think that there are over 30 sects in Japan. Not all of them forcefully denounce everyone's views.

    I don't think it's right to call it a sect of Tendai. Nichiren was originally ordained at the main Tendai temple, but that was true of the founders of many sects of Japanese Buddhism.
  • budding_flowerbudding_flower
    SGI sounded to me a little culty too, but I felt after investigating the rise of Nichiren Buddhism some beauty in it. So there are over 30 sects in Japan, wonder which one is the most open and valid to Nichiren's teachings... :confused:
  • budding_flowerbudding_flower
    Well after doing a long research on Nichiren's teachings, I come to conclude he was really dogmatic and narrow minded. Even if I love the Lotus Sutra (just started reading it though and not finished yet :p ), I don't think that criticisizing other paths of Buddhism so severely reveals an enlightend or even awakend person. What do you think? :o
  • riverflowriverflow Veteran
    Well after doing a long research on Nichiren's teachings, I come to conclude he was really dogmatic and narrow minded.
    --which is ironic considering that one of the main themes of the Lotus Sutra was a very broad inclusivity of all the different Buddhist schools! :-/
  • TakuanTakuan Veteran
    Well, I'm not saying there is no benefit to chanting, but I do think that the SGI can be a little materialistic with concern to why they chant.

    You want a new car? Chant for it! Money? Chant for it! Perfect mate? Chant for it!

    They reason why I say "CAN" is because there are some practitioners that chant far less materialistically. They chant for the realization of the Buddha Nature, which is the core of Nichiren Buddhism.

    As far as cult status goes, I think there is a cult of personality within the SGI around Daisaku Ikeda. Some members have a very strong devotion to Daisaku Ikeda, which at times can seem very cultish. Many members don't have this attachment to Ikeda, but a large number of SGI members do.
  • VajraheartVajraheart Veteran
    I think it's important to distinguish between the somewhat cultish behavior of SGI and Nichiren Buddhism.
  • SpinyNorman2SpinyNorman2
    Some members have a very strong devotion to Daisaku Ikeda, which at times can seem very cultish. Many members don't have this attachment to Ikeda, but a large number of SGI members do.
    Yes, that was my impression, it seems very devotional and faith-oriented. In the group I visited the members seemed rather insular and curiously ignorant about other Buddhist traditions. On the other hand they were obviously getting something out of it, so I guess good luck to them.

    Spiny
  • thickpaperthickpaper Veteran
    Has anyone heard about this sect of Tendai Budhhism in Japan?
    Yes, I go to their meetings when they are on. They are "very dharma" even though many don't seem to know the what the 4NTs are. Pure practice, no theory and imo their chanting, the diamoku, would benefit all buddhists and non buddhists alike.


  • budding_flowerbudding_flower
    Well thickpaper you have a point to that... but still, Nichiren had a point but was very exclusive of the other faiths in Japan to the degree that he blamed Shigon, Tendai and Zen Buddhism for all the disasters in the country... I didn't like that.

    He reminded me a Christian monk, Raymond Lully who went to the Muslims to convert them to the true faith, Christianity. He might have had good intentions but was stoned in the end... Nichiren must had good intentions, but was persecuted many times from the followers of the other Buddhist traditions, such as the Pure Land followers...
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