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SGI - Soka Gakkai International - Anybody know anything about them?
Brian
Detroit, MI Moderator
There is an SGI-USA center somewhat near me, and I've always thought about stopping in just to see what's up, because I like to visit random temples.
However, in my web travels, I came across this entry at the rick ross institute (they offer info on cults and things like that).
The article goes to say that they're not sure if SGI qualifies as a "cult" per se, but it does have some quite useless practices, mostly espousing their scroll, their leader, and their way of doing things. And it sounds like a scientology sort of thing - you have to pay for things and are made to feel inferior if you do not.
Anybody here affiliated with SGI? Is it really like that? That doesn't sound like a buddhist organization at all
However, in my web travels, I came across this entry at the rick ross institute (they offer info on cults and things like that).
The article goes to say that they're not sure if SGI qualifies as a "cult" per se, but it does have some quite useless practices, mostly espousing their scroll, their leader, and their way of doing things. And it sounds like a scientology sort of thing - you have to pay for things and are made to feel inferior if you do not.
Anybody here affiliated with SGI? Is it really like that? That doesn't sound like a buddhist organization at all
0
Comments
That's a bit worrying.... smacks of 'don't do as we do, do as we say'..... Didn't the Buddha himself encourage questioning....? sounds dicey to me..... :-/
Well, I am SGI member. Active member here. Please ask me anything about it, i'll be gladly answer it.
My mail : hansquad_soka13@yahoo.com
Thank you.
Isn't this exactly what the Awakened One told all those who wanted to follow the Dharma to do?
For my part, I'm a simple soul. I Go with the Eightfold Path, the Five Precepts and the kalama Sutra. Everything else is just potential complication for me. That doesn't make me stupid, gullible or 'brain-washable'. I just 'keep on keeping on', and stroll.....
Honestly, SGI does not get involved in the personal lives of its members as long as one attends meetings and doesn't try to question the organization, you are free to live as you wish.
I hate to tell you, I've been a nichiren buddhist, practicing with the SGI for 28 yrs this month, and no one in the organization came any further into my life than I wanted them to be. I have had stupedous support since I have been in the organization: and I am bullheaded when it comes to what I will or will not accept based on my personal conclusions. I am infamous cross country, for standing toe to toe with anyone, leader, member or whomever and passionately and some times venomously express my feelings. I have more SGI people that initially don't like me for this trait as well as non-buddhist. I'm consistant. I remember once when I first started practicing I had a leader tell me that my faith was not strong. I left everyone there with their mouths hanging open as I asked her, quite passionately and loudly, as is my way, who in the hell was she to pass judgement on my faith, that wasn't her job and i didn't give a flying fk what her thoughts were about me or my feelings. Ultimately, they all love me, I remind them (paraphrased) often, follow the teachings, not the opinions of others, follow the Law, not the person, etc. and ultimately, everything everyone says about the teachings is their opinion.
It is my journey that I am on, my path that I walk, and its up to me how I walk it, even if i'm scuching around on my butt like a two year old. Fortunately for me, as I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, i develop a gnosis like knowledge of when i am on or off my path. Isn't that the whole purpose of being Buddhist, to find our own way as we use it as the beacon to light our path?
I was taught by most SGI leaders, that their are no rules in Nichiren Buddhism, everything is cause and effect. If you want the benefit of it, you do the practice, if you don't, you don't do the practice. You are not going to die and go to hell, you are not going to be punished. You make the cause to create value in your life and environment or you don't. Each of us has our own specific mission, one that only we can fill. We have chosen to be as we are to fulfill that specific purpose, even though we may not have a concious awareness of what that purpose is. But our buddha nature is eternal, it is our true self, the never beginning or ending self that is guiding our footsteps.
Opps, I just complicated things for you, Sorry. As my grandmother use to say, pray for the best and prepare for the worse.
I think saying the "SGI" is this or that is like saying Catholicism supports and harbors pedophiles because of what has happened in some diocese or because of a certain individual.
I'm sure that there are bad apples all over the place...
-bf
www.rickross.com then click onto Group information archives.
Then scroll down to Sokka Gakkai.
There you could quite possibly find some very useful information.
What a very interesting thing to say TraceyLinMiller!
So, what does the meditation practice of SGI look like to you? How do you sit, what do you focus on, where is your mind and all that good stuff. If you don't mind answering a few basic questions, I'd love to hear about your experiences in your 28 years of faith. (Congrats on your anniversary)
I think it's interesting what some people consider a cult. To many people, a cult is any belief system that doesn't affirm their belief that a Hebrew named Jesus was the incarnation of the Deity described in the Bible, and that he supposedly saved humankind from that same God.
We can leavie out the ever more common occurrence of stories surfacing involving priests and molestation. Still, I think the Catholic belief in transubstantiation and the Eucharist (eating the live flesh of Yahweh's avatar in the form of a communion wafer) - a practice not supported by the canonical bible - the damaging sense of guilt that the church encourages, and it's repressive attitudes towards women would all classify it as a cult by certain criteria if it were not so influential.
On the other hand, Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is a religious practice that is the culmination of roughly 2000 (East Asian reckoning) years of Buddhist theory and practice that heralds a new dispensation of the Buddha's Law and the practice by which all human beings can achieve liberation and fulfillment. Nichiren, the Daishonin - or Great Sage - was the incarnation of the compassionate Bodhisattva Superior Practices who fulfilled his mission to provide a direct path to salvation for all of humanity (and allegorically, even non-humans) and was, in fact, an emanation of the greatest compassionate aspect of the universe itself. He was the True Buddha, the Eternal Buddha, whose example set down the model for all humankind.
The SGI is the lay organization who has carried this practice into the modern world and spread it around the globe. (Even Italy, much to the chagrin of a few fanatical Catholics.) Led by the insightful and charismatic President, Daisaku Ikeda, the SGI has buffeted the waves of criticism, misunderstanding, and outright persecution since it's inception on On May 3, 1951. Even after our separation from the priesthood - due to the longstanding tension between the progressive lay Soka Gakkai/SGI movement and the increasingly corrupt priesthood - we withstood even the "three powerful enemies" of corrupt monks and priests.
Unlike some other schools of Buddhism, we recognize this age of war, famine, strife, anger, greed, and ignorance as the Dharma-Ending Age. In this age of Mappo, when human cleverness is great and human virtue is little, we recognize that only the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin can lead to enlightenment due to the epoch we are in and the capacity for compassion and virtue that this age and it's influences allow.
We chant "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" to the Gohonzon of the Mystic Law. We devote ourselves to the natural and unfathomable Law of Life inherent in the cosmos. We affirm our connection to it and our interconnectedness with all things. We pray to the Gohonzon as our Buddhist "ark of the covenant" that reflects to us the infinite enlightened nature that exists within us. We actualize ichinen-sanzen, which means to change our inner world so that it shines with Buddhahood, and by doing so the cosmos responds to our needs as a living being. The universe begins to reflect our lives, and our lives flow into a rhythm of synchronicity characterized by joy, fulfillment, and compassion.
Nichiren Buddhism is a practical faith, and a faith in which positive action is important. The SGI is an organization that exemplifies this spirit, and so we have worked to translate Buddhist principles into modern life. More than anyone, President Ikeda has worked to spread this faith; both to fulfill his mission as a leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and based on his personal experience with the horrors of war. For this reason, as we all set out in life to accomplish our respective missions, we look to President Ikeda as a mentor in faith - a modern example of a man who sought the Law with his whole life and who used his faith to improve himself, the world, and to fulfill his personal mission.
Some might say that President Ikeda is a cult leader, but he's far from an infallible Pope.
The fruits of Buddhism lies in being mindful, meditating, and pursuing the noble eightfold path. Any Buddhist leader who claims to be an honorable Bodhisattva, should only be involved with the Right View, Mindfulness, Right Concentration, and the Right Action at all times. They should not desire to be called "leader" out of vanity, ego worship, or for financial gain.
notice how the victim asked for money (about 1 million USD)
But to compare them to the AUM seem to be quite a stretch.
EDIT: meh, the rick ross website have little on them, and even the website created to expose them have nothing too scary about it...
The biggest complain seem to be their willingness to take over Japan through political means.
to be honest, I truly wish Buddhist political parties would take over the world democracies
Either the content from the Toride.org site has been removed/edited or it's simply down right now, but they used to have a multiple page account of the woman's story. She claims that he raped her several times over several decades - though she did nothing until she was ousted from the organization years later - and in the full translation of the story she claims that he:
1. Raped her outside, on public grounds.
2. Smelled like garlic, and went into extensive, graphic detail.
3. Got up, looked back with a queer smile.
4. Laughed loudly, and maniacally, while running half naked through the fog.
And there were no witnesses.
I'm sure that the account was enough to scare the many aging Japanese whose discriminative powers must be giving way to their more primal, basic emotions - like fear. But unless there was some major error in the translation, I'm not buying it.
We simply disagree, and we can leave it at that if you like. The fruits of Buddhism are happiness and fulfillment - but of a caliber that exceed the quality of transient things. The difference between the type of provisional teachings you're describing and the Buddhism of Sowing is the difference between a skilled dancer and the beginner. The skilled dancer flows gracefully without being tied to regiment, whereas the beginner practices their steps and stances tediously. Still, others learn through heartfelt tenacity, creatively, and by "making it their own," absorbing the fundamental truth behind the specifics. The latter path is how we Nichiren Buddhists attain our skillfulness in this lifetime, while provisional teachings will take you lifetimes of practice before you realize the truth of the Mystic Law.
Aum seems to have been based on Christianity and Shinto as much as Buddhism, probably more so. If you consider the SGI a cult, then perhaps you consider the Catholic Church or the Protestant denominations here in the US to be cults as well? Drinking blood and eating human flesh? Denouncing science and sniping abortion doctors? Sounds crazy to me.
Are you Japanese, by any chance? Exactly. People don't like the SGI because of it's involvement in politics, and by "people" I mean the powerful. Just look at the way the Republicans in the US respond when the government wants to put restrictions on Wall Street. They whine and call Washington oppressive and start calling people fascists all because some rules are being made to keep the powerful from hurting the average person. Doug Casey is a perfect example of the kind of mindset such people have.
If those are the kind of people generating negative press about the SGI and New Komeito in Japan, then count me in on the SGI rosters!
A lady throw herself in the arms of Ajahn Chah and then went on screaming "RAPE!"
This seem to be quite common and this is one of the reason for the monk rule to not have any physical contacts with a female.
My personal reasons for moving on from SGI practice were twofold. One had to do with what I perceived to be unethical interactions between leadership and general membership, and between my local SGI-USA and certain business associations. This was the one that had most to do with my leaving originally, and has been borne out during interactions with SGI folk here since that time.
The second has to do with doctrine; specifically the Nichiren Shoshu doctrines that SGI continues to maintain. Of course, I didn't understand that they were Nichiren Shoshu doctrines at the time, since we were never taught general Buddhist doctrines and general Nichiren doctrines to contrast with those which are Nichiren Shoshu-specific while I practiced with SGI. Once I learned the differences between all these, they became my primary reason for separation from SGI-USA, and the basis for finding/creating a different place to practice.
I learned a great deal while practicing with SGI, but I had to unlearn much of it later on. SGI was my original Dharma gate, but it is no longer a fit for me and my practice.
thank you!
What I am contrasting here is SGI-USA doctrine as I learned it, with what I know today. I haven't been directly involved with SGI for the past decade. Please bear in mind that the doctrine and the way it is taught may have changed during that time.
First there is the fact that SGI wasn't teaching the basics of Buddhism - the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Six Paramitas, and so on. Nichiren doctrine encompasses these, but they weren't covered. It was hard for me as an SGI member to have a discussion with another Buddhist because I didn't even know the terms and concepts they were using, and they didn't know the ones I was using, and w ehad no idea of the points of intersection and overlap.
As for the differences between general Nichiren doctrine and Nichiren Shoshu specific doctrine, there are three major points and one that I consider minor. They are as follows:
1) How Nichiren is viewed: Nichiren Shoshu and SGI consider Nichiren to be the True Buddha, who was Shakyamuni's original teacher and supersedes him. General Nichiren doctrine views Nichiren as a Bodhisattva; a votary or incarnation of Bodhisattva Superior Practice from the Lotus Sutra, as Nichiren himself claims directly in authenticated writings.
2) The importance and authenticity of the Dai-Gohonzon: Nichiren Shoshu and SGI consider the wooden gohonzon owned by Nichiren Shoshu and housed at Taisekiji (Nichiren Shoshu's head temple) to be the reason for Nichiren's advent, and the primary or most important gohonzon Nichiren created. General Nichiren doctrine finds this Omandala to be no different from others, and finds no written or historical evidence that Nichiren created any primary Omandala.
3) Nikko as the singular heir of Nichiren and his teachings: Nichiren Shoshu and SGI believe that only Nikko out of Nichiren's six senior disciples kept faith with Nichiren and inherited his teachings and the mantle of his authority. General Nichiren doctrine teaches the comlete history of all six senior disciples and considers all of them and their lineages to be valid successors of Nichiren. Learning that history was very eye-opening for me, especially the detailed history of Nikko afte Nichiren's passing in 1282.
4) Authenticity of various writings (the minor point): Nichiren Shoshu and SGI have not supported or taught their membership about scholarship dedicated to authenticating various writings attributed to Nichiren. Many of Nichiren's original writings still exist. Many more exist as copies, with the originals having been lost to fires and various other mishaps over time. There is also a large body of work attributed to Nichiren, but which for various reasons cannot be proven to be Nichiren's work directly, in the view of general Nichiren doctrine. Nichiren Shoshu and SGI accept all of this work as Nichiren's writings without question (or did at the time I was practicing with SGI).
I hope this is helpful.................
Do they have the 4NT but express them differently?
or maybe 5NT? or 3NT?
What is the difference between the Eightfold Path and whatever they are teaching instead?
The difference in the history is not very relevant to me... Would you mind telling me what is the difference in the teaching?
>Are you Japanese, by any chance?
Aha, thanks. I will show you the evidence of my being Japanese.
創価はカルト、これ日本では常識。池田会長の女がらみの噂を聞いたことないか？
This is Japanese language, saying "Soka is a cult, it is a common sense in Japan. Haven't you heared about the scandalous rumours of SGI president DAisaku Ikeda's adulteries?"
I guess I wasn't clear. SGI didn't teach me the Four Noble Truths, the Eighfold Path, the Six Paramitas and so on. The Nichiren school I practice with now does teach them. SGI taught Nichiren Buddhism in somewhat of a vacuum; not placing Nichiren and his teachings in the greater stream of Buddhist thought and history, or showing how his teachings interact with these wider Buddhist concepts.
In fairness, SGI grew up in Japanese society, and Japanese society has been Buddhist for well over a millenium. Many Buddhist concepts and ideas are part of general cultural background there, but this isn't true of the USA. Some concepts and connections may just be so obvious as to not require explanation in Japanese society, but they do require explanation for those raised in the west instead of in Japan (in my opinion anyway).
Nichiren taught that the Lotus Sutra represents the culminating teaching of the Buddha - the one that encompasses all the others. He felt that in the Age of the Declining Dharma, the Lotus Sutra held the proper practice for Buddhist practitioners. He taught that to chant the mantra Namu Myo Ho Ran Ge Kyo (Veneration to the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra) was the equivalent of reciting the entire sutra, and that this practice accorded with the Buddha's teachings for the Declining Age. Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra as translated by Kumarajiva into Chinese in the 4th century CE. All Nichiren schools I am aware of chant the Odaimoku (sacred title) as their primary meditation practice. They all have various other ancillary practices, depeding on the school.
The bit about history wouldn't make sense to someone who hasn't practiced Nichiren Buddhism with one or other of the Nichiren schools, so I wouldn't worry about that too much if you don't already know about it.
You know, I really know where you're coming from. More or less, these are the kind of things that have bothered me about the organization for a while. I remember looking into the sky one night thinking that it wasn't the Buddha that I doubted. The doctrinal issues make that a bit confusing, but the Gosho says that the Buddha's mind is a part of all of us, so Nichiren or Shakyamuni, they both had the same desire, the same mind. It wasn't the Law that I doubted. I believe in the Sutras, in the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra, and that the Daishonin's teachings are the dispensation for the age of Mappo. The only thing I doubted was the sangha.
I don't think that other Nichiren schools are all wrong, but I see a potential in the SGI that I don't see anywhere else. Things have been changing more and more, and the thing I had to realize is that the SGI is a group of people. The doctrines of this groups have been changing and are bound to continue to change. Basic Buddhist concepts are discussed in Living Buddhism, President Ikeda recently took SGI back to the original treasures of Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, instead of the version with the priest as a secret treasure - and we even received word from Japan that the Dai-Gohonzon is not a special object of devotion. It seems we might even be close to declaring it a forgery.
Linda Johnson - the same person who decided to start the "Rock the Era" movement, seemed to have had a real wake up about her life and I could see it in a videocast a year ago. Suddenly, all of the crazy "shakabuku everyone even though you have nothing to show" that I had been told went out the window as her guidance came out. I followed it and received benefits! (So now I have good things in life to show and shakabuku people with!) I think that to always tote the party line is utter BS since it seems to come down to the member from the leaders after being altered by consensus and people's personal BS. But I've learned a lot about being arrogant in my personal life over the past few months, so I stay away from being totally uncompromising and learn to recognize the people problems vs the message. I think that with diplomacy and a bit of salesman pushiness, the SGI has room for people that are sincere about practice.
I think it will continue to get better as long as there are people within who are still willing to fight the sansho shima from within. As far as the doctrine and sharing with others, I just concentrate on what I know to be true from my heart, and follow my heart above all.
Perhaps the Thai forest tradition or the Tibetan tradition...
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C827FB34FBDAEBDA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&v=ZjYP4Ewne2c
this is a playlist for Ajahn Jayasaro
http://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA
this is Ajahn Brahm Dhamma talks.
Perhaps visiting a couple of Sanghas not related to SGI...
why not..
This suggests to me that the guy who founded SGI isn't so authoritarian that he's got the whole organization marching in lock step. There does seem to be room for authoritarianism at the local leadership level, and some local leaders seem to have taken advantage of that.
As near as I can tell, the best assumption anyone can make about SGI is that your milage may vary.
I don't mind trying all kind of different meditations... Vipassana, walking meditation...
I would certainly listen to a few Nichiren Dhamma talks if i could find any online...
If you never tried anything, you would have never discovered Buddhism in the first place.
The interesting thing is that you don't find many recorded Nichiren Dharma talks. Several temples here in the US do stream their services (including Dharma talks) live, but I only found one where the talks were recorded.
Myosho-ji is in North Carolina; Ryusho Shonin is the teacher. His website is here: http://www.myoshoji.org/recorded/
Nios.
I started with the Gospel of Buddha and accepted the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha in a sort of “born again Christian style” alone in front of my computer screen. I then went out and read everything I could find. After doing things like dressing in second-hand clothes (my Western equivalent of peasant robes) and meditating in the park, I began to realize things about what I was learning. Things like the “Buddhist Bible” and the many books on Zen were useless to me. They were abstruse and left me unable to solve my problems in life. Tibetan Buddhism was much the same, and left me standing at the beginning of a path that stretched out several millennia. Even with the meditations, I was able to realize things but could find no action to take to remedy my problems
“Surely,” I told myself, “the Buddha would not have given a teaching that was not able to bring one securely to enlightenment in this very life. I searched for Buddhist temples and organizations and found one in another part of our nation sized state of Texas. I took a job there so I could investigate it and any temples in the area. But the SGI was the only organizations carrying out the Buddha’s mandate to spread the Law. Now, after many years of questions and patient research, I understand Nichiren Buddhism and the SGI in the larger context of Buddhism as a whole – and I don’t want to leave. No organization is perfect, but I believe that this is the Dharma Ending Age, and that the Teaching of the Daishonin is the path to Enlightenment in this age. SGI doesn’t give “Dharma talks” exactly since that’s the sort of thing a monk or priest would do, and we are a lay organization. We do have podcasts and videos however that I can provide links for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3cd-lRED4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl6QeS7yVMo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asf5UTfJm2k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASod5vRRW6M&feature=related
Resources for new members:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/newmembers/resources/index.php
If you go to this link, type in “sgiusa” as the password, and go to the Media tab, we have several videos and podcasts. This encouragement is meant more for actual members, but you may find some of it interesting, if not encouraging.
http://www.sgi-usa.org/leaders/
Well, I know that the Japanese tend to be conservative and a little racist, and that SGI is liberal and internationally focused. It doesn’t surprise me that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about the aims of the SGI and Ikeda in Japan. Also, rumors are rumors. We have a tradition that comes from Rome here in the West called “innocent until proven guilty.” This tradition has been influenced by the tradition of empirical thinking that developed in Europe, so when there is no empirical evidence to support a claim, it is recognized that the claim is probably false. Science teaches us that human beings are not objective, but instead prone to make exaggerations and other errors and to make them quite often. Hearsay is often worthless rubbish.
The courts in Japan have acquitted Ikeda. Why won’t you?
Anything that is good for Orlando is good in my book.
Just look at his face! How could we ever be tempted to believe that such a beautiful creature was in a cult?
On a more serious note.
There are cults in Buddhist disguises and we should all be very careful ( I cant speak on SGI in particular because I have no direct experience with them).
I am always a bit amazed when people choose to be affiliated with fringe or controversial groups when there are literally hundreds if not thousands of authentic, genuine, and trustworthy sangha's out there for them to choose from.
My mom always said, "better safe than sorry".
She is a wise lady.
If it's not rude to ask, where in Texas are you?
I do not like Soka, but you have a right to think freely about SGI. It is not my business if you like Soka or not, However,
>the Japanese tend to be conservative and a little racist
Why do you have to bring about racism or conservativism here? I just said I do not like Soka, and nothig of conservativism or race or something like that. Are you saying I am a racist? Then why does a racist have to learn and write in your language!?
I admit there is no firm evidence of the President's adulteries. Million followers of Soka are in Japan. I do not like Soka, and if asked I do no recommend Soka to anyone, but if you like you may go after Soka. You have a right. However, I do not like to hear someone call me a racist or conservative. I am not so.
P.S Why I was pleased by asked "Are you Japanese" was that I took it for a compliment on my English.
In regard to Ikeda, I don't see much difference in the way that Zen Buddhists or Tibetan Buddhists venerate their teachers and the way SGI members venerate Ikeda.
This is a different matter. The standard of proof needed to put a man in prison and the standard of proof needed to cause me to avoid getting involved with Ikeda's organization are quite different.
I have called you neither racist nor conservative, but that doesn't mean mean that the Japanese, as a nation, aren't xenophobic by virtue of their traditionally isolationist culture. The focus of the SGI is international by it's very nature as an organization for spreading Buddhism, and so it's easy to how the ideas or influences that it brings from interaction with so many other cultures might seem strange to many Japanese.
I don't expect you to change your mind simply someone else tells you to do so and I would never change mine simply because I am told to do so. What I would encourage you to do is to find out about Soka Gakkai for yourself; to make an objective effort to understand it and it's members before you call millions of Buddhist practitioners worldwide members of a "cult."
BTW your English is very good, but I've never seen anyone who is not Japanese react so negatively to SGI. You reacted a bit like many Americans do when they hear the word "Islam."
Have you met many SGI members? Have you ever any books by Daisaku Ikeda? You could probably pick one up second hand if you don't want to give money to the organization. Learning about something isn't the same as accepting it. I'm an SGI member and I checked out patbb's links, I've read up on Islam, I'm researching Catholicism, and ocassionally I even listen to what American pastor Chuck Swindoll has to say about life in general - though not often. If you've never read anything by Daisaku Ikeda, maybe you should.
Same question as above: Have you ever read anything by Daisaku Ikeda?
P.S I have a Soka neighbor, and ... no comment.
Don't worry about it, man. It's all Bueno like a Taco.
Well, that doesn't seem very likely. Do you mean not allowed, as in people are forcibly prevented from taking part, or strongly discouraged, meaning society will strongly disapprove? I assume you mean the latter.
I hear the Japanese say "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down," but the Daishonin was "tougher than nails," as we say in English. He was truly a couragous and admirable Japanese.
Like I said, you should at least read a book by Daisaku Ikeda or some Soka publications to get an idea of what Soka Gakkai/SGI actually teaches and what we believe. I'm not imploring you to convert, I'm merely recommending that you take some time to learn about this organization that is apparently so infamous but which so many know so little about. After you study a bit, you may start to think a bit differently about the Soka Gakkai and maybe begin to understand why people join despite the bad press in Japan.
It's not rude at all. I'm in West Texas. Might I inquire, good sir, as to why you wish to know?
Two reasons; the first is that I was just wondering whether we might know some of the same people. The second is that I have not heard, from folks I still have some contact with here, about some of the things you mentioned being taught currently in SGI. Historically the West Texas SGI organization is quite different from how it operates here on the east side of the state, which probably accounts for some of that.
Not really. In this part of West Texas we base our organization on the parable of the phantom city - and by that I mean that it hardly exists. The difference is accounted for by my internet connection. The part about the Dai-Gohonzon was from men's division guidance on the SGI website under leader's resources.
I began to look at the videos you linked in your earlier posts.
I like the concept of the group meetings where everyone can talk and share their experience, help each other and figure out each other problems.
(a little bit like this forum but in real life
I just think that meditation could play a bigger role in all of this but otherwise many people seem to benefit greatly from this org.
thanks again to have taken the time to explain everything, and congrats on not taking any of the accusations on the SGI personal and keep your cool
Chanting is also a form of meditation, it is using your voice to lead your mind , and with the help of mantra and mandala to lead the mind to enter the samadhi and invoke one innate Buddha nature , it provide additional protection to one mind from external evil assaults and also sharing the blessing to support one cultivation.
Therefore Chanting Daimoku ( Lotus title / Lotus mandra ) is the most suitable and accessable form of Buddhist meditational cultivation for the masses
Long time no e-see! How are things with you?
Namaste
Ansanna