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Soka Gakkai? I'm searching for guideness.
Grothe
New
Hello everybody, I'm seeking guideness! I'm a danish boy, 16 years old and I'm searching for answers. On the 04-07-2014 I was watching a docomentary about Islam, a kind of Christians, an other kind of Christians and Buddhism (Soka Gakkai). I have been raised in a Protestant Christian family and I'm starting to get curious and a little sceptical about my religon. I feel like I want to get some more facts about Soka Gakkai and a mentor (preferly danish). I like the philosophy of life, and begin to train as a Buddhist.
I thank you sincerely for your understanding of the my curiousness.
0
Comments
Soka Gakkai, or SGI is one of the more controversial groups. That said, there are many who benefit from their association with SGI.
SGI is what you call a Pure Land sangha. Prolly an emphasis on Lotus Sutra, and Amida Buddha devotion. Lots of chanting. It has high profile celebrity members like Orlando Bloom and Tina Turner.
There should be a center in Denmark. Check Buddhanet's listings.
All I know is that it's a Nichiren sect, which focuses on chanting and the Lotus Sutra over a more meditation-based approach. I've always valued calming and insight meditation... chanting wouldn't "do it" for me, but to each his/her own!
Google is your friend, by the way. You can even translate pages into Danish.
Read and study more. Chanting is one technique amongst many. Study is another. If you don't have Google, you probably have access to books or Youtube in Denmark? :buck: .
What have you read?
MODERATOR NOTE:
Please ensure that when conversing with someone whose mother tongue is obviously NOT English (this also by their own admission) you respectfully avoid using colloquialisms like 'prolly' ( @Chaz) , because they really may not comprehend what you mean. They might, sure, but it's better to use correct English... Not a telling-off, just a request to be thoughtful.
Thanks guys.
Thanks everyone!
So far have i read about the Nichiren Buddhism and I have read about Buddhism in general. I've seen 2-3 documentarys about Buddha and Buddhism.
@Grothe
It looks like theres a SGI center in Copenhagen.
http://www.sgi-dk.org/
Thank you!
There is a podcast about this. I don't know if you are aware of it. Try it, as it might point you to other useful resources.
http://abuddhistpodcast.com
Great resource, Youtube has documentaries too . . . great places to start from . . . keep up the good work. Google is the neo-Manjushri . . .
http://www.buddhanet.net/
No, it isn't.
No problem.
Now what you need to do is hook up with that center and check them out in person. See what the jewel of Sangha is really all about.
As @AldrisTorvalds said, SGI (and Nichiren groups in general) involves a lot of chanting. Specifically, the daimoku "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" ("Hail the Lotus Sutra" or something like that). I believe the difference between SGI and Nichiren is that SGI believes chanting the daimoku can bring prosperity, health, whatever you want.
They're quite a different branch of Buddhism than what most people think of.
What piqued your interest in SGI?
Not Pure Land.
Well, I was watching this documentary about a woman that was apart of the SGI. I felt like it was a west "friendly" philosophy(?!). Cause I don't want to change my life100%.
Of course I want, but I still want to eat meat, drink some alcohol and such "young" culture things. But more moderated :-)
Part of the SGI's beliefs (and I assume this applies to Nichiren Shu and Shoshu) is that the Lotus Sutra is the one true sutra. Not saying that they feel the others are false, but that Nichiren (their founder) teaches that the Lotus Sutra is all that is necessary for study. I think this is the biggest difference between Nichiren schools and other schools of Buddhism. In my years with the SGI, I was never taught the 4 Noble Truths or the Eightfold path, or any of those other commonly accepted Buddhist teachings.
Chanting, as well as what they call gongyo (a basic ritual performed every morning and night), is the basis of their practice. It is, like you say, that doing daimoku(a recitation of "nam-myoho-renge-kyo") is supposed to achieve a certain goal. It was said that 1,000,000 daimoku could achieve any goal you put your mind to... but I think the real workings here is more about having single minded devotion to achieving the goal, rather than some sort of "magic" (although I've met many members who lean heavily on the "mystic" aspect).
Eventually, I determined that the SGI wasn't for me, but it does work for many many people, the whole world over. They tend to be a very positive and friendly bunch. I recommend just giving the closest center a call. When I was practicing, I didn't have a proper SGI community center near me, but the SGI doesn't operate with monks or elected leaders and instead relies on a communal teaching format. I was able to meet up with a group in my area that just met in different member's houses.
Would you explain me just how you got in contact with the other members? I would be so grateful(?!)
Of course I want, but I still want to eat meat, drink some alcohol and such "young" culture things. But more moderated :-)
@Groethe, You don't need to belong to any specific school for that.
There are many Buddhists, following different traditions, who still smoke, drink alcohol, eat meat.... these are not hard-and-fast, set-in-stone RULES. These are Precepts which recommend.... but you are not forced or obliged to follow them strictly. How strictly you decide to follow them, is up to you.
However, we would say 'you are not going to be young' for ever, and Buddhism, is a discipline, a philosophy of life which obviously means some modification of your lifestyle will come - whichever tradition you follow.
Not wanting to give 'such "young" culture things' up, is what would be termed as 'clinging'. In a while, if you DO decide to take Buddhism up, you will perceive that some actions are conducive to good Practice, and others less so. You may begin to feel uncomfortable following a lifestyle you currently view as attractive, and difficult to give up.
That's ok. take your time. But don't look for an easy way round things; Buddhism is not a 'free-for-all' calling that it is entirely ok to pick and choose from....
You know, at some point, you will discover that you cannot have your cake and eat it. Or as you would say, in Danish: "Man kan ikke både blæse og have mel i munden".
(I have no knowledge of Danish - I had to look that up, copy and paste!!)
So, in summary, Buddhism permits you to govern your own actions and moderate your behaviour as you consider skilful; but if you DO follow Buddhism, you will discover that aspects of your life will tend to "self-correct"; you will begin to see that certain things you do just don't fit with what you follow.
@federica Mark of how slow I can be sometimes, I didn't understand "have your cake and eat it too" for decades. I mean I understood it superficially as "you can't have it both ways", but the metaphor itself confused me. I thought "of course I can have my cake and eat it too, or else what's the point of a cake!?", not understanding that it means "you can't eat your cake and still have it".
I talked to someone at the nearest SGI community center who gave me the information to contact a member from a local chapter.
>
O/T:
In French, it's "you can't have money for the butter - and the butter."
In Italian: "The barrel full and your wife drunk" (!!)
More here. (The French entry is hilarious!)
O/T post ends.
@federica At least I see where the version I know came from, and the original Hebrew made its wording more clear: "you can't eat the cake and keep it whole".
The Romanian "You can't reconcile the goat and the cabbage." almost threw me into a fit of laughter. WTH!?? HAHAHAHAHA!
@Federcia thank you for the ins inspiring comment. It sat a lot of thoughts going on in my head :-)
@zombiegirl thanks for that, it will really help me out!
@AldrisTorvalds an Russian one: You need to crawl before you can walk
@Grothe Thanks though I'm not sure the two have the same meaning. One seems to be "you need to do this before you can do that" (crawl/walk), while the other is "you can't do this and that both" (cake).
Om du inte har något emot att ungås med svenskar och norrmän finns vi här.
http://buddhist.se/smf/
Och en del som vill ha en med sekular syn på det hela finns här:
http://sekularbuddhism.wordpress.com/
Välkommen!
/Victor
(Show-off).
. 
.
@Victorious mange tak! Det er jeg glad for :-D