Soka Gakkai

Soka Gakkai International ("International Value-Creation Society"; also, SGI) is the international umbrella organization for Soka Gakkai-affiliated lay organizations in over 190 countries. SGI has over 12 million members, who practice Soka Gakkai's particular form of Nichiren Buddhism. SGI's Japan-based parent, Soka Gakkai, was formed in 1930 and is closely associated with the New Komeito, an influential Japanese political party. However, the SGI no longer financially supports this party. SGI itself was founded in 1975 and characterizes itself and its constituent organizations as a support network for practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism. SGI members, seeking to change society for the better by applying their religious beliefs to daily life, are actively engaged in numerous community-based programs to promote cultural exchange and understanding among peoples as well as activities to propagate the Buddhism that they practice.

The organizations have been collectively or individually criticized by the media, intellectuals, and politicians in several countries and at various times for some of their actions and policies. Conversely, it has been praised by many independant people and organisations.

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda is praised worldwide for his contributions to peace, culture and education. In October 2006 he received his 200th honorary doctorate and has received 150 honorary citizenships.

History

Soka Gakkai was founded as the Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai (lit. "Value-Creation Education Society") on November 18, 1930 by Japanese educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and his colleague Josei Toda. Makiguchi sought to reform Japan's militaristic education system into a more humanistic one that would support the full development and potential of Japan's youth. His ideas on education, and his theory of value-creation (sōka), are explored in his 1930 work Sōka Kyōikugaku Taikei (The Theory of Value-Creating Pedagogy). In Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, he found a religious philosophy that reflected his educational theories, which led to the establishment of the Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai. Eventually, the focus of the organization began to shift, as Makiguchi came to the conclusion that the practice of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism itself could allow each individual to develop their potential within and attain Buddhahood. However, Makiguchi and Toda's thinking was in direct conflict with the goals of the state. When the Japanese government more rigorously enforced Shinto's position as the state religion (State Shinto) with the enactment of the Religious Organizations Law of 1939, a move designed to impose stricter governmental controls over religions (Engaged Buddhism, p. 383), and began to demand that all citizens enshrine Shinto talismans in their homes (Buddhism in the Modern World, p. 204). Makiguchi, Toda, and 18 other Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai members resisted, refusing the talismans. For refusing to cooperate with the government by compromising their religious beliefs, the two educators were sent to prison. Makiguchi died there at age 72; Toda was later released and, after World War II, re-built the organization, renaming it Sōka Gakkai to reflect the extension of its membership beyond educators only. Over the years, the Soka Gakkai experienced a period of rapid growth in Japan. An organization, Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA, later also called Nichiren Shoshu Academy, Nichirenshoshu Sokagakkai of America, and finally Soka Gakkai International – USA), was formally organized in the United States on October 13, 1960. Today, Soka Gakkai International and Nichiren Shoshu have parted ways. SGI now has a membership of anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 practitioners in the United States (Barrett, p. 303). Soka Gakkai International (SGI) was founded in 1975 as the International Buddhist League to act as the international leadership of national Soka Gakkai organizations.

From the 13th Century until the 20th Century, Nichiren Buddhism was practiced almost exclusively in Japan. Soka Gakkai emerged as the largest lay organization of Nichiren Buddhist practitioners and today, Soka Gakkai membership accounts for nearly 10 percent of Japan's population (Engaged Buddhism, p. 386).

When religious freedom took hold in Japan following World War II, Soka Gakkai began to spread Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, initially across the country, then eventually across the globe, as practitioners relocated from Japan and as non-Japanese practitioners returned to their home countries, taking the practice with them. In response, Soka Gakkai began to develop a program of international outreach to help support these members, as it had been supporting members in Japan. In 1960, Daisaku Ikeda, then third president of Soka Gakkai, made a journey that took him from Japan to the United States, Brazil and Canada. During this trip he met practitioners in each of these countries and began laying the foundation for what would later become Soka Gakkai International. In 1975, SGI was formally founded, with Daisaku Ikeda as its president. Since then, constituent organizations have been formed in 190 countries where there were practitioners.

Even though SGI was initially affiliated with Nichiren Shoshu, they are becoming more and more distinct. SGI's primary purpose is to provide a supporting organization for its practitioners. On its website, SGI defines its purpose as follows:

For SGI members, Buddhism is a practical philosophy of individual empowerment and inner transformation that enables people to develop themselves and take responsibility for their lives. As lay believers and engaged Buddhists, SGI members strive in their everyday lives to develop the ability to live with confidence, to create value in any circumstances and to contribute to the well-being of friends, family and community. The promotion of peace, culture and education is central to SGI's activities.

Daisaku Ikeda has led SGI since the death of Second President Josei Toda in 1958. A disciple of President Toda, Ikeda succeeded him in 1960 as Soka Gakkai president and became president of the larger Soka Gakkai International upon its creation in 1975.

Ikeda is, however, a controversial figure. For example, many SGI leaders implied that Ikeda was equal to or superceded Nichiren as the True Buddha and suggested that a novel authored by Ikeda, the Human Revolution, was the gosho of the present age, the gosho being Nichiren's writings When he challenged the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood on doctrinal grounds, his challenge was considered an act of heresy, particularly by a priesthood that viewed and asserted itself as the ultimate authority in Nichiren Shoshu doctrine. In April 1979 Ikeda resigned his positions as Soka Gakkai president as well as head of all Nichiren Shoshu lay organizations (Hokkekō Sōkōtō) to apologize for his organization's deviations from Nichiren Shoshu doctrine (which Soka Gakkai was bound to observe by its contemporary rules of incorporation) and the ensuing turmoil.

Soka Gakkai members suggest that Ikeda's resignation was the action of a man who did not want to be responsible for creating a rift among the practitioners. Regardless of the rationale, however, a division between the followers of Nichiren Shoshu, and those who aligned themselves with Ikeda's positions, did occur, and continues to be a source of controversy and disagreement amongst practitioners. Shortly after giving of the organization's presidency, Ikeda became honorary chairman of Soka Gakkai in part as a response to Soka Gakkai members' dissatisfaction with his vacating of the presidency. As of January 2007 Ikeda remains honorary chairman of Soka Gakkai and president of SGI.

Soka Gakkai International

Split with the Priesthood

The fundamental practice of Soka Gakkai and SGI members is derived from Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, a form of Nichiren Buddhism. However, due to a number of ongoing issues and disputes that existed between then High Priest Nikken Abe and the leadership of Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu excommunicated Soka Gakkai and SGI, and later SGI President Daisaku Ikeda in 1992. At that time, Soka Gakkai was a lay organization closely affiliated with Nichiren Shoshu.

SGI and Nichiren Shoshu are independent of one another. For more on the background, history and views of the Soka Gakkai International and Nichiren Shoshu split, see the external links below.

Doctrine

Nichiren Daishonin (日蓮大聖人) (1222–1282) was a Japanese Buddhist sage who, having studied the entirety of Shakyamuni's teachings and the commentaries of the leading Buddhist scholars of the day, proclaimed that the Lotus Sutra was the ultimate teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha and that, in Shakyamuni's own words, it was the one true teaching. Nichiren declared that the title of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho-Renge-Kyo, crystallized the essence of the sutra and that therefore the invocation Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enabled a practitioner to embrace the entirety of the teaching and to thereby manifest the life-condition of Buddhahood. A key passage in the Lotus Sutra explains that every individual possesses this life-condition, albeit as a latent Buddha nature. The essence of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren Daishonin taught, was that all men and women, regardless of social class, are inherently endowed with this Buddha nature and could therefore attain Buddhahood. "Nichiren" is a name he chose for himself when he embarked on spreading his teaching on April 28, 1253. It literally means "Sun Lotus". The word "Daishonin" is an honorific title meaning "great holy man" as practitioners believe him to be the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.

Nichiren taught that by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon (御本尊)—a mandala he inscribed with Chinese and Sanskrit characters representing the enlightened life of the True Buddha—anyone can bring forth her or his inherent Buddha nature and become enlightened. Unlike other forms of Buddhism, Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism taught that Buddhahood is not a static state of being, but exists in mutual possession of other states of being (referred to as the Ten Worlds). This concept is better known as ichinen sanzen, the Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life. Therefore, practitioners believe that Buddhism must be practiced not in a land or a mystic state, but in each person's daily life. This is experienced as the result of continuous effort to engage one's highest life condition, or Buddha nature, to overcome the inevitable obstacles and struggles we all face. In so doing, one establishes an unshakeable state of happiness characterized by peace, wisdom, and compassion, and this ultimately permeates every aspect of one's life. In accord with the Buddhist concept of esho funi, the oneness of person and environment, each individual has the power to then positively affect the environment around him or her. SGI practitioners call this process a "human revolution." Nichiren Daishonin argued that when and if human beings fully embraced his teachings, the peace they would develop within would eventually be reflected in the environment as peace in society at large.

Practice

The basic practice of SGI members is based on faith, practice, and study. Faith entails chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo daily and reciting gongyo (the Expedient Means and Life Span Chapters of the Lotus Sutra). The duration of chanting tends to depend upon the individual member; typically it will start off minimal (5 to 10 minutes morning and evening), but long term practitioners frequently chant for at least half an hour or an hour morning and evening. Some members will occasionally chant "daimoku toso", which is extended chanting over several hours in a single day.

Practice involves chanting as described above, plus participation in the community and sharing Buddhist practice with others. Study is the dedication of some part of ones life to the reading of important Buddhist teachings, most important among them the study of the collected writings of Nichiren Daishonin, called gosho. Many gosho have recently been compiled in a single English volume titled The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. These translations are based on a Japanese volume called Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshu (The complete works of Nichiren Daishonin), which was compiled by 59th Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Nichiko Hori and published by Soka Gakkai in 1952. Translations are available in, or are being undertaken into, other languages as well. Additional reading materials include the Lotus Sutra, the writings of Daisaku Ikeda and other writers and scholars of the Lotus Sutra and of Nichiren Buddhism. The weekly newspaper The World Tribune and the monthly Buddhist journal Living Buddhism provide inspiration, encouragement, and informative articles geared to deepen readers' understanding of Nichiren Buddhist concepts and practices.

Followers of Soka Gakkai and SGI believe that chanting energizes and refreshes the practitioner both spiritually and mentally, leaving him or her happier, wiser, more compassionate, more productive, and more prosperous in all areas of their lives. Chanting is also believed to have a positive impact on the world at large, for as each individual develops him- or herself, he or she becomes a happier, more productive, more compassionate and wiser person, and this in turn will affect the lives of others as well.

Soka Gakkai and SGI's other constituent organizations hold regular grassroots gatherings known as discussion meetings. Available on a monthly basis, they are usually held in members' homes. Important events, monthly World Peace Prayers (Kosen Rufu Gongyo), commemorative meetings, and monthly study meetings are usually held in SGI community centers (larger centers are usually called culture centers).

SGI Charter

Soka Gakkai's official charter is as follows:

Purposes and Principles

1. SGI shall contribute to peace, culture and education for the happiness and welfare of all humanity based on Buddhist respect for the sanctity of life.
2. SGI, based on the ideal of world citizenship, shall safeguard fundamental human rights and not discriminate against any individual on any grounds.
3. SGI shall respect and protect the freedom of religion and religious expression.
4. SGI shall promote an understanding of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism through grass-roots exchange, thereby contributing to individual happiness.
5. SGI shall, through its constituent organizations, encourage its members to contribute toward the prosperity of their respective societies as good citizens.
6. SGI shall respect the independence and autonomy of its constituent organizations in accordance with the conditions prevailing in each country.
7. SGI shall, based on the Buddhist spirit of tolerance, respect other religions, engage in dialogue and work together with them toward the resolution of fundamental issues concerning humanity.
8. SGI shall respect cultural diversity and promote cultural exchange, thereby creating an international society of mutual understanding and harmony.
9. SGI shall promote, based on the Buddhist ideal of symbiosis, the protection of nature and the environment.
10. SGI shall contribute to the promotion of education, in pursuit of truth as well as the development of scholarship, to enable all people to cultivate their individual character and enjoy fulfilling and happy lives.

Sources

• Buddhism in America. Richard Hughes Seager. Columbia University Press, 2000
• Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition Steven Heine, Charles S Prebish. Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Encountering the Dharma. Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism. By Richard Hugh Seager. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2006, ISBN 0-520-24577-6
• Soka Gakkai in America: Accommodation and Conversion By Phillip E. Hammond and David W. Machacek. London: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-829389-5
• "The Soka Gakkai: Buddhism and the Creation of a Harmonious and Peaceful Society” by Daniel A. Metraux in Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia. Christopher S. Queen and Sallie B. King, eds. SUNY Press, 1996.
• The Faces of Buddhism in America. Charles S Prebish, Kenneth K Tanaka, eds. University of California Press, 1998.
• The New Believers: A survey of sects, cults and alternative religions. David V Barrett. Octopus Publishing Group, 2003
• The Soka Gakkai Revolution by Daniel A. Metraux (University Press of America, 1994)
• The Lotus and the Maple Leaf: The Soka Gakkai in Canada by Daniel A. Metraux (University Press of America, 1996)
• Fundamentals of Buddhism (second edition) by Yasuji Kirimura (Nichiren Shoshu International Center [now SGI], 1984). ISBN 4-88872-016-9
• Sōka Gakkai kaibō ("Dissecting Soka Gakkai") by the editors of Aera (Asahi Shimbun, 2000). ISBN4-02-261286-X (Japanese)
• Sōka Gakkai by Hiromi Shimada (Shinchosha, 2004). ISBN4-10-610072-X

(Section on Criticism)

• "Cults in France: Report Made in the Name of the Board of Inquiry into Cults" (December 22, 1995) Translation donated by Ginny Tosken. Edited by D. A. Reed
• "The Power of Soka Gakkai: Growing revelations about the complicated and sinister nexus of politics and religion" Time Magazine, November 20, 1995
• "Risky alliance for Japan's ruling party" BBC News report, June 22, 2000
• Japan Fears Another Religious Sect San Francisco Chronical, December 27, 1995

(Section on Excommunication)

• Shoshū Hashaku Guide (Jp: 諸宗破折ガイド: Guide to refuting [erroneous teachings of] other schools). Taiseki-ji, 2003 (no ISBN); pp. 160–164.
• "Religious Battle Taking Shape in Foothills of Mt. Fuji Japan: The Buddhist order of Nichiren Shoshu has expelled its lay organization, Soka Gakkai. Political fallout is probable." Los Angeles Times, December 16, 1991

External links

Official Websites

• Soka Gakkai International
• Soka Gakkai
• SGI-USA
• SGI-Canada
• SGI-UK
• International constituents

Websites of SGI practitioners

• Soka Gakkai International Yahoo Group
• Information on Soka Gakkai author Daniel Metraux
• [1] Site containing experiences of actual SGI members, as well as numerous sections on Buddhist study
• [2] A Pro-Soka Gakkai website's response to criticism

Critical websites

• Victims of Soka Gakkai Association
• Freedom of Mind: Soka Gakkai
• Anti-SGI Yahoo Group
• Rick A. Ross Institute of New Jersey's collection of info on Soka Gakkai
• A Profile of Soka

Book reviews of scientific research on SGI

• Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism by Richard Hugh Seager Reviewed by Martin Baumann
• Soka Gakkai in America: Accommodation and Conversion by Phillip E. Hammond and David W. Machacek Reviewed by James William Coleman