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Book How Soka Gakkai Became a Global Buddhist Movement

Download or read book How Soka Gakkai Became a Global Buddhist Movement written by Daniel A. Métraux and published by . This book was released on 2010-01-04 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soka Gakkai is a massive Japan-based New Religious Movement based on the Buddhist teachings of the medieval Buddhist monk Nichiren. This work examines Soka Gakkai International chapters in Australia, Southeast Asia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Quebec to determine why the movement has developed strong roots among people from widely divergent cultures.

Book How Soka Gakkai Became a Global Buddist Movement

Download or read book How Soka Gakkai Became a Global Buddist Movement written by Daniel Alfred Metraux and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soka Gakkai is a massive Japan-based New Religious Movement based on the Buddhist teachings of the medieval Buddhist mouk Nichiren. This work examines Soka Gakkai International chapters in Australia, Southeast Asia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Quebec to determine why the movement has developed strong roots among people from widely divergent cultures. See table of contents on reverse side.

Book Global Citizens

Download or read book Global Citizens written by David W. Machacek and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist movement provides an historical overview of the importance of the movement as an educational reform society and its development into a sect of Nichiren Buddhism.

Book Global Citizens

    Book Details:
  • Author : Lecturer David Machacek
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
  • Release : 2000
  • ISBN : 9780199240395
  • Pages : 442 pages

Download or read book Global Citizens written by Lecturer David Machacek and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2000 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global Citizens is a study of the Soka Gakkai Buddhist movement, which was founded in 1930 in Japan, spread rapidly after the Second World War, and has since developed a world-wide following. The book provides an historical overview of the development of the movement as an educational reformsociety, its development into a sect of Nichiren Buddhism. It provides important details of Soka Gakkai's entry into Japanese politics, including up-to-date information on the relationship between the Komeito - the political party founded by the Soka Gakkai - and the Liberal Democratic Party-itshistorical opponent in Japanese politics and present partner in the ruling coalition. The book then documents the spread of Soka Gakkai Buddhism to North and South America, Europe, and other Asian countries.

Book Waking the Buddha

    Book Details:
  • Author : Clark Strand
  • Publisher : Middleway Press
  • Release : 2014-05-01
  • ISBN : 1938252527
  • Pages : 193 pages

Download or read book Waking the Buddha written by Clark Strand and published by Middleway Press. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is there more to Buddhism than sitting in silent meditation? Is modern Buddhism relevant to the problems of daily life? Does it empower individuals to transform their lives? Or has Buddhism become too detached, so still and quiet that the Buddha has fallen asleep? Waking the Buddha tells the story of the Soka Gakkai International, the largest, most dynamic Buddhist movement in the world today—and one that is waking up and shaking up Buddhism so it can truly work in ordinary people’s lives. Drawing on his long personal experience as a Buddhist teacher, journalist, and editor, Clark Strand offers broad insight into how and why the Soka Gakkai, with its commitment to social justice and its egalitarian approach, has become a role model, not only for other schools of Buddhism, but for other religions as well. Readers will be inspired by the struggles and triumphs of the Soka Gakkai’s three founding presidents—individuals who staked their lives on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and the extraordinary power of those teachings to help people become happy.

Book Buddhism

    Book Details:
  • Author : Daisaku Ikeda
  • Publisher : Middleway Press
  • Release : 2009-06-01
  • ISBN : 097792453X
  • Pages : 205 pages

Download or read book Buddhism written by Daisaku Ikeda and published by Middleway Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with the events immediately following the dark days after the death of Shakyamuni and continuing over a period of 1,000 years, this dynamic tome covers a vast and complex series of events and developments in the history of Buddhism. Through a thorough examination of its early development in India, a new light is cast on little-known aspects of Buddhist history and its relevance to the understanding of Buddhism today. Topics include the formation of the Buddhist canon, the cultural exchange between the East and West, and the spirit of the Lotus Sutra.

Book Soka Gakkai   s Human Revolution

Download or read book Soka Gakkai s Human Revolution written by Levi McLaughlin and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2018-12-31 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soka Gakkai is Japan’s largest and most influential new religious organization: It claims more than 8 million Japanese households and close to 2 million members in 192 countries and territories. The religion is best known for its affiliated political party, Komeito (the Clean Government Party), which comprises part of the ruling coalition in Japan’s National Diet, and it exerts considerable influence in education, media, finance, and other key areas. Levi McLaughlin’s comprehensive account of Soka Gakkai draws on nearly two decades of archival research and non-member fieldwork to account for its institutional development beyond Buddhism and suggest how we should understand the activities and dispositions of its adherents. McLaughlin explores the group’s Nichiren Buddhist origins and turns to insights from religion, political science, anthropology, and cultural studies to characterize Soka Gakkai as mimetic of the nation-state. Ethnographic vignettes combine with historical evidence to demonstrate ways Soka Gakkai’s twin Buddhist and modern humanist legacies inform the organization’s mimesis of the modern Japan in which the group took shape. To make this argument, McLaughlin analyzes Gakkai sources heretofore untreated in English-language scholarship; provides a close reading of the serial novel The Human Revolution, which serves the Gakkai as both history and de facto scripture; identifies ways episodes from members’ lives form new chapters in its growing canon; and contributes to discussions of religion and gender as he chronicles the lives of members who simultaneously reaffirm generational transmission of Gakkai devotion as they pose challenges for the organization’s future. Readers looking for analyses of the nation-state and strategies for understanding New Religions and modern Buddhism will find Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution to be an especially thought-provoking study that offers widely applicable theoretical models.

Book Encountering the Dharma

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard Hughes Seager
  • Publisher : Univ of California Press
  • Release : 2006-03-16
  • ISBN : 9780520939042
  • Pages : 278 pages

Download or read book Encountering the Dharma written by Richard Hughes Seager and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2006-03-16 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging, deeply personal book, illuminating the search for meaning in today’s world, offers a rare insider’s look at Soka Gakkai Buddhism, one of Japan’s most influential and controversial religious movements, and one that is experiencing explosive growth around the world. Unique for its multiethnic make-up, Gakkai Buddhists can be found in more than 100 countries from Japan to Brazil to the United States and Germany. In Encountering the Dharma, Richard Seager, an American professor of religion trying to come to terms with the death of his wife, travels to Japan in search of the spirit of the Soka Gakkai. This book tells of his journey toward understanding in a compelling narrative woven out of his observations, reflections, and interviews, including several rare one-on-one meetings with Soka Gakkai president Daisaku Ikeda. Along the way, Seager also explores broad-ranging controversies arising from the Soka Gakkai’s efforts to rebuild post-war Japan, its struggles with an ancient priesthood, and its motives for propagating Buddhism around the world. One turning point in his understanding comes as Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai strike an authentically Buddhist response to the events of September 11, 2001.

Book Encountering the Dharma

Download or read book Encountering the Dharma written by Richard Hughes Seager and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2006-03-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work offers an enlightening look at Soka Gakkai Buddhism, one of Japan's most influential and controversial religious movements and one that is experiencing explosive international growth.

Book The History and Theology of Soka Gakkai

Download or read book The History and Theology of Soka Gakkai written by Daniel Alfred Metraux and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soka Gakkai, with 10 million members, is seen as a critically important force in Japan and remains the biggest of Japan's new religions. Here, the author outlines the eschatological worldview of the Soka Gakkai and gives an analysis of its American branch. The text gives a picture of Soka Gakkai as a rather mature' or mellow religion grown older, both in membership and in institutional character. The religion is seen to have given up the rather aggressive proselytizing style and confrontational politics that made it notorious in Japan and among Soka Gokkai] bashers' in the West.

Book From Tokyo to Boston  Brazil  Britain  and Beyond

Download or read book From Tokyo to Boston Brazil Britain and Beyond written by Arianna Regalado and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My religion honors thesis examines the roots of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan, founded by Japanese Buddhist monk Nichiren Daishonin (1222-1282) in the 13th century. I explain how this branch of Mahayana Buddhism has managed not only to survive over hundreds of years but grow, branching out overseas from Japan and amassing millions of followers from Brazil to Boston. Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren was born in 1222 in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan and lived during the Kamakura period of 1185-1333. He is known for his emphasis on the study of the Buddhist sacred text, the Lotus Sutra, as the sole method for attaining enlightenment. Based on his teachings, Nichiren Buddhism was formed as a branch of Mahayana Buddhism. In modern-day Japan, Nichiren Buddhism encompasses traditional schools and modern lay movements like Soka Gakkai. Soka Gakkai, a Japanese Buddhist religious movement and the largest of the Nichiren Buddhist groups, has grown to a membership of more than 12 million in 192 countries worldwide since its inception in 1930. Part of my thesis examines Nichiren and critique his interpretations of the Lotus Sutra as the most crucial component of achieving enlightenment. I critically analyze the evolution of Nichiren Buddhism and its development as a branch of Mahayana Buddhism through the vehicle of Soka Gakkai International as the largest Nichiren Buddhist group. While the bulk of the literature exploring Nichiren Buddhism and Soka Gakkai has been written about the early 20th century and focuses on the early beginnings of Soka Gakkai's success solely in Japan, my thesis will also include analysis on the modern-day movement around the world. From the creation of Soka University in Malibu, California to Soka Gakkai International branches located in the United Kingdom, Soka Gakkai has made a tremendous effort to appeal to a vast number of the global population, particularly young, college-aged groups, in order to sustain the movement long-term. My thesis examines Soka Gakkai's foundations in Japan as well as how the organization expanded globally by looking at their branches in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, Singapore, and Boston and by answering the following pertinent questions: how has Soka Gakkai International been successful in recruiting and adapting to a modern audience spanning over 100 countries? Does Soka Gakkai's enormous power and influence in the political, economic, and social spheres globally hinder the true message of Nichiren Buddhism as a Mahayana tradition focused on worldly renunciation? If so, is this the kind of compromise the movement has had to make in order to survive and thrive in a 21st century world? What other compromises has the organization made in the quest for more followers? In my thesis, I analyze how this religious organization developed and molded itself for a dynamic audience in order to survive. What changes or compromises, if any, did this religious institution have to make in order to thrive in this world? What can we learn from the way this institution developed in order to fit people's contemporary lives? What messages are lost (or gained) in this modern translation of religious sacred texts like the Lotus Sutra? In order to formulate a strong thesis, I analyzed statistical data on the demographics of Soka Gakkai's membership over time. I also conducted fieldwork at Soka Gakkai International New England Chapter, located in Brookline, Massachusetts. Additionally, I participated in the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue seminars on nuclear abolition in order to assess whether the modern-day practices and educational institutions align with the 13th century Nichiren teachings. With a balance of recent sources, such as the aforementioned qualitative statistical data on member demographics, fieldwork, personal accounts of Soka Gakkai practices, and scholarly texts, such as academic literature and Nichiren works, I present the strategies Soka Gakkai International utilized in order to amass a following for Nichiren.

Book World Peace through Inner Happiness

Download or read book World Peace through Inner Happiness written by Lela Ryterski and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2023-06-28 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nichiren, a thirteenth-century Japanese Buddhist monk, discovered a secret teaching that presents a powerful, practical method to create inner happiness. It is known as a “wish-granting jewel” or a “cluster of blessings.” Practitioners of this method gain wisdom, courage, confidence, and fortune in their lives. In World Peace through Inner Happiness, Lela Ryterski provides a concise history of the development of this practice used today by the Soka Gakkai, the organization that emerged from Nichiren’s teachings. The Soka Gakkai has fostered a revolutionary worldwide Buddhist movement. Ms. Ryterski has been a member for over thirty-five years. She admits to having been a shy and timid person. Making wrong decisions and living according to others, she felt like a leaf in the wind. Through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism, she has become strong. She’s learned that she’s an important person, and so is everyone. We’re all born because we have a mission, and we’re on this path together. By infusing society with this teaching, we can transform the world from one mired in suffering to one of peace. World Peace through Inner Happiness gives a rational account of how to make the impossible possible. You cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good that you can do.

Book Soka Gakkai in America

Download or read book Soka Gakkai in America written by Phillip E. Hammond and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first-ever in-depth study of the Soka Gakkai Buddhists in the United States of America (SGI-USA). Drawing on unprecedented access to the organization through surveys and interviews, it provides a definitive and revealing picture of one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. The authors shed light on contemporary American society and show how many members of SGI-USA are drawn from a growing `transmodern' subculture in America. In addition the book traces the development of the organization in the USA, examining how it adapted to the peculiar circumstances of America's cultural life and showing how SGI-USA became a very American phenomenon.

Book The Lotus and the Maple Leaf

    Book Details:
  • Author : Daniel Alfred Metraux
  • Publisher : Lanham, Md. : University Press of America
  • Release : 1996
  • ISBN :
  • Pages : 170 pages

Download or read book The Lotus and the Maple Leaf written by Daniel Alfred Metraux and published by Lanham, Md. : University Press of America. This book was released on 1996 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soka Gakkai Buddhist movement in Japan has revived Buddhism in the lives of millions of Japanese, changed the course of Japanese government, brought creative new ideas to the field of education, and has impacted the worlds of art and culture. This movement is now gaining popularity in Canada. Why are so many Canadians now joining this movement? What is the appeal beyond the Canadian-Asian Community and how has this Buddhist sect managed to assimilate itself in a Christian society? This book seeks to answer those questions and more. It chronicles the rise of this branch of Japanese Buddhism in Canada and it studies the relationship between the parent group in Tokyo and its Canadian branch.

Book The New Human Revolution  vol  3

Download or read book The New Human Revolution vol 3 written by Daisaku Ikeda and published by Middleway Press. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through this novelized history of the Soka Gakkai-one of the most dynamic, diverse, and empowering Buddhist movements in the world today-readers will discover the organization's goals and achievements even as they find inspiring and practical Buddhist wisdom for living happily and compassionately in today's world. The book recounts the stories of ordinary individuals who faced tremendous odds in transforming their lives through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and in bringing Buddhism's humanistic teachings to the world. This third volume focuses on the initial stages of the Soka Gakkai movement in India and southeast Asia in 1961, with an in-depth retelling of the life of the Buddha. This inspiring narrative provides readers with the principles with which they can positively transform their own lives for the better and realize enduring happiness for themselves and others.

Book On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Download or read book On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime written by Daisaku Ikeda and published by Middleway Press. This book was released on 2013-07-01 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What constitutes a meaningful life? What is true happiness? Nichiren Buddhism, based on the Lotus Sutra, is a teaching of hope that provides answers to these and other important questions for modern life. Ranked among the most important works in Mahayana Buddhism, Nichiren's 13th-century writings were revolutionary. In On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime, Nichiren turned prevailing Buddhist thought on its head. Attaining Buddhahood, or enlightenment, he argues, does not require embarking on some inconceivably long journey toward becoming some resplendent godlike Buddha, but rather it means accomplishing a transformation in the depths of one's being and revealing one's ultimate potential within. And Nichiren dedicated his life—braving all manner of persecution—to giving people a practical means for doing so. Daisaku Ikeda's simple and straightforward commentary brings alive this important writing for the modern world. Thoughtful people of all faiths will resonate with his compassionate insights on the universal teaching of happiness that is Nichiren Buddhism.

Book For Our Wonderful New Members

Download or read book For Our Wonderful New Members written by Daisaku Ikeda and published by Middleway Press. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I intend to write as if we were seated together in a shady grove cooled by gentle breezes, engaging in a relaxed conversation.” So saying, Daisaku Ikeda invites us to explore with him five core principles of Nichiren Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai movement, so that we may find true happiness ourselves, help others do the same, and bring about a more peaceful world.