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Sōka Gakkai

創価学会
Soka Gakkai flag
Formation	November 18, 1930
Founders	Tsunesaburō Makiguchi Jōsei Toda Daisaku Ikeda
Type	New religious movement
Headquarters	〒160-8583, Tokyo Shinjuku-Ku, Shinanomachi (信濃町)
Membership	11 million according to SG / between 3 and 4 million according to academics
President	Minoru Harada
Website	www.sokagakkai.jp
Formerly called	Sōka Kyōiku Gakkai (創価教育学会)

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Soka Gakkai (Japanese: 創価学会, Hepburn: Sōka Gakkai, "Value-Creation Society") is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren. It claims the largest membership among Nichiren Buddhist groups.

The organization bases its teachings on Nichiren's interpretation of the Lotus Sutra and places chanting Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō at the center of devotional practice. The organization promotes its goals as supporting "peace, culture, and education".^[1]

In Japan, it heads a financial, educational and media empire^[2], including newspapers, publishing houses, financial holdings and a network of schools. Komeito, a conservative party allied with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was founded by members of the Soka Gakkai.

The movement was founded by educators Makiguchi and Toda on 18 November 1930, and held its inaugural meeting in 1937.^[3] It was disbanded during the Second World War when much of the leadership was imprisoned for violations of the 1925 Peace Preservation Law and charges of lèse-majesté. After the war, its expansion was led by its former third president Daisaku Ikeda.

According to its own account, Soka Gakkai has 11 million members in 192 countries and territories around the world. However, this figure is not supported by any independent count. According to the work of American academic Levi McLaughlin,^[4] membership in Japan is closer to 2-3% of the country's population, or between 2.4 and 4 million people.

Moving the group toward mainstream acceptance, the organization is still viewed with suspicion in Japan and has found itself embroiled in public controversies^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} Komeito, a political party closely aligned with Soka Gakkai and founded by elements of its lay membership, entered a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party in 1999 and is currently a junior partner in government. Soka Gakkai has been described as a cult.^{[12][13][14]: 13}

Beliefs

The belief of the Soka Gakkai centers on recognizing that all life has dignity with infinite inherent potential; this immanent Buddhahood exists in every person and can be awakened through the Buddhist practice prescribed by Nichiren.^[15][16] Further, a person's social actions at every moment can lead to soka, or the creation of value (the theory of the interdependence of life). Societal change is facilitated through "human revolution", a way of living in the world that creates value.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

The doctrine of the Soka Gakkai derives from Nichiren, who promulgated the Lotus Sutra as he perceived its application to the epoch in which he and people today live.^[22] Soka Gakkai gives significance to Nichiren's writings, as Gosho,^[23] and Soka Gakkai refers to the collection of Nichiren's writings that was compiled by Nichiko Hori and Jōsei Toda, published as Nichiren Daishonin Gosho Zenshu in 1952.

The principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena

T'ien-t'ai (538–597), a Chinese Buddhist scholar who upheld the Lotus Sutra, developed a theoretical system to describe the infinite interconnectedness of life translated as "the principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena" or "three thousand realms in a single moment of life" (Japanese: ichinen sanzen). This theory demonstrates that the entire phenomenal world exists in a single moment of life. Soka Gakkai members believe that because Nichiren made actualizing this possible by inscribing Gohonzon and teaching the invocation, their prayers and actions can in a single moment pierce through limitations.^[24]

"Life force" and "Human Revolution"

Soka Gakkai teaches that this "self-induced change in each individual" – which Josei Toda began referring to as "human revolution" – is what leads to happiness and peace.^[25][26]

Josei Toda studied a passage from the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra (considered the introduction to the Lotus Sutra) that describes Buddhahood by means of 34 negations – for example, that it is "neither being nor non-being, this nor that, square nor round". From this, he concluded that "Buddha" is life, or life force.^[27][28]

Toda considered that the concept of "Buddha as life (force) means that Buddhism entails transforming society.^[29] Ikeda has been quoted as saying "Faith is firm belief in the universe and the life force. Only a person of firm faith can lead a good and vigorous life ... Buddhist doctrine is a philosophy that has human life as its ultimate object, and our Human Revolution movement is an act of reform aimed at opening up the inner universe, the creative life force within each individual, and leading to human freedom."^[30]

The concept of life force is central to the Soka Gakkai's conception of the role of religion and the application of Nichiren's teachings. "Our health, courage, wisdom, joy, desire to improve, self-discipline, and so on, could all be said to depend on our life force", Ikeda says.^[31]

Oneness of mentor and disciple

The Soka Gakkai liturgy refers to all of its first three presidents – Tsunesabura Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda – as "the eternal mentors of kosen-rufu",^[32] and "Soka Gakkai's long-time leader, Ikeda is revered by Gakkai members".^[33] The relationship between members and their mentors is referred to as "the oneness of mentor and disciple". The mentor is to lead and thereby improve the lives of his disciples. The mentor's actions are seen as giving disciples confidence in their own unrealized potential. The role of disciples is seen as supporting their mentor and realizing his vision using their unique abilities and circumstances.

Since the mid-1990s, the issue of the oneness of mentor and disciple has received more prominence in the Soka Gakkai. There is a strong emphasis on "cultivating all members ... in discipleship" through forging "affective one-to-one relationships with Ikeda".^[34]: 70

"On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land"

Nichiren wrote a treatise "On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land" in 1260 CE and submitted it to the regent. Soka Gakkai members believe that it is one of his most important writings. In it, he claimed that the source of the natural disasters Japan faced at that time was due to the weakened spirit of its people, caused by attachments to religions that disavow the primacy of the people themselves. He called for the leaders and people to base their spiritual life on the Lotus Sutra, "the correct teaching", which would, in turn, lead to "the peace of the land".^{[35]: 61–62}

Five "Eternal Guidelines of Faith"

In 1957, Josei Toda proclaimed three "Eternal Guidelines of Faith". In 2003, Daisaku Ikeda added two more guidelines. The Five Guidelines of Faith are:

1. Faith for a harmonious family;
2. Faith for each person to become happy;
3. Faith for surmounting obstacles;
4. Faith for health and long life;
5. Faith for absolute victory.^[36]

Relation to the Lotus Sutra

Soka Gakkai members pray to Nichiren's Gohonzon (see section on Gohonzon), which "embodies Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the essence of the Lotus Sutra".^[37] The Gohonzon includes the Sutra's teaching that all life inherently possesses dignity when "illuminated by the light of the Mystic Law".^[38] (The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon p 832), and depicts the ceremony in which bodhissatvas embrace "their mission to teach and preach to suffering people the path to happiness and freedom".^[39]

The Soka Gakkai's history is closely intertwined with the study of the Lotus Sutra. Josei Toda began the postwar reconstruction by lecturing on the sutra, the study of which led to what Soka Gakkai considers his enlightenment (see "Life Force and Human Revolution") After the Soka Gakkai's excommunication by Nichiren Shōshū, Daisaku Ikeda conducted dialogue sessions on the Lotus Sutra which resulted in the publication of a six-volume work called The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra.^[40]

Karma (as "changing karma into mission")

The concept of karma is based on the law of causality. It refers to consequences created through one's actions, words or thoughts. Early Buddhism and as Professor Ved Nanda explains Hindus believe to redress karma accumulated over the course of many eons, one must be reincarnated numerous times.^[41] The concept of karma then often became a source of despair as well as a tool for Buddhist clergy to instill fear and guilt in the minds of believers. Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism, however, believes that the fundamental cause for revealing the ultimate potential of life, or Buddha nature, can diminish the influence of negative karma in the present lifetime.^[42]

Ikeda explains that negative karma is subsumed in the world of Buddhahood and is purified by its power.^[43] Importantly, Soka Gakkai members believe effects are determined simultaneously with causes, though they remain latent until the right external influences bring them to fruition. Soka Gakkai Buddhism teaches that even the most stubborn karma can be overcome as one reveals one's Buddha nature in this lifetime.

Practices

The practice of Soka Gakkai members is directed to "oneself and others".^[44] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Sōka_Gakkai
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