SOKA BUDDHISM:

Fundamental similarities, differences and

parallels

Comparing the Soka Gakkai sect of Nichiren Buddhism

to other Buddhist schools, to Christianity and to
scientific materialism.

Founded in Japan in 1929 by renowned educator

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, an organization known as
Soka Gakkai (Value Creation Society) is the
preeminent popular Buddhist force in history. The
inception of constitutional religious liberty in Japan
following WWII resulted in phenomenal proliferation
of sects, and the Nichiren-based Soka Gakkai
undertook
such aggressive propagation
that in 1957
Makiguchis successor, Josei
Toda,
presided over a throng of
750,000
families. Todays SGI 12
million
members in 192 countries
advances
under the warm and
inspiring
leadership of Daisaku Ikeda
Sensei, a steward of
world peace and
avatar of global
humanistic culture
and education.

ABSOLUTE REALITY
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo: The name of the
fundamental law of life and the universe
expounded in Nichiren Buddhism. To translate
simplistically: Nam (to devote oneself,

expression of deep respect); myoho (mystic

law, the essential law of life and all
phenomena); renge (lotus, the simultaneity
of cause and effect); kyo (sound/vibration
and also teaching, the pulse or signal of life
in all things).
For believers in Moses (who lived perhaps 700
years before the lawgiver Gautama Buddha),
something of
the dharma is
referenced in
Exodus 3:14,
when Man
receives a title
for invoking
God: "I AM
THAT I AM."
The
fundamental
reality or law is
not a result,
not the effect
of any prior
cause, but a
perfect and
eternal singularity that contains its own
purpose.
Buddhist tradition likens this sovereign
absolute to the
lotus, wherein flower and seed which cause
one another appear at the same time.

Quarks
have a
similar

arrangement, revealing how it might be that

intelligent design and the intelligence doing
the designing are, as we Buddhists are fond of
saying, "not two."

"NOT TWO"
( shikishin-funi )
Shikishin funi
or "oneness of
body and mind."
One of the Ten
Onenesses
expounded by
the great
teacher Miao-Lo
of China (C.E.
711-782), based
on the Lotus
Sutra. Shiki
means that
which has form
and color (the
physical body)
and shin means
that which has
neither form nor
color (mind or
soul). Advanced
Buddhist insight
came to challenge the fundamental dualism of
physical versus spiritual with proofs that they
are, in final essence, not two. From Einstein we
learned that mass and energy are not two, that
time and space are not two. Light is at once a
particle (shiki) and a wave (shin). The living universe
thus demonstrates the oneness principle and -- as
always -- science confirms Buddhism.

Very significantly, life and death are likewise

complementary aspects of one thing...

The Universe Believes In

Reincarnation!

Science has illuminated the cyclicity of living

systems and processes-- from
evaporation/precipitation to phases of the
moon, from the rhythm of the seasons to
respiration to the beat of honeybee wings, all
of nature celebrates the principle of "again and
again."

"All phenomena, including life and death, can

be seen as elements within the cycle of
emergence and latency, or manifestation and
withdrawal.
Cycles of life
and death
can be
likened to the
alternating
periods of
sleep and
wakefulness.
Just as sleep
prepares us
for the next day's activity, death can be seen
as a state in which we rest and replenish
ourselves for new life. The Lotus Sutra, the
core of Mahayana Buddhism, states that the
purpose of existence, the eternal cycle of life
and death, is for living beings to "enjoy
themselves at ease."

-Daisaku Ikeda

Buddha: Literally, "awakened one." Dharma: The profound primary law

of the universe. Ever investigative as to the true nature of reality,
Buddhism is the most rationalistic religion. Accordingly, science tends to
corroborate essential Buddhist teachings.

Like any ancient religious literature, the sutras

contain representations of mythical beings and
wondrous events BUT in the present day it is
not useful to insist on strict literalism
concerning them. A Buddhism of the present
age identifies divine energies and functions of
the cosmos in the light of an up-to-date
understanding. Certainly there is appreciation
for wisdom of ancient vintage, but we are
neither able nor inclined to pit the extravagant
lore of 2,600 years ago against todays highconfidence scientific knowledge.
A religion that is not dead will undergo
development and adapt through the centuries,
drawing gratefully on progress in human
knowledge. In today's Buddhism, faith turns
upon what is known about our connection to

the living law of the universe an

improvement, presumably, over faith measured
by ones capacity for believing unlikely things
without proof.

Scholarly Buddhism's characterization of the

true nature of
phenomena,
many
centuries old,
is remarkably
like
theoretical
physics.
Just as
chalkboards of calculations work out to give us
Einstein's good equation
Sutras of grand sweep come down to a formula
made up of five or seven Chinese characters.

In both cases we obtain

glyphs of concentrated
meaning that name the
universe and unlock
awesome power

Interestingly, prayers offered

while chanting Nam-myohorenge-kyo are very often
realized dramatically,
affording the practitioner
evidence and proof of the
teachings practical validity.

The
saintly
priest
who
founded
Soka
Buddhism
in the
13th
century
C.E.
attained

enlightenment by means of a
practice of the Lotus Sutra. His
identity as a Buddha was borne out
by wonders during his ministry and
is apparent in his profound and
compassionate writings.
"First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the
Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground, and
another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. Closer
examination, however, reveals that both exist in our five-foot body.
This must be true because hell is in the heart of a person who
inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother. It is like
the lotus seed, which contains both blossom and fruit. In the same
way, the Buddha dwells within our hearts. For example, flint has
the potential to produce fire, and gems have intrinsic value. We
ordinary people can see neither our own eyelashes, which are so

close, nor the heavens in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that
the Buddha exists in our own hearts." - Nichiren, New Years
Gosho

The teaching that

Buddha

each person is entitled to

become a
would
appear a
contrast to
the JudeoChristian
tenet of
guilt and
atonement:

There is
nothing good in me, Romans 7:18; All our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, Isaiah 64:6;
There is none righteous, no, not one, Romans 3:10;
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and
going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the
righteousness of God, Rom 10:3; Because the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be, Rom 8:7
"No matter how earnestly Nichiren prays for you, if you lack faith, it will
be like trying to set fire to wet tinder. Spur yourself to muster the power of
faith...Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other...Have
profound faith. A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered."
- Nichiren, The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra
Compare Nichiren's emphasis on self-reliant faith with
Jesus' declaration: " I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Some sects of Buddhism (such as Pure Land) do

teach submission to a heavenly, deified Buddha

figure, but the Soka Gakkais position is radically
humanistic by contrast, and a rebuke to religious
authoritarianism.