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| Research on SGI |
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| Through the SGI: A Personal Odyssey--U.K. |
By Howard Hunter
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| Dr. Hunter (right) and SGI-UK members |
As some readers may
know, I have had the privilege of paying visits during
the last several months to individual members of Soka
Gakkai International as well as various culture
centers of SGI in India, Italy, England, and Mexico.
This is the third brief article to appear in the Quarterly
giving some impressions based on my experiences in
these very different countries. My purpose was to
learn how the various cultural conditions affect the
teachings and practices of SGI. The most frequent
question I have received regarding my research has
been this: "What differences have you discovered
among the several SGI groups you have visited?"
To this I have responded that while some notable
differences do exist with regard to somewhat secondary
matters pertaining to local circumstances, the central
teachings and practices are essentially the same. What
has been also quite obvious--and sometimes amusingly
so--is the way in which stereotypes of the several
cultures prove accurate.
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| These stereotypes must be rooted in reality since, as
one would anticipate, the Indian members were
profoundly hospitable, attentive to the courtesies due
a visitor, and clearly at home with matters
philosophical and spiritual. They spoke very little of
intimate personal matters. Mexican and Italian
members, equally hospitable but even more celebratory,
were far more likely to discuss their emotional lives
and their relationships, their affairs of the heart.
In short, the stereotype of the passionate Latin
spirit was often confirmed. Serious intellectual
concerns did not overcome a desire for convivial
occasions accompanying nearly every meeting. What of
the English? This is the subject of the present
report.
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| Taplow Court |
Visiting individual
members and several of the organizations, groups and
cultural centers in Greater London leaves one with a
lasting impression of a vital and lively movement
blessed with excellent facilities and an enthusiastic
membership. The facilities include a prominently
situated center in suburban London on Richmond Green
which has not only meeting rooms but also a shop in
which books and other materials relating to the work
of SGI can be purchased. A large but tasteful sign is
imprinted on one side of the building bearing the
words "SGI-UK: Buddhist Society for the Creation
of Value."
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Another facility is a truly outstanding castle-like
stately home called Taplow Court which is situated a
few miles outside London and not far from Oxford. This
center is a place which can host conferences and
retreats as well as public events like exhibitions and
concerts. It is available to individual members and
groups; and scholars find its well-appointed library a
rich resource of books dealing with SGI in particular
as well as more general books dealing with Asian
religions and philosophies. SGI young people volunteer
to take care of the many duties connected with
maintaining in perfect condition a large country
residence and grounds. The headquarters of SGI-UK are
also located at Taplow Court.
It was there that the librarian of the Oriental
Collections, a graduate student in Buddhist studies at
London University, gave a touching response to a
question I had asked regarding his view of authority
in Buddhism and his perception of the role of
President Ikeda in this regard. After acknowledging
deep appreciation for President Ikeda's teaching and
leadership, he said simply, "In the final
analysis, the authority for me is the Law." The
assurance with which he said this was impressive. I
could not help thinking that this was a response with
which President Ikeda would be pleased. So, of course,
Shakyamuni Buddha insisted that his followers be lamps
unto themselves rather than worship him.
I was able during a short visit to conduct interviews
and hold conversations with quite a wide variety of
SGI members--professional and business people, artists
and media people, students and workers from varying
levels of economic status. What emerged from my
discussions with them was a sense that their
involvement with SGI reflected a deep desire on their
part to find and to express a coherent and rational
approach to the problems which the contemporary
metropolis of London presented to them. Several
individuals, especially the professional and artistic
members, spoke of personal crises in their lives which
led them to search unsuccessfully for understanding
and guidance from traditional religions and social
groups. They gave heartfelt tribute to the benefits
they obtained through the study and practice of SGI.
One interview conveys some characteristic aspects of
the cultural situation in Britain which affects the
effort to practice Buddhism there. A leader told me of
her remarkable spiritual journey from a strict Roman
Catholic upbringing with a very devout mother and a
brother who was a priest. She moved away from home and
married outside her Christian faith. After this
marriage proved unsuccessful, she explored the avenues
of spiritual practice available to her but found none
satisfactory. After encountering SGI she was intrigued
by its teachings but found its focus on a worship
object and the use of prayer beads discouragingly
reminiscent of the practices of the faith she had
rejected. Still, her fascination with Buddhism
persisted as she studied the works of Nichiren
Daishonin and the writings of President Ikeda. One day
she decided that she would try to chant but certainly
not in public. She retired to her home and even there
closeted herself in the privacy of her bathroom. She
began to chant but even then, entirely alone, she
blushed! She laughed merrily at herself as she told
this story. I told her that I had heard before of
"closet Buddhists" who were shy about
revealing their Buddhist practice, but that she was
the first "water closet Buddhist" I had
encountered.
Visiting individuals in their homes was especially
rewarding, for members could and did discuss the
deepest concerns which motivated their adoption of
Buddhism. Repeatedly members told me of their
dissatisfaction with domestic relations, their
spiritual life and of their sense of frustration due
to their inability to find ways to cope with the
negative aspects of their lives. Attendance and
participation in the established church did not appear
to be a live option for them and they perceived
themselves to be living in a culture which had lost
its traditional values and its roots. Their interviews
with me confirmed what Professors Bryan Wilson and
Karel Dobbelaere analyzed in their thorough study of
Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain. In their book, A
Time to Chant, the professors offer extensive
documentation of the fact that SGI offers the type of
practical direction and purpose for life which many
find lacking in Britain.
While I was in London, I was presented copies of SGI-UK
publications. They are well-edited and make a
significant contribution to the members' practice. One
periodical, the UK Express, is directed not
only toward the SGI membership but to the larger
public. It is presented as "The magazine of SGI-UK,
the Buddhist Society for the Creation of Value through
Peace, Education and Culture." Its subtitle
states "Trust through Friendship, Peace through
Trust." The issue current at the time of my visit
offered articles on SGI practice and a lengthy special
feature on "Sex, Sexuality and the Garden."
I had the opportunity to discuss this special section
with Win Hunter (no relation) who was coauthor of the
lead article of this special section. She noted that
the subject of sexuality in SGI-UK was provoking more
response than usual from readers, some of whom felt
that the subject and manner of presentations were
inappropriate. Win Hunter's view was that so important
a subject clearly deserved thorough consideration from
the Buddhism perspective and that there was no reason
to ignore or to deny its centrality in human affairs.
Whatever one's opinions might be regarding the
appropriateness of rather sensational pictures
accompanied by quotations from such
"authorities" as Woody Allen, Mae West, Cole
Porter and Oscar Wilde, there is no question about the
willingness of SGI-UK to tackle an often controversial
and provocative subject openly and thoroughly. I found
the issue of UK Express one of the most helpful
and stimulating discussions I have ever seen on the
subject of Buddhist perspectives on sexuality.
One highlight of my experience in London was attending
a meeting of young SGI members and of prospective
members in a working class neighborhood in suburban
London. Gathered in a row house were some 25 young
people from all walks of life. Students, laborers,
office workers, artists, professional people and some
unemployed, some single, some married, some straight,
some gay... here was a cross section of London youth
united in a common enterprise of studying and
discussing Buddhist thought, testifying to its
relevance and chanting with enthusiasm. The honesty,
openness and the happiness at being together in common
dedication to the values of the bodhisattva ideal and
commitment to the effort to realize this altruistic
ideal in contemporary London remain with me as an
especially meaningful memory.
While the formal beauty and excellent facilities of
Taplow Court are great assets to SGI-UK, it is in the
hearts and minds of such young people that the future
of the organization is located. The excellent
publications and well-structured organization are
aspects of great importance to the SGI-UK, but again
the unpretentious sharing of the joy of Buddhist
teaching among these young people speaks eloquently of
the joyful benefits they are achieving through their
practice.
| Dr. Howard Hunter is Emeritus Professor the Department of Religion and Culture at Tufts University, U.S.A. He has written widely on the social role of religious belief. The articles above was published in the SGI Quarterly. |
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