Wacko Soka Gakkai & the New Komeito

[Taro Toporific]

Japan
Where politics and religion mix in Japan
Asia Times / July 30By Jamie Miyazaki
TOKYO - A perennial player in Japanese politics, and considered a coalition king-maker, the New Komeito Party is linked to a pacifist religious group that claims it is the only true Buddhist religious organization. The New Komeito Party currently is the enabling coalition partner with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who sent troops to Iraq, but speculation abounds that it might be wooed in the future by the increasingly successful opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)....
....Soka Gakkai and New Komeito
Founded in 1964 to further the cause of the Buddhist Soka Gakkai sect, the then Komeito Party embarked on an expansion....Japan is fairly irreligious, in the Western sense, and that may be what spooks a lot of people about Soka Gakkai. The central practice promoted by Soka Gakkai is chanting to the Gobonzon, a scroll inscribed by Nichirin Daishonin, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism. Komeito was originally formed as a political shield to protect Soka Gakkai interests as they came under serious discrimination in Imperial Japan.

[ForumJedi]

That's all I wanted to say. The Gohonzon is VERY important to followers of Nichiren Buddhism. It's their fundamental object of worship. Respect!

[ForumJedi]

Actually, it's NOT all I wanted to say.

The Soka Gakkai is NOT wacko. What do you know about the organization?

[amdg]

That's all I wanted to say.

That's all I wanted to say

[Taro Toporific]

Actually, it's NOT all I wanted to say.

The Soka Gakkai is NOT wacko. What do you know about the organization?

Sorry, I've already suffered on my knees enough SGI chanting for couple bad reincarnations. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo <ouch> Nam-myoho-renge-kyo <eek>....

[djgizmoe]

Soka Gakkai gives me the heebie-jeebies (but then again, so do the Mormons and the Christian Coalition...). But (like the Mormons) I've met several very friendly members...and then the conversation inevitably turns to "Would you like to visit our temple this weekend?" RUN!!!!!
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/soka.html

[Charles]

I will also speak up in defense of the Soka Gakkai. A long time ago, when I first traveled to Japan for language classes, I stayed in a geshuku run by a SG family. I attended a couple of meetings, I hardly had any choice in the matter since they met at the geshuku. Most of the members were kindly old ladies, they were very nice to me. I found nothing threatening about them whatsoever.

[dimwit]

Most of the members were kindly old ladies, they were very nice to me. I found nothing threatening about them whatsoever.

So are the Jehovah's Witnesses but I don't want anything to do with them either.

The 64,000 dollar question is how does the LDP have it's hooks into New Komeito to such a degree that they voted in favor of sending troops to Iraq in spite of the overwhelming opposition amongst its membership.

I suspect that the DJP would lose almost as much as it would gain by forming an alliance with those jackels.

[Bongo]

[plaid_knight]

I'm a member of Soka Gakkai and have my
own gohonzon, so I'm not unbiased on this.

I've been with the group for a while, and we really haven't
done anything "bad". We meet together and end up doing
a lot of volunteer work for the community. I use it as a way
to help other people with ESL troubles.

I enjoy meeting, talking about problems and ways to solve
them, eating lunch with my SGI buddies, and then going home.
It certainly helps out the older members of the organization,
and I think giving people peace of mind is generally a
good thing.

When you get right down to it, most religion
(including Soka Gakkai) is pretty wacky. I look
at this as a way to make a difference in my community and get
out of the house. I don't think of this as anything other than
that.

As for the chanting, it's just another way to enter a meditative
state. Some folks stare into crystals, others pray, and
others hum.

[Bongo]