Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 7/10/2010

Question
Hi Laurie,
I was wondering if you could help me figure this out.
One of my friends who is Buddhist suggested I check out Soka Gakai or SGI for short. It is a Japanese sect of Buddhism. I had heard of Japanese Zen Buddhism, but never SGI. I researched this branch of Buddhism and some are calling it a cult. I read one account that has the leader Daisaku Ikeda fixing Japanese elections and demanding loyalty from its followers.

Is this kind of thing possible? Can you have a Buddhist cult?

Answer
Hello Mary -

Thank you for letting me answer your question.

I have done a bit of research based on what you have provided me and here is what I found.

SGI is not part of Zen Buddhism.  SGI practices a form of Buddhism called Nichiren Buddhism. Their main practice is to chant.  Zen Buddhists main practice is to sit quietly and meditate.

My first venture into Buddhism was doing Nichiren Buddhism. They chant the first line of the Lotus Sutra in order to help them develop their mind and purify their negative karma and bring them good karma. At least that is how I was taught it. I have a very good friend who has done Nichiren Buddhism for at least 20 years and she swears by it.  She says that it has helped her in many ways.

I practiced it for about a year but it did not work for me. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I was looking for a religion that would give me a road map to how to be a better person and my personal experience in it did not give me that.

What I did find is that the practitioners were very devout. I never felt that I was in a cult and when I decided to leave, they were sad but did not try to stop me.  I cannot recall which Nichiren group I was in.  I do not think it was SGI though.

From what I learned from my research on Daisaku Ikeda as the leader of the SGI is that he is treated like the leader of most Buddhist groups. But it is something that Westerners are not used to and are a bit skittish about.

Buddhists are taught to find a guru who will help them with their practice and who we treat with the most reverence and honor. The guru is the gateway to our enlightenment.  We Westerners have issues with giving anyone else that much power in our lives.  But when we find a reputable and qualified spiritual master, we realize that they really can by their wisdom and compassion help lead us to the ultimate spiritual goal of Nirvana or Enlightenment.

So that is how it appears from my side that people in the SGI are treating Daisaku Ikeda.  Of course we do not follow our spiritual guides blindly. They have to show by example that they are worthy of our following them. I do not know a lot about Daisaku Ikeda of course but what I have read, it did not appear that what he was doing was fixing the Japanese elections in any sinister way.  Afterall, the Japanese do not have separation of Church and State as we do. From my very limited knowledge of him, he seems okey.

Plus our Spiritual leaders do not "demand loyalty" as a king would. We offer loyalty to our gurus freely. And there are at least 10 points that one should check to see if a spiritual leader is a qualified one.  But once we decide that we have found a qualified Spiritual Guide or Root Guru, then we are taught to trust our guru and to follow their instructions implicitly in order to reach Enlightenment as quickly as possible. Part of trusting a guru is to let go of our own egos and attachments which can get us in trouble and inhibit our spiritual growth.

Having a qualified spiritual master is like deciding to go on a trip to somewhere you have never been (elightenment) You could get there by yourself but if you had a guide who has scouted out the path or has been all or most of the way already, then you can get there much quicker.

One can also tell the quality of a group's guru or spirital leader by how the group reacts.  So if you go to their gatherings and the group seems to act with kindness, compassion and wisdom, then usually that reflects the qualities of the leader.

When I was participating in the Nichiren Buddhist tradition, I found most all of my fellow participants very kind and earnestly practicing that form of Buddhism.

Sure it is possible to have a Buddhist Cult just as it would be possible to have a Christian Cult. To paraphrase something Buddha himself said, he said don't believe anything he said just because he said it or you heard someone say that he said it, but try it out for yourself and see if it resonates for you.  If it feels right for you, then continue.  If not then let it go, or walk away from it.

So if you wanted to try it out, you should but trust your instinct.  If it feels right for you, then continue, if it does not, then don't. Eastern relgions tend to do things that do not seem at first comfortable to us Westerners but if the teachings resonate, if the teachings speak to your heart and help you become a better person, then that might be worth checking out.

I hope this helps answer your question a bit. Don't hesitate to ask any follow up question.  In the mean time I wish you much happiness on your spiritual journey