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Note: This article (dating from 1987) is copyright Harry S. Pariser, 2008. Contact me with regard to printing or reproducing this article in any form.
Q&A about the cult:
CONSUMER BUDDHISM: NSA, PATRIOTISM, AND AMERICA
by
Harry S. Pariser
A plate of oranges sits to left of the altar in the Daly City church; apples are to the right. Seated in pews facing an open Gohonzon (a sacrosanct altar box containing a relic tablet replica), devotees clasp rosaries tightfistedly as they chime "Nam myo ho renge kyo"--incessantly chanting the mantra (which literally means "Adoration to the Lotus of the Wonderful Law"). Chanting. The word itself conjures up visions of sorcerors casting spells read from dank and dusty tomes over smoking fires on starlit nights. As the most ancient and simple form of choral expression, chanting represents the desire of man since primeval times to overcome his physical and psychological restrictions by attempting to harness forces beyond his direct physical control. This ancient remedy has served as a counterbalance to the feelings of stress, frustration, and impotence found in all societies, primitive to contemporary. And, not unlike "health" foods and natural medicines, it is being revived, revised, and repackaged for profit and power. The new chanters--concerned not with searching for infinte spiritual values but rather with the acquisition of socially mobile quantum goods--are members of NSA, better known as Sokka Gakkai ("Value Creation Society"). And like other Japanese imported consumables--like sushi, sake, and futons--Nicheren Shoshu of America is gaining increasing currency among internationally minded self-styled progressives in their 20s and 30s. The Church itself puts membership in Northern California at over 10,000; certainly, judging by the numbers of white suited devotees appearing in framed photographs on a wall at the Daly City church, there clearly are a substantial number. However, the Church tends to count as members those whose Gohonzons have been converted into cassette cases or are stashed in the bottom of their closets. Like Scientology, Est, and other high tech neo-esoteric philosopies, Soka Gakkai has attracted its share of luminaries: locally certain members of some prominent World Beat bands chant, and members of the national organization include pop superstar Tina Turner, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and fusion musician Herbie Hancock. Judging by the hordes of smiling faces--black and white, the glowing reports of imporvement in financial karma, and swarms of American flags in the literature, it all seems great: a pure pop Buddhism for today's pure pop people. But what is Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, or "True Buddhism" all about anyway?
In Japan, Soka Gakkai is at the forefront what is termed Shinko Shukyo or "Newly Created Religions." Springing out of the spiritual chaos following the Second World War, these movements (others include Seicho no Ie, PL Kyodan, and Tenri Kyo) have bloomed like plum blossoms in February, supplying new spiritual fabric to patch over the gaping rent that the Emperor's old clothes had once covered. Some of these movements (such as Tenri Kyo) have their roots in the 19th C. Others--like Soka Gakkai--represent the resurgence of a pre-World War movement based on an ancient sect. Founded in the 1930s by Makeguchi Tsunesaburo--a teacher from Hokkaido who combined his own eclectic philosophy with his fervency for Nichiren Shoshu, Soka Gakkai became a mass movement only in the 1950s when membership, under its very authoritarian and intolerant President Toda Josei, leaped from a few thousand to 750,000 from 1951-57. Evangelism, called "shakubuku" ("break and subdue") was seen as a duty as well as conferring a spiritual blessing. The recruitment methods practiced by members--which allegedly included insolence, intolerance, coercion, intimidation, blackmail, and terrorism--although gaining the organization infamy with the public at large, were nevertheless extraordinarily effective. Its fanatical image has softened since the accession of Ikeda Daisaku to the presidency in 1960. A smoothie from way back, the highly charismatic Ikeda has managed to tone down the organization's image while formalizing Komeito, the sect's political party and revising the religion for export. Founded in 1964, Komeito ("Clean Government Party") has technically been a separate entity since 1970 when Soka Gakkai was censured for attempting to supress a book critical of the organization. As the third largest political party within Japan's conservative politcal structure, Komeito has joined up with the Japan Socialist Party's right wing and the anti-Communist Democratic Socialist Party to form the central pillar of the Sha-Ko-Min opposition. The party's avowed aim is to establish a "Buddhist Democracy" or a "parliamentary democracy in which every individual has been awakened to the principles of Buddhism." It goes almost without saying that this awakening involves conversion to Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism (or "True Buddhism") and renunciation of all other "heretical Buddhisms" as well as every other religion on the planet.
But what exactly is this Lotus Sutra? And just who was this fellow Nichiren anyway? As the foremost text of Mahayana (Large Vehicle) Buddhism, the origins of the Lotus Sutra are uncertain, but it is believed to have been originally written in Sanskrit and to date from the early Christian era. The most widely used Chinese translation of the text--which features the apocalyptic drama of Shakyamuni (the historical Buddha) transformed into the Eternal Buddha--dates from 406 A.D. Sitting atop vulture peak in Nepal, the Buddha tells of the coming of the next Buddha (called Miroku in Japanese). Born to a fisherman's family and raised in a monastery, Nichiren (1222-1282 A.D.) became a staunch adherent of the Lotus Sutra. He soon found that the last days were upon the world and that he was the prophesized Buddha come to earth. While amidst one of his exiles, he created a schematic representation of the Cosmic Being. This mandala consisted of the Daimoku (the NSA chant) surrounded by a graded arrangement by titles of all orders of existence. He inscribed this relic on a giant stone (the Gohonzon) which, as the principal and most highly venerated relic of Nichiren Shoshu, is kept at Taisekiji temple at the foot of Mount Fuji. But how is this all translated into action here in the Bay Area? San Francisco is divided into "districts" with each district comprising a practitioners' chain of inductees as opposed to a distinct geographical area. Meetings are reminiscent of Amway, Herbalife, or other such pyramid schemes, but in this case the commodity is spirituality, if a very spiritually orientated spirituality at that. A meeting recently held in a Potrero Hill condo began with a 45 minute fervent chanting session as approximately 20 or so people squatted on a carpeted floor. The only furniture in the room is a $3,000 opened Gohonzon and an electric piano; a grinning framed portrait of President Daisaku Ikeda hangs on the pristine white walls. But all is not intent and content here. Long term members turn around to see if others are chanting fervently. One prospective member is given a sheet of paper with "Nam myo ho renge kyo" written on it to help him on his way along the golden path to unlimited renumeration. Not all are attentive; some merely mouth the words. One woman--who has been a member for years--nudges a guest seated next to her, trying to get him to chant along. Under query, she explains that the script alternating with English in the hand-sized "Nichiren Shoshu Liturgy" is Sanscrit which is "an ancient dialect of Chinese." (In reality, it is Chinese with miniature Japanese furigana script placed on top.) The chant's leader gets up to make a phone call. Concluding, the chanting is closely followed by a simplistic but cheerful song composed by the percussionist of a leading Bay Area World Beat band. Rip roaring, gung ho, and ready to go beaming members tell of the miraculous changes (typically new job, new car, new home) wrought in their lives since they discovered "True Buddhism." One woman details with relish how some of the roommates she didn't get along with moved out soon after she began to chant. The evening's climax is the arrival of Mr. Kudumatsu, the leader of Northern California. Taking questions from members of the audience, he steers a careful course, either veering sharply away from the potential precipice poised by controversial questions or answering them in such a circuitous fashion that the questioner has forgotten what his initial inquiry was by the time he has finished answering it. Following the question and answer period, members gather around the condo's bedroom where a spiritual hush surrounds the individual "counseling" meted out to troubled members.
It's not at all difficult to become a member of Soka Gakkai. One only has to attend a meeting, fill out the application for a Gohonzon, pay the required sums (normally totalling $50-55) for the cheapest Gohonzon, literature, books, and magazine subscriptions, and one is off along the gold bricked road to material enlightenment. The best sourcebook is the 82 page "New Members' Handbook" by George M. Williams. Supplementing the text are many telling pictures. There's one of the NSA Golden Eagle Bagpipe Band at the 1982 Aloha--We Love America Rally in Washington, D.C. Others show brass bands, gymnastics, and lariat dancers ("Just hooked on Country IV"). One other--on a mimeographed flier--is captioned " a panorama of 10,000 American flags sweeps down Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C." Indeed, all the pictures of all the events seem to sport a backdrop of American flags and just how this ultra-patriotism jibes with the organization's avowed aim of "World Peace" remains unclear.
Former member Veronika Fleming is singularly outspoken concerning her reasons for leaving the sect: "I got not so much bored as disenchanted. It's really great to get together and chant, but when they start hounding you to do it, it's a bit much. They spend as much as three hours a day chanting. I'd rather spend the time playing music." Touching her fingers to the sides of her forehead, Veronika states "They only see the world through the perspective of 'Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo'. I read the World Tribune. Half of it is crap! It's like these good Christian beliefs that I grew up on, and I just don't need that in my adult life...Buddhism, not chanting, is a way of life; Buddhism takes years. It's pretentious to call yourself a Buddhist just because you chant.
Speaking about her experiences, another former member (who prefers to remain anonymous) remains a bit bitter. Recruited by a friend at work, this spiritual searcher was intrigued by the "perfect" combination of Japanese culture and spirituality she initially saw in the organization. Her friend catered to her at first, giving her rides to meetings and spending a great deal of time with her. However, she soon became disillusioned. "What I kept seeing, especially in my friend who introduced me, was an incredible avariciousness: she had no morals; she had no qualms about anything; she just very much wanted what she wanted; She would literally chant for what she wanted for hours. While I think that can be real helpful, I saw her just taking that to a real extreme. But she would also do everything she possibly could to get what she wanted. If that meant talking about someone behind their back, she would do it, and say 'I chanted and you didn't; that's why I've got it and you don't.' Right after I got the Gohonzon, she really dropped out; there was no more interest in me; up until that point, she really catered to me: rides to meetings, rides to events. And you know I realize that in the organization it's really important to shakubuku. They have these big campaigns and big drives. Anything that's a discipline can be very helpful--when it becomes a compulsion, that can be dangerous. I know people that get very compulsive. All the analysis was just too much. If you didn't get what you wanted, they'd say that you didn't chant correctly. I mean I look at my friend, and she looks worn out; I mean literally worn out. This was supposed to be very free of guilt. Their answer for everything is chant. It's like a drug; it really is. Spiritual consciousness was equated with happiness; your happiness. I never could buy the magazine because it was all full of diluted tales. They all seemed to be written up by a bunch of bright souls down in Santa Monica; I didn't ever trust them. It's too bad; I was very disillusioned. They're always pressuring you to buy books and magazine subscriptions and this and that; their magazine is very nationalistic and that was explained to me as a consequence of anti-Japanese feeling in this country. In order to gain American acceptance, they have to take on a very American image. I wanted to have my Gohonzon de-enshrined. There's so little interest in that. You can't get anyone to come over and take it down. You've got it; you paid for it. It's yours for life...when there was so much surrounding how it went up. Now this sacred thing is not quite so sacred anymore. Looking back, I realize that it's a pretty mean organization.
So what does all this mean? The abilities of chanting as a valid form of spiritual development is not the issue here; all of the Nichiren sects chant as do members of the Pure Land, and chanting predates recorded history. At question is the belief that worship of a relic, allegedly entrusted with magical powers, can bring material gain. At issue here is the question of whether one allies oneself with an organization which stresses that only its beliefs and its beliefs alone are correct--an organization which subjugates the individual's development of an independent, well informed political and social conscience and substitutes the organizational point of view--or if one should strive for spiritual development on one's own, placing morality above materialism. It is a question that each of the organization's followers would do well to search their own hearts for an answer to.
Harry S. Pariser is the author of number of travel guidebooks, has lived in Japan and speaks fluent Japanese, and has long been fascinated by religious cults and other totalitarian movements.
Related Pages
Responses from readers of this page
BBC Documentary "The Chanting Millions"
NPR Documentary on Soka Gakkai (audio)
Useful for residents and visitors alike, Barbados Travel Companion, our new travel app to Barbados, supplies comprehensive information along with pictures, maps and links to hundreds of videos and relevant websites.
There is an Android version and an iTunes version.
St. John Visitors:
Please check out Explore St. John, our new travel app to St. John, which supplies comprehensive information (useful for residents and visitors alike) along with pictures, maps and links to hundreds of videos and relevant websites.