Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Schism, Semiosis And The Soka Gakkai, Forest C. Stone
Schism, Semiosis And The Soka Gakkai, Forest C. Stone
WWU Graduate School Collection
The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and the Nichiren Shoshu have always had a complex relationship. Formed in 1930 by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was from its inception an independent lay-Buddhist organization. For 60 years, they maintained an uneasy partnership with the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, a conservative sect of Nichiren Buddhism, who oversaw certain religious and ceremonial functions for the Soka Gakkai. However, there were points of doctrinal interpretation that the two groups never agreed upon and which ultimately made a split between them inevitable.
The ritual practice of gongyo, borrowed from the priesthood, was developed …