The SGI practice of chanting for material outcomes
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:27 am
Sorry if this has already been covered elsewhere. Maybe this should've been put in my other thread about the positive aspects of SGI. So, I'll understand if this gets deleted, or merged, or whatever....
Anyway, we probably all know that there is nothing more controversial about the SGI practice than the fact that they chant for material outcomes. This is mentioned in the opening of this -- in my opinion, very good -- article about SGI: http://www.sgi-usa.org/newsandevents/ne ... icycle.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I've often heard it said that SGI is "not really Buddhism," and the main reason people say that it isn't is because they chant for material outcomes. But then I found this -- again, very interesting, in my opinion -- article on the Tricycle website: http://www.tricycle.com/special-section ... line-stone" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; This scholar says that chanting for material outcomes has been a part of Buddhism for a long time, it's just that American "Buddhist modernists" don't like people to know about this because it too closely resembles the aspects of Christianity that learned men were trying to get away from in the 20th Century.
I am not a member of SGI. I'm attending a different type of Nichiren temple. But I've noticed that there is a place in the service where we offer prayers that "all people be prosperous." While this isn't as specific as what I'm told SGI members do (make lists of actual outcomes they want), it does have a similar underlying dynamic. So, I'm left wondering why people "bash" SGI so much for this practice, when in fact it is a part of many other Buddhist traditions as well. (Tina Turner, an SGI member, discusses it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs6z9VejQIk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; She says that, at base, this practice is just about changing your mind and perspective about something, and then you go out and get it for yourself because you've changed your way of thinking about something.)
Anyway, we probably all know that there is nothing more controversial about the SGI practice than the fact that they chant for material outcomes. This is mentioned in the opening of this -- in my opinion, very good -- article about SGI: http://www.sgi-usa.org/newsandevents/ne ... icycle.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I've often heard it said that SGI is "not really Buddhism," and the main reason people say that it isn't is because they chant for material outcomes. But then I found this -- again, very interesting, in my opinion -- article on the Tricycle website: http://www.tricycle.com/special-section ... line-stone" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; This scholar says that chanting for material outcomes has been a part of Buddhism for a long time, it's just that American "Buddhist modernists" don't like people to know about this because it too closely resembles the aspects of Christianity that learned men were trying to get away from in the 20th Century.
I am not a member of SGI. I'm attending a different type of Nichiren temple. But I've noticed that there is a place in the service where we offer prayers that "all people be prosperous." While this isn't as specific as what I'm told SGI members do (make lists of actual outcomes they want), it does have a similar underlying dynamic. So, I'm left wondering why people "bash" SGI so much for this practice, when in fact it is a part of many other Buddhist traditions as well. (Tina Turner, an SGI member, discusses it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs6z9VejQIk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; She says that, at base, this practice is just about changing your mind and perspective about something, and then you go out and get it for yourself because you've changed your way of thinking about something.)