Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
The US Christian "mega churches" have nothing on this thing.
Buddhism has come a long way from that miserable Bodhi tree, to this magnificent luxury!
Buddhism has come a long way from that miserable Bodhi tree, to this magnificent luxury!
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
TBH, I prefer the Bodhi tree...
Different strokes and all.
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Wouldn't want to be the gent in charge of changing those light bulbs....
“The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in the red zone."
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Not a particular fan of SGI architecture, but they do stuffy East Asian contemporary formal public space about as well as it can be done.
My favorite Soka Gakkai architecture will always be the Sho-Hondo that once stood at Taisekiji - demolished after the schism between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu:




My favorite Soka Gakkai architecture will always be the Sho-Hondo that once stood at Taisekiji - demolished after the schism between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu:




Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
- Brunelleschi
- Posts: 105
- Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 4:09 pm
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
This style of architecture reminds me of Scientiology or Ted Haggards megachurch.
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
I think there's a common factor... none of these groups is trying to impress the Architectural Digest crowd and instead aiming to make an environment that is welcoming and not intimidating to the uncool religious.Brunelleschi wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:16 pmThis style of architecture reminds me of Scientiology or Ted Haggards megachurch.
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
I think they are actually trying to make a nice building. I think that they are cutting corners. The Cham Shan Temple near my hometown (a very rural small town in Ontario believe it or not) is costing over $80 million dollars and will take many, many years to complete. This Hall, nice as it is, could have went up in less than a month. That is the difference between spending your money on fastness or quality. IMO.Queequeg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:27 pmI think there's a common factor... none of these groups is trying to impress the Architectural Digest crowd and instead aiming to make an environment that is welcoming and not intimidating to the uncool religious.Brunelleschi wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:16 pmThis style of architecture reminds me of Scientiology or Ted Haggards megachurch.
People also no longer expect giant fancy temples. We live in an age of SkyDomes.
歸命本覺心法身常住妙法心蓮臺本來莊嚴三身徳三十七尊住心
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
It's prettier than the Trump Tower in Toronto. I can think of many ways that it could have been gaudier. I think they constructed a sensible and functional hall. Looking at the ridges near the roof on the inner walls, I think they are using a similar acoustic design as that is used in Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. It probably sounds quite nice in there.
歸命本覺心法身常住妙法心蓮臺本來莊嚴三身徳三十七尊住心
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
-
- Posts: 2070
- Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 2:37 am
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
modern architecture just doesn't have the feeling
Of course, I hope we wouldn't say all this to the people who paid for this building.
Of course, I hope we wouldn't say all this to the people who paid for this building.
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Trump is not something to compare as a standard for anything... His architecture is AWFUL. I can see one of his former buildings outside my window. And up at my parent's house, you can see one of his towers rising up like an extended middle finger over the suburban landscape. I don't know anyone who actually likes Trump architecture. Its a certain aesthetic that appeals to the tasteless, ostentatious rich. Its Gordon Gecko's 1980s glass monstrosity. Its Donald Jr.'s brylcreamed, slicked back hair. The word "classy" spoken without irony, often in a Queens/Long Island accent, evokes the aesthetic. Lots of gold and expensive looking, highly polished stone, glass facades. Blech.Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 8:42 pmIt's prettier than the Trump Tower in Toronto. I can think of many ways that it could have been gaudier. I think they constructed a sensible and functional hall. Looking at the ridges near the roof on the inner walls, I think they are using a similar acoustic design as that is used in Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. It probably sounds quite nice in there.
Incidentally, I think Soka Gakkai's aesthetic derives from Bubble-era Japan, contemporary of Trump's aesthetic. If I had to describe it, it would be gaudy frumpiness, like squat, East Asian farmer on a package tour flashing gold teeth and carrying knock off Luis Vuitton luggage. I've observed the aesthetic across East Asia. I think it was adopted following the Japanese example as the standard to announce to the world that a nation had arrived. Its what an East Asian bumpkin thinks is sophisticated and Western.
Thankfully, this architectural style is on the wane, reserved to the unhip, conservative crowd. Like the Soka Gakkai crowd.
LOL.
OK, I need to stop... Can you tell bad architecture annoys me to hell?
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
My metric for comparing it against the Trump Tower in Toronto was to show that is was not gaudy looking

歸命本覺心法身常住妙法心蓮臺本來莊嚴三身徳三十七尊住心
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
城遠離因果法然具普門塵數諸三昧無邊徳海本圓滿還我頂禮心諸佛
In reverence for the root gnosis of the heart, the dharmakāya,
for the ever present good law of the heart, the lotus terrace,
for the inborn adornment of the trikāya, the thirty-seven sages dwelling in the heart,
for that which is removed from seed and fruit, the upright key to the universal gate,
for all boundless concentrations, the sea of virtue, the root perfection,
I prostrate, bowing to the hearts of all Buddhas.
胎藏金剛菩提心義略問答鈔, Treatise on the teaching of the gnostic heart of the womb and the diamond, T2397.1.470c5-8
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
I cannot argue with that.
The SGI architecture is perfectly nice. These opinions are my own hangups.
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
That place was gorgeous! I don't know the story, but I feel it must have been a loss when it was demolished no matter what the context.Queequeg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:07 pmNot a particular fan of SGI architecture, but they do stuffy East Asian contemporary formal public space about as well as it can be done.
My favorite Soka Gakkai architecture will always be the Sho-Hondo that once stood at Taisekiji - demolished after the schism between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu:
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
It was awesome in the formal sense of that word. The acoustics were amazing - add a few thousand people chanting and it was an extraordinary experience.DGA wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:58 amThat place was gorgeous! I don't know the story, but I feel it must have been a loss when it was demolished no matter what the context.Queequeg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:07 pmNot a particular fan of SGI architecture, but they do stuffy East Asian contemporary formal public space about as well as it can be done.
My favorite Soka Gakkai architecture will always be the Sho-Hondo that once stood at Taisekiji - demolished after the schism between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu:
Millions of people put their heart into that building. Its demolition was spiteful, but understandable from Nichiren Shoshu's perspective. That schism was painful all around.
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
I've had a heartache over this for the last couple of weeks since I read this thread. I'm a complete stranger to both SGI and Nichiren Shoshu, I'm largely ignorant of the backstory, but I'll be damned if it doesn't hurt anyway. It feels as though there must have been many such losses when that split occurred. I'm not trying to open up an old wound here, just reflecting on loss with some whiskey in my belly and a cat in my lap.Queequeg wrote: ↑Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:05 pmIt was awesome in the formal sense of that word. The acoustics were amazing - add a few thousand people chanting and it was an extraordinary experience.DGA wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2017 1:58 amThat place was gorgeous! I don't know the story, but I feel it must have been a loss when it was demolished no matter what the context.Queequeg wrote: ↑Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:07 pmNot a particular fan of SGI architecture, but they do stuffy East Asian contemporary formal public space about as well as it can be done.
My favorite Soka Gakkai architecture will always be the Sho-Hondo that once stood at Taisekiji - demolished after the schism between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu:
Millions of people put their heart into that building. Its demolition was spiteful, but understandable from Nichiren Shoshu's perspective. That schism was painful all around.
May the causes for conflict be eliminated, and may all grow together in the Rain of the Dharma.
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Svaha!
Those who, even with distracted minds,
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Entered a stupa compound
And chanted but once, “Namo Buddhaya!”
Have certainly attained the path of the buddhas.
-Lotus Sutra, Expedient Means Chapter
There are beings with little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma.
-Ayacana Sutta
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
DGA wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:53 am[
I've had a heartache over this for the last couple of weeks since I read this thread. I'm a complete stranger to both SGI and Nichiren Shoshu, I'm largely ignorant of the backstory, but I'll be damned if it doesn't hurt anyway. It feels as though there must have been many such losses when that split occurred. I'm not trying to open up an old wound here, just reflecting on loss with some whiskey in my belly and a cat in my lap.
May the causes for conflict be eliminated, and may all grow together in the Rain of the Dharma.
Quite a few people were literally in tears over the demolition of the hall, cutting of trees in front etc. Lots of folks put their heart & soul into saving pennies to help finance its construction. Similarly, the offiical excommunication cut out a large part of the organization pretty nearly overnight, lots of people disappeared to "the temple". I wouldn't be surprised if families were divided over the question though I didn't observe that particularly. Though I have no 1st hand information, I wonder how traumatic the events were for Nichiren Shoshu, so many people excluded by fiat- reportedly the head temple grounds were made into something of a ghost town almost overnight.
Re: Impressive SGI Hall in Korea
Sometimes, you don't realize that something was highly traumatic until long afterward when it hits you (usually when you don't see it coming). I wasn't there but I can't imagine a way in which events like this aren't traumatic for Dharma practitioners whether they recognize it yet or not. All parties involved. Hurt is nonsectarian.narhwal90 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2017 11:18 pmDGA wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2017 2:53 am[
I've had a heartache over this for the last couple of weeks since I read this thread. I'm a complete stranger to both SGI and Nichiren Shoshu, I'm largely ignorant of the backstory, but I'll be damned if it doesn't hurt anyway. It feels as though there must have been many such losses when that split occurred. I'm not trying to open up an old wound here, just reflecting on loss with some whiskey in my belly and a cat in my lap.
May the causes for conflict be eliminated, and may all grow together in the Rain of the Dharma.
Quite a few people were literally in tears over the demolition of the hall, cutting of trees in front etc. Lots of folks put their heart & soul into saving pennies to help finance its construction. Similarly, the offiical excommunication cut out a large part of the organization pretty nearly overnight, lots of people disappeared to "the temple". I wouldn't be surprised if families were divided over the question though I didn't observe that particularly. Though I have no 1st hand information, I wonder how traumatic the events were for Nichiren Shoshu, so many people excluded by fiat- reportedly the head temple grounds were made into something of a ghost town almost overnight.
Here's to healing for all those harmed by such events.

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