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Article: A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain.
- Article from:
- Sociology of Religion
- Article date:
- September 22, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Association for the Sociology of Religion. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a lay organization that developed out of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, one of the traditions within Japanese Mahayana Buddhism. The thirteenth-century monk, Nichiren, challenged the then (and still) popular belief that salvation entails entering the "Pure Land" after death, and that this depends upon the mercy of Amida Buddha. instead, Nichiren taught, the land of true happiness ... is not to be found anywhere apart from this world. It can only be created within the realities of actual society, after people have firmly established an awareness of the True Law within their own lives" (p. 5). Furthermore, it is believed that Nichiren, an ...