Paul Monaco .org

“Faith is a source of unfathomable good fortune and wisdom. When just one woman stands up with faith, a pure and refreshing realm of happiness and peace will emerge and expand from wherever she is. When the sun of truth and justice rises, the night of unhappiness and iniquity will be dispelled without fail” - Kaneko Ikeda

The January-February issue of Living Buddhism is focusing on The Women of the SGI-USA.  The Sokka Gakkai is a Buddhist lay organization dedicated to world peace and the practice of Nichiren Buddhism.

The Lotus Sutra preached by Shakyamuni is a great teaching of gender equality. Nichiren states..

“There should be no discrimination among those who propagate the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo in the Latter Day of the Law, be they men or women” (WND-1, 385)

and while praising a female disciple of particularly strong faith…

“Only in the Lotus Sutra do we read that a woman who embraces this sutra not only excels all other women, but also surpasses all men” (WND-1, 464)

The equality of this practice is one of the key aspects that has led to my embracing of it.  There is no discrimination what so ever between the sexes or races.  We are simply all human beings.

Last Wednesday, marked the anniversary of 12-million Soka Gakkai members being excommunicated by the Nichiren Shoshu high priest, Nikken in 1991.  (more info)

This is well before my involvement with the Soka Gakkai and my emotional ties to this event are not as defined as those of senior members who were practicing at that time but it does make me reflect a bit on what lead me down this path.

As most in my community, I was brought up a Catholic.  We went through all the motions, Catechism, First Communion, Confirmation and even had a Catholic wedding (the first time around).   But “going through the motions” was about all thee was to it.  The blind faith and dogma just didn’t captivate me and filled me with many questions and even fewer answers.

Through out the years, a few people have convinced me to join them at their house of worship and I quickly noticed the same underlying problem.  The preacher / priest / reverend was always this figure of authority that not only “spread the word” but also spoon fed his own personal views and philosophies of every aspect of life and politics. 

When I was introduced to the Soka Gakkai and this correct practice of Nichiren Buddhism I quickly saw that this was different.  Now don’t bombard me with comments about the SGI and the New Komeito Party.  I know about all that and when you get to the upper levels of any large organization some political posturing is going to be necessary to protect ideologies and interests. 

The difference was in the day to day grass roots level and the people in the organization I interact with regularly.  Our leadership structure is that of responsibility, not authority.  Leaders are in charge of organizing meetings and planning events.  Leaders do also guide, but do so by seeking guidance themselves from the writings of Nichiren Daishonin.  When we meet our leaders do have a basic plan in place and an itinerary of topics, but each member has ample opportunity to “take the floor” and bring up virtually any relevant topic or concern.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve adopted this day as sort of my own time to reflect upon my personal Spiritual Independence.