The Baltimore Buddhist Center is the Chesapeake Bay Region branch of Soka Gakkai International (SGI)-USA, and is located in the Arts District of Baltimore, Maryland. The Center serves members from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to Annapolis to the Eastern Shore and all points in between. SGI-USA is “the most diverse Buddhist community in America” (Soka Gakkai International- USA), comprising of over 500 chapters, around 100 centers throughout the United States, and thousands of neighborhood discussion groups. SGI-USA is part of an even larger SGI network that consists of a community in 192 countries around the world. SGI bases its faith practices on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Buddhism and encourages members to practice Buddhism in their everyday lives, as well as be advocates for peace.
Soka Gakkai, meaning “Society for the Creation of Value”, was founded in 1930 by Tsunesaburo Makigushi. The Japanese born Makigushi was “a forward-thinking geographer, educational theorist and religious reformer” (Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Website Committee) who was also a teacher and school principle, and follower of Nichiren Buddhism. Soka Gakkai was originally a study and thought group for educators, but quickly became a movement based on the ideals and practices of Buddhism. The group and Makigushi believed that spreading Nichiren Buddhism was the best way to spread the “Buddhist ideals of equality and respect for all life” (Soka Gakkai International- USA) and achieve Makigushi’s vision of reform in the Japanese school system. Makigushi and his
closest disciple, Josei Toda, were imprisoned in Japan during World War II, where Makigushi died in 1944. Toda carried on Makigushi’s vision of spreading Soka Gakkai and reforming Japan’s educational system to create a system where the happiness of the children and their love of learning is prioritized (Josei Toda Website Committee). Toda coined the phrase “Human Revolution” to represent the Nichiren idea “that all people are capable of attaining enlightenment in this lifetime” and can “overcome obstacles in life to tap inner hope, confidence, courage and wisdom” (Soka Gakkai International- USA). Soka Gakkai spread in Japan under Toda’s leadership and, after Toda’s death in 1958, spread to an international scale under its next and current president, Daisaku Ikeda.
Soka Gakkai, including SGI-USA, practices the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren is based in the Mahayana tradition, but is different from other Buddhist schools “in focusing on this world, and in its view that it is the only correct tradition” (Religions: Nichiren Buddhism). Nichiren teaches instant enlightenment by discovering one’s Buddha-nature and taking refuge in Buddha, dharma (Buddhist law), and sangha (the Buddhist community). Soka Gakkai encourages its members to focus on themselves to cultivate inner peace and happiness, with the belief that personal cultivation of these traits will positively influence others to do the same and ultimately achieve a truly harmonious civilization. SGI-USA is a self-described community of lay Buddhists that “aim to create value in any circumstances, bringing forth the courage, wisdom and compassion from within to face and surmount life’s challenges, sparking a process of inner transformation” (Chesapeake Bay Region). SGI’s network of “engaged Buddhists” spread peace and caring to the greater community by sharing Buddhism. SGI also encourages its members to participate in “peace activities” that promote causes such as nuclear abolition, human rights, and sustainable living education (Chesapeake Bay Region).
The daily practices of Nichiren Buddhism include chanting, devotion to the Gohonzon, and studying Nichiren’s writings. Nichiren chanting is the main practice of the school and mostly consists of chanting the Nam Myoho Renge Kyo mantra, meaning “I devote my life to the law itself” (Religions: Nichiren Buddhism). This is the title and the main concept of the Lotus Sutra. Believers can also chant sections of the Lotus Sutra. Chanting is usually practiced for 30 minutes every morning and night in front of the Gohonzon scroll. The Gohonzon, meaning “supreme object of devotion or worship” in Japanese, is a scroll of Chinese and Sanskrit characters that is meant to aid practitioners in “perceiving and bringing forth the life condition of Buddhahood from within their lives” (The Gohonzon). The scroll was said to have been originally written by Nichiren and includes the Nam Myoho Renge Kyo characters down the center with various positive and negative tendencies and energies within life on either side. In this way, the laws of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo are seen to mediate and harmonize the positive and negative aspects of life. Nichiren also inscribed his signature below Nam Myoho Renge Kyo to exemplify that Buddhahood is exemplified in the life and action of human beings. The ideas on the scroll are represented in text, rather than gendered or colored human figures to represent the universality of theses ideals. The characters are also in an arrangement to represent the “Ceremony in the Air” scene from the Lotus Sutra, when Shakyamuni reveals the teachings and essence of the Lotus Sutra and instructs his human disciples as Bodhisattvas to spread the message to show others happiness. This scene in the Lotus Sutra exemplifies the ideals of the Sutra that ensuring the happiness of others is essential to cultivating one’s own Buddha-nature.
The Baltimore Buddhist Center offers many opportunities to its members to practice Buddhism and engage in the community. There are Kosen-rufu Gongyo meetings held once a month on a Sunday (Chesapeake Bay Region). Kosen-rufu is one of the most important concepts in the SGI community, loosely referring to “world peace through individual happiness” and spreading peace through the understanding of the “unfailing respect for the dignity of human life” (Kosen-Rufu). It represents the “ceaseless effort to enhance the value of human dignity, to awaken all people to a sense of their limitless worth and potential” (Kosen-Rufu). The Kosen-rufu meetings offer community members an opportunity to gather and hear about the ideals, practices, and ideologies of their faith. These meetings offer the community a chance to gather and listen to a leader that can offer them perspective and advice on their practices and daily applications. SGI-USA also offers resources to its members such as organizing neighborhood meetings, often held in someone’s home, activities for men, women, and youths, sessions targeted towards beginners and newcomers to Buddhism, and online study materials. The Baltimore Buddhism Center maintains a network of neighborhood meetings for their members, as well as providing a bookstore within the center that offers resources on Buddhism.
The current president of SGI is Daisaku Ikeda, a Japanese-born man that has facilitated the growth of Soka Gakkai to an international organization. Ikeda has also founded many other international institutions that promote the Nichiren values of education, peace,
and acceptance (Daisaku Ikeda: A Biographical Sketch). Although the Baltimore Buddhist Center is not directly affiliated with these organizations, they are institutions that are intimately connected to the Soka Gakkai movement. These institutions include the Soka University of America, a private, nonprofit, liberal arts four-year college and graduate school in California that is committed to diversity, student-centered education, and fostering a humanistic perspective of the world in its students (Soka University of America). Another of his institutions is Boston’s Research Center for the 21st Century. Founded in 1993, the Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue aims to engage scholars and activists to search for the innovations and ideas that will aid in the peaceful evolution of human society (Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue).
The Baltimore Buddhist Center also pursues diversity and seeks to support all communities and groups, including those that are frequently marginalized in society. Specialized groups for active duty military members and veterans seek to support active duty members as well as their families while they are abroad or returning home. Other groups focus on encouraging members in education and medical and legal professions to embrace and practice compassion and other Buddhist values in their professions. The SGI-USA LGBTQ Courageous Freedom Group strives to connect and encourage all LGBTQ members to “live with pride, confidence and courage” (Soka Gakkai International- USA). Buddhism champions equality, humanitarianism, and equal rights of all living beings. Through supporting all members regardless of previous faith, gender identity, race, sexual preferences or life circumstances, SGI works to create a diverse, welcoming community to all.
Works Cited
Daisaku Ikeda Website Committee. “Daisaku Ikeda: A Biographical Sketch.” Daisaku Ikeda: buddhist philosopher, peace builder and educator, Soka Gakkai International, 2008, www.daisakuikeda.org/main/profile/bio/bio-01.html.
Daisaku Ikeda Website Committee. “Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue.” Daisaku Ikeda: buddhist philosopher, peace builder and educator, Soka Gakkai International, 2009, www.daisakuikeda.org/main/peacebuild/peace-instit/ikeda-ctr.html.
Daisaku Ikeda Website Committee. “Soka University of America.” Daisaku Ikeda: buddhist philosopher, peace builder and educator, Soka Gakkai International, 2009, www.daisakuikeda.org/main/educator/edu-instit/sua.html.
“Home.” Soka Gakkai International-USA: Chesapeake Bay Region, Soka Gakkai, www.sgi-baltimore.org/.
Josei Toda Website Committee. “Introduction.” Josei Toda: Reviving Buddhism in Today’s World, Soka Gakkai, 2017, www.joseitoda.org/.
“Kosen-Rufu.” Soka Gakkai International: Buddhism in Action for Peace, Soka Gakkai International, 2015, www.sgi.org/about-us/buddhism-in-daily-life/kosen-rufu.html.
“Religions: Nichiren Buddhism.” BBC, BBC, 13 July 2005, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/nichiren_1.shtml.
Soka Gakkai International- USA: Nichiren Buddhism for Daily Life, SGI-USA, 2017, www.sgi-usa.org/.
“The Gohonzon.” Soka Gakkai International: Buddhism in Action for Peace, Soka Gakkai International, 2015, www.sgi.org/about-us/gohonzon.html.
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Website Committee. “Tsunesaburo Makiguchi Website | Home.” Tsunesaburo Makiguchi: Value-Creating Education, Soka Gakkai, 22 Apr. 2015, www.tmakiguchi.org/.
– Charlotte Lynch