Back to emphasizing the Lotus Sutra, T'ien T'ai, and Nichiren; how Ikeda's ideas link back to those and being honest when they don't. Contributor Buku posted a blog about how duplicitous it was for SGI and Ikeda to claim that Rissho Ankoku Ron was really a treatise that had undertones meant to convey to Nichiren's disciples the importance of "dialogue." That's bullocks on the face of it. It's like saying the national anthem is a useful way for the US government to encourage the arts. Buku has pointed out that Ikeda's conversations with great world leaders and scholars will often have more well reasoned arguments and emphasis on traditional Buddhist thought than in his addresses to the org itself. Personally, if I hear a crazy idea, it seems like it tends to be from a top leader.dude wrote:What would you prefer to emphasize?
Say we assume that, on a certain level, SGI is just a business selling religion like some claim it must be. Say it spreads Dharma, but the religion part is just incidental to, idk, undermining the power structures of the Western world and gaining restitution for Japan's defeat or something. But it spreads Dharma. If SGI would just make more effort to make coherent logical sense in its assertions, tying them back to basic Buddhist principles and recognize when emphasis on Ikeda has become awkward rather than inspiring, it would stop hemorrhaging members and might actually grow. Just quit trying to sell Ikeda as a Buddha. It's just going to backfire. And unlike the Catholic church SGI doesn't have the luxury of license to make things up out of thin air and still be taken seriously. I remember watching a video with Nathan Gauer talking about how great it was that Ikeda gave him a half eaten snack. All I could do was facepalm.