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SGI:
Challenges Ahead
Interview
with Dr. Karel Dobbelaere, author of the book, Soka Gakkai:
From Lay Movement to Religion, and Professor Emeritus of the
Catholic University of Leuven and the University of Antwerp,
Belgium
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Dr.
Dobbelaere meeting with SGI President Ikeda (Tokyo,
January 9, 1996)
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SGIQ:
What was your motivation for writing this book?
Dobbelaere: In 1997, I was
invited by Massimo Introvigne, the series editor of Studies
in Contemporary Religions, to write a compact book on the
Soka Gakkai: its history, structure, philosophy and
membership. Earlier, in 1994, I had published with Bryan
Wilson A Time to Chant which looked at the Soka Gakkai
movement in the United Kingdom. My book on the Soka Gakkai was
published in Italian in 1998. I continued my research on the
Soka Gakkai, and this has been reflected in the present
updated and revised English-language version, as well as the
French edition.
SGIQ:
What are your overall findings?
Dobbelaere: Very important
for me as a sociologist of religion was a finding in our UK
study, confirmed by studies in Italy and the U.S.A., that Soka
Gakkai converts are generally not "religious
seekers"--people in search of a religion. Rather, they
are typically confronting problems in the secular world and
may suffer from a negative self-image. The Soka Gakkai member
whom they encounter appears to have a strong vitality or life
force, which attracts them. On that person's suggestion they
try out the practice in order to solve their problems. In my
book I analyze this process of conversion and suggest the
importance of the small group discussion meeting, which
provides converts with social support. This is needed to help
them see that the practice is not magical but more a kind of
self-directed therapy, which at the same time has a religious
character. This finding suggests two important conclusions:
first is the need to reconceptualize sociologically the
process of conversion, and second is to understand this
religion as offering certain methodologies for living, similar
in some ways to those offered by mainstream Christian
denominations over the course of history.
SGIQ:
What is the larger sociological background for your study?
Dobbelaere:
It is part of many sociological studies on New
Religious Movements (NRM) which document a changing religious
"market" and increasing religious pluralism. This
change is most important in Europe where, until the 1960s,
most countries were effectively Christian monopolies:
Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox. This pluralism became
possible due to a process of functional differentiation that
reduced religion to the place of one subsystem within society,
in this way undermining the authority of the traditional
churches over other societal subsystems such as politics, the
economy, education, etc. This is the process, in other words,
of the secularization of social systems.
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The
Soka Gakkai volume, subtitled Soka Gakkai: From Lay
Movement to Religion
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SGIQ:
What is your view on the future of the SGI in
Europe and the world?
Dobbelaere: The
globalization of the movement poses problems of encountering
and accommodating to different cultural settings. My
understanding is that the SGI-affiliated Institute of Oriental
Philosophy was founded precisely in order to clarify the
essence of Buddhism by stripping away the influence of the
traditions and cultures of different countries.
The Soka Gakkai seems conscious of the need to strip its
structure and culture of the Japanese context in which it
emerged and evolved. This requires a dialogue with the
non-Japanese membership, which is a very serious task and
imposes a great responsibility on the part of the Japanese
leadership both within and outside Japan.
In my book, I describe some of these problems. For example,
how does one translate the typical Japanese master-student
relationship expressed in the concept of "guidance"?
In interviews throughout the world, I noticed that for many
members, the organization's structure suggests a hierarchical
relationship and style of leadership which may be unacceptable
for historical reasons and hinder the development of the
movement. Discussing this with French-speaking Canadian
members, it was suggested that this relationship be
reformulated in terms of accompagnement, a kind of
fellowship or accompaniment that stimulates the
"student" to analyze his or her circumstances, to
find his or her own way and to make his or her own decisions.
Another problem that emerged during my study was the typical
Japanese structure of segregation by gender, which has already
been questioned in some national organizations. And as one
last example, we see the adaptation of organizational
practices such as the appointment of leaders which, in the
United States, has been supplanted by a process of nomination,
review and approval that involves both peers and other
leaders.
One important hope is the development of an interreligious
dialogue that formally started after the mass-excommunication
by the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood in 1991. Another
SGI-affiliated institution, the Boston Research Center for the
21st Century, has played an important and valuable role in
facilitating encounters among representatives of different
faiths and philosophical traditions. The center's objective is
to find a common philosophical and ethical basis from which
people can promote respect for human rights, life, the
environment, economic equity, sustainable development, peace
and nonviolence.
SGIQ:
Why is the situation of NRM sometimes so
challenging in Europe?
Dobbelaere:
I mentioned already the mono-religious culture that has
historically prevailed in Europe. The United States, in
contrast, was from its earliest stages conceived as a
religiously pluralistic state which institutionalized
religious freedom, allowing religious groups to freely
worship, preach and proselytize. In Europe, pluralism appeared
first with the emergence of a growing number of unbelievers,
who rejected the religious heritage that had molded the
culture and structure of their countries.
France is a paradigmatic example of the conflict between the
secular and religious impulses. The deliberate secularization
of the state and its institutions, such as the educational
system, was the outcome of this struggle, waged under the
banner of "laicization." Religion was reduced to the
so-called private sphere; the public sphere became secular.
However, in the late 20th century, so-called religious
"irrationality" has reemerged in the form of the New
Religious Movements. These movements have not restricted
religion to the private sphere but have engaged themselves in
secular fields: culture, politics, education, drug abuse
prevention, rehabilitation, etc.
SGIQ:
To what extent do you see the SGI as part of a larger
movement? And, conversely, where do you see its uniqueness?
Dobbelaere:
Many new movements emerging from civil society
engage themselves in the promotion of peace, human rights,
environmental protection and sustainable development. These
are common goals which already find expression in some new
political parties such as the green parties. However, what is
specific to the Soka Gakkai is that, as a religious movement,
it gives a sacred aura to these objectives. In this way the
members are transmodern; they embrace post-material
values--the environment, human rights and self-fulfillment;
they look to the future with optimism but turn to the wisdom
of an old religion, the Buddhism of Nichiren, for inspiration
on how to proceed.
In contrast to some schools of Buddhism, their wish of
attaining enlightenment is not geared toward escaping from or
breaking the cycle of birth and death with its attendant
sufferings. Rather, they are concerned with the here and now,
with helping people and with improving life on Earth. Many of
them, it would seem, are actually committed to being quickly
reborn after death so that they may continue to share the
wisdom of Buddhism with others and to lead more people toward
enlightenment. They share the greatest virtue of the
bodhisattva: universal compassion translated into action.
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