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Schism, Semiosis and the Soka Gakkai

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Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship 2014 Schism, semiosis and the Soka Gakkai Forest C. Stone Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Stone, Forest C., "Schism, semiosis and the Soka Gakkai" (2014). WWU Graduate School Collection. 376. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/376 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Schism, Semiosis and the Soka Gakkai By Forest Stone Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Kathleen Z. Young Dr. Judith M.S. Pine Dr. Sarah Campbell MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non-exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non-commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. Forest Stone March 25, 2014 Schism, Semiosis and the Soka Gakkai A Thesis Presented to The faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Forest C. Stone March, 2014 Abstract The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and the Nichiren Shoshu have always had a complex relationship. Formed in 1930 by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was from its inception an independent lay-Buddhist organization. For 60 years, they maintained an uneasy partnership with the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, a conservative sect of Nichiren Buddhism, who oversaw certain religious and ceremonial functions for the Soka Gakkai. However, there were points of doctrinal interpretation that the two groups never agreed upon and which ultimately made a split between them inevitable. The ritual practice of gongyo, borrowed from the priesthood, was developed over a span of 600 years on the temple grounds of Taiseki-ji, in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. The format and performance of this ritual was the result of hundreds of years of temple tradition. This practice was handed down to the fledgling SGI in its early years under Toda’s presidency of the organization in the 1940’s. In 1991 the Nichiren Shoshu excommunicated the SGI and all of its constituent chapters and members internationally. Ten years later, in 2002 the SGI abruptly changed the entire format of gongyo. The present study explores the changes that have occurred in the performance of gongyo since the schism. The reformatting of gongyo and the realignment of the Soka Gakkai’s doctrine are not coincidental nor independent phenomena; in order for the SGI to survive after the schism these changes were necessary, and it is purpose of the present work to substantiate how and why these changes took place. Peircean semiotics forms the basis for analysis of the data presented in this work. The present study proceeds from a historical overview of the evolution of Buddhism as a world religion, touching upon the ideological developments in a succession of traditions which led to the formulation of the key components of Nichiren Buddhist thought. From this the points of divergence and conflict between the Soka Gakkai and the Nichiren Shoshu are clarified and explored. To illustrate the degree of their ideological differences, the liturgical manuals which provide the guidelines to the performance of gongyo for SGI members both pre- and post-schism are presented for analysis. The ritual performance of gongyo, its format, ritual paraphernalia, and attendant beliefs are described, unpackaged and presented for semiotic analysis. Finally, field notes of the author’s observations of SGI meetings are provided to give some context for the performance of this ritual activity in a group context. iv Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Schism and Semiosis ................................................................................................................................. 1 Review of the Literature ............................................................................................................................ 2 Outline of the Study ................................................................................................................................... 3 Disclosure of Personal History with the Soka Gakkai ............................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Conceptual and Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................... 5 The Cognition of Religion ......................................................................................................................... 5 Peircean Semiotics ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Semiotic Ideology and Representational Economy ................................................................................... 9 The Materiality of Religion ......................................................................................................................11 The Persistence of Semiotic Forms ..........................................................................................................12 Chapter 3: Historical Context ........................................................................................................................15 Overview of the Chapter ...........................................................................................................................15 The First Phase: Early Buddhism (500–0 B.C.E.) ....................................................................................16 The Buddha...............................................................................................................................................17 The Dharma ..............................................................................................................................................18 Schism and Reformation within the Early Buddhist Sangha ....................................................................19 The Second Phase: Mahayana Buddhism (C.E. 0–500) ...........................................................................22 The Dharma of Mahayana Buddhism .......................................................................................................23 The Lotus Sutra ........................................................................................................................................24 The Development of Buddhist Iconography .............................................................................................25 The Third Phase: Tantrayana Buddhism (C.E. 500–1000) .......................................................................27 The Dharma of Tantrayana Buddhism ......................................................................................................27 The Tantrayana Buddha ............................................................................................................................29 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................30 Chapter 4: Buddhism in China ......................................................................................................................32 Kumarajiva (approximately C.E. 350–409) ..............................................................................................33 T’ien-T’ai Chih-I and the Ordering of the Sutras (C.E. 538–597) ............................................................34 Life and Times of Chih-I ..........................................................................................................................35 Contributions and Innovations ..................................................................................................................36 Three Thousand Realms in a Single Thought-Moment
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