“Op Ed” is a newspaper term referring to the opinion pieces opposite the editorial page of the paper, which could include thundering tirades or more analytical articles from a variety of sources.
The present page is a collection of materials including some wonderful SGI guidance, gosho and sutra analyses from third-party sources, academic work and musings, and aspects of the ‘Priesthood Issue’ including exposure to splinter sects (which are largely still priest-run and therefore have an attitude problem similar to the established English church’s view of Scottish Presbyterian Dissenters or “Covenantors” in the 17th century).
Health Warning: Anything to do with the Priesthood Issue or Nichiren splinter sects is likely to cause headaches, irritability and confusion. It is included only because at some point you will probably be confronted with an allegation about SGI which requires a factual response.
Legal Health Warning: All of this material is copyright (c) by the original authors and reproduced here either with permission or as ‘fair play’ usage. All of it collectively and individually represents the view(s) of its author(s) only, and is in no way authorized by SGI-UK or SGI or any other affiliated organization.
Please let us know about anything you object to seeing posted or disagree with, using the Contact form or forum page.
| Topic | Select Here | Format | Size | Updated | |
| Guidance from the past |
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| Linda Johnson on practicing effectively |  |
2003 | |||
| Jenny Chen on Daimoku | |
2003 | |||
| Linda Johnson on The Art of Listening |
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2003 | |||
| The “Winter Hill” Guidance by Pres. Ikeda for MD |
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doc | 2003 | ||
| A Lecture by President Josei Toda (Japanese, date unknown) Part 1. |
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wma | 25Mb | 19?? | |
| A Lecture by President Josei Toda (Japanese, date unknown) Part II. |
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wma | 25Mb | 19?? | |
| Dr. Tetsugai Obo on Ocean Culture vs. Village Culture. This is a talk worth reading and appreciating in the current political climate. |
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84kb | 10dec03 | ||
| VP Kawai’s Guidance on “Practicing to realize benefits in your life” |
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2425kb | 1996 | ||
| Academic and other digressions |
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| Articles on the Lotus Sutra, Tendai, and Nichiren Buddhism – Dr. Jacqueline Stone. This collection of more than 20 publications on Dr. Stone’s website should be a first stop for academic research on the history of Nichiren Buddhism. |
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html | |||
| Buddhism for Engineers (humorous diversion) |
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doc | 110Kb | 10dec03 | |
| Death and Rebirth (a Summary of the non-authoritative “In Search of the Ten Kings”) |
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doc | 110Kb | 10dec03 | |
| What is Buddhism? A short short history in powerpoint |
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ZIP | 14.5MB | 16nov16 | |
| Nature and Identity of the Texts in Sacred Traditions of Buddhism: Professor Augustine Pagolu, South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore |
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html | 125Kb | ||
| Significance of Buddhist beads in Nichiren tradition |
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doc | 200Kb | 06jan20 | |
| Who is a Bodhisattva of the Earth – Thomas Ultican |
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txt | 22aug013 | ||
| Priesthood Issue (See Links page for website references) | |||||
| Confirming Our Path of Faith, SGI-USA Temple Issue Handbook | |
1Mb | 1999 | ||
| Soka Spirit Downloadable Materials, incl. Untold History of the Fujii School. |
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URL | 03oct2004 | ||
| The Priesthood Issue topic from the 2004 Introductory Study programme | |
zip | 29Kb | 15jun04 | |
| A remarkable site based on work by the Los Angeles Justice Proved group in 2005, which dissects Japanese tabloid defamation of SGI in three cases involving Nobuko Nobuhira, Akiyo Asaki and Nobuyuki Shirayama. The cases led ultimately to the Japanese Supreme Court which fined and severely criticized the papers. | |
html | 08aug05 | ||
| Historical discussion of Nichiren Shu and Shoshu involvement in Japanese WWII Manchurian provocation. Not for the Faint of Heart! I have included the vitriolic Googlegroup replies to the original posting. The article quotes extensively from the academic source text which is still available (but very expensive). | |
doc | 340kb | 05jan20 | |
| Non-SGI Schools of Thought |
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| Thin ice and slander: Alt.Religion.Buddhism.Nichiren Not for the faint of heart, this Google Group is the linear descendant of an ancient Newsgroup which has been in existence since the 1980s. The best description is Shakespeare’s: “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. Dharma warriors may want to know what hell state in a Buddhist chatroom looks like, but for credible information you’d be better off reading tea leaves. |
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html | 22may15 | ||
| Nichiren Buddhist Association of America Definitely off the beaten track, the site describes the NBAA, which tries to provide an alternative framework for Nichiren practice in the USA. Since it is largely concerned with opinion rather than scholarship it should be seen as an example of a cultural variant in the spectrum of Nichiren Buddhist splinter organizations from ‘sangha-lite’ to priesthood-dominated. |
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html | 22may15 | ||
| Thích Nhất Hạnh After the Dalai Lama and SGI President Ikeda, Thích Nhất Hạnh is probably one of the most influential and well-known Buddhists in the world today. His background is Vietnamese Zen and he has written extensively on Mindfullness and Peace as well as holding retreats around the world including locally, at Worth Abbey in West Sussex. Following a recent stroke he is (2015) convalescing at Plum Village, his centre in France. |
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html | 22may15 | ||
| NichirensCoffeeHouse An eclectic collection of resources, largely but not entirely Nichirenist, ranging from competent academic work to dubious infomercials. |
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html | 2004 | ||