Nichiren Shoshu Religious Cult - Essay Example

Nichiren Shoshu Cult The cult is d after its founder Nichiren Shoshu who was born in 1222 (Causton 38). He grew up asa controversial philosopher. Some Buddhist viewed this religious movement as a harmful cult, and others saw it as a meditation process. The sole purpose of the Buddhism religion is to facilitate each follower eliminate his or her suffering. Nicheren Buddhist practiced mantra meditation. Mantra meditation involves slowing discursive thoughts so as to enable ones deeper nature to harmonize the mind with true self. Max Weber states that social movements that are involved in gaining political utopia cannot be classified as religious movements despite their capacity to inspire religious commitment. Nicheren Shoshu cult had some its basic teachings. These teachings include chanting practice, fundamental respect, ten worlds of life doctrine, ten factors of existence and the three proofs teaching. Each of these teachings was considered controversial. There was a strong opposition towards Nicheren Shoshu cult and many abandoned the cult to other Buddhism sects. The two main Buddhism sects that absorbed members of the Nicheren Shoshu cult include Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism focuses on the idea of a deity while Hinayana Buddhism implements the principles of Pali canon (Hurst 18). Controversial Chanting practice Nicheren taught the members of his cult that one there was no need to exercise chanting. He described that Buddha new the inner oneself, and there was no need to declare the needs or tribulations through chanting. Therefore, the members of his cult did exercise chanting rather they assumed that Buddha is aware of their trials, tribulations as well as needs, and there was no need to request for any favors whatsoever. Several Buddhist followers welcomed these teachings while others opposed it. Those who adhered to the teachings joined the cult while those who opposed the teachings continued following other main Buddhist cults. Majority of the Buddhist followers were against these teachings of none chanting. As a result, the Chances of Nicheren Shoshu cult survivals were minimal (Causton 38). Fundamental respect Nicheren Shoshu introduced an object referred to as Gohonzon in substitute to Buddha. He argued that Gohonzon should be used as a substitute to Buddha. The cult followers were supposed to submit to the object through chanting. He also claimed that the object is the most his, and it should be accorded respect. The fundamental principle of the cult was based on the object. Similarly, this idea did not meet a warm reception. Majority rejected the idea and worked towards designing and implementing sustainable strategies to ruin the life of the cult. Ten worlds of life doctrine In Buddhism there the ten worlds of life are sub dived into two these include: the six basic realms of desire and the four noble realms. The six basic realms of desire include: hell, hunger, animality, anger, humanity and heaven. The four noble reams include: learning, realization, bodhisattvahood and Buddhahood. However, Nicheren Shoshu cults described these realms as non existence and are meant to design the lifestyle of the Buddhist followers. According to his teaching on this issue he insisted that hell or heaven does not exist. The belief is meant to scare away the humanity at large from enjoying life to the maximum. After death, that is the end of an individual soul and there is no way it can rise to heaven or descend to hell. The four noble reams were meant to create a division between the individuals. The division resulted to the gap between the rich and the poor, have and the have nots (Causton 38). The economic status of an individual depends on an individual hard work and luck rather than devotion to the Buddha. Majority his cult followers were inspired by this particular teaching which formed the spiritual part of the cult. However, most of the Buddhist followers were not swayed by the Nicheren Shoshu explanation of this doctrine and therefore they continued to serve in their main cult. Absorption of the cult to Buddhism The cult had a long history of strong minority existence in the 13th century. The main sects of Buddhism implemented strategies to ensure that the cult does not sway the majority of the Buddhism followers. Such strategies include; formation of a group consisting of senior Buddhist leaders to counter the arguments of Nicheren Shoshu and day to day campaigns against the cult. The Buddhist community formed a group that was comprised of senior Buddhist religious reader to inform the larger Buddhist community on the correct position of the controversial practices raised by Nicheren. Since the senior Buddhist religious readers are the custodian of the religion they could convince the followers that Nicheren Shoshu was indeed misleading the community. Although it was not easy to execute their roles due to the strong opposition offered by the cult followers they managed to recover quite significant number of people. The recovery of people from the cult was the beginning of the end of the Nicheren Shoshu cult (Causton 44). On the other hand, the entire Buddha community continued to campaign on a day to day basis in opposition of the cult. They spread their campaign agenda to the door steps of the Buddha society. In the campaigns the Buddhism strong followers enlighten their peers who had been swayed to join the cult. In the enlightenment process they discussed each controversial point and insisted on the need for preserving the two main sects. The campaign produced a positive result in that most of who had opposed the two main sects was reabsorbed back. This also marked the commencement of the ending the Nicheren Shoshu cult (Hurst 43). Max Weber acknowledges the existence of such cults. In a contemporary and democratic society, there are political, spiritual and economical gurus. These are people who have a lot of resources and are highly influential. They consider their positions in the society as very significant. They believe that their decisions or strategies should be adopted by the majority. They tend to introduce and implement political, religious and economical strategies. The members of the society find themselves entangled in a circle of the strategies introduced by these influential members. Nicheren Shoshu, was an influential philosopher who had a lot of material wealth. As a result, he built schools and facilitated day to day running of these schools. Through the provision of educational facilities, he was able to penetrate and introduce his cult to the society. Due to economical or social situation of the Buddha society, some members had no option rather than to serve in the cult (Weber 82). A complete society is comprised of three aspects namely; social, political and economical. The three aspects should balance in a stable society. Furthermore, there are three classes of people namely; upper, middle and lower classes. In most cases a cult is introduced by the members of the upper class. Middle and lower classes join such cults in efforts to stabilize their social, political and economic life. Most religious movements are directly related to race, geographical background, gender, age as well as education. Most religions are common in a particular geographical region while others belong to members of a particular race. For example, the Hinduism belongs to the Indian community. These factors contribute to fading of some religious movement into oblivion. Additionally, such movements can be absorbed into more successful movements. Nicheren Shoshu cult was absorbed into Buddhism. Buddhism emerged more successful than Nicheren Shoshu cult. Members of the society always wish to associate with successful social organizations or religions. Most successful cults exist for decades but do not live to see centuries. The demise of the Nicheren Shoshu spelled the demise of his cult. This is because there were no strong followers who could implement his mission, vision and strategies to the letter. The members who believed in his teachings were reabsorbed back to Buddha community. Nicheren Shoshu did not posses strong divine that he could pass on to a particular successor. This main objective was to oppose the main Buddhism sects. All his controversial strategies were derived from the Buddhism doctrines (Turner 78). Conclusion In each society there exists a cult, sect or a rebellious religious movement. These organizations are inspired by a particular reader with a particular motive. Most this organization is aimed to mislead the members of a particular society. Max Weber acknowledges the existence of such organization. He describes that their existence is contributed by the quest for social, economical and political justice. Some of the priest or prophets are motivated by material wealth to initiate a particular sect rather than spiritual motivation. As a result, the lifetime of cult, sects and rebellious religious movement is extremely short since there is no spiritual inspiration. A religion is driven by the spiritual inspiration. This keeps the members motivated and committed to their mission and vision. Nicheren Shoshu cult did not poses strong spiritual inspiration, lacked a clear vision and mission. The only factor that kept his cult within the Buddha community was the provision of schools. Those who benefited from the schools were motivated to follow his cult for a short while. Work cited: Causton, Richard. Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. New Delhi: Indiana University. 1988. Print. Hurst, Jane. Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai in America: the ethos of a new religious movement. Virginia: university of Virginia. 2007. Print. Turner, Bryan. Max Weber. London: Routledge. 1999. Print. Weber, Max. The sociology of religion. New York, NY: Beacon press.1993. Print. Read More