Empathy is being able to put oneself in another person's shoes. I rarely found empathy in the Soka Gakkai because the organization takes precedence over the individual. They would often quote President Toda, "The organization is more important than my life". Leaders were always crediting the organization for every benefit while placing the blame on any failure of the organization squarely on the shoulders of the individual: "You are the organization" or "the organization is a mirror of your life condition." This last assertion is wrong from the standpoint of the Lotus Sutra teachings of the oneness of person and the environment [Esho Funi], the Thusness of reality, and the Three Realms of Existence. SGI is also heavily influenced by a type of Buddhism called Yogacara or Mind Only where all phenomena are said to derive from the mind. There is little empathy in Yogacara since everything is a construct of the mind, even the existence of others, let alone their suffering. It is a selfish way to view the world. Despite their rhetoric of caring, they embrace the ignoble and selfish teachings of pre-Lotus Sutra Buddhism rather than the actual caring and respect that Nichiren Daishonin had towards his disciples and believers.
The reason is that the the S.G.I is based on collectivism . All major movements have had this basis even if they seem poles apart. A few examples is communism and fascism. They are all based on an ideology but this does not take in account the individual .Most people go along with this for a few reasons they do not want to take responsibility for making decisions themselves and on the surface it appears caring of other human beings and for the common good. But this eventually leads to lack of freedom especially when you start to question the ideology. However the Lotus sutra expounds the parable of the plants describing the rain falling equally on all. The individual is just a precious as the next person. Also in the Lotus sutra the Buddha did not stop those 6000 monks who got up and walked out when they did not want to listen to him. When a so called ideology is based on collectivism you gradually loose your freedom of choice. Basically the S.G.I does not uphold the teachings of the Lotus sutra but gets people to recite the Lotus Sutra like a parrot in a strange language even the Japanese do not understand. This is a cunning way to make people think they are revering it just for show. We need to study it in the language we really understand. And that means all the chapters as they have meaning for all aspects of our lives. We need to try and live by them no matter how hard. But within the sutra is the knowledge we are worthy of great respect even if we fall short, as long as we put the Law first and try. Also because it is hard to understand in places people make sweeping statements that it is mostly based on analogies. Yes at times it does but they are stated and are called parables. But I have come to realise that when it states something it is just what it means, there are no lies in the Lotus sutra. This is why we have to substitute faith before we can eventually deepen our understanding.
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