Soka Gakkai History and Philosophy

Abstract SOKA Gakkai International (SGI) is among the less familiar of the new religions in the United States. Other religions of Asian origin, such as ISKCON (Hare Krishna), the Unification Church (Moonies ), Transcendental Meditation (TM), and the Divine Light Mission, that emerged in the United States mid-century received more attention (albeit often negative) by both the media and academics. Even readers who are aware of the growing presence of Buddhism in America are probably more familiar with Zen and Tibetan Buddhism because of the large number of popular books written about them and Hollywood portrayals of the Dalai Lama. When Time mentioned SGI in its October 20 1997 cover story “Buddhism in America,” it was merely to report that Tina Turner practiced it.