Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
improving interactions with others was a natural part of who they wanted to
be. One said that,
The challenge was to bring out more aspects of my own
humanity (ningensei), to talk to friends and colleagues
'
. It was the end of
March, still many months before the next election. If one were to make a
connection to the election it could be that this was building the bridge for
later crossing the boundary to talk about Komeito
'
'
s policies. Whatever the
outcome might be, it re
ected a theme often to found in Soka Gakkai litera-
ture and heard talked about at the monthly discussion meetings (zadankai)
-
the importance of dialogue, of building friendship and good relations with
and between people. However, as they testi
ed one by one, this was not
necessarily an easy thing to do. In the process, they were confronted with their
own shortcomings
-
things like shyness, feelings of inadequacy,
lack of
knowledge and self-con
s
guidance came in as they developed courage through that. Like the young
women, the basic principle of karma was expressed as the individual changing
the direction of their life through changing thoughts, words and deeds. This of
course may be nothing new as an individual
dence. This was where daimoku and studying Ikeda
'
uence and change
their circumstances is commonly emphasised in other new religions in general
(Hardacre 1986; Reader and Tanabe 1998; Shimazono 2004), but it certainly
seemed to play a primary part in redirecting their social reality.
People were standing up and moving to the front when they spoke, but there
was a sense of intimacy and the atmosphere was not performance-like. It seemed
that distinctive styles of interaction and manners of speaking have to be
understood not only in terms of gender, but also with regards to content,
place and number of people gathered. Interaction in smaller groups perhaps
naturally tends to be less formal, whether they are male or female. Observations
over the years told me that bigger meetings imposed a more structured format
and raised the
'
s ability to in
of appropriated speech-giving practices. The
typical style of Japanese speech-giving is clearly visible at the monthly meet-
ing of headquarters and executive leaders, which is held and broadcast
nationally throughout Soka Gakkai. These meetings may appear formal,
contrived and even scary to outsiders, as people sometimes answer in chorus
to Ikeda
'
social pressure
'
'
s prompting. Contrary to other Soka Gakkai leaders, including the
women
s division (WD) leaders, Ikeda always speaks in his normal voice, as
does the president of Soka Gakkai, as if age and experience free one from
having to portray a very energetic resolve that such speech giving conjures up.
The characteristic Japanese practice of shouting out rallying cries is by no
means unique to Soka Gakkai, but is found in speech-giving situations ran-
ging from elections to baseball matches to high school entrance ceremonies.
At a time of an election, helpers to politicians typically ride around in vans
with loudspeakers on top, with politicians stopping to give speeches outside
train stations, for instance. Despite the sometimes deafening sound of political
slogans shouted out by politicians who appear to be doing their utmost to
rally support for their cause, much of the time people take no notice, but
simply walk past, with this style of speaking itself attracting little attention.
'
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search