Work

A Positive Relationship Between Daisaku Ikeda’s Environmental Thoughts and the Growth of Korea Soka Gakkai International (KSGI)

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper examines the religious-sociological implications and characteristics of Buddhist environmentalism as articulated in the annual peace proposals of Daisaku Ikeda, founder of Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Leading the lay Buddhist organization established in Guam, USA, in 1975, Ikeda has emphasized the principle of dependent origination and promoted active civic engagement with environmental movements. In the Korean context, a key theoretical question from a religious-sociological perspective is how Ikeda’s environmental ideas have influenced the religious identity of Korea SGI (KSGI) members and contributed to the organization’s growth. Considering that it was not until the 1990s that Buddhist environmentalism in Korea began to move beyond its association with Marxist class struggle and incorporate ecological thought, it is noteworthy that KSGI had already been disseminating Ikeda’s Buddhist environmentalism since the 1970s, fostering an understanding of humanity, nature, and the world from a holistic perspective. This paper concludes that Ikeda’s ideas provided KSGI members with a new Buddhist philosophical and social framework through which to internalize the peaceful coexistence of human and non-human life, grounded in the Buddhist conceptualization of the greater self and global citizenship.

Source: Religions

DOI: 10.3390/rel16121483

Authors: MyeongHee Han, Kwang Suk Yoo

Institutions: Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Kyung Hee University

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Ecology, and Ethics

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,172

Funders: National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, National Research Foundation of Korea