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SGI-UK Study
Department
Grade 1 Study Course material 2008
Grade 1
Questions
All study
material can be accessed at www.guidestud.org.
Background to
the Study Courses
Nichiren
Daishonin made it clear that study is a very important part of our practice of
Buddhism: “Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without
practice and study, there can be no Buddhism.” [WND-1, p386] The main purpose of
the Grade 1 study course is for members to meet together and study the material
on five important topics. Through discussing the questions together, the
significance of the material for our daily lives will become apparent. During
the study course, answers to all the questions should be prepared. In the
exam, only one question from each section will be set (and three parts of
section A1). The most important thing for Grade 1 is to extract the ‘key point
or points’ for the particular answer.
Section A:
The Life of Nichiren Daishonin
This section
is in two parts. A1 requires short answers of dates, places and names; A2
requires longer essay-type answers. In the study exam, you will be set three
questions from A1 and one question from A2 to answer.
A1
1. When and
where was Nichiren Daishonin born?
2. When was
the first proclamation of his teaching?
3. When and
to whom did he submit the treatise entitled On Establishing the Correct
Teaching for the Peace of the Land?
4. When was
he first exiled and to where?
5. When did
the Tatsunokuchi Persecution take place?
6. When and
to whom did he make his last admonition to the ruling government?
7. Where did
he spend the last eight years of his life?
8. When did
he inscribe the Dai-Gohonzon?
9. When and
where did he die?
A2
1. What were
the circumstances in which Nichiren Daishonin ‘cast off the transient, and
revealed the true’?
2. Describe
the situation in
Section B:
The Preamble to the Rules and Regulations of the Soka Gakkai
1. Explain
the spiritual flow of Buddhism from Shakyamuni to Nichiren Daishonin and then to
the SGI.
2. Describe
the contributions to the movement for kosen-rufu made by each of the first three
Presidents.
3. Which
principles are at the core of ‘the spirit of the Soka Gakkai’?
4. Explain
the four religious tenets of the Soka Gakkai.
Section C:
Basic Principles
Explain the
following principles:
1. The mutual
possession of the ten worlds.
2. The
oneness of life and its environment.
3.
Conspicuous benefit and inconspicuous benefit.
Section D:
President Ikeda’s Lecture (part 1) on ‘On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime’
1. Explain
the two aspects of daimoku described in the lecture.
2. Basing
your answer on the material in the lecture, explain why Nichiren Daishonin
stresses ‘the crucial importance of the heart or mind’.
3. Basing
your answer on the material in the lecture, explain the mission of members of
SGI.
Section E:
The Priesthood Issue
1a. Give
examples of three ways in which the Soka Gakkai supported the priesthood in the
decades before excommunication.
1b. Give
examples of three ways in which the priesthood oppressed or obstructed the Soka
Gakkai before excommunication.
2. The
Daishonin wrote in detail about the nature of ‘arrogant, false sages’, the third
of the three powerful enemies. What are the five characteristics of these
arrogant, false sages?
3.
‘Thoughtful and informed people around the globe also began to speak out in
great numbers to support and defend the Soka Gakkai’
a. Basing
your answer on the material, give three objective impressions on the priesthood
from these people.
b. Basing
your answer on the material, give three objective impressions on the Soka Gakkai
from these people.
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