I learned about SGI through my friend and Nichiren Buddhist, Ed Young. Ed welcomed me to join in their service and I was thrilled because I had never attended a Buddhist ceremony before. Upon arrival, I was surprised to see the vast amounts of people attending the ceremony. There were thousands of people gathering for this celebration. This particular ceremony that I attended marked the 50th Anniversary of the SGI President Daisaku Ikeda coming to Chicago on October 9, 1960. This visit holds such deep importance to this community because it sparked the foundation for SGI-USA. During his visit, President Ikeda witnessed some white children playing in a park. When a young black boy tried to play, he was excluded. This boy then laughed at one of the white children for tripping and was exiled from the area by an older white man. Upon seeing this obvious racism, President Ikeda swore to the boy that he would build a place where all people can worship and be accepted for who they are.
I happened to find that the group of people at SGI Chicago were very welcoming people. The service began with the thousands of attendants chanting "Nam Myo Renge Kyo".
(Meaning and literal translation can be found at http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/nam-myoho-renge-kyo.php)
The community had a strong investment in their youth programs and the service included traditional Japanese dances and a Korean Drumming performance. The crowd was energetic and intensely diverse. There was no dominant race, however, it appeared as though there were people from all different cultural and racial backgrounds.
I have included a video of the community chanting "Nam Myo Renge Kyo" with a shot of one of the alters in the SGI Chicago facilities. Enjoy!
Here is a link to an interview with SGI member Ed Yound:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqoclXfmUWA
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