A newly formed Buddhist organization at The University is encouraging students to volunteer while practicing their spirituality.

Several students have created “Nichiren Buddhists at UGA,” a student chapter of The Soka Gakkai International – an international organization that promotes the use of Nichiren Buddhism.

Nichiren Buddhism is a type of Buddhism that SGI says has practical application in everyday life. Nichiren Buddhists believe every human is born with the ability to become happy and develop a sense of compassion.

“For us, we practice not only for us, but for other people as well,” said Tia Williams, vice district leader of the young women’s division of SGI. “We want to be happy, but we also want other people to be happy. We don’t want to keep this to ourselves. That would be selfish.”

Nichiren Buddhists apply their faith by studying the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist reformer, who focused on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Buddhists chant the phrase “nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” which translates as devotion to the “Mystic Law” of cause of effect, in front of a scroll called the Gohonzon.

“It’s basically a graphic of everything that encompasses the universe,” said Tomoka Matsuyama, president of Nichiren Buddhists at UGA. “It’s a really hard concept to wrap your head around. But just like there are laws for gravity, we believe there are laws that encompass everything, so by chanting we are tapping into that Buddha power.”

Nichiren Buddhists at UGA held an introductory meeting last week.

The group will be meeting once a month initially to study the teachings of Nichiren and practice other parts of the doctrine.

The date for the first meeting has not been set, but students who are interested in attending the group’s meetings can contact nbauga@gmail.com.