Joining Soka Gakkai in Cuba: Affiliation patterns and factors influencing conversion careers

Abstract

Why do Cubans convert to Soka Gakkai (SGI)? What factors influence their religious choice? Based on fieldwork conducted in Havana, three main affiliation patterns are identified: the pursuit of practical benefits, spiritual quests and the irreligious paths. At the micro level, these are explained by the converts’ perceived congruence between their own (non-)religious worldview and SGI. Next, at the meso level, it is shown that a major institutional factor is SGI’s capacity to supply simultaneously a utilitarian religious perspective, an alternative spirituality and a non-theistic humanistic message. Finally, individual and institutional factors are linked to the socio-cultural context.

Introduction

In 1996, a small group of Cuban followers and sympathizers of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Japan-based Buddhist movement, gathered for the first time in Havana, shortly after an official visit by Japan’s president, Daisaku Ikeda, to the Caribbean island. Over the next decade, the number of adherents grew modestly and several new groups were established in different municipalities of the capital city and eventually in the provinces. By 2007, the membership had reached almost three hundred and the organization gained juridical recognition as Soka Gakkai of the Republic of Cuba (hereinafter, SGRC). Currently, there are about five hundred members and other sympathizers of Nichiren Buddhism – the branch of Buddhism advocated by Soka Gakkai (‘Value Creation Society’). None of them is of Japanese descent.

Why do Cubans convert to Soka Gakkai? What motivates them to join the Buddhist organization? What factors influence their religious choice? With 12 million followers living in more than 190 countries, SGI has understandably been the object of several studies (see below), but the Cuban case deserves further attention, given the island’s secular and religious cultures, as well as SGRC’s non-Japanese constituency. The article explores affiliation to SGRC by drawing on partial results of qualitative fieldwork that the author carried out in Havana in 2011 with the cooperation of SGRC members. In-depth interviews (24) were conducted with 15 SGRC adherents (nine women and six men), mostly in their homes and usually lasting more than one hour (28h in total). Interview questions relevant to this article explored the circumstances of participants’ encounter with SGI, their religious background and reasons for affiliation. Documents containing conversion stories were also analysed in this connection. Additionally, observations of two SGRC group meetings and a youth division gathering provided insights into the institutional aspects of the conversion process.

Based on the conversion stories of selected SGRC members, three main affiliation patterns were identified from the field data: (1) the pursuit of practical benefits, (2) spiritual quests and (3) irreligious paths. Applying Gooren’s (2007) new paradigm of religious conversion, the article employs his systematization of factors and focuses on the passage from the levels of pre-affiliation to affiliation in the typology of religious activity of the conversion careers model.

By examining the micro level, it is argued that these different affiliation patterns can be explained partly by the converts’ perceived congruence between their own (non-)religious worldview and Soka Gakkai. Next, at the meso level, it is shown that a major institutional factor influencing individuals’ conversion careers is Soka Gakkai’s capacity to supply simultaneously a utilitarian religious perspective, an alternative/‘Oriental’ spirituality and non-theistic humanism. Finally, by linking these factors to the socio-cultural context, the article shows that individuals’ conversion motivations represent larger religious demands at the macro level.

Research on religious conversion

Following the classical model of Lofland-Stark, sociological research on religious conversion has tended to emphasize individual and social factors (Greil, 1977: 115–125; Lofland and Stark, 1965: 862–875), whereas the religious economy model (Stark and Finke, 2000) insists on the primacy of institutional factors.

Studies on conversion to SGI in the US (Snow and Phillips, 1980: 430–447) and Mexico (Inoue, 2006: 43–56) have stressed the role of social ties, while others attribute this religious choice to Soka Gakkai’s affinity with and adaptations to the ethos of capitalist societies (Wilson and Dobbelaere, 1994; Hammond and Machacek, 1999). In Brazil, conversion to SGI has been explained by socio-cultural factors, such as the unfavorable economic conditions of large sectors of the population and the influence of Brazilian popular religiosity, especially its focus on the solution of practical problems relating to health, finances and family issues (Shoji, 2002: 85–111). In Cuba, Jiménez et al. (2005) associate conversion to SGRC with the interplay between global and local factors, particularly the national socio-economic crisis impacting on the Caribbean state since the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the subsequent religious resurgence.

In an attempt to provide a comprehensive approach to individual religious change, Gooren (2007: 337–353, 2010) synthesizes the literature on the topic and builds upon Rambo’s (1993) holistic paradigm to provide a new model of conversion and a systematization of the multiple factors influencing individual religious choice. Moreover, Gooren (2010) integrates these factors into an adaptation of the religious economies model (Stark and Finke, 2000). In Gooren’s proposal, the interconnections of the many factors influencing religious conversion are explained in terms of the dynamics of supply and demand at three levels: micro (the rational actor), meso (the religious organization) and macro (the overall religious economy and the religious ‘market’).

Another element in Gooren’s new model of conversion is a typology of individual religious activity, which, following Richardson (1978), is called conversion careers. Gooren (2010: 67) defines it as ‘the member’s passage, within her/his social and cultural context, through various levels of religious activity’. These levels are: pre-affiliation, affiliation, conversion, confession and disaffiliation (Gooren, 2007: 337–353, 2010).

To develop his theory, Gooren (2010) examines a variety of conversion stories from different places and different religious paths. He does not, however, include Soka Gakkai. Nor, to our knowledge, has Gooren’s new conversion theory yet been applied to Soka Gakkai. This article attempts to understand conversion to SGRC in the light of this fresh theoretical approach.

As the present effort seeks to explore why Cubans join Soka Gakkai, the study will focus on the passage from pre-affiliation to affiliation. Pre-affiliation refers to ‘the worldview and social context of potential members of a religious group in their first contacts to assess whether they would like to affiliate themselves on a more formal basis’ (Gooren, 2007: 350). On the other hand, affiliation indicates formal membership in a religious group. In SGI, this happens when the converting person formally receives a copy of the Gohonzon (‘the object of veneration’; see below) in a conferral ceremony at the organization’s general meetings.

To explain affiliation to SGRC, the paper identifies and analyzes the main factors influencing individual religious choice during this passage. The interrelation among these factors will be examined at the micro, meso and macro levels of religious conversion.

The micro level of religious conversion to SGRC: Initial motivations

This section identifies common patterns in the collected data and analyses the main factors influencing conversion at the micro level (individual, social and contingency factors).

Practical benefits

The field data reveals that a major motivation to join Soka Gakkai in Cuba is a desire to find a solution to daily life problems. Personal issues related to health, finance and family relations are recurring themes in the conversion stories of several SGRC adherents. The instance of Luisa (female, 65 years old, white, professional) illustrates this pattern. She recalls her contact with SGRC in this manner:

My niece came to visit [Havana] from her home province because she suspected she had cancer. One day we went to the oncology hospital for some tests … and the doctor said the results were positive. After we left the hospital, she was very depressed. We stopped at a small cafeteria on G street and I tried to encourage her to see the bright side of life … . Then a couple that was nearby and had happened to hear our conversation handed us a card. I asked them, ‘What’s this?’ They explained that it was about a Buddhist group and invited us to visit … . They assured us we’d feel better … . They said they had a meeting in the afternoon. So we went there that very day.

Luisa, who until then had been unfamiliar with Buddhism, decided to take her niece to the SGRC group meeting, hoping to find some remedy to the critical situation they were facing. They were told about the power that can presumably be activated through faith in the Gohonzon and by chanting daimoku – the invocation of the formula nam myoho renge kyo (see below). They began attending group meetings and learned to chant. They kept praying for healing and for psychological comfort. Although her niece passed away a year later, Luisa believes they found an effective way to deal with their difficulty. She continued to practise and to attend SGRC group meetings. Two years later, she received her copy of the Gohonzon.

Luisa’s story typifies the utilitarian, problem-solving perspective that prompts conversion to SGRC. Such individuals join SGI because of the perceived benefits that the practice of Nichiren Buddhism may grant them in dealing with health, financial and family problems. Luisa was facing the critical situation of her relative’s illness. It is at this point that she encountered a SGRC follower who introduced SGI as a solution to her crisis.

However, we should not assume that an encounter with an advocate during personal crisis automatically leads to conversion to SGRC, since other factors might also be at work at the micro-level, such as prior religious socialization, contingency factors and the influence of social ties (Gooren, 2007, 2010).

Before encountering SGRC, several individuals like Luisa were nominally Roman Catholics, though they seldom attended church. They did not see themselves as having a religion, though they did pray when facing difficulty – to God, a saint, the Virgin, the orishas (Afro-Cuban deities) or a deceased person’s spirit. This was their religious frame when they encountered Soka Gakkai.

Their weak prior religious socialization allowed them to be structurally available, i.e. they were free to move from previous religious affiliations into new proposals (Rambo, 1993). The literature suggests that most converts to new religions are ‘those lacking a prior religious commitment or having only a nominal connection to a religious group’ (Stark and Finke, 2000: 65). Moreover, the previous religious perspective of these respondents consisted essentially of an instrumental orientation that facilitated their religious availability. As Rambo (1993: 62) defines it, ‘[r]eligious availability means that a person’s beliefs, practices, and life-style are to some degree compatible with the new option’.

This explains their receptive response (see Rambo, 1993) to the organization’s invitation. In Luisa’s story, the catalyst situation was the family crisis caused by her niece’s illness and the chance meeting with SGRC advocates in the street (contingency factors). For others in this affiliation pattern, contact with the organization occurred through relatives, neighbours or friends (social factors) who were already SGRC adherents. In any case, their religious choice was not a difficult one: they were essentially in search of practical benefits.

Spiritual quest

Another major motivation that our interviewees mentioned for joining SGRC was the quest for spirituality and personal development. This motivation is generally associated with an interest in ‘Oriental’ religions and alternative worldviews. As Michel (male, 27 years old, white, technician) puts it:

I was already very interested in Buddhist philosophy. I loved Asian culture; I had even practised karate and jujutsu … . I used to search for information about Buddhism on the web and read whatever I found. I tried to apply to myself what I read, so I felt I was a Buddhist already. One day, a friend told me about the [SGI] group and I wanted to go and have a look …

Michel was attracted to motifs of Asian culture and sought information about Buddhism, mainly through the internet. Through this individualized quest, he constructed his Buddhist identity. In January 2010, he heard about SGI from a friend. Without hesitating, Michel visited the SGRC group by himself. He liked it and kept attending monthly dialogue meetings. He avidly read and studied SGI materials provided by the group. He felt he had found what he was looking for and he remained. Just four months after his first encounter, Michel became an SGRC member.

The story of Michel is far from exceptional. Similar stories were told by several other SGRC members interviewed for this research, and others were reported in Jiménez et al. (2005). Indeed, two SGRC leaders estimate that roughly half the people join the organization through this mode. The conversion careers of these adherents show the individualized pattern of seekership described in Straus (1979: 158–165): they actively seek, experiment and construct their conversion. Their common dissatisfaction with existing religions forms the basis for their structural availability to explore new choices. Since their Orientalist cocktail usually contains a good dose of Buddhist ingredients, they are intellectually and religiously available, so that their conversion to SGI does not involve a ‘radical change in universe of discourse’ (Travisano, 1970: 601).

But even though this intellectual motif (Lofland and Skonovd, 1981: 373–385) is often a personal search, contact with the SGRC generally takes places through friends and acquaintances. They learn about Nichiren Buddhism and the existence of SGRC through the informal networks of new spiritualities, and this prior religious socialization makes them religiously and structurally available for conversion to SGI in the pre-affiliation stage. This highlights the significance of social ties in seekers’ passage to affiliation (cf. Greil, 1977: 115–125) and ‘make[s] clear how social and individual factors are strongly intertwined and can reinforce each other in certain people’ (Gooren, 2010: 85).

Irreligious paths

Other members were not particularly interested in exotic spiritualities; nor did they join SGRC to solve immediate problems. This how is Joannet Delgado de la Guardia (female, 54 years old, white, professional), currently SGRC General Director, described her own conversion:

[my sister] Armantina, who introduced many members of my family to Buddhism, including my parents, told me that if I began to practise Nichiren Buddhism, my life would change for the better. But I couldn’t accept her advice, as I didn’t trust in anything, in any religion. My way of thinking was completely materialist. (Delgado de la Guardia, 2002)

Joannet first heard of Nichiren Buddhism through her sister Armantina, who became a Buddhist after marrying a Japanese SGI member, with whom she had lived in Japan since the 1970s. Armantina had ‘shared the Law of nam myoho renge kyo’ with other members of the family, so that the Delgado family were among the first SGI followers in Cuba. During this time, Joannet was facing several personal crises and challenges: divorce, graduation, new job and remarriage. At home, Joannet had listened to her mother chanting daimoku every day. But having studied at the university (natural sciences) at a time when Marxist materialism was entrenched in the Cuban educational system, Joannet used to see life through the lenses of scientific atheism. For her, religious interpretations of the world were old-fashioned superstitions. Instead, she needed rational explanations.

Though very reluctant at first, Joannet gradually gained an understanding of SGI doctrines by reading study materials that her sister had brought home. She noticed that Buddhism did not appear to be a religion, but rather a humanistic philosophy. She discovered fundamental similarities between Nichiren Buddhism and her atheistic way of thinking and decided to try chanting daimoku privately in 1991. She started attending SGI group meetings in 1993 in Ecuador during a research trip (SGRC had not yet been established).

In this conversion pattern, individuals like Joannet first hear about Soka Gakkai from significant others who are SGI followers, usually relatives with whom they live (social factors). Because of their non-religious worldview (prior religious socialization), these educated people might initially discard the Buddhist message. At some point, however, they may agree to read SGI literature obtained by their relatives or read it independently, gradually moving from apathy/rejection to a receptive/active response mode (Rambo, 1993). This may happen at a time of personal crisis (contingency factors), though it was not necessarily the case with other interviewees. They eventually decide to join SGRC because of the philosophical continuity they perceive between SGI’s non-theistic doctrine and their own irreligiousness. For them, affiliation with SGI does not seem to involve a disruption of identity (see Travisano, 1970).

The meso level of religious conversion to SGRC: A threefold supply of symbolic rewards

This section delves into the institutional factors influencing the three types of affiliation pattern identified from the field data. By looking at its chief doctrinal, ritual and organizational aspects, it is shown that the appeal of Soka Gakkai for Cuban converts lies largely in the organization’s capacity to offer three kinds of symbolic reward.

Utilitarian religious perspective

As shown above, a major motivation for Cubans to join Soka Gakkai is a desire to find solutions to problems that they face in daily life, such as financial, health and family problems. These individual demands are met by SGI’s supply capacity, since chanting daimoku in the interest of achieving practical benefits is encouraged in SGRC group meetings. As a member put it during a group meeting, ‘We must chant to get big benefits! Then we’ll be able to show real proofs that the practice works!’ These ‘proofs’ of ‘benefits’ achieved are a central theme in the experience of members of SGRC collective activities. Moreover, members are encouraged to keep a record of answered prayers and to prepare their ‘experiences’ (conversion stories, accounts of answered prayers) so that they might be able to share these with potential adherents.

This instrumental approach is as common in SGRC as it is in other SGI chapters elsewhere (see Hammond and Machacek, 1999; Inoue, 2006: 43–56; Mathé, 2005; Métraux, 2001; Shoji, 2002: 85–111; Wilson and Dobbelaere, 1994). In fact, the pursuit of ‘worldly benefits’ (genze riyaku) is a central feature of Japanese religions (Reader, 1991; Reader and Tanabe, 1998). Therefore, SGI’s potential to supply practical benefits is a key institutional factor appealing to potential adherents like Luisa, whose prior religious capital was seen primarily from a similarly utilitarian problem-solving perspective.

An alternative spirituality with an ‘Oriental’ allure

As a Buddhist movement of Japanese origin, Soka Gakkai offers a supply of Eastern religion in Cuba’s religious ‘market’. The young SGRC represents a fresh alternative spiritual path to those who, like Michel, are searching for meaning beyond the traditional references of Christianity, Afro-Cuban religions and Spiritism. It provides an encompassing Buddhist worldview which people can learn by reading an array of didactic materials and by attending group meetings where Buddhist doctrines are discussed. In fact, study constitutes one of the ‘three pillars’ of SGI. Avid readers of ‘spirituality’ will find themselves engaged in intensive readings of the writings of the 13th-century Japanese monk Nichiren (the Gosho), the writings and speeches of President Daisaku Ikeda (1928–), materials by or about Gakkai’s past leaders Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871–1944) and Josei Toda (1900–1958) and a variety of study guides published by the headquarters of the organization.

With respect to religious symbols and rituals, Soka Gakkai offers a rich and exotic cultural experience through the pillars of faith and practice. At the centre of SGI religious practice is the Gohonzon (‘object of veneration’), a scroll written in Chinese and Sanskrit characters, which is enshrined in the private houses of SGI members, group meetings and all activities of the organization. According to SGI teachings, the 13th-century Japanese monk Nichiren inscribed the original scroll as an embodiment of the ‘Mystical Law’ which he preached and which SGI continues to propagate. SGRC leaders confer copies of the Gohonzon upon new members in a solemn, emotive ceremony at general meetings. Usually sent by the Japanese headquarters, Gohonzon scrolls are placed inside a Buddhist altar (butsudan), in front of which the followers observe the practice of daimoku. Along with offerings of flowers, rice, fruits, candles, water and incense, SGI Buddhists direct their prayers to the Gohonzon by chanting the phrase nam myoho renge kyo. In addition, the ritual includes the practice of gongyo, consisting of the recitation of excerpts of the second and sixteenth chapters of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese phonetics. Practitioners may read it aloud directly from the The liturgy of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin or may try to memorize it. SGI encourages observing the practice individually twice a day at home and collectively in group meetings. In this way, Soka Gakkai offers its followers an extensive supply of ‘Oriental’ doctrines, rituals and symbols, by which they can reinforce or develop a Buddhist identity.

Non-theistic humanism

Despite the evident ‘Oriental’ appearance of its rituals, symbols and liturgical language, SGI simultaneously insists on the lay, modern, universal character of its message. Indeed, becoming a Soka Gakkai Buddhist does not require people to wear exotic clothes or live a monastic lifestyle. Furthermore, SGI’s interpretation of Nichiren Buddhism is presented as a rational, humanistic philosophy, rather than as a religion. Doctrinal notions such as karma and ‘Mystic Law’ are frequently discussed in SGRC group meetings and study materials are said to be essentially compatible with the theories and findings of modern scientific fields like physics, neuroscience and psychology.

The alleged compatibility of Nichiren Buddhism with modern science (see Solomon, 1980: 34–54) is further emphasized by the non-theistic nature of its teachings. SGRC converts tend to discard belief in God, divinities or supernatural entities. Instead, they emphasize the responsibility to work out their own happiness and work towards world peace. These humanistic values occupy a central place in SGI’s rhetoric and sense of mission, and its non-theistic, humanistic, rational, universal and ‘scientific’ proposal constitutes a major appeal for atheists and non-religious people like Joannet.

The macro level of religious conversion to SGRC: The socio-cultural context

In this section, individual motivations to join SGRC will be situated in the larger social context. By considering macro-level factors such as Cuban popular religiosity, the spread of new spiritualities and the lasting effects of secularism, I show in this final section that individual conversion patterns represent larger religious demands in Cuba’s religious ‘marketplace’.

Cuban popular religiosity

The first affiliation pattern introduced in this article is the desire to find a practical solution to life’s problems by chanting daimoku. We also saw that Soka Gakkai’s institutional supply of worldly benefits caters to this type of individual demand. But besides individual and institutional factors, the features of the local religious culture influences these conversion careers.

Shoji (2002: 85–11) has noted the predominance of the utilitarian motif in conversion to SGI-Brazil, pointing to the influence of the problem-solving orientation of Brazilian religiosity as a fundamental factor. As with much of Latin American popular religion, such an instrumental functionality is also a feature of Cuban religiosity (Ramírez Calzadilla, 2004). By the end of the 1980s, this popular religiosity prevailed in more than half the Cuban population, increasing considerably in the next decade along with the religious revival (Díaz, Pérez and Rodríguez, 1994).

The case of Luisa (introduced in the first section) typifies the religious background of Cuban popular religiosity, which other SGRC members share. It is in this larger socio-cultural configuration that their conversion careers are embedded.

Given the prevalence of this instrumental, non-institutionalized religiosity in Cuba and the prolonged national socio-economic crisis, it could be assumed that many Cubans are religiously, emotionally and structurally available to convert to SGRC. The conversion motifs of these individuals therefore point to a market to which Soka Gakkai can supply attractive rewards in the form of worldly benefits simply by chanting daimoku.

Yet, SGRC is not the only religion providing this type of reward. In fact, it faces strong competition from Santería and Pentecostal churches. SGRC’s institutional capacity to reach this market is severely constrained by its low social profile. Without its own ‘cultural centre’ (kaikan), limited access to the media (state regulation factor) and limited public proselytism (institutional factor), SGRC relies largely on the influence its members may have on their own social networks.

New spiritualities

The second affiliation pattern for joining SGRC introduced above is the quest for spirituality and personal development, most commonly associated with ‘Oriental’ religions. The analysis of the meso level showed Soka Gakkai’s capacity to meet this individual demand, though at the macro level this institutional capacity can be seen to vary throughout the world, appealing to people with similar conversion motivations to a greater degree in the US (see Hammond and Machacek, 1999: 146–148, 152–154) and Spain (Cornejo, 2013), to a lesser extent in the UK (see Wilson and Dobbelaere, 1994: 91–93) and still less in Mexico (Inoue, 2006), Brazil (Shoji, 2002), France (Mathé, 2005) and Italy (Mathé, 2010).

‘New Age’ religion and Eastern spiritualities began to develop in the West as early as the 1960s (Campbell, 2007; Heelas, 1996), but such global ‘mystic’ waves did not reach Cuba until the early 1990s, when the island increased its exchanges with the rest of the world (see Fabelo, 2009). Since then, alternative spiritualities have been increasingly available in the national landscape, with an array of options that include healing methods, meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, universal energy and yoga (Jiménez, 2006; Jiménez et al., 2005). This phenomenon points to the existence of population sectors whose religious needs are not fully met by the local religious culture (Fabelo, 2009). It is from these sectors that individuals like Michel emerge.

Certainly, SGRC does not hold a monopoly on the diffusion of Buddhism in Cuba, since several Buddhist groups in the Zen, Vipassana and Tibetan traditions also operate in the local religious market and may act as alternatives. However, Soka Gakkai is currently the only Buddhist organization that enjoys juridical recognition in Cuba (Soka Gakkai International, 2007), a concession that results from its official exchanges with the Cuban government and which further attests to its efforts towards globalization (see Rodriguez Plasencia, 2014). The small size of other Buddhist groups, their limited geographical distribution (confined mainly to Havana) and non-recognized legal status place SGRC in a relatively favourable position in the alternative spiritual milieu.

Lasting secularism

Joining SGI because of the perceived congruence between Nichiren Buddhism and the converts’ irreligious worldview is a pattern that was not identified in previous studies on SGRC (Jiménez et al., 2005); nor is it mentioned in Shoji’s (2002) and Inoue’s (2006) articles on SGI in Brazil and Mexico, respectively.

This finding makes sense in a society that appears to host a significant non-religious population (see Díaz, Pérez and Rodríguez, 1994; Zuckerman, 2007), as a result of secularization processes and the imposition of state atheism after the Revolution of 1959. The impact of these processes may have been weakened by the national socio-economic crisis, enhanced religious toleration and abandonment of state atheism that followed the collapse of the Communist bloc, which led to a religious revitalization from the early 1990s. Yet, despite significant state and societal deregulation of religion since this period, secularism and antireligious attitudes have not vanished entirely from the social consciousness of contemporary Cubans (Ramírez Calzadilla, 2009).

The lasting effects of these socio-cultural factors inform the irreligiousness of SGRC adherents like Joannet. Informants belonging to this affiliation pattern represent a specific niche in the local religious ‘market’. As the institutional supply of atheism fades in a national situation of increasing pluralism and religious revival, Soka Gakkai emerges as a viable option for those wishing to conserve their ‘non-religious capital’. More than any other Buddhist group, SGRC provides a flow of non-theistic humanism in a lay, modern format that may appeal to those choosing to assert their irreligious identities.

Conclusions

This article has identified three main patterns among Cubans who join Soka Gakkai: namely, the pursuit of practical benefits, a spiritual quest and the irreligious paths. It has analysed various factors influencing individual religious choice and their interrelations at the micro, meso and macro levels.

At the micro level, a major individual factor is the congruence that converts perceive between their own (non-)religious background and SGI’s worldview. The discussion of the meso level showed SGI’s capacity to supply simultaneously a utilitarian problem-solving perspective, an alternative/‘Oriental’ spirituality and a non-theistic humanistic message. Moreover, the importance of social ties is evident in that contact between potential converts and the religious organization generally occurs through networks of significant others.

Accordingly, these conversion careers in SGRC correspond to an affiliation pattern in which institutional factors are predominant, while they appear in close interaction with individual and social factors (Gooren, 2010). This pattern also shows interaction with macro-level factors such as the influence of Cuban popular religiosity, the globalization of new spiritualities and the lasting effects of secularism.

The present article brings a fresh perspective to our understanding of conversion to Soka Gakkai in general, though it has focused only on religious change from pre-affiliation to affiliation. Future studies should address other levels of Gooren’s model to account for the entire cycle of conversion careers in SGRC.