Total Pageviews

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

"We were being indoctrinated into Ikedaism rather than Buddhism."

"It was however, in retrospect, a rather enclosed, insular world which in a way cut itself off from society. When I first met the Buddhist leader, Dick Causten, he said in a very peroquial way to me “I am here to teach you Buddhism”. This is obviously what he thought but I think his statement was misplaced. He was an arrogant, charismatic man who was hardly a spiritual leader. There were regular meetings and impassioned sermons about changing individual and group karma by chanting. It then became apparent that there was an overseeing heirachy which was controlling and dictated the kinds of themes and discussion material that were produced by the head office. These themes were produced by the dominating figure of the worldwide organization called the Sokka Gakkai. His name is Daisaku Ikeda and he was in fact producing and creating a form of Buddhism which was to do with Ikeda and the way that Ikeda viewed and understood life. We were being indoctrinated into Ikedaism rather than Buddhism. It was a very subtle process. In 1976, there were a handful of Buddhists chanting in England and what was initially clarifying and intense and life changing gradually became hierachical, controlling, demanding and distorting. This was because the interpretations that they put on the teachings of the Buddha were distorted by the Japanese hierarchy. There was also a lot of favoritism on who was to be this leader or that leader of a particular division a. And the organization was divided into mens division, womens, young womens, young mens and childrens division. I would not say it was like the moonies but you can accept anything if you get used to it. So theory, thought, discussion were gradually relegated to advisors and people who gave guidance. These people had no experience in guidance and no understanding of counseling in any shape or form. They were chosen by the hierarchy on high according on what was considered to be their depth of faith. Empowerment was given to some and not to others, dependent upon the foibles and ideas of the various leaders who somehow thought they had a direct conduit to the infinite through their depth of faith. This is how an organization initially democratic and based on the significance and importance of the individual becomes distorted into a church and a hierarchy which disguises all its various conflicts and rituals under the disguise of faith."

http://max2011.wordpress.com/2008/11/

5 comments:

  1. Hey Mark, there are many places where I might take issue with SGI, especially current teaching but some of this person's blog is just off. E.g.

    "However this sect is in no way now related to Buddhism.  It does not follow the basic tenants of the teaching laid down by the Buddha Nichirin Dishonin 750 years ago.  From the start, the Soko Gakhai never emphasized personal empowerment, compassion or the true nature of Buddhist chanting meditation which is to seek the core of truth and enlightenment within the self."

    At that time in NSUK as it was then, personal empowerment, compassion (along with wisdom & courage and lifeforce as qualities of the Buddha) and accessing these within, through ones own practice were very much in evidence and taught almost exclusively.

    I respect this person's experience as their experience but NSUK lectures, periodicals and books of that time do not support this view as being generalised. Happy to supply these if necessary. Later, I might agree but not at that time.

    I question anyone who claims to be a medical student yet produces a blog littered with misspelling, apparently Max learned Gonya and talks about Gonhonzen and Gohonzon. Even Nichiren is misspelled.

    As a dyslexic who regularly types on mobile devices, I'm tolerant up to a point but this makes me wonder about how much care the author has put in. Perhaps not such a good source to quote?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Anonymous. Leaving aside for a moment the reliability of the author, the problem with SGI is these four dangers:

    The first danger of the SGI teachings is mixing the clean with the unclean. No dog would ever intentionally eat ground glass. No infant would ever intentionally ingest a toxic substance nor would any mother intentionally give her baby a toxic substance. However, a dog will eagerly eat a steak inundated with ground glass and an infant will readily drink tainted breast milk. A mother, not knowing that the noxious drug is excreted into her breast milk, inadvertently gives it to her baby. This is what the SGI members serve to the children of the Buddha. They serve the poison of the heretical doctrines of Nichiren as True Buddha, The DaiGohonzon, and the Oneness of Living Mentor and Disciple to their children in the milk of Namu Myoho renge kyo. Or they, like a mean and deranged farmer, serve their loyal dog the ground glass of slander of the orthodox sects in the steak of the Jiga-ge.

    The second danger is as noxious as mixing the clean with the unclean: Taking a piece of the teachings from the middle, a piece from the end, and a piece from the beginning and re-attaching them in reverse order or mixing them up. The former practice is like a surgeon who reverses a vein when creating an arterial bypass. The flow of blood ceases and the patient dies. The latter practice (that of mixing up the teachings) can be likened to a physician who is ignorant of adverse drug-drug interactions. He mixes two or three safe and efficacious drugs together which turns them into a powerful poison. The former practice of rearranging the teachings is commonplace in the SGI. For example, those teachings that Nichiren Daishonin taught before he had fully developed his faith are given precedent over the later complete teachings or they promote the theoretical teachings of expedients over the essential teachings of abandoning expedients and the exclusive faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra. An example of the danger of mixing several efficacious practices which when mixed have a deleterious effect, are the practices of shoju and shakabuku in the Soka Gakkai which are practiced without understanding the times or the circumstances in which we live. They practice shoju towards the slanderers of the Dharma such as the Zen men, Nembutsu adherents, and believers in Islam and practice shakabuku towards the members of the Kempon Hokke and the Nichiren Shu. These sundry practices the SGI perpetrates on the children of the Buddha. Neither Greg Martin nor Dave Baldshun nor any of the salaried SGI leaders are good persons and neither is their master, Daisaku Ikeda. Both have the mission of destroying the teachings and harming the children of the Buddha, Daisaku Ikeda from above and the salaried SGI leaders from below.

    ReplyDelete

  3. The third danger of the SGI is that they arbitrarily add doctrines and concepts to the Great Pure Teachings where none exist and claim them as “the original and authentic teachings of Nichiren Daishonin”. This is worse than forging Gosho because it is more insidious. By altering a word here or a word there, to already extant and authentic Gosho (literally putting words in Nichiren’s mouth), they become adept at fooling the people. This cunning and treachery they inherited from the perverse seven hundred year tradition of the Taisekaji priests and their Gosho Zenshu, Oral Teachings, and faked transfer documents. Fortunately, we have the unadulterated Showa Tehon Collection of Original Gosho (as well as expert linguists), to keep them honest. We also have the disciples and believers of the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin whose correct faith and understanding renders them capable of clarifying such matters.

    The last danger is that many innocent people fall prey to the Soka Gakkai's argument, “Nichiren said this but meant that” which is the teachings of the delusion of fundamental darkness. Since this is a visceral and emotional argument and the people are steeped in the Three Poisons, no amount of logic or scholarship will suffice to overturn it. Most people can no more see their own eyebrows than heaven in the distance [Nichiren]. It will require the wisdom of the Buddha born of faith in Nichiren Daishonin’s Gohonzon and the Lotus Sutra to destroy these arguments and devils.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been practicing Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism for 30 years. I have had a very rich and beneficial practice until the last 4 years. I do not find it coincidental that my progress in life came to a screeching halt and fell into the state of hell with the progression of this Buddhism revolving into "Ikedaism" Our publications have been inundated with only the interpretations and viewpoints of Ikeda. I am trying to find other Buddhists who see the same thing and want to continue practicing and supporting each other without the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth being shoved down our throats from SGI and it's transition into "Ikedaism"

    ReplyDelete
  5. You found the right place Unknown.

    ReplyDelete