"Who Wants To Be A Trillionaire"

The SGI could never make their arguments without use of the forged writings such as the True Aspect of all Phenomena or at best, a snippet here or there from a personal letter intended only for the recipient. They can never make their outlandish claims utilizing the Five Major Works of Nichiren Daishonin, the treatises that are the bedrock of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism.

Let me give you a glaring example of the danger of such a religion as the SGI:

One of the questions on the SGI childrens multiple choice learning exam, Who Wants to be a Trillionaire is, "Who is a Buddha?" The "correct" answer is "Everybody". Teaching this to young children is a sure way to increase their chances of being sexually assaulted or murdered. The SGI misunderstands Buddhism. The SGI is a zennification of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism. It is the teaching of human devils.

Bodhisattva Never Despise never said, "You are all Buddhas." He said, "You are all to become Buddhas." Everybody is not a Buddha, least of all those in the SGI who so misunderstand Buddhism that they put our children in jeopardy.

I have received lots of flack from this post, even a stern rebuke from the Nichiren Shu priest Ryuei. Here is my rebuttal:

When children go to the SGI Elementary School Division Web site, they find the game, Who Wants To Be A Trillionaire:

http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/youthdivision/future/esd/kidlinks/playonline/trillionnaire_2007.swf

Leaving aside for a moment that becoming a "trillionaire" [like the SGI mentor] is not a goal of Buddhism, the children eventually come upon the question, Who is a Buddha? The answer given is "everyone". I then criticized this false teaching as a danger to children. I knew I would get a lot of flack but my purpose was to stir up the SGI members, to get them to think and, to point out that from top to bottom, the SGI is mistaken about Buddhism and a danger to children.

One SGI member wrote a nasty letter but failed to include my discourse on Bodhisattva Never Despise. I wrote back:

Do you have young children? Do you tell them that everyone is a Buddha? "Honeybear, the pedophile Jimmy who lives down the street is a Buddha, the violent sexual deviant six houses down is a Buddha, and so too is your uncle Tony G who is a Crip." Better to teach the children about Goldilocks and the big Bad Wolf which, at least, is a practical teaching that might one day protect (awaken) the child about the bad people out there. He failed to include the rest of my discourse:

Even Bodhisattva Fukyo NEVER says, you are all Buddhas. He says, "You are all TO BECOME Buddhas."

The SGI teaching that everyone is a Buddha is as evil as the Zen teachings, "If you see a Buddha on the road kill him." Both teachings deprecate the lofty condition of Buddhahood. This is tantamount to destroying the Buddha seed by making people indiscriminate and stupid. This is exactly what the SGI wants. They don't want people to discriminate. "President Ikeda is a Buddha, he is infallible", "your Territory Chief is a Buddha, you shouldn't disagree with him or you lack faith" [if you don't see it his way] or "the Human Revolution is the Gosho of modern times."

Another called me names and stated, the SGI teaches that we are all potential Buddhas. I wrote:

The answer to the question, Who is a Buddha, was, "Everyone". This is on the Official SGI-USA website and this is what is being taught to the elementary school children [not, as you say, that everyone is a potential Buddha]. The child is left with a nondiscriminating mind based on the SGI fantasy that "we are all Buddhas". I suggest you no longer screen SGI members who supervise and teach children because you are all Buddhas.

We of the Kempon Hokke will teach the children the difference between a Buddha and a common mortal: "A Buddha is Enlightened and would never harm you, a common mortal is deluded so be very careful." I suggest the SGI takes down their children's learning quiz from their web site or alter it to reflect Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism, the Latter Day, and common sense.

Then Rev. Ryuei of the Nichiren Shu wrote that because some other Buddhists teach that everyone is a Buddha it is ok and he too asserted that I was a deluded bigot.

I wrote back,

Nichiren states that most people pass so much time in the Lower Worlds that it is as natural to them as playing in a garden. If you taught my grandchildren that new age silliness that we are all Buddhas, I would withdraw from your temple. First and foremost, Buddhism is about seeing things the way they are. The fact is that, as an ER doctor, I see many children injured and abused by your "Buddhas". Protecting the children of the Buddha [in this case literally] is teaching them the reality of the world. The reality is, most people are potential Buddhas and few are Buddhas. Potential Buddhas are common worldlings and are capable of anything like the Islamists who strapped a mentally retarded man with explosives and sent him into the pet market and killed dozens of people.

Someone else wrote, "this is a crock of doo-doo. Nichiren wrote, Myoho renge kyo is the innate Buddha-nature of all beings, I would want my children to feel this way about others."

I replied,

Still, innate Buddha-nature is a far cry from Buddhahood. A roach and a stalk of stinkwood too have innate Buddha-nature. You don't have children and maybe you haven't seen what I've seen that would curdle your blood. The fact remains that not everyone is a Buddha, not even everyone who chants Namu Myoho renge kyo and in this Latter Age, you can count the number of Buddhas on your hand.

If you want to believe Madoff, Ikeda, Bush, little Casey's mom, and Osama Bin Laden are Buddhas, rather than potential Buddhas, then there is not much I or anyone can say to you to convince you otherwise.

Someone wrote that he was a buddha before he received the Gohonzon and after but only realized it after.

I replied,

Nichiren also said of one of his deceased disciples, he was a Buddha in life so surely he is a Buddha in death. Could you please point out, however, where he called Hei No Saemon a Buddha? How about the Soga family? Oto Jomyo? Devedatta while alive? What about the Great Arrogant Brahmin or Kobo Daishi?

One other person wrote a second time, an even nastier letter than the first time. I responded:

No matter how grand the intentions of the people who practice with the SGI, as long as their teachings are in error, you should not follow them. Your attacks of me are a reflection of your anger. I have presented a reasoned argument why the SGI children's teachings, Do You Want To Be A Trillionaire, is neither Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism nor healthy for children. Why don't you step up to the plate and argue the matter instead of hiding behind personal attacks