Which Daisaku Ikeda to follow?

Which Daisaku Ikeda do you trust and which one do you follow, the 1984 one or the current one?.. confusing huh?

In the video, in the Q & A at the end, (http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2016/03/worst-sgi-lecture-on-lotus-sutra-yet.html) we are told that Daiseku Ikeda is so busy writing guidance that the translation committee can't keep up.

We are also told about the decision to give up teaching faith in the Dai-Gohonzon and that SGI's Mr Harada, explaining this decision, said that it was holding back world wide kosen-rufu.

With such an active and present (though rarely seen) Daisaku Ikeda, surely such a change was sanctioned by him.

We are told (rightly) that the Dai-Gohonzon has no basis in Gosho. We are also told that "the priests just made a whole bunch of stuff up."

So here's Daisaku on faith, practice and study in 1984 and of course the Dai-Gohonzon and those priests who just made a whole bunch if stuff up. 

One might be forgiven for wondering why, with such an emphasis on study of the Gosho, nobody, let alone one with the depth of understanding of the "mentor" Daisaku Ikeda, didn't spot the fact that the Dai-Gohonzon had no basis in Gosho or that the priests had made a whole bunch of stuff up.

And if he had realised those two things, why he was happy to give this type of guidance and make these types of speeches?

Buddhism In Action Volume 1

1984.

ISBN 4-88872-015-0 C1315

Daisaku Ikeda

Pages 33 & 34

"Needless to say, the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary inscribed for all mankind is the most fundemental basis of the movement of the Nichiren Shoshu Soka Gakkai. The Dai-Gohonzon has been preserved and handed down within Nichiren Shoshu from the founder, Nichiren Daishonin, to his successor, Nikko Shonin, and then to the third high priest, Nichimoku Shonin, up to the present high priest, Nikken Shonin. I hope therefore we will courageously dedicate ourselves to studying Nichiren Daishonin's teachings in order to deepen our faith and to propogate true Buddhism in each country or community, as we follow the high priest's guidance, and respect the traditions and doctrines of Nichiren Shoshu.

" 'Practice' mentioned in the above passage means doing gongyo, chanting daimoku and doing shakabuku for the sake of others as well as ourselves. "study" in the same passage, means studying Nichiren Daishonin's teachings. Only those who are devoted to the two ways of practice and study can be called Nichiren Shoshu believers and Nichiren Daishonin's disciples. If you are negligent in these, you may be said to be running counter to the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. When you are consistent in these two fundemental ways, you are practicing Buddhism correctly.

"Etch deeply in your heart the phrase, "Both practice and study arise from faith. Faith means accepting the Dai-Gohonzon as absolute, and devoting yourself to the cause of kosen-rufu.

Page 92 (ibid)

"As I have said repeatedly, it is nothing other than the Dai-Gohonzon that is the basis of our worldwide of our worldwide kosen-rufu movement. It is my honour that I have been able to use what little ability I am endowed with in order to blaze a trail for future world peace as well as fir the furtherance of kosen rufu in Japan where the Dai-Gohonzon is kept."

Pages 139-140 (Ibid)

"One of the purposes of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is to develop one's life condition. Every human being has sufferings. Flesh is, as they say, heir to suffering. The sufferings of those who have little or no faith in the Gohonzon may become even worse and tend to create a life-condition confined to the three evil paths. In contrast, the sufferings of those who do believe in the Gohonzon can be transformed into the driving force for changing their negative karma, cultivating virtue and good fortune, and attaining Buddhahood. Such change is possible only through determined faith and chanting daimoku. This is the Buddhist principle that earthly desires are enlightenment. Moreover, one may experience sufferings because of one's practice of faith and activities for kosen- rufu. Enduring such sufferings should be interpreted as part of Buddhist practice to develop one's supreme life condition.

"I joined Nichiren Shoshu when I was nineteen, and tomorrow, on August 24, I will have completed 34 years of practice. I am very grateful to the Dai-Gohonzon for the fact that during all this time I have been able to exert myself for the cause of kosen rufu without interruption. Sickly as I was, I have become increasingly healthy and have been able to work for kosen-rufu as tenaciously as anyone. I will continue to pray to the Dai-Gohonzon for a longer life span so that I can devote myself even more to the cause of kosen-rufu of the world."

Page 182 (ibid)

"Last night and tonight there was a beautiful full moon. The Daishonin's Buddhism is complete and perfect, like the full moon. The ultimate entity of his Buddhism is embodied in the Dai-Gohonzon, which is the cluster of blessings of the entire universe. We should strive to be as complete as we day and night practice faith and chant daimoku to the Dai-Gohonzon, the manifestation of the great Law which is the perfect and impeccable entity of life."

Page 262 (ibid)

"The fundemental place of worship for this movement is the Head Temple of Nichiren Shoshu. Taho Fuji Dai-Nichiren-zan Taiseka-ji, where the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctury of true Buddhism bestowed on all mankind is enshrined, and it is high priest Nikken who presides over it. As, followers of Nichiren Shoshu and under the guidance of high priest Nikken, we must continuously strive on the basis of true Buddhism to lay the foundation for peace and culture, which will eventually secure world peace and culture through individual happiness. This is the mission of the Soka Gakkai."

Pages 290 - 292 (ibid)

"We absolutely deny violence. Friends of the world who embrace the Mystic Law advance together in spiritual unity toward the cause of lasting peace, but let us respect the manners and traditions of our respective countries.

"No one can be further from the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin than one who self-righteously thinks that he alone is respectworthy. From the day the Daishonin first chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, declaring true Buddhism, he committed himself to life long propogation in his desire to achieve the great cause of kosen-rufu. Therefore as his disciples and followers of true Buddhism we exert ourselves in the two ways of practice and study for the individual cause of attaining Buddhahood in this life and the common goal of kosen-rufu with absolute faith in the Dai-Gohonzon.

"Arrogance and conceit are causes for shame to any Buddhist. No matter how an arrogant a person may try to justify himself with seemingly righteous arguments, in the depths of his life he is yeilding to the fundemental darkness and inherent devilish nature in his life.

"We believe in the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of true Buddhism, follow the high priest Nikken, and immerse ourselves among the people in order to talk with those who face troubles, those who seek the Law, and those who search for a more meaningful way of life. We should remember that we are living noble and respectworthy lives, introducing "the Buddhism of the sun" to more and more people in many countries of the world.

"The text quoted says "Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism." This is a very strict teaching. To put it briefly, Nichiren Daishonin definitely asserts that if "practice and study" are discontinued, there can be no Buddhism if the sowing, which Nichiren Daishonin gleaned from the depths of the Juryo chapter as the only direct path to enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law.

"Thr ulimate entity of this Buddhism is, needless to say, the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of true Buddhism, which had been strictly protected and preserved by successive high priests of Nichiren Shoshu for some seven hundred years. At the present time we celebrate the very rare occasion of the seven hundredth anniversary of the Daishonin's passing, the heritage of the Law has been transmitted and is being assumed by the sixty-seventh high priest, Nikken Shonin, its integrity unimpaired.

"No matter who may question the heritage of the present high priest, this is an indisputable fact, beyond any doubt. During the days of Nichiren Daishonin, there were some priests who presumuptuously went against Nichiren Daishonin, the original master of true Buddhism. Today, there are some defrocked priests who have turned against the high priest. I cannot help but feel from their example how difficult yet how essential it is to maintain faith in the orthodoxy of true Buddhism.

"We have to be aware therefore, that only when we single-mindedly devote ourselves to the Dai-Gohonzon and exert ourselves in the "two ways of practice and study" on the basis of this prime point can we find the true significance of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism and attain enlightenment in this lifetime.

"After all is said and done, "faith" for us, as followers of Nichiren Daishonin, means to believe in the Dai-Gohonzon. When we begin with faith in the Dai-Gohonzon, the entity of the Mystic Law which pervades the entire universe, and steadily advance on the path of "practice and study", we can open the door to "the palace of the ninth consciousness" developing the supreme state of life eternally and brilliantly.

"At the same time, with this supreme life force that surges from within through "faith", we will further advance along the path of "practice and study" so that we can lead more and more people throughout the world to faith in the Dai-Gohonzon and realise the great cause for kosen-rufu."

Did Daisaku Ikeda believe any of this when he spoke it? And what has it been replaced by? The teaching of mentor-disciple, with not only the Dai-Gohonzon cast aside but more importantly, faith in the Gohonzon relegated and the emphasis on studying Nichiren's writings directly changed to studying Human Revolution and SGI interperative lectures and guidance instead.

Baby, bathwater, bath and bathroom all tossed out together. What's left in the SGI to help cleanse one's deluded life and help one attain enlightenment? Oh that's right, the bond of mentor and disciple. And where did it lead all those people who took these words of their mentor to heart in 1984?...

And as for "denying violence" how does that fit with allowing a change to Japan's peace constitution? Is that Buddhism in Action?

One should be careful, it seems, who one follows...

When are the forceful practices of the Lotus Sutra [shakubuku] appropriate?

Answer: When the Law is about to disappear

Question: How does the life giving water of the Law disappear? 
Answer: The water of the Law may become polluted, obstructed, cease to flow, evaporated, or diverted. Polluted means that the superior teachings of the Lotus Sutra are mixed with inferior teachings. Obstructed means that it is outlawed by official decree. Cease to flow means that the people no longer have the will to spread the teachings. Evaporated means that there are no longer wise men to correctly teach the Law, those with the ability to determine which of the teachings are true [authentic] and which are false. Diverted means that the truth of the teachings are greedily hoarded by a select few who utilize them for their personal gain. Whenever we encounter any of these situations [and there are probably many more], the shakubuku method is appropriate.

"I didn't need the SGI. I needed therapy."

https://www.reddit.com/r/sgiwhistleblowers/comments/771mnt/am_i_happy_nah_but_at_least_my_mind_is_finally/?utm_content=title&utm_medium=hot&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=sgiwhistleblowers

Becoming more like Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin and less like Nichikan and Daisaku Ikeda.

The Nichikan and Nichiren Shoshu "Gohonzons" do not embody the Buddha's world because they lack Lord Shakyamuni as eternal Buddha. When one worships a Nichikan Gohonzon, the Buddha fails to hear your prayers. This is similar to a radio which must be set to a particular frequency in order to listen to your favorite radio station. Nichiren's authentic Gohonzon (Honmon no Honzon). embodies the Buddha's world as described in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The difference is apparent when you enshrine a copy of a Nichiren inscribed Gohonzon and chant the seven character Daimoku. You become more like Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin and less like Nichikan and Daisaku Ikeda.

"She thought we were like the Moonies with all the Ikeda stuff"

The following is an experience and observation by a two year Soka Gakkai member writing on the Soka Gakkai Unofficial yahoo group:

"While I do agree that President "She thought we were like the Moonies with all the Ikeda stuff." deserves respect for making Nichiren Buddhism known in the West, why do you suppose you have had to explain "a million times" that the SGI does not worship President Ikeda?

Would you agree that there is at least a perception that this is happening?

One of the dictionary definitions of worship is: "To regard with great, even extravagant respect, honor, or devotion."

I once brought a friend to a cultural center to introduce her to the practice. This particular meeting started off with an experience in which the speaker lauded President Ikeda as his mentor. (Well, that's okay, if it helped him..Great!) This was followed by a film about Ikeda's youth. (Okay, interesting experience). This was followed by a Gojakai film explainig the requirements to join, one of which was to have read The New Human Revolution, by President Ikeda (not the Lotus Sutra, not the writings of Nichiren).The meeting concluded with "Forever Sensei." I think this fits the definition above.

At this point my friend wanted to leave as her "cult-meter" started going off. She though we were like the Moonies with all the Ikeda stuff.

But it is a fact that this continued focus on Ikeda turns a lot of people off, and has lead many to stop coming to meetings, or to leave the organization. I don't want that. You don't want that. To simply view this as "negativity" will not address the problem. In order to fix a problem, one must first admit there is a problem."

A disciple of Nichiren meets Linda Johnson on the street: "Hi Linda! Here is a passage from Chapter 15 of the Lotus Sutra for you."

"Ajita! Know thou! All these Bodhisattvas,
From numberless kalpas,
Have studied the Buddha-wisdom.
All of them are my converts,
Whom I have caused to desire the Great Way.
These are my sons Who dwell in this [Buddha-] world,
Ever practicing the dhuta deeds,
Joyfully devoted to quiet places,
Shunning the clamor of the crowds,
With no pleasure in much talk.
Such sons as these
Are learning the Law of my Way,
Always zealous day and night
For the sake of seeking the Buddha-way;
They dwell in space Beneath the saha-world.
Firm in their power of will and memory,
Ever diligently seeking after wisdom,
They preach all kinds of wonderful laws,
Having no fear in their minds.
I, [near] the city of Gaya,
Sitting beneath the Bodhi tree,
Accomplished Perfect Enlightment;
And rolling the supreme Law-wheel,
I have then taught and converted them
And caused them first to aspire to the Way.
Now all abide in the never-relapsing [state]
And all will become buddhas.
What I now speak is the truth;
Believe me with single minds!
I from a long distant past
Have instructed all this host."

Waving his hand wildly, the Nichiren's disciple says "Bye Bye" to Linda.

Soka Gakkai can not even be considered Bodhisattvas (let alone Buddhas)

"Since the Buddha [of the “Life Span” chapter] is revealed as the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remote past [and all the other Buddhas as his emanations], it follows that not only the great bodhisattvas whom Shakyamuni himself taught in his transient status, but the great bodhisattvas from other realms [who were taught by the Buddhas of their own realms] are also in fact disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings. If, among all the numerous sutras, this“Life Span” chapter should be lacking, it would be as though there were no sun or moon in the sky, no supreme ruler in the nation, no gems in the mountains and rivers, and no spirit in human beings." -- The Opening of the Eyes

For those who don't get it, SGI by their own admission are not disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter, the eternal Buddha. Therefore, they can not even be considered bodhisattvas. 

Linda Johnson

Everyone believes her courageous, caring, prescient, and cheerful but at home with the shades drawn, she beats her father Shakyamuni Buddha over the head with Ikeda's Human Revolution. Then she goes out with a big smile proclaiming the greatness of the Soka Gakkai, her mentor, and herself. It puts chills down my spine but not in a good way.

Soka Gakkai steals their father's treasure and then refuses to even recognize their father.

"All these beings are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Since the various Buddhas themselves are emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha, it goes without saying that their disciples must be disciples of Shakyamuni. And of course the various decties of the sun, moon and stars, who have dwelt in the world from countless ages in the past must likewise be disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha." "(Nichiren, MW vol 2, Ibid, pg 152)

SGI members, on the other hand, are not disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. They are disciples of Daisaku Ikeda. It is we alone who proudly declare that we are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. SGI, on the other hand, coopts their father's Law, steal their father's treasure, and then refuse to even recognize their father.

"Suicide will not be tolerated at Soka University of America"

"Direct and indirect forms of verbal and written abuse, threats, physical harassment, intimidation, or violence against another person or their property, as well as conduct that threatens the health and safety of self (including threats of or attempts at suicide), will not be tolerated on the campus**." Soka University Academic Catalog

The SGI is not Buddhism

Letter to Daisaku Ikeda from Masako Takamoto a former follower of chairman Daisaku Ikeda and wife of the Soka Gakkai Vice President Takamoto

Letter to Daisaku Ikeda

Masako Yamamoto, wife of the Soka Gakkai Vice President Takamoto, wrote the following letter to Daisaku Ikeda on March 22: Chairman Daisaku Ikeda, the beautiful teaschings of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism have been in decline in Soka Gakkai as you have destroyed many important 750 year-old teachings. Even the 26 admonitions, which is highly regarded by the followers of the Daishonin, was brought to ruin in dark clouds.

I have come to be convinced that you, Soka Gakkai Chairman Daisaku, are solely responsible for the plight of your failing cult. The leader you hand picked yourself has actually said that it's OK to have a Shinto talisman now! You have sent SGI-USA General Director Danny Nagashima, to the Ebeneezer Baptist Church to kiss the asses of the Christians there, and receive honors from them- including a bronze plaque which now decorates the church wall!

I want to address the police case in Japan, in which you, as a high-ranking Soka Gakkai/Komeito chairman, involved yourself in raping a sincere follower of yours and taking advantage of her good nature.

I was told that you, in an attempt to undermine the the world media coverage of this 7-year-old incident in its publications, brought the case to court. In doing so, you used the sincere donations of Soka gakkai members so that you would not have to appear in court yourself.

Twenty-seven court sessions were held over more than six years. You paid millions of dollars to hide behind lawyers and your puppet judge so that you would not have to appear. Your spoof of the matter was recently revealed by the court, and your dignity as the chairman of Komeito, and president of Soka Gakkai was lost. The image of Soka Gakkai was also horribly tarnished. We feel terribly ashamed. The world's media have covered hundreds of cases of arson, murder, rape and other violent acts committed by you, your political party and your followers. Nothing is more pitiful.

How would you like to be remembered in the history of Soka Gakkai? You have heartlessly appealed to a higher court in this case. You are concerned only about yourself and your sex life. We SGI members don't appreciate your putting additional shame on us. I think that this is the time when you should take resolute action and resign. Maybe you should just get it over with and commit hari-kari.

It's unbearable to us that your indecent character will be further exposed to the public like it has in literally thousands of news media reports ove the span of 50 years. We don't want to see our president continue to be ridiculed. You should resign immediately.

I once heard the following story from my husband, Mr. Takimoto, who was the first Vice President of the Soka Gakki gave birth to in the 1970's. It was about the transfer ceremony that took place between the 2nd president Josei Toda, and you. One day toward the end of the life of president Toda, who was very ill, my husband was called to his residence to check on his health.

While my husband was in the waiting room adjacent to where President Josei Toda lay in bed, the atmosphere in the house suddenly changed. A ceremonial golden folding screen was brought into his room, and Nisshin Takano, a senior Nichiren Shoshu priest, and several of his leaders were called in.

Later on, my husband found out that what had happened: You forced everybody to leave the room while you sat alone with president Josei Toda, just as he was trying to talk. 5 minutes later you emerged from the room, stating that president Toda was dead, and he had chosen you as his successor. You would not let anybody in that room until the body was ice cold.

No senior leader was in attendance to witness your transfer ceremony with the former president. Reports have it that you chose to become president and took the office- -- stole the position -- from another senior leader, 3rd president Hojo, who was to be the 2nd president. You have since stricken president Hojo's name from all SGI publications.

It seems to me that you deeply resented that president Toda did not nominate you as the next president before he died. Your grudge against him prompted you to destroy the hallmarks of his words and guidance one after another. Dark emotions coerced you to destroy even his most profound guidance. Not one of his words are observed in Soka gakkai. Members now are saying that he was a "dupe" and that his guidance was wrong. One SGI member even compatred him to a "kintergardner!"

When I saw a video of you pounding on the table at Santa Monica, in an angry rage, I felt as if you were pounding on the sincere members.

You also destroyed the Santa Monica World Culture Center for "seismic reasons" that you fabricated. You could not offer any convincing reason why the Ikeda Auditorium had to be destroyed, so you left it standing, even though it is attached to the former World Culture center. It is probably because it bears your name.

I wholeheartedly empathize with the following people in conjunction with the Culture center's destruction:

First, how would Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda feel about its destruction? How do all the senior leaders and their family members who made offerings for the construction of the culture center feel about its destruction?

Second, how does the sincere members, who initiated the World Culture center's construction feel?

Third, how does third president President Hojo, who put his life into Soka gakkai, trying to reply to the high expectations that were placed upon him by all these people, feel now?

Foolish as I am, I can never forget seeing you fly into a rage and pound on the table on that video, at the world Culture Center that you have destroyed. I can't resist crying each time I recall that sight.

The sincere members built the World Culture Center with solid concrete to protect the Gohonzon and members from any possible fire or earthquake. The World Culture center was built based upon financial support from 1 million believers' pure hearts. It was the religious edifice of the decade, made with world-renowned materials including Greek marble and $5000 chandeleirs. Not to mention the luxury room that was built for your exclusive comfort.

The Soka Gakkai was initially formed, embraced by the mercy of the 1st president Makigucci, with President Josei Toda as its leader. We Soka Gakkai members felt a great honor to participate in making offerings for the construction of the World culture center.

One day, a number of cartons containing tens of thousands of savings boxes for offerings for the WCC were delivered to our house. These boxes piled up high in the house. Perching on the boxes, a warbler chirped "greedy-cult." I thought that it was a strange omen. I toiled together with fellow SGI members to deliver all those boxes containing millions of dollars to you, chairman Ikeda. Those were days when you were overflowing with cash.

In the days of the former president Josei Toda, it was indeed a undemocatic thing to take a position in the Soka gakkai, since it was based upon an appointment system. However, these days, when we are assigned to a new position, the certificate we receive says, "You are now hereby appointed to the position of--." The wording in the certificate sounds like a lord giving an order to his subject.

When president Josei Toda was in office, it was a great pleasure to visit the SGI kaikans. But nowadays, we don't want to go to kaikans. I don't feel like paying a visit to the kaikans, where leaders always are giving us fake smiles while asking for money.

They always look nervous and give me the impression that they are hiding something. They are always telling us to pray for the high priest to die and for temples to be closed. We do not want to use our sincere prayers for such warped and intolerant ideas. We don't want to sit at meetings where the skits are put on with charactors such as Hitler and other evil people are depicted.

Not only that, the current SGI-USA General Director shows up occasionally at the Ebeneezer Baptrist Church donning Christian preacher ROBES, as he accepts yet another honour in YOUR NAME!!! Dear SGI members, don't you care that the correct faith of Nichiren Daishonin is being lost?

President Daisaku Ikeda, for the first 10 years while you served as Soka gakkai Komeito chairman, you were deeply involved in litigation against many political groups over the issue of your legitimacy as chairman as well as many scandals involving millions and millions of dollars. You finally resigned your legal position as chairman, but you still command the komeito.

For the last six years, you were involved in the court case over the rape of a young woman. And you have appealed to a higher court on this matter. I have never seen a Soka gakkai president like you, one who is never free from legal complications.

My dear SGI members, this is the time for us to recall Nichiren Daishonin's teaching that we will get the same punishment as slanderers unless we rebuke them. Let's request Soka Gakkai Komeito chairman Daisaku to resign as soon as possible. I don't want to hear about another SGI member dying from an airplane crash, hang glider accident, cancer, etc. or getting beat up by gang bangers simply for trying to help somebody.

Chairman Daisaku, you have built gorgeous mansions all over the world so that you may stay anywhere in comfort and meet with your communist and socialist friends. You jet all over the world to meet with the champions of human rights abuses. You kiss the asses of the most henious tyrants the world will ever know.

You nonchalantly spend $40,000-50,000 for extremely expensive Italian silk suits and Gucci shoes for yourself.

I wonder if Heaven cast such money upon you. No, the money you have been spending for yourself all came from the sincere offerings of lay believers. I urge all Soka Gakkai members to open their eyes and judge things correctly with the sharpened eyes of faith.

My husband, a Vice President of the Soka gakkai, entrusted the funds for the construction of the World Culture center to you, chairman Ikeda, who was then in charge of all Nichiren Shoshu lay societies. Over 1.5 million dollars came up missing. You offered no excuse. You simply smiled smugly.

I must convey my deepest anger and sorrow over your conduct -- that you decided all by yourself to needlessly destroy the orld Culture center, which was built totally through the sincere faith of Soka gakkai members. It was meant to be a great edifice for many centuries to come.

Blessed with an extended life span, thanks to faith in the Daishonin's Buddhism, I am still alive at age 80. All the members of the SGI-Komeito, please take what I wrote here as a sincere old believer's heartfelt cry.

I am ready to sacrifice myself for Buddhism at any time. With this resolution, I wrote this letter to refute the slander of SGI-Komeito chairman Daisaku. 

Most respectfully, masako Takamoto 

A former follower of chairman Daisaku Ikeda 

Someone asked me to give them guidance in faith

All the guidance you will ever need should be received from those most capable of giving guidance, Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin. Ultimately, Nichiren teaches that we should receive guidance from the Eternal Buddha as we chant Namu Myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon. He also teaches us to study the Lotus Sutra and his writings. To those silly SGI members who state, "the Gohonzon doesn't speak", Nichiren teaches that indeed, the Lotus Sutra (Gohonzon), Buddha, and Nichiren speak to us when we chant the Daimoku. This is the power of Thus I Heard!

Confident about my next existence

“ it seems to me that on the path to attaining Buddhahood it May invariably be when one has done something like lay down one’s life that one becomes a Buddha. I think that perhaps it is encountering such difficulties as have already been explained in the Sutra - being cursed, vilified, attacked with swords and staves, shards and rubble, and banished again and again— that is reading the Lotus Sutra with one’s life. My faith springs up all the more , and I am confident about my next existence.” -- Banishment to Sado

Only importance

Buddhahood

Welcome new members of the group

If you have any questions, the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren Daishonin have the answers. If you still have questions, I may be able to point you to the relevant passages in the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren Daishonin. The Gohonzon, Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine (Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra), and Nichiren Daishonin are the ultimate authorities. Namu Myoho renge kyo.

Instead of debating me, SGI wishes me to die

Cowards!

The Gohonzon, not Daisaku Ikeda, is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the Three Existences

The next time a priest or a Gakkai leader deprecates you, insisting that you receive “training” or “guidance” from them or Ikeda, tell them, "The Gohonzon is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the Three Existences." You may also cite the following:"The Gohonzon (not Daisaku Ikeda) is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the Three Existences."

“The Buddha, replying to Maitreya’s doubts, said: “Ajita, these bodhisattvas . . . whom you have never seen before in the past—when I had attained supreme perfect enlightenment in this saha world, I converted and guided these bodhisattvas, trained their minds, and caused them to develop a longing for the way.” (Opening of the Eyes)

The Bodhisattvas of the Earth have been trained by the Original Buddha and reminded of his guidance by the venerable Daishonin:

“Now , when the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sutra, this world of endurance (Saha-world) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction and emptiness. Sakyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this pure land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past present and future. All those who receive His GUIDANCE are one with this Eternal Buddha.” — The True Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind

“Since Sakyamuni Buddha is eternal and all other Buddhas in the universe are his manifestations, then those great bodhisattvas converted by manifested Buddhas are also disciples of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha. If the “Life Span of the Buddha” chapter had not been expounded, it would be like the sky without the sun and moon, a country without a king, mountains and rivers without gems, or a man without a soul. nevertheless, seemingly knowledgeable men of such provisional schools of Buddhism as Ch’eng-kuan of the Hua-yen, Chia-hsiang of the San-lun, Tz’u-en of the Fa-hsiang, and Kobo of the shingon tried to extol their own canons by stating: “The Lord of the Flower Garland Sutra represents the reward-body (hojin) of the Buddha whereas that of the Lotus Sutra the accomodative body (ojin);” or “the Buddha in the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus is an Illusion; it is the great Sun Buddha who is enlightened.” clouds cover the moon and slanderers hide wise men. When people slander, ordinary yellow rocks appear to be of gold and slanderers seem to be wise. Scholars in this age of decay, blinded by slanderous words, do not see the value of a gold in the “Lifespan of the Buddha” chapter. Even among men of the Tendai school some are fooled into taking a yellow rock for gold. They should know that if Sakyamuni had not been the Eternal Buddha, there could not have been so many who received GUIDANCE from Him. ” — The Opening of the Eyes

Were a priest or SGI leader then to assert that the Eternal Buddha is Original Enlightenment, you may point out the principle of individuation, the personification and behavior of the Master of Teachings Lord Shakyamuni Buddha, the Original Three Bodied Tathagata, stating, “Of what use is your training and guidance? I have been trained by the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin." You may further cite the following passages from the Opening of the Eyes:

“When we come to the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, then the belief that Shakyamuni first obtained Buddhahood during his present lifetime is demolished, and the effects of the four teachings are likewise demolished. When the effects of the four teachings are demolished, the causes of the four teachings are likewise demolished. Thus the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds as expounded in the earlier sutras and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra are wiped out, and the cause and effect of the Ten Worlds in the essential teaching are revealed. This is the doctrine of original cause and original effect. It reveals that the nine worlds are all present in beginningless Buddhahood and that Buddhahood is inherent in the beginningless nine worlds. This is the true mutual possession of the Ten Worlds, the true hundred worlds and thousand factors, the true three thousand realms in a single moment of life.” — The Opening of the Eyes

and

“Answer: The “Expedient Means” chapter in volume one of the Lotus Sutra states, “The Buddhas wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings.” This refers to the world of Buddhahood inherent in the nine worlds. The “Life Span” chapter states: “Thus, since I attained Buddhahood, an extremely long period of time has passed. My life span is an immeasurable number of asamkhya kalpas, and during that time I have constantly abided here without ever entering extinction. Good men, originally I practiced the bodhisattva way, and the life span that I acquired then has yet to come to an end but will last twice the number of years that have already passed.” Here the sutra refers to the nine worlds inherent in Buddhahood.” — The True Object of Worship

And finally, to drive home our point, you may cite Nichiren Daishonin in the One Essential Phrase:

“Even though one neither reads nor studies the sutra, chanting the title alone is the source of tremendous good fortune. The sutra teaches that women, evil men, and those in the realms of animals and hell— in fact, all the beings of the Ten Worlds— can attain Buddhahood in their present form. [This is an incomparably greater wonder than] fire being produced by a stone taken from the bottom of a river, or a lantern lighting up a place that has been dark for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years. If even the most ordinary things of this world are such wonders, then how much more wondrous is the power of the Buddhist Law! We ordinary beings are fettered by evil karma, earthly desires, and the sufferings of birth and death. But due to the three inherent potentials of the Buddha nature— innate Buddhahood, the wisdom to perceive it, and the actions to manifest it— we can without doubt reveal the Buddha’s three bodies— the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body. The Great Teacher Dengyo states, “Through the power of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law they can do so in their present form.” He is referring to the example of the dragon king’s daughter, who achieved Buddhahood in her reptilian form through the power of the Lotus Sutra. Do not doubt this in the least. Please tell your husband that I will explain this in detail when I see him.”

He doesn’t say, “by the power of a living mentor, teacher, or priest.” He says, “through the power of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law.” Do not be fooled by the charlatans who don’t have even a mustard seed of faith.

The power of "Thus I Heard"

All the guidance you ever need should be received from those most capable of giving guidance, Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin. Ultimately, Nichiren teaches that we should receive guidance from the Eternal Buddha as we chant Namu Myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon. He also teaches us to study the Lotus Sutra and his writings. To those silly SGI members who state, "the Gohonzon doesn't speak", Nichiren teaches that indeed, the Lotus Sutra (Gohonzon), Buddha, and Nichiren speak to us when we chant the Daimoku. This is the power of Thus I Heard!

Experience 38 years in the Soka Gakkai in five parts -- Part 5: The tipping point... "Ikeda" all the time.

Part 5

One of the things I found off-putting about being at the SGI-UK HQ was the strange glazed expressions of long-time members who held staff positions there. Then the course content was shallow and Ikeda-based – a million miles from what I had solemnly signed up for when I joined the organization in 1980. But worst of all was the way in which people were making comments and grinning at me due to my ‘success’ health-wise which was totally, so far as they were concerned, attributable to the Gohonzon. This was nothing new: for the previous few years I had been on the receiving end of some very strange comments. Specifically, I recall one of the members once looking at me with all the starstruck wonder of a Justin Bieber fan, and saying: ‘When you go through a big experience in the SGI, you become a sort of celebrity.’ But by this point the falseness, delusion and insanity of it all had absolutely got to me: I was having none of it.

I was tired of people saying that I had ‘overcome so much’ because of the Gohonzon as it was a total lie. No allowance was made for the reality of my daily life as someone who has been afflicted by a devastating illness. I had never at any point made any claims of having been cured – only improved – yet I was routinely hailed by SGI members as ‘proof of the power of Gohonzon. Had I in fact been cured and freed from continual pain, this would have possibly been less offensive. Sadly, this is not the case: I still have active rheumatoid symptoms (swelling and pain at various sites) on a fairly regular basis and the disease continues to require constant management with medication. More than this, the devastation caused by rheumatoid activity over many years is extensive and permanent.

To sum up: I have pain all the time in my hands, feet, knees and left shoulder; I have to think about every single footstep I take; the destruction in my hands has been so great that all the fingers of my left hand are permanently L-shaped, and I can no longer straighten any of the fingers of my right hand (I consider myself fortunate that, given that this is so, I can still type, but feel great sadness that I can no longer play the piano); I had to have my bathroom completely remodeled at great expense as I can no longer get in and out of baths; I usually go downstairs backwards because my balance is somewhat precarious and I have difficulty in holding onto the banister when trying to descend a staircase in the normal way; I have tremendous difficulty getting both dressed and undressed; as I am unable to touch my feet, I have to use a litter-pick to fasten my shoes; I get bouts of overwhelming fatigue that can appear as if from nowhere when all I want is to be prostrate on a bed in a darkened room; and I suffer frequently from a sore throat. Most poignantly, even the giving and receiving of hugs can be painful. I would like to see how long the grins of those SGI members who have mythologized my ‘recovery’ would remain in place if they had to live a single day in these circumstances.

The reality is that I am as well as anyone could be expected to be if they had had rheumatoid arthritis to the degree to which I have had it, had received the sort of medical treatment I received and had committed themselves assiduously to physiotherapy. It is all the people who helped me – medical professionals, family, friends – who deserve credit for my improvement, not a piece of paper hanging up in a miniature wardrobe. I would also like to take some of the credit myself!

When I came back from the course at Taplow Court, I reluctantly resumed my district responsibility and, even more reluctantly, gave a lecture at chapter level at the end of August 2017. This proved to be the absolute tipping point in my relationship with the SGI: the preponderance of references to Ikeda in the study materials made me seethe. I wanted, first and foremost, to give up my responsibility. But I found myself in a dilemma: the district members would be expecting to get the September schedule in the next day or so and I felt that I couldn’t abandon them without fair warning. So I decided to endure September but let them know as soon as possible that I would be stepping down. However, my real self wouldn’t accept this and, on 12th September 2017, I stopped chanting and left the SGI, having been a member since 2nd February 1980.

It has not been plain sailing since leaving. My health went a bit haywire shortly before leaving and remained so for a while after I’d left before settling down again. It has recently gone off kilter yet again and I am in a great deal of pain. I notice very much that my symptoms are affected by emotion and, as I’m experiencing a great deal of emotional turbulence at the moment, I’m hoping that things will settle down once this phase is over. There are always new ways of helping myself through diet, exercise and supplements and I am always open to making changes.

Before signing off, I’d just like to say that, despite having suffered enormously as a result of being ill, I am now a far stronger person than the lost soul who joined the SGI all those years ago. I have a very definite sense of my own identity – something that was almost entirely lacking when I was shakubukued in 1979. I am both glad and proud to be me. Writing this testimonial has been very upsetting indeed but I felt that it had to be done, to set the record straight and to tell my truth about the SGI. I am so grateful to everyone on this site for your support in my post-SGI life. I know I still have a long way to go in my recovery but your help and understanding up until now has helped me more than I can say. Thank you!

Experience 38 years in the Soka Gakkai in five parts --Part 3: Aghast

Part 3

Between 2005 and 2009 I was largely confined to a wheelchair, getting out of it from time to time for the purposes of undergoing physiotherapy and trying to regain my mobility by using crutches, walking sticks or a zimmer frame. I applied myself assiduously to each of the physiotherapy regimes prescribed for the recovery period after every operation and, in the autumn of 2010, I had my final operation (left shoulder replacement). Whilst I was recovering from it, I got the news that my mother had had a major stroke.

I had been unable to visit my mother for about nine years on account of being ill and had seen her during this time only when she had traveled to London, usually with my sister. Now, with my last operation behind me, I felt an urgent need to travel north to see her as soon as possible. However, I was unable to leave immediately on account of the fact that, that year, Britain was experiencing a very bad winter. My sister and I finally managed to travel north in December. It was shocking to see our mother in such a reduced state. The hospital had not told us at first quite how bad her condition was but it was extreme: after the stroke, she was never able to walk, or even stand, ever again. This meant that she would have to have round-the-clock care, once she had completed her stay in hospital. We were advised by social services that it would be best if she went into a care home as her level of need was so great. This caused us great sadness as we knew it was something that she had never wanted to happen but, in the circumstances, it was the wisest choice we could have made. We found a care home a mile or so from her house and, at the beginning of January 2011, she was moved into it directly from the hospital. Shortly after this, I returned to London. It came as a great surprise to members of my district when I announced a few weeks later that I was leaving London for good and moving to be near my mother for what remained of her life. At the beginning of April 2011, with everything packed up, my apartment was cleared out and I headed north to start a new phase of my life.

For the record, shortly before leaving London, I received a phone call from an SGI member in the northeast saying that, as I was about to move into their area, they were wondering whether I would like a district responsibility when I arrived! What they had in mind for me was preparing the schedule which, as anyone who has been in the organisation for any length of time knows, is very much a ‘Cinderella’ sort of role – the sort of thing that nobody really wants to do. So, here I was, coming out of 10 years of extreme illness and immobility, moving north to be with my mother who could no longer stand up, and they were already trying to offload an undesirable responsibility onto me! I was aghast. That they should think of offering me any role within the organization prior to my arrival was bad enough but that it should be the schedule – which requires knowledge not only of local members, their accommodation, their willingness to host meetings – made it even worse. I knew next to nothing about the district I was moving into: I didn’t know who most of the members were or anything about them. I also knew nothing about public meeting places that could be hired for the purposes of chapter meetings. This was the SGI all over! I declined politely but was inwardly seething.

After my arrival in the northeast, I attended SGI meetings as a member until, one day, I was approached and asked whether I would consider becoming a women’s chapter leader. Bearing in mind that my mother’s health was going rapidly downhill and I was still struggling greatly with mobility and health issues, this was the most absurd and thoughtless thing I could possibly have been asked to do. The chapter covers an entire rural county and a metropolitan borough with a combined area of 5,095 square metres and I can’t drive! Admittedly, at the time there weren’t members living in all parts of the area, but the potential for people to appear even in the remotest parts was ever-present and this would have necessitated travelling long distances. Apart from the fact that I can’t drive, I choose most of the time not to use public transport as it poses a further set of difficulties to me (including, for example, having to step off trains and buses backwards, which can be very awkward, particularly at rush hours). Naturally, I said ‘No!’.

Experience 38 years in the Soka Gakkai in five parts --Part 2: Unsettled

Part 2

Over a period of just under four years, not only did I have both my hips and both my knees replaced but I also had my left shoulder replaced and an operation called a radial head excision done on my right elbow. I underwent physiotherapy and hydrotherapy at the hospital and did exercises at home, including what I called ‘circuit training’ which involved walking round my apartment on crutches a certain number of footsteps per day. Unfortunately, the operations were not uniformly successful. Whilst I experience very little pain in my hips, my knees are sometimes very painful indeed, and inflexible. As for the operation on the left shoulder, it brought about only a small reduction in pain and almost no change at all in my ability to move my left arm. To this day I can lift my left arm only a few inches away from my body and the left shoulder is painful all the time, whether I am using my arm or not. This affects my sleep a great deal as it is difficult to find a comfortable position in which to lie.

Throughout the time when the illness was in its acute phase and when I had my six operations, the spectre of the SGI hovered ominously over me. At the beginning, when it was difficult to deal with the depth of despair that I quite naturally felt, I was often treated in a cold, cavalier manner by SGI members. The women’s district leader I mentioned earlier once said, with regard to my having become so ill: ‘I don’t know what you did but you must have done something…’ I was so stunned that I could not take in the rest of the sentence. But the message was very clear: I had ‘created negative karma’ and this devastating illness was its inevitable – and presumably deserved – consequence. On another occasion, when I was feeling down and in a great deal of pain, I was chastised by another die-hard member and told that I ‘should be grateful’.

It would be both untrue and unfair of me to say that all the ‘kindness’ shown me by SGI members during this period was false, but I am certain that much of it was. My view is that longstanding SGI members tend to develop what I call a ‘cosmic accounting’ mentality, firmly believing that they will accumulate ‘good fortune’ if they manage to log a lot of entries in the plus column of an invisible universal ledger. The notion that ‘everything is answerable to the law of cause and effect’ lies at the very heart of SGI’s pseudo-philosophy, and this encourages a mercenary approach to life by which members become relentlessly determined to make as many positive ‘causes’ as they possibly can, for their own benefit, whether or not their heart is engaged in these actions. On a couple of occasions when I thanked people for having given me a lift to medical appointments I got the response (accompanied by a rather embarrassed grin): ‘That’s OK. I get the benefit.’

When I first became very ill, I experienced profound doubts about the Gohonzon. By this time I had been a very active member of the SGI for about 20 years, and suddenly suspecting that both the organization and the practice were somehow fallible and fallacious was deeply unsettling. Throughout my life, I had never really enjoyed robust health – something that was sometimes attributed to the fact that I nearly died at birth due to one of my lungs not opening – and, when I started chanting, one of my main goals was an improvement in my general physical well being and levels of stamina. I was a keen swimmer, walked a lot and had even been on a beginner’s course in rock-climbing just months before my health started to collapse. How could it be that I was suddenly so ill? Of course, the SGI ‘teachings’ conveniently came up with a pre-packaged explanation: I was apparently expiating karma by undergoing intense hardship – an explanation that gave me no solace whatsoever.

Over the years, with some of my symptoms being suppressed by drugs and some of the pain reduced through surgery, I was able to reestablish a certain degree of equilibrium in my life. All of a sudden I found myself once again hosting SGI meetings (even though I did not have an official responsibility) and also helping members prepare for the SGI-UK study exams. By this time I had been chanting for almost 30 years, two of which I had spent as a district leader and 11 as a chapter leader. I had also worked extensively on a couple of the SGI-UK publications over a period of many years as a writer and sub-editor, and gave Gosho lectures at chapter level. As my condition stabilized, I noticed a change in the attitude of certain SGI members towards me: I was no longer ‘persona non grata’ in discussion meetings – someone who might bring shame on the organization by crying – but, rather, a ‘result’ of dedication to the Gohonzon and therefore to be championed.

Experience 38 years in the Soka Gakkai in five parts-- Part 1:Springing free from the clutches of the monster which is SGI.

Part 1 (Parts 2-5 are posted below) 

I started chanting in 1979 and was in the SGI for almost 38 years. I have now been out of it for 10 months and feel ready to express in some detail how my sanity and dignity finally managed to triumph over almost four decades of institutionalized abuse, cruelty and perverse thinking. To convey the essence of the reasons for my ‘reverse epiphany’, I have chosen to concentrate on those issues which conspired to bring my many years of frequently repressed doubt and fear to a head: those factors which helped me spring free from the clutches of the monster which is SGI.

In 2001 I was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis, a so-called ‘incurable’ autoimmune condition of unknown etiology that can cause great pain due to inflammation of the joints. It can also destroy cartilage and even bone. On the day of my diagnosis, a registrar told me that the disease was already so advanced that it would take all they could do to keep me out of a wheelchair. Within a matter of months I had gone from someone who walked, worked and had a full life to someone who had to hold onto the furniture in order to get round a room. Unfortunately, I got the disease in its severe form and the condition spread like wildfire throughout my body, even though I was put on very strong drugs, including steroids. Within 18 months of the diagnosis being made I had to give up work and frequently slept between 14 and 18 hours a day, due to a combination of pain, fatigue and depression. In this reduced state, I became very dependent on other people, including SGI members.

Shortly after being diagnosed, I attended my monthly SGI district discussion meeting, hoping to find solace in sharing my dilemma with fellow members and guests. In the process of talking, I became emotional and broke down in tears. However, rather than being embraced and supported by the other participants at the meeting, almost to a person they remained stonily silent. My outpouring of grief, confusion and fear was met with icy, embarrassed stares, and the women’s district leader looked furious with me. When I confronted her about her reaction after the meeting she said: ‘It’s OK to talk about what’s wrong with you, but not to cry. It could put people off.’

Suddenly finding myself riddled with pain and having tremendous difficulty in the most basic things such as standing up, walking and lifting things was a very frightening experience. At first I was completely overwhelmed and, in tandem with the progression of the disease, I spiralled down into a state of extreme anxiety. At the time I was living in a second-floor apartment in a building that had no elevators. On 27th September 2004 I knew I had walked up those stairs for the last time as I simply didn’t have the strength or mobility in my legs to do it again. I did not know it at the time but I would end up spending just over a year stranded in my apartment, only leaving it every few months to attend a hospital appointment when I would be carried downstairs by a couple of ambulance drivers, taken to the hospital and then brought home and carried back upstairs again. I saw four seasons come and go from my living room window.

In the autumn of 2005, having been marooned for 13 months in my apartment, I was finally able to move to a ground floor apartment. Shortly after moving in, with my mobility having become almost non-existent, I was issued with a wheelchair and the rheumatologist I was seeing at the time referred me to orthopaedics where I had extensive X-rays taken. When the results came through, I was told by a very serious-faced orthopaedist that I needed both my hips and both my knees replacing. This was a lot of information to absorb in a single sentence. ‘Will I be able to walk if I have the operations done?’ I asked him. ‘That is our aim,’ he said. I decided there and then that it was also mine. The prospect of these surgeries was daunting to say the least, but I was in a great deal of pain as the cartilage in several of my joints had eroded to such an extent that, in some places, bone was rubbing on bone. I wanted to be in less pain and to walk again. I reasoned that my only real choice was to submit to the series of suggested operations that would take place over a period of several years. However, my desire to walk again was so strong that I was willing to do whatever it took to achieve just that.

Too many suicide Soka

"This is the profile of LUCA LANZANI, from Cagliari. He was Head of the Soka Gakkai Men Division of Quartu Sant'Elena, in the province of Cagliari, Sardinia.

He took his life in December 2017, hanging himself. The Soka, as they tell us, has forced its members not to talk about it to anyone. Fortunately, one of our AIVS members in Sardinia has known, has had direct confirmation from his friends, and continues to try to learn more.

Another of the many, too many Suicide Soka. Good people who are deceived and believe in the mirages sold by the Soka sorcerer's apprentices. The Soka that kills." -- from AIVS

https://www.facebook.com/Looka.Lounzanee64?__tn__=-UK-R

Valerio

"I have been a member of this organization for years and I confirm what was written by Giovanni. First of all it is necessary to distinguish the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin and the Soka Gakkai. I want to talk about the latter: unfortunately I have seen with my eyes people who speak well and scratch badly. The Soka Gakkai takes up a precept of Nichiren: all men are Buddhas, and therefore equal. Too bad that in their organization they are the first to discriminate on the socio-economic, ethnic and sexual level. Secondly they say that first you need to look at yourself to make a revolution: I fully agree; pity that many members do nothing but judge and point the finger at others. In reality they are all hidden processes to brainwash you and make you their model; the moment you raise your voice and say you do not agree, they put you out. This too is part of a sect: I know it is paradoxical but a sect excludes you to establish a complete belonging of your brain. Not to mention the rest: at each meeting they ask for money to bid, and if you do not, they make you weigh big. Be careful. Because it is very easy to be fooled by these people. I'll give you another example: once a member told me that his goal was to become the national manager of this organization. I answered dryly that my goals are others in my life. I will tell you this to make you understand how far a sect is able to annul the personality of a single individual. Be careful. D ' on the other hand I openly advise you to practice Nichiren's Buddhism and to study his philosophy well. But beware: do not let yourselves be controlled by Soka Gakkai." -- Valerio

UNDUE PERSUASION. A TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODEL

http://www.cesap.net/chi-siamo/attivita-cesap/19-attivitaagrave-editoriale/3515-persuasione-indebita-un-modello-bidimensionale

Experience of a former Soka Gakkai psychiatrist

Translated and edited by me as best as I could from https://www.associazioneaivs.org/sez-soka-

IMPORTANT. an article on MENTAL DISEASES generated by PRATICA SOKA. Written by the excapo of the special sector in the SG, as he explains himself ... I will post a link with the source below .. "Shocked from the high level of mental disorders among the members of the Soka Gakkai" THE DETECTOR, UNEXPECTED REPORT OF A PSYCHIATRY MEMBER OF SOKA GAKKAI. 

"I have conducted many medical examinations and treatments as a psychiatrist, on members of the Soka Gakkai. There Most of the patients who came to see me undergo treatment at the suggestion of the their managers. I myself was an enthusiastic member of the Soka Gakkai and dedicated to Soka's activities, and I stayed shocked by the high percentage and high level of mental disorder among the members of SokaGakkai, the most of which are affected by "depressive disorder". Those who enthusiastically dedicate themselves to the activities of the Soka Gakkai tend to develop this depressive disorder, and most of them could not be cured; indeed, their conditions they got worse by the day. Therefore, this has been a natural consequence for me, abandon the Soka Gakkai in my heart, and not only me but also many psychiatrists of Soka Gakkai they felt the same way in their hearts, even if they never mentioned them publicly. As for the children, it is a commonly accepted theory among psychiatrists that more than 50% of the children who come to a pediatric consultation center come from Soka families Gakkai: There is a very credible opinion that Soka Gakkai families spend less time with their children what other families spend, because of the activities of the Soka Gakkai - which creates the tendency for their children to become delinquents at a young age. The risk of the criminal trend youth among the children of those responsible for the Soka Gakkai seems established, and we have seen it happen himself here in the Soka Gakkai USA, where Guy McCloskey's son, one of the leaders at the summit, was known as "a non-racist skinhead", and this certainly did not make a good impression ... but that although his parents were not worried at all, not even when his son had a party at home them, where he was also shed of blood among his guests while his parents were out of town for the weekend. George McCloskey was saying that his son Sonny had finally got back in line and was stayingbeginning to live like a normal human being ... but right then, Sonny stayed killed in a motorcycle accident, I think he was 28; and this says a lot about "protection of the Mystic Law "...! In the same way, they have been identified in the sons of the Soka leaders Gakkai very high risks of panic attacks of an anthropophobic type (ie social phobia) and of type disorder obsessive-compulsive and personality disorders ... and this should also say a lot about it "Luck" that the members of the Gakkai say that it touches a "baby fortune", ie a "baby born in the fortune ": a son of members of the Gakkai. We psychiatrists regularly visit the Soka Gakkai Headquarters, located at Shinanomachi, Tokyo; but simply because there are many mental disorders in the Soka staff Gakkai and their families. We seem to find ourselves in a mental clinic, at the headquarters of the Soka Gakkai, but we can not prescribe them because it's against the law - let's just do it counseling therapy, but if we were to give them medicine, permission from the Tokyo Town Hall; and the Soka Gakkai does not want this, because they have to save appearances because religious organization. There was a woman suffering from depression, and all the members of her family were very enthusiastic that she was responsible for the Young Women summit in her area of ​​residence. However, this manager afflicted by depression thought: "It is because of the fact that I do not have enough faith in the Soka Gakkai ... So my faith is put to the test "... Then there arose in her a strong desire for death. I can affirm that severe depression is the incessant suffering for thepatient, because she was one of the victims of the Soka Gakkai cult - unfortunately, this is the effect the teaching of Soka Gakkai: that is, the teaching of "taking full responsibility" of what it happens to us ... while at the same time we have no power and no control over what is there It happens. And therefore, this contradiction triggers depression. Since then, I have stopped doing gongyo and shoday at the Soka Gakkai gohonzon, and after stopped I discovered that my depression healed after just three weeks. I have never tried a similar wellness! The former president of Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda, often said: "You can cure any one sickness in Nichiren Shoshu's gohonzon "... but I would add:" ... unless you do not you call yourself Toda and your illness is not alcoholism, of course. " These words of President Toda gradually lost significance after Daisaku Ikeda became president of SokaGakkai.

But all this is ridiculous! And so Toda says that you can cure any kind of disease, right? Well, sir Toda, she perhaps had a "heretical liver" - was this perhaps the problem? And tell me: why did you die? young because of his alcoholism? It may have been because of his deficient practice, missing from something, no ...? And therefore: why someone should follow it, if this practice has not been enough even for her? I would therefore say that these words had no meaning from the beginning. One of the symptoms is a high level of mental disorder among the members: we psychiatrists of Soka Gakkai we have recognized this type of mental disorder especially among those responsible, as well as in the vice presidents since 1975, but I have to say that this kind of mental disorders are by far increased in the Soka Gakkai since the distribution of the false gohonzons. So, about 20 years ago Soka Gakkai's director of the medical division came to see me and said, "I am deeply in trouble, because many members suffer from mental disorders ": at the time it seemed almost to be complaining to me, however it is not such a person but a very sincere person and a member very active. Returning to that responsible Young Women of the Gakkai who had suicidal tendencies, I remember that a few years ago I tried to publish a book about her, and I contacted several publishers, but none of them accepted to publish it, because there was talk of the Soka Gakkai. Fortunately, this woman and her husband they later discovered, through the Internet, the fact that Soka Gakkai's gohonzon is false and they migrated to Nichiren Shoshu. However these disorders are really increasing in exponential manner after the distribution of the false gohonon, and especially the depressive disorder is officially recognized: there are many second and third generation Gakkai students because of this they had to leave the university or college, and this mess can be observed of more among the young members who join the Gakkai now. In my case, I can now testify this, since I am their family doctor myself: the patients who killed themselves were all members of the Soka Gakkai."

One Myo Sun-Lotus Anti-SGI videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoIeCGTVAYKvLS9eby2KJUA/videos

The meaning of a bodily reading of the Lotus Sutra

“It seems to me that on the path to attaining Buddhahood it may invariably be when one has done something like lay down one’s life that one becomes a Buddha. I think that perhaps it is encountering such difficulties as have already been explained in the Sutra - being cursed, vilified, attacked with swords and staves , shards and rubble, and banished again and again— that is reading the Lotus Sutra with one’s life. My faith springs up all the more , and I am confident about my next existence.” -- Banishment to Sado

"When will you die?" -- SGI Anonymous

"You are a cancer to SGI."

On Offering Prayers to the Mandala of the Mystic Law

"I HAVE offered prayers to the Gohonzon of Myoho-renge-kyo. Though this mandala has but five or seven characters, it is the teacher of all Buddhas throughout the three existences and the seal that guarantees the enlightenment of all women. It will be a lamp in the darkness of the road to the next world and a fine horse to carry you over the mountains of death. It is like the sun and moon in the heavens or Mount Sumeru on earth. It is a ship to ferry people over the sea of the sufferings of birth and death. It is the teacher who leads all people to Buddhahood and enlightenment. This great mandala has never yet been propagated anywhere in Jambudvīpa in the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing.

[The prescription of] medicine differs according to the illness. A slight ailment can be treated with ordinary medicine, but for grave illnesses, an elixir should be used. During the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha’s passing, the people’s illnesses of earthly desires and negative karma were not serious, and a succession of wise men appeared in order to act as physicians and dispense medicine appropriately as these illnesses required. These men came from the Dharma Analysis Treasury school, the Establishment of Truth school, the Precepts, Dharma Characteristics, and Three Treatises schools, as well as the True Word, Flower Garland, Tendai, Pure Land, and Zen schools. Each of these schools prescribed its own medicine. For example, the Flower Garland school set forth the principle of the six forms and the ten mysteries, the Three Treatises school advocated the middle path of the eight negations,1 the Dharma Characteristics school stressed the perception that all phenomena derive from consciousness only, the Precepts school upheld the two hundred and fifty precepts, the Pure Land school invoked the name of Amida Buddha, the Zen school expounded the “perceiving one’s true nature and attaining Buddhahood,” the True Word school propounded the meditation on the five elements,3and the Tendai school taught the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

Now, however, we have entered the Latter Day of the Law, and the medicines of these various schools no longer cure the people’s illnesses. Moreover, all the Japanese have become icchantikas and people of grave slander. Their offense is even worse than that of killing one’s father or mother, fomenting a rebellion, or causing a Buddha to bleed. Japan is filled with individuals whose respective offenses exceed even those of one who were to gouge out the eyes p.415of all the human beings of a major world system, or raze all temples and pagodas in the worlds of the ten directions. Consequently, the heavenly deities glare down furiously upon our nation day after day while the earthly deities tremble in continual rage. Nevertheless, all the people of our day believe themselves to be without fault, and none doubt that they will be reborn in the pure land or attain Buddhahood.

The blind cannot see or know the shining sun, and someone who is sound asleep will not feel even an earthquake that is reverberating like a great drum. So too it is with all the people of Japan [who do not realize their own offenses]. The offenses committed by the men are heavier than those committed by the women. In like manner, the nuns’ offenses are heavier than the laymen’s and the priests’ more serious than the nuns’. Among the priests, the offenses of those who observe the precepts are worse than those of priests who violate them, and those of learned priests are graver still.4 Such priests are like those with white leprosy among lepers and, among those with white leprosy, the most malignant.

Then, what great physician or what efficacious medicine can cure the illnesses of all people in the Latter Day of the Law? They cannot be cured by the mudras and mantras of the Thus Come OneMahāvairochana, the forty-eight vows of the Thus Come One Amida, or the twelve great vows of the Thus Come One Medicine Master, not even his pledge to “heal all ills.” Not only do such medicines fail to cure these illnesses; they aggravate them all the more.

Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, brought together the Thus Come One Many Treasures and all the emanation Buddhas of the ten directions, and left one elixir—the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo—for the people of the Latter Day of the Law. He refused to entrust it to any of the bodhisattvas such as Dharma Wisdom, Forest of Merits, Vajrasattva, Universal Worthy, Manjushrī, Medicine King, and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, let alone to Mahākāshyapa, Shāriputra, [or any other person of the two vehicles]. Rather, there were four great bodhisattvas, including Superior Practices, who had been disciples of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni since [he first attained Buddhahood] numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago. Not even for a moment had they ever forgotten the Buddha. Shakyamuni summonedthese great bodhisattvas and transferred Myoho-renge-kyo to them.

A woman who takes this efficacious medicine will be surrounded and protected by these four great bodhisattvas at all times. When she rises to her feet, so too will the bodhisattvas, and when she walks along the road, they will also do the same. She and they will be as inseparable as a body and its shadow, as fish and water, as a voice and its echo, or as the moon and its light. Should these four great bodhisattvas desert the woman who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they would incur the wrath of Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the emanation Buddhas of the ten directions. You may be certain that their offense would be greater than even that of Devadatta, their falsehood more terrible than Kokālika’s. How reassuring, how encouraging! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

Nichiren

Nichiren on why Shakyamuni Buddha is great

"Reply to Yasaburo" 

" I SUGGEST you begin the religious debate with these words:] “Although I am an ignorant layman, among the teachings I have heard, I was especially impressed by the passage in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra that reads, ‘Now this threefold world [is all my domain . . . ]’”1 This sutra passage means that this country of Japan is the domain of Shakyamuni Buddha. In addition to the fact that all the gods, such as the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, and Emperor Jimmu, and all the people, from the ruler of the nation on down, dwell within his realm, he is the Buddha to whom we living beings are greatly indebted for three reasons. First, he is our sovereign; second, he is our teacher; and third, he is our father. Among all the Buddhas of the ten directions, only Shakyamuni Buddha is endowed with these three virtues. Therefore, even if all the people of the country of Japan were to serve Shakyamuni Buddha wholeheartedly just as they now do Amida Buddha, if they were to place him side by side with another Buddha and treat him in the same manner, that would still be a grave error. For example, though someone were our own ruler and wise besides, if we were to shift our allegiance to the ruler of another country—for instance, if, while dwelling in Japan, we were to pay honor to the king of China or Koryŏ and slight the sovereign of Japan—could we be called persons who honor the great sovereign of this country?"

Many similar stories in the Soka Gakkai

"Then came that day. I was bringing my spouse home from the hospital when the above mentioned senile hag called to berate me for asking too many questions at meetings, telling me that had I chanted harder and questioned less, my husband would not have gotten cancer. That was the final serving of bullshit. I put my gohonzon in a plastic bag, wrote a letter of resignation to the national headquarters, and dropped it off at a district leader's house."

Pitiful are the Soka Gakkai hobos (slanderers)

"Show me your sources", "What are your sources anyway?", "Well, where are your sources???", "blah, blah, blah" -- SGI hobos (slanderers)

I dare you SGI hobos...Find something on my blog that is not sourced (save for my original posts, for example my satire). Can't do it. Pitiful are you!

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas received instruction from Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra

"Our teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, in the course of his lifetime of teaching, expounded eighty thousand sacred doctrines. He was the first Buddha to appear in this saha world of ours, which previously had not known any Buddha, and he opened the eyes of all living beings. All the other Buddhas and bodhisattvas from east and west, from the lands of the ten directions, received instruction from him. 

The period prior to his advent was like the time before the appearance of the rulers and emperors of ancient China, when men did not know who their own fathers were and lived like beasts. In the time before Emperor Yao, people knew nothing about the duties to be performed in the four seasons, and were as ignorant as horses or oxen. 

In the period before the appearance of Shakyamuni Buddha in the world, there were no orders of monks or nuns; there were only the two categories of men and women. But now we have monks and nuns who, because of the teachers of the Shingon sect, have decided to look upon Dainichi Buddha as the supreme object of veneration and have demoted Shakyamuni Buddha to an inferior position, or who, because they believe in the Nembutsu, pay honor to Amida Buddha and thrust Shakyamuni Buddha aside. They are monks and nuns by virtue of the Lord Shakyamuni, but because of the erroneous teachings handed down from the founders of these various sects, they have been led to behave in this way. 

There are three reasons why Shakyamuni Buddha, rather than any of the other Buddhas, has a relationship with all the people of this saha world. First of all, he is the World-Honored One, the sovereign of all the people of this saha world. Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One, is our august sovereign. It is he who is to be regarded as the supreme object of veneration. The second reason is that Shakyamuni Buddha is the father and mother of all the persons in this saha world.

The ancient ruler Shun, grieved because his father had gone blind, shed tears, but when he wiped his hands, wet with those tears, on his father's eyes, his father's eyesight was restored. Now Shakyamuni Buddha does the same for all of us, opening our eyes so as to "awaken the Buddha wisdom" innate within us. No other Buddha has ever yet opened our eyes in such a way. 

The third reason is that Shakyamuni is the original teacher of all persons in this saha world.

He passed away at the age of eighty, leaving behind his relics to provide the means of salvation for all the persons of the Former, Middle and Latter Days of the Law. Amida, Yakushi, Dainichi and the others, on the other hand, are the Buddhas of other realms; they are not the World-Honored One of this world of ours. 

This saha world occupies the lowest position among all the worlds of the ten directions. Among these worlds, it holds a place like that of a prison within a nation. All the persons in the worlds of the ten directions who have committed any of the ten evil acts, the five cardinal sins, the grave offense of slandering the True Law or other terrible crimes and have been driven out by the Buddhas of those worlds have been brought together here in this saha land by Shakyamuni Buddha.

Yet Shakyamuni Buddha entered this saha world of ours with the title Nonin, "He Who Can Forbear." He is so called because he does not berate its people for the slanders they all commit but shows forbearance toward them. These, then, are the special qualities possessed by Shakyamuni Buddha, qualities that the other Buddhas lack. 

Shakyamuni Buddha, who was a reincarnation of one of these sons, appeared in this saha world of ours. We people too, have been born into the saha world. Therefore, we must not in any way turn away from the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. But people all fail to realize this. If they would look carefully into the matter, they would understand that, as the Lotus Sutra says, "I [Shakyamuni] alone can save them," and that they must not cut themselves off from the helping hand of Shakyamuni Buddha. 

For this reason, all the persons in this saha world of ours, if they detest the sufferings of birth and death and wish to have an object of veneration to which they can pay respect, should first of all fashion images of Shakyamuni Buddha in the form of wooden statues and paintings, and make these their object of worship. Then, if they still have strength left over, they may go on to fashion images of Amida and the other Buddhas. 

Yet when the people of this world today, being unpracticed in the sacred ways, come to fashion or paint images of a Buddha, they give priority to those of Buddhas other than Shakyamuni. This does not accord either with the intentions of those other Buddhas, or with the intentions of Shakyamuni Buddha himself, and is moreover at variance with secular propriety. 

Shakyamuni Buddha, our father and mother, who is endowed with the three virtues of sovereign, teacher and parent, is the very one who encourages us, the people driven out by all other Buddhas, saying, "I alone can save them." The debt of gratitude we owe him is deeper than the ocean, weightier than the earth, vaster than the sky. Though we were to pluck out our own two eyes and place them before him as an offering until there were more eyes there than stars in the sky, though we were to strip off our skins and spread them out by the hundreds of thousands of ten thousands until they blanketed the ceiling of heaven, though we were to give him our tears as offerings of water and present him with flowers for the space of a hundred billion kalpas, though we were to offer him our flesh and blood for innumerable kalpas, until our flesh piled up like mountains and our blood overflowed like vast seas, we could never repay a fraction of the debt we owe to this Buddha! 

Shakyamuni is the original teacher for all people, as well as their sovereign and their parent. Because I have expounded this teaching, I have been exiled and almost killed. As the saying goes: "Good advice is harsh to the ear." But still I am not discouraged. The Lotus Sutra is like the seed, the Buddha like the sower and the people like the field. If you go against these principles, in your next lifetime, not even I, Nichiren, can save you.

I am the envoy of Shakyamuni Buddha, and those gods should prostrate themselves before me with their palms joined. As votary of the Lotus Sutra, Bonten and Taishaku attend me on either side, and the gods of the sun and moon illuminate my path before and behind. One may make use of my counsel, but if I am not given due respect as the votary of the Lotus Sutra, then the country will perish.

This mandala is in no way Nichiren's invention. It is the object of worship which perfectly depicts Lord Shakyamuni in the Treasure Tower and all the other Buddhas who were present, as accurately as the print matches the woodblock. The five characters of the Lotus Sutra's title are inscribed in the center of the Treasure Tower, while the Four Heavenly Kings are seated at the four corners. Shakyamuni and Taho Buddhas, as well as the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, are lined across the top. Seated below them are the Bodhisattvas Fugen and Monju, and men of Learning, including Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. Beside them are posted the gods of the sun and the moon, the Devil of the Sixth Heaven, the Dragon King and ashura; Fudo and Aizen take up their stations to the south and north, respectively. The devilishly treacherous Devadatta and the Dragon King's ignorant daughter attend, too. The demon Kishimojin appears with her ten daughters, who sap the lives of people throughout the universe. Also present are the guardian deities of Japan: Tensho Daijin and Bodhisattva Hachiman, representing the seven ranks of heavenly gods, the five ranks of earthly gods, and all other major and minor gods in general. As all the gods appear in their essence, so must they appear in their manifestations. The Hoto chapter states, "All the assembly were lifted and present in the air." Dwelling in the Gohonzon are all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas and great saints, as well as the eight groups of sentient beings of the two realms who appear in the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Illuminated by the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the enlightened nature they inherently possess. This is the true object of worship. 

When Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he had gained enlightenment in the far distant past, it became apparent that all the other Buddhas were emanations of Shakyamuni. When the Buddha preached the earlier sutras and the first half, or theoretical teaching, of the Lotus Sutra, the other Buddhas were pictured as standing on an equal footing with Shakyamuni, after completing their respective practices and disciplines. Therefore the people who pay devotion to one or another of these Buddhas as the object of worship customarily look down on Shakyamuni Buddha. But now it becomes apparent that Vairochana Buddha, who is described in the Kegon Sutra as being seated on a lotus pedestal, and the various Buddhas who appear in the sutras of the Hodo and Hannya periods, such as the Dainichi Sutra, are all in fact followers of Shakyamuni Buddha.

The path to Buddhahood is not to be found in the Kegon doctrine of the phenomenal world as created by the mind alone, in the eight negations of the Sanron sect, in the Consciousness-Only doctrine of the Hosso sect, or in the Shingon type of meditation on the five elements of the universe. Only the T'ien-t'ai doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life is the path to Buddhahood. Even in the case of this doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life, we do not possess the kind of wisdom and understanding to comprehend it fully. Nevertheless, among all the sutras preached by the Buddha during his lifetime, the Lotus Sutra alone contains this jewel which is the doctrine of the three thousand realms in a single moment of life. The doctrines of the other sutras are merely yellow stones that appear to be jewels. They are like sand, from which you can extract no oil no matter how hard you squeeze it, or a barren woman who can never bear a child. Even a wise man cannot become a Buddha through the other sutras, but with the Lotus Sutra, even fools can plant the seeds that lead to Buddhahood. 

When Shakyamuni Buddha in the clouds above the Sacred Mountain, in the mists of Eagle Peak, summed up the essence of the doctrine and entrusted it to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, what do you suppose that teaching was? It was nothing other than these five characters, the essential law. 

The Lord Shakyamuni assembled Taho Buddha as well as all the other Buddhas, who were his own emanations, from throughout the ten directions and left one great medicine --the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo-for the people of the Latter Day of the Law. He refused to entrust it to any of the bodhisattvas such as Hoe, Kudokurin, Kongosatta, Fugen, Monju, Yakuo and Kannon, let alone to Mahakashyapa, Shariputra [or any other man of the two vehicles]. Rather, there were four great bodhisattvas, including Jogyo, who had been disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha since gohyaku-jintengo. Not even for a moment had they ever forgotten the Buddha. Shakyamuni summoned these bodhisattvas and transferred Myoho-renge-kyo to them"