Why isn't SGI Daimoku working?

Soka Gakkai International: The Chicago Directive

The following was mass emailed to 48 SGI-USA members ion the Chicago area. The message was sent by Chicago headquarters chief, Ed Hamada. It is a codification of a meeting that was held on 6-5-00 in Chicago, in which members were told to pray and take action to prevent people from attending the 20th anniversary of the Chicago Nichiren Shoshu temple:

From: AHamada@aol.com 

Full-name: AHamada 

Message-ID: 11.4ea719e.2675ba84@a... 

Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 00:01:08 EDT 

Subject: Soka Spirit Movement

To: (48 e-mail recipients, deleted for privacy purposes)

As many of you know already, on June 24(Sat), the 20th Anniversary Ceremony will take place at the Myogyo-ji Temple in Chicago. To support this event, Nikken is going to dispatch Rev. Obayashi, the oversea bureau chief of Nikken sect with other priests from Japan. Also it is expected that more priests from Europe, South America as well as other parts of USA are coming to Chicago. Sugeno and many temple members are very actively promoting this event to recruit people and create more momentum within temple members. To discourage such an attempt as expanding the slanderer's force, I'd like to ask you to pray individually or by group for "No body goes to temple on June 24 from our state, our city and our organization", and to take any other appropriate actions to keep temple members away from temple on that day. I really appriciate for your cooperation on this matter. *****end of directive*****

After this message was leaked by a concerned SGI member, SGI spin-creeps tried to put the blame squarely on the headquarters chief who sent it. However, this is simply just another directive of many in which SGI tells the membership to use prayers like a voodoo spell, and to take physical action against Buddhists who are simply exercising their basic right of freedom of religion.

Soka Gakkai International: Buddhism or Voodism? SGI mobilizes official campaign to use Buddhist Prayers to cast evil spells of misfortune on the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist community

" I just recently heard about how the New York members did a special daimoku [Buddhist Prayer] campain [sic] to close the temple annex that was near the Cultural Center. Great work! [of course this is pure propaganda. the annex is still open and is used for gatherings as listed on the NY temple schedule at: http://www.nstny.org/schedule.htm] Now the youth division of San Francisco region will be starting a daimoku [Buddhist Prayer] campaign [sic] to close all the temples in the U.S.A. Maybe it will have an effect on the temple in Spain." Michael, SGI member, Stockton (posted on the SGI's public bulletin board 1-10-99)

From: Ten_Ren (34/F/San Mateo, CA) (SGI member) 

Jan 11 1999 1:33PM EST

I finally got to go to the Culture Center again. It was such fun. They had a little play called Spiritually Incorrect. They gave us a good laugh about the situation as kind of a kick off to ask for 1 billion daimoku to close all the temples. Everyone was excited by it. I plan on filling up several cards of chant time. (ibid) 

From the public Buddhist newsgroup: 

Has anyone heard about the latest chanting goal for SGI members?

Goal: Chant one billion Daimoku to close all NSTemples 

Perhaps the most disturbing thing is the SGI member's willingness to discuss their campaign openly as if it's something to be proud of:

Subject: Re: 10 Billion Daimoku. 

Date: 1/28/99 11:33 AM Pacific Standard Time 

Message-id: <19990128143338.20240.00000492@ng12.aol.com>

SGI has set a daimoku goal to close NST Temples?

[Marc] 

If it works..can we have them ?

Marc,

Please join in. I think it's a great idea to use daimoku for problems, and the Nikken sect is such a negative force that I can't see what's wrong with chanting to close their temples down. I certainly don't want a Nikken temple in my area. I have no problem with people who practice with other Nichiren sects, the only problem I have is when they single out situations they may have had with individuals and blame it on the whole organization, or when they spread tabloid stories around about President Ikeda that aren't true. But daimoku is daimoku no matter who chants and if your chanting for something that is not good, it will come back and smack you in the face.

The less Nikken temples the less opportunities for people to support Devadatta. Is it true the followers of Devadatta had a small sect that lasted about 500 years after the Buddha's passing? Hopefully, with daimoku, the Nikken sect won't last that long.  Maureen 

"We are merely chanting for the sources of the confusion to close, so the Daishonin's Buddhism can apread more freely. Pretty good karma, I would 

say." Jim Celer, SGI "Living Buddhism" magazine midwest Bureau Chief

Perhaps most disturbing of all is how the SGI members don't even try to hide their hate and intolerance, blatently disregarding basic Human Rights and even their own SGI Charter:

"Closing all the temples is not a positive thing? I don't see anything negative about it. You are not unlike the hoards of sterile bugs they breed to destroy a species, after they think they have mated and stop looking to mate, they find out that they were fooled, and have nothing in side, they just die empty. Of course it is a result of our communal actions from the past that we have to suffer the likes of you and the Nikken Shu. I don't think the most of us want to repeat those causes and for you to go away and stop causing misery and confusion means that we would have to change our negative karma first. So chanting to close the temples is a good thing and the result will be that we finally over come the negative destiny we have to suffer y'all and then y'all will have some other mission to fullfill cause one hand clapping doesn't make much sound, like you gotta make the cause to get the effect. At a more profound level, you actually are no different than the despots and dictators you complain about. You just haven't been give the power to enact your will to that degree. They have just kept you tethered in. Even when you get loose for a moment, you still stay put. Like the guy infront of the fire making boogeyman shadows and the fools who believe in those shadows. Chanting to close the temples is a good thing. Chanting for your happiness ridiculus. Oh please MrBill can't you just make the cancer happy?" mbh (Bruce H. Miller) SGI member, San Francisco 

Soka Gakkai thinks Buddhist Prayers can be used to cast their evil spells of misfortune. However, no matter how much Daimoku such a hateful group chants, their silly Voodoo curses will never be answered... it can only lead to their own misfortune..."