Ten Gosho passages

"I have made a vow. Even if someone says that he would make me the ruler of Japan on the condition that I give up the Lotus Sutra and rely upon the Amida Sutra for my salvation in the next life, or even if someone threatens me saying that he will execute my parents if I do not say 'Namu Amida-butsu,' and no matter how many great difficulties fall upon me, I will not submit until a man of wisdom defeats me by reason. Other difficulties are like dust in the wind. I will never break my vow that I will become the pillar of Japan, I will become the eyes of Japan, and I will become the great vessel of Japan." -- Kaimoku Sho (Opening the Eyes)

"When all the people under heaven and the various schools of Buddhism are converted to the one and real vehicle, and when only the Lotus Sutra flourishes and all the people recite 'Namu Myoho Renge-kyo' in unison, the howling wind will not blow down the branches, falling rain will not erode the soil, and the world will become as it was during the reigns of the Chinese Emperors Fu-hsi and Shan-neng. You will see that such times will come when calamities cease to exist, people live long meaningful lives, and men and their faith become eternal. There should be no doubt about the proof of tranquility in this very life." -- On Practicing According to Teachings (An Instruction from Sado to Disciples and Followers)

"Among the people who believe in the Lotus Sutra today, some people's faith is like fire and other's faith is like water. Some people are aroused like burning fire during a sermon, but once they go away they forget all that they heard. When I say 'like water,' I mean a person who has constant faith. You have always called on me without fail, and therefore, your faith is like water. This is wonderful." -- Ueno-dono Gohenji (A Reply to Lord Ueno)

"Be it for good or for evil, abandoning the Lotus Sutra must be the karma of hell." -- Kaimoku Sho (Opening the Eyes)

"I, Nichiren, too, by reciting these compilations of texts and making prayers and vows to the Buddha and the devas (gods) every day since the first day I began to believe, though I have encountered all sorts of great hardships, because the meritorious power of the Lotus Sutra and the Golden Words of Lord Shakya which are profound and serious, up to now, I have been saved. With regard to that, if the Practitioners of the Lotus Sutra have no backsliding in the mind of faith or false affection in their person, but leave themselves to the Lotus Sutra in all things and practice in accordance with the Golden Words, they will for certain, even in this life not to speak of the afterlife, end disasters and extend their lifespan, obtain the reward of the Superior, Sublime Great Effect and accomplish the Great Vow of "widely proclaiming and diffusing." [kosen rufu] -- Kitokyo sojo (Cover Letter to the Sutra for Prayers)

"By the Great Good of the Venerable Maudgalyayana's believing in the Lotus Sutra, not only did he become a Buddha but his father and mother became Buddhas. His father and mother and so on for seven generations up and seven generations down and for immeasurable lives up and im-measurable lives down, beyond any expectation, became Buddhas. And even children, husbands and wives, subordinates, lay donors and im- measurable beings not only left the Three Evil Ways of Rebirth but all became Buddhas from the First Abode to Sublime Enlightenment. What he worships is the Buddha Shakya; the Dharma he believes is the Lotus Sutra." -- Urabon Gosho (Letter on the Urabon)

"I, Nichiren, am the foremost Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra in Japan. If among Nichiren's disciples and lay donors you come later than me, Nichiren, then even before the God Brahman, the Emperor Shakra, the Four Celestial Kings or the Emperor Emma (Yama) declare, 'I am the disciple or believer of the foremost Practitioner of the Lotus Sutra in Japan, the priest Nichiren,' and you shall pass.This Lotus Sutra becomes a ship on the rivers of the Three Paths, the Great White Ox Cart on the Mountain Going Forth in Death, it becomes a lamp on the paths of the underworld and it is a bridge whereby we may go to the Spiritual Mountain.... But it depends on the mind of faith. If just the mind of faith is weak, no matter how much you call yourself a disciple or lay donor of Nichiren, by no means will you be accepted." -- Hakki Dono Gosho

"Bodisattva Fukyo in the past, saying that all beings have the Buddha Nature and if they keep the Lotus Sutra, they will certainly attain Buddhahood and to slight them is tantamount to slighting Buddhas. Thus, he established the Practice of Bowing in Reverence; saying that, even those who do not keep the Lotus Sutra, if they were to keep it, have the Buddha Nature and would become Buddhas. He thus performed Bowing in Reverence in this way to those who did not keep it. How much more to the householders and priests who keep the Lotus Sutra. In the fourth fascicle of this Sutra it is taught that if one demeans, with even one evil word, those who keep and preach the Lotus Sutra, be it a householder or one who has left the household, the magnitude of the sin is beyond the sin of directly disparaging the Buddha Shakya. It is also preached, 'Whether true or untrue, those who keep the Lotus Sutra should not, even forgetfully, disparage each other, should they? The reason is that all those who keep the Lotus Sutra are necessarily Buddhas and to disparage a Buddha is to earn oneself a sin. When one understands it in this way, the merit of the Title (Daimoku) which one chants must be equal to the merit of Lord Shakya."-- Matsuno dono gohenji (Reply to Lord Matsuno)

"As for these three important things, it is not that Nichiren said it. It was the spirit of the Tathagata Shakyamuni that entered into my body and filled it with a joy far greater than what it deserved. This is the important teaching of the Lotus Sutra called 'one thought is three thousand worlds.' The scripture says, 'All existence has such a form ...' What does this mean? Because 'appearance', the first of the Ten Suchnesses, is the most important, the Buddha appeared in the world. The beginning of Nichiren's believing in the Lotus Sutra is like one drop of one atom in the country of Japan. If two people, three people, ten people, and millions and billions of people recite the Lotus Sutra, then it would become the Mt. Sumeru of Subtle Enlightenment or a great ocean of Nirvana. One should not look for any other way for becoming a Buddha." -- Senji Sho (An Essay on the Selection of the Proper Time)

"For instance, those who have a fever can cool off lying beside a great body of cold water, but they will continue to suffer if they lie by the side of a small body of water. Likewise, those who suffer from the five rebellious sins of slandering the true dharma and those who have no faith in Buddh-ism can not cool the fever of their grave sins by lying beside a small body of water, that is, such sutras as the Agama Sutras, the Kammuryojukyo, and the Great Sun Buddha Sutra. If they lie on the large snow-covered mountain of the Lotus Sutra, they can definitely cool even the fever of the five cardinal sins, the sins of slandering the true dharma, and those of having no faith in Buddhism. "Therefore, the fool must by necessity believe in the Lotus Sutra... The thick rope of evil passions cannot be cut even by the great power of the wise, but it can be easily cut by the powerless fool with the small sword of the Lotus Sutra. "The essence of the Lotus Sutra is 'Namu-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo.'" -- Ho'on Jo (Recompense of Indebtedness)

Will the real false mentor please stand up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKdwezkual0

The utter transparency of SGI' teachings to those who know

"Regarding the Lotus Sutra’s text, meaning and intent, the sutra’s intent is the most important to grasp. The intent lies in arousing faith in the mentor’s teaching to lead all to attain Buddhahood."

The intent of SGI's lectures is to supplant Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin with Daisicko Ikeda. 

Despite their rhetoric, it can not be that that the Soka Gakkai embraces the teachings of the Lotus Sutra [since there is neither internal nor external peace and equality in the Soka Gakkai]

"• The Lotus Sutra has the power to unite even enemies under the Law. Its teachings provide the basis for peace and complete equality." -- SGI Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra lecture

Feces calling excrement smelly

"The oneness of mentor and disciple makes up the very essence of the
Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Buddhism. Functions that reject the
oneness of mentor and disciple deny the equality set forth in the
Lotus Sutra.

The Nichiren Shoshu priesthood destroys the realm of the oneness of
mentor and disciple by deifying Nichiren Daishonin and claiming that
the life state he attained is unreachable by common people, violating
all principles of equality in the Lotus Sutra. "

"SGI Wisdom" of the Lotus Sutra lecture

Daisicko Ikeda and the $GI teachings on the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra

"The oneness of mentor and disciple is the very heart of the Lotus Sutra
and the essence of Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings, yet the priests try to
destroy and cast aside this most crucial element. This is a characteristic of
devilish functions, known as “robbers of life.”

To reject the oneness of mentor and disciple is to reject the mutual
possession of the Ten Worlds; it constitutes an attack on the fundamental
equality of all human beings. The true nature of the Nichiren Shoshu
priesthood is revealed here for all to see. (WLS-1, 160–61)

The only robe that will keep you from disgrace

The Lotus Sutra

Buddhist monks and nuns with the hearts of dogs are more numerous than Gange's sands

The Buddha stated that, in the latter age, monks and nuns with the hearts of dogs would be as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. By this he meant that the priests and nuns of that day would be attached to fame and fortune. Because they wear robes and surplices, they look like ordinary priests and nuns. But in their hearts they wield a sword of distorted views, hastening here and there among their patrons and filling them with countless lies so as to keep them away from other priests or nuns. Thus they strive to keep their patrons to themselves and prevent other priests or nuns from coming near them, like a dog who goes to a house to be fed, but growls and springs to attack the moment another dog approaches. Each and every one of these priests and nuns is certain to fall into the evil paths.

Who are those who can destroy the teachings?

"What do these passages from the sutras mean? In the past, the Buddha Kashyapa described to King Kriki the Latter Day of the Law of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni and revealed what sort of people would destroy Shakyamuni’s teachings. Evil men might appear such as King Mihirakula, who burned all the Buddhist halls and monasteries of India and murdered all the monks and nuns of its sixteen major states, or Emperor Wu-tsung of China, who destroyed more than 2,600 temples and pagodas in the nine regions of China and forced 260,500 priests and nuns to return to lay life. But such men could not destroy the teachings preached by Shakyamuni Buddha. It is the priests themselves, who wrap their bodies in the three robes permitted to them, hang a single begging bowl about their necks, store up in their minds the eighty thousand teachings, and with their mouths recite the twelve divisions of the scriptures— they are the ones who will destroy the Buddha’s teachings." -- The Selection of the Time

Nichiren quoting Chapter 4 of the Lotus Sutra

 “The World-Honored One in his great mercy makes use of a rare thing, in pity and compassion teaching and converting, bringing benefit to us. In numberless millions of kalpas who could ever repay him? Though we offer him our hands and feet, bow our heads in respectful obeisance, and present all manner of offerings, none of us could repay him. Though we lift him on the crown of our heads, bear him on our two shoulders, for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands reverence him with all our hearts; though we come with delicate foods, with countless jeweled robes, with articles of bedding, various kinds of potions and medicines; with ox-head sandalwood and all kinds of rare gems, construct memorial towers and spread the ground with jeweled robes; though we were to do all this by way of offering for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands, still we could not repay him.” -- Lotus Sutra Chapter 4

Nichiren on Ryuei Shonin and his ilk

"Accordingly, the Nirvana Sutra, which was preached in the grove of sal trees just before Shakyamuni Buddha’s passing, states that there will appear frightful persons whose offenses are graver than the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins—icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief, and those who slander the correct teaching. We also read there that such persons will be found nowhere else but among the company of wise men who observe the two hundred and fifty precepts, wrap their bodies in the three robes of a Buddhist monk, and carry a begging bowl."

Toda: "Buddha is life" or Nichiren: "Buddha is the Law"

"They say that it is as difficult to be born in the realm of human beings as it is to thread a needle by lowering the thread from the heavens, and as rare to see and hear the Buddha’s teachings as it is for a one-eyed turtle to encounter a floating log with a hole just the right size to hold him. Having this in mind and believing that one must regard the body as insignificant and the Law as supreme, the unenlightened man climbed numerous mountains, impelled by his anxiety, going from one temple to another as his feet would carry him. In time he arrived at a rocky cave with green mountains rising sheer behind it. The wind in the pines played a melody of eternity, happiness, true self, and purity, and the emerald stream that bubbled along in front sent its waves striking against the bank with echoes of the perfection of these four virtues. The flowers carpeting the deep valley bloomed with the hue of the true aspect of the Middle Way, and from the plum blossoms just beginning to open in the broad meadow wafted the fragrance of the three thousand realms. Truly it was beyond the power of words to describe, beyond the scope of the mind to imagine. One might have thought it the place where the Four White-Haired Elders of Mount Shang lived, or the site where some ancient Buddha had walked about after meditation. Auspicious clouds rose up at dawn, a mysterious light appeared in the evening. Ah, the mind cannot grasp it nor words set it forth!
   The unenlightened man wandered about, pondering what was before him, now pausing in thought, now resuming his steps. Suddenly he came upon a sage. Observing his actions, he saw that the sage was reciting the Lotus Sutra; his voice stirred the seeker deeply. Peering in at the quiet window of the sage’s retreat, he found that the sage was resting his elbows on his desk, pondering the sutra’s profound meaning.
  The sage, divining that the unenlightened man was searching for the Law, asked in a gentle voice, “Why have you come to this cave among these far-off mountains?”
  The other replied, “Because I attach little importance to life but great importance to the Law.”

Guidance and commentary for a friend

"And when you are happy you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."

Likewise, when you are unhappy, you should remember  "that your [un]happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."

Let us take Nichiren's guidance to heart

Why do you not, if only this once, try planting the wonderful seeds that lead to eternal and unchanging Buddhahood? Though at present you may taste only a tiny fraction of the everlasting joys that await you in the future, surely you should not spend your time thoughtlessly coveting worldly fame and profit, which are as fleeting as a bolt of lightning or the morning dew.

Nichiren on why SGI is an evil cult

"The point is simply whether or not it conforms with the text of the scriptures and with reason."

Nichiren to Ikeda cult members

"Do you do so knowingly, or are you simply a fool?"

"He [Daisaku Ikeda] "is a devil, he is an 'evil monk'"

Date: Tue, October 18, 2011 11:23 am     (answered 21 October 2011)

From: "David"

Subject: Sorry to take so long getting back.

This is David. I am usually on my laptop but I happened to be on my mothers computer today and I saw that you replied to me, thank you by the way. I should have given you my email address (it is xxxxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com ). True, my former attachment to AA is in big part my need to socialize with people, but it is possible to overcome that by changing the parameters inside of us to what we want to need. IE:needing to be around X number of people X number of nights per week. Literally changing X just like a math equation.

I also agree with the assessment of SGI, they are a cult of personality and they are NOT a Nichiren Buddhist sect — they are a chanting club that worships Ikeda. I don't know as much about the Nichiren Shoshu, I knew enough from SGI's teachings to stay away from them (SGI contradicts Nichiren's teachings and Nichiren Shoshu also distorts the teachings — IE:Dai Gohonzon is not mentioned anywhere in the Gosho).

"The Nichiren Shoshu Buddhists (Sokka Gakkai) believe that a printed scroll, called a Gohonzon, will grant all of your material wishes if you chant to it enough. It's a real Santa Claus cult."

While this is true, they are a cult, the Gohonzon doesn't grant anything because it is a piece of paper. SGI doesn't actually talk about what Nichiren teaches, they cherry pick. According to Nichiren, practicing in accordance with the Lotus Sutra gives the practitioner the same benefits as practicing the 8 fold path. IE:breaking attachments, behavior modifications, changing beliefs, etc etc — in the end attaining Buddhahood. SGI doesn't talk about that, but that is what it says in the Gosho. Nichiren did teach that the sufferings of birth and death are Nirvana, his teachings were about attaining enlightenment NOT about getting material possessions. We don't discard our desires, this is also not about fulfilling desires, this is about USING desire to attain Buddhahood. SGI erroneously believes that simply by chanting for a big screen TV, a person can attain Buddhahood. This is foolish, and it is a fallacy because a person has to want to attain Buddhahood (which is different than wanting a big screen TV). The only reason they get a big screen TV is the practitioner gives themselves the behavior modifications to get the TV in accordance with the Law of cause and effect (wiccans can also give themselves behavior modifications in a similar way, but again, that is NOT using the practice to attain enlightenment). But I could go and get a big screen without having to chant for it (in fact I did — without chanting for it). It is such a waste of time for people to practice like that, and it doesn't line up with the teachings. The Gohonzon is a pictoral representation of the "Ceremony in the Air" from the Lotus Sutra and it works on the same premise as if you were trying to learn a difficult piece of music and you had a really good recording, you automatically start over time playing like the recording. If you have a bad recording, you play like that. If you chant with a pictoral representation of the Ceremony in the Air, the "Treasure Tower" swells up from inside the practitioner as they hear the Sutra being spoken out of their mouth. SGI doesn't really talk about that aspect of the teaching either. They prefer "Human Revolution" over authentic Lotus Sutra teachings. Humanism as opposed to Buddhism.

I used to use NLP (self talk, affirmations, visualizations, etc etc), I have also tried other mantras with other mandalas, but nothing else I have tried allows me to manipulate reality like these teachings do (this quickly). Doing breathing exercises and practicing mindfulness (like what Thich Nhat Hanh or the Dalai Lama would teach) are good things to do, and traditional Buddhist meditation has been scientifically proven to work, the way this usually goes is something along the lines of observing how I am feeling, trying to line up the Chakras, observing my beliefs, etc etc, and over time I "reprogram" myself which is changing Karma. That still won't in one day or one sitting break an attachment — I suppose it could, but in my experience it doesn't work that way. I spent six months trying to deprogram my desire to drink (without AA). I felt like I was at the carnival doing whack a mole. Yet I chanted in front of a Gohonzon for 2 hours and I made the desire to drink disappear. I did the same with the cigarettes (and no withdrawals). But that is why Nichiren taught what he did. Also bearing in mind what the end result that a Zen practitioner is trying to achieve, the state of "no mind". Nichiren had taught that Zen is nonsense because if a person eliminates all of their thoughts and desires, how will they have the desire to attain enlightenment?

"Their core belief is that if you just chant the name of an old book of Buddhist wisdom, that you will get all of the benefits of the wisdom in the book. You don't bother to actually read the book or practice the philosophy; you just chant the name of the book: "Nam myoho renge kyo"."

This is also not what Nichiren taught (isn't it funny how bad SGI makes this religion look). Actually if you ever study any of the indigenous religions (the Lakota, the Yoruba-Santeria and Voodo, to a point Wicca, Shinto) — the traditional indigenous worldview is that when the sacred is spoken it is here. Again, a person must want to attain enlightenment before that will ever happen. Even Buddhist teachers from other non-Nichiren sects teach that. Most SGI members have never even read the Lotus Sutra. Most don't even read the Gosho and they put the Gosho on par with the Lotus Sutra (it is a commentary, it is not the Lotus Sutra). The two main principles from the Lotus Sutra itself are that men and women are equal (women can also attain Buddhahood), and that ANYONE (even Devadatta who tried to murder the Buddha) can attain enlightenment in one lifetime. If I don't practice those principles, and I chant the Daimoku expecting that I will attain enlightenment, I am a hypocrite and a liar. Putting Ikeda's writings on par with the Lotus Sutra, ignoring the Lotus Sutra, having 30 foot pictures of Ikeda instead of preaching from the Lotus Sutra in public is slandering the Law (according to Nichiren). But why does this matter? Why is it a big deal? Again, if I as a practitioner can get the same results by chanting as I would using NLP (right thinking), observing my mind (right mindfulness/concentration), making amends (right action), etc etc but in a fraction of the time(instead of spending a month or more quitting smoking, getting the nicotine out of my body, not being around the smoking section, etc etc and then maybe STILL going back to it as opposed to simply chanting for two hours and it is gone), why would I in a million years make the two equal in efficiency? That would be like comparing a Cray super computer to an Apple 2e. SGI also slanders the teaching by putting it on par with Christianity. In Christianity it is up to "the will of God" for fill in the blank desire to go away, yet if I chant, I make the desire go away when I want. I can go chant and get the results that day(as far as behavior modification-might take three hours, but I'd like to see a Christian do that on their time, not "Gods"). The trick after that is maintenance until I no longer need to focus on hanging onto the new behavior(usually after about a week, then I focus on other behavior modifications and the old one sticks). Christianity also slanders the teaching by calling the Gohonzon evil. According to the Levitical laws, Nichiren Buddhism IS idolatry. I love shoving that in the face of Christians and demanding an explanation for why all of the years that I laid the cigarettes down at the altar would I be outside 45 minutes later smoking and yet in one sitting I eradicated the desire to smoke. According to Romans a person can't make a sinful desire go away by sinning. Even if the devil answered my prayer, why would he prolongue my life only to give me more chances to repent and go back to Jesus if a house divided against itself can't stand? For that matter I gave Jehovae ample amount of time to fix me, and why would he not fix me when he knew I was going to go down this path and how much damage I would do exposing all of the contradictions in the Bible living to be a stumbling block to Christians(with the right knowledge to make it so). SGI won't call Christianity out for this, but Nichiren would. If a person is going to call themselves a Nichiren Buddhist, they are under obligation to rebuke slander of the Law. Same type of work that you do exposing AA's lies and contradictions.

"They also believe that they can achieve world peace if one third of the people on Earth chant their chant. They offer no explanation of how this will happen; it is just a given. They happily ignore the obvious possibility that even if one third of the world does chant peacefully, the other two thirds can continue to gleefully slaughter each other and blow each other off of the planet, just the same as usual, not at all inconvenienced by the chanters."

While they do believe in Kosen Rufu and claim to be an organization for the attainment of Kosen Rufu, they are misguided as to what this even means. All it means is the wide spread propagation of the teaching (closest English translation that I know of). That is a world apart from attaining world peace. This is Samsara after all, the realm of suffering. True, if everyone on the planet attained Buddhahood, there would be peace on earth and good will to men. Even if everyone on the planet chanted, they are not all going to agree and they are not all going to attain Buddhahood. Some would even kill each other (delusion and Buddhahood exist in each person). Again, they make the practice look bad. They won't rebuke slander of the Law. They are accepting of Christianity. They don't do like the new Atheist movement does (demand an answer from the churches as to why there are contradictions and historical errors in their book and why the churches lie to everyone claiming it as an infallible word of God when there are contradictions in it). When I used to be SGI, I had leaders who didn't like the idea that I wanted to do just that. Nichiren went so far to say that if a person doesn't rebuke slander of the Law, they won't attain enlightenment (as it is an act of compassion to free a person from this burning house-Samsara). But he had done his homework. He would point out contradictions in other scriptures. Had I not seen the contradictions in the Bible, I would still be a Christian. It's the same type of work that you are doing just that you are predominately debunking AA (again, I applaud your efforts and I will probably use your material if I am ever in a debate with people who are still in AA when I see them out in town).

Fortunate coincidences are accepted as proof that God favors the Guru and his cult: "The Big Man upstairs is really looking out for us."

Good and bad BOTH happen to everyone. There have been people who chant who were murdered. The real "proof" is that we can attain enlightenment by chanting Daimoku, not by getting a recording contract, or getting a car, or any material possession. SGI encourages their members to chant for fame and fortune. In the Gosho, Nichiren told Shijo Kingo NOT to be attached to fame and fortune. Wow, SGI contradicts the teachings-imagine that.

They are a money grubbing cult, they slander the Law, they make the practice look bad, they are just as bad if not worse than AA. I would keep going here, but I think you get the picture. Sorry to be so long winded and I am truly sorry for any bad experiences you had with the practice itself. I have walked away from it numerous times to try other things, mantras, the eight fold path, NLP, etc etc, and although I would get some small results it would end up being an exercise in frustration. Actually, I would try other things to debunk SGI leaders who were assholes. I knew if I could prove something worked better than chanting, I could shove my success in their face. On the other hand if I was wrong, I would "comply" because I would have proven through trial and error that the practice worked better, not because some asshole at an SGI meeting demanded that I agree with them. Anyone who walks away from the Gohonzon due to the drama and bullshit within SGI, I lay blame for that squarely at the feet of Daisaku Ikeda-he won't rebuke SGI members for worshipping him. He is a devil, he is an "evil monk", and I will rebuke him till my dying breath.

Anyway, have a nice day,

keep up the good work debunking AA (Assholes Anonymous lol:)

David

Scandalous Bharat Soka Gakkai [India]

http://walkskip.blogspot.com/

Experience by Wisetaiten

I would suggest that anyone thinking about joining SGI approach it with extreme caution. I was a member for seven years, including two as a leader and deeply imbibed the Kool-Aid for most of that time. You can go to any anti-cult website - most of them will have a list of warning signs to be aware of, and SGI seems to meet most (if not all) of the criteria. I was defensive about being a cult-member myself and was suitably outraged at any suggestion that it might be a cult.

SGI is particularly insidious; they recruit heavily - the people who are most easily drawn in tend to be lonely and going through a particularly rough patch in their lives. The recruiter will suggest that you start doing the magical chant (they may even tell you that if it doesn't work, they'll quit their own practice) . . . your life will change. And, indeed, you'll notice good things will start to happen and you'll attribute it to your chanting; in truth, it will be just the normal cycle of good and bad things happening in anyone's life, but because you're looking for something to attribute to this good fortune to, you'll give credit to the chanting - that's called "confirmation bias," by the way. You'll share the good news with the recruiter, and you'll hear words similar to "omg, what a great benefit! Would you like to go to the next meeting and share it with the members? They would find it so encouraging!" And thus it begins. While Nichiren's teachings are purported to be the center of the practice, it's actually the president, Daisaku Ikeda's interpretations you'll be hearing. Mr. Ikeda is not a scholar - he probably has done some personal study of Nichiren's teachings, but he's probably not read any more of the Lotus Sutra than I have. This is a cult of personality . . . everything is about "sensei" and the organization and, while on the surface there's a lot of kumbaya and natter about caring for the members, it's about the numbers - members = dollars. A clear example: a member asked me about having a prayer session (toso) in her home, and I put it on the district schedule. She had recently lost her husband and was struggling to take care of two children; in her efforts to be both mom and dad for these kids, she'd missed a number of officially-sanctioned meetings. I was reprimanded by upper-level leaders for scheduling this prayer meeting, in large part because this woman had missed other meetings and needed to start attending them. I basically said "screw you," and kept the session on the schedule. This didn't go down well with the leadership and, after months of gradually noticing more and more cracks in the organization, I finally (and formally) resigned from the organization.

And your personal information? Believe me, they will hound you about coming to meetings, telling you that participating in activities will increase the benefits you already think you're getting from chanting. These meetings are vehicles to increase the level of mind control they're exercising.

You truly don't see it until you wake up and get the bad smell. The people you deal with on a district level are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, some of the kindest and sincere people you will ever meet. That's what makes it difficult to accept that this is a cult; nearly everyone you'll meet in the org truly does believe and have absolutely no personal agendas. They are all working towards the betterment of the organization, which they've been led to believe is fighting for world peace and human rights.

As far as transmitting Buddhism is concerned, a discussion of Shakyamuni Buddha came up in the last district meeting I attended. There are a number of Indian (subcontinent) members in that district and, apparently, the history of Buddhism and Shakyamuni are taught in the schools there along with some very fundamental tenets. I was absolutely stunned at the level of ignorance that long-time (40+ years) members had; after years of studying sgi-ism, they had absolutely no clue . . . after such a tight focus on Ikeda's interpretations, they were completely unaware of even the most basic historical teachings.

The finances are a blur (as a religious organization, they are not required to provide financial reports to maintain their non-profit status and they refuse to do so), but it's estimated that they bring in about 1.5 billion dollars a year. Not a penny of that goes into providing any kind of support services to its communities; when the tsunami occurred a couple of years ago (SGI is based in Japan), they didn't contribute a yen to the recovery, although a huge number of members were affected. Members were encouraged to help each other, and of course, chant. SGI does, however, contribute heavily to its own political party, the New Komeito. Ikeda himself has amassed a huge fortune and is rumored to be one of the most wealthy businessmen in Japan. Leaders at the national level receive generous salaries.

And, just to make this clear, I have no association with the temple, the priesthood or any nsa-related group. For those of you who don't know what I'm saying here, SGI has its own package of paranoia with these groups - up until the early 1990's SGI was Nichiren Shoshu of America (NSA). For reasons I won't go into here, there was a split and members who followed Ikeda were excommunicated. There's been bad blood between them ever since; NSA has been demonized because they "don't practice correctly" (which had nothing to do with the original split, so apparently everything was a-ok until then), they said nasty things about Ikeda (while SGI members were chanting feverishly for NSA to fail and accusing the priests of all kinds of unsavory things) and they tore down the Sho-Hondo (did they really? or did Ikeda have it torn down to blame the priesthood and gain more loyal members?) People who dissent with SGI on boards like this (and other places) are generally accused of being with the wicked temple and of planting anti-SGI and anti-Ikeda propaganda. I don't know how true that is, but I want to assure any staunch SGI members that I've never even met anyone who stayed with the temple.

It's not for me to tell someone to associate themselves with SGI or not, but PLEASE, do your homework and research as much as you can. Don't just talk to people who are members, but try to find people who've left and find out why. Just google "leaving soka gakkai" or "going taiten." You'll get a very different view of SGI than the path-to-true-happiness stuff you're going to hear from active members.

St. Francis of Fukushima

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/03/20803316-inside-fukushimas-exclusion-zone-a-farmer-sheltered-over-500-abandoned-animals?lite