Reason I was thrown off Fraught With Peril and my blog posts destroyed

Having absolutely demolished the arguments of the poster Top Senior Leader and having revealed his utter stupidity for all to behold, the damage inflicted on the Soka Gakkai had become too great a liability for the SGI leader/owner of the blog.

Soka Gakkai leaders are, for the most part, cowards while those few who possess a modicum of courage are too ignorant to realize that they have no chance of defeating us in debate.

Why I quit the Gakkai by Anonymous

"I need to vent and let out my story about quitting or thinking of it. I've told a couple friends who are members about it. While respectful, they didn't agree with my arguments about the SGI being a cult and immediately told me not to join the temple. Not that I would since the temple has extreme tendencies too.

Reason why I quit was because of the Ikeda worship going on with members. Every time I would ask a question, I'd get a parrot response about how they connected to his heart, yadda yadda. I was uncomfortable at how many times I heard these answers that were not honestly answering any questions I had regarding the organization. I constantly mentioned how I didn't connect with Mr. Ikeda and one of my friends, SGI staff and chapter leader, tells me that I'm more similar to Ikeda than I think and how I'm seeking my connection with him. Huh?

I also remember FNCC last year. I was uncomfortable with all the insane cheering and pom-poms but what made me snap was when they sang "Youth With a Noble Vow" seven times in a row to send to Japan. While I escaped, I heard it and remembered cringing. I also shared the experience and YouTube of the song to some friends who were older members and they even found the song creepy with the Soviet national anthem style music. Of course, they tell me that the youth were being enthusiastic and that's their way of doing kosen-rufu.

The other thing I really hated was how pushy members got about getting people to do events and activities. A recent example this year, there was a YWD activity happening and I told fellow members I wanted to work that day. Instead of acknowledging me, they told me they'll chant for me to come and that I should trade my hours to make this event. My sponsor, bless his heart, told me to prioritize work. I ended up going to work that day and felt good. Of course, my sponsor then adds in how I should ask them how the meeting went, show concern, etc.

All this cumulated to me chanting about the situation, the hypocrisy of how humble Mr. Ikeda supposedly is while ignoring how the members deify him and letting them get away with naming everything after him. Of course, my older friends think the deifying is wrong and tell me the attitude is cult-like but the SGI is not a cult and how I need to help change the organization by writing to higher leaders. Now, I would've agreed with that in the past but talking to one of the high-ups, it led to deaf ears or a casual answer despite them saying they agreed. This was a couple years back.

I won't comment on the encouragement too much. To me, he says one thing that's seemingly profound but does another. His whole mentor and disciple spiel is disturbing. So is the prayer at the center to make oneness of mentor and disciple our primary mission. So is SGI Hong Kong's thing of chanting for his happiness over your own.

Anyway, a couple days ago, as I chanted, I realized quitting was the right thing to do. I rolled up my SGI gohonzon and printed a new one. I think it's a Shutei one made near Nichiren's death. I felt a lot better chanting to that and felt a stronger connection to it.

I still chant every day and do gongyo. While I don't believe everything Nichiren says, I do like the practice itself. I'm still trying to find NShu and independents I can chant with. I'm still going to share NMRK and study the Lotus Sutra. Still looking for people in Chicago to meet with though unfortunately, the NShu temple in Chicago has no one to run it.

I don't dare to officially quit yet but at least I got some of it out of my system.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the honest stories in this thread with people's experiences. I feel much better knowing I'm not alone.

I also want to mention these are only some of the instances I've mentioned. There have been several more."

Nichiren on how a wooden or painted image of the Buddha becomes a living Buddha

"When we define the Lotus Sutra as the spiritual aspect and enshrine it alongside a wooden or painted image of the Buddha with thirty-one marks of physical excellence, the image itself becomes the living Buddha" -- Nichiren Mokue Nizo Kaigen no Koto

SGI pseudo-Buddhism: "Protecting the mentor"

Real Buddhism: Shakyamuni Buddha protecting us

"The Buddhas, because they were enlightened by the Lotus Sutra, were able to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, if they should fail to preach the sutra to others, they would be withholding from others the seeds of Buddhahood and would be committing a fault. For this reason, the Thus Come One Shakyamuni made his appearance in this sahā world and prepared to preach it. But the devil king of the sixth heaven, otherwise known as the fundamental darkness, took possession of the bodies of all the people and caused them to hate the Buddha and impede his preaching.

Thus the king known as Virūdhaka killed five hundred people of the Shākya clan; Angulimāla chased after the Buddha; Devadatta rolled a huge stone down on him; and Chinchā, the daughter of a Brahman, tied a bowl to her belly and claimed to be pregnant with the Buddha’s child.

The lord of a Brahman city proclaimed that a fine of five hundred ryō of gold should be levied against anyone who invited the Buddha into the city. As a result, the people of the city blocked the road with thorns, threw filth into the wells, built a barricade of spikes at the gate, and put poison in the Buddha’s food, all because of their hatred of him.

The nun Utpalavarnā was murdered, Maudgalyāyana was killed by Brahmans of the Bamboo Staff school, and Kālodāyin was buried in horse dung, all because of animosity toward the Buddha.

Nevertheless, the Buddha managed to survive these various ordeals, and, at the age of seventy-two, forty-two years after he first began preaching the Buddhist teachings, at a mountain called Gridhrakūtanortheast of the city of Rājagriha in central India, he began to preach theLotus Sutra. He preached it for a period of eight years. Then, on the bank of the Ajitavatī River at the city of Kushinagara in eastern India, in the middle of the night on the fifteenth day of the second month, when he was eighty years of age, he entered nirvana.

But before that, he had revealed his enlightenment in the form of the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, the words of this sutra are indeed the very soul of Shakyamuni Thus Come One. And since every single word constitutes the soul of the Buddha, Shakyamuni Thus Come One will protect those who practice this sutra as though he were protecting his very own eyes. He will accompany them just as a shadow accompanies a body. How then could the prayers of such persons not be answered?" -- On Prayer

Cleaning SGI center toilets for a real breakthrough!

"Hallo Jan! your problem really touched a nerve with me. I have heard of this stage of stagnation, or something I've heard members call a 'plateau' stage, where you feel that you've reached a point where you're mot moving forward – my district leader told me about it on the first week when I started to chant. She told me that it will happen, especially if you've had a rocket like start to the study and practise of Buddhism, which I had, over 1.5 years ago. I literally couldn't put the books down.

She also told me, that it will be a time for me to REALLY deepen my practice. Instead of going to the 'next stage', imagine digging deeper, and rediscovering the enthusiastic seeking spirit you had in the beginning by chanting sincerely to connect with NMRK, and Sensei's spirit.

I found that doing SGI activities, not just taking part but taking responsibilities, got me out of deadlock. I had some issues with bigger meetings, like you, and I felt a slight disconnection from the organisation. I realised, that I was afraid to take on more responsibilities, after my knowledge had increased. It felt like I was seeing errors, mistakes, discrepancies EVERYWHERE in the organisation. I realized that this was my first real obstacle, and after learning about the dangers of slander (of the self, the law, or other members), I decided to push my doubts to the back seat and do something about it. "Daimoku first" – then I volunteered at every possible activity with any role that was available, be it cleaning toilets or designing the event invitation. Taking action was enough for me to move forward, and from that activity, I made incredible new connections and revived my desire to study by supporting someone very new to the practice.

So I'd say, that finding gratitude for my 'plateau' stage is the proof that I've moved forward from it, as SO MUCH came out of it. I'd say embrace all the feelings you are having, to realise the area in your practise which can be the key to revive the excitement you were feeling in the beginning. There is no 'final stage' in Buddhism, right? So there shouldn't be a sense of completing a stage before moving onto the next one and never going back to the beginning. I re-read one of the books recently, which I was given 5 years ago, and I realized I'd forgotten most of the amazing words that gave me hope those times!" -- Anne on SGI Unofficial

The business strategy of the Soka Gakkai multinational religious corporation?

Utilizing free labor to maintain the lifestyles of SGI top leaders is the business strategy of the Soka Gakkai multinational religious corporation. The unpaid janitors, receptionists, security personal, ministers, and cashiers are great for the bottom line but today it is the free singers, dancers, musicians, and child minstrels who are the very foundation and strategy of Soka Gakkai fundraising activities. You are working hard, not for spreading the Lotus Sutra, but for maintaining the lifestyles of the millionaire top Japanese leaders who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to spread the Law that you do for free. Burn this reality into your brain. You don't need to support these leeches with your sweat and blood in order to spread the Law. You yourself are a Bodhisattva of the Earth endowed with the wisdom of the Buddha. The SGI top seniors leaders are nothing but hungry ghosts.

I trust only four Japanese..

Nichiren, Nichiju, Nikkyo, and Nisshin.

Buddhist Hells (some are right here)

https://www.google.com/search?q=buddhist+hells&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiai4zwycHgAhVq_IMKHSfvC4AQ_AUIECgD&biw=1060&bih=540

EXTRA EXTRA THIS WEEK Please read.. THE REAL NEWS

A Pakistani suicide bomber killed 27 Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Almost simultaneously another Pakistani suicide bomber killed about forty Indian policemen in Kashmir. Closer to World War III we have never been. Pakistan and India have enough nukes to create a nuclear winter, let alone if other nations get involved.

The forced conversion from the Nikken Gohonzon to the Nichikan Gohonzon

"I remember brainwashed gakkai members literally shedding tears over the beauty of the Nikken gohonzon, admiring the powerful calligraphy, then later, after the split, those same people looking at the same gohonzon with the same scorn as if they were casting their eyes upon used sheets of toilet paper. With a wave of the magical gakkai (Ikeda) arm, they changed gohonzons (declaring which ones had "power" and which ones didn't), changed gongyo, changed the prayers and relegated the Daigohonzon to subsidiary status. Such shortsighted chutzpah was the beginning of the meltdown. It was indeed sheer stupidity. 

It's pretty clear that the gakkai cult will say anything to make the winds blow in the direction that they desire and to justify whatever it is that they wish to do. There are no core principles to which they adhere and respect, they simply wing it, frivolously changing with the times." -- Hitch

The two biggest conmen in history

Bernie Madoff used to tell the investors who wanted to invest a million dollars, for example, "I don't know you well enough and you don't know me well enough. Why don't you follow what we do with our investments for another year before you invest." or he would tell them, "It wouldn't be such a good idea for you to invest the whole million dollars. Invest just one hundred thousand dollars and if we make you money in a year and you still want to invest one million then I will allow you to invest more money." or he would play really hard to get and wouldn't let people get near to him or speak to him for years, then the investor would be so greatful to finally get to meet and talk to him, he would invest his life savings.

Ikeda and the Gakkai are not much different. They say officially, "No donations are accepted initially, even if you want to do so. After some time you become eligible to contribute to Soka Gakkai. It is not necessary to give offerings but generally members do so out of a sense of gratitude." or they say most disengeuously, "No donations required.. No donations to be made.. No voluntary donations to be made either." Then they have these grotesque May Contribution Campaigns where they practically put their hands down your pants to get into your wallet, saying to the members, "If you have been running into a wall, now is the time to break through. Through this contribution campaign, you can definitely change your karma." or, "You can change everything through your donations, realize your potential, become really happy, and contribute to world peace."

Akemi Bailey-Haynie...Then why practice Ikedaism?

"We have members who are not winning...Our members are suffering. Many members are suffering from depression. Experiencing violence and have committed suicide...lack of hope...lack of courage...children have been abused...acts of passive violence...gossip...bullying... rude behavior...eye rolling...disregard and constant criticism..." -- Akemi Bailey-Haynie top SGI Woman's Division leader

Greg Martin SGI Study Chief slanders the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren

"Second, we do not intend to take a refutational approach to Christianity. We see no necessity or value in attempting to undermine a religious tradition that is both widely accepted and demonstrably valuable. At the same time, we cannot avoid the historical evidence of its less noble aspects that have given rise to violent propagation and the Inquisition, and its use as a tool for colonization and subjugation.

Finally, we do not take an exclusivist position - that Nichiren Buddhism is the only vehicle capable of carrying its adherents to the pinnacles of truth and the shores of happiness..." -- Greg Martin SGI Study Chief

At the very least, he could have talked about "cruelty in the Bible":

https://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html

A truly remarkable experience. I suggest you don't read this SGI members.

"One of the major events that led to my leaving SGI behind forever involved my objets d'art, the two antique, original calligraphy Nichiren Shu gohonzons. Here are pictures of them - keep in mind, they're each about 5 feet tall:

                         

                 

I've mentioned this before, but to recap, when my leaders got wind that I was thinking about buying one of these (I sent the image in an email asking if there was anything wonky in the inscriptions, since I don't read kanji), the home visits started. A (half-Japanese) WD Chapter leader came by and said, "Your home has such a lovely warm atmosphere. It would be a shame to see it turn dark and sinister." As if such "heretical objects" would cause a magical change in The Force that everybody would be able to feel, somehow.

I just smiled. See, I'd already purchased TWO of these, not just ONE, and they were sitting there, rolled up, not 15 feet away from her. Her mystical SGI-sense was a bunch of crap, in other words.

Then I got a home visit from the local Jt. Terr. WD leader, a Japanese ex-pat. I had gotten them hung by that point. She looked at them thoughtfully, then said, "They might confuse the members." I pointed out that the stairwell wall where they're mounted wasn't visible from the room where I had meetings and tosos - they would only be able to be seen as someone was walking past on their way to the restroom, for example. And gaijin don't read kanji! I said it was likely that even if the members saw them, they wouldn't see anything other than calligraphy, which is a popular home decor item anyway. I asked her to show me where in the Gosho it said that gohonzons were bad and shouldn't be kept. She finally sighed and said, "You need to chant until you agree with me." Her exact words. Then the newly appointed half-Japanese WD HQ leader arrived, took a look at the scrolls, and said, "I don't see any problem here."

Two weeks later, that Jt. Terr. WD leader dropped dead. She wasn't very old, either - late 50s? Mystic? Conspicuous punishment from the gohonzon for presenting her own opinion as Buddhist doctrine, maybe?? If it had been ME who'd dropped dead, you know they would have been saying I was punished for not following the "strict, yet compassionate guidance" I got from my SGI leaders. They would have eagerly used ME as a cautionary tale to frighten the other members into ever more unquestioning obedience, without the slightest qualm about ethics or compassion or tact or discretion or demonstrating any sort of respect for the dead - the members are there to be used. So use them!!

I found out shortly after that last home visit that my situation was being discussed at another district. This struck me as odd - I wasn't particularly friendly with anyone from that district; had one of them heard about my objets d'art and asked a question or something? What I heard about this incident was that someone said, "Well, if she had a museum of Japanese art, would it be okay for her to display them then?" The SGI leader response: "She doesn't have a museum, now does she??" I heard that the district MD leader, an African American retired serviceman, said that they were making a huge big hairy deal out of nothing, and there was no good reason for it - it was going to cause nothing but trouble for the members, and they certainly shouldn't be treating a long-term, devout member that way.

I didn't realize until this year that the SGI leaders had gone out of their way to WARN the members away from me! As if I was some terrible toxic person or something! No, they never said another word to me beyond that "Chant until you agree with me"; I noticed that my members immediately stopped coming to my house for meetings, but I wasn't upset by that - I found the meetings stressful and unpleasant. But the fact remains that the SGI leaders took it upon themselves to tell my members not to come to my house any more, without saying a word to me about this decision. There was no discussion. No dialogue.

Bottom line: These noble, upstanding SGI leaders were concerned enough to warn the members to avoid me, but they STILL kept my membership card on file. I had to demand, in writing, that they remove ALL my personal information before they'd do it, and for all I know, they're still counting me as a member - anything to keep the numbers up! Since they were clearly NOT treating me as a member in good standing (attacking me behind my back), they should at least have had the decency and integrity to get rid of my personal information, since they were engaging in character assassination. Assholes." -- Doris Fromage

Lets talk Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu punishment

There are countless examples in the SGI and Nichiren Shoshu of their members receiving punishment. Nichiu developed white leprosy. Nikkyo burned up in a conflagration while his entrails remained. President Ikeda's first born son died of a bleeding ulcer. In this day and age that is nearly unheard of! Mr. Kasahara's first born son died from a massive brain injury. George Williams children are sociopaths. A top SGI senior leader was killed in the early eighties when a snow plow ran over his car. Another, in Detroit, died when a heavy metal stage hook took off the top of his skull. A men's division bagpiper was killed and mutilated by the Manson family on the way back from bagpipe practice. NST members Bill Vogel and Brad Nixon are other examples.

Rock the Ego..."I will become Shinichi Yamamoto*"

*Shinichi Yamamoto is the fictionalized character in Daisaku Ikeda's Human Revolution novel.

                                     

Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu punishment

"There are countless examples in the SGI and Nichiren Shoshu of their members receiving punishment. Nichiu developed white leprosy. Nikkyo burned up in a conflagration while his entrails remained. President Ikeda's first born son died of a bleeding ulcer. In this day and age that is nearly unheard of! Mr. Kasahara's first born son died from a massive brain injury. George Williams children are sociopaths. A top SGI senior leader was killed in the early eighties when a snow plow ran over his car. Another, in Detroit, died when a heavy metal stage hook took off the top of his skull. A men's division bagpiper was killed and mutilated by the Manson family on the way back from bagpipe practice. NST members Bill Vogel and Brad Nixon are other examples."

Horrible long time Soka Gakkai member experience

"I'm making this a thread of its own because this is so important. People are told that, if they practice properly, they will enjoy great good fortune, good circumstances, and "protection". Yet one of the things that caused me to lose faith in SGI-ism (it's not Buddhism) was what I saw - and so frequently.

So many troublesome episodes, but here's one that sticks in my mind. Toward the end of my ability to still be in the SGI cult, one of the Japanese old ladies (1) in my district asked me if I wanted to go pop in on this other Japanese old lady member (2) - 1 said she knew I liked Japanese things and 2 was selling a lot of nice stuff. Sure, says I.

Well, it turned out to be a disaster. Here is 2, in a raging depression because she'd gotten in with a bad doctor (who had since lost his license due to malpractice) who had removed her jaw joints. So now her lower jaw was pretty much free-floating. She couldn't eat. She had to hold her chin in place to drink. And apparently, there was nothing she could do, no settlements to win, nothing like that.

And here's 1, discretely elbowing me in the side, saying, "Make her an offer!" while 2 is weeping about how miserable she is! She DID have a lot of nice stuff, but I didn't have much money back then, and I wasn't about to insult 2 by saying, "I'll give you $25 for the 3-ft-tall geisha doll with the real human eyelashes in the big glass case."

I think that what 1 intended was that I would jump in and start taking care of her, but I had two small children I was homeschooling - there was just no way. And her situation was so dire - what could I say? She was already chanting all the time, and it wasn't doing any good at all! So a few days later I took her a 6-pack of Ensure, that liquid diet, and gave it to her so at least she'd have an idea of something that was available to nourish her. I still feel bad about that encounter, but there really was nothing I could do. And I'm still all WTF about that old Japanese lady dragging me over there in the first place!

Nobody wants to talk about all the bad stuff that happens to SGI members - they only want you to see the "victories" and the "benefits" and the braggy experiences "Look how much stuff I got from chanting!!" There's a dark side. A BIG dark side that you won't get to see unless you know where to look - and you won't have a clue until you've been in the cult for a few years and you start learning which doors to look behind." -- Doris Fromage

SGI leaders after reading the Eagle Peak Blogt

Nichiren on the Twelve Linked Chain of Causation or Dependent Origination

"THE Twelve-linked Chain of Causation

Question: What is the twelve-linked chain of causation as it applies to the process of transmigration?

Answer: The first link is ignorance. The Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “The state resulting from past delusion is ignorance.” That is to say, ignorance represents the earthly desires of love and craving that one gave rise to in the past. Thus a son may conceive hatred for his father and love for his mother, or a daughter may conceive hatred for her mother and love for her father, as described in the ninth volume of Dharma Analysis Treasury.

The second link is action. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “The various deeds carried out in the past are called action.” That is, the deeds or karma one has created in the past are called action. There are two kinds of karma. The first is “karma leading to rebirth,” that is, karma that determines what realm of existence we will be reborn into. The second is “completing karma,” which represents all the karma not included in the above category. It is past karma that determines such things as whether one will break a leg or cut a finger. This is completing karma.

The third link is consciousness. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “Consciousness is the one of the five aggregates that is crucial in the forming of life.” The five aggregates are already present when the child is in the mother’s body. The five aggregates are form, perception, conception, volition, and consciousness. They are also known as the five components.

The fourth link is name and form. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “What precedes the six sense fields is name and form.”

The fifth link is the six sense fields. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “After the eyes and other organs are produced, but before the three elements of perception,1 the six sense fields come into being.” The six sense fields are the activities, or output, of the six sense organs, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

The sixth link is contact. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “In the process of perception, the stage before there is any awareness of whether the perception is pleasing, unpleasing, or neutral, is known as contact.” This is the stage in which one does not yet understand that fire is hot, that water is cold, or that a knife is something that can cut a person.

The seventh link is sensation, or perception. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “The stage before any inordinate desire exists is called sensation.” At this time one understands that a thing is hot or p.72cold, but has not yet experienced any sexual desire.

The eighth link is desire. Dharma Analysis Treasury states: “The craving for material goods or sexual satisfaction is called desire.” This refers to the time when one desires a woman and has feelings of sexual desire.

The ninth link is attachment. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “Because one hopes to acquire various objects, one races here and there in search of them, and this is called attachment.” This means that while one is in this present life, one pursues worldly affairs and is greedy tograsp and acquire things that belong to others.

The tenth link is existence. Dharma Analysis Treasury states: “Existence means that one performs karmic actions that will determine the kind of fruit, or state of existence, that one will have at one’s next birth.” That is, existence here refers to the carrying out of karmic actions that will lead to one’s receiving life once more in a future existence.

The eleventh link is birth. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “Birth refers to the receiving of life in one’s next existence.” This refers to the time when one receives life in a future existence and enters the womb of one’s mother.

The twelfth link is aging and death. Dharma Analysis Treasury says: “Until one reaches the stage of sensation in one’s future existence, one is subject to aging and death.” To be subject to birth, aging, and death means that one suffers the anxieties and distress of aging and death.

Question: How do the twelve links in the chain of causation apply tothe three realms of past, present, and future and the two categories of cause and effect?

Answer: Ignorance and action represent two causes in a being’s past existence. Consciousness, name and form, the six sense organs, contact, and sensation represent five effects that appear in a being’s present existence. Desire, attachment, and existence represent three causes appearing in a being’s present existence. Birth and aging and death represent two effects that will appear in a being’s future existence.

I will summarize these as follows: two causes in the past (ignorance, action), five effects in the present (consciousness, name and form, the six sense organs, contact, sensation), three causes in the present (desire, attachment, existence), and two effects in the future (birth, aging and death).

Question: How does the twelve-linked chain of causation operate when it applies to the process of transmigration?

Answer: Ignorance is the condition that causes or brings about action, action brings about consciousness, consciousness brings about name and form, name and form bring about the six sense organs, the six sense organs bring about contact, contact brings about sensation, sensation brings about desire, desire brings about attachment, attachment brings about existence, existence brings about birth, and birth brings about the anxieties and distress of aging and death.

Thus it is that one transmigrates through the sea of the sufferings of birth and death. This is how one comes to be an ordinary mortal.

Question: How does one go about wiping out the twelve-linked chain of causation, thereby attaining emancipation?

Answer: Wipe out ignorance and action will be wiped out. Wipe out action and consciousness will be wiped out. Wipe out consciousness and name and form will be wiped out. Wipe out name and form and the six sense organs will be wiped out. Wipe out the six sense organs and contact will be wiped out. Wipe out contact and sensation will be wiped out. Wipe out p.73sensation and desire will be wiped out. Wipe out desire and attachment will be wiped out. Wipe out attachment and existence will be wiped out. Wipe out existence and birth will be wiped out. Wipe out birth and this will wipe out the anxieties and distress of aging and death. This is how one wipes out the chain of causation, thereby attaining emancipation. This is how the Buddha frees himself from earthly desires.

In my view, persons who are in the intermediate state between death and a new life are not affected by all of the links in the twelve-linked chain of causation. Likewise, beings in the heavenly realm are not affected by all of them. And likewise, beings in the world of formlessness are not affected by all of them." -- Nichiren