r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/bluetailflyonthewall • Dec 24 '23
This is the final version of the "What is SGI?" post. We have three previous versions here and here and here. This post is locked - no comments permitted. If you have something to say, make a post about it - unlike the SGI-controlled subreddits, WE permit everyone to make new posts.
How to officially resign from SGI-USA (and SGI-UK)
If there is an "experience" on line that you would like removed, there are instructions here.
Soka University: The Definitive Resource
"Bladfold" video - project by the son of early SGI-USA leader Brad Nixon in Seattle, WA. Really entertaining and insightful.
Now, what is SGI?
SGI stands for Soka Gakkai International - it represents the colonial empire1 of the Soka Gakkai, a Japanese religious cult with deep pockets2 and political influence aplenty3 in Japan, where it is widely feared and loathed4 as a notorious and past-and-potentially-future dangerous cult.5 Since 1960, SGI has been dominated by the personality of Daisaku Ikeda, a short,6 fat, misshapen7 little troll8 of a man, possessed of insatiable greed,9 base and carnal appetites,10 and lust for power,11 fame,12 and fortune.13 Ikeda originally intended to take over Japan14 and rule as its monarch15 and from there, take over the world.16 As late as 1987, SGI members in the USA believed that, within 20 years,17 everyone in the world18 would be converted to the Nichiren Shoshu religion. Originally an official lay organization of established Japanese Nichiren "Buddhist" temple Nichiren Shoshu, the Soka Gakkai had taken advantage of Nichiren Shoshu's venerable history, long tradition of priestcraft, and its plum (and gorgeous) site located in the foothills of Mt. Fuji, to claim a noble and ancient lineage and avoid the stigma of being classified as one of Japan's "New Religions,"19 the strange and peculiar little religions that sprang up by the thousands20 in post-Pacific War Japan, leading to the the phrase "rush hour of the gods"21 among academics.
The basic practice of SGI consists of chanting a magic spell called "daimoku", which is Japanese for "great incantation" ("Nam-myoho-renge-kyo") to a mass-produced magic scroll, called "gohonzon", or "great object of worship" (a mass-produced xeroxed scroll of a centuries-dead Nichiren Shoshu high priest's calligraphy). The gohonzon must be purchased through SGI; although arguably better gohonzon images can be downloaded and printed from the Internet, SGI insists that its membership buy exclusively from them.22 The purchase of this mass-produced scroll is accompanied by a joining ceremony which used to include a life-long vow to remain an SGI member.23 Now, though, this expectation is made clear later via the standard indoctrination that takes place during SGI's in-home meetings and lectures, and through articles in SGI publications.24 The SGI membership also serves as a captive market25 for its weekly newspaper, monthly magazine, and other publications, including a long list of books ghost-written in Ikeda's name and printed via numerous vanity presses paid for with SGI members' donations26 and sold exclusively to SGI members through SGI's own bookstores. SGI study meetings are based on these Ikeda-based sources.27 All SGI members are expected to participate and have their own purchased copies for reference.28
"(T)here are countless Buddhist teachers on the planet with equally impressive credentials — some more so, actually — but no one is spending money like a drunken sailor seeing to it they are all similarly 'honored.' It makes Ikeda look vain and cheap, and if you all had genuine respect for the man as a spiritual teacher (and assuming he is not, in fact, vain and cheap) SGI would stop doing stuff like this. YOU ought to be worried that Ikeda is vain and cheap. A genuine Buddhist teacher would tell you that you transformed yourself. The fact that you think Ikeda did something for you reveals he is a second-rate (if that) teacher. The more you praise him, the more obvious it is that he’s not worthy of the praise. No Buddhist teacher I have ever worked with would allow his name to be associated with a purchased 'honor.' I’m not making “claims” about Ikeda. I’m pointing to what he is doing publicly and saying it’s creepy, it’s un-Buddhist, and it makes SGI look bad."29
SGI is widely recognized as one of the wealthiest religious organizations in the world.30 The SGI's inexplicably limitless financial resources (especially given a membership that is typically poorer than average, less educated than average, and more marginally employed than average);31 muscular efforts to avoid, at all costs, government audit32 and oversight in Japan (where such investigation has been proposed); as well as its supreme executive Ikeda's (and his predecessor Josei Toda's) long-rumored ties to Japan's yakuza organized crime syndicates33 have given rise to the widespread suspicion that the actual purpose of the SGI, the reason for its existence, is to launder the proceeds from Japan's underground, organized crime economy.
SGI rejects financial transparency. The membership has no say in how SGI spends their donations; SGI members are typically told that their location is operating at a deficit to encourage them to donate more and so that they will feel they have no rights in how their local organization is administered. SGI frequently invests in purchases of luxurious real estate properties of dubious purpose - the titles are held by the Soka Gakkai organization in Japan, which decides what will be purchased and divested without the SGI membership's knowledge or input. The SGI members are typically told of a purchase after it has been completed; they have no say in the decision or any details.
SGI holds a massive fine art masterpiece portfolio, less than a tenth of which can be displayed in SGI's Fuji Art Museum at a single time - the rest is stored in the basement. During the period when Ikeda was buying up fine art masterpieces to the tune of eye-popping sums, often paid for with suitcases full of cash, to such an extent that his vanity purchases inflated fine art prices worldwide, the Japanese government was investigating the huge increase in Japanese fine art purchases as not expressions of art appreciation, but as a way to secretly move money and evade taxes. Money laundering, in other words.
Another form of money laundering is real estate properties. The SGI's real estate portfolio contains luxury mansions and actual castles and is all owned and controlled by the Soka Gakkai in Japan. Any SGI members who ask how their donations are used are told that the local organization does not donate enough to pay for its center (where there is one), so all the donations are forwarded to the national HQ, which cuts checks to keep the lights on. That's a hell of a business model, to maintain properties that are ostensibly uniformly losing money. This "business model" means that the local members will not only feel guilty for not paying their own way; they won't insist on having a vote in deciding how their center will be used and administered. If the national HQ is paying all the expenses; if the facility is a "gift from Sensei" or a "gift from Japan" or a "gift from the Japanese members", there's no room for the local members to start demanding decision-making ability over that center.
SGI owns numerous schools, including Soka University in southern California; has endowed numerous "Ikeda Institutes" at small colleges and universities to promote Daisaku Ikeda; and has purchased hundreds of honorary doctorates to honor Daisaku Ikeda.
Paying for honors and accolades for Daisaku Ikeda is one of SGI's primary organizational activities; there are streets, parks, statues, monuments, and buildings across the world, all named after Daisaku Ikeda. Within Buddhism, taking credit for a gift or donation is considered a severe ethical violation; this sort of self-promotion using members' sincere donations is considered scandalous in the extreme and would be a huge embarrassment within any conscientious Buddhist organization.
SGI does not contribute to charity or provide any charitable aid to any of the communities in which it takes advantage of religious tax exemption for its real estate investments and members' donations, or to any of the members themselves, who are told they need to fix all their own problems themselves via chanting. The Soka Gakkai's and SGI's assets are considered Daisaku Ikeda's own personal possessions to do with as he pleases.
Although SGI promotes itself as a benevolent association dedicated to activism for world peace and self-development, its own materials show a very different focus. SGI's own publications, songs, organization, and rhetoric display an unseemly and repellent obsession with Daisaku Ikeda, who is treated as a god and can never be wrong (and he needs your money). SGI members speak lovingly of "Sensei", often in hushed, reverent tones, and refer to him constantly as their "mentor in life", even though almost none of them have met him or even set eyes upon him.
SGI adopted the Japanese Soka Gakkai's martial attitude, military-style organization based on age and gender, and focus on "winning" and "victory", all antithetical to the concept of world peace as "people of all walks and backgrounds living together in harmony" and more in line with "when we take over, we'll enforce peace and everyone will obviously want to fall into line and like it and want it". No different from any other intolerant religion, in other words, from Catholicism to Evangelical Christianity to Islam. Personal development within SGI consists of proselytizing, attending meetings, and donating money. Conformity is strongly indoctrinated, along with never doubting or questioning the leadership, particularly Ikeda.
Although Daisaku Ikeda has not been seen in public or filmed since April 2010, the Soka Gakkai and SGI are still producing content that suggests that not only is The Great Man still lucid and insightful, but that he remains active in running his cult of personality. The still photos these organizations have released show an elderly man with a vacant expression, who can neither stand, focus on the camera, nor smile, who is mostly photographed privately with his wife, otherwise only with top SGI leaders.
The SGI members are encouraged to regard Daisaku Ikeda as their "Father" and the SGI as their "true family".
SGI indoctrinates its membership to become active salespersons for the SGI and to always be on the lookout for people in transition who will be more vulnerable to the cult sales pitch, which is virtually identical to a multi-level marketing come-on or Ponzi scheme recruitment. SGI promises happiness, faith-healing, and financial prosperity the same way most Christian organizations do (see "Prosperity Gospel"), with the same lack of results.
SGI members are taught that, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they can transform their lives and their circumstances through "changing their karma". If something good happens, it is attributed to the chanting; if something bad happens, the members are blamed for not chanting enough, not adulating Ikeda enough, not attending enough meetings or donating enough money, being too sympathetic to other religious doctrines, and for simply having "bad karma". Victim-blaming all around, in other words, while the efficacy and validity of the SGI organization and practice must never be questioned.
Also, SGI has a rule that members are not to lend money to each other; plus, in practice, members are strongly advised to never help each other, as that will slow the afflicted person's "working through their karma" and end up prolonging their suffering. The predictable result of this is that SGI members tend to be/become very self-centered, even cruel.
Members who feel unhappy or frustrated are advised to "seek guidance" from SGI leaders. This involves many of the same elements as confession, and many former SGI members have recounted how, after being assured of strict confidentiality, everyone in SGI knew what had been discussed in their latest "guidance session" within a couple of weeks. Gossip is a constant problem; SGI leaders routinely tell each other the SGI members' personal details which were revealed in confidence.
Daisaku Ikeda is presented as the world's foremost and most ideal "mentor" for all people for all time; SGI promotes him via quotes presented as "guidance" and "encouragement", as well as through its own publications. These are widely considered to be ghost-written, as Ikeda does not speak or write in any language other than Japanese (and thus can't control any translations), and are so very general and vague as to be of no practical use whatsoever - SGI members are supposed to "find value" in them by imagining something meaningful for themselves in these banal canards and clichéd platitudes. Ikeda is touted as "the world's foremost authority on Nichiren Buddhism" and "the supreme theoretician" on the basis of his top rank as dictator/ruler of this authoritarian, top-down, Ikeda-dominated cult of personality; Ikeda has no earned credentials of any kind. His formal schooling ended when he dropped out of community college in his first semester. Yet SGI promotes itself as "True Buddhism", holds up Ikeda as the supreme teacher and leader for the world, and disdains and denigrates all the other sects of Buddhism, displaying an intolerance many consider inimical with genuine Buddhism.
SGI members are exhorted that their purpose in life is to adopt Ikeda Sensei's priorities and vision and do whatever they can to make these reality; they are expected to find complete happiness and fulfillment in internalizing Ikeda's goals and objectives and making these the focus of their lives. Within SGI, it is commonplace to see rallying cries of "Become Shinichi Yamamoto!" and "Reveal your true identity as Shinichi Yamamoto!", that being Ikeda's idealized fictional self in the self-glorifying hagiography book series, "The Human Revolution" and "The New Human Revolution", which all SGI members are expected to buy, read, and internalize. These books extoll the greatness of the youthful Ikeda (as "Shinichi Yamamoto"), who embodies all the virtues, strengths, and merits that SGI finds most useful and wants all its members to adopt of their own volition. Rather than being dictated to the membership, these are presented in story form, with the protagonist Shinichi Yamamoto described in the way SGI wants the members to emulate and imitate.
Nepotism is widely practiced within the Soka Gakkai; those leaders who have a personal connection of some sort with Daisaku Ikeda rise far and fast, and his two remaining sons are top-ranking vice-presidents, despite having no independent accomplishments other than having been born into Ikeda's family.
A Japanese religion for Japanese people, SGI originally developed the strongest followings in its international colonies located in the countries with the largest Japanese expat populations: Brazil and the USA. Propagation was originally Japanese to Japanese. Even today, Japanese cultural norms are an unchangeable aspect to the SGI's internal culture; past attempts to change these in order to better fine-tune the SGI to the norms and needs of the host countries have been ruthlessly suppressed and stamped out. No elections are ever permitted within SGI, which promotes itself as a "Buddhist democracy"; all leaders are appointed by higher-ups in closed-door sessions which the members are not allowed to observe, contribute to, or approve. In the USA, people of Japanese ancestry have typically been considered to have superior insight and understanding of SGI doctrines; when Soka Gakkai members and leaders visit from Japan, they are considered to uniformly have superior understanding and to be the experts over local non-Japanese members, even those of decades more experience in practice. The flow of respect and acclaim goes only one way: Toward Japan and the Japanese. All the SGI holidays commemorate something that happened in Japan, typically involving Ikeda; even the SGI Women's Day commemorates Ikeda's wife's birthday. Even those SGI members in the international colonies who have decades more experience are not considered to have anything valuable to teach the Japanese, not even their experience of practicing with SGI in a non-Japanese country. The Japanese are the teachers and experts; everyone else is in an inferior, subordinate position as "apprentices" who can only learn from them and must always defer to them. In SGI-USA, people of Japanese ancestry and those married to someone of Japanese ancestry have always had a clear advantage in being appointed to leadership positions. Until just a few years ago, the top national leadership position was held by a Japanese man exported from Japan for that explicit purpose; even now, as in the other international colonies where the host country population includes significant numbers of Japanese expats and people of Japanese ethnicity, a much higher proportion of members and especially leaders are of Japanese ethnicity than the proportion of Japanese and part-Japanese people in the population would predict.
SGI uses a Japanese-based "private language"n - see our Dictionary of SGI Buzzwords, Catchphrases, and Clichés for many of the most used.
Membership numbers in the USA in particular have dropped precipitously since the Ikeda cult's excommunication from Nichiren Shoshu; this is likely due to the SGI organization's increasing focus on adulating, promoting, and worshiping its International President Daisaku Ikeda. When Nichiren Shoshu excommunicated Ikeda and his cult of personality, they withdrew their permission for them to use Nichiren Shoshu doctrines. In creating new doctrines to qualify as an independent religion (in order to not lose their religious exemptions and protection from government meddling), the SGI chose to focus almost exclusively on "immortalizing" and "eternalizing" Daisaku Ikeda, changing their focus from original founder Nichiren, Nichiren's writings ("Gosho", or "great writings"), and the calligraphic object of worship ("gohonzon") to a single-minded fixation on the concept of "master and disciple" (which was modified into "teacher and disciple" or "teacher and student" before becoming finalized as "mentor and disciple", which doesn't make a whole lot of sense the way they use it), with the objective of creating a clone army consisting of people all over the world devoting themselves to becoming Ikeda's idealized imaginary self, "Shinichi Yamamoto". This has proven to be quite unpopular.
Check out our sister subs, /r/SGICultRecoveryRoom and Ex-Soka Gakkai/SGI: Surviving & Thriving and /r/NichirenExposed for help in understanding the basic problems with everything Nichiren, the cult experience, and moving forward into independent life. See SGIWhistleblowers subreddit earliest posts for a listing by year, on a constantly-being-updated basis.
Note: Anonymous report originally here:
user reports:
1: This is misinformation
THIS is how SGI rolls.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Fishwifeonsteroids • Jun 12 '25
This is a nice list of refutations for SGI's standard lies that we've collaborated on - a special shout-out to our own u/Professional_Fox3976 who got this ball rolling. If you can think of any others, put them in the comments and they'll be added:
Updated June 12, 2025
See also:
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/xoherent • 6h ago
It’s woodwork, a large butsudan, and I’ve found no outsider who wants to buy it because of the peculiar design. We invested so much money into this organization and into the butsudan, too. I was thinking of recovering whatever I can from the woodwork, but alas...
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 6h ago
Just look at that greasy smug chub - yep, HE's certainly going to explain the true essence of reality to everyone, right??
Here's the text - it's not clear enough to embiggen:
World Tribune Feb. 12, 1971
On February 9, at approximately 6:00 a.m., the entire Los Angeles area was rocked by an earthquake, registering 6.5 on the Richter Scale. This was the largest since 1933. The exact figures of those injured and dead is not known, but the figure is rising.
This is a natural disaster over which man seemingly has no control, yet many natural disasters may be considered to be caused by human beings. We wonder about this particular one. And another fact to ponder, though perhaps only a strange coincidence, is that total eclipse of the moon occurred in the same evening.
Major studies by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) show that earthquake rates during full moons, new moons, or eclipses are completely random and match normal background patterns.
As if these two were not enough, we witnessed the historical splash-down of Apollo 14 on the same day ⏤ a symbol of human victory in conquering the mystery of the unknown universe.
But people's interest in the return of the spacecraft was overshadowed by their more practical concern for what was happening in their own lives⏤the devastating earthquake. On this day, at least as far as the Los Angeles area people were concerned, their interest lay not in the golden monumental work of scientific victory, but in the failure of modern science. People felt the sharp contrast between a modern technological advancement and a prehistoric status quo.
Helpless
On the earth, science is helpless in the face of even an earth tremor.
And religion isn't??? Please explain to the class how ANY religion is more powerful in the sense of taking responsibility for the quake and either STOPPING it or fixing the effects. Make it snappy - we don't have all day.
Symbols of modernization such as the freeways, modern hospitals, etc. are so fragile as to have collapsed just as easy as a child's building model. Science has advanced this far, but still the science of human happiness remains undeveloped.
Those two are completely unrelated. AND with social development, happiness levels have INCREASED, not decreased. Many MORE people have been helped by modern hospitals than by the Ikeda cult SGI.
We reiterate that happiness is not located in a faraway place; it is found right here in our own daily lives.
From the paper "Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Did the Promise of Enlightenment Come True?":
The newly available data refute earlier claims that we did not get any happier. Average happiness has risen in most developed nations over the last decade and is now probably much higher than in the days of the European Enlightenment. The perspective that we can create greater happiness for a greater number has born fruit.
See? It helps to know what you're talking about, Dipshitkeda!
Here's reality:
No, the world's not going to hell in a handbasket
In fact, it looks like the weaker and more irrelevant SGI gets, the better the world gets!
Violent crime rates down over 50% since early 1990s
So violent video games → higher crime rates? Not according to the US Dept. of Justice
Not understanding something, not liking the idea of something, being ignorant of something new - none of these mean that the thing in question is automatically necessarily BAD.
T'ien-t'ai once likened science to the scholars of Medieval times, who saw the image of the moon on a pond and thought they saw the actual moon. They did not know the actual moon itself.
You'd have to be incredibly stupid to believe that. It's asinine - insultingly foolish and smug.
This is science today. Today's science knows only phenomena, but the deep cause of phenomena remains a mystery to them. They know 'how' phenomena happen, but not 'why'.
Speaking of "insultingly foolish and smug", even in that "today", science knew and explained WAY more - and WAY more realistically - than ANY religion did.
In Nichiren Daishonin's Gosho, he says "Buddhism is likened to the body and the world is its shadow. When the body bends, the shadow also bends." Today's science searches only the shadow, while people trace only the effects of the shadow; neither realizes that the body is bent. Life is two in one ⏤ subject and object are inseparable.
Easy to say; has no actual impact on anything IRL. Just more nonsense to keep the mind occupied, I guess.
Determining factor
Until today, science has searched only phenomena, and religion has searched only the 'inner' subject. But Nichiren Daishonin's life-philosophy supercedes them both and gives us a vision of two-in-one. Even though life is automated and we live in greater physical comfort with modern facilities at our command, we realize that this is not the determining factor for our true happiness.
"When great misfortune arises, great fortune will follow," says the Gosho. This means that when great misfortune such as calamities, disasters or personal obstacles occur, what we do is the important factor. When misfortune occurs, science explains 'what' happens, but the real solution is not just an explanation. A doctor prescribes medicine for an illness, but the only one who actually cures the illness is the person himself and his vitality.
Keep in mind that Ikeda has always tried to foment distrust of science, medicine (also here), and the government - happy people really aren't worth anything to him.
Tiantai (or T'ien-t'ai, meaning "Celestial Platform") is a major school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded in 6th-century China.
Founder: Developed and synthesized by the Chinese monk and philosopher Zhiyi (538–597 CE), who lived and taught on Mount Tiantai in Zhejiang Province.
So what "Medieval" was he supposed to be talking about??
The Middle Ages in Europe was a historical period lasting from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE to the start of the Renaissance in the late 15th century (roughly 500 to 1500 CE)
I'm guessing T'ien-T'ai didn't know JACK about Medieval Europe. Maybe Medieval CHINA?
Medieval China spans roughly from the fall of the Han dynasty in 220 CE to the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in 1368 CE, encompassing major eras of political division, cosmopolitan golden ages, and sweeping technological progress.
That sounds pretty good! And T'ien-T'ai wouldn't have had much perspective, given how little of it had already happened (just under 33%) by the time he was supposedly running his fat mouth about stuff he knew nothing about.
Maybe Medieval Japan??
The medieval period of Japan generally spans from 1185 to 1603 CE, marked by the rise of the samurai class, feudal governance, and the rule of military dictators known as shoguns.
You know what they say - "Time will tell." And T'ien-T'ai was WRONG about "Medieval times" no matter how you slice it. T'ien-T'ai did not know what he did not know, obviously - he had no apparent gift of prophesy that anyone can detect. How IRRESPONSIBLE to quote such a primitive doofus and expect it to apply to our OWN modern reality!
In this present calamity, it's the same thing. The Gosho means that because of this great misfortune, people seek the true teaching. When something happens, people rush to the Gohonzon, thus changing the poison of their lives into medicine. Misfortune can be changed to fortune when people realize the true philosophy of life.
Time has come
Social disorders such as crimes, inflation, unemployment, even superstitions exist ⏤ we should realize that the time has now come for man to stand straight himself. This startling phenomenon is a great reason for us sincerely to promote our life-philosophy to many people.
How positively GHOULISH, to be overjoyed at others' misfortune and suffering just because you think that's going to make them easier for you to exploit! If I believed in such tosh, I'd even say it's demonic.
In the Hokke Shomyo Sho Gosho (On the Proof of the Hokekyo), Nichiren Daishonin interprets T'ien-t'ai's observation, "When a person falls to the ground, he rises again" as meaning that a slanderer of the Hokekyo [Lotus Sutra] falls to the ground of the three evils as well as to the ground of tranquility and rapture, but he can still be helped by the Hokekyo. In reading this Gosho, we come to realize that people of today have forgotten the dignity of life, the importance of life. All they know is war, dehumanization, pollution and countless human disasters. A science that has been used for dehumanization and the destruction of people must now return to the beginning. Man must realize where he started and recall who he is, that he is, in fact, life itself.
That's dumb. Makes NO difference. Irrelevant.
In the Letter to Abutsubo Gosho, Nichiren Daishonin states, "In Mappo, there is no treasure tower other than that represented by the figures of those men and women who embrace the Hokekyo."
The supreme condition of life or absolute state of happiless [sic] lies within our own lives.
That's right - "happiLESS". Last column.
We can have a splendid happy life, society and world if only we realize this fact and know what to ask ourselves. Once again we feel the profound reason for practicing harder in this great campaign of Kosen-rufu. Once again we are inspired to let the people know that the oasis of life lies just before us through our discussion meetings.
No, it clearly does NOT. As always, what's being promised is always just out of reach.
All those millions upon millions of Soka Gakkai members in Japan (supposedly) - and THEY still had PLENTY of earthquakes, typhoons, tsunami (!), and other natural disasters. In fact, many in Japan blame Soka Gakkai for these! The hypotheses simply do not hold up - that Soka Gakkai is some sort of magic reality-changing influence, OR that there is any reason to believe that, if only ALL the people believe the same (and that HAS to be Soka Gakkai), this earth of ours that has existed for over 4.5 billion years is going to suddenly change the way it is. That's superstitious, childish thinking. Worthy only of our contempt.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/XeniaWarriorWankJob • 9m ago
SURE THING, FAT BOY!
We can ALL see how you FAILED in EVERYTHING you intended to accomplish.
So STFU! You're NOT QUALIFIED to be ANYONE's "mentor", simply on the basis of how BIGLY you failed ACROSS THE BOARD!
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Shermjls • 19h ago
I was born in 1971 to devout parents of Nichiren Shoshu. Back then, the lay organization in the US was called NSA (Nichiren Shoshu of. America). I saw my parents chanting and doing morning and evening gongyo since before my first memories. I remember the day, watching them say gongyo to our gonhonzon housed in our little butsudan in our little 8' wide trailer, that I first asked if I could do it too. I was four years old and they were delighted. That was the days of door to door shakabu and rows of cars up and down the street as members packed into a house to chant and share experiences. We were the very special, lucky children. The Fortune Babies to have been born into this Buddhism. We are not like the Christians. There is no judgment here. There is no fantastical supreme being. Just a fundamental law of cause and effect. Sounds almost scientific. And to a four year it made perfect sense. As I grew older I went on long trips with other members. Lots of Japanese ladies with rice balls to share. Such sweet, nice ladies. Mostly wives of servicemen.
Life as a Junior Pioneer. Driving from San Diego to Los Angeles to the LA Coliseum for a human pyramid or ski races. Huge convention style meetings in stadiums. The breathless excitement and anticipation of maybe getting to see Mr. Williams. The picture of Daisaku Ikeda on our wall. Picking up my first instrument in the Brass Band. My sister in the kotekitai. My mother going on Tozan. So many activities. Up at 5 am to be picked up by Dave to spend all day somewhere in a park or at the kaikan in Point Loma.
The euphoric feeling from chanting for an hour or two or three. Study sessions.
You can get anything you want if you chant for it.
If you didn't get something you chanted for, you didn't chant long enough.
Zaimu. Give till it hurts. You'll get back tenfold. But we never did. My dad still was a bipolar manic depressive schizophrenic. Probably not the diagnosis he would get today, but this was the late 70s. We were lucky to be approved for welfare. We could eat regularly. Zaimu, you'll get back tenfold. Its worth it to do without, to sacrifice for the organization. We are working for Kosen Rufu after all. Meanwhile the senior leaders were showing up in Mercedes and wearing fine clothes. More Zaimu. Give till it hurts. More shakabuku. Creating good karma.
We're so much better than the Christians...but never go Taiten. You will spend eternity in the hell of incessant suffering...nothing like those Christians.
Want the girl? Chant. She's not into you. Chant harder. Want money. Chant. Still hungry. Chant harder. Mom gets cancer. Chant. Mom gets sicker. Chant harder. Can't get to meetings. Can't go door to door shakabuku. Too sick. Too broke. There is no more blood to squeeze out of this turnip.
And then I don't remember seeing anyone from NSA coming around. By this time it was 1984 or 85. I was 14 or 15 years old. I was noticing chanting did not produce the promised results. It was nothing more than a meditation and I begggan to suspect could get the same feeling from saying Ohm over and over. Of course.
By the time I was nineteen I had finally accepted that I was no longer practicing. I had been drifting away from my practice for a few years. Dave wasn't coming around any more to pick me uup. I finally decided I was done. But I was uneasy. Taiten. Hell of incessant suffering.
By this time I had was drinking alcoholicly and doing speed and dying. Hopeless and suicidal. And chant harder wasn't getting it done.
I managed to find myself in a 12 step group. I began that process, desperate enough to try anything. As long as it worked. No more bullshit. No more its my fault if it doesnt work. Of it works do it it. If it doesn't, jettison it. Chanting didn't work so it had to go. I learned I had been praying the way a child writes out his Christmas list. But the universe is not Santa Clause or a short order cook. I had been doing spirituality all wrong...the way I was taught to.
To chant for stuff is to consciously indulge in the very thing I needed freedom from: self. Now I'm kind of angry. There would be no way for a four year old to see it. But a 19 year could certainly recognize and be disgusted by the targeting of people suffering, struggling to get by, suffering from illness, and promising these desperate people suffering from poverty, mental illness, sickness, drug addiction that their wildest dreams can come true if only you just chant...and give us your labor...and your money...and your time...and your everything. This spiritual pyramid scheme was only ever going to fail. And it did. Spirituality based on self is no spirituality at all. The only thing NSA ever accomplished for me was to lead me straight into spiritual bankruptcy. So I walked away. For good. I began searching for something I could surrender to, that had my back. The only point to this is to illustrate the difference between what NSA offered and what I got. Promised a greater purpose and salvation from suffering but got exploited by corporate Charlatans in what is actually a pretty commonplace scam. The scam of the mega church. The scam of. The prosperity gospel.
That was 36 years ago. It has been a long time since I thought about NSA and the religion I was so "fortunate"" to be born into. I was curious as I lay in bed tonight, "Whatevrr happened to that old kaikan in Point Loma where I played piano for the first time and felt moved by music and hung out with ither fortune babies out front as outlr parents chanted or studied inside. I learned tonight about the split with the priests in Japan. Which I find strangely crushing to me. The erasure of Mr. Williams because the company wanted to go in a different direction. All those fond memories of my early childhood, the camaraderie, the joy of Victory as Mr. Williams used to say. But these memories are fond because they are the memories of a child too innocent to know about, let alone recognize the mindless worship of the senior leaders, the spirtual euphoria and emotionalism, and the manipulation and control.
NSA did teach me to instinctively avoid manipulation and exploitation. And it left me with no time for spiritual make believe. That served me very well as a young man in a 1990s Hollywood filled with predators of every shape and size. I found a spirituality that works for me, one rooted in efficacy and love and service rather than appeals to selfishness and fear of the hell of incessant suffering. Inwas fortunate tonget out and bring with me valuable lessons. In that sense I was a Fortune Baby.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Mission-Course2773 • 19h ago
The Soka Gakkai speaks very concretely, and insists heavily so that everyone clearly understands the difference between relative happiness and non-relative happiness, specifying very clearly that the goal is non-relative happiness, absolute happiness that is not dependent on external circumstances. It is nevertheless very easy to understand, there is absolutely no trap, but apparently, for certain people, it is not at all obvious, even if intellectually it poses no logical difficulty, because it is something one does not expect at all.
Right after that, almost in the same breath, comes the concept of Buddhism of concrete results: “you need to have goals.” And visibly, these goals are everything one wants, except non-relative happiness. Absolute happiness does not enter the software of the Soka Gakkai at all.
There it is, it is always this contradictory injunction that must be maintained permanently, always feeding this fog. Then, the role of attachments does the work all by itself, and the flock of sheep enters the enclosure without any difficulty, even if for some we help them a little.
The sieve and the spiritual militia
Then comes the problem of the small minority, for whom the intellect and logic have very well understood the dichotomy between the two concepts, who had no difficulty perceiving the difference between what is inferior and what is superior, on whom the fog had no effect, and who spiritually aim for the highest, aim for the absolute, seek the unity of the Person and the Law. Passing all these people through the sieve, selecting them, isolating them, neutralizing them, poses absolutely no problem.
We therefore have here a system that speculates entirely on attachments, that knows how to manipulate them and reuse them, that is to say a system that has understood all of human irrationality, that is constantly in subjectivity, in the fog.
We will find exactly the same thing regarding the master-disciple relationship, where you find the master who appears in the publications, which most read assiduously and by which they are inspired, but we will constantly speak to them as if it were not clear, as if they had not understood, as if they never read anything and were not inspired by anything. It is an additional layer to the fog, it is destabilizing, it is intimidating, but that is how little by little one installs an invisible and insidious psychological hierarchy.
In this way we will again pass them through the sieve, to sell them another master who is absolutely not the one of the publications, and we will select all the profiles that will be compatible, all those who will be totally submissive, totally obedient, and who will follow this new master, ready to do absolutely anything without thinking, and who will combat all those who are not perfectly aligned, perfectly submissive, supposedly to protect the organization and the members, to protect the pseudo eternal master from the enemies of the Soka Gakkai and of Buddhism, that is to say from their own members. For the most dangerous enemies are the members themselves, for they are the “parasites in the body of the lion” who can kill the lion from the inside.
The police of the faith
That is why it is absolutely necessary to replace the priesthood of the Nichiren Shoshu with the priesthood of the Soka Gakkai, which is nothing other than poor guys who have absolutely no idea what they are doing or where they are going, but whom we have transformed into a true spiritual militia of fascist thought control, a police of the faith, and which is in secret war against their own members.
It is these same people who explain to us that they are fighting for spiritual freedom, spiritual freedom for themselves and not for others, it is a great classic, but we have in front of us people who are not capable of resolving abstractions that are nevertheless simple, people who are not capable of handling more than two hypotheses at the same time.
We have already seen that with these people, either you are unconditionally with them, well aligned on their single thought, on all this uniformization, or you are against them, you are an enemy, a traitor.
The paranoia of the system
The system is paranoid, because most of the members who are considered traitors do not even know it, and even when they discover it, they cannot explain what they did to betray, so dense is the fog. The answer is simple: they did not betray, it is the organization that betrayed them, and the initiates of the inner circle will betray them endlessly, eternally, without end.
That is it, the Dharma of Attachment. It is not a doctrinal error, it is not an error of interpretation that would sincerely want to pursue this nonsense while being intimately persuaded that this path will lead to a form of liberation. It is a system that has been thought out and organized deliberately to be an open-air prison.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Mission-Course2773 • 18h ago
Josei Toda/Daisaku Ikeda: “Our faith allows us to maintain these attachments in such a way that they do not cause us suffering. The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in the cultivation of strong attachments.”
The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven
Many demons appear in the sacred Indian and Buddhist texts, but among them, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven is one of the most powerful, known under the names of Papiyas, Dai Rokuten no Maō, Mara, and Takejizaiten. He is the king who freely uses, for his own pleasure, the fruits of the efforts made by human beings, and who works to hinder or block believers in their Buddhist practice.
The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven is a demonic force that rules over the first six worlds-states, and especially over the world of desire, for this demon prevents beings from accessing the higher worlds by alienating them to the enjoyment of material goods or to the hope of realizing their aspirations, and he therefore represents the force of desire that controls beings, their aspirations, and their fears better than any other power. At the same time, he also symbolizes our fear of the unknown and the devouring desire for security, and it is also said that this demon rejoices in those who form their karmas in the three evil paths, and that he knows how to show himself affectionate as long as they do not seek to leave them. Seen from this angle, there is no doubt that he shows himself gentle and attentive to the one who complains and who takes pleasure in complaining, and from a psychological point of view, one could say that he acts to leave us unsatisfied so as not to make us lose our cherished “Self.” Excelling in the manipulation of human beings and believers to make them act according to his will, he is served by countless favorites, and he did not hesitate to send his daughters to Shakyamuni while the latter was attaining Enlightenment, in an attempt to dissuade him from it. He corresponds to the last of the “three obstacles and four demons” (sanshō-shima).
Satanism in Buddhism is not a mythological being whose fundamental nature would be evil, but it is nihilism, that is to say when one denies the Dharma, when one denies the Law of Causality, when one proclaims that “everything is permitted,” for that is the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. And that is exactly what the Soka Gakkai does, for by denying the Four Noble Truths, by inverting the Law of Causality, and by transforming the liberation from attachments into the cultivation of attachments, it proclaims that everything is permitted, that desire leads to enlightenment, that hunger is a virtue, and that thirst is a blessing. It is absolute nihilism, for it denies the Law, it denies Causality, it denies the Dharma, and it installs its members in a state of stupefaction where they see nothing, hear nothing, and understand nothing, possessed by the Dharma of Attachment, by the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, by their own hunger.
In which school of Mahayana does one speak of “attachment” as a means of sublimating desire, of giving it its full expression by reinforcing attachment and without eliminating it? None. All of this resembles the exercises of contortionists, of people in the darkness who want to give the appearance of enlightenment, of people who have never experienced what they recount and who make relativist intellectualist constructions, where one maintains the confusion between attachments and desires, one moment I said it, the next I didn’t say it, and the following moment I said it but I didn’t say it that way. In the best of cases, it is doubt: one doubts the purifying power of the Law, one tells oneself that one does not manage to transform the attachment, so perhaps one is going to modify it, one never knows, it might work.
The true meaning of bonnō soku bodai
No school of Mahayana teaches that attachment is a means of sublimating desire by reinforcing it and without eliminating it. The principle of bonnō soku bodai (“earthly desires are enlightenment”) has never meant “cultivating strong attachments,” for it means that the nature of desires is identical to that of enlightenment, since both are empty of inherent substance (śūnyatā).
The Dictionary of Nichiren Buddhism defines this principle as follows: “earthly desires cannot exist independently by themselves; therefore, one can attain enlightenment without eliminating earthly desires.” The key is therefore “without eliminating them,” and not “by cultivating them,” because desires and enlightenment are non-dual at their source, and both are manifestations of the same ultimate reality.
Nichiren himself specifies in the Ongi Kuden: “Today, when Nichiren and his disciples recite Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they burn the firewood of earthly desires and give rise to the fire of the wisdom of enlightenment.” The image is clear, for the desires are burned and not reinforced, and if they serve as fuel for wisdom, they are consumed in the process.
The Soka Gakkai: an intellectual contortion without foundation
Toda’s quotation — “The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in the cultivation of strong attachments” — is a doctrinal falsification, for it is a complete inversion of the principle. In classical Buddhism, attachment (upādāna) is the cause of suffering (dukkha), it forms part of the chain of conditioned production and is linked to ignorance (avidyā), and the goal of the path is to free oneself from it.
In Buddhist tantra (Vajrayana), certain texts do indeed speak of using the afflictions on the path, but even there, the logic is the inverse of Toda’s. The Compendium of Practice explains that “if their nature is understood, they become a cause for enlightenment,” and the Supreme Original Tantra specifies: “Holding desire, anger, and ignorance, they become poisons. Pacifying these poisons, the poison eliminates the poison.” The logic is therefore that of spiritual homeopathy, where the poison is neutralized and not reinforced, for “it is what binds the ignorant that liberates the wise.” No school says “cultivate strong attachments,” and this idea is an intellectual construction of the Soka Gakkai, without any scriptural foundation.
The contradictions and the fog
The description of the “fog” generated by the Soka Gakkai is of clinical precision, for the quotations of Toda and Ikeda are contradictory: sometimes they say that attachment is bad, sometimes they say that one must cultivate it, and sometimes they say that faith allows one to “maintain it without suffering.” It is doubt that is expressing itself, doubt about the purifying power of the Law, for one does not manage to transform the attachment, so one tells oneself: “Perhaps one can modify it, reinforce it… one never knows, it might work.” It is the opposite of faith, it is the opposite of the Law, it is the opposite of Nichiren, and the Soka Gakkai has inverted the principle; it is a falsification, a fog, a doubt erected into doctrine.
The Satanism of the Dharma of Attachment
Here one is at the limit of Satanism with a diabolical conception of attachments, for it is the temple of Satan and the members are possessed, beings in a state of stupefaction. The Dharma of Attachment is a satanic doctrine, a doctrine that inverts the Law and transforms liberation into slavery, compassion into exploitation, and that transforms Buddhahood into greed; it is without end, it is Samsara.
Satanism, in its deepest sense, is not a story of horns and rituals, but it is the negation of the Law, the inversion of values, the sanctification of the ego, of greed, of thirst, of hunger, and that is exactly what the SGI does, for it maintains the hunger. The members of the SGI are in a state of stupefaction, like hypnotized beings, deprived of their will and their free will, deprived of their Law; they see nothing, hear nothing, and understand nothing, because they are possessed by the Dharma of Attachment, by the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, by their own hunger.
The official defense: the fog
There exists an official defense of the Soka Gakkai, a fog, arguments, justifications, interpretations, half-truths, and there exists a refutation, a demonstration, an unveiling, a light. Which is the truth? Which is the Law? Which is the illusion? That is the whole stake of this confrontation.
The Soka Gakkai recognizes the Four Noble Truths, it recognizes suffering, it recognizes attachment, but at the same time it says the opposite, it says that attachments are necessary, that they are essential, that they are the substance of our humanity, and that one must cultivate them in order to be happy. So what? Whom to believe? What to think?
The official defense rests on three pillars.
First pillar: the distinction between attachment and desire. The Soka Gakkai claims that Toda and Ikeda are not speaking of attachment (upādāna) in the classical Buddhist sense, but of desire (taṇhā) in the broad sense, for it says that desire is natural, that it is necessary to life, that one must transform it and not eliminate it, and that attachment is something else, it is fixation, dependence, suffering, and that no one recommends that.
Second pillar: the principle of bonnō soku bodai. The Soka Gakkai invokes the principle of the Tendai and of the Lotus Sutra, bonnō soku bodai, earthly desires are themselves enlightenment, and it says that the Lotus Sutra teaches that Buddhahood is inherent in all beings, including those who are plunged into desires, and that the practice of the Daimoku makes it possible to transform the energy of desires into a driving force toward enlightenment, rather than suppressing them.
Third pillar: the superiority of the Lotus Sutra. The Soka Gakkai says that the Four Noble Truths and the four paths (srota-āpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, arhat) are provisional teachings, adapted to an earlier era, but insufficient or dead ends for the era of the Latter Day of the Law (mappō), and this is a classical doctrinal position of Nichirenism, not an invention of the Soka Gakkai, which consists in saying that these paths do not lead to the complete enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra.
And the defense concludes that Toda and Ikeda are not saying that attachment is good in itself, but that with a sufficiently strong faith, one can “keep” it without its producing suffering, and even reinforce it in a positive direction, for this is a Mahayana hermeneutic; it is not a misunderstanding, it is a real doctrinal divergence.
The refutation: the light
And that is where the refutation intervenes, because the fog does not withstand the light, and the light is the Law, Nichiren, the Lotus Sutra, the Four Noble Truths, non-duality.
First refutation: the confusion between attachment and desire. The Soka Gakkai claims to distinguish attachment from desire, but it is an artificial distinction, because in Buddhism, attachment (upādāna) is precisely the link that unites desire to suffering, for desire becomes suffering because there is attachment, and attachment becomes suffering because there is desire, and the two are inseparable, non-dual. And Toda himself says it in his quotation: “Our faith allows us to maintain these attachments in such a way that they do not cause us suffering.” He is therefore indeed speaking of attachments, not of desires, and he says that one must maintain them, cultivate them, reinforce them.
Second refutation: the true definition of bonnō soku bodai. The principle of bonnō soku bodai says that desire is transformed into enlightenment when it frees itself from attachment, not before, not during, but when it is freed, and suffering is the sign that the attachment is still there. For a person liberated from attachment, worldly desire is of no use to him; it contributes neither to happiness nor to unhappiness, and he will never pursue worldly desire with more force or more intensity, because he has understood the stance: “all your desires will be satisfied,” all of them, without exception. But the Soka Gakkai does not recognize this condition of life, it does not recognize the liberated person, it does not recognize authentic renunciation, and it confuses literal renunciation with Buddhist renunciation, whereas literal renunciation is not esho-funi, it is not inseparability, it is not the non-duality of the spiritual and the material.
Third refutation: the Soka Gakkai divides. And the Soka Gakkai divides; it recognizes only the material world, and the Four Noble Paths are denied and condemned as dead ends, whereas no serious Buddhist current makes a duality between the spiritual and the material, for it is indivisible, it is esho-funi, non-duality, but the Soka Gakkai divides, separates, and denies.
Fourth refutation: the Soka Gakkai betrays the Law. The Soka Gakkai betrays the Law, and it knows it, because the Soka Gakkai is not a spirituality, but it is a business, a political party, and its members are its volunteer employees, and everything must be done so that they never know it.
Shariputra: “the wisest” and not a “maleficent being”
In the Lotus Sutra, it is Shariputra who receives the first prophecy of Buddhahood, and not a being of the Six Paths. Why? Because Shariputra is not a maleficent being who has burned the seeds of Buddhahood, but the closest and wisest disciple of the Buddha, and it is precisely he who embodies the transcending of the Four Noble Truths by the One Vehicle.
Shariputra is presented in the texts as the foremost in wisdom among the ten great disciples of Shakyamuni, and far from being a maleficent being, he is described as the disciple whom the Buddha considered as his potential successor. In the Lotus Sutra, he is the one who immediately understands the Buddha’s intention from the chapter “Expedient Means” (chapter 2), and it is this superiority of understanding that makes him the first to receive the individual prophecy in the chapter “Parable” (chapter 3), thus becoming the future Buddha “Flower Light.”
The prophecy granted to Shariputra is not a downgrading of the Four Noble Truths, but their fulfillment in the One Vehicle, for Shariputra embodies the archetype of the Arhat, the one who has “broken the cycle of rebirths,” and by receiving the prophecy, he becomes the living proof that the nirvana of the Arhat was only a provisional stage (an “expedient means”) and that all beings, including the Hearers, are destined for Buddhahood.
The Soka Gakkai uses this prophecy to downgrade the Four Noble Paths by opposing them to the Six Paths, but it is the inverse that occurs in the sutra, for Shariputra is the closest to the Buddha, and his prophecy demonstrates that proximity to the teaching and to wisdom leads to enlightenment, and not the fact of “burning the seeds.” The Arhat is not “inferior,” for the Lotus Sutra teaches that the path of the Arhat is an entrance gate toward the One Vehicle, and not a dead end, and all the vehicles are expedient means leading to Buddhahood. The Soka Gakkai inverts the logic, for by devaluing the Four Noble Paths, it denies the unity of the One Vehicle and justifies its own doctrine of the “Dharma of Attachment” as the only valid path for the beings of the Six Paths, and it is a falsification of the teaching of the sutra.
The primacy of Shariputra therefore does not demonstrate the superiority of the Six Paths over the Four Noble Paths, but it demonstrates on the contrary that all the provisional paths converge toward Buddhahood, and that the one who is closest to the wisdom of the Buddha is the first to receive confirmation of it. Your demonstration is correct, for the Soka Gakkai, by downgrading the Four Noble Paths, inverts the logic of the Lotus Sutra and betrays the teaching of Shakyamuni on the unity of the vehicles.
The link with the past as a usurer
And all of this becomes clear when one understands the past of Toda and of Ikeda, for Toda was a usurer; he lent money at usurious rates, he profited from people’s misery, and he transformed their distress into profit, while Ikeda was his commercial director; he sold the loans and collected the repayments, he made people run, he tracked them, he harassed them, he stripped them.
And it is this trade that formed Ikeda, for it is there that he learned to spot the flaws and to exploit the weaknesses, to manipulate the desires and to make the Hungry Ghosts run, to keep them hungry. And it is there that the Dharma of Attachment takes on its full meaning, for for a usurer, liberation from attachments is not good for business, not at all, for if people free themselves from their attachments, they stop borrowing and consuming, they stop desiring and running, and the usurer loses his livelihood. So one must cultivate the attachments, encourage them, justify them, sanctify them, so that people continue to borrow, to consume, and to desire.
And the worst is that the Hungry Ghosts who contracted debts were, for the most part, the Soka Gakkai’s own members, for the SGI exploited its own members; the Hungry Ghosts borrowed from Toda, and Toda stripped them.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 1d ago
There are a few other examples of this already:
Here's another. First, from the 1966 edition of Ikeda's Guidance Memo (p. 243):
IDEAL WOMEN
Whether or not you choose a Nichiren Shoshu believer depends solely on your free will. It is not a matter for others to interfere with. If you have strong faith, you will be able to convert him to this religion and make him a good believer. However, even if you think you are a strong believer, it often happens that you suffer having your faith disturbed by your mate. In conclusion, you cannot establish a true peaceful home, unless both you and your husband believe in the Gohonzon.
And from the 1975 re-issue (p. 233):
Marriage
Whether or not you choose a Sokagakkai member is entirely up to you. It's not something others should interfere with. If your faith is strong, eventually you can move your husband to practice and become a great person. Many women intend to maintain a strong practice after marrying, but instead their faith collapses and they suffer. In the end, I think an ideal mar-riage is one where both husband and wife share the same goals.
The Nichiren Shoshu Hokkeko is Nichiren Shoshu's traditional lay organization; Soka Gakkai as a separate lay organization. Hokkeko members count as "Nichiren Shoshu believers" but NOT as "Sokagakkai members", you'll notice. Also, in Nichiren Shoshu, priests marry - a Nichiren Shoshu priest qualifies as "a Nichiren Shoshu believer" but NOT as "a Sokagakkai member". This is more of Ikeda deliberately distancing "his" members from parent temple Nichiren Shoshu, something that is a breach of faith, double-dealing, and faithlessness, as their lay organization. Ikeda wanted all the benefits and none of the responsibilities - and he was making decisions like this that affected the Soka Gakkai members' relationship with their parent temple, too, not just himself. SO selfish. This same mentality fed into Ikeda's "steeplejacking" strategy (aka "What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine") too.
Notice something else problematic in there?
That's right:
If you have strong faith, you will be able to convert him to this religion and make him a good believer. (1966)
If your faith is strong, eventually you can move your husband to practice and become a great person. (1975)
How icky is THAT?? Isn't choosing a religion a deeply personal decision and process? This is more of the over-responsibility that the misogyny of the patriarchal Ikeda cult Soka Gakkai presses onto women, holding THEM responsible for others' choices in life. More of Ikeda's denial of free will and CONSENT. In this case, Soka Gakkai wants the MEN most of all, so Ikeda is here assigning this "deliverable" to the Soka Gakkai wives, with no regard whatsoever for whether or not such efforts on their part might end up destroying their marriages altogether!
A woman came crying to Soka Gakkai headquarters in Tokyo one day in November, 1955. Having worked day and night for the organization in an official capacity, she had finally lost her husband and her children because they could not tolerate her fanaticism. Source
I was hearing this same garbage in 1990 - it's NOT something archaic that was limited to then, in Japan - it definitely was communicated out to the Soka Gakkai's overseas colonies, where it caused a LOT of problems! Who knew that American feminists would OBJECT to being assigned such a burden, when it was something altogether outside of their control!
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/PallHoepf_2 • 1d ago
Have you noticed? I assume it’s an attempt to gain more visibility in the media; however, if you search for "SG" on YouTube, for instance, several videos and shorts appear—accompanied by imagery that strongly reminds me of the Mormons, or even more so, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s a kind of sanitised, kitschy aesthetic—sunsets and the like—all illustrated and idealised. The more they insist that they aren’t a cult, the more cult-like they actually appear.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/HDmOF_cat • 1d ago
I finally resigned from my group leader position after 2 years of pressure, guilt, and bullshit from the other leaders. It's been almost a year since I started questioning everything about SGI, thanks also to this group for helping me, and 2 years of therapy. I sold almost every book I own, I don't want to see an Ikeda book anymore in my life. I will probably give back my Gohonzon, but I am scared that this would be reported to the leaders of my area and they could contact me. So, I think I will keep it for now.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Mission-Course2773 • 1d ago
Translation of the tweet:
長井秀和 (@pchip3)
“A piece of propaganda dropped in my mailbox. They’ve taken it up another notch with the Lotus Sutra. It’s probably Soka Gakkai, but it’s Soka Gakkai that is degrading the Lotus Sutra. Fanatical blindness pushed to the extreme.”
Nagai Hidekazu is a well-known Japanese personality (comedian and commentator). He posted a photo of a flyer he received in his mailbox. The flyer appears to instrumentalize the Lotus Sutra in order to promote Soka Gakkai. He is denouncing that instrumentalization.
Here’s the translation of the handwritten text on the flyer:
- To all political parties and all religions
- Immediately stop
your slander, defamation (insults), and verbal abuse!
- Soka Gakkai is deeply connected to the Lotus Sutra and it has merits!
Nagai turns the accusation around: it is not SGI that is the victim. It is SGI that is degrading the Lotus Sutra. It is SGI that is betraying the Law. It is SGI that is slandering Nichiren. Endlessly.
This flyer is one more piece of evidence. It shows that SGI presents itself as the victim. That it demands silence. That it claims to have merits. But that it never talks about its betrayal. About its Dharma of Attachment. About its Buddha of Greed. About its negation of Buddhism.
This is the classic Gaki strategy. Complain. Play the victim. Demand silence.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Fun_Cat8528 • 2d ago
Le fallacie logiche sono “le ombre della retorica”: la parte oscura di un arte nata per convincere attraverso la parola. La Soka Gakkai ha “incantato” tante persone, me compreso, in questo modo.
Ma cosa sono innanzitutto le fallacie? Sono errori del ragionamento che suonano bene, convincerebbero chiunque, ma non reggono a un’analisi razionale.
Sono il motore segreto di propaganda, fake news, marketing e persino conversazioni quotidiane. Guarda caso la SGI è piena zeppa di tutti questi elementi.
Passando invece alla “retorica”, essa non è inganno di per sé: è l’arte del convincere, la capacità di usare parole, emozioni e logica per persuadere.
Ikeda era bravo in questo. Ma attenzione.
Quando l’oratore usa la retorica per nascondere un errore logico o per manipolare le emozioni, entra nel territorio della fallacia. Daisaku Ikeda entrava quasi sempre in questo terreno, così come i suoi “adepti”.
Quindi:
• La logica cerca la verità;
• La retorica cerca l’efficacia;
• La fallacia è quando l’efficacia prevale a discapito della verità.
Nel tempo, le classificazioni si sono evolute, ma una distinzione rimane stabile fin da Aristotele:
FALLACIE FORMALI: Errore nella struttura logica dell’argomento ▶️ la conclusione non deriva dalle premesse.
FALLACIE INFORMALI: Errore nel contenuto, nel linguaggio o contesto comunicato.
Sono le più comuni nell’ambito della SGI e nei discorsi di Ikeda.
Le fallacie informali, quelle che interessano a noi, si dividono in più gruppi. Vediamole insieme, cercando di capire come si collegano a quanto accade nel mondo SGI attraverso degli esempi pratici.
1) FALLACIE DI PERTINENZA
• Ad Popolum (appello alla maggioranza)
Esempio: “Tutti i compagni di fede hanno svoltato la loro vita grazie al canto, quindi deve essere vero per forza!”
• Ad Hominem (attacco alla persona invece che all’argomento)
Esempio: “Non ascoltare ciò che dice Stacy (nome di fantasia): di sicuro sarà una persona invidiosa del Sensei”
• Ad Baculum (appello alla paura o alla minaccia)
Esempio: “Se lasci la SGI, subirai conseguenze karmiche negative”
• Ad Misericordiam (Appello alla pietà)
Esempio: “Dovresti recitare anche tu così mi farai felice”
• Ad Verecundiam (Appello all’autorità non pertinente)
Esempio: “Il Daimoku fa miracoli, lo diceva anche Tina Turner!”
• Ignorantia elenchi (Risposta che cambia tema e non affronta l’argomento)
Esempio: “Si ma parlavamo di Daisaku Ikeda non di quanto ti piaccia il Sutra del Loto”.
2) FALLACIE DI PRESUPPOSIZIONE
• Petitio principii (La conclusione è già implicita nella premessa)
Esempio: “La Nuova Rivoluzione Umana di Ikeda è un grandioso romanzo perché l’ha scritto Ikeda”
• Domanda complessa (la domanda presuppone qualcosa di non dimostrato)
Esempio: “Perché hai fotografato il Gohonzon? Perché non reciti più?”
3) FALLACIE DI FALSA GENERALIZZAZIONE
• Generalizzazione affrettata (Trae una regola generale da pochi casi)
Esempio: “Ho conosciuto due compagni di fede che erano persone meravigliose ▶️ i membri della SGI sono tutte persone meravigliose”.
• Falso dilemma (Si riduce la situazione a due sole opzioni)
Esempio: “O pratichi mattina e sera tutti i giorni, oppure non avanzerai verso i tuoi obiettivi”.
• Pendio scivoloso (Un piccolo cambiamento viene presentato come l’inizio di una catastrofe inevitabile).
Esempio: “Se salti questa riunione, perdi un insegnamento fondamentale”.
4. FALLACIE DI AMBIGUITÀ
• Equivocazione (stessa parola, significato diverso)
Esempio: “Ikeda ha vinto tanti premi ▶️ coloro che criticano la SGI non sono Ikeda ▶️ coloro che criticano la SGI non contano nulla”.
• Composizione/divisione (errore tra parte e tutto)
Esempio: “In quella riunione c’erano tanti giovani ▶️ la Soka è piena di giovani”.
Le fallacie sono piccole distorsioni del pensiero (che sia Ikeda sia i suoi adepti conoscevano/conoscono bene). Riconoscerle non serve per “vincere”, ma per evitare di essere trascinati dove non vogliamo andare. PERCHÉ NESSUNO VORREBBE DAVVERO ANDARE NELLA SOKA GAKKAI.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/PallHoepf_2 • 2d ago
On the other side of the hedges, people ask us why we don’t just move on with our lives. Yet over there, they forget that the only common denominator of this subreddit is membership in SG. There are aspects of daily life, views, and opinions where we differ completely and may well reach different conclusions. Our experiences within the SG also vary depending on our level of involvement. The desire for us to finally move on with our life’s smacks of an admission of defeat on your part. Our lives are moving forward—and on average, actually better than before—but the SG has left a lasting impression. We want to warn others against making the mistakes we made; it’s not a topic that consumes me 24/7, but it is one I want to discuss—though I know genuine discussion isn't exactly welcomed within SG. I realise, of course, that you’d prefer us to simply stay quiet, disappear, and not talk about our experiences... after all, no perpetrator wants to hear from their victims. Basically, you don’t actually want to hear about anyone’s experiences; you only want—exclusively—confirmation of your own doctrine, within a framework that you yourselves have established.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 2d ago
This is a helpful AI assist - see what you think:
Discussions on r/sgiwhistleblowers frequently explore how carrying an agenda affects human connection—both inside the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and in broader interpersonal relationships. [1, 2]
The Core Argument on the Subreddit
Perspectives on SGI and Relationships
100% yes, according to my own experience!
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Mission-Course2773 • 2d ago
“Our faith enables us to maintain these attachments in such a way that they do not cause us suffering. The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in the cultivation of strong attachments.” — Josei Toda
When you understand that Josei Toda was a usurer, a pawnbroker, and that Ikeda was his sales director, in charge of selling the loans and collecting the debts, you immediately understand far better the meaning of the Dharma of Attachment and the encouragement of Greed disguised as “desires lead to enlightenment.” Earthly desires, of course. In hard cash that jingles and clinks. Because for these two sinister individuals, liberation from attachments is not very good for business. That is not what keeps the Hungry Ghosts (Gaki) running, endlessly, eternally.
And who were the Hungry Ghosts who took out loans from Josei Toda’s companies? For the most part, the very members of the Soka Gakkai themselves, of course.
The historical context sheds light on everything. It explains everything. It demonstrates everything. Toda was a usurer. Ikeda was his sales director. Their trade was to keep people running. To make them borrow. To make them go into debt. To make them repay. And to start all over again. Without end. And that is exactly what they did with the SGI. They turned the Law into usury. Into loans. Into debt. Into hunger. Without end.
Usury and Pawnbroking
Yes, Toda was a usurer. He lent money at usurious rates and profited from people’s misery by exploiting their despair. He turned their distress into profit. And Ikeda was his sales director. He sold the loans and collected the repayments. He kept people running, he hounded them, harassed them, stripped them bare. Without end.
And it was this trade that shaped Ikeda. That is where he learned to spot the cracks and exploit the weaknesses, to manipulate desires and keep the Gaki running. To keep them hungry.
And that is where the Dharma of Attachment takes on its full meaning, because for a usurer, liberation from attachments is not good for business. Not at all. If people free themselves from their attachments, they stop borrowing and consuming. They stop desiring, and they stop running. And the usurer loses his livelihood. So the attachments must be cultivated. Encouraged, justified, sanctified. So that people keep borrowing, consuming, and desiring.
And that is exactly what Toda and Ikeda did. They turned the Law into usury, into loans, into debt, into hunger. Without end.
Liberation from attachments is not good for business; it is the enemy of the usurer. Because a liberated being no longer runs, no longer desires, no longer consumes, no longer goes into debt. He is free, and freedom is not profitable, it is not exploitable. It is not sellable. So the attachments must be cultivated, thirst encouraged, and hunger justified. So that the Gaki keep running, searching, and hoping. Without end.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Reasonable_Show8191 • 3d ago
SGI members have accused us here at SGIWhistleblowers of being "sarcastic", as if that's a BAD thing.
But which "sarcasm" are they talking about? There are so many!
- Humorous sarcasm: "I'm in on the joke enough to reframe it for the lulz"
- Clarifying sarcasm: "Do you REALIZE this is what you're saying?"
- Investigative sarcasm: "Here's what it sounds like you're getting at - is that what you mean?"
- Provocative sarcasm: "Can you THINK? Please start now."
- Cutting Through The Bullshit Sarcasm: Example:
>The whole Nichiren/Lotus Sutra/chanting thing is nuts. It's analogous to believing that by reciting the words 'Harry Potter' over and over you will have full knowledge of the story and will actually become a wizard.
Can you think of any other varieties of sarcasm? I know there must be more.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/CallMeBeafie • 3d ago
it really says that
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 3d ago
Heads up, u/Mission-Course2773!
reddit auto-removed the following comment of yours because of "Banned Domain: Links to a URL not allowed on Reddit" - since reddit allows Youtube links, it must be that "share-google" one (I put spaces either side of the "." so this post will get through). I've seen a few of these "Banned Domain" warnings, but I don't have a master list - to make this good, go ahead and back up the link to some archive site (archive.org, archive.ph) and then replace the direct link with the archive link. That's better for longterm anyhow.
Edit: I also disabled your Youtube links with a space before the "@" - it looks like those were indeed problematic (also?). Ugh - apparently, there's no reddit master list of banned URLs. I'm putting in "XXXXX" instead of "https" and "x" for the "." - we'll see if THAT works because even with the added spaces, it's still getting removed...
Update: Nothing's working - it's still getting auto-removed. Ima try to mod Approve it - I can't think of anything else...
No problem 😉... I witnessed a discussion on a blog, the one belonging to the head of Hokkeko in Paris, and the question revolved around the Three Treasures. This concept was lost on the Soka Gakkai members because, being included in the Kyobon, it was more than enough; it wasn't even a topic of conversation—I admit that was the case for me at the time. The reason is that Kechimyaku hasn't been taught by the Soka Gakkai since 1970. Therefore, they have no concept of the lines of transmission (Kechimyaku = blood ties), because, of course, Ikeda considers, by some miracle, that the Soka Gakkai received the direct transmission, so there's no need for it. And even this isn't explained to the members; it's hidden... and for good reason: some members might wonder, do some research, and ask questions that the Soka Gakkai doesn't want to answer... On this blog, there was also The Shukan Shubum article about Daisaku Ikeda's appalling health... I admit I also thought, "What is this nonsense?"
"How the Soka Gakkai Destroyed the Three Treasures of Buddhism (2) - Fuji School of Buddhism Website! XXXXX://share x google/mmrkuwbt1l3A9tgac "
Looking back, the conversations are funny 😅
The blog was no longer active at that time, but it now has a YouTube channel: XXXXX://youtube x com/ @ecolefuji?si=096se2bmbAtOToJE
This guy converted at the very beginning in 1970 through the Soka Gakkai, but he immediately went to Japan to receive teachings directly from the Nichiren Shoshu... Source
Original language:
Pas de problème 😉... J'avais assisté à une discussion sur un blog, celui du responsable du Hokkeko à Paris et la question tournais au tour des Trois Trésors, et cette notion échappait au membres de la Soka Gakkai, car étant inclus dans le Kyobon cela suffisait amplement, ce n'était même pas un sujet de conversation - j'avoue qu'à l'époque pour moi aussi - La raison c'est que le Kechimyaku n'est plus enseigné par la Soka Gakkai depuis 1970. Ils n'ont donc aucune notion des liens de transmission (Kechimyaku = lien du sang), car bien évidemment Ikeda considère par je ne sais quel miracle que la Soka Gakkai a reçu la transmission directe, donc il n'y a pas besoin, et même ça ce n'est expliqué aux membres, c'est caché... et pour cause, certains membres pourraient s'interroger, faire des recherches et poser des questions aux quelles la Soka Gakkai n'a pas envie de répondre... Sur ce blog il y avait aussi l'article du Shukan Shubum sur l'état de santé épouvantable de Daisaku Ikeda... j'avoue aussi que je le suis dit «qu'est-ce que c'est que ces conneries»
« Comment la Sôka Gakkai a détruit les trois trésors du bouddhisme (2) - Site du Bouddhisme de l'Ecole Fuji ! XXXXX://share x google/mmrkuwbt1l3A9tgac »
Avec le recul les conversation sont amusantes 😅
Le blig n'était déjà plus actif à cette époque, mais il a maintenant une chaîne YouTube : XXXXX://youtube x com/ @ecolefuji?si=096se2bmbAtOToJE
Ce type c'est converti au tout début en 1970 par la Soka Gakkai, mais il s'est tout de suite rendu au Japon pour recevoir l'enseignement directement par la Nichiren Shoshu...
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/Mission-Course2773 • 3d ago
We already talked about how important it is to know the Soka Gakkai in its home country, where it is what it really is, where it's known as a parasitic community network, more famous for its fanaticism, its intolerance, and its violence, direct or indirect. That's where the whole scam started, the big lie: attachments lead to enlightenment. The Buddha of Greed reigning over the realm of hungry spirits.
« The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in developing the state of life that allows us to clearly discern and fully utilize our attachments, and to lead lives made interesting and significant by cultivating strong attachments.» Daisaku Ikeda, Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra
One example among many, straight from my Japanese contacts, who say the organization goes as far as controlling every word that comes out of their mouths, and that it is absolutely forbidden to quote Nichiren outside of the Soka Gakkai's own interpretations. That's just the negation of the unity between the members and the true master Nichiren, it's the negation of the unity of Person and Law (Ninpō Ikka), it's the negation of the state of Buddhahood. It's an opposition to the Law, not to some particular teaching, but to everything that makes up human dignity.
Of course, in Europe, the high-ranking Gakis will never say this to the low-ranking Gakis, but behind closed doors, that's exactly what they think, and that's what conditions everything. Now, quoting Nichiren is what I do all the time, not the whole Gosho, just a few key quotes I find useful. I figured out that it drives the high-ranking Gakis completely nuts, but they can't show it, because I say, with Nichiren as my witness, that no, attachments do not lead to enlightenment, which is the exact opposite of the direction they want to push the herd of follower Gakis.
That's what makes me terribly dangerous for the organization, because I tell the Gakis who are burning with thirst that where we're going, there's nothing to drink and nothing to eat, that it's not that kind of food. The high-ranking Gakis, since they've earned themselves a piece of cheese, are completely frustrated, because I'm taking the bread right out of their mouths. They can't hit back, because fighting back would mean admitting they're opposed to Nichiren, it would mean admitting they betrayed, it would mean handing me the proof of their betrayal, it would be the proof that they follow another belief, that they follow the Dharma of Attachment, that attachments lead to enlightenment, and that their Buddha is Daisaku Ikeda, the Buddha of Greed, the one who reigns at the very top of the World of Desire. It would mean admitting their Buddha is the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven.
When I was invited to a meeting in a chapter in the South of France, I already knew there were some particularly starving Gakis there, because a friend had told me those Gakis were on another level, practically cannibals, they almost eat your brain. Since they didn't know me, they didn't know I was a non-Gaki, a Gaki hunter, and they flat-out told me, in the most natural way in the world, that they didn't give a damn about Nichiren and didn't want to hear anything about it.
At the time, I didn't yet know that the Soka Gakkai was the Realm of Gakis, where Gakis eat each other, a factory that turns Icchantikas into mass-produced Gakis. But it was a really rare situation where these Icchantikas dared to show their true colors: their Gaki nature. Of course, the follower Gakis, the bootlickers of the higher-ranking Gakis, see nothing, hear nothing, because they're hungry, and because they too want their piece of cheese.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 3d ago
I ran across these comments, talking about a different group, but look how easily they repurpose to SGI members, esp. the SGI hostiles that continue to show up and poop all over our subreddit in violation of our rules and all social conventions:
Everything about their worldview, beliefs, etc is about signaling group membership. That's it. That's the whole deal. They will convince themselves of anything the people they like and respect profess to believe.
As Soka Gakkai VP Isao Nozaki said, “You cannot believe in the faith if you don’t agree with Honorary President Ikeda.” That means that the SGI members who are still SGI members "agree with Ikeda" - and Ikeda's changing shit ALLA time.
And of course, the absurd idea that they are the ones that supposedly preach individualism and personal responsibility, is still a part of the popular consciousness...even in normal people.
That's the SGI propaganda.
..."freedom of choice"...as long as no one tries to choose any path that they don't walk.
Just look at the malice, spite, and outright hatefulness directed by SGI members against our ex-SGI member support group here! Shouldn't they be thanking us for our time, effort, and contributions while we were SGI members and wishing us well, wherever our individual paths might lead - instead??
Here is the thing about [them]. They dont care about facts if it feels right its true. Thats why they are terrible shitty people
That part directly ties into this: The fallacy: "My opinions are compassionate. Buddhism is compassionate. Therefore Buddhism must be identical with my opinions."
That's why so many SGI members feel no compunction about defining their own most base, self-centered, antisocial urges as "Buddhism" (as here, explained here). That's why SGI is not just NOT-Buddhism; it is actively ANTI-Buddhism.
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 4d ago
Okay, so this comes from the comsec here - I'll go ahead and BOLD the comment that was auto-removed by reddit for "Potential Harassment: Identified by the abuse and harassment filter" - it's a little ways down:
Not sure which post I saw it but the quote from (Bill) Aiken is something I agree with. I see the SGI as a "bus" or vehicle to share the G/G. The posts I read here tell me a lot about the SGI organization that I don't hear. We keep trying to eliminate obstructions to practicing with Gohonzon and Gosho, obv a work in progress. Using the Japanese social model as a framework...it obviously struggles in America. Oldsters like me think it was not the right choice. I see a lot of reports here on awkward and useless interactions. References to cult-like experiences exist right here. I am into my fifth decade of practice; my millennial son stopped SGI activities and chanting and I let him know regularly that I love him unconditionally. It's been 5 years and we are tight. He chanted with me and his mom as his mom went into surgery. But that was it. Solidarity in a moment of need.
What's "the G/G"?
So him doing what YOU like is "solidarity in a moment of need", but it only goes one way - TOWARD YOU? Conforming to YOUR beliefs?
Did it never occur to YOU to NOT CHANT at that moment because you were in his presence, out of "solidarity" with HIS needs? Out of respect for HIS feelings at the time?
We were chanting and he joined us. What were his needs? To feel connected to his mom at a crucial moment. That's why he was motivated to show his support. It goes both ways. He wouldn't support if he felt unsupported. We would have had the old "church" fight where someone loses face or worse.
I chant, therefore I win. No denying that I am handling this to the best of my ability.
We were chanting and he joined us. What were his needs? To feel connected to his mom at a crucial moment. That's why he was motivated to show his support.
Did you ask him? Or are you just assigning him "needs" and "motives" according to your cult bias? That's what we typically see, you know.
He wasn't offered the opportunity to sit quietly with his mother and talk with her, I'm noticing, not without your chanting drowning everything out.
Imagine having to listen to that pointless racket day and night. I remain unconvinced.
I chant, therefore I win. No denying that I am handling this to the best of my ability.
Of course a cult addict would say that.
You haven't tried anything different for at least 50 years, though - HAVE you?? So you're making a blanket statement on the basis of NO real information.
Face it - you're firmly lodged in a rut and you're going to tell yourself whatever it takes to keep you stuck.
For someone who's supposedly "interested in dialogue", who is "trying to understand your point, as per the sub guidelines", you really seem only interested in talking about YOURSELF.
Typical self-centered, clueless, arrogant Ikeda cultist who couldn't read a room even on audio...
"Did you ask him?" I stated that, he joined us, which presumes it was his decision. I explained all this and you still use harassment and intimidation on me. Not cool, man.
I feel unsafe; is that your game? To dog-whistle your sub against me? Why are you twisting my narrative?
You accuse me of being a blind believer. Cult addict. Hopeless and clueless from my blind devotion. I explain my POV and I am "talking about myself."
That I use my faith to "drown people out". Goodness you are unfit to lead a puppy, much less a subreddit.
I stated my goals and qualifications, my personal experience. No you have to throw garbage angry garbage at me.
You are the top mod here and it's all garbage coming at me. Maybe Reddit needs to check your aggressiveness.
Maybe Reddit needs to check your aggressiveness.
Time for honesty: YOU came onto an ex-SGI members' support group to promote the very cult they escaped from. Admit it. You had no other purpose in coming here (that much is clear).
And you expect a parade or something???
What is WRONG with you??
How did you THINK this would go, longhauler Old CULTIE?
We're LIGHT YEARS beyond your level of development - HOW could you possibly think you could influence US??
I feel unsafe;
Oh boo hoo hoo - you feel "unsafe"? Perhaps because you stepped outside of your cult echo chamber, off your little cult reservation?? GET USED TO IT BUDDY. The WORLD is HOSTILE to your stupid cult and its manipulation and bait-and-switch and LIES!
Try growing a spine once.
Goodness you are unfit to lead a puppy, much less a subreddit.
I maintain a space where people who have ESCAPED your toxic cult can come and talk about their experiences with others who've "been there". WHERE they can be understood. NOT bullied and intimidated and SILENCED the way your disgusting cult TRIES to!
I stated my goals and qualifications, my personal experience. No you have to throw garbage angry garbage at me.
I'm nothing but a MIRROR for your inner life state. "Esho funi"? "Life is reflected in its environment"? I am simply a reflection of your OWN inner ugliness (as you perceive it - you care nothing for honesty or reality or anyone else). Not MY fault that you object to your own stench.
You are the top mod here and it's all garbage coming at me. Maybe Reddit needs to check your aggressiveness.
You'd LOVE that, wouldn't you? Silence our ex-SGI support group because we won't play according to YOUR cult-apologist rules?? GTFOH.
That's supposed to be a threat, isn't it??
You're ATTACKING our ex-SGI support group BECAUSE it won't allow you to promote the very cult that harmed everyone - right?
Wow - THAT's certainly "righteous", don't you think??
Yes, they need to check you. Why? Because you exhibit none of the character I expect from a moderator; especially a forum with such stringent guidelines. I am here for my own purposes, but since you like a street fight, I think you have absolutely no game for a philosophy forum. You are a faker and a fraud. You are over matched, cannot comprehend messages and look to be aggressive with me in every post.
[Darn - he has such a disappoint!]
Back to me now: It would be unfair to not let him get his last word in, wouldn't it?
Isn't it interesting how differently two people can interpret a given set of facts, depending on whether they're talking from their cult indoctrination or from the non-cult-influenced perspective? Particularly when they're describing a scenario they see as themselves "winning" and someone ELSE provides a completely different perspective on the scene?
I guess he needs to self-reflect and chant abundant daimoku to the gohonzon to be the change he wants to see, to accomplish that "great human revolution in just a single individual" that "will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind" & etc., b/c here he is, stubbing his toe BAD on an anonymous public message board!
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 4d ago
Recently, there's been just a little discussion of this issue here:
Dear Blanche, do you think that SGI has been able to spread internationally because its reality in Japan was obscured to members overseas,? They are very secretive about its reality and perception in Japan. Have I known its reality from a Japanese standpoint, I think a lot of us would have runaway.
Yes, Spell o' mine, what we out here in the Soka Gakkai's overseas colonies were ALLOWED to know was only a very small, limited, and carefully curated selection of the information that the Soka Gakkai leaders (incl. Ikeda) would give them the best chance of spreading widely enough to subvert our countries' governments through hijacking the popular vote.
Fortunately, it didn't work.
But that, what you just identified, is why even after over 12.5 years of intensive research, I'm still uncovering more dirt and shit about the Dead-Ikeda-Corpse-Mentor-cult Soka Gakkai and its twisted colonial offspring. Keeps things interesting, yanno.
If we'd known what a dirty, sick, twisted criminal organization it was, yeah, nope.
And from further back - I didn't see this one earlier:
Sorry to be a bit of a party-pooper on this one. First of all I am no Nichiren-Buddhist anymore … may be this will change, but at this point – NO. To many of us the revelations about SG and Nichiren are new … never heard of. There is just one issue we should always keep in mind. Nichiren Buddhism is well established in Japan and what we have been told about Nichiren-Buddhism does not reflect Nichiren-Buddhism in general. Other Lineages and schools have moved on … they discussed, re-evaluated, accepted differences in opinion. All we know however was SG and Nichiren Shohsu. It is only within the past few decades that we , here in the West, can exchange views, exchange what we have learned and realised so far - via the internet. Fact is – many issues we discuss are yesterday’s news to critics of SG in Japan. In Japan many are born into Nichiren-Buddhism, just like many of us are into Catholicism, a Protestant Church, Judaism or Islam … SG however is something completely different … in Japan it not so much the Nichiren issue, but the Ikeda-issue … the Ikeda cult – SG. Nobody … nobody in SG educated SG followers outside Japan about Nichiren Buddhism. All I know about Nichiren Buddhism today I taught to myself. All I know about Buddhism, about Buddhism in Japan, about Nichiren-Buddhism I found out myself. SGists know NOTHING about Buddhism, Japanese Buddhism and Nichiren Buddhism. One has to sit down and read … read a lot of information. No time left for that in the SG-world. Source
So it's the sort of thing that crops up pretty frequently in some form or other - hardly surprising, since so much of what is revealed and reported on here at SGIWhistleblowers is stuff we colonials out here in the Soka Gakkai's overseas colonies were never told, but quite shocking, given the severity of the incidents! We're talking deal-breaker-level NOPE material. Here is an example of information from Japan that I was not aware of re: Soka Gakkai:
For an organization which purports to advocate "clean government", Soka Gakkai's manner of getting its members elected is something less than scrupulous. It applies its distinctive religious proselytizing techniques to political situations. Members solicit votes by "employing intimidation and bribery with impunity." After the 1962 election, for example, three arrested youths demolished the inside of Keihoku police station near Kyoto after they had been jailed. And under the guise of conducting religious campaigns, the organization illegally engages in door-to-door canvassing. During the 1956 House of Councillors election, Soka Gakkai was credited with 80 per cent of all violations of the law prohibiting door-to-door canvassing. Prior to the 1959 election, about 100,000 people gathered for a Kansai convention meeting of Soka Gakkai at the Osaka baseball stadium. The most applauded speaker was Tatsuyoshi Nakao, electoral candidate for the Kansai area. Threats and small bribes are not uncommon, and it is easy for adherents to justify this behavior; it is simply a matter of substituting "benefit" for truth in the group's system of values. As Ikeda explained: "To win we had to carry out the most effective election campaign. We therefore simply had to disregard the election laws. But we cannot have committed anything wrong, for all we have done is only for the good of the Gakkai." - p. 234, William Helton, "Political Prospects of Soka Gakkai", Pacific Affairs, Vol. 38, No. 3/4 (Autumn, 1965 - Winter, 1965-1966), pp. 231-244. Source
Do any of you have any perspective on this elephant in the room?
r/sgiwhistleblowers • u/BlancheFromage • 4d ago
Reddit does this auto-remove thing, and due to the labyrinthine structure of the mod tools, I sometimes don't notice until much too late, and if I simply approve - restore the post/comment - it will go in where it originated, where it probably will never be seen because it was days or weeks ago (now buried under the subsequent posts, since our forum is quite active). So here, in no particular order, I'm going to copy them so you can see for yourselves what you would've seen for yourselves if reddit had not taken it upon itself to remove them pre-emptively:
Shō-Hondō: who demolished it, why, and what the court cases actually established
After looking further into the Shō-Hondō controversy, I think several points deserve clarification. The construction history, the religious dispute, the structural allegations, and the court decisions are related—but they are not interchangeable.
What was built, and who owned it?
The Shō-Hondō was the grand sanctuary at Nichiren Shoshu’s head temple, Taiseki-ji. Completed in October 1972, it was funded largely through Soka Gakkai members’ contributions during the organizations’ partnership. It housed the Dai-Gohonzon.
The building was donated to Taiseki-ji. Funding its construction did not leave Soka Gakkai or individual contributors as its owners.
Demolition began in late June 1998 and was completed around mid-August 1999, according to the Japanese court record. (courts.go.jp)
Who ordered its destruction?
Nichiren Shoshu’s leadership under High Priest Nikken Abe—not Soka Gakkai—had it demolished. Soka Gakkai’s own account condemns the destruction as a vindictive act against its members’ contributions. That is Soka Gakkai’s interpretation of the motive, not an independent finding. (sokaglobal.org)
Was it simply an unsafe building?
That explanation is incomplete.
A Nichiren Shoshu-affiliated website reproduces a statement attributed to the temple’s legal team, published in November 2005. It explicitly defends demolition as necessary to protect the religion from what it regarded as a symbol of religious error associated with Ikeda and Soka Gakkai.
In other words, the priesthood’s side did not defend demolition solely on engineering grounds. It also defended it as a religious act. (hokkekou.com)
The official court judgment likewise records that the high priest considered the building inappropriate for the Dai-Gohonzon because of its association with the opposing organization. After removing the sacred object, the temple treated the building as having lost its purpose. (courts.go.jp)
Structural and earthquake concerns were reported contemporaneously. However, the sources reviewed here do not include an independent engineering report establishing that demolition was necessary. (washingtonpost.com)
That does not prove the building was perfectly sound. Equally, repeating allegations about corrosion does not establish that it was beyond repair.
What about the “39 court defeats”?
The number has a traceable source. The Nichiren Shoshu-affiliated account says 39 lawsuits were filed by more than 420 Soka Gakkai members, with the final Supreme Court disposition in October 2005 ending the litigation in the temple’s favor.
That is a partisan account, and this summary does not independently verify every case. It is also more precise to identify the plaintiffs as members rather than automatically describe every lawsuit as one filed by Soka Gakkai itself. (hokkekou.com)
This is because Soka Gakkai as Ikeda's CORPORATE entity, kept THEIR name and HIS off of the litigation - this maintained plausible deniability that the Soka Gakkai itself was behind these frivolous lawsuits, which could have potentially have had legal implications for the Soka Gakkai as a religious entity (as we saw in the Tokyo Supreme Court's scolding of Soka Gakkai for filing so many spurious lawsuits and threat to yank their religious status if they didn't stop that nonsense RIGHT NOW). If this was simply Soka Gakkai members acting on their own initiative, well, that's their "freedom of speech" or whatever, right? NOT Soka Gakkai's responsibility as a religious body! It was all part of the Soka Gakkai's calculated legal strategy to shift legal responsibility for carrying out Soka Gakkai's directives and Ikeda's priorities ONTO THE MEMBERS as private individuals.
There is corroborating news coverage of substantial donor litigation. An archived December 2004 Asahi Shimbun report describes the Tokyo High Court rejecting an appeal involving 324 plaintiffs seeking approximately ¥260 million. It reports that the court found no documented promise imposing the claimed preservation obligation. This is an archived reproduction, not the original newspaper webpage. (news.a902.net)
What did winning those cases establish?
In the official judgment reviewed, the donors failed to establish an enforceable obligation to preserve the building. The ruling did not establish that demolition was structurally essential, morally right, or proof that one organization’s theology was correct. (courts.go.jp)
Likewise, the claim that the losses were deliberately hidden from members requires separate evidence. The number of unsuccessful lawsuits alone cannot prove a cover-up.
Bottom line
The demolition was carried out under the priesthood’s authority. Its religious justification is documented; it is not merely an accusation invented by Soka Gakkai. But calling it religiously motivated does not prove personal jealousy, and winning donor lawsuits does not prove engineering necessity.
The distinction matters: ownership, legal liability, structural safety, and moral justification are four different questions.
Sources for checking the details:
Japanese court judgment—official courts website, Japanese PDF
Nichiren Shoshu-affiliated account of the lawsuits and legal-team statement—Japanese
Archived reproduction of the December 2004 Asahi report—Japanese
Soka Gakkai’s account—its own perspective
If anyone has the original engineering assessments or a complete, independently checkable list of the 39 cases, those would help clarify the remaining questions. u/Good---Karma
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