The case of Lisa Jones: She was a ghost writer for President Ikeda -- actually not an uncommon thing. According to Charles Atkins, who is quoted below, this kind of arrangement is common. Famous people often do not write their own books and speeches. Many celebrities rely on ghostwriters who are paid well for their work but receive no credit or royalties -- and this is all part of the ghostwriter's contract. Charles explains below how this works.

-----------------------Beginning of Quote, Fraught With Peril Website, Kempon Hokke Blog----------------------------------------------------------------

What Lisa Jones was enountered with was this: the master of a religious organization of tens of millions, allowing professional and superbly adept minions to write books for the public forum, that would be credited exclusively to Him.

My opinion here is that there was an ethical breech at the highest possible levels in allowing this to happen. I'm quite sure Mr. Ikeda is fully capable of writing his own books and I am sure that once the work-for-hire project was finished, edited, translated back into Japanese, the book was gone over by Mr. Ikeda. That's a huge assumption on my part, as it's also quite possible that Mr. Ikeda never laid eyes on the manuscript but had a team of his most trusted editors like Ms. Shinbutsu, his personal English editor do that final bidding.

Either way, from a writer's standpoint, a $15,000 contract to sift through lectures, notes, previous works, assemble them and compose a manuscript on a subject that you're intimately familiar with, would be a dream come true. If Lisa were to put together a manuscript on Buddhism of her own, that would bear her name on the jacket, she would be lucky to get a thousand dollar advance against royalties. In truth, she might have to submit her manuscript to hundreds of publishers over the course of years before she got an offer - IF she got an offer.

That's why, a $15K deal to write a book for a world famous person is a deal that's damn near impossible to pass up. The fact that this project was offered to her speaks volumes to her level of expertise. Where the rub came in was after the fact, when the realization came that the organization was fooling the members and that burning question of how many other books were published under his name that he did not write? So, I do understand what she did and why she did it. I have asked myself many times if I would do the same and can't truly answer that question. What I can say is that I respect Lisa's guts to listen to her conscience and do what she thought was the right thing. The money and the prestige can be very tempting, but the rules are simple: if you take the money, they have bought your silence.

I do know one thing, they'll think twice before they do that again. If that's what Lisa Jones accomplished, we all owe her a debt of gratitude.

A contract writer, which I was at one time for the SGI, signs away their rights to royalities and credit. This arrangement is extremely common in professional writing. The whole idea is for an expert writer to take on an agreed upon project for pay without credit - it's standard. A ghost writer is someone who is employed on contract to write and possibly help edit a work of fiction or perhaps non-fiction. The difference between a ghost writer and a contract writer is the same as the distinction between a hooker and a call girl.

Where legal trouble emerges is when a contract writer breaks their contract and discloses the specific nature of their work for hire, thus diminishing possible sales of the published work, as well as impuning the credited author. Every writer knows this. You sign a contract as a writer for hire, you take the money, keep your yap shut, and let others take credit for your work. Standard, standard, standard.

I will say this about my own writer for hire with the SGI, without disclosing which project(s) I worked on: They paid me on time. They were very involved in the process. There were more editoral layers than skins on an onion. AND, when we were done, they didn't use a single sentence I wrote. In other words, the SGI completely wasted the members' money on a writing project that they ended up doing themselves. Their finished project of the work they contracted me to write? A best seller for them that I consider utter crap. They probably thought my submission was crap, but I have to confess that what they published was awful.

Charles, Mr. Writer for Hire, and if the price is right, I don't kiss and tell.

Posted by Charles at October 4, 2009 02:27 PM
-----------------------End of Quote-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, President Ikeda uses ghostwriters. Does this really surprise anyone? Jones herself said this:

---------------------------Beginning of Quote, Lisa Jones----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over the years I have seen many sincere, wonderful members defend SGI on internet message boards -- I used to be one of those people. You're putting your heart and personal integrity on the line in defense of an organization about which you know very little. I maybe know a little bit more -- enough to document some of SGI's deceptions.

But why should you believe me? I'm not asking you to. My point: Opinions about SGI vary wildly, granted. Until SGI opens its books and discloses its dealings, it is impossible for you to speak from an informed position about the nature and activities of SGI. You simply don't have access to crucial facts.
----------------------------------------End of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SGI portrays Ikeda as this brilliant author and thinker. Maybe he is -- or maybe he can't put together a sentence that makes sense.

And George Williams, who was he really? A caring leader who was committed to Buddhism and his members? A smuggler who set up a devoted follower to be arrested for his (Williams's) crime? A selfish lout who demanded that the women's division members wait on him hand and foot? A bigot who had contempt for his American followers?

SGI seems to me now like a grand facade -- with God only knows what underneath. What the average members "sees" of SGI is, for the most part, a carefully crafted PR image.

Much as I disagree with Commongirl about SGI, I do agree with her on one point. Those of us who had no personal contact with George Williams can't know what he was really like. All we've ever known is SGI's meticulously constructed image of him. (Though I cannot understand why Commongirl doesn't see that this is also true of President Ikeda and SGI itself. )

Interesting, that this thread has had very few posters who are pro-SGI -- yet Commongirl shows up right at certain points. She posted the first time when we were posting about SGI's finances, and then the second time, when we were posting about Williams. (And that she also seems surprised that SGI's financial secrecy is an issue for anyone!? How can anyone be an SGI member and not know at least that it's an issue for some members?) Is this how we know that we've pushed SGI's hot buttons -- if Commongirl posts?

SGI-USA propaganda gets very intense around a few subjects.

Ikeda's public image is job #1, trying to maintain the belief that Ikeda is special and divine.
Its interesting how in these sects, the "leader" to an objective outsider, can be seen for what he is, as a blatant money-grubbing manipulator, often involved in sexual misconduct and other abuses of power.
Another sect, Royal Way [forum.culteducation.com] is a tiny group in comparison, but their leader Michael Gottlieb is really cut from the same cloth as Ikeda.
People who are objective, see a greedy, manipulative, self-absorbed narcissist, whereas the insiders "project" a false image in their minds onto the leader, as they have been trained to do by media materials inside the sect.

And as far as the SGI money, that is one area the SGI propaganda is extremely intense.
After all, that is really what its all about, the SGI hundreds of millions of dollars in the USA, and SGI billions globally.

You won't see any SGI-USA people answer specific questions about the money, as they would be trained to simply DEFLECT away from the 900 million dollar SGI-USA elephant in the room.
And that is the 900 million we know about, as proven in this thread.

How much is SGI-USA "religion" which is listed as a church worth?
How many billions have they accumulated in all of those decades of not paying any taxes, and having thousands of people worth for them for free, and hand over countless millions?
Its all secret, and hidden.
SGI-USA chooses to conceal all of their financial information.

That is why no one should ever give 1 dollar to SGI-USA, or any other group that conceals where the money goes, and how much they have.
They have no accountability whatsoever.

SGI-USA does not deserve 1 penny.

Howard Grunthal was one of my best friends. He was born in 1956. In retrospect, physically, he looked like Nichiren Daishonin, round face, large bodhisattva ears and even slight oriental eyes folds although he was German-jew through and through. I introduced him to the SGI. He had many mental and emotional problems and an IQ around 160. I remember the day he got his Gohonzon in Long Island City. He was so happy for the first and only time in his life. He became a YMD (young men's division) in the SGI who tried his very best to live up to the expectations of his leaders and to introduce as many people as he could into the SGI. He would pick up all the young men in his 1969 Mercury Comet and we were stuffed in there like sardines.

We had some good times, swimming at his apartment complex swimming pool and going down to Downey's Irish Tavern after chanting and "shakabukuing" every one we could, smoking a little weed, and downing twenty cent Schaeffer beers. We were after all 19 years old.

Howie wasn't very good with the women. He was quite engaging, talking to the ladies for hours but because of his mental condition, trichotillomania, alopecia and looking like Nichiren Daishonin, he was quite frustrated. Also, despite his enormous IQ, he wasn't a very good student. He couldn't concentrate very well. We went to Lehman College together and he really helped me with with my first wife, another student, encouraging her to go out with me. I think he had a secret crush on her but was too much of a gentleman and friend to let on.

He really tried his best to overcome his problems through the SGI. Seeking guidance dozens of times as was proscribed by his leaders. But they were very tough on Howie who was both a gentle and tortured soul and they knew nothing about abnormal psychology but acted as if they knew the causes and conditions of Howie's problems better than his psychotherapist. They often told Howie that he no longer needed his psychotherapist or meds because all he needed was the Daimoku, President Ikeda's guidance, and more YMD activities. He was so sincere that despite his disabilities he became a YMD group chief and his leaders pushed Howie to do more activities.

Then one day, Howie accidently damaged his Gohonzon. He brought it to his leaders who weren't very sypathetic. They told him he would have to chant for at least a year to get another Gohonzon. If he was tortured before he damaged his Gohonzon, after he damaged it, and with all those SGI stories about what happens to those who lose or damage their Gohonzons, he really decompensated. And his leaders, despite his continued monumental effort with the practice, were never the same towards Howie.

Shortly thereafter, Howie took his butsudon and threw it out his 14th story window and he followed it to the ground. The SGI is an evil organization made up of people who maintain they have attained what they have not. The self absorbed leaders who can barely get their own lives together run around teaching other people how to overcome their problems with not an ounce of real life training and preparation and not an ounce of compassion. Everything is for Ikeda and the SGI at the expense of the individual.

Nichijew

Nichijew,

I'm sorry about your best friend. This is a very sad story.

The leaders of SGI don't know what they are doing. They think that becasue they have been appointed by another unqualified leader to give guidance, they have a great understanding of life and of other's complex problems.

After all, they have been appointed, so they must be able to tell people what to do and make judgements like what happended to Howie when he damaged his Gohonzon , right?

Dear quiet one:

Thanks for your condolences. It is a sad story. I have many experiences about sick people who could not overcome their sickness through the SGI faith and practice and were abandoned by their SGI comrades.

I am amazed how many intelligent and accomplished people in SGI seek guidance from uneducated and untrained SGI leaders, particularly many top Japanese senior leaders whose only claim to knowledge and wisdom is their position in the organization. The SGI teaching, "on seeking guidance" is a form of infantilism, people seeking relief from taking responsibility and decision making. They absolve themselves of their responsibility by resorting to a higher power or authority, a so-called SGI senior leader. Please note that this is not Buddhism which teaches: Follow the Law and not persons; the Gohonzon as teacher of all Buddhas; and taking full responsibility for our weal and woe.

Never did I hear of a Buddha (which the SGI claims for their members) seeking guidance from another. I guess, in the SGI, there are buddhas and there are BUDDHAS.

Nichijew

Hi Nichijew,

thanks for sharing that! Very sad it is though.

Quote
Von
Well ... I got back to LA and [sic] had no money for the rent. No money to find a new place to live. And with all of my family on the other side of the country, and not long term friends in LA that would take me in ....

I had no place to go.

At 23 years old: all of a sudden I was homeless in LA.

And SGI was just about all I had. How did they respond?

[now continuing my experience - part III]


So this was sometime in the [end of summer '87?] when I returned to LA after a weekend in Seattle with the NSA YMD for this big convention/celebration/promo display that we did. And common sense would tell you, that after giving almost every dime I had to NSA
for the trip ... with the rent due ... and all of my roommates (timing, Murphys Law) simultaneously moving out from our house ...

.. that I would have nothing when I arrived back. And of course thats exactly what happened. There was no immediate miracle from the
universe to protect me from my own gullibility in these circumstances. And there was no miraculous sudden change in the inherent selfishness,
lack of compassion, and irresponsibility in human nature - by virtue of the fact that the leaders who encouraged and co-erced me to go had
been part of this organization for a long time and were giving me guidance that was firmly against common sense.

I was homeless. Had nowhere to go, really. And during the days of immediate urgency and chaos that ensued after my return, I was more
than a little psychologically and emotionally freaked out about all of it. Naturally.

NSA turned thier backs on me. These people that I had spent a good 2-3 years of my life with, my district "family" that had welcomed me
into thier homes, encouraged me to chant, gongyo, shaka-buku, pulled me out of bed at 4 AM for activities, drove me to meetings all over town, called me during times when I was having doubts about the practice with long conversations, debated with me, helped my members I was
trying to get started ...

These people that were an intimate part of my life, who were some of my closest friends and confidants in many ways .. my local District ...

... these people skulked away like cowards when they were confronted with the reality of what happened to me:

At the time I was working as a shop assistant and delivery driver for a florist up the road in Brentwood. So, with nowhere to go, and without
telling my boss (because I was embarrassed by my situation) .. I used the delivery truck from work to pack up what little belongings from my house and put it all in the basement of the shop.

Then would sneak into this tiny basement of the florist through the back door and sleep at night. The floor was concrete and hard. I used a
flashlight to read random stuff - Stephen King novels (I read "IT" in that basement LOL), old World Tribunes, a copy of the Gosho. Then I would
get up during days, walk around to the front of the building and walk in to work - make money - and survive another day.

One morning I remember my boss suddenly opening the door and walking in to the basement, seeing me on the floor ... looking at me, then
walking out saying nothing. He wasnt too happy about it, but I think basically he was a good guy and realized that I wasnt harming anyone,
just down on my luck trying to survive.

Members of my District knew what was going on ... but down to a person as I recall they had nothing of value for me to add other than "This is
your karma, chant more" and "Do your human revolution" and other such platitudes.

What I did not hear, from anyone:

"Are you ok?" or "Im sorry this happened ... is there anything I can do? I have a friend with a spare room" or "Hey I know someone that needs
some help at thier company, you can make better money there lets get you out of this situation"

Nobody brought me food. Nobody gave me any practical advice that was useful, or went out of thier way to pick me up and bring me to thier house, or simply sat there and listened as a friend that cared while I was going through this crisis.

They either gave me the same old NSA platitudes about karma and human revolution etc ... or they noticably avoided me at meetings because they didnt know what to say.

There was no compassion, no help, and no love from these people. Other than ...

Only one: a girl, a YWD in the practice - around my age ... we started spending time together and we ended up hooking up - I began staying at
her place and moved out of the basement - and she became my girlfriend for the next two years or so.

So we fell in love and she helped me ... AGAINST NSA and SGI policy (we were both members in the same District). And in this way I pulled out
of my situation.

Soon after my return from Seattle I went "taitan". Why wouldnt I? Because when the chips were down these people abandoned me.

They were not "family". They were not "friends" by any definition that matters. They ended up being some people I did stuff with, and paid money to support thier activities, gave them my energy and output and free time to support what they did ..

But they did not care about me and my welfare.

So I quit.

After they tried for a while to get me to come back, eventually they gave up when I consistently called them out on thier B.S. That money
for Seattle would have paid for a down payment on a new place. They encouraged me to blow it on thier activity, then when I came back
to LA they abandoned me when I was homeless.

End of story. They had no defense, so they let me go. During my last year in LA I dont recall having any contact with any of them, once
I went tai-tan and kept turning them away they faded into my past and I never heard from most of them ever again.

Finally, the end of the story! Von, you know how to build suspense! I'm sorry you went through homelessness pretty much alone. I have to say I'm not surprised. I became very sick with appendicitis on a holiday weekend and needed someone to take me to the ER. Many of my friends and family were away for the holiday; finally I reached two of my women's division leaders. And what did they say? They were too busy; it wasn't convenient for them to help me! Well, I'm sorry I got appendicitis at such an inconvenient time! It's not exactly something that you can schedule!

I took a taxi to the ER. They did the scan, confirmed my doctor's over the phone diagnosis, and scheduled immediate surgery. Of course, none of my so-called SGI friends helped me after the surgery either. My neighbors and other friends did come through, bringing me food and books to read, checking up on me. It's an eye-opener when something like this happens, let me tell you. People you never expected to help, will, and people whom you expected to be there for you -- often aren't. It's exactly like you said, Von: The people I knew in SGI were not family or friends, just people I did stuff with and gave money and time to. They used to talk so much about saving the world. Maybe they still do. I'm no longer interested in hanging around and listening to their empty words. Yeah, save the world and let the friend die of peritonitis on her kitchen floor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2009 04:56AM by tsukimoto.

Well „Von“ I must say that I am glad you made it out of that homeless situation. With or without SGI, what an interesting life story you must have!!

Reading this one incident came to my mind, which actually occurred during my last larger SGI-activity.
A young man confessed to me in private that the only reason he was able to pay for the fare and accommodation for that meeting was due to the fact that he sold his body (for sex). Now he was not, to what I know, a regular prostitute or anything.He just seemed to lack the spare cash for the activity at the time – and he was quite chuffed that he made it to the meeting.
Now I do honestly not know if he would have done this with or without that meeting, but his story left me lets say …. puzzled.

I must admit that I doubt any SGI leader would have encouraged him to do so, but I was surprised to what length people in SGI sometimes go.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/2009 05:28AM by Rothaus.