From our friend Monte Joffee's anti-Nichiren Shoshu website [nonstny.homestead.com]

Joffee asks these questions of Daido Nakamoto. (I'm guessing that Nakamoto is the Nichiren Shoshu priest at the New York City area's temple.)

-----------Beginning of Quote-------------------------------------------------------

Questions for Daido Nakamoto:

Do the relationships of members at Myosetsu-ji live up to the ideal of the sangha? Why do you so infrequently talk about how NST members should take good care of each other?

Shakyamuni entrusted the future of Buddhism to the sangha. He carefully raised future leaders whom he trusted. How are the leaders of the temple chosen? How do they earn the trust of temple members? How are successors raised?

Are all members treated equally and fairly? Are there favorites? Are people of all abilities respected? How are grievances aired?
-------------------------------End of Quote----------------------------------------------------------

In light of how some SGI members and leaders treated Byrd before and after her death, I'd like to ask Monte Joffee a few questions.

Dear Monte,

1. Monte, do you think that the members of Byrd's group lived up to the ideal of the sangha? SGI talks about how members should be valued and cared for. Do you think that Byrd's leaders valued and cared for her?

2. Do you think that Byrd deserved to be excluded from the potluck?

3. Do you think that Byrd, as an American, had the right to freedom of speech? Do you think that Byrd should have been made to submit her writing to SGI leaders for approval before she could post her work online? Do you ever wonder why President Ikeda speaks so much about democracy and human rights -- when certain leaders of his organization want to deny basic democratic rights, like freedom of speech, to American members?

4. Monte, what did you think of the two leaders insisting that they should be able to come over to Byrd's house and meet with her privately -- when she clearly didn't want that?

To me, that felt like they were trying to intimidate her -- two against one. She suggested that these leaders talk with her at the potluck; they refused. To me, that suggests that they didn't want the other SGI members to witness what they said to her. The leaders may also have feared that other members might take her side. Monte, should SGI leaders be able to bully a member like this -- gang up on a member, do their dirty work in secrecy?

5. Many of us on this thread have had bad experiences with SGI leaders. We were basically told things like it was our karma or we should chant for the leader's happiness. Or, "Be the change you wish to see." Monte, do you agree with this guidance? What do you recommend that SGI do with an abusive or incompetent leader?

6. Do you think that Byrd deserved to be criticized, after her death, for her butsudan's falling over?

7. Do you believe that Byrd's death was somehow brought on by her criticism of SGI?

8. How are SGI leaders chosen, trained and evaluated? Do you agree with how this is done? How could the process of selecting, training and evaluating SGI leaders be improved? What grievance procedures would you want to see in place for a member who has a problem with a leader?

9. Monte, do you think that all SGI members are treated fairly? Specifically, do you think that Byrd was treated fairly? If you had been Byrd's chapter or district leader, how would you have handled this situation? What would you have done, and what would you have said to her?

10. Monte, I am not a Christian, but a phrase from the Bible comes to mind right now: "Do not lecture your brother about the mote in his eye before you take the beam out of your own eye." Should SGI really be lecturing the priests on leadership and care of members when SGI clearly needs to improve in these areas?

Dear anticult:

Linda Johnson, the top SGI Woman's Division Leader in the United States is a criminal prosecutor for the State of California, I believe, or possibly a US Assistant District Attorney. Certainly, she is not well versed in Buddhism.

Nichijew

There is a page on Linda Johnson in the book, Buddhism in America by Richard Hughes Seager.
PAGE 87: [books.google.com]

It says....Linda Johnson, a long-time SGI practitioner who is a supervisor in the Criminal Division of the California Attorney General's Office...in SGI since the 1970's, met Ikeda in the 1980's, and "often prosecutes death penalty cases before the California Supreme Court".

It must be amazing to somehow know that the "mystic law" and "higher law" of the Buddha are operating in the courts...according to the quotes in that book.

Of course everyone absolutely loves Linda Johnson, she is the greatest, pure in heart and spirit, and perfect in every way. No one would ever even think anything different.
Soka Spirit forever!
And of course, everyone believes that the criminal prosecutor's 'ichinen' is very important.
Especially in states with the death penalty, like California.
Its common knowledge that the Buddha was a big supporter of the death penalty.

Soka Spirit forever! Soka Spirit forever!


A Byrd's Eye View [www.fraughtwithperil.com].
QUOTE: "You are free to discuss a lecture by Sensei or by Danny Nagashima or by Linda Johnson, or any writer in Living Buddhism, and you don't have to talk to the author about it first."


________QUOTE excerpt for reference____________________________
Never, Ever Give Up on Your Dreams
Speech given to the SGI-USA Arts Division, on 29-may-2001, by Linda Johnson.
[www.geshu.org]
Discussion topic: Linda Johnson's speech by Mark A. Grasso (2001)
...
This is a brief summary of a speech by Linda Johnson.She is an SGI-USA leader in California and presented this speech to the SQl-USA Arts Division on 29-may-2001. In addition to taking responsibility for several thousand SQl-USA members in Southern California, Linda Johnson is also a practicing criminal lawyer.She supervises nine other lawyers and carries her own case load.

QUOTE:[www.geshu.org]
"So having said that, I want to share something with you. On July 4th of 1996, was when President Ikeda was last here in this country [USA], I had the fortune of being with him in a very, very small gathering. And at that time he shared something about 'ichinen' that I have continued with...

Here's what he said. I'm going to tell you exactly what he said on that day. He looked at us, and he shared with us that on May 3rd of 1960, when he became the 3rd President of the Soka Gakkai, the organization was in financial debt. They had three dilapidated buildings in all of Japan for the members and he had six staff working for him, that was it. Those were the conditions under which he assumed the Presidency of the Soka Gakkai.

He said today we have 1,300 community centers and/or culture centers in Japan alone for members to meet at. We are very financially secure. We've establish the Soka school system from kindergarten all the way through graduate school and we have two branches in southern California. He said, and even more important, Buddhism has spread from Japan to over 138 countries throughout the world. (Today that's 185...)

And he looked at all of us and he said, "I'm telling you all this for one reason, and one reason only. This is what the ichinen of one human being can do."
...
Do you know what I mean?... it's not just where our body can be, because as human beings we are all limited in terms of how many places our body can be at one time. But he was talking about something deeper.

The 'ichinen' behind one's prayer can move everything in the universe, to support our goal, to support our dream. Right? And he was saying this is what the 'ichinen' of one human being can do!

It is something about the kind of prayer we offer and how it causes those 'shoten zenjin', those forces of the universe, to emerge. It's about how we can create our dream by empowering the universe to support us.

So last January when I went back to Japan, I had just received some other positions in the organization and was in a state of 'overwhelm'. (laughter) You know? Because in addition to everything else, they made me Matilda's Vice national-leader, and they also made me Southern California's Zone Women's leader, and I'm a criminal prosecutor and I supervise a team of nine attorneys and I'm responsible for reviewing all of their work and training them and none of their work is filed into court unless I approve it,

And so we write lots of stuff, and I have my own case-load, so I have just a few things to do... (Laughter)... Southern California is HUGE, I mean, you know, good grief..! It's huge. And so I was in serious 'overwhelm', and so when we landed I wrote President Ikeda a memo. And I just said basically, "Hi, I'm here, and... (Laughter)... I'm really overwhelmed with all the stuff that I have to do right now but what keeps coming back to me was what you said on July 4th , 1996, about what the 'ichinen' of one human being can do. And somehow with my life I know it's not about how many more places can I get to in a day. But it has something to do with 'ichinen' in terms of my ability to use my life to help other people transform theirs. So I came back to Japan. Could you explain that to me, so I can get it deeper in my life?"

And when we had dinner, you know, Sensei was talking about all kinds of stuff. And then he said, "Let me talk about ichinen." (Laughter) And what he said was, "Ichinen means to pray without doubt." He said, "Whenever you pray without doubt, all your prayers will be answered. Nichiren Daishonin says, `No prayer of the votary of the Lotus Sutra will go unanswered.' This is the kind of prayer Nichiren Daishonin was talking about."
__________________________________________




Challenging Weakness [www.geshu.org]
By Linda C. Johnson, SGI-USA Vice General Director, Los Angeles


Linda Johnson
National Women's Division Leader
[ftp.sgi-usa.org]


Linda Johnson's Soka Spirit lecture [www.geshu.org]


Linda Johnson - Focusing Our Prayer [www.scribd.com] SGI-USA WOMEN'S LEADER LINDA JOHNSON



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2010 03:55PM by The Anticult.

Look at these news reports...translated from the french!
Perhaps someone from "Europe" will cross-post the entire article in this thread, to archive it.
There is some interesting stuff all through it, and near the bottom.

Soka Spirit Forever! California is the land of Soka Spirit Forever!



Reunion at the Top Secret Area General of the SGI-USA
The Weekly Bunshun
Edition of 04-11/01/96
pages 210 to 214
(Premiere Party)
"According to top secret documents that we obtained, a woman, Attorney General of the Department of Justice of the State of California, attended a meeting to plot on how to eliminate the religious opponents (Temple of the Nichiren Shoshu ) of the Soka Gakkai. There are strong probabilities for the activities of the IMS in connection with this woman, who by his office, is responsible for enforcing the Act, and accordingly, involving the Department of Justice, could deteriorate into an international scandal."

[translate.google.com]

Linda Johnson: "Nothing is more precious than human life! If we can't get the doctors to do it I"LL DO IT MYSELF!"

Nichijew

So the spirit of Hentai (pervert) is flowing down from master to disciple. Wondaful. Hentai Buddhism. Ikeda Hentai Spirit.

Everything that is being brought to light here, the animosity SGI has for people who want to speak the truth, the needing to crush Nichiren Shoshu, is perverting the real spirit of buddhism. What a sham that org is.

Of course Buddhists usually believe in the sanctity of life, and some won't even kill a fly or tiny spider.

But the Buddha was very clear, that does not apply to human beings. As long as human's are given a nice meal, they can be executed by the government.
The Buddha and Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr all were huge supporters of the US death penalty, and their ideal was Texas, where they do it right.
Of course, China has the best policies and statistics on the death penalty [www.amnesty.org] and China also has the best and most honorary professorships as well. [forum.culteducation.com]

For SGI members to be such outrageous slanderers, to have an anti-death penalty speaker at their meetings, is cause for serious retaliation.
If they invite that dangerous extremist Helen Prejean (the nun who inspired the movie "Dead Man Walking), they deserve what they get. (Its been said that the nun Helen Prejean actually is an anti-SGI NST priest!)

For example,

QUOTE: [www.sgi-usa.org] "According to the Buddhist teachings, prior to Shakyamuni slanderous monks would have incurred the death penalty".

So these former SGI troublemakers are lucky, back in the day, the troublemakers and slanderers would have incurred the death penalty, and been executed on the spot by the man in charge.
If anyone voiced a contrary viewpoint to the Buddha or his organizations and financial investments, they were executed, convicted, and sometimes even had a trial, everyone knows that.




_______QUOTE_______________________
[groups.yahoo.com]
Sat Aug 4, 2007 6:27 pm
Byrd Ehlmann

Death Penalty (Was: Throwing Up)

Hi, Anna - I think the remedy is not to condemn the Gakkai or its
leadership for these matters, but rather to do what the Ankers in
Granada Hills are doing - that is, forge ahead and have the meetings,
just don't have official SGI permission to do it. If Julius wants to
invite Sr. Helen Prejean (the nun who wrote "Dead Man Walking") to
speak, he just finds enough members who would be interested in
hearing her, sets up the talk, and then holds the talk. If he wants
to set it up so that people do gongyo as part of the meeting, then
that's up to him. I think these sorts of things are being "worked
out", and that soon enough, the SGI will develop some sort of policy
in regard to guest speakers. What happened in Granada HIlls was that
Bill Anker invited Ryuei Michael McCormick (a friend of his,and also
of mine, who happens to be a published author and a minster in the
Nichiren Shu) to speak at his home. As a result, the Ankers were
forbidden to have SGI meetings at their home, and were removed from
their position as district leaders. Personally, I think this was an
assinine move on the part of the organiztaion, but it has ended up
working out quite well - the meetings at the Ankers' home are
flourishing, and they're a good opportunity for people to chant
together and support each other in faith without all the rigamarole
that goes along with the SGI (e.g., statistics, "guidance", etc.)
Another very very positive feature of these meetings is that it's OK
to learn about other forms of meditation (we've done seated silent
meditation and walking meditation, as well as loving-kindness
cultivation practice), other Nichiren groups such as the Nipponzan
Myohoji (see dharmawalk.org), and we make wonderful new friends.

For me, the district and chapter organizations often feel
like "assigned friendships", but the alternative meetings have
allowed me to really make new friends with Nichiren Buddhists I would
not have met "through the line". I think they're fabulous. Julius
can do the same thing. At the end of the day, he can set up the
talks he is discussing, it just doesn't involve the Gakkai as an
organization at all.

Stay well and happy, all. I have lost 25 pounds over the last 2
months! Diet and exercise! I still have about 50 to go, but I sure
feel a lot better that Iused to!

Best, Byrd in LA





--- In SokaGakkaiUnofficial@yahoogroups.com, "Anna" <bodhianna@...>
wrote:
>
> How can there be question on Buddhist view of death
> penality? Buddhism uphold sacredness of all
> life, even lives of those who destroy life. It is
> appalling that a Buddhist leader, Linda Johnson, who say
> she is opposed to death penalty does not have the
> courage to stand up for own convictions, and so much
> worse, participates in this barbaric practice. Have we
> not heard million times to put beliefs in actions?
> Where is actual proof is this case? Where is setting
> the good example?
>
> Rosa Parks oppose death penalty. If she were alive still
> would she be allow to speak to Julius group? Would that
> be upsetting? Would she be allowed to meet Mr. Ikeda?
>
> Gandhi also opposed to death penalty: "I cannot in all
> conscience agree to anyone being sent to gallows. God
> alone can take life because he alone gives it."
>
> If there is NO official opposition from Ikeda-SGi-Komeito...
> > > To the DEATH PENALTY in Japan, then perhaps Mr. Ikeda
> should remove his name from all things associated with
> Mahatma Gandhi.
>
> Namaste,
> Anna
>
[...]
--
> --
> > Hi,Byrd!
> > Yes I still am processing my experiences...
> > It is a tough job, even after 5 years.
> > My deception was great because I really believed in SGI and cared
a
> > lot about SGI.
> > I still feel very concerned and responsable for its
> members,specially
> > those I brought in,and those I followed,for many years.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> >
> > My mother was a huge anti-death penalty activist, and, as
> > > you know, it's something that is still practiced here in
> California
> > > (not as much as they practice it in Texas, but we do execute a
> few
> > > people each year.)
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> > I lift my hat to your mom.
> >
> > I hope California(I`ve been there several times and I loved it!)
> will
> > soon find the courage to stop executing people legally.
> > If California does it, many others will also follow the example.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> > > <snip>
> > >
> > >
> > > Our SGI-USA womens' division leader, Linda Johnson, has been an
> > > appellate death penalty prosecutor for years here in
California.
> I
> > > remember about ten years ago, when I was interested in
practicing
> > > law, I gave her a call and asked if it was possible to work in
> her
> > > office without prosecuting what she called "capital cases".
The
> > > answer was no - if you wanted to work in her office, you had to
> be
> > > willing to prosecute the death penalty. Maybe things have
> changed
> > > now that we have a different governator, but that was my
> experience
> > > then. I've heard her mention this matter in her talks a number
> of
> > > times, so people must raise the issue with her. She has
> repeatedly
> > > said that she doesn't "believe in " the DP, but does the work
> > anyway,
> > > and trains other attorneys to do the work. Personally, I find
> that
> > > kind of double-think alarming, but that's me. Me, I pretty
much
> > just
> > > try to advocate what I believe in, especially if the taxpayers
> are
> > > paying me. But that's me, and maybe my precious conscience is
> why
> > I
> > > found the practice of law so stressful.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> > Maybe she is a better person than others,in that job...
> > I sincerely hope she is.
> >
> > But she should not be allowed to give lectures on buddhism as
long
> > she sends people to death.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> >
> > >
> > > I think every country pretty much has its own PR department in
> > regard
> > > to promoting President Ikeda and whatever the issues close to
his
> > > heart may be at any given time. What plays in Europe will get
> > played
> > > up in Europe, and what plays in America will get played up here.
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> > I think you are right...
> > And I am really disgusted about it!
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> > > >
> > > As far as I know, Japan still has a DP, with somewhatsporadic
> > > enforcement (that may have changed - does anyone have any more
> info
> > > on this?)
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> > Take a look at AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL`s web site on death penalty
in
> > Japan....
> > You will be horrified by what you will read.
> > :-(
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -
> >
> >
> > I think you may be looking for some sort of consistency in
> > > political principle from the Gakkai, Kim. It don't think
you'll
> > find
> > > it.
> > >
> > > Bye for now, Byrd in LA
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------

of course, none of any of this, none of it, has anything to do with the wonderful, terrific, and amazing Linda Johnson (blessings and peace be upon her).

Linda (blessings and peace be upon her) has nothing to do with anything at all, never has, and never will.

Lets all join hands and sing in the California Soka Spirit Forever!

Was it mentioned that Linda Johnson (blessings and peace be upon her) is not being mentioned, or questioned in this thread, or anywhere else?
In fact, Linda Johnson (blessings and peace be upon her) has never even been mentioned.


California Soka Sensei Spirit Forever!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2010 02:17AM by The Anticult.

Its very heartening and inspiring that they took such decisive action against that slanderer against the Law of Buddha, that alleged "nun" Helen Prejean.
Any slanderer against the Law of Buddha deserves what they get, and its not going to be pretty.

And since the iron Law of Buddha reigns supreme in all aspects of the world, including inside the government and the court system, then one can just turn it all over to Buddha, and let Buddha make the final decision.
In cases of capital punishment by the government, since Buddha/God/Jesus is the one really calling the shots, then the government representatives can just...kill them all and let Buddha/God sort them out.

Hopefully soon in California the death penalty will be reinstated for serious crimes, like if a person criticizes (slanders) the government or a religious organization.

Yes, as a criminal prosecutor, Ms Johnson must be very valuable to the $GI as one who shows "actual proof" in daily life. What an example for new members! "Yes, you too can be an overworked attorney, who does not yet have their own TV show, and because you have such a high profile in society, you will be promoted within our wonderful organization again and again!!" Nevermind that she sends people to their deaths...she's a wondaful gal.