Hi

I am a SGI member Practising In India for the last 10 years. Its strange that some of you who claim to be such great students of buddhism understand so little of it.And then there are others who are ready to believe anything negative that is written about SGI.Our experience in India is totally at variance with what many of you are claiming and when we have similar Experience we understand the same thing in a way much different from what many you understand.I don't know if this forum will publish my comments but if it does, I will definitely write as much as I can to clear misconceptions about SGI.

gingermarie:Accepting someone as a mentor takes time and if you can't accept Daisaku Ikeda as your mentor, then don't.As far as being a district leader and not doing gongyo, I think your husband is just faking it and treating Gakkai activities more like Club activities which is never the Purpose.
Please read the Gosho sincerely with your Heart. I think you will solve most of your dilema yourself.
I will write more later if i see this getting published.

beststarsign:

Do you think there is anything wrong with SGI?

What would you change and/or improve?

Is there anything you have read here that raises concerns about SGI and its behavior?

Do you think that Daisaku Ikeda makes mistakes?

What mistakes do you think he has made?

It seems like you are attempting to shift blame for SGI's bad behavior onto those that have been somehow hurt by the organization.

I was shakubuku'ed in Japan, 1968 or so. Met my first wife there. Returned to the US to Chicago and spent some time as a Hancho, then as a chapter chief. I was involved in the opening ceremonies for the chicago temple where I came into contact with Ikeda and the rest of his cronies (VP's). Nothing special about them, they were very taken with the fact that they were now "big shots" being chauffered around chicago in Lincoln continentals.

I really didn't have a lot of underlying problems with the philosopy, just the people and how they manipulated folks. Always pushing for money, subscribe to the world tribune, seikyo times, etc. I tried very hard to live up to the ideal I was given of what a chapter chief should do, but I kept slamming into the fact that the almighty dollar was really where SGI/NSA was all about. I did the whole gamut, from plain member, toban, cultural activities, carrying us flags down the capital mall, etc.

When NSA started printing their own gohonzons and the bickering began between the temple and the lay-organization I said "enough". I returned my O-Taigiri-Gohonzon to the temple and that was it. That was around the same time that my first wife (japanese) took up with a 25 y/o guy at her work and I divorced her too. Never could get an accounting as to how SGI was using the money. Was told once by the Chicago headquarters female chief that it was "kankenai koto" (none of my business). It certainly didn't go towards the chicago area where the community center was falling down (except for the "President's room")

Few people understood or tried to understand the philosophy. They got their pieces of paper from NSA, began chanting and converting others and bringing in the dollars. I speak Japanese and I heard quite a lot of saddening things within the leadership that I'll keep to myself, but just to say this - it is a cult of personality around Ikeda. Maybe Toda was the same, but if he wasn't, he probably turning revolutions in his grave. Lots of high-sounding philosopyical elements, but at the core, just methods to get money"

I recall that the tenets of the faith say that the lay believers should follow the dictates of the temple (until SGI disagrees and then they organizationally slander anything to do with the temple.) Next, the gohonzon could only be inscribed by the priest with the kechimyaku. Simple enough for SGI, just deny the priest doesn't have the kechimyaku and go hire a priest of your own. Lastly, the one true law should be above all else. Not a problem either, if your are SGI you just secretly decide that the One True Law is to grab all the money you can get your hands on and it is all consistent.

I feel sorry for people who have gotten themselves absorbed into that organization.

beststarsign

Perhaps SGI India is a different organization because Buddhism is a common practice there. In the US, if you ask someone to describe the Buddha they will tell you he is the little fat guy statue at the chinese restaurant that you rub the belly for good look. (This by the way I think is actually a Shinto Happi God instead.)

American members were caught up in the spiritual revolution of the 60's and 70's which gave the group a foothold, It was wierd, mysterious, mystical and it came from the orient so it must be right, eth? I knew a lot of dedicated, good people who got taken for a ride as I did, which is why I'm pretty certain that SGI/NSA (or whatever alias they are using these days) is indeed a cult, perhaps not as bad as the moonies or hare krishna, but a cult nonetheless.

Again, philosophically, a lot of people learned some really insightful bits about life through NSA, but the overall organization is devoted to itself and the Sensei, each member is just a cog in the bigger machine.

As for acceptance of Ikeda as a mentor. The Teacher/Disciple relationship implies some sort of a life connection. Ikeda is so far removed from the average members situation he might as well be an alabaster statue atop a mountain. (Yes, I have seen grown men cry when they have met Ikeda Sensei in person, but if you look at his eyes you don't see much mercy, just the driver of a very big cash harvesting machine.

Quote
beststarsign
Hi

I am a SGI member Practising In India for the last 10 years. Its strange that some of you who claim to be such great students of buddhism understand so little of it.And then there are others who are ready to believe anything negative that is written about SGI.Our experience in India is totally at variance with what many of you are claiming and when we have similar Experience we understand the same thing in a way much different from what many you understand.I don't know if this forum will publish my comments but if it does, I will definitely write as much as I can to clear misconceptions about SGI.

Beststarsign, I have based my posts on study of the Lotus Sutra and the Gosho of Nichiren Daishonin, as well as eighteen years of practice with SGI-Japan and SGI-USA. My experiences with SGI-USA have convinced me that SGI-USA is NOT practicing in accordance with the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of Nichiren. Perhaps SGI-India is doing better in that regard. If you'd like to discuss study, we can certainly do that.

1. Our SGI-USA leaders have said that if we do not take Daisaku Ikeda as our mentor, we will not attain enlightenment. When I asked them, what Gosho, or section of the Lotus Sutra supports this statement -- nobody can ever tell me. Do you know? When I read the Gosho, I see statements like "Do not seek this Gohonzon outside of yourself," and "Follow the Law and not the person."

2. Our SGI-USA leaders have also said that Nichiren Shoshu is heretical because it teaches that members need the intercession of the high priest to attain enlightenment, citing Gosho quotes such as "Do not seek this Gohonzon outside of yourself," and "Follow the Law and not the person." How is this consistent with their statement that we will not attain enlightenment unless we become disciples of President Ikeda?

3. Chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra discusses Bodhisattva Fukkyo (Bodhisattva Never Despise.) He encounters severe persecution as he travels about trying to teach Buddhism to people, being beaten with clubs, sticks and stones. He has to flee for his personal safety, but, as he runs, he calls, "I dare not slight you! You are all to become Buddhas!" If the Lotus Sutra teaches that everyone is worthy of respect because they have the potential for Buddhahood -- then why have some SGI leaders encouraged members to chant for the death of Nikken, the high priest of Nichiren Shoshu? Certainly, we can and should say that we disagree with his teachings. That's different than having such hatred and contempt for fellow Buddhists, and certainly violates the spirit of Chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra.

4. Nichiren lived in poverty, and experienced frequent persecutions. He tells his followers that they can expect to be persecuted for practicing and promulgating the Lotus Sutra. What would he think of SGI members and prospective members being told that they can chant for anything they want -- cars, lovers, material wealth? What would he think of the fact that President Ikeda is wealthy and lives in luxury? Or that SGI owns millions of dollars of assets, from prime real estate to valuable artwork? Nichiren wrote many Gosho thanking his followers for visiting him, and even making small donations -- a robe, a basket of rice. SGI demands donations, and yet refuses to tell members where their donations actually go. Why?

5. SGI is connected with the New Komeito Party in Japan, and the Japanese Soka Gakkai members are expected to vote for, give donations to, and to work for free for New Komeito candidates at election time. America was founded on the belief that church and state should be separate. Do our donations to SGI go to support the New Komeito Party? Since SGI will not account to us for the donations we give, how do we know that we're not really supporting the New Komeito Party?

Nichiren was also offered government patronage and a temple of his own, if he would say that other sects of Buddhism were equal to his. He refused because he did NOT feel that other sects were even correct -- and because his aim was to spread the Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra, not seek worldly power.

6. An American writer and former SGI-USA employee, Lisa Jones, wrote articles on her website critical of SGI. SGI threatened her with a lawsuit, and she had to take her website down. Certainly, if SGI members and leaders disagreed with Jones's opinions or thought that her facts were incorrect -- they certainly have the right to debate her, and to point out her errors. They didn't do this. They refused to allow her to speak out at all. The United States is a democracy. As Americans, we have the right to freedom of speech. It bothers me, as an American, that SGI took away Lisa Jones's right to freedom of speech. How can the SGI senior leadership expect its American members to support SGI, when SGI does not support the most basic principles of American democracy, such as freedom of speech and separation of church and state?

Likewise, how can SGI-USA expect to retain members when the organization is not practicing in accordance with the Lotus Sutra or the Gosho?

If you can enlighten me about any of this, beststarsign, please do.

Tsuki-moto san:

Here-here! From someone with 25 plus years of NSA and the 'Gakkai when I severed connections many moons ago, your questions are spot on. Of course no one from SGI/NSA would ever acknowledge the 800-pound gorilla in the room and risk the accusation that they were doing onshitsu (slander) but I give you an "A" for your thoughtful points. I think SGI/NSA prefers things to just be quiet. Do any web search on the gakkai and essentially all there is out there are the official mouthpieces of the organization talking about how wonderful their impending Kosen Rufu will be. ("Hey julius! Run me off another couple hundred of them there Go Honzan thingies the tourist bus is just pulling up.)

Quote
wakatta
Tsuki-moto san:

I think SGI/NSA prefers things to just be quiet. Do any web search on the gakkai and essentially all there is out there are the official mouthpieces of the organization talking about how wonderful their impending Kosen Rufu will be.

Wakatta, I'm sure you've heard the Japanese proverb: "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." I am no longer in SGI because I grew tired of being the nail. It was so ironic to me -- all the publications and leaders were talking about dialogue, dialogue, dialogue is so important, we've got to have dialogue -- when there is no real dialogue at all in SGI. Never has been, never will be. If you have a question, or a different opinion, you are just weird or difficult. It's very Japanese, the notion that we all must agree, and there must never be any waves, ever. Their idea of dialogue is everyone sitting in a circle, saying, "SGI is wonderful. President Ikeda is wonderful. Kosen-rufu is wonderful." It's all so wonderful, if you can just turn off your mind and not think about anything that the leaders don't want you to think about.

At one time I was very flattered when a Japanese leader told me (in Japanese) that I was a "wakaru hito" - now, looking back on it, I think he basically meant that I had not only mastered the gaijin member mind set, but that I was increasingly becoming more like the Japanese leaders <shudder>. Japanese was their 'secret language' which they used when they needed to say something they didn't want the gaijin members to hear. When word circulated that I had "skills" it was remarkable how little japanese I got to hear openly.

I remember the early YMD days, dressed in our white and blue NSA shirts and white pants doing calestenics on the lake michigan beach and singing "Ay Ay Oh! Shakubuku shakubuku all the way!" (the hair is standing up on the back of my neck now.) All of that we were told was building "unity" but was only regimentiation and indoctrination into that mind set. Men on the left, women on the right. Kneel and chant until your legs ache, if you complain it is because your lack committment. Do it for the Sensei!

My Members would go to the community center and get guidance and be told things that I can only classify as being way out of touch with reality (but mainstream NSA for sure...). Husband and wife problems? Go do more shakubuku and chant six hours a day. Kids sick? Go do more shakubuku and chant five hours a day. Problems with the organization? Thats because you aren't doing enough shakubuku and not chanting enough. Oh, don't forget gongyo and of course you need to rush to the culture center to do midnight gongyo to ensure that the most recent shakubuku campaign is successful! Someone on your job bothering you? Do more shakubuku and chant three hours a day that they will get fired or quit. Need a new car? Do Pac-Man shakubuku and chant four hours a day. Can't find a wife? Do more shakubuku and chant eight hours a day. Pretty simple formula to give "heartfelt guidance" eh?

Ay Ay Oh!

Quote
The Anticult

also, there are many other groups who claim what they do is some kind of Buddhism.
Why? It seems that in the west, Buddhism still has a good reputation, and now is trendy, like Yoga. So they call whatever they are doing Buddhism, and it gives them a fig-leaf to hide behind.

To me, when most Westerners refer to Buddhism, they're referring to Tibetan Buddism. The Dalai Lama is the best-known Buddhist in the Western world; Daisaku Ikeda is comparatively a footnote. Whenever I read about Western descriptions of what Buddhism is, it is never what the SGI expounds.

So I'd qualify that Tibetan Buddhism is trendy right now.

Quote
wakatta

I remember the early YMD days, dressed in our white and blue NSA shirts and white pants doing calestenics on the lake michigan beach and singing "Ay Ay Oh! Shakubuku shakubuku all the way!" (the hair is standing up on the back of my neck now.) All of that we were told was building "unity" but was only regimentiation and indoctrination into that mind set. Men on the left, women on the right. Kneel and chant until your legs ache, if you complain it is because your lack committment. Do it for the Sensei!

My Members would go to the community center and get guidance and be told things that I can only classify as being way out of touch with reality (but mainstream NSA for sure...). Husband and wife problems? Go do more shakubuku and chant six hours a day. Kids sick? Go do more shakubuku and chant five hours a day. Problems with the organization? Thats because you aren't doing enough shakubuku and not chanting enough. Oh, don't forget gongyo and of course you need to rush to the culture center to do midnight gongyo to ensure that the most recent shakubuku campaign is successful! Someone on your job bothering you? Do more shakubuku and chant three hours a day that they will get fired or quit. Need a new car? Do Pac-Man shakubuku and chant four hours a day. Can't find a wife? Do more shakubuku and chant eight hours a day. Pretty simple formula to give "heartfelt guidance" eh?

Ay Ay Oh!

I was in Boston in the late 80s, and as a YMD then, I took a lot of trips to Flushing Meadow in Queens to participate in these same kinds of activities. One time, George Williams made an appearance while we were sweltering in the sun. To this day, the "Ay Ay Oh" stuff also makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. In a five minute "guidance and encouragement", we'd do that cheer about 15 times, and follow it up with the ever-contrived and practiced-in-advance "let's have a picture with Rijicho!". Those photo ops - argh! - spontaneous my a**! Unlike some contributors who have said they value the time they spent in the SGI even though they're no longer members, I still feel regret at the valuable time I wasted on these cultish activities.

I also recall a time when someone told me (a secondhand account) about Richard Sasaki (the then YMD chief) coming to New York and in some "guidance" telling the YMD that they were "pussies" for not doing more daimoku. It's right in line with what you reference: problems are solved by doing more shakubuku and daimoku, even if the rest of your life suffers from neglect.

And "street shakubuku" that we used to do?? That's for another posting/rant.