QuoteRothauscommongirl ... if you are a person hope you read all this ... The thing is, a serious SGI loyalist would not be moved by any of these accounts at all. When I was in SGI, I used to hear leaders say that the Japanese tabloids were always making up stories about SGI to sell newspapers. Now, they would just say that disgruntled and trouble-making ex-members are using the internet to
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Incident in Spokane, Washington and Coeur D'Alene, Idaho between Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu Members This, I found a bit hard to keep track of and had to reread, with all the Mr. B, two Ms. S's, Mr. Y, Mr. T, Mr. K (no, this Mr. T wasn't from the old TV show, "The A-Team," though I was picturing that as I read this!) Basic storyline: A Nichiren Shoshu priest,
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More Soka Gakkai violence from Japan and Korea, mombu.com --------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =====Japanese former members' experience, from The Australian Magazine=================================== THE AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE 2, Holt Street, Surry Hills, Sydney
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Nichijew, You are so right! Mav, a former YMD from the Los Angeles area made a similar post about the YMD in his area -- all those grand determinations, and yet most ended up with very ordinary jobs and lives...no different than non-SGI young men of the same age and background. I had gone to meetings in my area for fifteen years, listening to members make determinations and give experiences
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Soka Gakkai Japan Members Behaving Badly -- Cult Awareness and Information Centre Website, www.culthelpinfo.org -------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Soka Gakkai Members Make Death Threats on Congressman's Life Daisaku Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai are exhibiting what can o
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More SGI Paranoia: From the alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren message board ----------------------Beginning of Quote-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SGI has become even more paranoid than usual. Recently a SGI member > in Houston died who was good friends with the Nichiren Shu minister > there. Rev. Myokei was invi
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SGI Members behaving badly: I copied this account from www.buddhajones.com -- it also appears on Yahoo's SokaGakkaiUnofficial Board, and alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren -----------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Sundays ago, we had our 2009 kick off meeting in West Hollywood. Between 4 and 6AM, some
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"The Day the Clear Mirror Cracked" also appears on the Fraught With Peril Website, in the Kempon Hokke blog. There is another website, victoriousamerica.com, that has similar accounts of SGI groups being broken up in cruel ways by senior leaders. The website's "Page of Courage" has about ten such letters from SGI, or former SGI members. I think that "The Day
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Rothaus brought up the SGI Charter -- So here it is. QuoteRothaus The charter SGI has created is not worth the paper its written on as SGI does not live up to those standards - may it be iternal or external. I don't recal when the charter was published I guess it must have been at the end of the 90's, but whenever I would question some of SGI's attitudes based on exactly this c
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QuotegingermarieReading these shocking and tragic experiences reminds me of the saying, "the fish stinks from the head." This total lack of humanity comes from nowhere but the top. It was learned by example and innuendo. Nowadays, in my area at least, if a member goes into the hospital, the other members freak-out and over call and over visit to the point where the family has
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QuoteVon Yes this was the irony that I ran up against after all of my experiences with SGI: That this organization presented itself - from my very first contact with them, on a business card handed to me in a Quik E mart in Hollywood - as dedicated to "World Peace through Individual Happiness" ... ... and that the method of achieving this was through a spiritual practice that cl
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Nichijew, what horrible experiences you've had with SGI! I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Howie -- and then this miserable training session at Trets! Your experience at Trets reminds me of something I read on the Byron Katie thread in the "New Sects, Cults and Religious Movements" Board. Katie, and a lot of 'new age' types often run these k
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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
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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'r
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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 gho
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Lisa Jones's letter, continued. Copied from Fraught With Peril website, Kempon Hokke blog, Mark Rogow --------------------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vanya, ghostwriting is not uncommon. But for a long time, I actually believed that Ikeda wrote all of his own books. He doesn'
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Lisa Jones, of buddhajones.com speaks -- copied from Fraught With Peril website, Mark Rogow's Kempon Hokke blog. No, I don't know who Lotus and Vanya are...probably people who posted on Jones's old website. Lisa Jones, at one point, worked for SGI as a writer. SGI took legal action against her after she started her old Buddha Jones website -- apparently while she worked for
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Commongirl, all experiences are welcome, and you can certainly have your opinion, as I have mine. It sounds as if your family has had very negative experiences with George Williams. If you have time, and are interested in sharing them, I'm sure that many readers would be interested in reading about them. Financial disclosure has been a huge issue in SGI for a long time. The IRG wa
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Quotecommongirl Wherever Mr. Williams traveled, he had the women's division members wait on him hand and foot. They were required to be on standby to make Japanese food for him at a moment's notice, served on their own china. I know this, because my mother was one of them. He favored Japanese leaders and looked down on Americans as incapable of effectively communicating Buddhism. I k
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I found this on the Chanting Grower's Thread. This is guidance by Mr. Tsuji, a senior SGI leader, about what to chant for. It's been around for years; I heard it in the 1980's, at SGI meetings. At the time, I thought it was great guidance. Now I look at it and think, "Parts of it are good and parts are just plain wrong. " -----------------------------------Be
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Non SGI Member Married to Dedicated SGI Member: Scooby Dooby, I copied this from Rick Ross's "Coping Strategies." I've edited this a lot because the full article is a bit long for this space -- you may want to read the full article, in the "Getting Help" section if you haven't already. To get it, you'd go to the "Home" Page. On the left s
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-------------Begin Quote, buddhajones.com website------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What's the deal with SGIBuddhism.org? by: mroaks Fri Oct 02, 2009 at 16:30:19 PM MDT In comments here, questions have been raised about a social networking site for SGI members. Chris Tinney, founder of SGIBuddhism.org, also establis
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-------------From the Fraught With Peril Website, "A Chapter Leader's Diary Blog--- Begin Quote------------------------------------------- After gongyo, the very new vice-district leader read the article in her very heavy Japanese accent. The article was about... all together now... mentor and disciple. But near the end, it quotes Pres. Ikeda as saying the organization need members w
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In my area, our chapter leaders were living together, as his divorce was not final...some problems dividing up property with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Perhaps that's why our leaders did not mention Miss Inoashi's guidance about not living together. From what I remember, nobody objected to our chapter leaders' living arrangements. We liked them, and he'd been separated aw
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Quotequiet one Around the same time that he briefly re-appeared, a special meeting was called that my husband and other leaders were requested to attend. The exclusive subject of the meeting was George Williams. Linda Johnson spoke. She told everyone how evil George Williams was. His crime? When the Temple people asked him to be on their side, he did not call President Ikeda until the next mo
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This website is also a hoot -- if you are interested in a discussion of President Ikeda's quotes and the joys of growing and smoking marijuana -- this site is for you! ----------------------------------From the new Buddha Jones website---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum for SGI marijuana growers by: mroaks Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 09:55:1
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---Begin Quote: SGI Unofficial Message Board------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Re: I want to know the truth why George N. Williams left SGI USA. Some years ago a leader from my area who was visiting Japan was told that Mr. Williams was "evil." From what I heard, his evilness consisted in waiting a day t
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QuotecorboyQuoteOther than these women, SGI members were not allowed to enter the house or use the sauna and hot tub. If this did indeed occur, Ikeda was guilty of dualistic, delusional thinking and therefore not in a state of enlightenment. If one has pure view, one appreciates the Buddha Nature in everyone, old, young, male female, pretty, normal looking. One doesnt just appreciate Bud
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Quotetsukimoto Mr. Gore entertained doubts about Mr. Ikeda, who used money as freely as water, and determined to leave the organization over a certain incident. "In 1974, it was discovered that Brazil Soka Gakkai General Director Robert Saito (currently Honorary General Director) was embezzling the organization's money. Vice President Satoru Izumi (currently Chief of the Supreme G
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Rothaus, the leaders actually made these mentally ill members give back their Gohonzons? Did they also tell these members not to come to meetings? That's pretty cold and uncaring. I look at it as you do -- suffering from mental or emotional problems is not a weakness or moral failing any more than having pneumonia or a broken leg. In all of those cases, people should just get t
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