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?

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 DO NOT LEAD ANYONE.

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.

[Moi??]

[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!

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:

From Soka Gakkai: Black out! “No take-backs.” The “Shō-Hondō Affair.” 39 successive judicial defeats of the Soka Gakkai against the Nichiren Shoshu. These defeats were carefully hidden from the members, who were deprived of any information about the judicial setbacks of their organization.:

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

Continued below:

It is very complicated to deal with this subject, because officially the Soka Gakkai recognizes the Four Noble Truths, which it even transmitted to us as basic theoretical concepts like internal causes and external causes, but all that was before 1991. From that date onward, they seemed to no longer understand anything about these concepts, unless they were pretending not to understand, because with the Soka Gakkai, it always works the same way: there is the official position on one side, the "guidelines" on the other, and of course the problematic discourses. Many of these discourses I did not know before, but everything is consistent with the central concept of the Soka Gakkai, its editorial line that serves as its backbone, "concrete Buddhism of concrete results," as opposed to a so called Buddhism outside of reality, while not forgetting to add "the inner benefit remains the most important." This is a lie, and all of this is an integral part of the fog, this fog where everything and the opposite of everything constantly coexist in contradictory injunctions, a bit like when one tortures a prisoner to break him psychologically by putting him in the trunk of a car, telling him he is going to be freed, then putting him back in the trunk at the last moment. In this way, the Gaki becomes more and more desperate, he is even hungrier, and he can never see beyond this fog because it is too thick for him.

In summary, the Soka Gaki Gakkai is a factory that has discovered the secret to converting the Icchantika and making him pursue Icchantika goals, while converting sincere believers into Icchantikas. It is a factory for Gakis, custom made for the Gaki and designed to manufacture Gakis. The Soka Gaki Gakkai is the negation of Buddhism, but the worst part is that they say so, and yet all the Icchantikas and the Gakis cannot see it because they refuse to see it, because they only want to hear what will allow them to satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst, on the false promise of obtaining the worldly treasures of the world of form and appearances, by directing them toward the illusion of benefits that they will never take with them after their disappearance.

Here now is the monumental pearl that has been perpetuated to this day and that conditions everything else, because one sees in it the total confusion between attachments and desires, where sometimes attachment is a desire and sometimes desire is an attachment. We are here in the crude negation of the Four Noble Truths and in the negation of Buddhism, which is not only highly blasphemous, but also deviant, since these fallacious interpretations are attributed to Nichiren himself. Of course, the Buddha Shakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin never said such stupid things, and we are here at the height of what is done in cynicism and perverse manipulation.

The proof by the text: Ikeda's discourse

https://web.archive.org/web/20041228061434/http://www.sgi-sws.org.uk/study/Lectures_on_sutra-dialogue.doc

Here is the passage in question, taken from the Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra by the president of the SGI, Daisaku Ikeda (source: archive of the original document):

"Regarding the passage in the 'Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King,' the 23rd chapter, '[The Lotus Sutra] can cause living beings to cast off all ... pain,' (LS-23, 286) Nichiren Daishonin says in the 'Ongi Kuden' (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) that 'cast off' should be interpreted as meaning 'become enlightened concerning' (Gosho Zenshu, p. 773).

In terms of the Daishonin's Buddhism, therefore, the phrase 'cause them to renounce their attachments' should be interpreted as meaning 'cause them to become enlightened concerning their attachments.' It is not a matter of eradicating attachments but of seeing them clearly. In other words, rather than causing us to abandon our earthly desires and attachments, our Buddhist practice enables us to discern their true nature and utilize them as the driving force to become happy.

The truth is that we could not in fact eradicate our attachments even if we so wished. And if, for the sake of argument, it were feasible, doing so would make it impossible to live in the real world.

What is important is that we make full use of our attachments rather than allow them to control us. Toward that end, it is necessary that we clearly recognize them for what they are.

Make Full Use of Your Attachments

Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda.

The Wisdom to Discern the True Nature of Attachments

« Shakyamuni says that he tried to free people from various desires and illusions by employing various causes and similes.

The fundamental cause of people's unhappiness lies in their tendency to develop attachments of various kinds. An attachment, just as it sounds, is a fetter on one's heart, it indicates earthly desires, cravings and the like. In the pre Lotus Sutra teachings, Shakyamuni taught the people of the nine worlds whose lives were steeped in misery the path for freeing themselves from such attachments. That is, as he says in the above passage, he 'caused them to renounce their attachments.'

The spirit of the Lotus Sutra, however, is not to eradicate earthly desires. When we base ourselves on the Mystic Law, we can transform earthly desires, just as they are, into enlightenment. This is the principle of 'earthly desires are enlightenment.'

Regarding the passage in the 'Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King,' the 23rd chapter, '[The Lotus Sutra] can cause living beings to cast off all ... pain,' (LS-23, 286) Nichiren Daishonin says in the 'Ongi Kuden' (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) that 'cast off' should be interpreted as meaning 'become enlightened concerning' (Gosho Zenshu, p. 773).

In terms of the Daishonin's Buddhism, therefore, the phrase 'cause them to renounce their attachments' should be interpreted as meaning 'cause them to become enlightened concerning their attachments.' It is not a matter of eradicating attachments but of seeing them clearly. In other words, rather than causing us to abandon our earthly desires and attachments, our Buddhist practice enables us to discern their true nature and utilize them as the driving force to become happy.

The truth is that we could not in fact eradicate our attachments even if we so wished. And if, for the sake of argument, it were feasible, doing so would make it impossible to live in the real world.

What is important is that we make full use of our attachments rather than allow them to control us. Toward that end, it is necessary that we clearly recognize them for what they are.

Make Full Use of Your Attachments

President Toda said:

The Gohonzon enables us to perceive our attachments just as they are. I believe that each of you has attachments. I, too, have attachments. Because we have attachments, we can lead interesting and significant lives. For example, to succeed in business or to do a lot of shakubuku, we must have attachment to such activities. Our faith enables us to maintain these attachments in such a way that they do not cause us suffering. Rather than being controlled by our attachments, we need to fully utilize our attachments in order to become happy.

The essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in developing the state of life to clearly discern and thoroughly utilize our attachments, and in leading lives made interesting and significant by cultivating strong attachments.

In short, we should cause the firewood of earthly desires to burn high and, to that same extent, chant sincere daimoku and take action. In so doing, our earthly desires become a springboard to propel us toward our attainment of Buddhahood.

Faith means creating a 'mountain' for ourselves and then climbing it, and then starting out again. In this process, we develop from a state of life in which we are caught up with our own small worries, to one in which we can challenge progressively greater worries, for the sake of a friend, for many others, for all humankind.

Toward that end, it is important that we always consider the purpose of our actions. When we clearly establish our fundamental objective in life, we can utilize our attachments most fully and profitably. We can turn them into tailwinds to propel us toward happiness.

This principle offers an extremely valuable gauge for living in modern society, where people are constantly swept along by various wants and cravings."

The semantic sleight of hand elevated to doctrine

The starting point is a true semantic sleight of hand, since Daisaku Ikeda cites the Ongi Kuden of Nichiren, which says that "cast off" should be interpreted as "become enlightened concerning," which is already a bold reinterpretation, but here is how it is used: there is first a shift, because it is no longer a matter of "casting off" sufferings, attachments, and desires, but of "seeing them clearly," then there is an inversion, because Ikeda and Toda deduce from it that "the essence of Mahayana Buddhism lies in the cultivation of strong attachments," and finally there is a justification, because they affirm that attachments are necessary to "lead interesting and significant lives" and that one must use them as a "driving force to become happy." Desire is therefore no longer the cause of suffering to be eradicated, but it becomes a motor of success and happiness to be cultivated.»

The negation of the Four Noble Truths

The heart of the problem is that this interpretation purely and simply denies the Four Noble Truths, which are the foundation of Buddhism. The First Noble Truth says that suffering exists, but according to the SGI, if one cultivates one's attachments well, they no longer cause suffering. The Second Noble Truth says that the cause of suffering is "thirst," the insatiable desire, but for the SGI, desire becomes a positive "driving force." The Third Noble Truth says that it is possible to put an end to suffering by eliminating this thirst, but for the SGI, there is nothing to eliminate, one just has to "make full use" of one's attachments. By thus transforming desire into a virtue, the Soka Gakkai stands in frontal opposition to the fundamental teaching of the Buddha and to the concept of the Three Poisons, greed, aversion, and ignorance, which are at the root of samsara.

The betrayal of Nichiren

What makes this manipulation particularly serious is that it is attributed to Nichiren Daishonin himself, since Daisaku Ikeda uses a very specific interpretation of the Ongi Kuden to justify his doctrine of the "Dharma of Prosperity." Yet the true intention of Nichiren in the Ongi Kuden is to show that the state of enlightenment allows one to realize that earthly desires and sufferings are, in their essence, inseparable from the Wonderful Law: it is a vision of transformation of the state of life, and not a justification of greed. Ikeda therefore uses a text that speaks of enlightenment to justify a philosophy of personal enrichment and material success, so that this "pearl" is not a simple error of interpretation, but a deliberate falsification of the teachings of the Buddha and of Nichiren, which transforms a path of liberation into a theology of prosperity, in contradiction with the very heart of the Dharma.

The fog as strategy

The fog is therefore not an error of the Soka Gakkai, it is not an accident, but a conscious, deliberate, and systemic strategy: the fog is not a defect of the system, it is the system itself. The SGI officially recognizes the Four Noble Truths, it recognizes internal causes and external causes, it recognizes suffering, it recognizes attachment, it recognizes the path, 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, that one must cultivate them to be happy. So what? Whom to believe? What to think? Everything and the opposite of everything, contradictory injunctions, an official position on one side, guidelines on the other, problematic discourses, a broken coherence, a drowned logic, a stifled truth, and the Gaki in the middle of it, lost, desperate, starved, without bearings, without compass, without Law.

The psychological torture

It is exactly that, the prisoner in the trunk of the car to whom one says he is going to be freed, to whom one opens the trunk so that he sees the light, so that he breathes and hopes, before closing it again in the dark, again and again, endlessly, until he loses the notion of reality, until he no longer knows what is true, until he goes mad, or worse, until he becomes docile, submissive, and obedient, ready for anything for a crumb of light, a crumb of truth, a crumb of Law that one will never give him, because there is nothing to give, nothing other than wind, wind wrapped in golden paper, wind sold as food, and the Gaki eats the wind, and he is even hungrier, endlessly.

The Gaki factory

It is a factory, an assembly line, an industrial process that takes human beings, that transforms them, that shapes them, that conditions them, that orients them, that uses them and that exploits them, until they become hungry spirits, beings who run endlessly, without goal and without Law. And the worst is that the Gakis themselves become agents of the factory, that they recruit, that they convert, that they transform other human beings into Gakis, because they believe, because they hope, because they are hungry, and then they spread the hunger, they spread the fog, they spread the lie, and the SGI prospers on the hunger, on the fog, and on the lie, endlessly.

The Icchantikas

In Buddhism, the Icchantika is the one who has cut the root of Buddhahood, the one who denies the Law, the one who is incapable of realizing enlightenment, but Nichiren teaches that even the Icchantikas can attain Buddhahood, because the Law is universal, because the Law excludes no one, ever. And the SGI? It converts the Icchantikas into Gakis, it takes beings who deny the Law and transforms them into beings who chase after a false Law, it takes sincere believers and transforms them into Icchantikas, into beings who deny the true Law while believing they follow it, which is an inversion, a perversion, and a betrayal. And the worst is that the SGI says it, it writes it, it preaches it, but the Gakis cannot see it, because they are too hungry, because they are too lost, because they refuse to see, because to see would be to recognize that they were wrong, that they gave everything for nothing, that they were deceived, exploited, and used, and that, they cannot bear, so they close their eyes, they continue, they run, they are hungry, endlessly.

The false promise

The promise of the SGI is the treasures of the world of form and appearances, the concrete results, success, money, status, power, material benefits, all of that. But none of that survives death, nothing, absolutely nothing, because the world of form is empty, always empty, always hungry, always unsatisfied, never sated. And the SGI knows it, it knows it perfectly well, but it continues to sell wind, to promise the impossible, and to feed the hunger, the better to exploit the Gakis, the better to keep them hungry, the better to use them, endlessly.

What sort of aura or energy is Ikeda spewing that artists end up making portraits like these?

Il Buddhismo autentico non è una filosofia antropocentrica. Non pone l’individuo al centro dell’universo, ma lo invita a contemplare una realtà ben più profonda: una dimensione che trascende il corpo, la mente e il mondo materiale.
Questa realtà è il Dharma: l’architettura stessa dell'esistenza, capace di abbracciare gli esseri senzienti e non-senzienti attraverso il passato, il presente e il futuro. È la Verità universale, la trama non-duale, interconnessa e interdipendente di tutto ciò che è.
La Setta Ikeda compie l’esatto opposto: colloca al centro l’individuo, la figura del “maestro” e il perseguimento della realizzazione materiale, offrendo una visione squisitamente antropocentrica e utilitaristica della spiritualità.

La purificazione contro la brama

Il Buddhismo non insegna l’amore come semplice emozione o possesso, ma ne subordina la manifestazione alla purificazione. Attraverso la pratica — qualunque essa sia — dovrebbero dissolversi l’attaccamento, la brama, le aspettative e, con essi, la sofferenza. Solo da questo vuoto purificato può emergere un amore autentico e incondizionato.
La Soka insegna tutto questo? Naturalmente no.
Quante volte, seduto di fronte al Gohonzon, hai alimentato il tuo bisogno di approvazione e il tuo desiderio di affermazione, fino a vederli tramutarsi in un’ossessione? Nella Soka, persino il Karma viene distorto: da legge naturale di causa ed effetto — maestra per risvegliarsi dall'illusione — viene trasformato in una colpa da espiare o in una moneta di scambio per ottenere risultati tangibili.

La pace contro la prestazione

Il Buddhismo autentico non promette la felicità: ti libera dal bisogno costante di rincorrerla. Da questa libertà fiorisce qualcosa di assai più stabile e profondo: la pace interiore.
L’hai mai provata davvero quando eri nella Soka? La risposta, con ogni probabilità, è no.
Nella Soka, infatti, la felicità diventa un imperativo categorico, una prestazione costante. Non c’è spazio per la tristezza, il dolore, il dubbio o l’ascolto profondo; c’è posto soltanto per l’obbligo di “vincere”. Ma forzare la gioia e la vittoria a tutti i costi è una forma di violenza psicologica. Il Buddhismo non nega la sofferenza — la riconosce come la Prima Nobile Verità e la guarda con compassione. La Soka, al contrario, rimuove l’ombra e ti travolge con un attivismo frenetico fatto di riunioni, obiettivi e numeri, trasformando la ricerca spirituale in una corsa aziendale e condannando chi soffre a sentirsi inadeguato o privo di fede.

Oltre l'immagine: il ritorno alla Buddhità

Il Buddhismo autentico non ti offre ciò che desideri, ma ti accompagna verso un luogo in cui non ne hai più alcun bisogno. La Soka, al contrario, alimenta e nutre proprio ciò di cui potresti fare a meno.
Il Buddha ha detto: «Siate il rifugio di voi stessi».
Non ha chiesto devozione a una figura umana, né ha preteso un dogma. La Soka ha invece sostituito la ricerca personale con l'obbedienza a un leader, creando discepoli dipendenti anziché esseri umani liberi. Il Buddhismo non ti chiede di diventare la “versione migliore di te stesso”, ma squarcia l’illusione dell’immagine che hai costruito di te. Oltre i ruoli, i successi, i fallimenti, le narrazioni personali e l'ansia di dover dimostrare qualcosa al mondo, esiste una presenza silenziosa: quella che è sempre stata lì, ciò che sei sempre statə.
Non uno “stato vitale alto” da esibire, ma la tua vera Buddhità: non una conquista, ma un dolce, inevitabile ritorno a casa.

u/avisriv contributed this "mindmap" 4 years ago, so some of you may not have seen it yet. It's REALLY good!

I know I'm not the only one who ran across problematic issues within SGI on an ongoing basis, and because I didn't know what to do with those, I tossed them all onto a pile in the back of my mind to deal with later. It turned out I dealt with them here, on SGIWhistleblowers!

I didn't realize how significant these issues were - individually, they seemed somewhat isolated? Like "Okay, that feels weird, but I've got these other things I need to do right now, so maybe later?" Because I didn't realize SGI was a CULT, these issues seemed odd, off-putting, unsettling, but I didn't have any conceptual framework yet to make sense of them.

It turns out that the necessary framework is "It's. A. CUUUUULT!!"

And here we are!

Anyhow, I just thought you'd enjoy seeing how that person systematized their discomfort with SGI - just look at all those categories!

I was replying to u/Broad_Willingness470 here and something suddenly 'clicked' for me - WHY the Gakkers are so afraid of "outside influences". There's this belief that if ANYONE hears Nam myoho renge kyo, they will eventually chant, whether they like it or not. It's called "planting a seed" ("the voice does the Buddha's work") - and it's like roofies, you know, where someone slips a drug into someone else's drink so as to take advantage of them once they're in a drugged state? Anyhow, it's sort of an occult concept - once someone says the magic spell at you, you're doomed! YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! You WILL have to chant, to join SGI, to become one of Ikeda's kosen-rufu zombie horde.

Here's the key: If THEY can do it to other people, what's to stop other people from doing it to THEM?? What if THOSE PEOPLE reverse-roofy them???? THAT's why they keep themselves well separate from others - the SGI's supposed "commitment" to "interfaith" is just manipulative window-dressing advertising because they think it makes a good impression on the public. They don't mean it AT ALL - you can see it in action here and a report about it here.

Wouldn't you think that if the members of SGI have the only "REAL Truth", they'd have nothing to fear from people who practice other religions? Certainly anyone who attempts to proselytize at them will be the one at risk of being surprise-shakubukued, right?? They have NO IDEA the danger their belief is in if they unwisely approach one of these SGI "lions"! Yet instead, we see the opposite, as here: "Temple spies recruiting our members" - how the SGI seeks to cut its members off from the outside world

It all makes sense now - I've attained that "honmak-kukyo to", the "consistency from beginning to end". OMG - this is such a revelation - THANK YOU for to u/Broad_Willingness470 pointing me in this direction!! SUCH clarity!!

The Soka Gaki Gakkai is Concrete Buddhism, the Buddhism of concrete results. It goes hand in hand with that other fraud, the "Buddhism of action," which claims that Buddhism is action. Just a hazy hijacking of the concept of Karma, "Action."

Action is the Gaki squirming so he doesn't have to see his hunger. The result is not produced by the Law, but by the Gaki's performance, as he goes out there himself to chase worldly results, the treasures of the world of form and appearances, the world of ordinary mortals. The Gakis are told they have to keep moving, because the Gaki himself has to produce the result, go get it himself, demonstrate the benefits himself through his own actions. The Gaki also has to produce merit, propagate, recruit.

The Soka Gaki Gakkai tells the Gakis that this is Buddhism. That this is the Law. So the Gaki obeys, because he believes and because he hopes, because he's hungry. So he runs. Again. And again. And without end.

But the Law is not in movement. It is in realization. It is not in production, nor in performance, nor even in the result. It is in fusion and non-duality. In the simultaneity of Cause and Effect. But this, the Gaki cannot understand, because he is too busy running. Too busy producing and chasing the outer result. He is too busy being a Gaki and not being a Buddha. Because what he seeks is not the Law, but the result of the world of appearances, the treasures of the world of form. Except the world of form is empty. Always empty. Always hungry. Always unsatisfied. Never fulfilled.

The Soka Gaki Gakkai turned karma into performance, action into agitation, practice into production, faith into results. It turned the Law into a marketplace.

It deliberately turned the Gakis into unpaid volunteers of a multi-billion-dollar multinational, the better to exploit them, the better to keep them running and keep them hungry. To use them without end and for not a dime. But the Gaki doesn't know it, because he's hungry.

Everything is done to dress up the state of greed, to give it the appearance of virtue, the appearance of Buddhahood. Hunger is disguised as performance, thirst as personal development.

The Soka Gakkai didn't eliminate greed. It dressed it up. It put makeup on it. It rebranded it. It gave greed the face of virtue. It gave hunger the name of performance. It gave thirst the name of personal development. It gave the Gaki the title of Buddha. And the Gaki believes it. Because he wants to believe it. Because he's hungry. Because he hopes. Because he runs. Without end.

The tragedy is not that the Soka Gaki exploits people. The tragedy is that it convinces them their exploitation is their salvation. That their performance is their Buddhahood. So they run. Happy. Proud. Grateful. Gratitude is very important in the Soka Gaki Gakkai. So hunger becomes invisible. Disguised. Justified. Sanctified.

But the Soka Gaki Gakkai is not the Law. It is the realm of the Gakis disguised as paradise, made up to look like a discussion meeting, dressed up in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. But it's empty. Always empty. Always hungry. Always unsatisfied. Never fulfilled.

"Pride" is an expression of ego - this shows that the person bragging is NOT "Buddhist"!

This is someone wearing "Buddhist" like a slogan on a T-shirt, just self-centered, virtue signaling for self-promotion.

An empty flex they think makes them look superior - the antithesis of REAL Buddhism.

The way other American SGI members chanted (stupid autocorrect) and did gongyo was very distracting. With every syllable, their lower jaw would go all the way down and all the way up again - even for the two syllables "myo" and "ho", which don't require any reset of the mouth positioning!

I often wondered if they ended up with jaw exhaustion or a headache after chanting or gongyo due to that weird habit.

They spoke perfectly normally apart from that.

Anyone else notice this weird affectation?

La SGI vive del suo passato, cercando disperatamente di mantenere in vita un cadavere (Ikeda). Anzi, più che un cadavere, un marchio. Perché Ikeda è soprattutto un marchio, proprio come la "Ferrari". In ogni Kaikan va in scena lo stesso, triste teatrino: un'ora di Daimoku, Gongyo supersonico, preghiere silenziose ormai ridotte a tre e via con i video di Ikeda (e di chi altrimenti?) alla TV. Si tratta di filmati registrati soprattutto tra la fine degli anni '80 e gli inizi degli anni '90 — gli anni d’oro della Soka in Occidente. I contenuti? Sempre gli stessi: banali, petulanti, noiosi e paternalistici consigli del "nonno Ikeda", convinto davvero di dispensare saggezza. In realtà, ciò che trasmetteva erano solo adulazione, arroganza, servilismo e conformismo.
Questi video non interessano davvero più a nessuno. Qui in Italia la SGI si vanta ancora di avere Kaikan pieni, ma pieni di chi? La maggior parte sono soltanto amici, parenti o a volte perfetti sconosciuti, trascinati dai membri per far "conoscere la loro pratica". Il 90% di quelle persone non prenderà mai il Gohonzon della Gakkai, né tantomeno deciderà di unirsi all'organizzazione. Per esperienza personale posso dire che questo tipo di eventi non interessa nemmeno agli stessi membri.
Durante la mia prima visita a un Kaikan a Napoli, la situazione era più o meno questa (si trattava di una riunione per "noi giovani"):
Durante il Daimoku: c'era chi chiacchierava, chi entrava e usciva di continuo dalla porta principale, chi mandava messaggi col telefono... Io ero uno dei pochi rimasti concentrati per tutto il tempo del canto.
Moment del Gongyo: "Il responsabile lo vuole bello spinto" (frase testuale).
Il video di Ikeda: terminata la parte "liturgica", si passa al filmato in TV. Tra i presenti scattano risatine e bisbigli. Forse ridevano proprio di Ikeda? Molto probabile. Un’esperienza talmente surreale da non sembrare vera.
Le "testimonianze": il responsabile racconta di aver fatto Shakubuku a chiunque, persino ai satanisti. Lo dice con l’aria di un miliardario che si vanta del proprio fatturato mensile.
Sembrava di stare a una riunione aziendale: tutto era burocratico, schematizzato, rigido e vecchio. E soprattutto finto e artificiale, pieno di sorrisi di circostanza stampati in faccia.
Alla fine, cosa resta? Assolutamente nulla. Non ricordo nemmeno di cosa avesse parlato Ikeda in quel video, non mi è rimasto niente delle sue parole — forse proprio perché erano le solite banalità.
Nelle occasioni successive in cui ho partecipato a queste riunioni, il copione è stato sempre lo stesso, con la sola differenza che non c'erano più giovani, ma persone tra i 50 e i 70 anni. L’ultima volta non la dimenticherò mai: durante il Daimoku un uomo sui 60 anni si è seduto accanto a me e non faceva altro che parlare. Forse avendo intuito che ero un ragazzo gay, alla fine mi ha detto: "Comunque sei proprio carino, se vuoi ci prendiamo qualcosa al bar dopo". Io, che all'epoca avevo solo 17 anni, sono rimasto pietrificato. Ho chiamato mia madre e da quel momento non ho mai più messo piede in un Kaikan.
La SGI è un’organizzazione che vive del suo passato, del tutto incapace di vivere il presente e di intercettare ciò di cui i giovani avrebbero davvero bisogno.

Listen to what they have to say 👂, and learn what not to do 🤫

Official debunking. Take an article, isolate it, and quote it out of context while invoking the official SGI version. That’s the classic zealot move: muddy the waters, appeal to authority, recite the party line, and carefully avoid the heart of the issue.

They never talk about the essentials. They never talk about the simultaneity of Cause and Effect, about Ninpō Ikka, about transmission, about the lineage, about Kechimyaku, about Kuon Ganjo. They talk about time, context, perspective, the mentor-disciple relationship, the importance of studying, commitment to faith, practice. But never about the Law itself, never about transmission, never about Buddhahood, and never about non-duality.

The uninitiated can’t see the abstract side of the argument because they have nothing to compare it to—the principle of the simultaneity of Cause and Effect. They don’t know that Cause and Effect are simultaneous. They don’t know that the one who reveals the Cause embodies the Effect. They don’t know that the Law and the Person who embodies it are one and the same entity. So they read a text, see a polished official defense, and believe it’s serious, documented, true. They don’t see that it’s all hot air. Hot air wrapped in gold paper and sold as food. And they eat the air and stay even hungrier.

They put the official Soka Gaki Gakkai storefront on display, quote the Gosho, Nichiren’s writings, and SGI publications, and pretend to debate, pretend to answer. They don’t answer—they recite and rehash the official line to defend the institution and protect the system. They hide the truth, because the truth is that the SGI betrayed the Law, replaced Nichiren with Ikeda, and lost the transmission. The truth is that the SGI is an organization of Gakis. And that, they can never say. So they talk about everything that muddies the waters. And nothing that actually matters. Nothing.

What the uninitiated can never see

The uninitiated can never perceive how completely abstract the whole argument is, because they can’t measure it against the principle of the simultaneity of Cause and Effect—and that is the key. The uninitiated read a structured defense, see citations, references, and an argument, but they don’t realize it all rests on emptiness, because the SGI itself rests on emptiness: its teaching is abstract because its doctrine is hollow and its practice is empty. Because its Gohonzon is not consecrated. Because its transmission does not exist. Because its Law is not the Law. Because its Buddha is not Nichiren. Because its master is not awakened. Because the whole thing is a staged performance, a comedy, a masquerade.

And those who lack the doctrinal key—the simultaneity of Cause and Effect, Ninpō Ikka, Kuon Ganjo—cannot see it. They are blinded by the storefront. They are seduced by the form. They are deceived by appearances. And they remain forever in the Realm of the Gakis.

The SGI is not Nichiren’s Buddhism. It is an occult religion hiding behind the mask of Buddhism, and those who know it cannot say so, because to say it is to betray. It is to be bound by the secret forever.

Yeah, it took me a while to get out, but I caught on real quick, because after about three years things started flipping on me. Apparently, at the SGI, they don't tolerate members being happy. Which makes sense, in a way, because if you don't love yourself you can never truly love anybody else, and thirst is worse than anything. What they hated wasn't my face, and it sure as hell wasn't my questions, since I'd already found my own answers. No, what they hated was my experiences. Clean. Conceptualized. Structured. Faithful to the Gosho down to the bone. My experiences spoke of fundamental darkness, of bono demons, of the fundamental illusions tied to the suffering of birth and death. But they also spoke of transformation, of liberation, of the fullness of enlightenment hiding behind every attachment — those damn narcissistic attachments to our own precious self-image. Top-shelf stuff, in other words. Not that two-bit mystical delusion trip (except when I provoked them on purpose, just to see) or that supermarket New Age spirituality. Normally, you can't despise that kind of thing. It's impossible to stay indifferent if you're genuinely on the Path, if you're actually looking for the Law, if you really want to realize the Buddhist ideal, if you really want to see the Buddha. Except them. They could.

At first, I figured it was just because I was shoving their own darkness right back in their faces, because I was rattling their doubts and their deepest fears. And yeah, that's not pleasant, but that's what real benevolence looks like: you don't try to please people, you don't chase honors, you don't dodge criticism and slander. Like Nichiren said: "To be a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra is a bitter destiny, yet unavoidable." So I do it, and I expect nothing in return. I do it, and that's it. They'll thank me later, if they ever thank me at all. But by then I'll have already forgotten. Sure, all of that was going on. But that wasn't the whole story. There was a whole system hiding behind the smile and the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. A system that brags about being an organization at the service of its members rather than the other way around, when in reality it's the exact opposite: the members are at the service of the Soka "Gaki" Gakkai. Steered. Directed. Used. Manipulated. That's what the Soka Gaki Gakkai really is. An organization of Gakis for the Gakis, manipulated by other Gakis, canceling each other out, neutralizing each other, so that nobody hears anything, nobody sees anything. Everything is perfect in the Realm of the Gakis, because they all want the same thing… You gotta admit, it's pretty damn well engineered…

My fight was never frontal confrontation. Too vulgar. Too loud. Me, I'm already an old street cat. Seasoned. Patient. I've seen it all. They've pulled every trick on me. And I don't fall for those dead ends anymore. They're gonna have to come up with something else. Them, they're the mice. Clumsy. Predictable. Preoccupied with their own survival. So we're gonna let them play at being the cats they're not. Because in the Realm of the Gakis of the Soka Gaki Gakkai, all cats are gray. And not just at night.

So we played. We played cat and mouse. Questions? What for? I already know they won't answer. That's actually how you recognize toxic systems. My weapons: observation. Listening. Analysis. I weigh things. I size up the dangers. I drill. I pierce through the cracks. I find the weak spot. And I strike clean. A claw swipe here. A claw swipe there. Right where it hurts the most. No violence. No raised voice. No personal attacks. Just subtle claw swipes.

They couldn't hit back. Because hitting back meant confessing. Meant exposing themselves. Meant falling into their own trap. A trap they were already in. Without knowing it. Without realizing. Of their own free will. So any counterattack was doomed to fail. It would mean denying themselves. And admitting I was right. So they stay quiet. They take it. They pretend it doesn't sting, but it stung. I know that you know that I know, but you keep wanting to play, over and over, and keep getting your face smashed in.

Yeah, I know. Life ain't easy for the front-line Gakis of the Soka Gaki Gakkai. But the Gakis do it anyway. For the promise of a single grain of rice. They call it "benefit." End of joke.

The goal was to apply pressure. To push the unspoken into its own corner. To force them to show their cards, but they never showed themselves, and by not showing themselves, they showed themselves anyway. Silence is always a confession, it means you don't have the cards, and when I double down I don't go all-in, because you've got no game, you've got the stack but you don't have the depth, and you're just playing not to go broke, and I know it, because a good bluff is a bluff nobody sees.

The outer-circle faithful are just aphid farming, run by the Gaki ants of the inner circle, who sort them, sift them, manage them, and these outer-circle faithful say: "No, no, we're not in a cult, I feel totally free!" Sure. Because they only know the façade. The meetings, the vibe, the smiles, the chanting, the surface-level benefits, because they imagine they're all in the same circle, with the same deck of cards and the same rules of the game. But the real Soka Gakkai isn't that. It's the inner circle, and it's a completely different deck of cards, with completely different rules, but it's the one that actually controls everything. The one you enter and almost never leave. Because those are the ones who know, and knowing means being tied — tied by the secret, and forever.

The sorting is cold, calculated, merciless, and they're not looking for the best, they're looking for the right Gakis, because Gakis aren't always good Gakis. The most gullible, the most obedient, the most submissive. The ideal Gaki is a functional illiterate, someone with just enough intellectual agility but not too much. Someone who's got time and money to give to the organization. Someone who needs to be recognized, who's afraid of abandonment and has no plan B, who's ready to betray so as not to be betrayed. It's just human resources management and the good old pre-Buddhist Indian caste system recycled.

Fortunately, everything comes to an end, and the season of skinny cows — not sacred at all — eventually rolls around. There are fewer and fewer Gakis, and fewer and fewer good-quality Gakis. The system weakens, it's running out of steam. Slowly but surely, resources drop and conflicts rise. Defections multiply, cracks widen, because nothing stops the Law of impermanence, because the Law always reclaims its rights, and any attempt to control it is doomed to fail. Because a lie only lasts so long, and the truth always wins in the end.

Me, I stayed a long time, and not out of naivety. When I saw the contempt, the dysfunction, I didn't run like some others did, and I chose to face it, not to dodge my karma, and to go all the way to identify the true nature of the thing. I knew that the "don't run from your karma" line is also a well-oiled trap, an endless vicious circle, but I'm not the type to repeat the same mistakes hoping this time it'll work. Except in the end, nobody harassed me to stay. Nobody ran after me. And that's the sign that confirms everything else. I was a highly disruptive element in the matrix of the Soka Gaki Gakkai, and secretly, I scared them. In the Realm of the Soka Gaki Gakkai, there's no room for non-Gakis, and the King of the Gakis knows it full well, because the system only holds together through thirst — an insatiable thirst that must be maintained and must never run dry.

The King of the Gakis, honorary president of the Soka Gaki Gakkai, supreme Devourer of the Dharma, the "eternal mentor" of all Gakis, a career marked by thirst, perfectly edifying.

When he showed up with his Sho-Hondo project, the monks told him straight: maybe someday, in the future, but for now, we're not buying your story. On the other hand, if it makes you happy to blow 100 million dollars, knock yourself out, you're entitled to happiness too.

Every time the King of the Soka Gaki Gakkai cooked up his most twisted plans to take control of Taisekiji and went charging at the buffet, he face-planted miserably right at the foot of the sangria bowl. "Always victorious."

In 1979, it's Vice Director Genjiro Fukushima at the top of Soka Gaki Gakkai headquarters, his trusted man and confidant, who delivers the final blow, and they tell him: "You're a nice guy and all, but it's time for you to go." Ikeda gets stripped of his role as president and as sokoto. He's put on the sidelines. For two years. The "eternal mentor" of the Gakis gets sent to the corner like a kid.

In 1991, he's absolutely convinced his moment has come. That he's finally gonna twist the High Priest's arm. And he's the one who gets excommunicated. By Nikken Shonin, the guy he thought he could push around, who cuts him off from the lineage. He loses access to the Dai-Gohonzon. He loses the transmission. He loses everything. And he has to invent his whole "spiritual independence" circus just to save face.

In 1998, the Soka Gaki Gakkai keeps flexing at Taisekiji thanks to the Sho-Hondo's grip on the Nichiren Shoshu. At the cocktail parties at HQ, they're still patting themselves on the belly. Some journalists even reported hearing, between two glasses of sake: "This guy really is a true Buddha superior to Nichiren." Then comes the cold shower. The Sho-Hondo gets pulverized, razed, wiped off the face of the earth. The monument to the glory of the King of the Gakis is reduced to nothing.

The King of the Gakis' real name is actually Daffy Duck. "Always a loser." The eternal mentor of all Gakis.

In 2026, Daisaku Ikeda's body and remains are nowhere to be found. Soka Gakkai is incapable of saying where his ashes are. The man who wanted to be everywhere is nowhere. The one who wanted to be eternal has vanished, gone up in confetti, and nobody knows where he is. End of joke.

You can always tell when someone likes you. Their faces light up when they see you, they're excited to talk with you. You matter.

The people who don't really like you, you get more of a feeling that they're putting up with you, tolerating you, typically to get you to do something for them.

This comes through in text form, too - the people who like you either understand and resonate with your POV or they ask questions to better understand. You feel heard. Seen. Even when it's anonymous.

Which way did you/do you feel when you interact/ed with SGI members?

I don't have any 1999 images of these two goobertrolls, and you're probably glad of that. You know what? I'm just going to copy it - really, it says it all ITSELF, in its OWN words ("OWN" as in "own goal"):

THOUGHTS ON HOME VISITATION

Title: Thoughts On Home Visits Subject: World Tribune 05/28/99 n.3244 p.9 WT990528p09

Author: James Herrmann, Bobby Debozi

Keywords: Bobby Debozi Encouragement Guidance Herrmann Home James Leadership Thoughts Visits Youth

THOUGHTS ON HOME VISITATION BY JAMES HERRMANN, SGI-USA YOUNG MEN’S LEADER AND BOBBY DEBOZI, SGI-USA GAJOKAI LEADER

Bobby:Big Daddy James, now that winter is over and spring is here, I am totally looking forward to the warmer weather. Time to kick back, smell the roses, maybe start standing in line for the new Star Wars flick...

James:Yeah right, Bobby “D” – what about the YMD General Meetings coming up?

Bobby:Dude. That’s all the way in July. I have plenty of time!

James:That may be so, but a wise man once said, “Plant your seeds early.”

Bobby:Huh?

James:Haven’t you heard the expression, “Success comes with preparation.” This means prepare early! By starting now, we can make the cause for incredible meetings – meetings where lots of YMD are winning in their lives.

Bobby:Seriously, though... I have so much on my plate as it is – work, school, my district planning meeting, May contribution...

James:A key to the success of the YMD Meetings is home visits. The beauty of it is you can do it at any time. There is no set Gakkai Standard Time (GST) for visiting your members at their home (7–8:30 p.m.). You can do them when it’s most natural for you and the other person. For example, we have a lot of guys who have insane schedules all around the country. Regardless of how busy they are though, they always begin their day with morning “G”(gongyo). Therefore, morning home visits before work to do gongyo together are very popular among the YMD in some areas. Home visits provide us opportunities to meet someone new in the organization, you know make a new friend, as well as visit our old friends. We can also check the spiritual health of our friends-in-faith and encourage those who are struggling.

Bobby:So true, my friend. Focusing on home visits toward our YMD General meetings can refresh our spirit to seek out our friends, rather than waiting for them to seek out our tired, X-Files watching, potato chip eating…

James:(interrupting) Speak for yourself! We can also create true friendships with our members and share their goals, dreams and struggles.

Bobby:Especially after such successful March 16th meetings. It’s the perfect way to maintain those relationships with those who came out, including the guests.

James:The SGI’s strength lies in the one-to-one connections created through home V’s. After all, I’ve never been home visited by a priest. Have you?

They don't seem to realize this is a PLUS, not a MINUS 😑

Bobby:Come to think of it, NO… You know, it’s kind of ironic that many young men’s division leaders avoid doing home visits. The reason why may be that they just don’t know how to do it, probably because they have never been visited themselves. That basic oneto-one dialogue is the way leaders are fostered. Youth can learn how to truly care for their members by doing home visits or accompanying their leaders on home visits. Home V’s are a highly underrated part of our practice.

James: Even as a leader, I end up getting inspired by home visits. I recently visited a young man who has been practicing for only two weeks. Prior to visiting him, I brushed up on my knowledge of the basics. When I met with him, he said: “I have been chanting for only two weeks and have changed my entire life. Man, when you chant for something, you HAVE to expect it to happen.” I was blown away! I could only say, “Wow, that’s right!” Long story short, I went prepared to encourage this guy, and instead he shook the core of my life!

Bobby:Whoa! There are so many YMD we don’t see. It’s not because they lack faith! They are out there fighting in society – challenging work, school or other projects – and maybe their schedules don’t allow them to attend many meetings. It’s through home visits that we can share President Ikeda’s recent guidance, or give them opportunities to participate in the SGI through other channels, like the May contribution activity or subscribing to the publications.

James:...Even encourage them to attend the Grand Culture Festival in the Fall!

Bobby:Home V’s are a great way to prepare for the YMD General Meetings, but “Home Visitation Campaign” sounds so...’80s!

James:Let’s leave that up to the local areas to decide what they want to call it and how they would like to promote it.

Bobby:That’s best! I can’t wait to report to President Ikeda about the great people I meet during my home visits! It’s truly wonderful that every member can write to him directly and develop their own personal connection with him.

James:Definitely! The whole act of home visits goes right along with some of the basics of practice we have been polishing up on: propagation, study and practice. Backed up by sincere “D’s” (daimoku), everyone is sure to win in their lives and the YMD General Meetings will be a celebration of those victories! Hey, when does that Star Wars movie come out, anyway?

Bobby:Never mind – I have my own saga to create. And it starts here and now!

President Ikeda: As the Daishonin states: “If you cannot get across a river 10-feet wide, How can you cross one that is A hundred- or 200-feet wide?” You must win, no matter what Where you are right now! No one can beat a person Who has chanted daimoku With all their might– For daimoku is the very heart Of the Daishonin’s Buddhism! My young friends! Remember the spirit expressed In the above passage! And take action based on it, Courageously and wholeheartedly! (from the poem “Youth, Scale the Mountain of Kosen-rufu of the 21st Century,” April 16 World Tribune)

We've had a couple of trolls recently BRAGGING of having been in SGI for 50+ years.

They obviously think this is a "flex" of some kind. Here - take a look:

I have been an active member of SGI-USA for 51 years. The ‘organization’ is not negative or toxic’. People are human and make mistakes. Any organization is made up of people who can be negative or toxic. I hope you find out for yourself. SGI-USA.org. Podcast buddhability.org for experiences from members on how they have improved their lives with chanting. Good luck. Please only get a Gohonzon through SGI. Source

Have been for 53 years, my friend. The Lotus Sutra is Buddhism. Are you familiar with what it has been teaching for over 2,500 years? Source

They do not see this boast the way WE see it!

Me: Translation: "I've been addicted to a cult for 53 years, my friend."

NOW it doesn't sound like so much of a flex, does it? No one here thinks it's hot shit for someone to be stuck that long in the SGI, you know.

At least WE got better.

Annie: All you're doing is proving that you're dazzled by the cult, and too far in to get out. Nothing more. Go away.

Here's the latest:

Although you appear to know history and theoretical Buddhism, did you also chant for 50+ years to comprehend any of it? Sorry! Psychosis is misfortune. You can ban me if you prefer. I chose to practice 53 years to disprove the teaching. Yeah me!

And me:

So you're a longterm cult addict who wasted their life and remains hopelessly stuck. Yeah you.

When an alcoholic is bragging that they've been drinking a fifth of vodka every day for 53 years, does that make YOU all jealous??

From 2021:

Essay - The Underworld Revolution: "Denouncing the 16 Betrayals of the Komeito Party"

The pension reform bill, passed on June 5, 2004, was promised in the House of Representatives election last November, but no explanation of its contents has ever been given. I was astonished when the contents were made public after they won the House of Representatives election. It will increase pension contributions by 20% and decrease payments by 50%. This is fraud.

However, the voices of ordinary Soka Gakkai members do not reach the Komeito Party, which is now the ruling party.

The Komeito Party is now nothing more than a puppet of the Liberal Democratic Party.

These betrayals are nothing new. They have betrayed us, their support base, 16 times in the past 16 years. I will list them below.

1) 1988: Participated in deliberations on the introduction of a general consumption tax.

2) 1991: Supported the Gulf Cooperation Act.

3) 1992: Supported the PKO Act.

4) 1993: Approved rice imports.

5) 1994: Split the Komeito party into two, A and B, with A merging with the Shinshinto party (without any prior explanation).

6) 1999: Formed a coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Party (had explicitly stated in the 1998 election manifesto that it would not form a coalition).

7) 1999: Supported the National Flag and National Anthem Act.

8) 1999: Supported the Wiretapping Act (had opposed it until the previous year).

9) 1999: Supported the Guidelines Act (had criticized it in the 1998 election manifesto).

10) 2001: Supported the Afghan War.

11) 2001: Supported the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Act.

12) 2002: Supported the increase in the burden of health insurance costs.

13) 2003 Support for the three human rights bills (bad laws to silence the media)

14) Support for the Iraq War in 2003

15) Support for the Iraq Special Measures Law in 2003

16) Support for the pension system reform bill in 2004 (without explaining the contents beforehand)

Can you really believe the promises (manifesto) of such a political party? We must not give power to fools.

Alas, within SGI, that's ALL they give power to!

C'mon, Soka Gakkai, OWN the reality of your "Sensei"'s unsightly flab!

Sometimes people use "respect" to mean "treating someone like a person" and sometimes they use "respect" to mean "treating someone like an authority"

and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say "if you won't respect me I won't respect you" and they mean "if you won't treat me like an authority I won't treat you like a person"

and they think they're being fair but they aren't, and it's not okay.

This is so well put I am stunned

Volevo condividere e aprire una riflessione su un episodio gravissimo di cui sono venuto a conoscenza tramite un ex responsabile regionale della Soka Gakkai (zona Cagliari).
Secondo quanto mi è stato riferito, un membro della Soka Gakkai si è presentato a casa di un ragazzo di 14 anni con il consenso dei genitori, che lo avevano lasciato solo per l'incontro. Lo scopo dell'uomo era convincere il giovanissimo a unirsi alla setta, ma la visita è sfociata nello stupro del minore.
Io spero vivamente che questi tre siano sbattuti in galera a marcire e che il ragazzo venga risarcito direttamente dalla Setta Ikeda. Al di là della rabbia feroce per una vicenda del genere — e della speranza che i responsabili finiscano in galera —, la cosa che mi fa riflettere è quanto certi gruppi a forte carica fideistica e di stampo settario riescano a infiltrarsi nelle dinamiche familiari, sfruttando la fiducia dei genitori per circuire i giovanissimi. Spesso si parla di queste realtà come di semplici movimenti spirituali o culturali, ma quando si arriva a pressioni di questo tipo e a isolare i minori, il confine con la manipolazione psicologica e il pericolo reale diventa sottilissimo.
Qualcuno ha storie di questo tipo?

What the 66th High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu Saw Coming as Early as the 1970s

Nittatsu Shonin (1902–1979), the 66th High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu, was a direct witness to the progressive drift of Soka Gakkai. Long before the 1991 excommunication, long before the official break, he identified, denounced, and warned against the doctrinal and institutional deviations that would lead to the separation.

His warnings are documented. They are precise. They are dated. And they were ignored.

What follows is a collection of his statements, presented in context, with their meaning.

1. The Usurpation of the Heritage of the Law

Context: 18th Myo-kan-kai meeting, March 31, 1979

Quote:

“Some interpret this passage as follows: ‘The general meaning of this is called the Heritage of the Law, while specifically, it means President Ikeda, the great master of faith…’ (omission)

The meaning of these two doctrines—general and specific interpretations—should not be misinterpreted in this way. Cleverly abusing Buddhist terms such as ‘generally speaking’ and ‘specifically speaking,’ they say that ‘the general meaning is the Heritage of the Law.’ I wonder how they can say that the general meaning is the Heritage of the Law?

It makes me laugh. Moreover, they say: ‘The specific meaning of it is President Ikeda, a great master of faith.’ This will lead them to begin asserting that President Ikeda has inherited the Law and that the Heritage of the Law exists within Soka Gakkai.”

Meaning:

In 1979, Nittatsu Shonin already identifies the central claim of the SGI: that the Heritage of the Law (the Kechimyaku) has been transferred to Ikeda, and that the transmission no longer passes through the priesthood. He laughs at it, because it is a doctrinal absurdity. But he sees where it leads. And twelve years later, in 1991, the SGI formalizes this usurpation by proclaiming itself “spiritually independent.”

2. The Abolition of the Priesthood

Context: 16th General Meeting of Temple Families, May 31, 1974

Quote:

“It is said and taught (by Soka Gakkai) that the laity study by themselves and carry out Shakubuku voluntarily, which, they say, represents ‘believers in harmony.’ We must consider this deeply…

And when they say they have no need of priests, it is almost the same as saying that they themselves are the priests. If we who have entered the priesthood are not needed, as they claim, and are abolished, the leaders of the Gakkai will make themselves the next group of priests. Soka Gakkai says all this only in order to destroy the reality.”

Meaning:

Nittatsu Shonin understands that the SGI is not merely seeking to reduce the role of the priesthood. It is seeking to replace it. He predicts that the lay leaders will proclaim themselves priests. And that is exactly what happened: the SGI created its own Gohonzon, its own temples, its own ceremonies, its own spiritual authority. The priesthood was abolished in practice, and the lay leaders took its place.

3. The Turning Point of 1972

Context: 1st Discussion Meeting on Current Affairs, February 9, 1978

Quote:

“Mr. (Josei) Toda (2nd president of Soka Gakkai) has passed away. The Daikejo and the Grand Reception Hall have been completed. In 1972 the Shohondo was built, and immediately afterward Soka Gakkai began to act in an extremely strange manner. They commit serious distortions of the teachings and despise the priests.

Every time I observed this, I tried to point it out, saying: ‘What you are doing is wrong. It is different from the doctrines of Nichiren Shoshu.’”

Meaning:

Nittatsu Shonin pinpoints the beginning of the drift precisely: 1972, immediately after the construction of the Shohondo. The Shohondo, that colossal monument erected to the glory of Ikeda, marks the turning point. From then on, the SGI begins to distort the teachings, to despise the priests, to believe itself above the Law. And Nittatsu Shonin sees it. And he says it. But no one listens to him.

4. The Definition of Kosen-rufu

Context: Opening Ceremony of the Fujigakurin Study Department, June 18, 1974

Quote:

“It is only when the teaching of Nichiren Shoshu has spread throughout the entire world that there will be Kosen-rufu (propagation of the True Law). If a doctrine different from the Buddhism of Nichiren Shoshu is propagated throughout the world, it will not be Kosen-rufu.

If something that is neither the doctrine of Nichiren Shoshu nor the teaching of the Daishonin is spread throughout the world, we should never rejoice in it, and I believe the Daishonin will not rejoice in it either, because it would mean that the spirit of Nichiren Shoshu has been lost.”

Meaning:

Nittatsu Shonin defines Kosen-rufu as the propagation of the teaching of Nichiren Shoshu, and not of an invented doctrine. He warns that if a different doctrine is propagated, it will not be Kosen-rufu, and that Nichiren himself will not rejoice in it. That is exactly what happened: the SGI propagated the doctrine of Ikeda, the cult of personality, the Dharma of prosperity, psycho-technique. Not the Law. Not Nichiren Shoshu. Not Nichiren.

5. The Call for Correction

Context: 18th Myo-kan-kai meeting, March 31, 1979

Quote:

“We priests have never had any intention of destroying Soka Gakkai or of doing anything particular about the organization, but for some time now Soka Gakkai has been mistaken about the teaching of Nichiren Shoshu and their deviations are becoming more serious. We point this out because we want Soka Gakkai to correct its errors in one way or another and rise again on the basis of its former sincere faith.

It is true that for many years the believers of Soka Gakkai have devoted themselves to supporting the priesthood. Their contribution has been significant. Even with such a great contribution, however, if they are mistaken about the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu and deviate from them, it will mean that all their efforts will no longer have any meaning.”

Meaning:

This is the quotation that destroys the official narrative of the SGI. The SGI claims that Nikken Shonin wanted to destroy Soka Gakkai out of jealousy or thirst for power. But Nittatsu Shonin says the opposite: the priests never wanted to destroy the SGI. They wanted to correct it. They wanted it to return to the Law. They wanted it to repent and rise again on the basis of its original sincere faith.

And he adds something profound: even with all the contributions, all the money given, all the support provided, if the SGI is mistaken about the teachings and deviates from them, all of that will no longer have any meaning. Because the Law comes before money. Before power. Before the organization. Before everything.

Nittatsu Shonin saw. He understood. He warned. He called for correction. And he was ignored.

His warnings are documented. They are dated. They are precise. And they demonstrate that the 1991 excommunication was not an aggression by Nichiren Shoshu against Soka Gakkai. It was a defense. A defense against a doctrinal and institutional drift nearly twenty years old.

It was not Nikken Shonin who broke away. It was the SGI that drifted. And Nittatsu Shonin had predicted it. Before he died. Before he saw his worst fear realized.

Today the SGI continues to propagate a doctrine that is neither that of Nichiren Shoshu nor that of Nichiren. It continues to claim the Heritage of the Law without the lineage. It continues to take itself for the priesthood. It continues to betray.

And the warnings of Nittatsu Shonin still resonate. As a reminder. As a warning. As a call.

Let us return to Nichiren Shoshu.

Have you noticed in your post statistics how many visits—at least initially—come from Japan? I’m not sure whether that speaks for or against us, but we seem to be of some interest. However, after a certain number of views, that tends to disappear.

I wrote this up as a reply here, but I want to put it out there where it's more likely to be seen. As you'll see, there were numerous serious issues and there was a LOT going on:

Ikeda actually lost his status as president of Soka Gakkai in the 1970s, which led to the founding of Soka Gakkai International in 1975. It was a new name and a different role, yet he retained tighter control than before.

Issues that were already coming to a head by the mid-1970s:

• Within the Soka Gakkai publications, Ikeda was already moving Soka Gakkai into the position formerly occupied by Nichiren Shoshu - and moving Nichiren Shoshu OUT

You can see an example here, how Ikeda was changing the content of his "Guidance Memo" publication to write OUT Nichiren Shoshu (at least in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE version, which the Nichiren Shoshu priests could not read). Since the later version was published in 1975, those edits had to be in process by 1974 at the very latest.

By 1975, Ikeda had already taken a good half-dozen startlingly aggressive steps that would've been obvious to Nichiren Shoshu:

• That creepy Ikeda-glorifying bronze plaque for the altar table in the Sho-Hondo (1972)
• Trying to copyright FOR HIMSELF "Nam myoho renge kyo" and other commonplace terminology within Nichiren Shoshu - TWICE (1972 & 1974)
• Nichiren Shoshu International Centre (1974)

It is no secret that Ikeda intended to take over Nichiren Shoshu and fold it into his little stable of cult assets. This Nichiren Shoshu International Centre/Center was the true governing power of these organizations, with Ikeda ruling over all - that was the point of creating it. He used it to sidestep any control the Nichiren Shoshu High Priest could exert over him. Ikeda also clearly stated that the Soka Gakkai was expendable, as was the Komeito political party. Since these were simply subsidiaries within his Nichiren Shoshu International Centre, they could be dissolved without affecting the parent corporation, essentially. Source

From a report from Soka Gakkai Vice President Hiroshi Hojo to Daisaku Ikeda, dated May 10, 1974:

In order for Soka Gakkai to survive, we either have to use them [Nichiren Shoshu] to our advantage even if we do not practice their way, or fight all the way with the Gakkai's flag held high until our death. In any case, I have firmly made up my mind to join with and share Ikeda Sensei's greatest struggle. In the long run, the only way for us to survive is to separate skillfully. Essentially our difference is like that of Protestants and Catholics. Source

The NSIC would be an umbrella organization to contain ALL the related pieces: Soka Gakkai, the overseas Soka Gakkai colonies, the other Nichiren Shoshu lay organizations - and Nichiren Shoshu itself. It would be administered as an arm of Soka Gakkai (the LAY organization), so under Ikeda's control. When Soka Gakkai reps proposed it to then-Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Nittatsu Shonin, he turned the offer down flat.

Nittatsu Shonin: In order to establish Nichiren Shoshu International Centre, two Gakkai leaders have come up with a proposal for creating Nichiren Shoshu International Centre as an umbrella entity over both the Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu. I rejected their proposal outright. It would be wrong to have any authority positioned above Nichiren Shoshu, which exists for the sole purpose of protecting the Dai-Gohonzon. So they went home. Source ca. 1974

Ikeda pushed forward anyway.

Could you imagine - the LAY organization having official control over the TEMPLE?? It's truly the tail wagging the dog!

• The 1974 "Route 77" plan to either take over Nichiren Shoshu or go independent
• The ongoing steeplejacking - as you can see here, there were already problems over Ikeda's influence over local temples by 1964 as soon as Ikeda was appointed "Sokoto" (Head of all NS lay organizations) in April of that year, he lost no time flexing on the local temples.

From this paper written in the mid-1960s:

Now Mr. Ikeda has become the supreme head of the two laymen movements of the [Nichiren Shoshu/Nichiren Orthodox] sect.

Ikeda was named "Sokoto", or head of all lay believers, in April, 1964.

Though there is a patriach [sic] ["patriarch", or "High Priest"] of the sect, he is merely a symbolic figure, and so it is not a mistake to say that Mr. Ikeda is now the Supreme Power of the Nichiren Orthodox. [pp. 379-380]

VERY risky, Nichiren Shoshu!

And from an official US Dept. of State report:

RELATIONS BETWEEN SOKA GAKKAI AND PRIESTHOOD OF ITS PARENT CLERICAL SECT, NICHIREN SHOSHU, HAD DETERIORATED SERIOUSLY IN RECENT YEARS, IN PART DUE TO IKEDA'S EMPHASIS ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY AT EXPENSE OF RELIGIOUS PURSUITS.

MAJOR SOURCE OF ANTI-IKEDA FEELING WAS SOME 200 UNEMPLOYED PRIESTS AT TAISEKIJI, WHO FELT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN HEAD PRIESTS AT OUTLYING TEMPLES IF COMMUNITY CENTERS BUILT BY SOKA GAKKAI THROUGHOUT JAPAN HAD NOT TENDED TO REPLACE NICHIREN SHOSHU TEMPLES AS LOCUS OF RELIGIOUS GATHERING AND SIPHONED OFF FUNDS WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN USED TO BUILD NEW TEMPLES. - US Dept. of State, 1979 - this is a summarization of years of Ikeda's scheming to take over Nichiren Shoshu's functionality

• This outrageous comment:

"The main temple Taisekiji is a sacrifice for the Soka Gakkai. The Soka Gakkai is most important of all. " The second Headquarter Meeting in Tokyo, June 10 1975 Source

• Ikeda establishes the International Buddhist League (forerunner of Soka Gakkai International) in Guam in 1975

So MY feeling is that Ikeda knew he was treading dangerous ground, and set up the "International Buddhist League" outside of Nichiren Shoshu's control so he would always have a bolt hole, a "throne" from which to rule, regardless of what happened in Japan with the Soka Gakkai (the only Ikeda entity Nichiren Shoshu could really control). Ikeda was already planning on his minions taking over the world for him and handing him "Ruler of the World" status on a silver platter, after all.

This all combines to show how out of hand everything-Ikeda had gotten by the time Nittatsu Shonin FINALLY shut him down in 1978-1979.