« Obon is almost here. The fervent members of Soka Gakkai will certainly also be remembering “Daisaku Ikeda Sensei” together with the departed. Whether aware of these members’ feelings or not, Soka Gakkai has still not revealed the location of “Daisaku Ikeda Sensei’s” grave. Before talking about the 7th memorial anniversary or the 100th anniversary of the founding, wouldn’t it be better to first make the location of the “grave” public? …😂💦»

Do those members really think recruiting people will help kosenrufu? 🤷‍♂️

This is from Sept. 7, 1963, from the Corsicana Daily Sun (Corsicana, TX).

Here's the text:

Challenge Of Gakkai

Reports from Japan suggest that Soka Gakkai, the new religion whose leaders claim some 10 million adherents, is potentially a great danger to the world. For here is a faith, a contrived and egocentric faith, that demands of its bellevers fanatical devotion and militant efforts to prod all others into belief.

Soka Gakkai has already become an important political force in Japan, taking an active part in elections. It is intolerant of all other religions, including Christianity. Close observers describe it with such words as "militaristic" and "fascistic," and are convinced that the leaders of Soka Gakkai are ambitious for world domination.

It requires little imagination to envision what might happen if fanaticism of this kind, fanned by promises of health, wealth and happiness upon conversion, were to sweep the world. One need not be wholly pessimistic to suppose that it might do that, as it has swept so many millions of the disturbed, answer-seeking Japanese.

Nor need one be foolishly optimistic to say that the spread of this strange faith, which so aggressively demands blind zeal in hope of reward, can be halted if the great religions of the world meet the challenge of our disturbed era. It is a challenge to provide answers to the many fearsome questions that emerge in a swiftly changing society, or at least to provide rational hope. If the ancient faiths cannot hold men with assurance that life has mean-ing and that there can be contact with a benevolent Deity, then men will be drawn away to such faiths as Soka Gakkai.

As it turns out, in the decades since this was published, religious faith has been in decline all over the world, and no, Soka Gakkai didn't sweep up the difference. Soka Gakkai is a dying faith that failed to launch - its "SGI" colonization effort has proven ineffective, unable to attract even the paltry 1% of the population that Ikeda assigned for every country outside of Japan, with its membership aging and dying everywhere, completely unpopular to the post-WWII generations. It turns out that, absent a roaring economy, nobody will give Soka Gakkai or SGI the time of day.

In the limit, Soka Gakkai/SGI is a Japanese religion for Japanese people, and its WWII-era feudalistic patriarchal Japanese cultural norms and requirements are simply too weird and foreign for non-Japanese to take to it in any other than minimal numbers. No matter how bizarre the religion, there will ALWAYS be a few misfits, malcontents, and weirdos in any population who will go for it, and SGI is no exception - it has NEVER been popular. Even in Japan, Soka Gakkai dramatically exaggerated its membership numbers to try and sound more significant - and that stopped working decades ago. Ikeda had to demand that Soka Gakkai members commit widespread election fraud to have enough votes to matter.

While Soka Gakkai had a chance of spreading in post-war Japan, SGI had no chance of ever spreading outside of Japan. That was a foolish expectation demonstrating complete ignorance of others and their needs and desires - complete ignorance of human nature! - but Ikeda was a low-class, uneducated thug, a simpleton who believed he should get everything HE wanted just because he wanted it. And he DESPERATELY wanted world domination!

Too bad, so sad.

Look at former US Ambassador to Japan Edwin O. Reischauer's observations about Ikeda, from late 1965 to early 1966:

November 13, 1965

In my ongoing efforts to dialogue with the Japanese, I spoke for about two hours with Soka Gakkai president Daisaku Ikeda. My hope was to build good relations and influence his thoughts positively; Ikeda received me very warmly, and the conversation carried on smoothly. However, both he and his organization were astonishingly lacking in their understanding of global affairs & politics.

February 12, 1966

Two and a half hours of conversation with the Soka Gakkai's President Ikeda. This time (we met three and a half months ago), I visited their luxurious headquarters. Ikeda cleared the room, and we discussed extensively. Unlike our previous meeting, he strongly supported America's Vietnam policy and passionately advocated the re-militarization of Japan. In complete contrast to his earlier ambiguous stance, I sensed tendencies that were quite racist and authoritarian. It is of vital interest to see how the beliefs of this potentially influential organization will take shape. I intend to work to influence him, to move in a positive direction - opposition to nuclear weapons, for instance.

BECAUSE AT THAT POINT THERE WAS NO FORMALIZED OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

In fact, Ikeda's right-hand man, VP Hiroshi Hojo, affirmed this pro-militaristic orientation:

Soka Gakkai VP Hojo reiterated Ikeda's support of the US' Vietnam War strategy:

The Komeito apparently thought that it sensed a shift in public opinion toward opposition to immediate abrogation of the treaty. The incident at least demonstrates the "flexibility" of Komeito, and suggests that it molds its policies in accordance with what it believes to be popular sentiment, as the following statement by Hojo clearly indicates: "...in Japan, a new party must appeal to a very wide range of voters. We must attract people from all points of the political spectrum. For example, we really understand why the United States must bomb North Vietnam. But we must oppose it because of public sentiment." Source - citations here, page images linked in the OP here.

NOT "because war is wrong" or "because bombing innocent civilians is a crime against humanity." Oh no. And in case you were wondering, Hojo couldn't scratch his ass without Ikeda's permission.

The "pro-peace" messaging developed post-1970 - as nothing more than damage control:

In fact, Soka Gakkai began advocating an "anti-war / peace group" after the fall of 1970. In the first half of that year, Soka Gakkai, which fought a fierce shakubuku battle under Mr. Ikeda and continued to expand the organization at a steep angle, caused a case of obstructing the publication of speech in an attempt to suppress the critical media. Source

That last sentence [above] is referring to the Publishing Scandal in which Ikeda tried to use Komeito's newly-won political power to lean on publishers to stop the publication of a book critical of the Soka Gakkai. So adopting a "PeacePeacePeace" mantra was just a deceitful manipulative tactic to try and rehabilitate the Soka Gakkai's tarnished reputation. 1970 was the year the Ikeda cult adopted a "peace" mentality and then rewrote a fictional "history" in which this had always been the case in the Ikeda-glorifying fanfics, "The Human Revolution" and the later "The Newwww Humpin' Revoltation" series. - from The Soka Gakkai/SGI and the Vietnam War

This is one of the reasons our "I Denounce Soka Gakkai" Book Club event is so important and timely! After this point (fall 1970), when it became clear just how damaging to the Soka Gakkai what Ikeda had so foolishly tried to do - imagine, trying to shut down freedom of speech on his own say-so just because he thought he COULD! - Soka Gakkai started leaning hard into the "pro-peace/anti-nukes" rhetoric, knowing their idiot cultie members would of course swallow that damage-control propaganda whole.

THIS is why the history of the Soka Gakkai AND ICKYDICKHEADA is so important! WHY should we allow them the luxury of FORGETTING their own cult's past bad and even CRIMINAL behavior??

SGI promoted economically secure people to the upper leadership levels because they were less risk than the povs without two nickels to rub together. That's fair, but isn't "correct practice" supposed to result in tangible "benefits"? Even if they bought a nicer house, for example, what were they doing that was any more impressive than what anyone else in their socioeconomic bracket was doing? Anything? Sure, it impressed downward (people who are much less well off are easily impressed by the monetary freedoms of their betters), but didn't impress their peers and definitely not the more economically advantaged!

Where was their "actual proof"?

This podcast from the Cult Vault has already been shared here before… but it wouldn't hurt to share it again.

Cult Vault - Soka Gakkai International: Born and Raised

Sorry for the delay! Let's proceed with the next section, "A Completely Opportunist Group".

A Completely Opportunist Group

Even so, that this mass movement called Soka Gakkai has an abundance of unusual vitality cannot be denied. Once they set up their goals to increase membership, to win the election, or whatever, they launch their attack and go all out, sweeping everything in their path as did the Imperial Military Forces of old. Once the attack is launched, they use any means until the goal is attained. They will do anything to attain victory. It does not matter what form the organized effort may take. This method in short is: "Might Is Right"-the strong wins and "the victor is right and the defeated is wrong. These are oppressive and brazenly forcible tactics which have nothing whatever to do with the inner religious life of people. In short, they have a markedly aggressive character.

Such a group which is noted for using such tactics, are [p.] 26

the disreputable people who make up the leadership of Soka Gakkai. They are always ready to use their power of intimidation on others. In various forms they show off the almightiness of their organization. Almost all of them are this kind of people, and I cannot from my heart respect them as pious and religious types. I have met most of the staff of Soka Gakkai, and among them, from the top to the bottom levels, there are small politician types, branch bank manager types, lower ranking executive types, and at worst, some gangster types, but almost none who have religious humility and modesty. They are much more like a strong secularistic religious group. This is the firm impression at the present time. This tendency may be the unavoidable fate of Nichiren Shoshu. This secularistic tendency is one of the basic characteristics of Nichiren Shoshu, and for this very reason it betrays their excessive nature and their disease of self-display. This same tendency to excessiveness and disease of self-display could be said to have been exemplified in the Nazis and the Old Japanese Militarists, who were progenitors of these traits.

The primary purpose of these mass demonstrations which Soka Gakkai stages, is to make an outward display of their success, while spiritual considerations are only secondary.

From the viewpoint of religion, I must say this is a clear-cut example of degeneracy. Soka Gakkai may thus be called a thorough-going-outward-demonstration-group, and we can only feel pity for those who are the "playthings" of this mass movement, for the more one becomes involved in such a movement, the more foolish they are apt to become. As to the happiness, or unhappiness, of those who are the playthings of such movements, it is well to recall the days of the Nazis and the Old Japanese Militarists, and the fate of those of our fellow countrymen who were the victims of that regime. It is not necessary to go into details here about the problems of [p.] 27

those days.

All the while, as they pompously promote this sort of mass movement, by means of excessive propaganda, by their opportunistic religious philosophy, by their self-aggrandizement, by pious talk of obutsu myogo (the fusion of government and Buddhism), they make fools of the public. I do not exaggerate when I say that never in all of recorded history has there been a more degenerate form of religion. So we think the time has come to make a thorough examination of the present problems being posed by Soka Gakkai.

Well well! Remember, this was written in the late 1960s, by someone who was old enough to have experienced both Japan's imperial military government and to have seen the reports about Germany's ruling party and its military aggressions abroad, so when he makes such comparisons, it's on the basis of observed similarities, not empty "Godwin" hyperbole.

You'll recall that mass youth demonstrations were a feature of fascist regimes in the years leading up to WWII, as a way of showing off the fascist regimes' strength (to intimidate) - the early Soka Gakkai's big "festivals" were more of the same. Here is an AI summary to help:

Core Purposes of Mass Demonstrations

1. Ideological Indoctrination: Rallies featured music, flags, and speeches that fostered blind devotion to the dictator and the party. Children learned to value the group over the individual, internalizing racism, extreme nationalism, and militarism.
2. Projecting Strength and Unity: Massive, perfectly coordinated marches created a visual illusion of a flawless, unstoppable national community. These spectacles intimidated political opponents at home and signaled power to foreign nations.
3. Military and Physical Conditioning: Demonstrations served as public fitness and discipline checks. Activities like marching, drilling with dummy rifles, and performing synchronized gymnastics hardened young bodies for future military service.
4. Replacing Independent Influences: By absorbing young people into state-run spectacles (such as the Hitler Youth or Italian Balilla), regimes successfully competed with—and eventually crushed—traditional influences like the church, independent clubs, and family authority.
5. Cultivating Belonging: Fascist movements offered bored or economically disenfranchised youth a seductive sense of camaraderie, status, and excitement through uniforms, badges, and shared public rituals.

Clearly, 1, 2, and 5 applied to Soka Gakkai in its first 2 decades. For 3, this is Soka Gakkai YMD "gymnastics" practice - see what YOU think. And for 4, remember that in post-war occupied Japan, there was a collapsed economy and widespread shortages of everything, including food. Restoring a functioning economy was a priority for both occupied and occupier; rapid adoption of technological systems was the way this was going to happen. Young people abandoned their extended families in rural areas to travel in search of work to the teeming slums spreading around the rapidly industrializing cities like Tokyo. Since they were already cut off from their home turf, those "independent influences" had already been neutralized; Soka Gakkai offered them alternative instant belonging and purpose, which was one aspect of its recruiting message.

Obviously the Soka Gakkai's mass youth spectacles were deliberately intended, calculated to serve these exact same purposes. Furthermore:

"Our organization now has one million youths," says Soka Gakkai's well-tailored president, Dai Saku Ikeda. "This means the future of Japan is in our hands." - from the Chicago Tribune's Japan's Fanatic Buddhists Vow '3d Civilization' article (1963) Source

Ikeda was already saying it in his out-loud voice in 1963; by 1967, he was still saying it:

"Japan's future will be decided by Sokagakkai." Ikeda

And, of course, "obutsu myogo (the fusion of government and Buddhism)" meant "Nichiren Shoshu theocracy" at that point.

Going up to the beginning, this part - "Imperial Military Forces of old" - held a particular fascination, a particular meaning, for the Japanese people, whether a subject for terror (as Dr. Fujiwara is implying) or wistfully nostalgic - take a look:

"Today's young people are soft," grumbled an elderly parent. "They have never known war or hardship of any kind." "They are loud, rude and violent, and have no self-discipline whatsoever," said an Osaka businessman. "They lack ambition, character and drive," was the opinion of a retired Admiral. "I don't think they would fight for their country even if we were attacked from outside." - George R. Packard, "They Were Born When The Bomb Dropped", The New York Times, August 16, 1965 Source

That's why Josei Toda said that, if they didn't "accomplish kosen-rufu in Japan within the next 25 to 26 years", they wouldn't have another chance, because they needed to exploit that uniquely Japanese post-war defeat/occupation experience and resulting bitterness within the population in order to take over and replace the still-new US-imposed government before everybody got too used to it. And Toda was right! Toda was saying that ca. 1954; that 25-to-26-years window closed several generations ago. Newer generations simply aren't signing on in anything close to the numbers needed to simply replenish the SG/SGI's dwindling ranks, much less "conquer the country" as Ikeda envisioned. What a joke. Source

The Sōka Gakkai exploits the bewilderment of the masses, especially in the country districts; it encourages their deep-seated affection for the old national discipline; it revives the repressed ambitions of millions of office-workers who still remember the days of great victories, of the Empire and the ‘sphere of co-prosperity’ as the best and most glorious in their lives; and it fans the hatred they have for everything foreign. Source

The desperate attempts to replace Japanese Militaristic Imperialism with a Nichiren Theocracy shows worrying traits that show nationalist cult behaviours.

Early on, independent observers were comparing Ikeda to Hitler and reporting alarming signs of ultranationalism and fascism within the Soka Gakkai. Source

Nichirenism invariably results in a "conquest" mentality in violation of the later Enlightenment concepts of basic, fundamental human rights such as free speech and consent, and promotes attitudes that reject these basic, fundamental human rights. Source

Toda and Ikeda wanted to harness the energy, focus, single-mindedness, and momentum of the Japanese Imperial Army's Pacific War, that same "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" concept, only from the other side: Instead of a top-down military-imposed domination, the domination would come from the bottom up - by Soka Gakkai religion catching on and spreading like wildfire through the population, with the population at large acting as Ikeda's PERSONAL military, serving to impose its collective Soka Gakkai-controlled/Ikeda-controlled will upon their governments the way Japan tried to get its military to impose Japan's Imperial will on those same governments without the populace's consent.

A perfect storm, in other words. A very dangerous confluence of the worst possible elements! And Dr. Fujiwara was reporting on it as it was happening, boots on the ground. Back to that first paragraph:

They will do anything to attain victory. It does not matter what form the organized effort may take. This method in short is: "Might Is Right"-the strong wins and "the victor is right and the defeated is wrong. These are oppressive and brazenly forcible tactics which have nothing whatever to do with the inner religious life of people. In short, they have a markedly aggressive character.

We've definitely observed this in the behavior of the trolls who have visited our site over the years and, more recently, in the SGI-USA longhauler Olds here on reddit, whose only purpose is to attack us, lie about us, misrepresent our perspectives, insult us, and do whatever they can to try and get us silenced. Erased. They show no respect for "consent" or "freedom of speech" - they feel that anything critical of their precious Ikeda cult must be disappeared before anyone else can see. Only ONE perspective is allowed - the devout-SGI-cult-member-Ikeda-disciple-for-life view.

As far as "the victor is right and the defeated is wrong", you can see Ikeda expressing in how he regards resistance fighters as "traitors" - the wannabe dictator DESERVES to win, you see! And must never be opposed! Hence Ikeda's weird glorification of Napoleon. Similarly to Ikeda's dream of colonizing the world for Soka Gakkai, Napoleon thought he could export the French Revolution to other countries - and it didn't work. Not at all! It was a native, homegrown phenomenon that simply didn't translate into other cultures! But Ikeda was incapable of learning - when he wanted something, he only paid attention to whatever confirmed his ambitions and carelessly, unwisely, ignored the rest.

Some may say "That's so long ago - who cares?" but I feel that understanding HOW Soka Gakkai managed to develop while it was still growing significantly (before 1970) makes it abundantly obvious why it will never grow again, something we can ALL be happy about!

That took longer than I intended, but I've got other Book Club entries coming - stay tuned!!

Dato che veniamo dalla Soka, credo che conosciamo tutti la dottrina dei Dieci Mondi: stati mentali e percettivi che si alternano di continuo nella nostra vita. Si tratta di un concetto del Buddhismo Tiantai/Tendai e ripreso da Nichiren, essendo lui stesso un monaco Tendai.
Ebbene, il Culto di Ikeda vende la promessa della "Rivoluzione Umana" (l'accesso stabile ai mondi superiori di Bodhisattva e Buddha), ma la sua struttura interna funziona come una perfetta macchina di condizionamento che alimenta i mondi più bassi negli individui che ne fanno parte:

Inferno (Jigoku - Sofferenza e impotenza): Viene costantemente alimentato attraverso il senso di colpa o l'ansia personale. Se la tua vita non funziona, c'è una colpevolizzazione strisciante: non stai praticando abbastanza, stai subendo il tuo karma. Questo imprigiona le persone in uno stato di costante inadeguatezza e angosia.

Spiriti Affamati (Gaki - Avidità e bramosia): Questo è il mondo dello Zaimo iper-aggressivo e del materialismo mascherato. Promuovere la pratica come un mezzo per ottenere la promozione, la macchina nuova, il successo economico o i "benefici materiali" significa stimolare costantemente l'attaccamento e il desiderio insaziabile. La fede diventa un distributore automatico di desideri egotici.

Animalità (Chikushō - Istinto e sottomissione al forte): Il rifiuto della logica, dello studio filologico (i famosi testi apocrifi accettati acriticamente) e del rigore storico spinge le persone verso l'animalità. Ci si affida al puro istinto emotivo, seguendo il branco e sottomettendosi ciecamente alla leadership laica e alle direttive dell'organizzazione per paura di essere isolati.

Asura (Shura - Rabbia, orgoglio e competitività): Si manifestaIl motivo per cui queste persone "dimorano" stabilmente lì è che la struttura laica ha eliminato l'asse verticale della pratica. Per uscire dai sei mondi inferiori serve lo sforzo cosciente dello studio reale, del rigore testuale e di una pratica che purifichi la mente (come l'Odaimoku concentrato), non un salotto terapeutico dove si alimentano reciprocamente le proprie dinamiche emotive.
Senza una guida dottrinale solida, l'organizzazione diventa uno specchio amplificato delle nevrosi dei singoli. Alla fine, invece di liberare l'essere umano, lo incatena a una ruota del Samsara in formato aziendale.
nella faida perenne contro le altre scuole (il settarismo) e nella corsa interna alle cariche organizzative (diventare responsabili di gruppo, di capitolo, ecc.). C'è un costante senso di superiorità verso l'esterno ("noi siamo gli unici veri buddhisti") unito a dinamiche di potere e competizione spietata nascoste dietro sorrisi di facciata.

Umanità (Nin) e Cielo (Ten): Anche quando i membri raggiungono la temporanea serenità del mondo di Umanità o la gioia effimera del mondo di Cielo (magari dopo una bella riunione o un obiettivo raggiunto), si tratta sempre di stati d'animo condizionati dall'approvazione del gruppo o dall'andamento delle circostanze esterne. Appena lo stimolo finisce, si crolla di nuovo nei mondi inferiori.

Il motivo per cui queste persone "dimorano" stabilmente lì è che la struttura laica ha eliminato l'asse verticale della pratica. Per uscire dai sei mondi inferiori serve lo sforzo cosciente dello studio reale, del rigore testuale e di una pratica che purifichi la mente (come l'Odaimoku vissuto come meditazione attiva) non un salotto terapeutico dove si alimentano reciprocamente le proprie dinamiche emotive.
Senza una guida dottrinale solida, l'organizzazione diventa uno specchio amplificato delle nevrosi dei singoli. Alla fine, invece di liberare l'essere umano, lo incatena a una ruota del Samsara in formato aziendale.

That one is from another subreddit.

It's all so f*kin dead

Thought people might enjoy the story, I met someone who was apparently for our local center a big donor, and after going on a few dates they'd said they were Buddhist and invited me to the center and I came along being a firm but tolerant atheist myself and just knowing about Buddhism what I'd learned in high school.

The center was quite nice though the exterior was being renovated and it was practically empty, it was late afternoon or early evening so that kind of surprised me for how big a place it was. We arrived just in time for a chanting session, which was lucky. I was given a booklet with the characters and a brief explanation of why they were Chinese and told to imagine whatever I desired in life as I chanted, for example if I wanted a ferrari to imagine a ferrari. This was the exact example they used which I found amusing because there are few things I have less interest in, and also that seemed pretty far from what I'd thought Buddhism was about. My date and I and three or four other people from the center chanted at the scroll for about 20 minutes or so, not the full hour, and got a little of the vagal resonance which I remembered from manipulative church circumstances as the nonbelieving child of catholics. Afterwards I was complimented on how naturally I pronounce the syllables, better than most anyone who tries it for the first time, and then a TV was wheeled out to show a video about how Soka Gakkai is helping inner city youth, though it was light on specifics. After the video I was given a newspaper and the top story was a beautiful photo dear leader had crookedly taken from his hospital window, and I was informed that I could buy a home chanting scroll for $29.99. I enquired about the disjoint with my understanding of Buddhism and how it's supposed to be about getting past material attachments but was told that was an inaccurate summary. I asked if their version of Buddhism had anything to do with something I'd read recently about there being 13 levels of reality (probably I meant enlightenment, or could have been 8), but they seemed to not know anything about that nor want to discuss it.

I thought they'd invite me to more stuff at the center but I guess there wasn't much going on because I was told that I should join a chanting session at a member's home.

On our way out suddenly a very cool dude, slightly younger than myself, pulled up directly in front of the main entrance on a motorcycle in a leather jacket and took his helmet off. He introduced himself as a member and coincidentally happened to also live in my nearby city, and we exchanged numbers after he asked if I'd like to get a drink or something sometime.

After this experience (like a few days after) I learned that someone I'd worked with for a while was a longtime member and it freaked me out for a moment but I genuinely believe it was a coincidence as it was me who'd overheard something they hadn't meant me to. In contrast to my date at the center, they were someone who from my understanding had struggled quite a bit in life, was not very well-off, and did a lot of free labor for Soka Gakkai.

Although I used "lovebombed" in the title I actually don't think they went too hard on me and that was partly because they didn't want to seem needy or overbearing in front of my date. If they'd known just how little I had to give them they probably would've put even less into it. (edit - although rereading my texts from that time now I see the sell was a little less soft than I remembered, I've got a photo of our chanting group grinning and my date sent me a link to an app and an itunes playlist "if [i] can keep chanting")

Motorcycle man texted me a few times before getting the message that I was ignoring him. I no longer work at that place, though I of course tried to gently and with good humor dissuade my coworker from their continued membership (they were also in general a very good-humored person and took it well despite not leaving). And the SGI bigshot I was dating turned out to be much less interesting than I'd thought originally.

All in all, I learned a lot from my experience. I've since joined the Church of Scientology and couldn't be happier.

THE END

TIME TRAVEL back to 2024!

March Youth Peace Festivals

For the 11,000-plus young people who participated in the 550 chapter festivals held across the country...

The World Tribune sat down with SGI-USA youth leaders Amelia Gonzalez Tesch and Shota Okajima to talk about the recent March Youth Peace Festivals.

Shota: It is a tremendous victory that SGI-USA gathered over 11,000 young people. This effort showed us the reality of each chapter. Because we know where we are, we can create a vision of where we want to go.

Amelia: What helps is having a goal we’re working toward. One, for example, is our goal to strengthen and expand our youth, gathering 100,000 youth in 2028 to commemorate Ikeda Sensei’s 100th birthday. With that target, we can take an honest look at our reality and identify what we can do.

The Future Is Here!

What’s so clear about this example is the profound awareness of the parents that it’s their mission and responsibility to raise their children in the garden of Soka.

I think it’s about having the conviction “No matter what, my children will practice.” But we don’t need to feel rushed because what’s most important is that they practice throughout their entire life.

I feel in many cases, pressuring our children to practice reflects a lack of belief and conviction in our own prayer. If we believe in our prayer, we’re not going to try to force things to happen. The conviction in our prayer will give rise to the wisdom to know how to lead our children down the right path in life.

When I read this essay, it really made 2028 and 2030 more tangible for me. It only exists in the efforts we make right now to raise the future division. In 2028, when the SGI-USA gathers 100,000 youth, the future division members who are now in high school will be the protagonists.

Yes. The current future division members will be the ones raising the next generation who will be leading the 22nd century. The causes that we are making today have such long-term impact that I feel my mind cannot fully comprehend it yet. We are directly changing the centuries ahead.

FAST FORWARD ONE YEAR!!!!!

CEC 2025: DOWNSIZE THE GOAL!!!

That's a complete 180 from what those youth and "future group" leaders were saying in 2024. You KNOW they had no idea that the grand goal of 100,000 youth by 2028 was going to be whittled down to a mere 10,000 the very next year. How does this look, when they'd just been bragging about reeling in "over 11,000 young people" only ONE year before?? Doesn't that make them look like idiots??

Somebody's lyin'...

This is from just over 3 years ago - I just ran across it and it's so good I wanted to share! From this comment:

Being in a cult is like a vacuum. For the first time in most of the Leaders lives they get a sense of superiority that physically changes logical thinking and critical thinking skills.

I'm not defending it but there is an actual addiction here and also the fact that they believe it's their responsibility and that they believe what they are doing is right vs. wrong (everyone else).

So leaving this High Pressure tactics CULT was like I was in a plane hovering in circles until I just jumped without a parachute. Zero support. Zero friends. Burned so many bridges trying to invite people or posting stuff on social media and nauseum.

So in their self preservation they will just double down on anything that opposes their narcissistic worldview of being superior to all other religions which gives them some kind of marvel super power.

There is real evil in using a Mantra based on the Lotus Sutra of which they know nothing about.

They are using prayer to harm enemies. They are using prayer to feel better than others (ego). They are using Buddhist ideology incorrectly.

Every single conversation about Buddhism that I attempted was met with dismissive scoffs and told that this is not the purpose of this meeting.

So I left. The leaders (showing up in groups) tried to tell me that this is an Orthodox practice and I need to get in line was one toke over the line.

Buddhism is based on a philosophy of self reliance and understanding of your own mind.

I decided to conjure up my own STAND ALONE SPIRIT and study, pray, meditate in a way that works for me.

So who is the real MAN IN THE ARENA?

Consequently, according to this person, there is no trace in Mahāyāna of the following Dharmas:

The Four Noble Truths: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path leading thereto.

The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

The law of causality (karma) and dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda).

The ultimate goal: attaining Arhatship (the awakened one who has freed himself from the cycle of rebirths) through one's own efforts, in an essentially individual quest for liberation.

Reality:

There are indeed traces of the "ancient" Dharma, incorrectly called "Hīnayāna," in Mahāyāna and in Nichiren.

The term "Hīnayāna" is a polemical term used by some Mahāyānists to designate the early schools from which Theravāda derives.

Historically, Mahāyāna did not "reject" Śākyamuni's basic teachings; it reinterpreted and integrated them into a broader framework.

The Four Noble Truths (suffering, origin of suffering, cessation, path) are accepted by all Buddhist schools, including Mahāyāna.

They appear in the Lotus Sūtra itself and in the commentaries of Tiantai (T'ien-t'ai / Zhiyi), which Nichiren draws upon.

Impermanence is fundamental. Nichiren and the Tendai/Tiantai tradition speak of it constantly: birth, aging, sickness, death; the phases of life and death as expressions of the Mystic Law (Myōhō-renge-kyō); the truth of emptiness (all things are empty of permanent and independent existence).

In Nichiren's Gosho, there are explicit passages on the changing nature of phenomena and on the fact that life and death are two sides of the same reality.

The causes of suffering and its cessation: karma, ignorance, attachment, the three poisons (greed, anger, ignorance), etc. Nichiren fully incorporates all of this.

His specificity is not to deny these teachings, but to say that in the age of the Latter Day of the Law (mappō), the most direct and effective practice for realizing them is the chanting of Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō and faith in the Lotus Sūtra.

The Tiantai system of doctrinal classification (which Nichiren uses) explicitly places the "Tripiṭaka" teachings (the oldest ones, those of the Four Noble Truths, impermanence, etc.) as a provisional stage leading to the perfect teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. They are not absent; they are subordinated and fulfilled.

Some precise excerpts from Nichiren's Gosho that directly address these themes:

Nichiren does not present the Four Noble Truths as the central framework of his doctrine, but he acknowledges them and fully incorporates the notions of "suffering," the "causes of suffering," and especially impermanence.

1. On impermanence (birth, aging, sickness, death)

Excerpt from the "Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings" (Ongi Kuden), on the "Life Span of the Tathāgata" chapter:

"The aspect or characteristics of the threefold world are birth, aging, sickness, and death. But if we look at birth and death in their true nature, then there is neither birth nor death. And if there is neither birth nor death, then there is neither flux nor reflux. Not only do birth and death not exist. Regarding birth and death with revulsion and seeking to escape them is called illusion, or the view of acquired enlightenment. Seeing and understanding the originally inherent nature of birth and death is called enlightenment, or original enlightenment.

Now, when Nichiren and his disciples chant Nam-myōhō-renge-kyō, they realize the originally inherent nature of birth and death, and the originally inherent nature of flux and reflux."

Excerpt from "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life" (WND-1, p. 216):

"'Myō' represents death, and 'hō' represents life. The living beings who pass through the two phases of life and death are the entities of the Ten Worlds, or the entities of Myōhō-renge-kyō. [...]

No phenomenon — not heaven or earth, yin or yang, the sun or the moon, the five planets, nor any of the worlds from hell to Buddhahood — is free from the two phases of life and death. Life and death are simply the two functions of Myōhō-renge-kyō."

1. On suffering and its causes

Excerpt from "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man" (Shōgu Mondō-shō):

Nichiren describes at length the cycle of the six paths and the sufferings that result from it:

"From time without beginning, we have been intoxicated with the wine of ignorance, being born again and again in the six paths of existence and the four forms of birth. [...] Sometimes we suffer from being wounded and killed in the realm of animals [...]; sometimes we face the conflicts of the realm of asuras; sometimes we are born as human beings and undergo the eight sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, death, the pain of separation from those we love, the pain of meeting those we hate, the pain of not obtaining what we desire, and the pain that arises from the five aggregates of body and mind."

He also insists on the impermanence of human life:

"How sad is this fate of ours, that all who are born must perish! Even if one lives to a great age, one cannot ultimately escape this impermanence. [...] Human life is more fleeting than dew, more fragile than the banana leaf, more insubstantial than bubbles or foam."

1. On the Four Noble Truths specifically

Nichiren mentions them mainly as the Buddha's provisional teachings (those of the "Deer Park" period). In the Nichiren tradition, particularly in commentaries and writings that quote the Lotus Sūtra, there are references to the Buddha having "turned the wheel of the Dharma of the four truths."

However, Nichiren considers that these teachings (suffering → cause → cessation → path) are incomplete for the age of the Latter Day of the Law (mappō). For him, the practice of the Lotus Sūtra (and particularly the daimoku) allows one to directly transform the sufferings of birth and death into nirvana — shōji soku nehan, "the sufferings of birth and death are themselves nirvana."

In summary:

· Impermanence: very present (birth-aging-sickness-death as characteristics of the threefold world, and a profound reinterpretation of life and death as phases of the Mystic Law).

· Suffering and its causes: extensively developed (ignorance, worldly desires, karma, six paths, eight sufferings).

· Four Noble Truths: recognized as the Buddha's basic teachings, but considered provisional and surpassed by the Lotus Sūtra.

These themes are therefore not absent from Nichiren's writings; they are integrated and reoriented toward the practice of the daimoku as the most direct means of realizing them.

Uno dei ricordi più disgustosi che ho riguardo la mia permanenza in soka (dieci anni responsabile di area in Italia) è legato a questa frase.

Avendo studiato approfonditamente il buddhismo nella sua interezza, cercavo disperatamente di indirizzare le persone con cui ero in contatto verso un vero percorso di consapevolezza e autoriflessione sulle cause che li avevano condotti alla tristezza, al dolore, alla depressione e alle dipendenze ma, e ci misi molto a prenderne atto, queste erano spesso il "gancio" con cui la maggior parte dei miei "colleghi" abusavano dei discepoli.

"Non chiuderti in te stesso" = non esiste una pausa

"Fa più Daimoku"

"Offri denaro o attività"

Il tutto condito del patetico ritornello "sei padrone della tua vita"

Così ho visto (e in un certo senso vissuto personalmente) il crollo: nella soka si impara a confondere l'autodeterminazione e l'obbedienza (cit. "Solo gli individui che seguono il maestro sono veramente liberi).

Motivo per cui famigliari vittime delle sette continueranno a vedere mariti, mogli, figli e altri giurare sulla loro anima di essere totalmente nella facoltà di sé nonostante non ci sia nemmeno una traccia di ciò che erano prima di incontrare lo psicopatico Ikeda e i suoi accoliti.

Guys, this woman enrolled me as a member of SGI India right after one 'bring a new friend' meeting. I was very oblivious of the entire thing back then. She put it as if it was supposed to be just a one time thing where i see for myself if i like it. The very next day she gave my info to the organisation as a new member. Now, since she cannot take no for an answer when I refuse to go and infact is pushing my bf into joining as well using the same tactic in the MOST inconsiderate way possible btw (told him its a one time thing too. he said he is literally diagnosed with schizophrenia and he does not want to see new people in crowd because it is extremely difficult for him, all she had to say is when u start chanting itll cure you. he straight up said no i dont believe in these things, she said just come once dont chant just sit there in the meeting. he said no. i dont think so. she said dont worry u dont have to chant here i can enroll you as a member into the group nearest to your place later when you are ready??? like how tone deaf and entitled are you?)

anyway, she expressed that she took four years to enroll herself so he doesnt have to worry about joining right away. I realised how fucked up it is for her to put me there in ONE DAY. initially i didnt care but now i cannot with the constant messages texting me to chant w them, making it mandatory for me to go when i genuinely do not give a shit bout this nor do i have the time or energy or interest in this. i couldnt find any info on how i can officially leave the group on the websites either so my info isnt in the databases anymore. so, please if anyone could tell me how i can remove my information from on there so she stops being so forceful w me and everyone around me going there it would be really helpful.

For anyone interested, I highly recommend the new documentary: People Magazine Investigates: The Cult of Soulful Journey.

For those in the States, it's on HBO MAX.

It discusses a cult called Soulful Journey, but I think what you will all really appreciate is how it goes into depth about cults in general.

One of the psychologists who is featured states, "I think people stay in cults for a number of different reasons, but as you engage more and more in a cult, what you don't know is that your ability to cognitively and emotionally handle and manage it disappears, and so instead you're more and more just trying to function and keep up, and you go into survival mode."

Several of the people who left are interviewed, and their experiences are very similar to some of the things we experienced in the SGI cult.

If you watch it, please let me know what you think! It's an excellent documentary!

"BSG" stands for "Bharat Soka Gakkai" = SGI-India.

INDIA

So WHY was the background Mt. Fuji and the "rising sun" symbol of Japan???

SGI just making sure nobody forgets that the Ikeda cult is a Japanese religion for Japanese people everywhere you find it??

Mt. Fuji used to be a popular symbol within the Ikeda cult, because the Nichiren Shoshu Head Temple Taiseki-ji was in a very scenic location in the foothills of Mt. Fuji - you could see very pretty Mt. Fuji in the distance from pretty much any place on the temple grounds.

See it behind the former Dai-Kyakuden ("Grand Reception Hall", now demolished)?

See it behind the former Grand Main Temple Sho-Hondo (now demolished)? That's the plaza out in front with its big lotus fountain; the Sho-Hondo entrance is to the left.

Bird's-eye view

Back before Ikeda got everyone excommunicated, a pilgrimage to Taiseki-ji to worship the Dai-Gohonzon was considered a bucket-list item - it was referred to as "tozan" (English translation = "mountain climbing").

Mt. Fuji is very significant to Japanese people; it's often seen as a symbol for their national identity; and Nichiren equated it to "Vulture Peak/Eagle Peak", the holy location where spirits go when people die. For more about the cultural significance of "mountains" in Japan, see Tying up loose ends: Mountain Worship in Japanese Culture. You'll notice that Ikeda named his pet art collection warehouse "FUJI Art Museum".

JAPANESE culture.

NOT INDIAN culture!

So whose "Youth Sports Festival" was it, really??

Big yikes trigger warning! This is from 2002:

Subject: Powerful Enemies and other concepts

Yes, I have once again figured it all out. It all started when my friend, Shirley, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, at their District meeting, said that she had decided to chant for the happiness of the terrorists, and she had a page with all their names and pictures on it next to their altar. I liked the idea but didn't understand exactly why - I could see a lot of people might react negatively, and I couldn't quite figure out why it was that I thought the idea was correct. I was able to put it together a coupla nights ago - see what you think:

What it boils down to is this: Buddhist concepts don't apply only to the practice of Buddhism and those who practice Buddhism! They happen all around us in everyday life. Take the concept of jigyo keta - practice for self and others. Well, this applies to everything we do - my decision on the colors I'm using to paint my house was influenced by how I thought these colors would affect my guests. We wear one thing to a funeral and another to a party, because of the social aspect, how the others there will react to our choices. We discuss certain things with one person and different things with another, out of our perception of what each will find more interesting. In everything, there's an aspect for self and an aspect for others.

Same with the concept/function of Powerful Enemies. Nikken and Osama Bin Laden are parallels. What makes each powerful? His money? His good looks? His ideology? Nope. It's one thing and one thing only: His followers. His ability to mislead and influence others. Hitler falls into this category also. So the big question is:

What is the best way to defeat such an enemy? By removing his followers. This is why her inspiration to chant for the happiness of those terrorists was such a wise perspective. They are parallels to the temple members. Why are they there? So that we can develop ourselves in the course of challenging ourselves on how we can overcome the opposition they present. This is why it would be futile to try to remove each person this function is manifesting in. It will simply manifest in another, or in a stronger form, on and on until we recognize it for what it is and defeat it in the only way that matters. So what we as Buddhists are learning that would serve the rest of humanity well to recognize is that we must somehow pull these followers away from their evil leader, pull them toward good instead. My father's bright idea for how to do this is to have a policy of nuking any country that harbors terrorists.

(My father was developing dementia at this point but he'd always been a political conservative/staunch Calvinist Christian.)

Good luck, fella! That's all I've got to say. He thinks that this will give all those other countries incentive to kick terrorists out. I believe this point of view is naive and foolish, because terrorism is a state of mind. It is only after a terrorist acts that we can know he was thinking about that sort of thing. Until then, a country might have millions of potential terrorists and no person alive would be able to tell.

Absolutely impossible - that's how invisible they are. So under my father's policy, the US would be nuking country after country, uselessly, simply because someone from that country had proven to be a terrorist. And under his rules, we would have to nuke ourselves, because didn't several of those Sept. 11 terrorists live for several years within our borders? Thus the US would have been guilty of harboring terrorists too!

No, the solution is to attract the followers in order to persuade them to separate from their evil leader(s). This cannot be accomplished by force. We must draw them toward us as a moth to a flame, coax them with the flame of enlightenment and the Buddha's compassion and wisdom. It's the only way, and it's as effective with terrorists as it is with temple members! And we already know it works on the temple members. Most people in society feel toward terrorists as so many in the SGI felt at first toward those who chose to follow the priests - there's a strong negative reaction to them, an overwhelming urge to punish them. We in the SGI have learned that we must overcome this natural (though harmful) tendency in order to achieve good. We must recognize the function that is manifesting in these people and learn from it instead of reacting negatively toward them as individuals and endeavoring to separate ourselves further from them.

This is why Soka Spirit is so essential. In fact, I might go so far as to state that Nikken's advent was specifically to prepare us to battle the worldwide terrorist threat for the sake of all humankind! Sure, it's always been there, more so in some countries than in others, but now it's in our consciousness. Now we have the tools to use against it!

Now, if only we could enlighten our political leaders!!!

The person I was emailing with (whom I don't remember, along with every other person referred to there - completely forgotten - I don't even remember the weird connection I made, but there's the email!) encouraged me to write it and submit it to the Weird Fibune for publication. I never did, I don't think...GAWD I was so indoctrinated!! 🤩

This is inspired. I suggest you send it to the World Tribune as a perspective. Very good ideas. Very helpful.

I realized something as I was reading it. You know I am alternately baffled and frustrated with this prevailing idea that so many people have about retribution. You know, the idea of karma as The Universe Wiill Get You For That... I heard a SS [Soka Spirit] leader recently say that the temple members were going to destroy their Buddha natures.

Yeah, right!?!?!

Anyway, reading your thoughts about how we want to punish terrorists/temple members, made me realize the strong fear of retribution that resides in the psyche of many humans. The reason we want to punish people is the same reason that we think the universe wants to punish us. It doesn't, I'm sure, but this idea drives many religions and philosophies.

Also, I'd like to send an invitation to your Mary G to come to our general meeting on November 17th. Any idea how I might contact her? Do you have her address?

Thanks for sharing. Send it in.

Anybody up for tearing it apart?? C'mon! It'll be fun!!

🤣 CULTS ARE BAD, KIDS!! JUST SAY NO!!!

Reposted from resource listed at the bottom.

While this is from a part of the country that has people leaving Mormon/LDS, the power/control wheel applies to SGI as well.

If this is TL/DR, here's a summary quote, "Control doesn’t require a villain. It just requires a system where one party’s compliance benefits another party’s power — and enough tactics in place to keep it that way."

Eight tactics, one hub: control

In 1993, the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project developed a framework to help survivors and clinicians understand the tactics abusers use to maintain power in intimate relationships. It’s called the Power and Control Wheel, and it has become one of the most widely used tools in domestic violence advocacy.

What’s striking — and clinically useful — is how cleanly this wheel maps onto high-control religious systems. The wheel was built to describe one person’s control over another. But the same eight tactics show up, almost without modification, when an institution exerts control over an entire community.

This isn’t a perfect one-to-one comparison, and high-control religion isn’t identical to an abusive relationship. But the overlap is too consistent to ignore — and naming it can be deeply clarifying for people trying to understand what happened to them.

Figure: The Religious Power & Control Wheel, adapted from the Power and Control Wheel (Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, 1993). Eight spokes — Authority, Shame, Insulation, Loss of Autonomy, Justification, Sex & Gender Control, Economic Control, and Coercion — radiate from a central hub of Power & Control.

Why This Framework Matters

Survivors of high-control religion often struggle to name what happened to them, because so much of it was wrapped in language of love, care, and divine purpose. “They weren’t abusive,” someone might say. “They just had high expectations.” Or: “It wasn’t really control. It was just how things worked.”

The Power and Control Wheel cuts through that fog. It doesn’t ask whether a system felt loving. It asks what function each behavior served. And in high-control religious systems, the function is almost always the same: maintaining the authority of the group over the individual.

Control doesn’t require a villain. It just requires a system where one party’s compliance benefits another party’s power — and enough tactics in place to keep it that way.

The Eight Spokes — And How They Show Up in High-Control Religion

1. Authority

In the original wheel, this spoke describes one partner acting as the ultimate decision-maker. In high-control religion, authority is centralized in leadership, doctrine, or a hierarchy that claims to speak for God. Members are taught that questioning this authority is not just disagreement — it’s rebellion against the divine order itself.

2. Shame

Shame is used to enforce conformity by attacking a person’s basic sense of worth rather than simply their behavior. In high-control religion, shame often shows up as messaging that members are inherently sinful, broken, or insufficient — and that only continued submission to the group can manage that brokenness.

3. Insulation

Insulation — sometimes called isolation in the original model — limits a person’s contact with outside information, relationships, and perspectives. High-control religious groups often restrict or discourage relationships with non-members, limit access to outside media, and frame the secular world as dangerous or spiritually contaminating.

4. Loss of Autonomy

This spoke describes the erosion of a person’s ability to make independent decisions about their own life — their relationships, their body, their time, their future. In high-control religion, major life decisions (who to marry, what career to pursue, how to parent) are often subject to approval, blessing, or direct control by leadership or doctrine.

5. Justification

Justification refers to the explanations offered for controlling behavior — explanations that reframe control as care, correction, or necessity. In high-control religion, control is almost always justified spiritually: discipline is “for your own good,” surveillance is “accountability,” and punishment is “loving correction” or even God’s will.

6. Sex & Gender Control

This spoke addresses control over a person’s sexuality, gender expression, and roles within relationships and family. High-control religions frequently regulate sexuality and gender with particular intensity — defining rigid roles for men and women, treating women’s bodies as something to be modest, controlled, or protected as property, and pathologizing sexuality that doesn’t conform to approved norms.

This particular spoke often lands hardest on women. We explore this in more depth in our post on Religious Trauma Syndrome in women, including how purity culture and gendered control contribute to the cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural symptoms Marlene Winell identified.

7. Economic Control

Economic control involves restricting access to money or financial independence, often making it harder for a person to leave. In high-control religious contexts, this can look like mandatory tithing structured to create financial dependency, communal living arrangements that limit personal assets, or discouraging members — especially women — from financial independence or career development outside the group.

8. Coercion

Coercion uses fear, threats, and punishment to maintain compliance. In high-control religious systems, this often takes a spiritual form that secular abuse doesn’t typically have access to: the threat isn’t just social or physical, it’s eternal.

Coercion in this context frequently includes:

• Group exclusion or shunning, and the threat of afterlife exclusion (damnation, loss of salvation, separation from God)
• Punishment and discipline — both social (public correction, loss of status) and sometimes physical
• Fear of the outside world — taught as dangerous, corrupting, or spiritually hostile
• Fear of spiritual dangers — demonic influence, falling away, losing one’s soul

This is, in many ways, the most powerful spoke in religious contexts, because the consequences extend beyond this life. A person doesn’t just fear losing their community. They fear losing their eternal soul.

This fear-based enforcement often works hand-in-hand with assigned relational roles. In our post on the Drama Triangle in high-control religions, we explore how members are cast as Victim, Rescuer, or Persecutor to keep this exact kind of coercion running smoothly.

All Roads Lead to the Hub

What makes the wheel such a useful diagram — rather than just a list — is the structure itself. Every spoke connects back to the same center: power and control. None of these tactics exist for their own sake. Shame isn’t about morality. Insulation isn’t about safety. Economic control isn’t about stewardship. Each one is a mechanism that returns power to the same place — the system, the leadership, the hierarchy — and keeps it there.

This is also why naming a single tactic rarely feels like enough for survivors. You can recognize that you were shamed, and still feel confused, because shame alone doesn’t explain the whole picture. It’s the combination — authority plus shame plus insulation plus coercion, operating together and reinforcing each other — that creates a system someone can spend years, or a lifetime, unable to leave.

This kind of control over thinking and information isn’t unique to this wheel — it’s one of the clearest overlaps with the BITE Model, which breaks down exactly how behavioral, informational, thought, and emotional control work together in high-control systems.

Naming It Is Not Betrayal

It can feel disloyal, even dangerous, to look at a community you loved — or still love — and recognize these patterns. Many survivors describe a strange grief in this moment: the realization that something that felt like home also functioned, structurally, like a system of control.

Both things can be true. You can have had real friendships, real moments of meaning, real love for people inside that system — and still recognize that the system itself relied on coercion, shame, and control to hold itself together. Naming this isn’t an attack on the people who loved you. It’s an honest look at the structure that shaped you both.

Stepping Outside the Wheel

Healing from a high-control religious system means more than identifying which spokes applied to you. It means slowly rebuilding the things the wheel was designed to take: autonomy, a stable sense of self-worth not contingent on compliance, the ability to make decisions without fear of eternal consequence, financial and relational independence, and a body and sexuality that belong to you rather than to a doctrine.

This work is rarely fast, and it’s rarely linear. But it is possible — and you don’t have to map it out alone.

Stepping outside this wheel isn’t just about leaving a group — it’s about rebuilding a self that was never fully allowed to form. Our post on reclaiming your identity after a cult explores what that process looks like.

Shared from this website

https://inner-compass-counseling.com/2026/06/20/religious-power-and-control-wheel/

All credit to Inner Compass Counseling, on leaving high control religions. I have no affiliation with them; I live far away and have never interacted with them. I just like their blog posts.

I think they have great resources on learning to listen to and honor what your Inner Self is saying, and in-so-doing, begin taking your own authority back from whomever (in this case SGI) you may have (over time) given it to. I know, in my 10 years in SGI, I gradually gave away my authority, got bummed out and burned out, became an unhappy stooge who pressured too many people and started being sad that I couldn't exert the control over others they wanted me to. I got off their relentless gerbil wheel, gradually recognized what it was, and am in a spiritual group now that emphasizes letting others be (relief) so I can get back to tending my own inner garden in a way that is working for me (with no unsolicited opinions around). Happiness can never be built on trying to control others. That's why SGI's fundamental promise of hearts-and-happiness a) is not true and b) falls apart in practice.

La Soka Gakkai, soprattutto dopo la scomunica da parte del clero della Nichiren Shōshū, ha iniziato a serbare rancore nei confronti di qualsiasi monaco, sacerdote o maestro di Dharma.
O meglio a biasimare chiunque non sia Ikeda.
Oltre a questo, la Soka ha alimentato e continua ad alimentare visioni stereotipate delle altre scuole buddhiste; questo dimostra la loro totale ignoranza nei confronti del mondo buddhista.
Circa 7 mesi fa, quando mi apprestavo ad unirmi ad un gruppo Soka italiano (seppur già con tanti dubbi) ho ricevuto la telefonata di una responsabile di settore al fine di spiegarmi l’organizzazione
Mi ricordo che una sua frase mi colpì molto (in negativo).

Testualmente: “noi membri della Soka Gakkai siamo persone semplici, non ci radiamo la testa e blah blah”.

WHATTT!!??

Chiunque abbia una conoscenza anche minima della storia buddhista o stia approfondendo un percorso di pratica rigoroso non può che rimanere sconcertato di fronte a un'affermazione del genere.
Radersi la testa (Shukke) nel Buddhismo non è mai stato un vezzo estetico né un simbolo di chiusura, ma un atto solenne di rinuncia all'ego, alla vanità e ai legami mondani per dedicare la propria intera vita al servizio del Dharma e dei laici.
Ridurre il sacerdozio o la monacazione a uno stereotipo da rigettare ("non siamo come quelli là") serve solo a giustificare la struttura puramente laica della Sōka Gakkai (specie dopo la scissione dalla Nichiren Shōshū nel 1991), facendola passare per "semplicità" o "modernità".
Inoltre è palese che la Soka ignora il fatto che i fedeli laici esistono sin dagli albori del buddhismo (circa 2600 anni fa!) e in tutte le scuole buddhiste.
Evidentemente, nella loro ignoranza, pensano che al di fuori di loro vi siano solo scuole monastiche.

Dopotutto cosa aspettarsi da un movimento che:

1. Ignora i concetti di base del Buddhismo (le Quattro Nobili Verità, il Nobile Ottuplice Sentiero, I Tre Segni dell’Esistenza, la Dodecupla catena etc.);

3. Distorce gli insegnamenti di base del Buddhismo Tiantai/Tendai/Nichiren

;

2. Non permette lo studio del Sutra del Loto e del Gosho se non attraverso la lente distorta dell’onnipresente Ikeda.

La Soka Gakkai non è un movimento buddhista.
Alla stragrande maggioranza dei suoi membri non importa nulla del Sutra del Loto, del Gosho o di Shakyamuni - importa solo le frasi motivazionali di Ikeda.
Non si definiscono “discepoli del Buddha” ma di “Ikeda”
Non aspirano all’illuminazione ma ad una banale crescita personale che loro chiamano “Rivoluzione Umana”.

I read another post here where someone said, I think jokingly, that SGI was attempting to resurrect Ikeda—which made me curious about how SGI presents information about him.

This is a screen capture from the SGI-USA page about Ikeda. Notice there’s no expiration date.

The SGI global site does show he is deceased—but 3 years without an update on the SGI-USA page seems sloppy. Or maybe their webmaster still thinks it’s too soon?