A Byrd's Eye View

Jeez, Byrd, how long are you going to put up with stuff like this? You know, in all the years I've been away from the organization, I have always tried to be even-handed with my remarks so as to not influence people. If I made a critical remark about the SGI, I would also offer something positive to say, and, except in cases where the person seemed to really be suffering by continuing their association, I have never suggested that they leave.

Maybe it's time you decided to take some pro-active treatment instead of just putting band-aids on your hurt feelings. (I'm assuming your feeling are hurt, mine would be.) Are you a human being or just a doormat for SGI leaders to walk all over?

When I read this kind of stuff, I can't believe that this is the same organization I once belonged to. Back in the day, I don't recall anyone ever being "blacklisted." They must be really, really paranoid.

I would love to know who the two leaders were. Anyone I used to know?

Hi, Dave! I don't think so - they're in the Burbank Area, and you were out of Pico (I believe), right?

I'm not so much hurt as I am sort of stunned. Talk to you soon, Yer pal, Byrd

Wow! This is more childish than mean. It makes me think of "You can not be my / our friend if you are his / her / their friend."

In 'their' eyes, I guess we are ingrates. Did you follow the link Donna posted at SGU? I once dismissed those kind of charges, however ... {clears throat). Please watch your back.

These SGI people need metta-karuna real bad.

gassho

robin

Did you say Pill?

Bruce

Hi Byrd,

Why do you stay? I don't get it....you are obviously loyal to a fault, intelligent and sensitive to the members. Why waste that good heart of yours in such a shitty cult? And I don't care if this offends anyone. The SGI is a controlling, manipulative, money making enterprise and a cult - some very nice people belong to it, but it is still the McDonald's of Nichiren Buddhism. And I refuse to eat the rotting clown meat being served-up.

I moved my Buddhist-tuches out of the org about 6 months ago because I'd had enough of the Prez worship, power-tripping bullshit authority stuff and I wanted my karma to be clear of it.

Sorry - your post made me angry. You are a decent person that's being treated in an atrocious manner by a couple of sycophantic parasites.

Shalom,

Namu myoho renge kyo.

Aaron

Hi Byrd,

These folks have really drunk the Kool-Aid. For goodness sake! This is AMERICA. Freedom of speech, freedom of association, and even freedom to have a gun (Supreme Court sez so).

For what reason should have you have to submit your writings to "your leaders" before you post them? Are they some kind of uber-editors?

No, this sounds downright un-American to me. Just want country do your leaders think this is? Oh, I forgot.

Anyway, hang in there, keep your creative juices flowing, and finish your fabulous screenplay.

A) Certain kinds of crazy people accuse others of faults they themselves have -- it's called "projection", I think. This is one of the many reasons why I don't chant anymore: it clearly doesn't work.

B) If I were you, I wouldn't assume I could continue attending the other activities.

C) I've found criminal prosecutors to be no worse than most other people.

You are being monitored on Buddha Jones, it is owned and run by SGI. Some kind of world take over the world program right now, actually insidious. Anyway, I posted the data on Rogow's blob somewhere, but it is true, I also emailed the info to Chuck, and NO, I am not trying to start an argument, people that like "Turning Japanese" don't start arguments.

Bruce

Hang on. I'm sure something's up. And I appreciate you trying Byrd. But, this and all the predictable reactions, - 'see, I told you THEY are wrong'-, also come off as very onesided. So, here to offer another perspective:

Re: this "projection" that was mentioned by Jeff Jones, it can work both ways. When you write "general membership", the subtext that jumps out is "me". Apparently you find yourself "better-read, better-informed, more articulate, or more intelligent" than some people, and so what? Are you articulate enough to reach the other person, or not.

Pointing fingers at culture, at other people, it sure sounds like Nichiren's metaphor of counting your neighbour's wealth. No matter what your problems with your environment may be, what about cause and effect? Do you think there is no internal cause operating in your life? Don't you believe that you yourself have a capacity for change? For everyone, read carefully, I have not written about any *form*. Meaning I am not saying it's all Byrd's fault. But can we believe that we are a Buddha, capable of change and positive impact on our environment? And can we believe that others have Buddha nature as well and act accordingly? Can we change poison into medicine? Regardless of what others are doing, if somebody decides to jump in a lake, you don't have to jump in as well, now do you?

In addition, as a non-American, it never fails to astonish me how *juvenile* Americans can act. Meaning, selfcentred and not thinking about the consequences of their actions.

For example, if you are so well-informed, then please stop clamoring about "democracy". That word exiting an American mouth has a nasty odour. It's rather perverse when you take a look at the US-democratic-track record, both inside and abroad.

Loric

Hi, Byrd -

Good luck with your writing; if you are getting this level of distraction, you must be writing something wonderful!

Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett

One more thing, are there "fifty gazillion" blogs about the SGI-USA?

So your point about it just being a blog is rather moot.

Loric

Loric,

If you are going to present the other side of the argument then you should do it and do it clearly. I just wasted a few precious minutes of my life reading your cult defending drivel.

Absolute rubbish! Barf!!!

Aaron

Byrd,
Nobody has any power over you unless you give it to them, but this is more for the people reading this than you who already knows this. But it still hurts.

Loric,
I suggest you re-read what Byrd wrote and then re- read what you wrote. Sheesh. You're correct, projection works both ways.

Bruce,
Stop starting arguments. No wait, I'm projecting. No wait, I'm Turning Japanese and thinking of you one handedly.

Aaron, you don't know me. So, because you can't argue anything concretely, you start whining. It just serves to prove my point.

Loric

Loric,

Ya, hmmmm whining. I'll have to think about that.

Okay, thought about it. Whining = complaint = a good thing. The world needs more whiners and less cult defending zombies who can't make a point.

Aaron

Byrd,

Did you attend the meeting anyway? You didn't say, but I hope you did.

You know how I feel, of course. If I were you I would start by naming names. Who were the Ikedabots who insulted you? Tell the world.

And you know that I, too, wonder why you remain in the organization. It WILL NOT change, ever. This is a fact, demonstrated years ago by folks like Maltz and Rogow and others, then by Ross, and more recently (because I'm a slow learner) by me and folks like Brian Holly.

Do what you have to do, my friend, but please don't take any shit. You deserve better. Let me know what I can do in support. Call if you want to. That really sucks.

Cheers to you!

Andy

I left in Jan. 1975, it was not the same Andy. It was still NSA, and I left under good circumstances, no anger, still did stuff for top leaders when asked. I left because it was not Buddhism. No one really seems to understand that, they think I left because it was the org.

They could not and would not answer my questions about Nam and Nam Mu, DaiGohonzon, Nichiren as the Buddha, Nikko as the head Hancho, and their guidance were getting absurd, so it was trip canceled, and when I saw I could not just be a member, it was OK, I will just be a friend, and when I saw I could not be that, It was OK, it was a memory.

Then people I knew in SGI helped me find study materials I needed to further my growth. But their hate and lies about me just got worse and worse, and some came to me and apologized, Ikeda wanted to see me, I declined, I just faded away.
Kikumura ran into me at the airport once, told me I had an open door policy with him, I thanked him.

That was that..
Bruce

Byrd, I think this is karmic retribution for your participation in SGIBuddhism.org (just kidding).

Seriously, I hope these "leaders" are an aberration. I hope you can appeal to a higher authority (within SGI).

Also, I hope my blog/on-line comments receive such attention some day! What an honor!

Loric

Nice try, but I have to agree with Aaron. Also, that there are lots of SGI blogs was Byrd's points. Do they all obtain permission from their leaders before posting?

It's not "This organization" that is the problem. It's a few zealots in Byrd's realm. We have problems in my realm, too, but Greg and I (now I) keep talking to members and pointing out the strange behavior. It is working here. Don't give up, Byrd. YOU will cause the change in people's lives. YOU are the one with the courage to do it. Change will come from the inside not the outside.

Nancy

Nancy,

Much as I respect you, I have to disagree. It's not just aberrations in Bryd's neck-of-the-woods or yours. Byrd used to think it just happened out where I live. That my (former) leaders were somehow more conservative, more reactionary.

I think part of the reason that the org discourages the Internet is because we can see what's going on everywhere. This kind of leadership behavior is not a local phenomenon. It's being directed from somewhere, whether that somewhere is Japan or Santa Monica. It's not just Byrd's karma.

There has to come a point where one's personal dignity and integrity doesn't allow one to put up with this kind of behavior. One doesn't need the SGI to practice Nichiren's Buddhism. It took me 2 years of hell-in-the-org before I came to the conclusion that I was better off out than in, and it took my wiser husband about 2 minutes to make the same decision.

There are myriad other places to practice, whether it be independent, solitary practice, nondenominational communities such as the Gathering of Friends, or sanghas such as the Nichiren Shu.

As Andy is fond of saying, there is only so much one can take banging one's head against the jello wall. Another cliche is that you don't realize just how much hell you have been in until you are out. And then you wonder why you put up with it for so darn long.

Gee, Robin,
I didn't think you noticed. ; )

I got a message from a fence-sitter who heard about the antics of SGI in DC. She profusely apologized.

Why...? She wasn't there, obviously didn't know about it, and if she had, probably would have spoken against it.

She attends our Shodaigyo's, so I'll probably see her tonight.

Byrd Honey: Wow, man! It just gets more and more bizarre. Well,... did you attend the meeting, and more importantly to this inquiring mind, did you speak with the host who happens to be your friend? These leaders appear to drawing their own lines in the sand. Apparently, they act with impunity, and that's frightening. You know Byrd, had I stayed in the organization, the same would eventually have happened to me. Frankly, I don't think I could have survived that kind of rejection from the organization that I considered my family for over 30 years. So, I left first. I smell an ultimatum on it's way. Keep your eyes and ears open, K?

The reaction of the "leaders" reminds one of the behavior of Scientology with their "disconnects" and "suppressive persons" crap.

I would hope for better from an organization that gives at least lip-service to the teachings of Buddhism.

I'm not sure which is more sad, that the organization behaves this way, or that people are so quick to justify and rationalize the behavior, as if their personal identity is wrapped up in the organization's reputation.

"Follow the Law not the Person," even if the person in question is a corporate body.

Shameful, but not surprising.

Hang in there, Byrd, dear, you're better than the petty bureaucrats and functionaries. Your wisdom is wasted on an intractable cult.

Best and gassho,

Paul Gould

Hi, Ashley - I will be blogging more on this later on this week. I don't think it was just these few leaders, as I later discovered that Sunday (July 13) was a sort of national Soka Spirit stand up for the Mentor and defeat the evil temple influence campaign day (The Day of Justice, or something like that). I've written previous blogs taking Japan to task for not respecting the Temple members' religious freedom rights, and this caused PI some embarassment in Japan. I think they were concerned that I not stumble into an anti-temple gathering, expecting a normal faith potluck, and then vent about it onlnine, causing the same kind of embarassment to PI on his home turf.

The friend with whom I was supposed to go to the potluck called me and told me that I needed to get guidance from Soka Spirit, so I think this came from quite far up the line. Thanks for your good wishes, though.

Wahzoh

byrd, first of all let me congratulate you!!!

I think you will find in my comment section, here or elsewhere, that you weren't long for the SGI because they could never tolerate your open minded ideas. Three weeks ago I contacted a former SGI friend of mine, Monte Jaffee, an SGI senior leader in the New York area whose son is the YMD chief of all of New York. I was hoping that he would broker a deal with the top SGI leaders to have that debate I proposed. I gave him the URL of my blog three weeks ago so he could see where I was coming from. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in this matter. Jaffee also has an SGI anti-NST website and he is a strong voice in the anti-NST movement. Basically, Fraught with peril is not just another Nichiren blog. It has a lot of lurkers and it is the preeminent Nichiren blog in the whole world. once again congratulations.

Mark

Hi, Mark - do you have a URL for that anti-temple webpage?

Thanks, Wahzoh

I'm disappointed that you let these people bully you into not attending the women's meeting. I wish you would have phoned your friend to see if SHE didn't want you to attend, and if it was o.k. with her then gone.
A hearty fuck you to all the SGI blockheads responsible.

Hi, Clown - I know I can always count on you for a hearty "fuck you!" You made me smile, there - thanks, I needed that.

Actually, I don't have a car right now, and I really didn't want to get into a fight with anyone at the potluck and be stranded without a ride.

Besides, I had writing of my own to do, and I wanted to focus on that, and not on "standin gup courageously", which gets a little tiring, at times, especially whenyou're standing up against people you thought were your friends. I didn't want the energy drain.

Yer pal in LA, Wahzoh

Byrd:

I've had some time to consider your situation. Why would this action or attitude surprise you? Scholars have often portrayed the SGI as being a militrist organization. IT's NOT a democracy, Byrd. The freedoms that we enjoy here in the U.S. of free speech and free assembly do not transfer to membership in good standing.

You will need to conform or leave, but you have not accepted that reality yet. What do you think that mentor-disciple oath was all about? The SGI requires members to be in lock-step, if not the members, surely the leaders. Speaking out on the flaws of the organization, the doctrine, or the mentor are expressly forbidden - if not in writing, then in spirit.

The is the right of the SGI because it is not a democracy. Frankly, anyone who remains should be aware that this is the way it is. I find official and unoffical conduct understandable and personally unacceptable.

I hope you get it soon as you will never change it.

Charles

Hey Byrd,

Thanks for the email. One thing you wrote above sort of stuck out to me: "The friend with whom I was supposed to go to the potluck called me and told me that I needed to get guidance from Soka Spirit, so I think this came from quite far up the line."

So exactly who is Soka Spirit? Do they run the SGI-USA now? They came along after my time, and I always had the impression that they were just a group of over-zealous Youth Division leaders who put up that atrocious web site. But the way you phrase it makes it seem like they are a self-contained group within the SGI-USA or some entity that's taken control.

I am so out of it as far as current SGI stuff goes and every once in a while I get curious, as I am now, but overall I count my blessings that I have missed out on all this polarizing crap.

Byrd,

Sorry to hear what happened. Hope you'll get over that soon. The org did what it needed to do. In the end of the day, it is self-preservation that matters, not any "-ism", not any doctrine, not any teachings.

All "-isms", doctrines and teachings are but expedients. A raft is not the other shore. Please stay well, and trust yourself.

- ds

July 13th can't be the Day of Justice. April 24th is:

http://www.gakkaionline.net/apr24/

Ironically, July 17 is the International Day of Justice as defined by Amnesty International.

Here is Monte's website, ABOUT NSTNY,

http://nonstny.homestead.com/

Peculiar how according to Nichiren we can change everything in our lives with NMRK, however there are people who state that SGI (---as far as they know it---) can in fact never change. Besides, impermanence being what it is, what *are* you talking about?

Aaron, Robin, rereading my first post here a day later, it is rather strongworded. Contentwise however, I am fine with it. Just calling names does not help me to see your point of view. You don't have to agree either.

Loric

Byrd: I have to say that I completely agree with Charles's commentary, and the sooner you realize what he is saying is good advice, the easier it will be for you to make your way through this. I've been reading your stuff about democracy and the org. for a couple of years now. Charles is right: the org. is what it is. It is NOT a democracy, and is in fact moving even further away from any possibility of or semblence of any democratic institution. Please Byrd, make a serious assessment on your position here. Because I think you are heading towards a bottom line.

Much ado, Ash

Byrd

Oh dear! Its finally happened (isn't there a passage in the "Strategy of the Lotus Sutra" where Nichiren says in effect to Shijo Kingo - well...they've finally come out and attacked you)

I think you've come to the point when you realize: SGI can make the lame walk...but not make them run. Its a great organisation if you are at rock bottom - but if you really want to express your full potential you have to get beyond it.

It just so happens I am reading Fujiwara's "I Denounce Soka Gakkai" now (amazingly managed to find it second hand on the internet). A lot of it is pure controversy for its own sake - but he does however say a lot of home truths: for instance

"Soka Gakkai members, who might be thinking of defecting, find themselves bombarded with strong group pressure, and even though they may be unhappy in the organisation, if they lack strong will power they will most likely be unable to resist. This is why I call this organisationsal style "incarcerating", for at the small unit level it is nothing more than a mutual surveillance unit.
In this sense, it is a system which measures loyalty to the organisation through surveillance and informing on each other. The discipline of the Communist Party is said to be "iron discipline" but through such catch phrases as "philosophy of life", "obutsu myogo" and "Buddhist Doctrine" they obtain discipline through a kind of magic or sorcery, in a word, emotional-religious power...
When we consider the differences between what we ordinarily consider to be discussion meetings among people of equal standing, and the atmosphere of the Soka Gakkai style discussion meetings, to borrow the words of one who attended at meeting:
'Soka Gakkai's discussion meetings are above all meetings for the purpose of indoctrination of members and measuring the strength of belief of each member, and have marked resemblance to "Seishuin Kunwa Zadankai" (Moral Education Meetings) carried on during the war years, and also similar to discussion meetings of the Rightists drill house".

In such meetings, just how much freedom of thought and expression is allowed, or is possible in such an atmosphere, are among questions for consideration."

Steve

Aaron, I think that the comparison to McDonald's is uncalled for, while not great cuisine McDonald's does allow one to fill up on fat and protein at a very reasonable price, so I fail to see why they should be compared the SGI. If they claimed that you had to accept Ronald McDonald as your personal savior to fully appreciate Big Mac's then I could see where you were coming from.

Hey Clown,

Both McDonald's and the SGI are large corporate enterprises that serve a bad product to millions. They both utilize high level communications strategies that dishonestly represent their products to the general pubilc. And they both basically suck - so there.

Neither is good for you. McDonald's offers cheap fat and proteins and the SGI offers cheap salvation through a distillation of the teachings of Nichiren.

And as for the clown meat....I am still not eating it!

As a side note: I find the image of Ronald McDonald very disturbing, and the same goes for the marketing of Ikeda. I find it creepy. A friend of mine in Toronto is an artist and he did a Warholian spoof of Ikeda (it was around the time that I left the org). I can email it to anyone who wants a good laugh.

Shalom,

Aaron

Sorry to hear about the incredible rudeness from your so-called leaders. Once time I was involved with having a person banned from our meetings. He had been calling up and harassing/intimidating women in the group, so he was told not to come back. I feel that was completely appropriate.

Your situation is completely different. I think maybe "they" would like you to leave in a huff. You could consider taking a leaf from Don Ross's book and make them bodily throw you out (with photographer and videographer ready, of course!)

You have done nothing to deserve this type of treatment. But I gotta say, if I was your so-called friend of 20 years, I would have left my home and picked you up myself and given those leaders a lady-like fuck you.

Byrd,

I see where you have banned this KH guy from the SGI Unofficial board. . . gotta say that it seems like a strange action for you of all people to take, considering the alarm you’ve raised over being “banned” from an SGI activity.

I suppose the response might be, well it is our board and he was disruptive and offensive and we have a right to ban such people if we wish. Yep. Just like the SGI has the right to prevent those they consider to be disruptive and “offensive” (spouting so-called “heretical” views) from attending their activities.

There is no law or rule of thumb that says the SGI has to be democratic. A democratic society may have many un-democratic elements contained within it. Is a job democratic? Hell, no. You do what you’re told or you’re gone. And yet, working, jobs, employers and employees are all integral parts of our democratic American society.

Someone previously questioned the idea that the SGI can’t change. It’s not that the SGI can’t change, it’s that they don’t need to change if they don’t want to. The SGI has a perfect right to conduct its operations any way it sees fit. Organizations such as the SGI need not be responsive to anyone or anything, except its own governing body. It is not a public organization, you have to be a member to participate fully and its officers are not elected. From this viewpoint there is nothing wrong with anything the SGI does as long as it is not illegal.

Does anyone get what I am saying? Sure the SGI could be more even handed about “banning” people and should provide some sort of appeal process. But if this is the way they want to handle it, it is their right to do so. The same is true for the Unofficial SGI board, there could be some more even handedness there, too. Especially since, in my experience, hardly anyone who posts there could be considered totally innocent of disruptive or offensive behavior.

So to those who don’t like the way things are done in the SGI, you have two choices: conform or quit. It’s that simple. This is one of those situations in life where there is no Middle Way. Don’t confuse the ultimate truth with the relative.

If the KH guy reads this, the same applies to you. If you can’t conform to reasonable standards for dialogue, then don’t complain if you get bumped.

Clown,

I just reread my response to your post and I want to clarify something because I sound a little too harsh.

While I am obviously not a fan of the SGI and what it is offering I know many very nice people who belong to the org. While it is my humble opinion that the organization primarily exists to generate revenue through propagation, there are many honorable people who believe in Nam Myoho Renge Kyo who only want to spread the joy of the law.

Anyway, this is my last post on this matter. I've stated my opinion and I'm moving on.

Byrd and Nancy, I admire your tenacity and courage. I was only in the org for about 5 years before I made the decision to leave. And I didn't leave in a huff - it took many painful months and a lot of soul searching. For the reasons I outlined, I felt that I would get more benefit by practicing Buddhism on my own. After some more exploration I decided to join Nichiren Shu and I am now a very happy member of the temple in Toronto.

Peace out,

Aaron

What happened in DC? Enquiring minds want to know.

David wrote: "Someone previously questioned the idea that the SGI can’t change. It’s not that the SGI can’t change, it’s that they don’t need to change if they don’t want to. The SGI has a perfect right to conduct its operations any way it sees fit."

You are correct, of course. I think the complaint, and a legitimate one, is the hypocrisy of that organization in representing itself as a "bottom up" democratically run organization, when it is anything but. For years we were told that, and that the members run the organization, but when the members tried, the truth became apparent. Still, the organization talks out of both sides of its coprorate mouth.

But in real terms you are correct about the choices. In any situation we have three:

1. Live with the situation.
2. Change it.
3. Walk away from it.

Number 1 is easy (sort of, unless, like Byrd and others, you have principles and a conscience). Number 2 is not going to happen, as you pointed out. I chose, finally, Number 3. I rather suspect that Byrd might be getting there, but it's her decision to make, of course.

Cheers!

Andy

Hi, everybody - wow, I am really amazed to see what an outpouring of interest my little incident has created. I genuinely see where both David and Steve are coming from - the SGI does have a right to run its show the way it wants to run its show. I don't want to question that.

I think my case of being banned differs from Mark (The KH guy) at this blogsite, if only because he is being kicked off of this page because of his conduct on this page. Everyone is in agreement that my conduct at SGI meetings has been exemplary. I have not been even remotely disruptive. I am being banned because of online speech. I think if the SGi wants to have a rule that says "we can ban you from meetings for your online speech", then it would be a good thing for the org to make clear - perhaps a rule they could publish in the World Tribune. That way, no-one will be surprised.

I agree that the SGI can ban me for whatever reason it likes - they can ban me for wearing green socks, if they like. I am hoping for clarification of the rules and who enforces the rules and who makes the judgements, but if the SGI wishes to retain ad hoc power over its members, it can do so. Of course. I would hope that the org would choose to make these ad hoc powers known to the membership, perhaps as part of a pre-Gohonzon conferral discussion with a senior leader. Again, that waym, everyone is on the same page.

Of course, I don't know how many new members they're going to attract with that approach, or how many Westerners are going to blaze a glorious trail of world peace through the practice of Buddhism if those are the terms, but of course, you are right, that is the Gakkai leadership's problem.

And Vanya, I think that the incident in DC was related to "standing up against" the NST's celebration of the 750th anniversary of Nichiren's submission of the Rissho Ankoku Ron. My banning may have been part of a similar, orchestrated attempt by the Soka Spirit membership to stand up against "slander" in celebration of that anniversary. I'm speculating, there. I don't know what's up with the Youtube post which has been promised.

Thanks for all your opinions, guys. Stay tuned.

Wahzoh

A late friend of mine always claimed he invented Ronald McDonald while managing the McDonald's at the old "5 points" in Urbana Illinois. I told him Burger Chef out on Prospect was better. For those familiar with the home of the Fighting Illini, the same friend also used to manage Uncle John's Pancake House / Aunt Sonya's just off campus near the Hall and Stadium; where he invented the Revie Sorey omelet.

As a kid, I also knew Roger Ebert and Gene Vance, I met Craig Vetter when he was operating out of garage in Rantoul -- he called the people their 'toolies' ... Sorry, I just had a Bruce Maltz moment.

From what I can gather, the Soka Gakkai is standing up against authoritarian religion. To accomplish that, they must place strict limits on their member's freedoms of speech, association, assembly,
publishing, and so on.

"Soka Gakkai's discussion meetings are above all meetings for the purpose of indoctrination of members and measuring the strength of belief of each member, and have marked resemblance to "Seishuin Kunwa Zadankai" (Moral Education Meetings) carried on during the war years, and also similar to discussion meetings of the Rightists drill house".

I have seen this. And it has to some degree been attempted in district meetings I've attended. But not in my living room! Not at my house! No fucking way!

Dear Byrd (Miss Exemplary Conduct or Lady Jogyo).

Nancy lost her Bud but she never lost her dignity which as lofty as Mount Sumeru. You, on the other hand, get kicked out of the cult, whine and take it out on me. You should be as happy as one who has just won the lottery. Lighten up because your criticism of me will not serve you well. after you have penetrated the deep recesses of the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of Nichiren you can get back to me.

Mark

See you around the funny farm, Mark.

Wahzoh

I believe you when you say you don't see why anyone should have a problem with your blog. I believe you truly see your involvement with the 'gathering of friends', your blog, and your posts at SGU, as totally separate from your activities in the SGI and should therefore not be a problem for anyone in the SGI.

I do believe you see things this way but I can't empathize, I cannot put myself in your place because these ideas make no sense. They are logical constructs divorced from reality.

This may qualify as an 'RBA', (really bad analogy), but maybe it will help. Imagine someone who goes home every year for the holidays and spends several days with his/her extended family. The visit is draining but our friend toughs it out for the sake of the family. He/She smiles at all the appropriate occasions but otherwise keeps a stiff upper lip.

Upon returning home, our friend blogs about the visit. She/He brings up various unsavory aspects of family history and lists in excruciating detail every physical and mental foible or defect of each and every family member for all the world to see. Some family members discover the blog, and our friends true feelings about the family. Do you believe the next visit will be just like all the previous ones?

Another one? Imagine you have worked for a large non-profit organization for many years. This organization is very idealistic. It is committed to make the world a better place and almost all the employees believe they can and will accomplish this mission. You have seen a lot and you are no longer so sure. After leaving work Friday you spend the weekend creating a blog listing out everything you think is wrong with the company.

You explain why, in your opinion, the company cannot possibly accomplish its goals without fundamental reform from the top down. The top officers must be fired and all connections with corporate headquarters must be cut. You question the intelligence and/or the integrity of your co-workers who still support the organization.

And you go back to work on Monday and think everything will be just fine, just as you left on Friday, because after all, the blog was done on personal time.

The people you did activities side by side with for all those years must be wondering to themselves, "Who is the real Byrd? How could the woman who smiled in my face and brought all the fried chicken and helped setup for memorial services be the same as this acerbic, sarcastic, anti-gakkai internet critic? What was her true reason for doing activities with us?"

If such questions come up at activities, (and how could they not?), that will be disruptive, don't you think?

Thanks, Michael

Hi, Michael - thanks so very much for your honesty and directness. Truly.

In regard to the first analogy, I do not see myself as "toughing out" my Gakkai activities. For the most part, I enjoy them immensely and enjoy seeing my friends, studying together, and chanting with my friends. That's why I was prepared with my grape leaves last Sunday. I genuinely love my friends, and when they die, I want to support their memorials, that's why I show up early to support. You are assuming a level of unhappiness with the activities themselves which I simply do not have. I have policy issues (i.e., I believe we should stop the war with Nichiren Shoshu), but I am not overall unhappy at these family gatherings, nor am I "toughing them out". In fact, I am pretty much happy everywhere I go, and isn't that why we practice? I genuinely enjoyed my Women's Division meeting this year, and I said so on my blog. I genuinely enjoyed last year's learning review and I said so on my blog. You can search this site and read for yourself.

2. In the second analogy, if the company is in fact my employer, I owe them a duty of loyalty because I am being paid by them and I am bound by corporate rules of confidentiality. That is a money-making situation, not voluntary association. Employers have an emormous amount of power over their employees and their conduct related to the company, even non-profits. Do you believe that the SGI has this? If so, do you believe it should say so to new recruits? (i.e., when someone is applying for a Gohonzon, to tell that person, "Now this organization is like your boss"?)

Your hypothetical membership puzzling over my internet speech may simply be having problems with a three-dimensional person who has a three-dimensional intellectual life. Believe it or not, Michael, the same person who campaigns against handguns may also be a crack marksman with a rifle. Yes, the same soul who loves his or her child may enjoy a bloody movie like "Saw IV". It's called individuality, Michael. Those who have internalized a culture which does not value individuality may experience demonstrations of individuality as being somehow "divorced from reality." Neh?

Thanks for writing in, Byrd

Oh, and another thing - I truly challenge you to find where, in my blog I have EVER "listed every physical and mental defect or foible of every family member". EVER, Michael. Is this how the SGI is holding out my writing? Because if it is, then that is possibly defamatory, as far as I can tell.

Also, tell me anywhere that I have EVER said that all the SGI's staff should be fired, and all connection s with Japan cut. EVER, ANYWHERE. Again, you cannot show this.

Show me the gossip, dude - it ain't there.

Opinion, only, to which I am entitled.

Wahzoh

And the justifications and rationalizations keep rolling in.

Michael and other die-hards, crappy behavior is crappy behavior. Unless you're laboring under the misconception that the SGI org is infallible (show me THAT in the gosho!), why must one seek to justify all this?

And, no, it's not just local, except that Byrd lives here near Borg central (Santa Monica). We've seen this sort of behavior all over SGI, except, perhaps in a few isolated areas that have leaders with a modicum of common sense.

Soka Spirit and all its baggage and rage is encouraged by the top, and groupthink is the order of the day.

Byrd, dear, you are so much better than this. Keep your true friends (those that value personal honor over the "fer us or agin' us" crap), and shake the dust from your feet. You ain't gonna change them, and, IMHBCO, eventually the only ones left will be those that follow the person (legal corporate entity) over the Law, or just seem to be those sad people that just gotta belong because they have no identity that's not tied to the org., or just need to be told what to do or not be able to function.

'course I'm rather with Groucho - wouldn't belong to an organization that'd have me as a member.

Love & Blessings,

Paul G. in Pan. City.

Byrd,

It seemed you couldn't understand how anyone could reasonably see your activities on your blog or at SGU as disruptive of the unity of SGI members and activities.

I didn't understand what you couldn't understand.

You had created some kind of logical firewall in your mind between your Gakkai activities and your blogging activities and since they were therefore separate, there was no conflict.

I felt that real people in the real world would not agree and tried to come up with analogies that might make this plain to you. That's all.

Michael

Michael - I can see how people miugh not agree with me. But ultimately, is it about "my behavior", or is it about issues? You purport that I a being banned because of my behavior - at the end of the day, my behavior is discussing issues in the open, where they belong.

If someone feels that it is bad behavior to discuss issues, they are well within their rights to write in here and say "gee, you shouldn't talk about that stuff" - Patrick has done this many times, and so have you.

You still cannot show me how anything I have done has been remotely disruptive of anything, Michael. Name me a single activity (other than a campaign to close down a rival church) which my online speech has disrupted. A single one, Michael.

What people build in their minds is their business. You can build a glorious castle of kosen-rufu where nobody compares notes across district boundaries without the supervision of their leaders, and I can create a firewall. It's your brain, do what you wanna do. The question of what will work as far as propagating in the US will still be on the table at the end of the brainscan.

Byrd in LA

Michael, Byrd's deconstruction of your RBAs was very clear and very well done. That you can't understand them is indicative of a real blind spot in yourself. We've discussed this before, and to no avail.

That's okay, of course. You have chosen a path that places the conclusion first and then scrambles to justify it, always with the determination that the conclusion is correct and cannot be shown to be otherwise. Read Hoffer on "True Believers" for a better understanding.

Or not, as you choose. Your organization is what it is, and a big part of what it is is inherently hypocritical. You don't see that, I know, but as stated, that's okay. So are you, probably.

Cheers!

Andy

Oh, and uh...Michael - why did you think that an analogy as packed full of lies (i.e., "listing every physical or mental defect or foible", "the SGI-USA's staff should be fired") would make anything whatsoever plain to me?

Byrd in LA

"disruptive of the unity of SGI members and activities."
Oh, please. "He stares at me and it burns!" Abigail Williams.
Here MichaeI, if this doesn't crack you up...
Global Citizenship

SGI Quarterly: How can people become effective agents of change?

William Reckmeyer: I think the notion of global citizenship is important here. People have both the responsibility and the right to care about what happens to the world as a whole--not just to become aware and care about it, but to actually do something. One of the most radical ideas in the universe is the notion of self-authorization, that you don’t need somebody’s permission in order to try to do something. I think there is more hope for more people now than there ever has been in human history. Because in the past leadership was primarily exercised by people who were powerful enough, rich enough, strong enough, or mean enough to be the boss and tell everyone what to do. For a long time most people had very little say in what went on in their life, other than trying to eke out an existence. The world has become more and more free in terms of economic choices, personal choices and governmental choices. There is more and more opportunity for people to get up in the morning and say, "I am not happy with this and we’ve got to do something about it."

It's easy to take the person out of the SGI but difficult to take the SGI out of the person. Be ever more vigilant in your faith. I'm going to the Spritual Eagle Mountain not to the Santa Monica State mental institution, so i'm not sure we will meet. Anyway, it would be an honor to meet you anywhere.

Mark

Byrd, you said: "You purport that I a being banned because of my behavior - at the end of the day, my behavior is discussing issues in the open, where they belong."

That is the Big No-No to the SGI. It's what got them excited about the IRG. As long as we quietly sent our papers to the leadership we were endured. As soon as we published and distributed them, and opened a discussion group to the public, the hammer came down in the form of lies and distortions about us, unofficially AND officially in SGI-USA publications.

Our crime was asking for open and honest PUBLIC discussion of the issues. They will not countenance that. I found that out long ago.

That this position on their part is 180 degrees away from the espoused doctrine of promoting dialogue, and Mr. Ikeda's famous guidances about standing up and speaking out, is all the evidence you need of the institutional hypocrisy which is part of that organization's DNA. Saying one thing and doing another; the end justifies any means; these are part and parcel to what the SGI-USA is all about. In a private conversation you will get lovely promises and reassurances... until you take your issues public.

Of course that only applies to those issues which are officially verboten, like disagreeing with the SS and the Eternal Temple War, or with the distortion of the master/disciple concept as the Gakkai teaches it, or by simply pointing out the Jello Wall hypocrisy that is inherent in that organization. Bring those up, and you are on the way out the door, as far as the org is concerned.

Welcome to the real world.

Cheers!

Andy

It's rather ironic those accusing Byrd of spreading rumours are commenting on a situation they have no personal knowledge of.

Be that as it may, Micheal has (sort of) a valid point. However, most (rational) people would expect this sort of response, rather than the one she got: "Gee, Byrd, you seem to have some problems with SGI you don't mention at meetings. Would you like to talk about it? Can I help?"

Hi Byrd!
"Nichiren writes, "Suppose that, in the last of the five five-hundred-year periods, there should be someone who harasses unlearned monks without precepts by accusing them of some offense. You should know that this person is extinguishing the great torch of Buddhism.”

For years now, the SGI has been harassing the believers in the Lotus Sutra from the Kempon Hokke, the Nichiren Shu, more recently the Nichiren Shoshu, and now even their own. Why should you be surprised? Haven't I and others been telling you this all along? Nothing is as fearful as evil spiritual friends. That is why in the world of Buddhism, my best friends are Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin. they never harass me or the other unlearned "monks" without precepts. The leaders of the SGI are extinguishing the great torch of Buddhism. there are others but I won't get into it now.

Mark

Dear Byrd

As Expected you have had that bulls eye on your back fired upon. The question is did you put the bulls eye there or is it others who see it due to the way they look at the world and insist it to be?

My advice, for what it is worth, is to reject the power that some assume they have over you - It's assumed power and only in their minds and due to their limited mind set and mentality!

The SGI is full of Angry Brahmins who, due to lack of study of Buddhism, don't even know what and who they are! Be Wise to them and give them the compassionate opportunity to address their own problems and poor attitudes - and should they fail it's their Karma and Their Crap which they hold so tightly and value so much! If they want to live with their anger and crap, wallowing like pigs, it's up to them.

It depend on How you define yourself or even allow others to define you!

If you are a Buddhist First then being a SGI member in not really relevant. However if you define yourself as an SGI member First then being a Buddhist is not really relevant! It's so simple but due to the mind set that SGI works to instil it can be so hard to see clearly and clarify the mind!

Do a Nichiren and step outside of the box and look at it clearly. The box is ever so pretty, with all sorts of bows and ribbons - formality - Grand Ideas and supposed world saving. But if you look into the box you have to confront what is there and as many have found it is empty unless you insist on getting in it and being tied up!

It's like the emperors new clothes - and the only wise person in that story was the child who asked why the emperor was naked! Sometimes you just have to take of the Rose Tinted Glasses that others demand you see the world through to be part of their gang and when you do the clarity can be alarming and even Enlightening!

Come on Byrd - You're No Turkey! P^)

@~>~>~~~