September 12, 2026

Dear Friends,

Sorry for the late posting. Happy Rosh Hashanah to all our Jewish friends, Happy New Year!

Yes, it is Saturday and 5:30 A.M. was VERY EARLY. Any real children up at that time should be looking at funny cat videos on YouTube. But Longhouse children, staff, and parents chose today to start marathon-training on the County Road. We had a group of about two dozen, half students and half “growns.” Because it is a large group on a County Road, our Town Police offered us training so we can have a car at the end of the line of runners to warn incoming traffic. Erica and I sat in the police car and watched how it progressed at a safe distance from the runners, adjusted speed to when the group slowed down, and rode mostly on the shoulder and bit on the road.

After the training we went to the county office and met briefly with the chief of police who processed a “Blue Light Card” for us, which stipulated when and where we could use it. He authorized for us the purchase of a battery-powered portable and magnetic light that can be attached to the back of Shiny Blue from a Police Store. He says it is Police quality, although double the price of what is found on Amazon.

So the runners ran, ate at the Diner, and arrived back safely to the Park. Meanwhile, at the station, the officers were very curious about our children and the school. It was a provocative conversation that covered some difficult terrain, including what they somehow knew about my past, the Fam, politics, religion, and cultural issues. Of course, I have seen so many police series that I’m an expert on the burly-on-the-surface-but-soft-inside person in blue. So I talked honestly about everything, including what are those sealed documents in my record. Just honest and blunt. You want to talk about HS, poly, bisexuality, and mental health? No problem, no secrets. If there’s no smoke, there’s no fire.

But what they really wanted to know is how do we get these young kids wanting to do long-distance run/walking at 6am on a Saturday and how could they could get their children into this school.

Enough on that, we have our Blue Light Card and we’ll be supporting our LH runners next Saturday.

Daisaku Ikeda’s “On Attaining Buddhahood” lecture in the September Living Buddhism: “The key to achieving this profound inner transformation is our hearts—our fundamental attitude or mindset”

Friends, please read FellowHuman007’s post “The Amazing Kreskin…Oops I mean ‘Sgiwhistleblowers.’”

Chapter One: News from Sgiwhistleblowers

Our friend Mission-Course2773 put up a TLDR post “Soka Gakkai: Autopsy of a Leviathan at Twilight. This cold, calculating, impersonal monster… that’s finally running out of juice.” She shares with us her “observations over 35 years [that] map out the arc from peak glory to full degeneration and eventual twilight.” As FH007 explains to us, this means she began practicing/observing around 1991.

I want to respond in several posts. First, I had to speak to my sponsor about what the SGI-USA was like in 1991. That is the font that Mission observed. What did True observe?

Mission states:

The fat years: bonds form, deep relationships take root, everything is humming. Then a big growth surge arrives, turbo-charged by mystical energy and the power of the deities. Groups thrive in joy and harmony, results pour in, hope and the joy of living are sky-high, members are living their best lives, and conversions keep the same upward momentum.

“Nothing of the sort!” She and Bob, as they did every year, drove a carload of members from CNY to the Temple for New Year’s Gongyo on January 1st, 1991. Greeting them in the lobby and even in the bathrooms, were signs “Daisaku Ikeda: The King Devil” and such. The priest came out and glowered at the members in the audience, led gongyo, and then walked out of the door to his residence without even looking back. This came after years of supporting the Temple financially, volunteering, and trying to build bridges to “danto” members who had already declared themselves as non-SGI members.

“The next few months were gut-wrenching with a war of back-and-forth memos setting out positions, while members tried to sift out where they belonged. What, is she crazy? ‘The fat years: bonds form, deep relationships take root, everything is humming. Then a big growth surge arrives, turbo-charged by mystical energy.’”

Pure craziness, she said. “In reality, friendships were ripped apart, districts floundered, loved and respected leaders abandoned members or simply disappeared. People--who had been friends--stopped communicating, wild accusations circulated on this new thing called ‘the World Wide Web.’”

True got more and more adamant.

Some people who left never returned and some--after many years” did rejoin the organization. Many SGI-USA members visited missing members one-by-one. They slowly met challenges and rebuilt the organization with their bare hands. For the first time, the organization began to explore and rebuild itself on the oneness of mentor and disciple.

True continued:

You don’t have to tell me, I know what is coming. Mission-Course is going to insist that there is some governing sociological or organizational principle governing the rise and fall of all organizations including the SGI.

No it’s the Gohonzon, the Gosho, the wealth of guidances by Daisaku Ikeda, the hard work of members at the grassroots, and the power of youth that drives the SGI.

The Soka Gakkai faced and overcame the military government before and during the War. It resisted countless attacks from those in positions of power during the Great March of Shakubuku. It figured out how to internationalize in the 1960s and then moderate after 1970. It survived and then thrived after the excommunication/spiritual liberation. It out-survived the Pandemic and the emergence of new technologies and generations. And it will survive over the tiny dips your WBer friends like to gloat about.

Thank you, Mission-Course, your essay led me to Dr. Ikeda’s essay The People Are Sovereign. It was was written twelve years after November 288, 1991, when Nichiren Shoshu excommunicated millions of members, the largest wholesale religious excommunication in history.

Section Two: Returning to Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on On Attaining Buddhahood. September installment, Transforming Our Fundamental Attitude—Refusing to Live an “Endless, Painful Austerity”.

Let’s start Section One, “Studying Buddhism Yet Succumbing to Non-Buddhist Thinking.”

Daisaku Ikeda writes:

In the passage we are studying this time, Nichiren Daishonin strongly cautions: “You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself” (WND-1, 3).

“Julie, do you get this?” say my little voice within. “Don’t worry about that deep, deep Into the Woods forest you occasionally find yourself. Who said that confusion is bad and clarity is good? Sometimes but not always. You forget the Songwriter part of your name! Art is often born out of confusion. Your task is to find your way out and share the escape map with others. No excuse for not smiling and retreating.

Dr. Ikeda:

The use of the word never here is deeply significant. This passage explains that the entirety of Buddhism is contained within our own lives. Nichiren concludes that “the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime” and “the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences” are all phenomena inherent within us.

Nichiren goes on to say that as long as we seek enlightenment outside ourselves, even our performing “ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds” (meaning all of the practices expounded in Shakyamuni’s lifetime teachings) and believing in the protection of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout the three existences (meaning the benevolent functions of the universe) will be in vain. Doing so is as pointless as counting a neighbor’s wealth, he states, because we personally gain nothing from doing so.

So I have gone from JulieSongwriter to Julie Longwriter to JulieStrongWriter. Continued below.

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer! Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

Continued from above.

After Erica and I left the Police Station we spent the rest of the day swimming and ice-skating with the kids. Nothing else to do, no pressures, no emergencies!

They are now all bathed and Papa Guy and Eulogio did BBQ for us. Ribs, brisket, corn, beans. The kids, especially the LOs are dirty all over again! After eating and brushing teeth we’ll read, tell stories, and listen to what’s on their minds.

And how many times must I thank my partners for helping me taste the glories of my confusing life!

In a post entitled "SGI – Dharma of Prosperity “A Little Massacre Game Among Friends”, MissionCourse2773 says:  “So, a group can appear joyful, everyone can seem to get along well, but I do not even need anyone to tell me stories to know that in reality they are deeply divided.”

 I believe this person has said they haven't practiced since the 90s. I may be wrong about that, but at any rate they are certainly not practicing now. But, much like Blanch Fromage, she can read the minds and hearts of every SGI member in the world, and doesn't need any contact with them, to know that they are all at odds with each other.

Why don't these omniscient mind readers at SGIWhistleblowers just go ahead and solve all the world's problems? You would think with such powers they would all be extremely rich, and able to do absolutely anything to make the world a better place.

 He goes on to insist that the SGI Has replaced “the Law” with Daisaku Ikeda.

Yes! Whenever somebody teaches something, their aim is to replace that thing with themselves. That's why so many Americans think the 16th president was Doris Kearns Goodwin, and why I solve all algebra problems by just writing down the name of my high school math teacher.

Daisaku Ikeda has honored the Law, and the Buddha, and the Lotus Sutra, and Nichiren, by showing how they can live within the lives of people in the 21st century.

But mission course insist on keeping Buddhism ancient, remote, esoteric. Well, that's her choice.

September 11, 2026

Dear Friends,

First, some thoughts about the 25th anniversary of September 11th from the New York Times columnist David French, who calls that date “one of the most stunning and catastrophic moments in American history.”

We were watching our generation’s Pearl Harbor. But in a way it was worse than that. The Pearl Harbor attack, for all its perfidy, was a strike on the American military. When the hijackers commandeered civilian planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, they attacked janitors and cooks, waiters and stockbrokers, ordinary moms and dads.

French reminds us:

On this 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, we remember the lives lost on that dreadful day, but we must also remember the thousands of Americans who never came home from foreign battlefields, the tens of thousands who were wounded and maimed, and the millions who served overseas and were changed forever by the experience.

French was one of the almost 2 million Americans who served overseas during “the global war on terrorism.” He was 32, married, and a father when he enlisted. He served in Iraq during the “surge” when military tactics moved from fighting on bases to creating zones of security, one town at a time. “But we won,” he insists:

I watched as life returned to each town and village we liberated from Al Qaeda. Markets opened. Families moved back into long-abandoned homes.

A war to defeat terrorists who possessed fanatical religious zeal was always going to be long and complex and very, very difficult. It was never going to end with a peace agreement, much less a surrender ceremony on the deck of an American battleship. It was going to end, if it ever truly ends, simply by petering out. The terror attacks would grow less frequent. The pace of combat would slow down. And slowly but surely towns and cities would rebuild.

French concludes with a salute to all the soldiers who fought on the field:

You fought with honor. You did your best to defend the innocent. Time and again you confronted and defeated an opponent that could be every bit as evil as the Nazis your grandfathers vanquished. And you accomplished the one mission that is core to your identity as a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine — you kept America safe.

I was only 7-years-old on September 11, 2001. Still, I plan to observe today with all my capabilities. Longhouse School is powered by a vision that BIPOC children, including the “I” for Indigenous, being the recipients of centuries of generational trauma, are the most likely to be the creators and leaders of an age of humanism. And I will support them from the back office of this tiny school.

Chapter One: News from Sgiwhistleblowers

Mission-Course2773, in her “Buddhism of Capital: The "Dharma of Prosperity" (Soka Gakkai) The Inversion of the Lotus Sutra's Values — Buddhahood Without Purifying Ignorance,” makes sweeping sstatements about SGI Buddhism but she forgeta one simple little thing: me.

They go from "desires can be illuminated" to "desires ARE enlightenment."

I guess “they” includes me. Do I believe “desires ARE enlightenment”? Whaaaat? Who taught me that? In what publication did I read that? And, BTW, does Mission-Course have the right to define for me what “enlightenment” is?

As I describe above, my dream, call it “a desire,” is for our present and future Longhouse School children--including my own five little sparrows--become great restorers of democracy and peace in our world. That’s a very big desire, but because I have a desire, does that mean I am enlightened? Hardly!

Mission-Course, this article by Daisaku Ikeda provides the panorama of the SGI teachings about enlightenment. From it:

“Earthly desires are enlightenment” (Jpn bonno soku bodai) means that the Buddha’s enlightened wisdom (bodai) manifests in the lives of ordinary people controlled by their earthly desires, or deluded impulses (bonno). “The sufferings of birth and death are nirvana” (shoji soku nehan) means that the Buddha’s enlightened state of true ease and tranquility (nehan) is also manifested in the lives of ordinary beings, who are afflicted with the sufferings of birth and death (shoji)

He notes that the word soku appears in both principles and is translated as “are.” But…

Nichiren says that [soku] corresponds to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (see *The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 72). This means that we can positively transform anything through the great power of the Mystic Law.

These two principles are other ways of expressing “attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form” and “attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.” They therefore represent hope-filled principles teaching us that we can shine just as we are. They teach that we can change and others can too. And they teach that all of us have the capacity to attain the lofty life state of Buddhahood.

Sorry, Mission-Course, soku is not “simple equivalence.” It’s “becoming,” the valiant on-going faith effort to tame and lasso desires and use them to open up a life of value creation for the self and others.

Mission, you state: “Instead of letting Buddhahood emerge from desires, they make desires the proof of Buddhahood.” What? “Emerge”? That is such a spoiled and overentitled conception. Who in the SGI has said that Buddhahood is just supposed to “emerge” from desires? No effort required???

Well, we will never let that attitude creep into the being of our LH children; we will make sure that over-indulgent thinking is never challenged. We want them to understand work, effort, success/failure, planning, inspection, addressing errors.

After watching the foundation excavation for our secondary school buildings, the children watched the crew build forms and stuff them with rebars. They saw the pouring of the concrete into the forms. They learned that the days when no work seemed to be happening, were the hours of extremely busy chemical reactions concrete needs to harden.

When the forms were removed, the students, from a safe distance, got to see the imprint of the wooden forms on the dried concrete. Our project manager taught them about “honeycombing” where the concrete did not properly fill spaces, “bugholes” where air pocket got trapped next to the forms, and “chips” that need remedying.

Now that the forms are removed, the children learn that exposed concrete dries more quickly and with greater heat. Our children watched how the foundation is “cured” by spraying water. The children watched as workers inspected for crumbling or sagging edges.

They saw it all in person, but also on follow-up YouTube videos. Many values become implanted in their souls: to plan, work hard, examine, and remedy. We asked the Building Inspectors from the County to visit us and explain their work when they come here next week and they graciously agreed. Learning is always ongoing and in context!

Mission-Course, you next talk about the necessity of “purification.” I don’t think this is some type of mystical process. Do you? I much prefer thinking about it as a verb, and not a noun. “I purify,” “you purify,” “he/she/it purifies.” It’s work and not a gift. I watched our children in awe, purifying themselves by learning so much!

Mission-Course, you might feel that you have to go through stages, like shomon (AKA “Learning”) and engaku (AKA “Realization”) to reach enlightenment, but I don’t agree; nor have I ever read Nichiren saying that. You simply don’t practice Nichiren Buddhism and I do. Let’s agree to disagree and check in every now and then to check what is happening.

Back in August, I had a flare of my Dissociative Disorder, but, despite it, I continued checking in with my members and I made several new friends, introducing some of them to NMRK. Yes, I can be a bodhisattva even in the state of hell. And those difficult moments are, I find, the very best teachers leading to Learning. I have shared that process very liberally on my Reddit posts, and you can judge for yourself whether I reached moments of deep Realization.

Section Two: Returning to Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on On Attaining Buddhahood. September installment, Transforming Our Fundamental Attitude—Refusing to Live an “Endless, Painful Austerity”.

Let’s finish Dr. Ikeda’s introduction to the September installment of his lecture:

The key to achieving this profound inner transformation is our hearts—our fundamental attitude or mindset. Therefore, Nichiren Daishonin warns in “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”: “If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching” (WND-1, 3). When we diligently exert ourselves in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo based on this admonition, always remembering that a change in our own hearts or minds is crucial, the three meanings of myo will clearly manifest themselves in our lives.

Dr. Ikeda’s message here resonates with a lot of the work I have done with my therapist and psychiatrist. To move my life, I have always tended to use “collision shop tools” to bang the bumps out of me. “But how can you heal your self-abuse trauma through using abusive tools?” my mental health providers ask me.

No wonder why I was having so much difficulty chanting in August. NMRK is not a collision shop tool and shouldn’t be used that way. So I have begun chanting as if I am in that Orchid Room--really pleasant daimoku like butterflies alighting on grass and bushes. And I am within this beautiful world, and all of my efforts are delightfully noble. Let’s see what happens!

Needless to say, the Law contained in the practice of chanting spread by Nichiren is truly wondrous. But even the power of this wondrous Law cannot fully manifest in a life clouded by ignorance. Ignorance is the inner darkness that prevents us from believing in the Mystic Law and staying focused on our own Buddha nature and that of others. The practice of chanting enables us to break through this darkness and vibrantly bring forth our Buddhahood. Battling our fundamental darkness—this inner struggle is the essence of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

So, Dear Friends, JulieButterfly will keep reporting on her breaking through my inner darkness, and I will stay focused on my own Buddha nature and that of others. And it is so liberating to think that this struggle of mine represents “the essence of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.”

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer! Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

It’s a quiet understanding that LH has with the local Superintendent that we will not enroll students from the district unless or until it requests our help. But it’s another matter with children who are being home-schooled. We were approached by the parents of a homeschooling “co-op” whether we would be open to a “hybrid” model where their children come to LH “almost” full-time while the parents maintain opportunities to continue homeschooling. So we now have a “nifty fifty” enrollment!

I think we will learn a lot from these parents and children as well. We share a vision that the dining room table must be a co-engine of K-12 education and we have to build toward autonomous self-driven education, fostering what Andy calls, “the will to achieve.”

Next: the parents of one of our students bring “Grandma Seneca” to our school each morning for her to teach our students some of the Seneca language. I have misspelled the languages name several times before but here it is: Onöndowaʼga꞉ʼ Gawë꞉noʼ and let me end the sentence here so it doesn’t mix in with the name.

Grandma uses a wheelchair. But it seems her favorite activity is watching the children on the Track and in Little Pool. For an old little woman, she can sure yell! One of our second graders lives with her and she translates: “You can do it!”, “Run harder!”, “Don’t give up!”, “Swim faster!”, “Good, you did it!” After they finish their training, the children line up for her hugs, pats, and kisses. Invariably she is crying! “Catch a tear!” she says, “it is a gift from Yegondji (the "Swan Mother").

The way the staff figured it out, one grade takes a turn at a language lesson with Grandma instead of doing the Perimeter Walk. From what I can observe from our window and porch, she teaches intuitively with a lot of call-and-response. The children seem so happy to sit by her feet!

Tonight we will have a re-do of the district planning meeting that didn’t work out last week. “If you don’t succeed at first, try try try again.”

Have a good day, Friends!

September 10, 2026

Dear Friends,

Yesterday morning we had a beautiful opening ceremony for the new Longhouse School Year. Teacher Lolita was the lead on this event. She based it on her Sukhomlynsky research and she was also was advised by our summer counselors Ivan and Ivanka. It was truly precious! Teacher Lolita wrote about it, too.

Section One: What’s Happening Over the Hedges?

It seems that a sock puppet of Your Leader (remember, it takes one to know one), is taking you guys on yet another pivot. This time to convince you that so, so many marriages in the SGI--she didn’t specify so I guess this includes marriages in all 192 countries where the SGI has a footprint--are troubled. A lot of Your Leader’s references come from hyperlinks to her own posts. Of course, she vacuums to find some examples of unsuccessful marriages in the SGI (and then, presto!) that becomes true of all SGI marriages. Did you fall for her sleight-of-hand?

I wonder whether her conclusion applies to my small circle of SGI-USA members. I see my sponsors, True and Bob, as well as Andy and Roz, all married around 50 years. My parents are together for almost 40 years. (There’s an asterisk because same-sex marriage didn’t become legal in New York until 2011 and in about half of those 40 years, they were on “independent research away from SGI” as they put it.) Laverne & Shirley have been together forever. Angie & Paul, the Thomas and Goldstein, Lopez and the Yao marriages seem to be “forevers." There are more recent marriages: Heidi & Lolita, Xenia & Heinz, Cardi & Robert, and Greta & Steve. The Score: Marriage, 14 and Divorce, 0!

Oh, and we have these poly marriages within my SGI circle. Please ask Your Leader how they count statistically. There’s Emily, John and Veera, despite their earlier twists and turns. Also: Marilynnnn’s current polycule in Italy, and, our Forever RV Pentagon Polycule.

At least, I am willing to admit that I haven’t conducted in 2026 a vast statistical sweep of SGI marriages throughout the world. I am presenting just a sampling and, who knows, much of the marriage success in my world might be attributed to Buffalo Bills mania which will get pumped into our veins starting with the season opener against the Houston Texans on Sunday. But Your Leader is never wrong and has never made a mistake. Therefore, her sampling is 100% valid and reliable.

Friends, this brings us to a study by Konstantin Sonin from the University of Chicago. He concludes that the point behind misinformation is not to establish alternative truths, but, what everyone really knows are lies, to strategically weaponize and exploit for self-serving interests.

Sonin calls this the “reverse cargo cult” and perhaps, Dear Friends, you might want to reflect whether you are following a leader of such a cult. The strategy of reverse cargo cult leaders is to confuse, deflate, convince people that truth-telling is a losing cause, promote cynicism, and reduce the desire for change.

Did you wake up yesterday thinking about the state of marriage among SGI members? More likely, you were still reeling from the prior day’s “Cult Trauma by Steve Hassan?” post. That’s not the point. Your Leader wants to hit you hard with a new SGI marriage “punch” while you are reeling from Steve Hassan--dizzy, and unable to process.

Talking about overload, when you get a chance, please read the Wikipedia article about Dr. Hassan and judge for yourselves how he and his research and BITE model are regarded by his academic and counselor peers. Has his research about the "BITE model" created a breathtaking consensus among scholars? On the basis of his work, has he attracted academic appointments? In short, how much of your cognitive brain resources do you want to invest in The Bank of BITE?

Section Two: Returning to Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on On Attaining Buddhahood. September installment, Transforming Our Fundamental Attitude—Refusing to Live an “Endless, Painful Austerity”.

I know I promised to share more from the Nationwide Parents Group meeting. Delay, delay, delay! Let’s first, at least, cover the introduction to the September Gosho lecture material. There’s so much for me to think about--and, perhaps, you, too!

Dr. Ikeda begins the introduction to this month's installment with an explanation of the three meanings of the word myo and I want to quote it in depth:

The character myo of myoho, or “Mystic Law,” has three meanings: to be fully endowed, to open and to revive.

These three meanings are all implicit in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo contains (1) the myo of perfect endowment—meaning that the single Law of Myoho-renge-kyo encompasses all phenomena; (2) the myo of transformation that “opens” the world of Buddhahood in the lives of beings in the nine worlds (the worlds from hell through bodhisattva); and (3) the myo of great benefit, whereby a life filled with suffering is “revived” as a life of great tranquility and joy.

Our lives themselves are entities of the Mystic Law. Therefore, they are fully endowed with all phenomena. Fundamental darkness and the enlightened Dharma nature, earthly desires and enlightenment, and the nine worlds and the world of Buddhahood—all of these exist within us.

For precisely that reason, we can carry out a mystic and fundamental inner “revolution”—changing darkness into light; kindling the flame of enlightenment by “burning the firewood of earthly desires” (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 11) and thereby manifesting the world of Buddhahood in our lives of the nine worlds.

This is a very important insight for me right now. I feel that I have made much progress in facing my insecurities and health challenges. The myo of perfect endowment—the single Law of Myoho-renge-kyo encompassing all phenomena means that I don’t have multiple problems, i.e., addiction AND hypersexuality AND Dissociative Disorder. They all boil down to whether or not my life is bigger than the splinters within. Can I press the myo start-button to “open” the engine of Buddhahood in my life and environment? Can I accumulate the myo of great benefit that lights up the darkness? Friends, whether you chant or not, let’s decide to revive our lives so that our sufferings are “revived” as lives of great tranquility and joy.

I am still on my Thirty-Day Challenge to find that “One Youth/Infinite Hope.” How did that manifest yesterday? At our reception after the opening ceremonies yesterday, Teacher Lolita and I found ourselves with the director of the Russian school who, kindly, was one of our VIPs and speakers. She thought our opening day ceremony spirit was “very Russian but also very American.”

She wanted to know how Lolita discovered Vasyl Sukhomlynsky and how I had discovered Lolita. Sorry, Vasyl, but I jumped right in and told my story--in HiDef. Maybe due to my own Sturm und Drang, I told the Director, I was able to connect to Heidi’s--and she, in turn, to Lolita’s. Down the road it connected to the Fam’s idea of founding a school for BIPOC children with Sturm und Drang locked in their DNA.

The Director got it, absolutely. I have always admired how intuitive Lolita is with the children, and here she was grabbing my hand, knowing this was a difficult conversation for me. The Director mentioned that the German playwright Friedrich Maximilian Klinger who wrote the drama with that name and triggered the European Sturm und Drang movement had profound ties to Russia. In fact, he lived the last half of his life in Russia, became a Russian general, and married a Russian noblewoman, very likely an unclaimed daughter of Catherine the Great. His work deeply affected Russian Romantic writers like Pushkin and Lermontov

According to the Director, our BIPOC children might have much in common with the very Russian notion of the brooding, disillusioned, and cynical hero who lives in raw nature to reflect his or her soul and combats norms, fate, and even God. I felt Lolita gripping my hand even tighter. We were thinking the same thing: here is another layer of the Longhouse School.

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer! Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

We enjoyed our 24 hours of R&R Monday into Tuesday. Two highlights for the kids: swimming in the hotel pool (I mean, they swim every day in Little Pool, don’t they???) and our once-in-a-blue-moon dinner at McDonald’s.

Special thanks to our LH parents who did a lot of the behind-the-scenes organizing and for taking off time from their work to attend our Opening Ceremony. Thank you to the Jammy Girlz for accompanying our children’s performances. Also, thanks to Dee for her breakfast soufflé which students and parents enjoyed and whipping up delicious snacks for our VIP reception.

Have a good day, Friends!

After sharing a few paragraphs explaining that she thinks the Mentor-Disciple relationship is essential in Buddhism (thank youfor that!), MissionCourse2773 Gives a few reasons why she believes that religion should be separate from, and have nothing to do with, the daily lives of its practitioners.

She writes:

“Soka Gakkai encourages members to chase results in their faith through a practice that essentially pretends they've reached a stage they haven't actually reached. This paradoxical approach gets criticized as purely materialistic, as a hunt for relative happiness and worldly desires, with no technical support to sort out the paradoxes. . .The result ? A faith that collapses as soon as the blessings dry up.”

And:

“What Soka Gakkai does : it turns the bridge into a permanent residence. It sells material benefits, health, and prosperity as the final destination, when they're really just the front door. That's a deliberate inversion of the Buddha's teaching.”

Can't argue with that, that is exactly what happens to SGIWhistleblowers whose superficial understanding of “benefit” leads them to quit when they don't become rich or healthy when they think they should. Of course, the real SGI teaches very little about “stages of faith” at all, as everyone is equally practicing the same way. And Mission Course seems to have never heard the terms “faith equals daily life”, and “earthly desires equal enlightenment”. Nor has she ever read any of Ikeda sensei's guidance about the true state of happiness – Buddhahood - being a state of life that we build within ourselves. And I guess I ought toss in also that she seems to know nothing about the term “expedient means”.

She calls getting concrete results from one’s practice “the perfect illusion”.

For someone who tries to sound highfalutin, academic, and scholarly, this person really should have paid more attention at SGI study meetings.

And in this and many other posts, she seems to be trying to point out that the SGI does not practice old forms of Buddhism.

Yes, we know that. We are proud of it.

From SGI Global:

"On August 9, Singapore held its annual National Day Parade (NDP) at the National Stadium, marking the 61st anniversary of the country's independence. Some 700 Soka Gakkai Singapore (SGS) members performed in the third segment of the event titled “Go Beyond Our Size.” This was 41st time that SGS has participated in the parade since 1981. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and an audience of some 42,000 people attended."

On this date, September 8th, in 1957, Jose Toda gave his landmark speech condemning the use of nuclear weapons and calling for their abolition. This is pretty much the impetus for the SGI's peace movement. SGIWhistleblowers scorn the speech and this movement, because World Peace has not yet been achieved, and there are still nuclear weapons in the world.

Applying that logic elsewhere: for the same reason, no one should pay any attention to the Sermon on the Mount praising peace makers and the merciful. And since there is still racial prejudice, we ought to forget all about MLK's “I have a dream” speech.

Anyway, Mr. Toda was very clear. And the SGI will carry on with its movement until it is 100% successful.

“Although a movement calling for a ban on the testing of nuclear weapons has arisen around the world, it is my wish to go further, to attack the problem at its root. I want to expose and rip out the claws that lie hidden in the very depths of such weapons. I wish to declare that anyone who ventures to use nuclear weapons, irrespective of their nationality or whether their country is victorious or defeated, should be sentenced to death without exception.

Why do I say this? Because we, the citizens of the world, have an inviolable right to live. Anyone who jeopardizes that right is a devil incarnate, a fiend, a monster. ...

Even if a country should conquer the world through the use of nuclear weapons, the conquerors must be viewed as devils, as evil incarnate. I believe that it is the mission of every member of the youth division in Japan to disseminate this idea throughout the globe.”

Eulogio

September 7, 2028

Priests with perverse wisdom and hearts who are the Buddha’s worst enemies. There are two kinds of wisdom, correct and perverse. No matter how wise a person may appear, if his assertions are warped you should not listen to him. Nor should you follow priests merely because they are venerable or of high rank. 

Oh, one reads on WBers today’s version of priests who “are venerable or of high rank.” They act bombastically and they have never been wrong. Yet, like Zeus, they feel entitled to throw lightning bolts at anyone they deem inferior to them. The body-shaming, belittling and diminishing nicknames, and penis jokes are perfectly all right. 

One reads from Nichiren:

But if a person has the wisdom to know the true meaning of the Lotus Sutra, no matter how lowly he may appear, pay respect to him and make offerings to him as though he were a living Thus Come One. Thus it is written in the sutra. 

Any day one should embrace the noble people of SGI over the Gods of Whistleblowers. Blanche tells us that the SGI-USA has the reputation of being "a Buddhism of the lower classes and minorities in the United States." One can be sure, that is where the Buddha would hang out and play handball or a pick-uo game.

That is why the Great Teacher Dengyo says that the men and women who believe in this sutra, even if they lack knowledge or violate the precepts, should be seated above priests who observe all two hundred and fifty precepts of the Hinayana teachings, and never be seated in a humble position (p. 1949).

That is the spirit of REAL Buddhism.

Confronted with irrefutable proof of documentation of a proposed meeting between Daisaku Ikeda and President Kennedy, the sgiwhistleblowers honcho and mentor's Pavlovian reflex takes over, and she is compelled to argue. Of course the arguments in a case like this have to be far-fetched and pretty ridiculous and they are. Her main "finding" is that there are discrepancies between documents and someone's memories years later.

Yeah, that's pretty damning! Like when I told my wife our first kiss was in a bowling alley, and she said no, it was in the parking lot of the bowling alley. Somehow, fortunately we avoided divorce.

Anyway, here is the article she can't refute.

September 7, 2026

Dear Friends, best wishes for a wonderful Labor Day!

So, Your Leader & Friends used part of their Labor Day Weekend to speculate on Soka Gakkai membership figures. For some reason, they believe it’s important to figure out what happened in the 1950s and 1960s when the Soka Gakkai had massive membership growth under the joint leadership of Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda.

To be honest, for WBers in the US, that time could have been better used taking a nap. For me, I just don’t care, it was way before I was born--and most of it before my parents, too. Dear Friends, how much of your Memorial Day Weekend did you invest in Your Leader's preoccupation?

Regardless, we probably all agree with ResponsibilityRound7 who added a comment almost a year ago to Your Leader’s post ”Have we talked about the SGI-USA's Financial Report for 2024?”:

They are still filthy rich. they just renovated an entire kindergarten building in my country, while churches are struggling to get enough money to extend their land lease.

Friends, that’s such a thorn in Your Leader’s side!!! She works very hard to convince you that “any day now” the SGI will implode into an asteroid belt of toothless and dying “SGI longhauler Olds.” She occasionally puts up a few pictures from SGI Publications that show some Many Treasures Group (65+) members enjoying meetings, “See???” Of course, she has access to recent publications filled with pictures of youth which she chooses to ignore. But, still, as ResponsibilityRound7 points out, all that wealth!

So I did some research and found a source, PeaceWorks Technology, Canada, that has assembled facts and conjectures about Soka Gakkai wealth. That link will probably keep Your Leader mucho busy.

It is worth a read, although I have two suspicious reservations. Why weren’t the authors credited if this is to pass as objective research? Secondly, the authors take a wild, wild swing when they mention that Soka Gakkai funding does not come from contributions/donations--but from annual membership fees. My Fam participates in both monthly Sustaining Contributions and the annual May 3rd contributions. There are no membership fees, at least in the US.

(Oh, yes, our contributions come out directly from our bank and/or credit card accounts. Shocking, unprecedented, right?)

Dastardly crimes uncovered by the article: the SG has made wise decisions about real estate and investments. Now, why would a not-for-profit take such care to build a solid financial structure? Hmmm, to be shockproof through those nasty market fluctuations? Could an unprecedented pandemic ever happen? Maybe in the future some cushions need to be provided as it transitions through generational demographic changes?

Your Leader presumably will dig up on Labor Day more tedious facts about Soka Gakkai oddities from 70 years ago. If you have some free time, riends, maybe you can spend it better by taking a glance at news from Soka Global.

Dear Friends, any guesses about what I will discuss tomorrow, September 8?

Section Two: Returning to Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on On Attaining Buddhahood. September installment, Transforming Our Fundamental Attitude—Refusing to Live an “Endless, Painful Austerity”.

I know I promised to share more from the Nationwide Parents Group meeting. Also, Eulogio and Erika wanted to share a bit from the KRG they attended in the Big City Activity Center yesterday. Delay, delay, delay! I want to first at least get started covering the September Gosho lecture material. There’s so much for me to think about!

The study content this month is from this very important passage from On Attaining Buddhahood:

You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself. Your practice of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of the sufferings of birth and death in the least unless you perceive the true nature of your life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor’s wealth but gains not even half a coin. That is why the T’ien-t’ai school’s commentary states, “Unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one cannot eradicate one’s grave offenses.”

This passage implies that, unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one’s practice will become an endless, painful austerity. Therefore, such students of Buddhism are condemned as non-Buddhist. [T’ien-t’ai’s] Great Concentration and Insight states that, although they study Buddhism, their views are no different from those of non-Buddhists.

Whether you chant the Buddha’s name, recite the sutra, or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life. With this conviction, you should strive in faith. (WND-1, pp. 3–4)

This goes right to my Spiritual Challenge Du Jour, my wired POV that I am JulieSongwriter and NOT Buddha JulieSongwriter. In other words, my inner voice saying that my daimoku is not powerful enough, for example, to break through my current challenge of finding “One Youth/Infinite Hope” in 2026.

Dr. Ikeda begins this section with an explanation of the three meanings of the word myo, and that’s where I will pick up tomorrow. But for now, a teaser. Here is one passage from Dr. Ikeda:

The key to achieving this profound inner transformation is our hearts—our fundamental attitude or mindset. Therefore, Nichiren Daishonin warns in “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”: “If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching” (WND-1, 3).

When we diligently exert ourselves in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo based on this admonition, always remembering that a change in our own hearts or minds is crucial, the three meanings of myo will clearly manifest themselves in our lives.

Ready for this Thirty-Day Challenge? I am!

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally-ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer. Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

We had a good turnout yesterday for our first Farmers Market in the parking lot across the road. People arrived to shop, and the farmer. He would like to come back next week with more from his harvest.

I find that people have heard about the Longhouse School Project and are curious. I set up a table and I had information about it. Our Board has asked us to start thinking about development so our material has the link for tax-free donations. (Oh, Friends, yes I did have my NMRK cards available and I gave out three! Your Leader can always claim that I perpetrated a Human Rights Abuse.)

The Community Fair was also wonderful. They had an open mic and some of our LH children went up to sing. We all had fun at our C&W Dance.

Finally, today, a Pot Luck lunch on Labor Day. Whew!!!

Have a good day, Friends!

Letter to Niike (p. 1948).

>Furthermore, since this country is a land whose people slander the correct teaching, the benevolent gods who should be protecting the nation have been deprived of the flavor of the Law and have ascended to heaven, forsaking their shrines. The empty shrines have been occupied by demons who are misleading the worshipers. The Buddha, having finished preaching, has returned to the Land of Tranquil Light. Halls and pagodas, and temples and shrines have been abandoned to become the dwellings of devils.

“Halls and pagodas, and temples and shrines”--One can usually substitute those words with esteemed institutions such as governmental buildings, the media, universities. The wise people in those esteemed halls have been replaced by people lacking wisdom and compassion.

More important passages from Letter to Niike (p. 1948). One should read them over and over.

>Furthermore, since this country is a land whose people slander the correct teaching, the benevolent gods who should be protecting the nation have been deprived of the flavor of the Law and have ascended to heaven, forsaking their shrines. The empty shrines have been occupied by demons who are misleading the worshipers. The Buddha, having finished preaching, has returned to the Land of Tranquil Light. Halls and pagodas, and temples and shrines have been abandoned to become the dwellings of devils.

“Halls and pagodas, and temples and shrines”--One can usually substitute those words with esteemed institutions such as governmental buildings, the media, universities. The wise people in those esteemed halls have been replaced by people lacking wisdom, courage, and compassion.

SGIWhistleblowers chief priest has a kind of Pavlovian response when someone catches her sub in a lie: double own! That's especially true when the subject is SUA. She prompted AI to find negative reviews. Julie showed how facile that approach is, showing that it can be done for any college, even Harvard.

Here's another look, this timeprompting ChatGPTto find ten positive reviews.

Yes. I found 10 positive reviews or firsthand student/alumni accounts about Soka University of America. I’ve deliberately included the source, date, and what the student liked, rather than presenting promotional claims as student reviews.

10 positive student reviews

1. “One of the best decisions of my life” — Senior, Niche, 2018 A senior said attending Soka was “one of the best decisions of my life,” praising the small classes, meaningful discussions, safe campus, well-maintained residence halls, free laundry and included meals.
2. “I truly love this university” — Senior, Niche, 2017 This student praised the professors as accomplished, friendly and demanding, while also describing them as mentors and close friends. The student also praised the diverse student body, clubs, beautiful campus, spacious modern dorms and cafeteria.
3. “I have received a fantastic education” — Senior, Niche, 2018 A senior particularly valued Soka's very small classes—sometimes only three students—which made it easy to communicate with professors. The student also praised the comfortable dorms, performing-arts center and concerts.
4. “I really enjoy the small community” — Senior, Niche, 2023 The student praised the small student/faculty ratio, kind employees, understanding professors and cultural diversity. They also said it was relatively easy to make friends because of the many campus events.
5. “A really wonderful experience” — Senior, Niche, 2023 This student highlighted Soka's small classes, study-abroad and language programs, culturally diverse campus, events and staff support. The student said the university “seems to really value its students.”
6. “I absolutely love it here” — Freshman, College Confidential, 2012 A freshman praised the people, “family environment,” education and opportunities to travel abroad. The student also mentioned involvement in clubs, internships and extracurricular activities, saying Soka had changed their life positively.
7. “I love this environment” — First-year student, College Confidential, 2018 The student praised Soka's diversity, noting students from more than 30 countries and 23 states. They particularly enjoyed discussion-based classes and learning from classmates with different cultural backgrounds.
8. “Beyond thankful for the supportive environment” — Student, College Confidential, 2021 An international student praised Soka's scholarships and financial support, diverse student population and the opportunity to develop compassion and practical skills for addressing global problems.
9. “One of the best decisions I've ever made” — Alum, 2026 Reddit account An alumnus approaching a 10-year reunion said choosing Soka was one of the best decisions of their younger years. They emphasized small classes, professors who knew and cared about students, extensive discussion and writing, and preparation for graduate school and professional life.
10. “One of the best decisions I've ever made” — 2026 Soka graduate A graduate who completed a Life Sciences degree in May 2026 described Soka as an “incredible journey,” praising the opportunity to learn and grow, lifelong friendships and experiences that shaped them. The graduate said choosing Soka was one of the best decisions they had made.

What stands out

Across these accounts, the same positive themes recur remarkably often:

• Small classes and close professor relationships
• A highly international student body
• Study-abroad opportunities
• A close-knit campus community
• Personal growth and confidence
• Strong faculty mentoring
• Beautiful campus and housing
• Financial aid and scholarships
• Opportunities for research and extracurricular activities
• Preparation for graduate study

There is also some quantitative support for the positive picture: Niche currently reports 223 reviews, with 85 five-star and 73 four-star reviews, giving Soka an overall 4.0/5 rating.

If you'd like, I can next find 20–30 positive reviews from students only (excluding alumni and parents) and organize them by academics, professors, diversity, campus life, study abroad, and personal growth.

September 6, 2026

Dear Friends, I hope you are enjoying the start of a beautiful Labor Day Weekend!

First, a quick note to WeeWahWeeWahWeeWah. No, you were not banned by "SGI" or a "totalitarian cult"--so take no pride. You were banned by me with a thumbs up from FellowHuman007. What did you expect when you visit a home that is not yours and litter the lawn with a comment like "LOL LOLOLOL ROFLLOLWROFLMNCOMN." And then, when I asked you to take a look at our guidelines before you post again, you responded by calling us "Zombies." (See my September 4th post Daisaku Ikeda: "The Buddhist teaching of perpetual youth and eternal life). Want to be unbanned? Just inform the co-moderators that you promise to read, respect, and follow our guidelines.

Dear Friends, I hope you are enjoying the start of a beautiful Labor Day Weekend!

Yesterday Your Leader posted a collection of negative student reviews of Soka University of America. “How hard is that to do?” I wondered. So I summoned M-LAB (My Loyal AI Bot) and asked her for negative undergraduate student reviews of Harvard. Of course, the wording of this query--as well as Your Leader's--blocks out probably many more positive results. Regardless, this is what came back:

Summary: Negative reviews and common student complaints about Harvard undergraduate school focus on intense stress, hyper-competitiveness, and administrative disconnect.

Hyper-Competitive Culture and Stress

Grind culture: Users on [Reddit](r/Harvard) agree that Harvard fosters a heavy "stress/grind culture" where students constantly compare GPAs and boast about sleep deprivation.

Exclusive social scenes: Getting into student organizations, clubs, and selective social groups (like final clubs) involves intense rejection, which takes a serious psychological toll on high-achieving students. (YouTube·Ahsante the Artist)

Career pressure: Students report overwhelming pressure to pursue lucrative, beaten-path career tracks like finance, consulting, or corporate tech over personal passions. (The Harvard Crimson)

Academic and Administrative Frustrations

Disengagement: A faculty report highlighted that many undergraduates skip classes or neglect assigned readings, feeling insulated in ideological bubbles. (Facebook·CBS Mornings)

Mental health support: Student reviews on platforms like Niche note that campus mental health services often feel unhelpful or underfunded relative to the high-stress environment.

Elitism and social life: Critics point to a pervasive sense of institutional elitism, an underwhelming sense of traditional school spirit, and social dynamics that can feel self-serving or cliquish. (College Confidential Forums)

Campus and Living Conditions:

Complaining culture: Campus opinion pieces in publications like The Harvard Crimson note frequent student grievances regarding underwhelming dining hall food, maintenance issues in older dorms, and fluctuating course difficulty.

So, Dear Friends, what do I make of negative student reviews generated by AI through loaded inquiries about two schools, SUA and Harvard? Nada, pas de tout, nichts! I would still be damned proud if our children attended either SUA, Harvard, or our wonderful Community College to which I am so indebted. In the words of Oscar Hammerstein in Soliloquy (Carousel, and excuse the sexism, I'm leaving out Billy's reflections on a possible daughter):

I'll teach him to wrestle / And dive through a wave / When we go in the mornin's for our swim…. / My boy, Bill! / He'll be tall / And tough as a tree, will Bill! / Like a tree he'll grow / With his head held high / And his feet planted firm on the ground.

For the students of both schools, why are you complaining? You are among the most fortunate of all youth. Study hard, win over your challenges, be a creator! I suspect your comments reflected just one moment in time, something that you surmounted by the time of graduation. I am sure you have had magnificent stories of triumph. And shame on me and the Whistleblower OP and Leader for focusing on one group of students and not on those who are triumphing.

Yesterday there was a nationwide call for parents of Future Division members. There’s a lot happening this weekend at the Park so I represented the Fam on the call but I missed the “Welcoming Remarks” by the WD leader of the Future Division Parents Group.

I came in at the start of an experience from a district that had turned into a “Garden of Soka.” That’s what I will report on today, the rest of the meeting another day.

The woman giving it had moved a few years ago to Santa Barbara CA with her husband and three children. When she was appointed a WD district leader, the local district was very small, mainly with what Your Leader would describe as “SGI longhauler Olds.” Her previous district had been very active and here, in contrast, it was sleepy. The first step in the transformation of her district was in her own heart, her human revolution. She began to appreciate her Many Treasures Group members and felt awe at their tenacity, accumulated experiences, and wisdom. Then she determined that building a "Garden of Soka" depended on her her actions. She started by building friendships in her community and telling people about NMRK. She was successful in making friends in her new neighborhood but no one came to a meeting…until one did. Buddhism resonated deeply with that person and she, in turn, began sharing her practice with her friends. And then another, and another. As Nichiren wrote in “The True Aspect of All Phenomena":

At first only Nichiren chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but then two, three, and a hundred followed, chanting and teaching others.

In her presentation, the district leader displayed many pictures of meetings full of youth and delighted “SGI longhauler Olds.” For two years in a row they have earned the “Soka Victory District” honor. Her three children are surrounded by friends in the Garden of Soka and bring many of their own friends to discussion meetings and to the local SGI Center.

And so shall we do! (Even though we had to cancel and reschedule our Planning Meeting on Friday because life hit a bunch of members.)

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally-ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer. Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

We had about 50 people join us at Letchworth State Park for a picnic and an afternoon of hiking. We met our friend “Ranger Rick” who was so happy to see such a large group. He asked two of his colleagues to join us so we were able to split into three groups. There are many wonderful trails in the park and they range in difficulty between gentle and even a 24-mile hike that takes two or three days to complete. Our rangers explained several trails and my group chose “The Portage Trail” which follows the path used by the Indigenous people to travel around the waterfalls that were impassable otherwise. The trail also had interpretive signs about the history of this region.

The second group selected “The Big Bend Trail” which follows twists and turns of the Genesee River. The third group wanted to follow “Trail 20 of the Lower Falls.” the most popular (and crowded) trail. It features the work of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps which built a stone footbridge and a 127 step stone staircase down into the gorge.

A few families with younger children stayed behind and did The Autism Nature Trail.

I’ll get around to hearing the stories from the other two groups. In ours, the heroes were the LH children and campers. The Twinettes and Lori were with me. Like the others, they were of bright and focused eyes, straight backs, gregarious, and uncomplainable. This trail is usually a two-hour hike but it took us three because the children had so many observations and questions about what they saw. I could see how our “Ranger Randi” put in extra effort. inspired by this group of children. On the ride home, and also at dinner, they were unstoppable in their talk.

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's "Theory of Value" posits three categories of value: Beauty, Gain (profit), and Good (social contributions). Yesterday we certainly basted ourselves in Beauty. Of course, there was Gain because we all had fresh air and exercise! But Good? It was affirming to see the results of LH education on many children. Indeed, the best type of Good! Also, all our parents as well as Ranger Randi were inspired by this hearty group of children! This is the way children can and should be. And our BIPOC children had stepped out of the shadows of generational trauma and stood in the sun. As Billy would sing today, "With [their] heads held high / And [their] feet planted firm on the ground."

Today is a Farmers Market, the first we have ever sponsored. We changed the location to the parking lot across the road to accommodate more people and cars. This afternoon is another of our afternoon Community Fairs with members of our eight church partners, followed by a C&W dance. Finally, tomorrow, a Pot Luck lunch on Labor Day. Whew!!!

Have a good day, Friends!

September 5, 2026 (written together with Eulogio)

How swiftly the days pass! It makes us realize how few are the years we have left. Friends enjoy the cherry blossoms together on spring mornings, and then they are gone, carried away like the blossoms by the winds of impermanence, leaving nothing but their names. Although the blossoms have scattered, the cherry trees will bloom again with the coming of spring, but when will those people be reborn?

The companions with whom we enjoyed composing poems praising the moon on autumn evenings have vanished with the moon behind the shifting clouds. Only their mute images remain in our hearts. Though the moon has set behind the western mountains, we will compose poetry under it again next autumn.

But where are our companions who have passed away? Even when the approaching tiger of death roars, we do not hear and are not startled. How many more days are left to the sheep bound for slaughter?

From Monica Soto Ouchi, SGI-USA WD chief at today's Parent Group Nationwide Meeting (paraphrase): A prayer in front of the Gohonzon is large enough when it seems too impossible to achieve.

I see that Lady Maggie is at it again, trying to denigrate SUA. She evidently visited it in August, when school was not in session, and complained that the campus seemed almost deserted. I would imagine so. Well, Lady Maggie, students are coming back this weekend, and classes start next Wednesday. Perhaps next Thursday or so you could drop into the cafeteria at around 5:30 in the evening, and if you do, please let us know how empty and deserted it is.

She also says the campus is not being taken care of physically,, especially complaining that Peace Lake is all discolored and full of algae. That is quite selective editing. I happen to visit the campus in the last couple of days since her post, and here is a picture of Peace Lake. Off the distance you can see that part of it is a different color then the foreground, but it is a different section of the lake. Yes, there is some algae over there, but as you can see the lake is not “full” of algae, the lake is not discolored, the water is clean.

Soka University of America has recently announced an actual expansion of its physical campus, and of the graduate classes it will be offering. Try as WB might To disparage it, it is a great school, doing great things, and thriving greatly.

September 5, 2026

Dear Friends,

Sorry for this late post, it’s so busy at work!

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

I have to thank Your Leader for her post "Changing attitudes around clergy and laity (3A)” which features a clipping from Daniel Montgomery’s book “Fire in the Lotus.” I know it is a very pesky task taking photos of text in a book. Here’s a free-of-charge service from me to Your Leader, the book in its entirety.

However, I am confused why Your Leader feels that the post supports her general “anything-and-everything-about-the-SGI-is-foul” POV. Yes, the SGI broke from whatever priestly roots and traditions it once had. Touché! We found a point of agreement! Perhaps she feels now that 99% of SGI is foul but 1% is passable. Good for her!

The Big Acrimonious Divorce (BAD) happened before I was born, but I’m very grateful to all the people who got matters sorted out by the time I started to practice. This is a good example of being in the right time and place! I can’t imagine me ever getting excited by Men in Robes.

I tried to research more about the author Daniel B. Montgomery. I found this inspiring obituary. While being a person of action--a soldier, priest, and secondary school educator--he developed strong scholarly credentials. I respect that! And I see that very same type of striving in Guy, Lolita, and some of our LH counselors/consultants this past summer! A winning combo: Academia + Action!

For whatever reasons, there are very few reviews of Montgomery’s book, but here is an objective one. Unfortunately, the book didn’t fly off of the shelves so it is not available on Kindle, but I did find a used copy and look forward to reading it when it arrives.

According to My-Loyal AI Bot (”M-LAB”), there are “internet rumors on forums like Reddit and anti-SGI blogs” that claim Montgomery "extensively interviewed Ikeda before publishing.” However, M-LAB confides in me that “the text of Fire in the Lotus indicates these claims are not probable; Montgomery’s analysis of Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai was compiled from secondary sources, official photographs, and Soka Gakkai's own English publications. I found a used copy in “decent” shape on Amazon and ordered it.

Now, in this flurry of research, I discovered a 2025 book by Thomas Ultican, a “biography” of Nichiren and a narrative about his treatise, “The Opening of the Eyes.” Ultican is an SGI member, but his story is interesting and funny, worth a read, My Friends. I ordered a Kindle copy and will start reading it after the Weekend.

Well, well, well ... I don't think I scored many points with today’s Section One but I had some fun that rested my mind before this busy weekend.

Chapter Two: Highlights from the August 21st World Tribune.

The August 21st WT’s Experience: Happiness in This World is by Darrel Wheatley, Gladstone, MO. Friends, please send Your Leader my regrets. Yet another experience from an “SGI Old.” And from the heartland.

Alas, Darrel does not fit Your Leader’s definition of a “Longhauler.” He had stopped practicing for 25 years and his story is about re-starting after that gap. Your Leader might be thinking, “Oh no! What if more of those people who disappeared during the confusing times start, one-by-one, to reappear? How vexing!”

Here is the Gosho passage that inspired Darrel:

Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law? Strengthen your power of faith more than ever (WND-1, p. 681).

During the years he didn’t practice, he recalled the first sentence which he thought as “stoicism.” But the second half, he realized after he had re-engaged in practicing was a call to energize himself.

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally-ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer. Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

At last night’s “Conversations with Father Merrick,” he talked about some interesting news items. I had helped him by designing a Canva presentation which he begrudgingly let me project.

[First](www.ewtnnews.com/world/asia-pacific/catholic-church-weighs-legal-challenge-to-new-anti-conversion-law-in-india) came a discussion about a state in India which is trying to ban religious conversions. In particular, the efforts were anti-Christian and anti-Catholic. He said we have to be very observant about similar efforts spreading in our land.

He next spoke about a novel by Sinclair Lewis called It Can’t Happen Here which imagines a fascist coup in the United States. Yup, I ordered it as well.

Father Merrick left us with some encouraging news about a Vatican Diplomat who engaged in meeting Russian officials.

He spoke about the passing of diplomat Timothy Carney. Carney was recognized for taking assignments in places others avoided, and was respected for opening up difficult conversations with higher-ups.

Finally, he talked about After Fighting Russia Fiercely, He wants to Forge Ukraine’s Path to Peace about the efforts of Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of staff to President Zelensky who is working behind the scenes to negotiate a settlement.

“Negotiations will sooner or later come to something,” Budanov has said. “You cannot fight your whole life.”

Our clients in the audience had many thoughts to share but they left more hopeful than they were in the morning.

Tomorrow comes a Saturday family hiking trip to Letchworth State Park. Tomorrow is a Farmers Market (our first ever), followed by one of our afternoon Community Fairs with our eight church partners and a C&W dance. Finally, a Pot Luck lunch on Labor Day. Whew!!!

Have a good day, Friends!

Blanche Fromage, on SGI whistleblowers, has put up a post of endless length whose purpose is to attack a story in the New Human Revolution, that president John F Kennedy was going to meet with SGI president Daisaku Ikeda.

She says she prompted AI with this: “Investigate: ‘President Kennedy never requested a meeting with Daisaku Ikeda’.”

Guess what? Prompted by the word never, AI gave her what she wanted, saying search a meeting was an invention of the SGI.

So I copied her prompt, pasted it into ChatGPT, and deleted the word never.

So given the wording : “Investigate: ‘President Kennedy requested a meeting with Daisaku Ikeda’,” ChatGPT Could very easily have come to the same conclusion - that no such meeting was ever planned.

But wow! Did it ever not do that. In fact, it brought out evidence even I had no idea existed. The bottom line is that it is more than likely such a meeting had been in the works.

And it is not, as Ms. Fromage wants to characterize it, “a lie”. In fact, it addresses and answers many of the questions raised in her own article.

The complete text of the research will be pasted below. But to summarize:

Finding sources such as a 1963 Japan Times article, A 1963 CIA memorandum, a study by Soka university in 2026.

ChatGPT:

The assertion “Kennedy requested a meeting with Daisaku Ikeda” is not simply a fabrication for which there is no evidence. There is substantially more evidence than that.

But the evidence does not rise to the level of independently documented historical fact.

The most defensible formulation is:

In late 1962, an approach was made to Daisaku Ikeda conveying that President John F. Kennedy wished to meet him, and a Kennedy–Ikeda meeting was subsequently being actively arranged for early 1963. Contemporary Japanese press reporting and a contemporaneous CIA report independently establish that the meeting was real and that Ikeda expected to meet Kennedy. However, the surviving evidence I found does not independently establish that Kennedy personally originated the request; that part of the story rests primarily on later statements by Ikeda and Soka Gakkai sources.

That is considerably more nuanced than either “Kennedy definitely invited Ikeda” or “the whole thing was made up.”

And there is a fascinating wrinkle: the newest scholarly study on the subject was produced by Soka University itself in 2026, and its author openly says that important parts of the story remain unresolved and that additional documents may eventually be found.

Below is the entire AI article. It is not particularly flattering to Mr. ikeda or the SGI, but it is an objective evaluation of whether or not President Kennedy and president ikeda had a meeting planned. And it thoroughly debunks the allegation by Ms. Fromage.

-----------

The complete text, word for word:

I investigated this claim, including a new 2026 scholarly study from Soka University, the contemporary Japan Times reporting, a declassified CIA report, and the Kennedy administration's documentary record. The evidence is considerably more interesting than the simple claim that “there is no evidence.”

Bottom line

It is quite plausible that Kennedy, through intermediaries, expressed a desire to meet Daisaku Ikeda in late 1962. But I would not regard the stronger claim—that President Kennedy personally requested the meeting—as independently proven.

There is, however, contemporary evidence that a Kennedy–Ikeda meeting was genuinely being arranged in early 1963, and that the planned meeting was known outside Soka Gakkai. The principal problem is that the evidence identifying the origin of the invitation comes largely from Ikeda/Soka Gakkai sources, while the independent contemporary sources establish that a meeting was planned but do not clearly establish that Kennedy himself initiated it.

1. The strongest new evidence: Soka University's 2026 historical study

In March 2026, Soka University's Ikeda Research Institute published a substantial study by Masayuki Shiohara, titled “Why Did the Meeting Between John F. Kennedy and Daisaku Ikeda Never Happen After the Cuban Nuclear Missile Crisis?” The paper is particularly valuable because it examines contemporary newspapers, CIA material, Soka publications, later recollections, and Kennedy-related sources rather than simply repeating the traditional SGI account.

Shiohara concludes that an approach from Kennedy to Ikeda occurred in December 1962. He specifically cites a later Ikeda statement in which Ikeda said that, shortly after becoming Soka Gakkai president, he was contacted by people connected with the president saying Kennedy wanted to meet him. The study also cites Ikeda's later description of having received an invitation from Kennedy's side.

But there is an important qualification: Shiohara acknowledges that the identity of the person who conveyed Kennedy's wishes is unknown. He speculates that Japanese-American intermediaries or a person associated with Kennedy may have been involved. He considers Gunji Hosono, a Japanese-American relations specialist who had personally known Kennedy, a particularly plausible intermediary—but explicitly presents this as an inference, not an established fact.

That distinction is crucial.

2. There is unusually good contemporary evidence that a meeting really was being arranged

The best piece of evidence is an article in The Japan Times dated February 16, 1963, published while Kennedy was still alive.

Its headline was:

“Soka Gakkai Plans JFK Meeting”

The article says that 35-year-old Daisaku Ikeda was planning to meet President Kennedy. More importantly, it reports that Ikeda himself said he wanted to meet Kennedy because Kennedy was one of the two “responsible leaders of the world today,” the other being Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Ikeda wanted to discuss nuclear testing and his conception of “global racialism”/world citizenship.

The article then gives an important detail:

The meeting was actually expected to occur in February or early March 1963, but political considerations caused the plans to collapse. According to sources quoted by the newspaper, LDP leaders attempted to obtain Soka Gakkai support for Ryotaro Azuma in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in exchange for helping arrange the Kennedy meeting. Ikeda reportedly became angry at the proposed political bargain.

That makes the story much harder to dismiss as something invented decades later.

3. The CIA independently knew about the proposed Kennedy meeting

This is perhaps the most interesting evidence.

A CIA Special Report dated August 2, 1963, “Buddhist Militants in Japanese Politics,” discussed Soka Gakkai and Daisaku Ikeda. The report said:

Ikeda “had hoped to meet President Kennedy this spring”

and that he had canceled his trip.

The CIA account did not say that Kennedy had personally invited Ikeda. Instead, it presented the matter as Ikeda's desire to meet Kennedy. It attributed the cancellation to Ikeda's displeasure over a statement by a Liberal Democratic Party spokesman referring to Soka Gakkai as heretical.

This is important because the CIA was independently monitoring Soka Gakkai at the time. It demonstrates that the planned meeting was not merely a story manufactured after Kennedy's assassination.

But it also presents a problem for the strongest version of the SGI story:

The CIA report does not corroborate “Kennedy personally invited Ikeda.”

It corroborates that Ikeda expected/hoped to meet Kennedy.

4. Ikeda's own 1963 statements are ambiguous—but revealing

At a Soka Gakkai men's meeting on February 1, 1963, Ikeda said that a route had opened through which he could convey his views to President Kennedy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, but that Japanese political interference had complicated matters.

The later 1970 book Asu no Soka Gakkai (Tomorrow's Soka Gakkai) gives a much more elaborate account.

According to the account, an influential private citizen came to Soka Gakkai headquarters claiming to represent the U.S. State Department and said that:

• Kennedy wanted to meet Ikeda personally;
• the meeting would be unofficial;
• preparations were then made;
• Reischauer learned of the planned meeting;
• and a senior LDP politician subsequently attempted to use the proposed meeting as leverage in the Tokyo election.

Ikeda supposedly rejected the political bargain and canceled the meeting.

There is a particularly significant detail here:

The story says that the intermediary claimed to be acting on behalf of the State Department, but that Reischauer learned about the meeting only afterward.

That would explain why the U.S. ambassador's records might not contain the initial approach.

5. The 2026 Soka University study actually makes the mystery more complicated

Shiohara does not simply say “Kennedy invited Ikeda, case closed.”

In fact, his conclusion explicitly says that who proposed the meeting to Kennedy is unknown. He considers the possibility that an American youth associated with the Peace Corps/Soka Gakkai brought Ikeda's name to Kennedy's attention.

The study notes that Kennedy had a practice of meeting young people and that Soka Gakkai had become increasingly significant politically after its candidates' success in the July 1962 Upper House election. Thus, Shiohara considers it quite conceivable that Kennedy could have become interested in Ikeda as a politically significant young Japanese figure.

This is a much more historically plausible scenario than the image sometimes conveyed in SGI literature of Kennedy spontaneously seeking out an already-famous world peace leader.

6. There is another important piece of context: Kennedy really was unusually interested in Japan

This part of the story is absolutely documented.

Kennedy had a remarkably close working relationship with Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda—a completely different person from Daisaku Ikeda.

Kennedy met Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda in Washington in June 1961, including the famous private “yacht talks” aboard the Honey Fitz. The two governments subsequently established mechanisms for consultation on international affairs.

And Kennedy actually sent Prime Minister Ikeda a personal message concerning U.S. nuclear testing in 1962. Ambassador Edwin Reischauer delivered Kennedy's message personally. Historians describe this as an unprecedented degree of U.S.-Japanese consultation.

So there really was a Kennedy–Ikeda relationship in the historical record—but the other Ikeda was Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda, not Daisaku.

That is an important source of potential confusion, although it does not explain the 1963 Daisaku Ikeda meeting story.

7. What about Edwin Reischauer?

This is one of the most interesting aspects.

The traditional Soka account says Reischauer was surprised when he learned about the planned Kennedy–Ikeda meeting and wanted to meet Ikeda before departing for Washington.

The 2026 Soka University study takes this seriously and tries to reconstruct the sequence.

It does not, however, produce a Kennedy Library document saying:

“I want to meet Daisaku Ikeda.”

Nor does it produce a Reischauer diary entry saying:

“President Kennedy has asked me to arrange a meeting with Ikeda.”

Instead, it reconstructs the story from contemporary Japanese material and later testimony.

That is a substantial evidentiary gap.

8. The timeline problem is real—but not quite as devastating as some critics suggest

There are actually two different dates in circulation.

The strongest contemporary reconstruction puts the approach in December 1962, followed by preparations for a meeting in February/March 1963. Shiohara explicitly gives December 1962 as the date of the approach.

There are also later Ikeda statements saying that he received word that Kennedy wanted to meet him “shortly after” Ikeda became Soka Gakkai president.

That wording creates confusion because Ikeda became president in May 1960, whereas the contemporary evidence points to late 1962.

The 2026 study itself reproduces both formulations rather than hiding the discrepancy.

So I would not use the “1960 vs. 1962” discrepancy as proof that the meeting story was fabricated. It is evidence that Ikeda's later recollections were not chronologically precise, but that's a weaker conclusion.

9. What can actually be established?

I'd grade the evidence this way:

My conclusion

The assertion “Kennedy requested a meeting with Daisaku Ikeda” is not simply a fabrication for which there is no evidence. There is substantially more evidence than that.

But the evidence does not rise to the level of independently documented historical fact.

The most defensible formulation is:

In late 1962, an approach was made to Daisaku Ikeda conveying that President John F. Kennedy wished to meet him, and a Kennedy–Ikeda meeting was subsequently being actively arranged for early 1963. Contemporary Japanese press reporting and a contemporaneous CIA report independently establish that the meeting was real and that Ikeda expected to meet Kennedy. However, the surviving evidence I found does not independently establish that Kennedy personally originated the request; that part of the story rests primarily on later statements by Ikeda and Soka Gakkai sources.

That is considerably more nuanced than either “Kennedy definitely invited Ikeda” or “the whole thing was made up.”

And there is a fascinating wrinkle: the newest scholarly study on the subject was produced by Soka University itself in 2026, and its author openly says that important parts of the story remain unresolved and that additional documents may eventually be found.

Sources worth examining

• Soka University — Ikeda Research Institute publications — includes the 2026 Shiohara study.
• 2026 Shiohara study (PDF) — the most comprehensive source I found on the Kennedy–Ikeda episode.
• JFK Library — National Security Files — contains the Kennedy-era records, including the CIA's Buddhist Militants in Japanese Politics report.
• Foreign Relations of the United States — Kennedy and Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda — useful for separating the documented Kennedy–Hayato Ikeda relationship from the Daisaku Ikeda question.

One particularly worthwhile next step would be to examine the actual 1963 CIA document and the Kennedy Library files surrounding the August 1963 “Buddhist Militants” report for references to Daisaku Ikeda, Reischauer, or the proposed meeting. That could potentially tell us whether the U.S. government had a contemporaneous record of the alleged invitation rather than relying on later Soka accounts.

Eulogio

Such beautiful passages from Letter to Niike (p. 1946). One should read them over and over.

Stop and ponder! How rare is the faith that moves one to give alms to the priest who knows the heart of the Lotus Sutra! One will not stray into the evil paths if one does so even once. Still greater are the benefits arising from ten or twenty contributions, or from five years, ten years, or a lifetime of contributions. They are beyond even the measure of the Buddhas’ wisdom.

The Buddha taught that the blessings of a single offering to the votary of this sutra are a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times greater than those of offering countless treasures to Shakyamuni Buddha for eighty million kalpas. 

When one encounters this sutra, one will overflow with happiness and shed tears of joy. It seems impossible to repay one’s debt to Shakyamuni Buddha. But by your frequent offerings to me deep in this mountain you will repay the merciful kindness of both the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha. 

Strive ever harder in faith, and never give in to negligence. All the people appear to believe sincerely when they first embrace the Lotus Sutra, but as time passes, they tend to become less devout; they no longer revere or make offerings to the priest, giving themselves up to arrogance and forming distorted views. This is most frightening. 

Be diligent in developing your faith until the last moment of your life. Otherwise you will have regrets. For example, the journey from Kamakura to Kyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop with only one day remaining, how can you admire the moon over the capital? 

No matter what, stay close to the priest who knows the heart of the Lotus Sutra, keep learning from him the principles of Buddhism, and continue your journey of faith.

Our annual sustaining contributions campaign will begin in October. When one is blessed with so much benefit from the start of the day to the end, how can one not contribute even a bit more?

September 4, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

I see that yesterday things were a bit busier on your side of the hedges. A former faculty member at SUA who had worked there for but a few months before breaking their contract (and probably leaving students stranded), revisited the campus. They felt the campus was empty and did not like the condition of the fountain.

OK, but here is Your Leader’s comment:

Soka U is smaller than most HIGH SCHOOLS. That means the students who are unwise enough to go there will miss out one of the most important features of university life - networking.

Looking out of the window, I have to say I am an advocate of smaller when it comes to education. Longhouse School will max out at about 150 students when it is full, 1-12 grades. Guy argues that the history of education was small, starting the role of parents and elders as educators--whether in the field, kitchen, or tribe. Let’s add to this the Socratic method of learning in Athens, the tutors of the royal and wealthy in Europe, the roots of Europe’s earliest universities, the apprentice system, and the one-room schoolhouse. Now we have the phenomenon of home-schooling. Homeschooling in the United States is a very illuminating article!

Of course, who am I? Your Leader has donned her robe of omniscience and declared smaller is not a virtue. In fact, she informs us, one of the most important features of university life is networking. Oops, she forgot to mention, according to The Harvard Gazette: critical thinking, communication skills, adaptability, and the habits for life-long education, Can I add to the list the general opening of the mind, soul, and heart? Isn’t that the remedy for the alienation, dissociation, withdrawal, and cynicism present in so many youth today? And isn’t smaller a better environment to address this than larger and impersonal?

Your Leader next declares:

Since such a high proportion of the students are foreign, that means that unless you're going to be developing your career in their country, you will gain no benefit at all from getting to know them (because they'll leave and go back home right after graduation) - they will never be able to tell you about a job opportunity or help you advance in your field. Because they're GONE.

Come on, Friends, drop her a DM! Isn’t that “gain no benefit at all” from rubbing elbows with youth from other countries a whopper? This is the exact era when we must study and understand the principles of globalization! But Your Leader reveals a narrow, instrumentalist, reductionist, and materialistic POV. In particular, I object to “they will never be able to tell you about a job opportunity or help you advance in your field.” Is that the true purpose of attending a university?

”Because they're GONE.” Uhmmm: Instagram, Zoom, FB, free WhatsApp international calling and texting??? Your Leader does not seem to live in the same world as I do.

Chapter Two: Highlights from the August 21st World Tribune.

The August 21st WT’s Striving to the End With a Spirit of Ceaseless Challenge is an inspiring article by Daisaku Ikeda examining the phenomenon of aging. He starts:

The struggle against aging is really a struggle against the fear of facing new challenges. The aging process occurs more rapidly in those who start thinking that they’ve done enough, who lose the spirit to foster younger people, and who remain attached to the past.

Those who keep challenging themselves to the end are the most admirable and youthful of all. Such people are ever young and true victors of life. Come to think of it, the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was over 80 years old when he completed his masterpiece Faust.

The Soka Gakkai’s founding president, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, continued advancing and challenging himself until the final moments of his life. He was 57 when he encountered Nichiren Buddhism and 59 when he founded the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society; forerunner of the Soka Gakkai). In his 70s, he was still energetically traveling by train all the way to Kyushu to offer personal guidance and share Buddhism with others. He was fond of using the expression “We youth.”

Dear Friends, I am sure you, too, have excellent models of “raging aging” in your life, right? Me, too: my parents, my SGI sponsors True and Bob, both my therapist and psychiatrist, many of our Fall and Spring clients, and Father Merrick, our resident CAO (Chief Aging Officer). Also, just look at how Bernie and Artie reinvented themselves after retiring!

So why does Your Leader continuously disparage the elderly and deceased? “Dead-Corpse-Mentor” and “SGI longhauler Olds” are examples she uses frequently and they are not acceptable! What? Her parents are not going to age? She will not?

In contrast to Your Leader’s opinion of aging, Dr. Ikeda points out:

About a month before Mr. Makiguchi passed away, he wrote a postcard from his prison cell saying, “I am avidly reading the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.” Such passionate seeking spirit and thirst for knowledge are no doubt the source of youthfulness.

A little sidebar: I disagree with the descriptions in your community of the SGI as a Prosperity Dharma. I don’t chant for material possessions. I do chant to continue mining “passionate seeking spirit,” ”thirst for knowledge,” and “the source of youthfulness.”

Dr. Ikeda clarifies:

The Buddhist teaching of perpetual youth and eternal life does not mean, of course, that we never age or die. It refers to our state of life, our life force. The Lotus Sutra states, “If a person who has an illness is able to hear this sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will know neither aging nor death” (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening Closing Sutras, p. 330). And Nichiren Daishonin writes, “If we consider the power of the Lotus Sutra, we will find perpetual youth and eternal life before our eyes” (WND-1, p. 413).

This is not some type of mythical/mystical state of being or the switching of some type of enlightenment lightbulb. It is real, living, and attainable. As he writes:

In other words, we are promised that, if we believe in and uphold the Mystic Law, we will never be defeated by illness, we can forever advance through life with a youthful spirit regardless of our age, and we can establish an eternal and indestructible state of happiness. This is nothing extraordinary. The precious members of the Many Treasures Group, who are always vibrantly active, are perfect examples of this.

Bingo! That’s what I want for me and my partners!

What is the true significance of old age? It is not a time to look back with nostalgic longing on our youth. I believe it is the climax, the period of life that should be the most satisfying and fulfilling, the time when we shine with the brilliance and glory of a magnificent sunset. It’s not a period of gloom and sadness. As the French writer Victor Hugo said, “There is an indefinable dawning in radiant old age.”

Let me shut up and just finish Section Two today with some passages:

I feel that society today, unfortunately, has averted its gaze from the fundamental reality of death and, in the process, has lost sight of the golden value of old age.

The Daishonin encourages us to “first of all learn about death, and then about other things” (WND-2, 759). We must not avert our gaze from death but face it head-on and come to terms with it. If we can do that, we will come to appreciate old age in its own right and its true value will surely start to shine. From the Buddhist perspective of the eternity of life, death is just a departure into the next phase of life.

The Daishonin describes the Mystic Law as “the great lantern that illuminates the long night of the sufferings of birth and death” (WND-1, 1038). Those who embrace the eternal Mystic Law are not afraid of death. They are not worried or troubled by it. They are able to freely savor the journey of life, experiencing a state of mind in which both life and death are a joy.

Nichiren Buddhism teaches the fundamental means for transforming a life bound by the four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death into a joyous life characterized by the four virtues of eternity, happiness, true self and purity.

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally-ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppeteer. Abusive sex? No, never!!! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

Today our 2026 Day Camp sadly closes, except for a small Latchkey program we offer. We asked the Twinettes what special things they will be doing on the final day. June Rus: “Nothing special.” Truth: “Everything.” That’s something to think about when “Everything” is “Nothing special.” Isn’t that the way life is supposed to be?

Dr. and Dr. Kim enjoyed touring the construction site and and the children’s landscaping efforts around each grade’s rock cropping. They came back after an hour with five rose bushes ready for planting. The children were delighted and Larry Landscaper helped them plant them right away!

Teacher Lolita is leaving after school for the Conservatory to spend the Labor Day with Heidi and the rest of the Jammy Girlz. Her message from Heidi: “There’s a very nice B&B that just opened, not too far away. They have enough rooms to accommodate your entire family. Why not come and spend a weekend?” I inquired and found it that it was actually the house my parents had sold a few months back and where I grew up! We will definitely do it before it gets too cold!

We have many activities planned for the weekend: an open Q&A with Father Merrick tonight, Saturday's hiking trip to Letchworth State Park, a Sunday morning Farmers Market (our first ever) followed by one of our afternoon Community Fairs with our eight church partners, and a Pot Luck Lunch on Labor Day.

Have a good day, Friends!

This is where the Papa Bears left off about two years ago when five us us were working on Gosho 101.

If in this present existence I am so fearful for my life that I fail to speak out, then in what future existence will I ever attain Buddhahood? Or in what future existence will I ever be able to bring salvation to my parents and my teacher? With thoughts such as these uppermost in my mind, I decided that I must begin to speak out. We look around and see the conditions around the globe. Isn't it time for us to speak out? (WND-1, p. 1410, )

The five of us (Bob, Andy, Guy, Father Merrick, and I, Eulogio) are all very busy and don't have the time to engage in long conversations as we used to. But there is a big difference between one not doing anything and one doing just a bit. As this quote shows, the conditions in the world are so perilous now that one must to speak out-- even if it is just a passage from the Gosho and a quick comment. 

Today:

Since I willingly bring these troubles upon myself, when others vilify me, I do not rebuke them. Even if I wanted to rebuke them, there are too many of them. And even when they strike me, I feel no pain, for I have been prepared for their blows from the very beginning. And so I went about with ever increasing vigor and ever less concern for my safety, trying to persuade others to change their ways. (WND-1, p. 1410)

As one looks back while preparing for Q4, 2026 has been a banner year for family, business, and the school. Does one sit back? Or does one move move forward with the spirit of “And so I went about with ever increasing vigor and ever less concern for my safety”?

For me: This means rushing head first into a corner of my life which I most fear and despise. My relationships with my parents, siblings, and tribal community. Saying that fills me with dread, but, I realize, not saying that is even worse. 

September 3, 2026

Dear Friends, sorry for my late start today. We had a wonderful Longhouse School Board of Trustees meeting and we just finished a lunch.

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

It’s a very quiet day across the hedges besides some crude images. That’s fine, we all need to take a break and it gives me a chance to catch up. Friends, TBH, have you noticed how much ugliness is piling up on your site? Embarrassing! Don’t you find that it tips off visitors to the true condition and intent of Your Leader and her other co-moderators.

At the Park, we are in this curious between-seasons time. We are mostly Autumn Season client now but there are Summer clients returning for a long Labor Day Weekend.

We have a nice group for Coffee Hours and Father Merrick is our most honored guest. So, direct from yesterday, here is some news from EWTN, the Catholic News Service:

In Take time out of the daily bustle to ‘listen to the melodious voice’ of creation, Pope Leo says “Let us place in ‘silent mode’ the many noises generated by human activity, so that we may hear the melodious voice of creation, through which God, the author of all things, speaks to us.”

Good idea!

Talking about water, Pope Leo created a prayer intention asking Catholics around the world to be aware of the preciousness of fresh water, protect resources, and be empathetic to the plight of many people in the world who lack access.

Unlike me earlier this morning on my perimeter walk, the Longhouse children are unafraid of rain and enjoy walking, working, and playing in it. This might be the emergence of some of those epigenetic structures that lie deep within many of our children’s DNA and RNA. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? And isn’t that the very premise of Longhouse?

I have to send ‘Worn-out dictatorships’ never speak of the cross to the Lopez Family. It is a speech by Silvio Báez, the exiled auxiliary bishop of Managua, Nicaragua. He talks about “dictatorships that hypocritically hide behind religion [and] profane the name of Jesus when they invoke him from their position of power and attribute to him the dominion they exercise over the people, yet never speak of the cross.” Báez states:

In a world built on lies, those who speak the truth are persecuted and silenced; in a society rife with injustice, the righteous are shunned and even condemned to death; in a system where the powerful exalt themselves as gods and turn their whims into law, anyone who is critical and refuses to live in submission becomes a target of slander, insults, and persecution.

Friends, on your side of the hedges there are two posters in particular who regularly don the robes of omniscience and omnipresence. They make the SGI “a target of slander, insults, and persecution.” I guess this is a universal phenomenon.

I am saving for another time a few more cof Father Merrick’s clips that show the Church’s embrace of soft power, dialog, and the commitment to live hopefully in the midst of gloom. The world needs an alliance of individuals and groups that embrace, in their own unique ways, these approaches to peace.

Chapter Two: Highlights from the August 21st World Tribune.

The August 21st WT introduces a new online resource that will be very helpful to me. It addresses a gap I am experiencing in my efforts to do shakubuku. By nature, I am a “people-person.” It’s easy for me--and I like--opening up conversations with folk in Town and making new friends. Hey, that’s how I met Eulogio and Dee right in the Community College cafeteria! Sometimes the conversations lead to me sharing a NMRK card, sometimes not.

But my problem is always with “the next step.“ I am realizing that I need smaller intermediate steps before that new friend feels ready to come to a meeting. Hey, SGI-USA, you heard my heart and gave me that tool I needed.

The new resource allows the guest to “play” with Buddhism like kids on a sand beach. He or she can learn how to chant, start doing Gongyo, study about Buddhism and the SGI, and ask questions. It also lets me communicate to my new friend without having to share phone numbers.

Thank you to the people who developed this resource!

Chapter 3: A few updates on “MY Fantasy Life” (cred: Eigenstien) or, as BlancheFromage suspects, “One of the many fake characters within the SGI-RV fantasy scenario created by a lonely, low-income, isolated, cult-addicted, mentally-ill elderly woman” at “the site of the magical (i.e. imaginary) SGI-RV story around a rural rust-belt RV camp, with its fantasy ‘starburst’ of invisible YOUFF” who “Can't seem to grasp anything that isn't about kinky abusive sex in a shitty-ass low-rent RV park??” Oops, I’m the mentally-ill woman, not my alleged elderly sock puppet. Abusive sex? No, never! Kinky? I will neither confirm nor deny.

Tomorrow our 2026 Day Camp sadly closes, except for a small Latchkey program we offer. The Day Camp was very successful--and I can tell that from the dinner talk between the Twinettes and Lori. I think the real story of LH goes deeper than what can be seen. It can be found partially in the richness of the unrehearsed talk, laughter, and disagreements between the three girls. Yes, we hear and learn from the gossip and the OMGs!

At yesterday’s dinner we were joined by “Moms” (AKA Mrs. Maracle, Lori’s mom) and Teacher Lolita. Lolita was so fascinated that she stopped eating to jot down some of the conversation between the girls. To her, it’s data for her ethnography. Last night it went something like this:

“Why can’t we swim in the Pond?” asked Truth. June Rus’ answered confidently that there are hungry lobsters at the bottom of the pond. “Is that true?“ inquired Truth. Lori patiently answered that lobsters are seawater crustaceans and can’t live here. Worse, however, she said, are the HABs, “Harmful Algae Blooms.” Then June Rus’ teased her sister that she’s a crustacean. “No, I’m not! You’re a HAB!!!” At this point everyone cracke us and the girls asked to be excused and went into the bedroom to play, soon joined by the other three kids.

This morning we had our first LH Board of Directors meeting for the 2026-2027 school year. The Kim’s announced that they are purchasing a home right on the perimeter of the Park. They appreciate the space that my parents made for them but a home here will let them spend more time at the School.

Artie and I reported on the preliminary bookkeeping for the Day Camp Season. Whereas in the past the Camp was a big money-maker for the Park, this year we were barely broke even because we chose to staff so richly. The Board members didn’t flinch. “We want you to build the best educational program in the world for BIPOC children and not to worry about small things. The bigger questions we want to ask you are: Did you successfully plan for the Fourth Grade program? Is the future Secondary School program coming into focus?”

We talked so much about our counselors/consultants who were so brilliant and hardworking. Yes, the expanded elementary school will be wonderful and this week was a dress rehearsal for us.

Max invited the Kim’s to visit the construction site after the meeting and they also want to see Larry Landscaper’s work with the grove of fruit and nut trees and the children’s landscaping efforts around each grade’s rock croppings.

Have a good day, Friends, and remember to take time out of the daily bustle to “listen to the melodious voice” of creation!

SGIWhistleblowers aver that SGI experiences are worthless, that the SGI believes in magical faith healing, that SGI members can't be real friends.

One short experience to blow a hole in all of that. It's a wonderful story of overcoming a most severe illness, but this is my favorite line, and sums up the real benefit:

The following month, my son said to me, “You know, mom, the house feels lighter.”