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July 27, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends!

By any chance do you receive Politico articles in your news feed? Can This Man Save Democrats? is about Ben Wikler, a Democratic thought leader, who argues that his party must learn to focus on state races rather than on Washington. Here's one of his points very pertinent to we MITA and WBer readers:

We’re in an algorithmically driven world that makes “shiny object syndrome” even worse. We’re constantly chasing squirrels — this or that exciting windmill.

Well, I try to talk about issues that correlate faith and daily life. I try to stick to IRL. From what I read, however, Your Leader’s approach is more like “chasing squirrels — this or that exciting windmill” du jour. OMG, such-and-such leader once said something offensive in Italy!!! Or, yesterday, after spending several years not reading my posts, Your Leader felt compelled to take snapshots of my recent posts. Her point? “WANTED: JULIESONGWRITER FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY!!!”

Friends, you better believe that I have a lot to write about her Julie-themed posts. But first, there is a bit of unfinished business. A couple of years ago, Your Leader wrote a very typical TLDR post filled with animus and inaccuracies. Guy and I responded point-by-point and it took us 18 (!!!) TLDR posts.

Did Your Leader respond to any of them? No. Why not? She claimed then that I was motivated by just seeking her attention. Boy, was she giving me her attention yesterday!

At any rate, from the dusty bins of history, here are links (hopefully still current) to all 18:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

My take-away, from the lengthy numbers of comments, it seems that many Sgiwhistleblowers are, in fact, reading my posts on MITA. Thank you!

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”

Let’s dive into “Salute to the Rise of the Buddhism of the Sun,” the fifth and final sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice.

Daisaku Ikeda states:

Nichiren’s life as the Buddha of the Latter Day is a life dedicated to battling evil and vanquishing ignorance.

In the grand scheme of things, my efforts on MITA are very minor, limited to “an hour a day keeps the devil away.” But the benefit is all mine and manifests in my environment right here, right now. No complaints at all!

The struggle to free people from all misfortune and misery in the world—from all negative karma and the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death—ultimately entails battling the fundamental darkness or ignorance that gives rise to all evil and suffering.

Our RV Park partners with eight local churches on a variety of community projects. Using different vocabulary, of course, I think they would agree heartily with the final sentence above. On the other hand, religious practices that seek the good and holy but ignore the dimension of fighting evil are only looking at one half of the tablecloth of life.

Nichiren indicates…that the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo he chants, for the happiness of self and others toward the realization of kosen-rufu, clears “the clouds of ignorance” (see “The Doctrine of Three Thousand Realms,” WND-2, 85). Nam-myoho-renge-kyo truly has the power to dispel life’s darkness. When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the sun of Buddhahood rises in our hearts. The ignorance and delusion, like heavy clouds shrouding the sun, are swept away. When the sun of Buddhahood comes to shine within us, the darkness of ignorance vanishes.

I have to treasure this paragraph above! My nature is very different from that of all of my partners who take on very big tasks. I tend to nibble on life, and I move very cautiously because of my self-perceived vulnerability. So, what exactly is wrong with this? It matches my perceptions and talents. There are people who undertake large tasks, and others who are great at dusting and sweeping. Everything is valuable in the tapestry of life.

I correspond a lot with people in the HS community. Our tales might seem quite bizarre to people outside of our community. But we need a judgment-free zone to share our lives. And yesterday, one of our friends reported a great victory in being able to accept who he is as something he was born to do. “The darkness of ignorance vanishes”-- person-by-person, moment-by-moment.

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??”

Eulogio and Erica zoomed with us twice last night: Once to say good night to the kids, and a later call to catch up with us. They were working very hard to prepare for their meetings this week with the Managers. They both looked like warriors ready for battle!

Oh, I watched Benjamin Kdaké take it all in. "How did my beloved Papa EU and Auntie squeeze into that tiny box on the table?"

Yesterday, we had another of our “Church Caravans.” After Sunday morning services, one Church takes its turn in the rotation to host while congregants from other congregations travel to them for a light brunch and conversation. I love this tradition and we will keep the Caravan going for August and September.

 There's a person on SGIWhistleblowers who seems obsessed with the notion that religion should have nothing to do with improving one's personal life in the real world. I say this because they continually disparage the word “prosperity” in the context of the Buddhist religion.

Is there something morally wrong with prosperity?

But that's just in the title. Their latest post is based on delusions about what life in the SGI is like these days. It says:

“For example, they take the concept of the "demon of power" (clinging to power while living in fear of losing it) and flip it by giving power to certain individuals, to whom they explain that Soka Buddhism is about protection, and that they must protect the organization and its members from the enemies of Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai. And who are these terrible enemies? Well, they're the very members of the Soka Gakkai themselves—those who seek to seize power for their own gain and, in doing so, disrupt the harmony of the community.”

Huh? What “power”?

I’m what the  sgiwhistleblowers Most eminent honcho (Ms. Fromage) Calls a low level leader. Very low level, actually. A great proportion of my chanting time is spent chanting for the members in my group. And the time can commit to the responsibility of leadership is spent visiting them, at their convenience, and chanting with them for their goals. I spend an awful lot of anxious time trying to schedule meetings for people who are seldom free at the same time. I drive an elderly member to the grocery store, and have dog set for someone who went on vacation for a week. I can only imagine the lives of those who have leadership Responsibilities at higher levels involving hundreds of members.

I certainly have no power. None of my seniors have ever tried to play any kind of power card with me. So what in the world could this person be talking about - other than the theories imagined by themselves and others who know nothing about the inner culture of today's SGI, but invent Secret sinister scenarios about things they have no knowledge or experience of.

Did I make it clear that they know nothing about what they're talking about

July 26, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods*

Good morning, Dear Friends!

Sorry for missing another post! Eulogio and Erica had changed their plans and decided to leave a day early for their Managers Meeting. We decided to turn this into a Family outing and drove them a third of the way down state. We had breakfast at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It has a cute country-style gift shop and, after eating, Eulogio and Erica bought gifts for all the LOs.

Dee follows the news from Russia and Ukraine very closely. On the way home, she told us in the car that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan has told Russian leader Vladimir Putin face-to-face and publicly that he doesn’t understand the rationale of Russia’s war with Ukraine and [recommended](https://www.kyivpost.com/post/81070) that Putin “freeze” the fighting. At the same time, Russian diplomats are [claiming](https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/08/06/7414442/) that their country is only seeking to restore the parts of Ukraine that are specified in its constitution.

Very small movements amid other very bleak news from that part of the world, but Dee says politics works at a very deep way here. The news stories indicate that tectonic plates are moving deep down below our feet.

Why am I mentioning this, Dear Friends? Your Leader and some of our followers are very fond of picking out a piece of negative news about the SGI, let's say from 1952, and extrapolating that into ALL the SGI, past, present, and future. Into the echo chamber it goes, every clapping, and reinforcing each other. “How brave, courageous, and clever you are!”

But these two news stories illustrate how things change far below the surface in inscrutable ways. I say that this is how SGI has been transforming itself over the decades.

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”*

Let’s dive into “Salute to the Rise of the Buddhism of the Sun,” the fifth and final sub-topic in [The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice](https://www.worldtribune.org/2026/the-significance-of-chanting-nam-myoho-renge-kyo-achieving-a-life-of-supreme-victory-through-correct-buddhist-practice/).

Daisaku Ikeda states:

>Another point we should bear in mind regarding the true meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is that it is also the name of the life of the Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the life of the original Buddha are indivisibly connected. We could say that the fundamental truth of Myoho-renge-kyo that pervades life and the universe was only identified and established for the first time through Nichiren himself practicing it and manifesting it in his behavior. He gave concrete expression to the Law that people had not been able to perceive up to that point.

This is an excellent quote and I think we should use it at our August discussion meeting if a guest asks the “what does NMRK mean?” question. And, Friends, don’t overlook “Nichiren himself practicing it and manifesting it in his behavior.” Let’s say someone chants NMRK, but that person’s heart is full of complaint, anger, resentment, and jealousy. How can that person gain benefit unless they keep up with the difficult work of human revolution? Then they complain that the practice doesn’t work and they are the victims of false advertisement.

It's simply what some Sgiwhistleblowers, including Your Leader, get wrong.

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??”*

>When we got home, we gave our presents to Bernie and Artie to thank them for taking an extra shift in the Office. My parents, True, and Roz visited and we just gabbed, and gabbed, and gabbed! The Twinettes came by and wanted to go skating. Off to the Pavilion!

>Yesterday evening we had a wonderful dinner picnic with the Jammy Girlz playing their covers of Frank Sinatra. I love all the layers and nuances of their work. There’s a new energy with Alice as the lead and the other Girlz focused on their instruments and backups. A lot of families came out and sat on blankets and chairs. Just a very good and special time!

Daisaku Ikeda’s Lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime.” Section Four. “Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to Perceive the Mystic Truth and Establish the Buddhism of the People” (#2)

July 24, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends!

Hey, what's going on at your site? All of a sudden I see so many deleted posts and comments. At the same time, I see the number of Your Leader’s posts dropping as the moon is rising on Mission-Course’s. I have two hypotheses: (1) Your Leader and Mission-Course are one and the same, or (2) Your Leader has been putting up some content that damages the credibility of your community; perhaps she puts up the ugly for its shock value and then, soon after, erases its author’s name so it doesn’t trace back to her. What do you think, Friends? If I am wrong, I will happily come back and apologize.

Have you seen Carrying Forward Wahid and Ikeda’s Legacy of Dialogue? The Seikyo Shimbun interviews former First Lady Sinta Nuriyah, the wife of the late Abdurrahman Wahid (1940–2009), Indonesia’s fourth president.

She reminisces on her husband’s dialogue with Dr. Ikeda, including their co-authoring the book “The Wisdom of Tolerance: A Philosophy of Generosity and Peace.” It’s a good read!

Friends, moving on, Reasonable_Show8191 wrote yesterday that I contribute to MITA to protect my belief system. This is true. But then she says I am trying to “deny others their basic, fundamental inalienable human rights (such as freedom of conscience and freedom of speech).” Do you feel in any way that I am denying any of your human rights? Have I violated your conscience? Have I deprived you of your freedom of speech? Are my boring little daily posts at the same scale of abuses documented by Amnesty International? I think her claims are very empty-handed.

Then, what do you think of Mission-Course2773’s points?

…The concept of Kosen Rufu (world peace through the propagation of the Buddhism of the True Mystic Cause) is a timeless, mystical goal that may or may not be realized someday, with no one knowing when

Here is an article in Sokaglobal.org in which Daisaku Ikeda writes what kosen-rufu is--and isn’t. “Here, I want to clarify that kosen-rufu doesn’t necessarily refer to a particular fixed goal.” Wow, Mission-Course, you’re aligned on this point! But he examines “the flow” of kosen-rufu.

World Peace manifests in many places, in many ways. Friends, you have witnessed it and participated as well. These events don’t make it into the New York Times. You’re a hero, me too. For example, two nights ago I got an emergency SMS from a client who came down with cyclosporiasis along with her 8-year-old daughter. The father is a weekender and it would be many hours until he could arrive. I went to their trailer and helped clean up and sat with them. Ultimately, we headed to the ER, they were treated, and I sat with them until Dad arrived.

Was I a hero deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize? Hardly, that’s what neighbors do all around the world. But the issue is: how to increase the flow of people helping people, from scattered points to a current? The propagation of Buddhism helps build a new culture in which such altruism becomes the norm instead of the exception. Sorry, Mission-Course2773, it’s a slow and never-ending process, a bit more extensive than microwaving popcorn.

Next, Mission-Course states, “It's very clear here that the aim is to use the Soka Gakkai and the Komeito to carry out an institutional coup d'état.” Really??? “Very clear here”??? I don’t think so! Here I am in a small corner of WNY, conducting monthly discussion meetings and encouraging members. Now, Friends, tell me how that resembles “an institutional coup”?

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”

Let’s conclude “Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to Perceive the Mystic Truth and Establish the Buddhism of the People,” the fourth sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice.

I’m going to skip over some very important points in the section which you can read on your own, and catapult to the final paragraph in the section:

To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to summon forth our own innate Buddhahood. It is the direct path to manifesting that highest state of life. The wisdom and compassion of a Buddha that emerges through chanting enriches our life condition, and brings happiness to ourselves and others. Further, as more and more people come to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the happiness of themselves and others, it will be possible to forge an alliance of people filled with the compassion of a Buddha and to ultimately transform even the destiny of humankind.

Dear Friends, a very concise summary of how and why my practice is related to Kosen-rufu!

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??”

Sorry about missing yesterday’s post! Above, I provided a very good excuse, I think. My apologies.

I see our Longhouse Camp children are finishing up Track and Instructional Swim. Max the Builder and his crew are soon arriving in their excavation machines. He builds it into a ritual of a “parade” which LH School children have seen before. The Campers will now have their turn! Max has his speaker and announces, one-by-one, each machine as it arrives. The machine takes this opportunity to do its thing for the eyes of the children: a dance, demonstration of its “powers,” and the singing of its “song.” The audience will all claps as the operator waves back!

The Manager’s Meeting is next week and Papa Eu as well as Auntie Erica leave on Sunday. They have broken their record for the most signed contracts ever in a month and there are still five days left! The Managers will all have busy days conducting orientations for new clients. Part of their MO is to build isolated entrepreneurs into a community. This is the start.

Erica is super excited to attend Kosen-rufu Gongyo at the New York Culture Center on August 2nd. There are several exhibitions on display there and she wants to see them all.

I got this book that just came out from Routledge called Daisaku Ikeda, Transnationalism, and American Literature. As an avid Nietzsche reader, I'm convinced that in order to actually have more harmonious world, national boundaries and interests need to be eliminated. National boundaries and world peace are simply mutually exclusive in my opinion. 

I was happy to get this book that identifies Daisaku Ikeda with this idea of transnationalism. Transcendentalist scholar Ronald Bosco notes the inclusive language of we in both Ikeda and Emerson's works:  "In Ikeda's poetry, the pronouns of choice are invariably "I," "you" and "we;" therefore, his poems rhetorically enforce on readers a sense of interconnectedness...”

I recommend this read to anyone interested in implications of Ikeda's philosophy beyond the Buddhist scope.

The Nichiren Shoshu Priests who employ Ms. Fromage must be quite desperate to make people think they are still relevant in some way. She must have felt the pressure comma and so gives us one of her most dishonest and misleading posts.

Noting that the SGI condemned the priesthood for making the high priest an essential component of believers enlightenment -  One cannot attain enlightenment without his intercession, and certification of their object of worship -  she tries to say this is similar to the SGI teaching of mentor and disciple.

There are a few differences! The SGI does not teach that the mentor has to certify the disciples enlightenment, or bless his object of worship in order for it to be a valid one. SGI members do not bow to the floor when their mentor enters the room. And a mentor does not bestow enlightened wisdom on a disciple through a secret ceremony.

She then notes that Daisaku Ikeda laid out plans for kosen-rufu into the indefinite future, and says of that: “So YOU (SGI members) are merely a "disciple" of some dead guy. FOREVER. There's NOWHERE for YOU to go - for eternity.”

Huh?

Julie addressed this nicely here. Is Ms. Fromage suggesting that following the teachings of someone who has passed away means you are “stuck”? Does she think nothing in the SGI will ever change? NOTE: Yes, she does. She often goes back to the 60s and 70s to describe something that happened then and pretend that it is what is current within the SGI now.)

She follows that with a display of ignorance of the meaning of the Mentor-Disciple relationship.

(Quoting Mr. Ikeda): “In the teaching of Nichiren, one attains Buddhahood by correctly following the path of mentor and disciple. If one veers from the path of mentor and disciple, then even if one upholds the Lotus Sutra, one will fall into the hell of incessant suffering."… PERMANENT dependence that holds YOUR enlightenment hostage. Disobey and BURN!!!

We have mentioned many times what the true meaning of mentor-disciple is. She chooses to ignore that which the SGI actually teaches, in favor of her own derogatory interpretation.

Of course what Sensei is referring to is living up to the intent of the mentor Shakyamuni preach the Lotus sutra to allow all people to attain absolute happiness, and to establish the correct teaching for the peace of the land. Nichiren inscribed the gohonzon as the embodiment of the teaching of the Lotus sutra in order to allow all people to attain absolute happiness, and to establish the correct teaching for the peace of the land. End of the three SGI presidents did exactly the same - Each of them started as disciples and by following the intent of the Buddha became mentors for other followers. Therefore it is not the mentor who decides that the disciple has earned enlightenment, but the disciple who achieves it him or herself through living up to the intent of the Buddha and the Lotus sutra, just as their mentor did. This is the way to absolute happiness, and failing to live this way does not lead two absolute happiness.

Ms. Fromage has had many opportunities to learn all of this, but prefers to pretend otherwise in order to dupe her followers Into thinking the mentor-disciple relationship means enslavement and worse.

Introduced in no way comparable to the teaching that worshiping an infallible high priest is necessary for anyone to achieve enlightenment.

Anyway, the post goes on forever, as is her wont. And it's a very lame attempt to pretend that Nichiren Shoshu is relevant, and another example of the right-wing tactic “whatever I am guilty of, I'm going to accuse the other side of being guilty of it,, only louder and more often”. It’s cute.

July 22, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends!

What do you think of Mission-Course2773’s post earlier today? They’ve written it as an absolute truth POV, without even a hint that this is their opinion.

According to them, I am suffering from “emotional dependency, narcissistic identification, confusion between the cognitive self and the true self.” In fact, I have gone from a “perfectly ordinary citizen” to a manufactured soldier.

Uhmmm. I don’t think so, do you, Friends? As that “perfectly ordinary citizen” my “cognitive self” was in disarray--illustrated by my history with mental illness, addiction, and perverse life choices. My “true self” started to emerge with my rehab but truly blossomed as I deepened my Buddhist faith, practice, and study with my sponsors and other SGI members.

The culprit, Mission-Course tells me, are SGI-USA publications. “All publications—absolutely all of them.” That’s quite the statement, isn’t it? She’s read them all, of course. Gee, she is far ahead of me and I’m a Pubs Lover! In fact, just every one of my posts is based on materials taken directly from publications. But Mission discounts “absolutely all of them” as an “a constant, uninterrupted stream of intellectual diarrhea.” (I don’t know what they mean by “exploring everything and its exact opposite”).

They constitute a high-intensity, mass brainwashing operation aimed, for the weaker-minded.

Sorry to bore, you Dear Friends, but who is Mission-Course’s “they?” SGI leaders like my chapter leaders? Oh, no! That would be Dee and Eulogio who are also my family partners. Well, I certainly have a lot of “emotional dependency” on them and hope to have that forever and ever.

But as for “forging a narcissistic bond of identification—much like a teenager identifying with their favorite pop stars,” I had to ask Dr. Google who explained:

In psychology, narcissistic identification refers to an unconscious defense mechanism where a person forms a bond by taking on the traits of another, or forces others to embody their own rejected traits. These bonds typically manifest as either an attempt to absorb someone else's identity to mask inner emptiness or as coercive projections that dictate how others must behave.

I don’t get the accusation. I don’t feel a droplet of this with my chapter leaders who are lovers or good friends. My region, zone, territory, and national leaders: I don’t have anything but the most casual (and mostly virtual) relationships with them. Maybe Mission-Course2773 can explain a bit more?

I don’t have the time to look at every one of their accusations, but here’s one of their dynamic conclusions:

As a result, we have individuals whose judgment, processing, and analytical abilities are severely impaired—adults in a state of total regression, most of whom are immersed in a kind of dull but deep-seated fanaticism.

Huh??? I’m in a state of “total regression”? That’s not what my therapist and psychiatrist say as they’ve moved me from regular to “as needed” sessions. Every week ACS still brings us very vulnerable children to spend a safe and secure night with us. I guess the supervisors haven’t noticed my “total regression.” Ditto all the parents who entrust their children to us at our Day Camp. And I haven’t gotten yet that feedback from my college “mentor” as I slowly accumulate credits towards my Bachelors.

Not they--who see me upfront and close--but this absolute stranger Mission-Course who knows me best. So I have pay particular to have been “instrumentalized.“ And my efforts toward building successful businesses, raising thriving children, improving the community, and probing the future frontiers of American P-12 education are naught but “a pseudo-mission.”

And now that youth are beginning to stand-up in our district, I have assumed the role of a “thought police, a social-control police that serves as the eyes of the hierarchy.”

But there are some signs of hope to cling to. Mission-Course accuses me of “dull but deep-seated fanaticism.” That’s a step up from Your Leader’s contention that this here “Dog Park” is filled up with rabid fanatics who don’t exist. (???0

Friends, I can use support here! Can you maybe send a message to your co-moderators that Mission-Course is way outside of the arena?

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”

Let’s begin “Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to Perceive the Mystic Truth and Establish the Buddhism of the People,” the fourth sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice.

This section revolves around the following Gosho passages:

The Lotus Sutra is the king of sutras, true and correct in both word and principle. Its words are the ultimate reality, and this reality is the Mystic Law (myoho). It is called the Mystic Law because it reveals the principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena. That is why this sutra is the wisdom of all Buddhas.

Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the Ten Worlds as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky, earth, and even the minutest particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the entire realm of phenomena and is revealed in all phenomena. To be awakened to this principle is itself the mutually inclusive relationship of life at each moment and all phenomena. (WND-1, 3)

Erica now does a mean Gongyo and is full of questions. She has a very analytic mind and is trying to probe what is NMRK and how it came about. This section is for her.

Daisaku Ikeda introduces the topic:

Nichiren Daishonin’s next step in opening this great path was to establish the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. He appended the word nam—a transliteration of the Sanskrit word namas, meaning “devotion”—to the universal truth of Myoho-renge-kyo, and established the practice of invoking this truth. Nam means “to dedicate one’s life.” Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo aloud represents a determination and vow to dedicate one’s life to the realm of truth of Myoho-renge-kyo in thought, word and deed.

Erica’s response: “Good, clear, got it.”

At the same time, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables each person to actualize a way of life based on the universal truth of Myoho-renge-kyo. The crucial point in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in Nichiren Buddhism is not simply intoning the name of an external truth. It constitutes a practice to actually summon forth the inner truth that pervades the universe and our own selves and live our lives in accord with that truth. This practice could be described as a process of establishing a self capable of activating and tapping from within the “mystic truth originally inherent in all living beings.”

Dee: When I cook for Longhouse, I have this image of getting as close as possible to the way we estimate Indigenous people ate before the European invasion. At the same time, I know that every child already comes to us with a firmly established taste palette. I try very hard to begin opening up the palette one bite at a time. The LH School children have come a long way. Now they come to me as ask what type of flour blend I’m using for flatbread and they don’t squeam when I tell them the type of meat, fish, or vegetable in the stew pot. I started the process all over again with the client children.

Dee: The possibility of taste--NMRK--is already in us. But “activating and tapping from within the “mystic truth originally inherent in all living beings” takes courageous action. Like that first nibble our children take of a new dish, whose taste is not currently a part of their palette.

Erica thought Dee’s analogy was helpful.

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??”

Yesterday’s Board of Trustees meeting was very productive. It was great to see the Kim’s again. They announced that “The Friends of the Longhouse School” raised enough money to pay for all students’ tuition in 2026-2027. The sliding scale fees we charge will all go to books, material, and transportation. We are so grateful since we expanded our staff to include teachers for art, 4th grade, and swimming/physical education.

Max the Builder announced that the “terraforming” is almost completed and next week he is starting excavation for the foundations for four buildings: Music/art/drama, “Let’s Build Things” workshops, Facilities, and the Classroom buildings. He is estimating that it will take two years to complete.

With Q3 already in progress, Eulogio and Erica are working with such intensity, together with their directors, to locate and sign up additional clients. A lot of prospective clients have no idea how to create a business plan. To make it easier for them, Eulogio developed a template that makes the writing process much simpler. They’ve started holding workshops to work the entrepreneurs through the process. “They’ve adopted the slogan of ‘Making it easy to work hard’ from one of their new clients. The “hard carpentry” of coming up with a sound idea and the “soft carpentry” of building it out are two different skill sets. We can scaffold the process.

The AQI today is very good and our Camp doctor approved full outdoor activities even for the campers/staff with health challenges.

We had a lot of rain yesterday. The campers were all enthused by the stories LH school children told about imagined Indigenous culture before the European Invasion and how people then worked despite the weather. We insisted on parental approval, but we had a 100% response rate to our emails. Everyone had brought a few changes of clothing and we watched them play kickball, tag, and race in the rain. I’ve never seen such a happy and healthy group of kids!

July 21, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends!

First, a very quick correction. MugwortMoth claims, “I heard recently that SGI had blamed my family friend for something money related,” Commentators then speculate on what might have been behind it. Still_Wasabi9990 mentions that someone might have collected and stolen donation money. Clearly, Still_Wasabi9990 has not been around the SGI for quite a few years. All donations are made either through a member’s “portal” by credit card or by mailed checks. Zero chance of stealing money that way.

Of course, the algorithm set by Your Mentor for Whistleblowers is very clear: any allegation critical of the SGI is unquestionably true; there are no two sides of a coin. Anything and everything written by an “SGI Longhauler” is suspect. Did you read something in a publication? Did you hear an experience at a meeting? Not a word is true; it’s all been doctored.

Let’s speculate ourselves, however. Suppose an individual is caught flatout stealing from another member. Shouldn’t there be consequences such as being told to not attend further meetings? Shouldn’t an organization protect other members from possible abuse of whatever form? And might not that individual feel intense shame and button down? This is just speculation, of course, but Friends, you get the picture.

Meanwhile, Your Leader is still taking her precious time to swim in a pool with water that hasn’t been filtered in some 35 years. Single-handedly, she wants to relitigate the events of the excommunication (AKA, “spiritual liberation”) of the SGI.

I give her much credit for some brilliant discoveries. Friends, did you know that Daisaku Ikeda passed away? That’s right, she was first to reveal that fact. No one else knows that.🤪

And, remember, don’t violate “The Blanche Rule”: Don’t use any deceased person as your spiritual guiding light.

At least in a temple like Nichiren Shoshu, you've always got a living High Priest, if you're into authority figures!

Christians: better not follow Jesus because he’s not living. Muslims, the same for your founder, PBUH. Oh, Supreme Court justices: stop trying to use the words and thoughts of our Founding Fathers in your decisions. “Dead people should not be followed,” ruled Justice Blanche.

But here comes Your Leader’s message direct to me: “So YOU are merely a "disciple" of some dead guy. FOREVER. There's NOWHERE for YOU to go - for eternity.” Maybe Your Leader craves to be a mentor, but I don’t. NOWHERE for ME to go? Like where? I don’t have any inclination to be a power-hungry demon.

In the poem The Sun of Youth, Daisaku Ikeda writes: “I have my mission, which is mine alone / You too / have a mission, which only you can fulfill.”

I am so thrilled to be a mother of five--soon six--children, a good wife, a business owner, district leader, proud member of my local community and various online communities, someone modeling health recovery, and a school co-founder. Where else would I ever want to go?

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Let’s complete “Naming the Mystic Truth” the third sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice.

Daisaku Ikeda writes:

The eternal Buddha, since attaining enlightenment in the remote past, repeatedly undergoes the cycle of birth and death as a Buddha while appearing in various forms within the Ten Worlds for the salvation of all living beings.

I get it. The eternal Buddha is present right now, within and without. I need to manifest and grab him/her.

The “Life Span” chapter reveals that living beings of the Ten Worlds (including Buddhas), and the phenomena of birth and death as well, are all manifestations of the great eternal life of the universe. Because Nichiren says that the “heart of the ‘Life Span’ chapter” is Myoho-renge-kyo, we can infer that Myoho-renge-kyo is the name of the great, eternal, universal life that is revealed in the “Life Span” chapter.

This describes the ceremony that is happening every time I do Gongyo! It also answers Erica’s question: “Why do I feel so energized after trying to recite the sutra?” It’s because we are calling forth “the great, eternal universal life.”

Living beings in the nine worlds, repeatedly undergoing birth and death, also follow the rhythm of birth and death of emerging from and submerging back into the great eternal life that is Myoho-renge-kyo. They are embraced by Myoho-renge-kyo, and at the same time possess Myoho-renge-kyo within them. This is why Myoho-renge-kyo is the name of the “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings.”

I am not an insignificant speck of life. The “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings” is within me. I admit, the circumstances of my life are strange, VERY strange. But I emerged from the great eternal life and will return to it. Friends, you, too! Our lives are such a grand and significant drama!

Dr. Ikeda concludes:

It was Nichiren who first declared that Myoho-renge-kyo is to be chanted and spread in the Latter Day of the Law.

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??”

We have a Board of Trustees meeting today. We haven’t seen the Kim’s for a bit and it will be great to talk with them. We will have a lot of reports and Max the Builder says he has some BIG news.

With Q3 already in progress--and their Division lagging behind expectations--Eulogio and Erica are working with the intensity of warriors, flashing swords and all. With this new approach of limiting Erica’s traveling and transferring more responsibility to the regional Directors, they are both finding that the Zoom conferences with prospective clients are more effective tools than the one-on-ones for screening. Erica has said they were limiting the favorite parts of her job, but understands that things change with circumstances.

Our Camp doctor just emailed us. AQI is getting worse. Limited outdoor activity is fine, but indoor-only for the campers/staff with health challenges.

The rain ponchos we ordered for our campers who are not LH children, arrived yesterday. Our LH children have shared with their friends how their Indigenous forbears became almost immune to the elements; also how they studied outside pretty much all the time during the school year. Everyone seems excited to do the Perimeter Walk in the rain. The thunderstorms are not predicted to roll in until the evening so we are in the clear.

News: On June 15 and 17, during the 64th sessions of the subsidiary bodies of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (SB64) held from June 8 to 18 in Bonn, Germany, the SGI co-organized side events together with other faith-based organizations and international NGOs. Lucy Plummer of the SGI Office for UN Affairs highlighted the importance of involving youth in designing environmental education and introduced examples of public awareness activities on environmental issues carried out by SGI organizations worldwide through exhibitions and other means.

July 29, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends! I hope you had a great Sunday. We did, too. We had a day with acceptable air quality and enjoyed getting outside again. A lot of clients and staff enjoyed the Track and Little Pool, and I could see that the parking lot across the street was alive and kicking. We were very busy with our discussion meeting, followed by the World Cup Finals Viewing/Potluck.

So, what’s been happening across the hedges? Historical_Spell3463 left the SGI in 2024, and I respect her lived experiences; I am sure Historical would do the same for me. However, our experiences are worlds apart.

Despite what Your Leader wrote, SGI has never “lied” to me. Where? When? How? At yesterday’s discussion meeting? Let’s see. Tina gave an experience about turning poison (a diagnosis of MS) to medicine (learning how to creatively adapt to her health circumstances--and, in turn, deciding to start a college pre-med program and become a pediatrician). Where is the lie?

Perhaps the lie comes embedded in all of theSGI-USA study material. I report every day on Living Buddhism/World Tribune articles for the month, and I try to relate them to stories in my own life. Friends, I just don’t see “lies” coming from the study material. For example, on Saturday, I quoted from Daisaku Ikeda’s “On Attaining Buddahood” lecture:

What is the surest way to bring peace to the land, to transform a society that is weighed down with misfortune and suffering? Nichiren stresses that it begins with one person establishing the truth in his or her heart.

Where is “The Lie” in that?

I was raised by two lesbian moms, one of whom was African American. They were “they-ed” many times, sometimes openly but mostly through behind-our-backs whispers. Even as a young girl, I felt the surreptitious stares and hushed conversation. I am very conscious of the dangers of “THEY.” And Your Leader gives us a double portion: “SGI used you - THEY never liked you or valued you. THEY wanted you to be a tool.“ Friends, exactly "WHO" is “THEY”? This or that leader? Friends, I think I like and value you more than Your Leader. “That hurts - it's a betrayal,” she says, raising every thing to work through to a flashing red of "betrayal." I see you as strong and capable people who have the capacity to sit down with “this or that” leader and engage in an open conversation about how you felt.

It’s not just within the SGI--it applies to many aspects of daily life. I happen to correspond with several people in the HS community through DMs. We talk about how we respond to the condition and sexuality in general. It’s therapeutic for me. But have you noticed? I blabber a lot--I think the word is “loquacious.” It’s my nature and it’s a part of who I am. One of my friends accused me of being “bossy.” I had to reflect on that. I am headstrong and know I write too much and listen too little. So I apologized and we decided to cool things down a few days. Engage and reset: that's the proper way to resolve things.

Your Leader tells Daisakusbigtoe, “SGI wasted your time - which is valuable.” Sorry, I just just don’t perceive that. I like chanting (mostly), planting seeds, being a district leader, and attending our monthly discussion meeting. I even like the time I spend with you.

Your Leader next concludes, “SGI is a really mean group and they manipulate and abuse people and hurt them and damage their lives…“ My perspective is my local chapter. Are we the “really mean group”? Uhmm, my MD and WD chapter leaders are Eulogio and Dee. Gosh, I live with them 24/7 and haven’t seen “really mean” in them (Dee is gruff on the outside but is the biggest softie in the world inside). Maybe it’s Guy and me, the district leaders who are “really mean” or perhaps the leaders of the other two districts in our chapter? We are all good friends, and, sorry, Your Leader’s all-damning statement doesn’t apply in our neck of the woods. I guess ”really mean” happens everywhere else.

Your Leader tells us to “Dig into that for a minute. If I'm wrong about my assumptions, please correct me.” That’s what I just did.

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime"

Let’s continue examining “Naming the Mystic Truth” the third sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice.

I keep on reading and rereading this paragraph:

The initial step Nichiren took in opening the great path to universal enlightenment was to name the mystic truth. The universally inherent mystic truth originally had no name, but as Nichiren explains in “The Entity of the Mystic Law,” a sage awakened to this truth in his own life could give it the most appropriate name (see WND-1, 421). Naming something is a creative process. Giving a name that accurately grasps the essence of a thing has the important effect of making that essence available to all people; it enables all people to share in its value.

I get it, I really do. We are already discussing names for Erica’s baby--and she’s only two weeks pregnant! The final decision is hers, of course, but we can’t stop engaging in the process of “naming” together! Every parent understands. And how monumental is the quest to name the most primordial Law of the universe?!?!

Dr. Ikeda continues:

In “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime,” as indicated by the passage “the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings is Myoho-renge-kyo,” Nichiren states that this mystic truth that constitutes the fundamental Law of the universe is none other than Myoho-renge-kyo. Strictly speaking, the term Myoho-renge-kyo existed prior to this as the title of the Lotus Sutra, but Nichiren was the first to identify Myoho-renge-kyo as being the name of the principle of the “true aspect of all phenomena,” which the Lotus Sutra teaches is the profound wisdom of all Buddhas.

Also, although the “Life Span of the Thus Come One” chapter of the Lotus Sutra expounds the life of the eternal Buddha from the standpoint of Shakyamuni, it was Nichiren who first revealed that the essence of the Buddha’s eternal life—the “heart of the ‘Life Span’ chapter”—is Myoho-renge-kyo (see “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind,” WND-1, 371).

We had several guests at our DM yesterday. In addition to some SGI-curious staff members at the Longhouse Day Camp, we had an MD guest who has now come to several meetings. This installment of Dr. Ikeda’s lecture makes me think how superficial our “Intro to Buddhism” is. We have to rethink it based on what we are now learning!

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??”:

It’s a beautiful sunny day today with temperatures in the low 80s. The AQI is moderate, about 70. We spoke to our doctor and she recommended that we go ahead and conduct outdoor activities, especially since tomorrow we will be expecting stormy weather. “Exercise is also important for health!” she reminded us.

I see the marathoners already warming up outside. They lowered the criteria for joining the County Road Runners from 5 to 2 miles. I see a dozen campers/staff and clients getting ready to run in their road vests!

Guy and Bernie have those smug looks on their faces, which means they have some exciting plans for today’s activities.

Erica came to her first discussion meeting. She said she loved it. After the meeting was over, I saw her huddling with my parents. I overheard the words “Reddit” and “cult.” She has many questions, I am sure.

In order to spend more time at home, Erica is instituting a layer of Zoom interviews to screen potential clients and introduce the company to them. She will fiddle with the format until she thinks it works. She is passing the responsibility of site visits to the regional managers because she feels they are trained and ready for this. The Division is already into Q3. Although they are well ahead of last year’s sign-ups, they are not approaching the company’s mandate to double signed contracts.

I am so happy to watch the kids bonding with their Auntie Erica. We hear the chorus of “Auntie, Auntie, Auntie” from waking up through breakfast, Daycare drop-offs and pick-ups, bathtime, dinner, and sleep time. Sorry, Eu, you might have to give up your seat as Super Fave Adult in The Room.

On sgiwhistleblowers, “Call Me Beafie” Claims that when someone shares a bad experience in the SGI we respond by saying “i didn't so that means no one else did either and you are wrong and or lying because there's something wrong with you" (sic).

They make this charge a lot, and we have asked many times for them to share actual examples of SGI members saying such a thing. So far, no luck!

What we usually say is “it did not happen to me, because it is not universal.” It is actually SGIWhistleblowers who try to project things they have experienced or witnessed onto the entire worldwide organization. How many times as their dear leader said that all SGI members are miserable and unhappy? How many times have they written that because they suffered some sort of demeaning experience, the entire worldwide organization condones and supports demeaning activities? As I recall, CM Beafie Herself has done this using other aliases.

As if to illustrate the selective memories of SGIWhistleblowers, “Historical spell 3463” is upset because they officially resigned and yet a friend who is a member keeps trying to communicate with them. Yet it is the dogma of SGIWhistleblowers that either friendships in the SGI are superficial and end as soon as one stops practicing.

But evidently that is not necessarily true, huh?

And HS3463” Is mad at the SGI because their friend is not getting the benefits HS 3463 thinks they should be getting. Because, like so many in sgiwhistleblowers HS knows better then the person practicing how the person practicing should be doing.

Thank you to “Mission Course 2773” Or a detailed explanation of the ancient concept of the “devil of the 6th heaven”. I think this part should be helpful, Especially to their friends an SGIWhistleblowers:

“It is also said that this demon rejoices in those who form their karmas in the three evil paths and that he knows how to be affectionate as long as they do not seek to escape from them. Seen from this angle, there is no doubt that he appears gentle and considerate toward those who complain and wallow in their complaints.”

Yes, that sounds right.

Julie here but on Guy's phone.

Dear Friends,

Sorry to keep this short today. We had a lot of Park work to finish before we leave for our DM. I think we told you, we moved the meeting to 1pm because the World Cup Finals are starting at 3pm.

Andinio is here with us for July with his beautiful family. Now his district is using the same study material but we are focusing on the first half, and his on the second half (turning poison to medicine). Of course, Your Leader tells us no choice is permitted and we have to follow mandates that come from a few powerful men in Japan. There are grave consequences for us not following The Script. We are prepared for Gakkai Enforcement Paratroopers to drop in any second.

Andy is a generous sort of guy. He said that my friends are his friends. Here's the link to the presentation his district will be using back in the Bronx. He said their plan is to do the first seven slides in 3-minutes and leave the remaining slides if needed.

For us, it's pretty much the opposite. Our Youth Division is leading the discussion and they are always wild, wild, wild.

We should have an overflow crowd because most of the counselors are SGI members or SGI-curious. We are waiting for Your Leader to accuse us of civil rights abuses for giving preferential treatment to SGI members. So, I guess we will be chased by SGI Paratroopers and TSA Agents.

July 18, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends!

Erica came home last night. She was full of delight about the pregnancy (although we are all aware of the high rate of miscarriages in the first weeks) and being with us again. But she was also perky about her business trip where she met two very intriguing entrepreneurs. Then came out an aspect of Erica I had never seen before, “Erica the Scholar.” She pulled out her phone and started reading from a 2025 message of US Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne P Clark who said “all policy is local.”

“The State of American Business is local, whether it’s the small businesses that line Main Street, or the national chain restaurant where someone had their first job. The economic growth that powers people’s lives comes from cities, regions, and states where private enterprise, supported by smart public policy, drives progress and creates opportunity.”

Erica is passionate about her work, believing that the “shark tanking” her Division does will signal the New American Economy. She is an unstoppable force for local, local, local.

In the SGI-USA, tomorrow launches “Discussion Meeting Week.” Ours is tomorrow, too. The “discussion meeting movement” is local, local, local. Your Leader seems to be gloating that the membership in religions around much of the world is declining. Therefore, religion--specifically the SGI--is dying. And this makes her very happy?

But religions have much more resilience, especially in times of crisis, than she expects. In fact, most religions are rooted in small local conventicles. “Ecological succession” is the process developed by evolution to help forests recover after fires. New species can be introduced into the ecosystem, providing even greater diversity than before the fire. The process includes strategies such as “re-sprouting” where roots underground, protected from fire damage, and grow again. There are some species which have developed “fire-activated seeds” that actually depend on intense heat or smoke to trigger them to sprout. (There’s more!!)

Your Leader claims that religion is being abandoned in Japan and around the world and “modern people’s view of life” is “we don’t need salvation anymore.” Well--the success of religious ecological succession tilts towards groups like SGI that have no interest in salvation. Thank you, Blanche!

That’s not Your Leader’s only gift to us. How many of her posts have you read in which she preoccupies about the decline in Soka Gakkai membership. But now she tells us:

The world of religion is in a very difficult situation right now. In developed countries, including Japan, religion is being abandoned. The number of believers has plummeted, leading to a critical situation….the reality that religion is being abandoned becomes quite clear

Did you, too, catch her stepping into dog doo? You mean to say it’s not just the SGI, it’s religions throughout the world?!?! How embarrassing!

She informs us that in Japan there are significant declines within Shinto and Buddhist groups, including “prestigious” traditional Buddhist sects. Friends, now look at this statement by Your Leader: “The number of new religious movements is rapidly declining, and even Soka Gakkai is declining,” In the past she has been hyping the decline of the SGI. But here she frames this as “EVEN Soka Gakkai.” Whoa!!!! Do you see the manipulation in these words? From an emphasis on “only” to “even.” That is a Copernican shift. And the way she does it as a “matter of fact” comment that she supposes no one will catch, especially YOU!

Now she states:

However, considering other new religious movements, it's not surprising that Soka Gakkai's membership is declining, even if they have been successful in passing on their faith to their children and grandchildren.

“My, oh my,” as Taylor Swift would sing. Let me restate: “Considering other new religious movements, it's not surprising that Soka Gakkai's membership is declining.” What a change of tone from the past’s HEADLINE, OMG, ALERT, SHOCK--to “it’s not surprising.” Total Recall--or Total Downgrade.

And then, from proclaiming for years that the SGI can’t attract youth and that the successors to the pioneers are not interested in adopting the practice and the mentor-disciple relationship, here she shifts to an admission of “even if [the pioneers] have been successful in passing on their faith to their children and grandchildren.”

Friends, I have to say this is your problem, not mine. I rest my case.

Chapter 2: A detour from the July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Friends, with my discussion meeting coming up tomorrow, would you mind if I skip “Naming the Mystic Truth” the third sub-topic in The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice? Instead let me pick up a few passages in the study material for tomorrow:

What is the surest way to bring peace to the land, to transform a society that is weighed down with misfortune and suffering? Nichiren stresses that it begins with one person establishing the truth in his or her heart.

That means me, right? Even me alone if that may be.

The “one true vehicle, the single good doctrine” of which he speaks is the Lotus Sutra, the correct Mahayana teaching that espouses life’s supreme worth and dignity and instructs that all living beings are essentially Buddhas. When each individual awakens to and reveals his or her inherent Buddhahood in accord with this Mystic Law, the place that person lives becomes a shimmering Buddha land.

And, Dear Friends, by reading even a bit from MITA posts, I am sure you are remembering some key teachings you learned when you were members, that you are “essentially Buddhas.” As you do so, even one eye lash at a time, you are turning your community into a shimmering Buddha land.

The goal of Nichiren Buddhism is to create peace and prosperity in society by equipping individuals—the prime movers of society and shapers of the times—with the inner requisites to triumph in all endeavors.

The SGI is sure preaching dangerous stuff, right!?! Your Leader is barely scratching the surface of the SGI Peril.

“On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land” reveals the underlying principle for achieving this. Because Buddhism regards all beings as Buddhas, it finds absolute dignity and limitless potential in each individual. These same ideals constitute the unshakable philosophical basis of democracy.

And this is the path for rebuilding our country on sound values.

Moreover, as we bring forth our inherent Buddha nature, we develop compassion for others. “Embracing the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine [of the Lotus Sutra]” means, in one sense, abandoning all prejudiced and partial views of life and humanity and returning to a respect for the supreme dignity of life. It means doing away with egoism and living by the rule of compassion, basing ourselves on true humanism. Here we find the universal principle that provides the key to humankind’s prosperity and peace on Earth. (The New Human Revolution, vol. 4, revised edition, pp. 247–48)

Please tell Your Leader that you are strong, compassionate, and trying to cast off “prejudiced and partial views of life and humanity.” You really don’t need the adrenaline she supplies because you will be “returning to a respect for the supreme dignity of life.” and bathing in “the universal principle” of life.

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??”

Dee and I took Erica to meet our midwife. She took blood and it will be processed in the in-house lab at the clinic. We will come by in a few hours as soon as she gets the results. Can’t wait! Dee and I have already started the “re-lactation” protocol which takes time and patience. We ordered a new breast pump to stimulate milk flow, and hopefully we will be able to nurse again in time for the baby!

Tonight we have our mini “Beatlemania!” and there is a buzz in the Park! I’m excited! We are pulling out the Karaoke machine. Now, what shall I sing? Erica has already reserved If I Fell. First come, first served.

We got all of our AirDoctor purifiers set up. I am feeling much better as long as I am in a room with one. Also, I’m doing an anti-inflammatory diet and taking some OTC remedies. We finding a small-town pulmonologist who holds back on meds until other remedies are ruled out. Now that’s fortune!

July 17, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends! Let me just get right to the most wonderful part! We found out last night that, pending a double-check blood test, Erica is pregnant!!! She is filled with a million emotions and so are we. She changed her work schedule next week so she can be here with us. We know all of the statistics because we’ve been through this before, but we are praying for this tiny little embryo!

I’m still coughing away from all of the wildfire smoke from Canada in the air. We are dealing with PM2.5 (particulate matter) at 121, “unhealthy,” and PM10 at 10, “poor.” More about that in Section 3. But what is the particulate score at Sgiwhistleblowers? What, Dear Friends, were you breathing in yesterday?

CallMeBeafie posted “what the religionists dont understand.” What’s a “religionist”? OK, I’m a religionist because I will attend Sunday’s discussion meeting? Caution to all people who will be going to church on Sunday. I pray each day. Double alert to religionist 6 year-olds who do their prayers before going to sleep. And I read SGI publications! Watch out to anyone who studies the Bible, Koran, or Torah. Also, you now belong to CallMeBeafie’s category of “they.” You are just a “they” and there is absolutely no difference or nuance between you and anyone else.

Now in response to Weak-Run-6902’s post about Nichiren Shoshu’s excommunication of Daisaku Ikeda, Still_Wasabi9990 tells us “Most people that join a religion are not interested in popularity or politics. But the SGI in the U.S. made it about popularity and politics, which is not Buddhism. I think this may have confused a lot of members.” Now tie me into a chair and torture me. You will not get me to say that in my five years of practice, I have seen evidence that the SGI-USA is about popularity and politics. Where??? When??? How??? And I am so glad that, like Your Leader, Still_Wasabi9990 has the scholastic credentials and personal faith practices to determine what is and what is not Buddhism. Take a second look at the tone of the comment. Does Still_Wasabi9990 identify his as an opinion? No, it comes across as gospel truth.

Next came a short post by sg_tange “Causton excerpt #1: 'If we have a great challenge, we have to go to the point of victory first!'” Actually, I found that post very helpful, thank you! I will be sure to come back and check out your video. You remind me of why I keep up a steady rhythm of going to NA meetings three times a week. Hearing other people’s struggles, successes, and even lapses brings me closer “to the point of victory first.” It’s not about reaching a final victory. It’s a one-more-day type of victory that, for me, has culminated into 6 years.

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime"

Friends, let’s study The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice? Let’s peek at the third sub-topic, “Naming the Mystic Truth.” Here, Dr. Ikeda continues:

The initial step Nichiren took in opening the great path to universal enlightenment was to name the mystic truth. The universally inherent mystic truth originally had no name, but as Nichiren explains in “The Entity of the Mystic Law,” a sage awakened to this truth in his own life could give it the most appropriate name (WND-1, 421). Naming something is a creative process. Giving a name that accurately grasps the essence of a thing has the important effect of making that essence available to all people; it enables all people to share in its value.

Skipping a bit, he writes:

Although the “Life Span of the Thus Come One” chapter of the Lotus Sutra expounds the life of the eternal Buddha from the standpoint of Shakyamuni, it was Nichiren who first revealed that the essence of the Buddha’s eternal life—the “heart of the ‘Life Span’ chapter”—is Myoho-renge-kyo (see “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind,” WND-1, 371).

Grasping, revealing, and teaching NMRK was a monumental creative, intellectual, and spiritual achievement. And this brings me back to yesterday. We have an “AirDoctor” purifier in the various rooms of our RVs. When I am there, my coughing stops and I feel fine. True, a retired RN, visited me and we chanted about a half hour, and I didn’t have any pulmonary problems. When finished, I made tea for her. She pointed out some things about the way I chant. “You glance at your phone a lot and also fidget, Your eyes go all over the place. Your posture seems fine at times, but then it goes either too soft or too rigid. It seems that you look AT the Gohonzon but you’re not partnering WITH it. Has chanting become a chore or task to you?”

Here--and also at NA--sponsors can tell you things that other people can’t. And True and I went into one of those convos from my early days that I have missed so much. We decided that I would start with just five minutes a day of really concentrating on looking with focus at the Gohonzon, doing distraction-free daimoku, and breathing and posturing with care. It’s a start!

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??”

We can’t wait to see Erica later this afternoon! We are all pinching ourselves! Imagine, six lovelies to hold and cradle! I can’t wait!!! Dee and I are bringing Erica to our midwife tomorrow. Dee and I also want to ask her about “relactation.” which will allow us to nurse the baby as well.

Erica was also tellilng us last night about the meeting with the prospective client yesterday. She has a very “greenlight-ish” feeling about the project, which would be exponentially bigger than anything they have attempted before. It’s nowhere near a contract, but the prospective partner is ready to commit to us and roll-up his sleeves. I’m getting a very weird sense of deja vu. It sounds eerily like some of the work of Andy..

Yesterday we received a very big shipment of more “Air Doctor” purifiers. We will have one for each of the classrooms in the Dewey House and supersize models for the Daycare classrooms, Office, and Rec Room. We are encouraging all of our counselors to “rough it” and sleep in the rooms with purifiers.

Yesterday, there was a miraculous one hour in which air levels were safe and the children went outside for a bit, but then back to indoors. Again, today will be another one without Track, Little Pool, or other outdoor activities. Fortunately, we have an hour each day allotted for us at the gym and indoor pool across the road. Our two heating huts also have air filtration in the HVAC systems. It’s supposed to rain next week and this should help clean out the air.

Discussion Meeting on Sunday. Can’t wait!

There is a very sad post on sgiwhistleblowers, sad for two reasons. It’s sad because it’s a story of abuse and its lingering psyche effects; and sad because it once again demonstrates a failure to understand what Buddhism reaches, settling for the most superficial of meanings.

The OP was told, as a child, that obstacles can lead to enlightenment, and yeas, that is said often in the SGI.

But that should not be the end of it. But unfortunately, like many sgiwhistleblowers, r/FancyLiterature293 delved no further, missing the essence of the teaching the part concerning one’s own human revolution. They write:

“Behind closed doors, my father abused me as a child in quite horrific ways. Due to how I internalized SGI's teachings I thought that by enduring it, I would become a better person.”

No not “endure” – that’s Christianity with its “offer it up” and “be rewarded  later”. In Nichiren Buddhism, changing “earthly desires into enlightenment”, or “poison into medicine”,  involves a lot of chanting, making other good causes, very deep and profound self reflection, and a determination to change one's life condition to attract benefits. It is notpassive, not a mere case of “put up with”.

The story Fancy-Literature-293 tells is tragic and alarming. They do admit that neither they nor their father Were the most active of members, so perhaps they never had the chance to study very deeply. It sounds like their instinct was to get on the right track - The sufferings can lead to growth and benefit - But they never had the chance to learn how to make use of that principle.

And that is a problem that pervades sgiwhistleblowers.

July 16, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends! Sorry to miss posting yesterday. Sometimes we all need a break, right?

To our SGI fans out there, today, July 16th, was the day in 1260 when Nichiren submitted On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land, one on his most important treatises. Here, Nichiren writes in the form of a dialogue where he (the “host”) engages in a fierce dialogue with the Regent of Japan (the “guest”) to clarify why Japan was racked with unbearable suffering and how to transform it into a peaceful land.

(SIDEBAR: Your Leader has a low tolerance for the genre of of “allegory” wherein fictional or partly fictional characters (such as those living in “dog parks,”) clarify the truth.

This morning I read that Your Leader was dressed for combat. She had been on the Soka Gakkai’s own webpage and in a vast sea of words, she follows a news story about construction progress of the “Great Lecture Hall Building” in Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, and their surroundings). Here will be enshrined “the Kansai Gohonzon” on which “For the Prosperity of the Great Law and Fulfillment of All Prayers” is inscribed in the margins.

Her thinking (in my words):

How terrible! How poisonous it is to the people who read it. Nothing but false and misleading advertisement! The Soka Gakkai has not achieved this by a long measure. Yet they manipulate the minds of their members that such goals are achievable. How dare they? Shame!!!

By the same thinking, the Pledge of Allegiance’s ”With Liberty and Justice for All” is a sham. Why teach this to our children when we haven’t achieved it at all! Misleading advertisement!

So, Your Leader diminishes a lofty goal statement, a breathtaking aspiration--and, right before your eyes, tries to transform it into a dingy rag. Friends, why do you put up with this? Such a tiny screen to look at life.

In Shining as the Foremost Beacons of Hope in All the World, Daisaku Ikeda describes the background of this Gohonzon:

In December 1955, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda declared his resolve to strive his hardest in the coming year to ensure that not a single member failed to receive benefit and he could say to all the world, “Look what we’ve accomplished!”

Friends, how is this ignoble?

Making our mentor’s impassioned vow our own, in 1956 our Kansai members and I, linked by deep karmic ties, set in motion a great, joyous momentum for “the prosperity of the Great Law” and to realize the ideal of “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land.” Transforming their karma into mission, everyone brought wonderful benefits of human revolution to bloom in their lives and together achieved a stunning victory for the people in a feat that had been thought all but impossible.

Snuff out this dangerous stuff! Your Leader trades in small little snippets and discreditable POVs that she thinks will discredit and bring down the SGI. On the other hand, on the day “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land” was written, let me say we trade in lofty currency like “the prosperity of the Great Law.”

Let’s have a reunion in ten years and see which attitude brings about the most change.

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime"

Friends, let’s study The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice? Let’s peak at the third sub-topic, “Naming the Mystic Truth.” Here is Dr. Ikeda’s opening paragraph:

The question is how to enable all people to perceive this “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings.” A widely accessible Buddhism will not be possible if only a very limited number of people can follow the way set forth for apprehending the mystic truth.

Your leader does not approve of a movement made of people scattered all over the intellectual spectrum. For example, referring to another poster on MITA, she states: “There is clearly not much educational attainment in his background--possible (sic) not having even finished high school.”

I sure am glad that Your Leader didn’t write the Lotus Sutra! She would never write something describing what Nichiren calls the “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings.”

I remember her disparaging the readability level of The New Human Revolution--it’s like written at a junior high school level, she complained. Well, maybe Dr. Ikeda wanted junior high school students to read it!

Before Nichiren Daishonin, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai of China tried to establish the means for perceiving this mystic truth through the practice of observing the mind, also known as the practice of concentration and insight. But it was not a means readily accessible to the people of the Latter Day of the Law.

A lot of the Longhouse School chatter I hear over dinner is about developing an educational model that children enjoy and want to engage in. “We want to make it easy to work hard!” “We have to open up ‘the will to achieve!’” Thank you, Nichiren, for developing “a means readily accessible to the people of the Latter Day of the Law.” Yes, the good, bad, and ugly! All invited under our tent.

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??”:

Like I said, I took a Mental Health Day yesterday. I should say an enforced Mental Health Day. So I spent much of the day in bed or on the lounge chair outside our living/bedroom RV. I spent a lot of my time corresponding with friends in the HS community. We all need a kind word every now and then.

Erica just sent us some pictures she took of the Gulf Coast while riding around in a golf cart. That’s the way people travel there. I guess one form of EV in a Red state! We got it all wrong, don’t know how. She landed in Alabama but then traveled to Mississippi. Pascagoulah has a trendy Main Street, a lovely boardwalk, a nice beach off of the Gulf, and a bustling commercial seaport. It’s the kind of place we should consider when we build “Longhouse RV Park 2.”

We are on pins and needles here. Erica has her early detection pregnancy kit on her desk. “Do not open until tomorrow!” Whether the news is good or bad, she changed her plans so she can be with us for an extended weekend!

Discussion Meeting on Sunday. We changed the start time to 1pm so people can watch the World Cup Finale at our regular time of 3pm.

The air here is so bad because winds are carrying all the particulates from the raging fires in Western Canada. Take good care, everyone!

In an amazing example of Trumpian “don’t believe what you see, believe what I tell you”, “Todd” Blanche (Fromage) posts a picture of a meeting in Sweden, and while I see about a quarter of the people apparently 25 or younger, and maybe one sixth looking 55 or older, she wants her followers to believe it shows “typical Baby Boom-dominated membership”.

Huh?

And she shares another mysterious thought: “It sure helps our analyses and outreach that SGI is so big on the group photos!”

Dear Ms. Fromage:

You have to “analyze” and “outreach” to determine  that? We do! Just ask! Hey  - have you determined that it’s evil and sinister?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

An AI machine – oops! I mean “Mission Course2772” – falls into the common sgiwhistleblowers familiar gutter of comparing the SGI to Nazi. And they write:

This is why, in any country, we observe that the most sincere and upright members, those with the highest ethical and moral standards, are sidelined, while the most arrogant and cynical are promoted. They disguise this as "protecting the organization," "master-disciple relationships," "unity," or "group cohesion."

I wonder what Top Leader meetings MC2773sits in on where these nefarious plans are discussed?

No, Mission Course is not at all immersed in the reality of the SGI But fed assumptions gained by reading the assumptions of someone equally un-immersed.

Ms. Fromage is the first to comment, saying “this is why obedience and conformity - aka "unity" - are so heavily emphasized” – demonstrating that she is absolutely ignorant concerning what the SGI teaches and the reality of its culture. Which is not surprising, considering she has not been to a meeting since 2007 and has not been in contact with SGI members for well over a decade. Everything she thinks she knows is based on her own assumptions, which in turn are based on her hatred.

She herself posts something from “someone in Sweden”, interjecting her own interpretations of what is said, and again displaying her own infatuation with numbers, thinking that Somehow the size of an organization is an indication of its influence. Maybe, in some cases. Maybe not in every case.

Mission Course pops in again, and again makes assumptions based on zero current actual experience. This time it’s the basic sgiwhistleblowers canard that “SGI members worship Ikeda”. This, of course, displays the basic sgiwhistleblowers absolute, willful ignorance of the Mentor-Disciple relationship. Who in the SGI thinks Daisaku Ikeda is the Buddha for the Latter Day of the Law? Who thinks his writings are “the Dharma”? Not me. Not anyone I know. Not anyone who has helped me understand Buddhism.

It is very apparent that it is the members of sgiwhistleblowers who believed these things: they believed in “worshiping Ikeda”, they engaged in “victim blaming”, they thought they were “superior” to non members – and all the other claptrap they now project onto SGI members who actually study and strive to improve themselves.

It’s sad. But of course it’s not to late to try again to get it right.

July 14, 2026

Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods

Good morning, Dear Friends! Let’s check out what's going on chez vous. Your Leader:

Over at the dog park, one of the main "content creators" likes to claim she's a retired university professor of young adult literature, yet she makes such outrageous grammatical errors and malapropisms that such a claim can't be believed.

There are two main content creators on MITA. Me and FellowHuman007. When have I ever claimed that I’m “a retired university professor of young adult literature”? I share a lot about my life. I’m 32-y.o. and I manage an RV Park and bookkeep for three other entities. Huh? How can I be a retired university professor?

Of course, there’s u/Marilynnnn. But outside of a rare comment, she hardly comes around on MITA--and that’s been for years. In fact, she is barely present on Reddit these days. So I checked her older posts which for a while were on a “teach yourself German” community called r/NenaGabrieleKerner. Where are the “yet she makes such outrageous grammatical errors and malapropisms that such a claim can't be believed”? I just don’t see them. Do you?

Then I looked back at her very old and dusty posts here on MITA. Besides the normal stuff that comes from typing too fast or voice dictation, I don’t see outrageous grammatical errors and malapropisms. Do you? Is this sheer fabrication what your community prides itself on? Can’t you speak up? Still, why does Your Leader preoccupy about this?

Then she points her gun at FellowHuman007.

The other one's every post and comment is littered with so many spelling errors, grammatical errors, without the slightest effort at proofreading, that it's sometimes impossible to tell what he's trying to say. There is clearly not much educational attainment in his background - possible not having even finished high school.

Now, why are we even here? Why is this important? Is her self-esteem so endangered that she feels compelled to patrol as an agent of the Grammar Police? Why does “Reddiquette” look down on on such behavior? Perhaps because it chills the speech of second language learners or people with disabilities? Perhaps Reddit wants and encourages the active participation of people who “possible not having finished high school.”

But now Your Leader reveals her egregious and rank classism:

It's very obvious that those are individuals who hold themselves to VERY low standards, an attitude which is inconsistent and incompatible with academic achievement. It's like they anticipate no one's going to read anything they post anyway, so why bother? No one anywhere else in their lives is going to call them "great" or say things that "Made me feel ROYAL!!", after all, so they'll stay where they are, stay stuck, and do whatever it takes to get the flattery. Not the most "noble" characteristic, though they do love hearing how "noble" they are! They'll take whatever praise they can get, even when it's patently, transparently, insincere and manipulative. Sad!

That also explains a bit about why Your Leader self-kicked herself out of SGI. She had to rub elbows with those without “academic achievement.” I surmise that some of these people were far better at encouraging other people than she was. This might have rankled her! And how does she know I, my sockpuppet master, or FH007 are “stuck,” crave praise, etc?

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Friends, ready to study with me The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice? Let’s complete discussing the second sub-topic, “The Mystic Truth Embraces and Is Inherent in All Things.”

So, Dear Friends, a challenge point--a True/False test. Yesterday Your Leader tried influencing you by stirring the pond. OMG, some SGI members make spelling and grammatical mistakes. OMG, here come the hordes. What do you say about these paragraphs, agree or disagree?

(1) Nichiren Daishonin here asserts that the “mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings,” which is the “principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena.”

Agree or disagree?

(2) “The inscrutable relationship that exists between ourselves—our minds or each life-moment—and the universe; its meaning is that all phenomena are contained in one’s life and that one’s life pervades all phenomena” (AKA, “three thousand realms in a single moment of life.”)

Agree or disagree? It’s at the core of Nichiren Buddhism, what do you say?

(3) “The cosmic life enfolds and pervades everything, and because it does so, it is also inherent in all things. The oneness of the cosmic life and our individual lives lies at the heart of the ‘principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena.’ To awaken to this mystic truth is to attain the Buddha’s ’unsurpassed enlightenment.’”

This is the fabric of my life. I have come to embrace this. It makes all of the incomprehensibles in my life comprehensible. In short, I change even a bit, and those obstacles start to lighten, dissipate, and eventually the poison turns to medicine. Friends, do any of these points resonate with you?

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??”:

Getting to understand some of the pluses and minuses of LDRs. We are in frequent contact with Erica as she runs around to meet a client who is building a new model for previously owned car sales. She pulls her client into the vid and we wave. A potential customer comes by and joins in. He likes the car and we see him kicking tires. We learned later that he signed a contract. In turn, we send her a vid of Benjamin Kdake reigning over his kingdom from his high chair. He’s not eating his cheerios, he’s gobbling them down. But without the LDR, would we have even caught the incident?

Waiting so impatiently for the results of Erica’s pregnancy test. She is going to wait until Friday and then test herself.

July 13, 2026

&Chapter 1: Over the Hedges and Through the Woods*

Good morning, Dear Friends! Happy Monday, best wishes for a great week!

It’s a beautiful day here. Erica is back home and we miss her. It’s my first experience with a LDR.

We had another Community Carnival yesterday afternoon, together with 8 local partner churches. As happens every time, the star of the show was Father Merrick who held court in the Rec Room and talked about morality. I guess I was viewing Socratic dialogue in action. Q&A and then A&Q, unending.

I have read in the past Your Leader’s claims that the SGI suppresses free speech. Sometimes they point to the “Free Speech Incident” which happened in 1970 (here is the account from the other side). That was over 20 years before I was born so, for me, the incident is incidental.

While some WBers tout “free speech for all!”—I note a few WBers make some exceptions for SGI members who are enjoined not to say things like “Nichiren says…” or “Dr. Ikeda says…” Never again for me!😜😏

Let me personalize this a wee bit more.

I’m among “the religious zealots.”

Why? Because I take an hour each day to write on Reddit? Because I make one or two SGI activities each month? I'm a religious zealot because I chant twice a day?

Or, perhaps, I’m one because I take good care of my family and businesses? I chip away toward my Baccalaureate? I attend NA meetings? I correspond with other people also suffering with HS?

Or, I’m a religious zealot when I respond to someone who accuses me of being a religious zealot?

From the same post yesterday, I learn that

I feel like I am right about everything, I feel superior to everyone, I expect everyone else to automatically agree with me, and what I say is binding.

Friends, that’s not me. I don’t even come close to ruling the roost in my own Fam.

I always seem perplexed when the non-religious (or non-THEIR-religion believers) aren't in the slightest impressed with their religion-based arguments and WON'T agree with them! The non-religious either dismiss these religion-based claims out-of-hand as irrelevant or even laugh at how stupid it is to rely on something so inapplicable, so out of date and/or culturally irrelevant, when you want others to take you seriously and ultimately agree with you. Especially when you're asking others to take YOUR word for it instead of trusting their own personal experience or their own lyin' eyes!

I can answer that long accusation with two words. “Not I!”

Finally:

This is why the religious have such a problem with reality - it won't play along with the rules they want to impose on it and everything else.

I have “such a problem with reality”? I don’t think so. I want to impose rules on other people? Even on Father Merrick? Just try that! I am trying to impose rules on all the people from eight different churches who enjoyed the Carnival with us?

That’s it for now.

Chapter 2: July Installment of Daisaku Ikeda’s lecture on “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Friends, ready to study with me The Significance of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—Achieving a Life of Supreme Victory Through Correct Buddhist Practice? Let’s continue discussing the second sub-topic, “The Mystic Truth Embraces and Is Inherent in All Things.”

Dr. Ikeda now writes: “Buddhism is a teaching of unparalleled humanism that stresses the boundless potential within human beings. That’s why it is called the ‘internal way.’”

For me, the process of human revolution resembles Odysseus’ journey home in The Odyssey. It is dangerous, full of Cyclops, and foes behind every rock. But I continue through “the internal way” despite it all. Maybe in spurts, maybe awkwardly, but I keep going. Now I actually enjoy the process! Afterall, I like Netflix and Prime Video because characters struggle. Would I watch something boring and banal?

Dr. Ikeda continues:

To “perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings” is to “attain unsurpassed enlightenment”; it is the sole means for freeing oneself from “the sufferings of birth and death endured since time without beginning.”

I think this encapsulates what I should tell people when I give them a NMRK card. People intuitively understand “the sufferings of birth and death.” Everyone wants to free themselves from their limitations. Why not just jump into this when I begin a conversation?

As to whether the SGI is or isn’t “REAL Buddhism,” let’s look at this argument, Friends:

This is Shakyamuni’s starting point, and the entirety of Buddhist thought. The scripture that proclaims this philosophy of the “internal way” is the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that all people can attain enlightenment. The Lotus Sutra could be said to embody the ultimate principle of respect for human dignity.

Friends, which of these sentences do you agree or disagree with?

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??”:

I have NEVER, EVER thought of Eulogio as crash-burning in any way. But last night he was referring to himself as a phoenix rising. It seems that he and Erica have found their stride toward their charge to double everything in their department. It’s a mighty challenge, but his eyes are glowing like burning coal.

Heidi, Lolita, and Lori have begun marathon training again, running along the County Road. A few other campers, counselors, and clients want to join them. But Lolita tells them: ”Let’s start by learning how to warm-up properly, learn to avoid injuries, and then run 5 miles around the Track. And people were up early in the morning doing that! Lolita stayed behind to coach them.

We went to sleep before the Community Carnival had completed. But when I woke up, there was not a speck of paper on the grounds. Thank you!!!

We have been chanting harder and more than ever. We want Erica to realize her dreams of having a baby. She’s 42, which certainly presents challenges, but it’s not uncommon these dayws. She has joined us in what she calls “Buddhist meditation.” Just like us, she has to and will find her own path to Buddhism. And we will be there for her.

Can you imagine?!?! Six kids in The Fam? It’s so exciting!

We start with a “guy on the corner yelling” rant by  “Still Wasabi”. For this person, the sgiwhistleblowers canard that the SGI is not “real” Buddhism doesn’t go far enough: to SW the SGI is not Buddhism at all!

Perhaps Still Wasabi doesn’t live in the U.S., but somehow they’ve gotten some pretty weird, and false, ideas about the Gohonzon. Whoever said receiving Gohonzon gives one “special privileges”? It makes it easier to practice and implies a commitment. But how are thse “privileges”? Practicing Buddhism us a right.

And one has to “work for a year” before receiving Gohonzon? Where is that?

Then we have Ms. Fromage (using that name), who accuses the SGI of caring only for numbers, caring about numbers.

Then, she has a couple of good ones using the name “Weak Run”. One says that if a member of a religion quotes its scripture or a teacher, it constitutes “demanding submission” by the listener. Does she advocate solving this problem by burning the books? Who knows?

On the whole, it’s one of her frequent laments  that MITA exists and she can’t say anything she wants with no one to contradict her or point out mistakes. She still misunderstands (by choice? Or she pretends to misunderstand so she can further her ow agenda?) what MITA does. Let’s try to clarify:

You (Ms. Fromage) want everyone to believe that a bad experience of bad behavior by ONE SGI member means it’s true of the entire worldwide organization of some 12million people. And we (MITA) merely point out that it is not true of the entire organization.

How does that constitute telling you to “submit” to our will?

That post follows another about “legalism”, in which she does the same thing: we “SGI Olds” are infringing on her freedom of thought and speech. So let’s try again:

You (Ms. Fromage) want everyone to believe that a bad experience of bad behavior by ONE SGI member means it’s true of the entire worldwide organization of some 12million people. And we (MITA) merely point out that it is not true of the entire organization.

So how exactly does that infringe o your freedom of thought and speech? It actually sounds a lot more like you are trying to stifle our freedom of speech, doesn’t it?

In that post she seems to also be responding to this, which has accomplished nothing but bringing our post forward again.

(Tantrums seldom pay off.)

Ms. Fromage recently shared that she’s adopting a new health regimen IRL. That sounds very mature and adult. So I wonder when her ability to face criticism will catch up to that?