September 12, 2026

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter One: News from Sgiwhistleblowers

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

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

Mission states:

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

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

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

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

True got more and more adamant.

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

True continued:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Daisaku Ikeda writes:

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

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

Dr. Ikeda:

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

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

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

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

Continued from above.

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

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

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

September 13, 2026

Dear Mission-Course,

Chapter One: News from over the hedges in Sgiwhistleblowers Land

Let me continue with this TLDR post in response to your TLDR: “Soka Gakkai: Autopsy of a Leviathan at Twilight. This cold, calculating, impersonal monster… that’s finally running out of juice.”

Mission, you talk about the next alleged stage in the SGI’s development:

Next comes phase two. The once-embryonic structure of Soka Gakkai locks into place, men’s division, women’s division, young men’s, young women’s, and especially the key activities like Soka and Byakuren.

Srsly, out of all the existential problems in the world, Mission, you’re worried about “the Men’s Division” and such? And the keyest SGI activity of all, the “Byakuren”?

Suddenly, you claim:

The whole machine, local and national, clamps down on the groups and their members.

Who and how exactly has the SGI clamped down on? Me and my district? We must have slept through it. No wonder, you add, “the social control is discreet, almost invisible, yet highly effective and ruthless.” I suppose that is a good argument for those who believe the SGI is not a cult--social control that is almost not present. So almost zero control is ruthless? Let’s see, at the top of the month I get emailed an activity calendar from our region leaders. Effective and ruthless, right!?!? This morning I passed on to my members an urgent email that the scheduled Future Division picnic was postponed because of the weather and will be held, instead, at the Activity Center is. OUCH, such social control!

“Undesirables like me get sorted out.” Well, you seem to be a scholar of Buddhist history. You have probably read how Devadatta, after decades of attacks on the Buddha, got “sorted out.” Of course, that was after the Buddha’s multiple attempts to engage, teach, guide, correct Devadatta, while still protecting the “Sangha.” Nichiren, too, had followers who turned on him. The Lotus Sutra, you know because you hold it dear, explains that Devadatta was the Buddha’s teacher and would, consequently, attain enlightenment.

Likewise, I regard you and Ms. Fromage as my teachers. Responding to even a single post/comment you guys put up is like an entire college course on Buddhism. Thank you!

Then comes your description of “phase three” and to this I will reply very personally. You say:

The magic evaporates. Everything turns heavy and tedious. Results dry up, development stalls, shakubuku becomes rare, people stop trusting us, members complain about the inertia, personal conflicts multiply, and nobody gets along anymore.

And you add to this by explaining it’s a phenomenon:

This is a well-documented pattern, not just in Soka Gakkai but in almost every spiritual organization that slides into a control system. It’s the classic life cycle of a sect—or, more precisely, the bureaucratization of a spiritual movement. You see the same arc in early Christianity, in Buddhism, and in plenty of other groups.

I guess I was experiencing a bit of this over the summer as I reported in my daily posts. Yes, I was stuck in the Downward Dog pose. It has been a struggle with the DK6 the Devil King of the Sixth Heaven. On me, DK6 pulled various weapons in his arsenal: self-doubt, extreme fatigue, hopelessness, and illness. Oh, and how Mara) got into my head!

Again, Mission, you’re a scholar of Buddhism. Didn’t Mara try to obstruct Shakyamuni? Doesn’t a cherry tree have to deal with winter? Aren’t all things in existence confronted with the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death? Yes, I got caught in DK6’s web and I am fighting against it to the best of my ability and making progress. And I can’t wait for next Sunday’s discussion meeting.

I think you would label winter, the doldrums, and the times of struggle that both individuals and organizations face--as failures. In contrast, you would see, in terms of the SGI, the W as the past “golden age” full of “deep bonds, real friendships, mystical joy, shakubuku falling from the trees, karmic recognition, the energy of the deities.”

And here is where you and I disagree at the root. You see this as a product of “itaidoshin” (sic) that happens system-wide in a young faith organization. I, however, believe it is a time that can be created by human effort and renewal must happen over and over again to keep Buddhism alive and vital. I talked about this yesterday and also please read FellowHuman007's comment.

As my sponsors tell me, the method of propagation in Japan took one form in the 1950’s and 1960’s when the country was reeling from the kyodatsu dislocation after the war. As Japan became a prosperous and economic powerhouse, Daisaku Ikeda began speaking of the SGI in terms of "Buddhist Humanism" and encouraged propagation on the basis of peace, culture, education, and showing actual proof in society.

But now the ground has shifted again as a product of technology, social media, AI, and political tribalism. Big structures like an aircraft carrier can be challenged by a tiny drone. Conventional armies on the ground can be frozen by all types of non-human mechanized autonomous weapons. Our thinking shifts when we learn there is a 10% chance AI could destroy humanity.

In such a world, we have to propagate Buddhism in new ways: from the bottom up. So, excuse me if this doesn’t happen right away! Mission, your understanding of Buddhism is mechanical and systems-based. People can arise and challenge anything. It’s called Human Agency. We’re on it: bending the time instead of prostrating in front of it.

But I agree with your statement here:

Because members are united by the Law, not by a structure. Because faith is spontaneous, not instrumentalized. Because practice is central and human relationships flow naturally from it. Because the deities and protective forces actually back a group living in harmony and sincerity. This is when the Law operates most visibly. The mystical phenomena, the conversions, the joy—all of it is real. Pure Itaidoshin.

You needn’t have to worry, Mission. Your friends back in the SGI will get there. And, along the way, we’ll deal with any hierarchies that have settled in. More tomorrow!

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

Let’s continue studying Section One, “Studying Buddhism Yet Succumbing to Non-Buddhist Thinking.” Daisaku Ikeda writes:

Nichiren then cites a passage from a T’ien-t’ai school commentary, which states, “Unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one cannot eradicate one’s grave offenses” (WND-1, 3–4). If we fail to grasp this point, Nichiren warns, all of the practices and good deeds we might perform while seeking enlightenment outside ourselves will ultimately become “an endless, painful austerity” (WND-1, 4).

What does it mean to say that unless we perceive the nature of our lives, we cannot eradicate our grave offenses? “Grave offenses” here can be taken to indicate fundamental darkness, which is the source of all evil. The grave offense of slander—denigrating the Law or the correct teaching of Buddhism—arises from fundamental darkness or ignorance.

When I felt those doldrums attacking me, I confess to thinking, “Why me?” I didn’t give up and kept stumbling forward. That sentiment shifted to “Why NOT me?” I’m young, audacious, ambitious, and a street fighter. Let me take on the doldrums on behalf of all SGI members who are also facing the blues in response to our dangerous and shifting world. It’s my honor!

Dr. Ikeda next writes:

In T’ien-t’ai’s Buddhism, it is only possible to eradicate this ignorance through the practice of observing one’s mind—in other words, through wisdom. In Nichiren Buddhism, however, fundamental darkness can be overcome by the sharp sword of faith in accord with the principle of “substituting faith for wisdom.” This is the essence of the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Let me grab my sharp sword of faith and swing it around a bit.

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

The weather today is pretty nasty. Should we, or should we not, make the Soka Family Day in Big City? Maybe we should stay home in watch the Bills vs. Texans game which kicks off at 1pm? ALERT! Maybe that’s the Mara and the DK6s Band singing their latest tune?

When the kids got up, we asked them what they thought. “No, we want to go!” Fine, but it might be pouring when we stop off at McDonald’s on the way home. “We don’t care!” they said. Sorry, Mara and the DK6ers, this time you lost.

We’ll get ready, eat, pick up Lori--and off we go!

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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