The first post is always the hardest. My fear is having something I regret writing stay on the web like *forever*. Been there. There's stuff on the web I posted years ago while working at Sun Microsystems that's still floating in web-land. I hate when that happens.

My first question - do you know me? I know you. Oh yes, I know you quite well. It's 2004. some 14 years since we SGI members were freed from the prison of the Nichiren Shoshu "box". It all seems like a dream now. I offer gratitude to Saint Nikken, liberator of the decieved.

And yet, "what made us free yesterday becomes our prison today".

SGI members I've known, practiced with, and practice with today still seem to use Nichiren's Buddhism as some sort of "get out of jail free" card towards life. As if the basic rules of human life somehow change just because *you* chose to join the "best tribe".

Folks, the rules never changed. Nam myoho renge kyo is not magic. Well, I suppose you first have to define what magic is, but NMRK is not magic in the sense that you can circumvent the basic workings of heaven, Earth and man (ten chi jin).

SGI members quit. More often than not they quit because somewhere along their path they find that SGI is only an organization of human beings. Even more often they are treated poorly by a "leader" using their "authority" in inappropriate and completely made-up ways. Having experienced this as their own sansho shima and karma they flee from SGI crying "unjust"! "unfair!" which really means "unexpected" which of course points back to their own unrealistic expectations that SGI is perfect and Pres. Ikeda is the Buddha.

Morons - they should have never stuck their heads up their butts. You can't practice Nichiren's Buddhism with your head stuck up there. It's too dark and you can't smell the incense.

Worse - or so *very worse* in my experience - is the birth of the Nichiren Buddhist fundamentalist, the "SGI commando". Following the basic tenants of Scientology (the end justifies the means) they completely discard the concept of truth and will say anything, including disassociating their opponent through insults, in order to defend SGI and their bizarre interpretation of what SGI is or at least should be. Yes, I too spent way too much time on ARBN.

The truth is out there and it remains unchanged by fanatical devotion to strange ideas, as fun as that game is.

In the ancient teachings of Ninpo this phenomena is called "kyojitsu tenkan", exchanging truth for falsehood, or the tangible with the full and manifest. Kyojitsu can be a tool for the perception of some thing, it can be a weapon, and at it's most evil it can cloud the minds of human beings who come to a place where they no longer can tell what is real and no longer even wish to try.

Oh, there I go again, rambling....

Think dammitt,

Rev. Greg, Shidoshi