Hello all, just wanted to add my two pence. I’ve just officially left SGI after 13 years. I was a Soka leader, seven seas member, district leader, HQ leader etc etc It took me around a year to decide to take down the scroll and give it and all my publications back.

My experience in SGI was good for the most part - I did manage to turn my life around but I’m aware that was probably due to the constant attention and feeling of belonging. However as I moved into higher levels of “responsibilities” and “leadership” I did start to question the whole thing. This questioning was more a nagging sense of self doubt that culminated in two complete nervous breakdowns. I was told to stop chanting if I was mentally I’ll as it would “only make your suffering more intense”………….😳

After years of being told (and telling members) that the practice was the medicine “for ALL ills” (and that my wife has had the most horrific health problems since she started to practice) I was left to navigate my mental health on my own.

Every time I tried to chant I literally lost my shit and had a week of panic attacks.

This proved to be my saving Grace - being able to step away I wasn’t only able to heal myself and have the confidence to make permanent changes for the better but also rationally examine the last 13 years from a rational standpoint.

My biggest regret is wasting so much time and money, the loss of so many of my pre-practice friends (evil inchantikkas apparently) and missing so much of my children growing up. I spent literally every other weekend doing Soka /Seven Seas/ HQ leaders activities for over a decade, always encouraged to put my children last (unless they were attending the children’s activities of course)

Freedom is not without a sense of bitter regret. I had a “Buddhist” wedding ceremony at Taplow Court. We are going to have a renewal of non-secular vows (to each other rather than to the scroll) and a proper party with friends who didn’t attend the first time.

I’ve learned very about the religion of Buddhism while in SGI, save that it isn’t a religion I have faith in. If anything it has reconfirmed my belief in Daoism which I practiced a little before SGI. The negative experiences I had from chanting are clearly explained from a Daoist viewpoint in my tentative restudying of a philosophy I identify with quite naturally. Forcing the universe just causes shit storms

I’m not rushing off to join any organisations anytime soon. It’s good to be free. Here to help if anybody has any questions