San Fernando Valley Hongwanji — Local services in Los Angeles

I don’t know if they have changed since I was a member in 2011-13, but my experience was that their claim to be inclusive was not really true. The way they do buddhism has little to do with all other forms of buddhism because they explicitly reject practices meant to cultivate compassion or lead to enlightenment. I feel that they are deceptive because they hide it at first but actually take a hard position on being “the practiceless practice” and will even criticize practices as leading to ‘spiritual pride’ and being supposedly counterproductive. I also personally didn’t see inclusiveness for people who are struggling with mental illness due to the effects of early childhood trauma. The fact is, I was spiritually abused there behind closed doors due to these two issues not being handled competently and it led to permanent worsening of my health unfortunately. I’m only finally talking about this openly to try and put it behind me. I did seek help from several other leaders and a few scholars within the Nishi Honganji and was asked to name names and was then disbelieved, which did nothing to heal my broken state. I did not even want to name names. When I raised the issue found in section 4 of the Tannisho with one of these leaders, (which I presume was the reasoning behind being told with contempt that my heartfelt aspiration for buddhahood was a source of spiritual pride and the reason why I was disliked), I was told that my experience was deeply troubling and they would get back to me to help and consult with me, and that never happened. I had to painstakingly rebuild myself for two years after the abuse, since it caused a nervous breakdown, and I was distrusting, cynical and jaded since. Now things are coming to an end for me, so I wanted to get this off my chest. The people involved are probably no longer at this temple, but I can’t forget how I was hurt there. Maybe soon I will forget. Thanks for reading my account and good luck with your...

Beautiful Huge Temple with very nice...

My first time there and the...