Quote
tsukimoto

[Copied from the Cult Awareness and Information Centre Website]

Mr. Gore entertained doubts about Mr. Ikeda, who used money as freely as water, and determined to leave the organization over a certain incident. "In 1974, it was discovered that Brazil Soka Gakkai General Director Robert Saito (currently Honorary General Director) was embezzling the organization's money. Vice President Satoru Izumi (currently Chief of the Supreme Guidance Council) came from Japan to handle the incident, and the three of us, he, NSA General Director George Williams (currently General Director Emeritus) and I, set off for Brazil. In the end, he was told that if he returned the money, no questions would be asked, and we collected $1 million.

**We put it into 2 suitcases and conveyed it to Los Angeles. At the same time, Williams said that he had purchased uncut gems as souvenirs and he asked me to carry them. He handed 3 boxes of gems over to me. But when we arrived at the L.A. airport, the customs agent called out my name and told me to show him the boxes of gems. When I did, rings and such with processed diamonds were rolling around inside the boxes. The customs form said they were uncut gems, so I was immediately arrested as a smuggler. In the meantime, Williams and Izumi passed through Customs carrying the suitcases. They used me as a scapegoat."**

Quote
tsukimoto

Quote
tsukimoto

[Copied from the Cult Awareness and Information Centre Website]
...
**We put it into 2 suitcases and conveyed it to Los Angeles. At the same time, Williams said that he had purchased uncut gems as souvenirs and he asked me to carry them. He handed 3 boxes of gems over to me. But when we arrived at the L.A. airport, the customs agent called out my name and told me to show him the boxes of gems. When I did, rings and such with processed diamonds were rolling around inside the boxes. The customs form said they were uncut gems, so I was immediately arrested as a smuggler. In the meantime, Williams and Izumi passed through Customs carrying the suitcases. They used me as a scapegoat."**

Sounds like this was a bit more than $10,000, Anticult. (page 50 of this thread)

Quote
DrJesusEsq
I do have one question in mind. It's a question of check and balances, of accountability. Frankly, if she really did understand any Buddhist teaching, even from the so-called evil Buddhist sects, can tell you that dishonesty is a big no-no. You don't lead one honest person to commit a bad error and then blame the error on them.

Quote
The Anticult
Soka Gakkai www.prevensectes.com/soka.htm
(english page)
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Responses from former SGI-France members about SGI and why they quit, posted June 6, 1998. Everything sounds so familiar.

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What particularly attracted me in this sect

- "The friendly and convivial atmosphere, the kindness shown by practitioners."[That love-bombing again!]


- "The ideal of peace conveyed by Soka."[Pity that the SGI doesn't really mean its so-called ideals.]

- "The answers I found to my questions about life, my questions about life."

- "The feeling of becoming happier, to silence my dissatisfaction, my complaints."

- "It was said to strengthen family ties, to have good relations with its environment."

- "At first I got many" hits "more confidence in myself, more pep and courage to face difficult situations."

- "The opportunity to practice Buddhism that I had previously known only through books."[Pity that it wasn't really Buddhism, just Ikedaism.]

- "Ease of use: there had to recite the mantra."

- "At first I thought was original, engage in a very personal way. I had no idea that Soka Gakkai was a large structured organization with so many followers."
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Sometimes, in meetings or in the discourse of the Soka Gakkai, some things surprised me, shocked, casts doubt

- "The demand for total commitment to never stop practicing, to keep the Gohonzon as an object of worship throughout his life. It always scares me, even if outwardly I felt compelled to agree with these ideas, they I've always been repelled. "

- "The constant reference to Ikeda. The most prominent of the Soka Gakkai are those who cite the president's speech, know almost by court life, projects, etc.. Every word or act of the President Ikeda becomes magical adepts. "

- "The cult of personality is contrary to the teachings of Buddha. A Soka Gakkai we are well placed guard against attachment to the person more than the law, but this was vehemently denied by the attitude of leaders and their devotion to President Ikeda. "

- "The speech of President Ikeda resume all cliches humanitarian important writers and thinkers, skillfully amalgamated with Buddhist doctrines. Ikeda reaping the laurels that these thinkers were sown long ago."

- "In meetings, it is frowned upon to explain his doubts or ask questions. These are treated separately by" guidelines "officials. The pressure group can deliver to instead the hard questions and do not hear a bell sound: that of the word. By cons, it advocates the so-called open meeting for new members by suggesting they can speak very freely. "

- "The opportunism of the Soka Gakkai: by events, it modifies the text of prayers or other doctrinal points of view very deep. For example, many changes have occurred since the split between Nichiren Shoshu and Soka Gakkai. Before , we say that every good practice had to go to Japan to worship the Dai Gohonzon. Now we are told that the followers of the Soka Gakkai can not go, but it does nothing, they get much benefits before. By cons, we were encouraged to change our parchment. "

- "The almost total absence of reference to the Buddha and his words."

- "The fact that many people practice for material results: a bigger apartment, a car ..."

- "The contradiction with the teachings of Buddha: Buddha taught that one can attain enlightenment by erasing all his desires. Soka Gakkai teaches that we attain enlightenment by performing all his desires ."

- "The fact of considering only the teaching of the Soka Gakkai is able to send individuals to a high degree of spirituality."

- "Nam Myo Renge Kyo" is a Japanese phrase, a phrase translated from Chinese 13th century, so much later the Buddha. "
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My experience compared to the daily recitation of Nam Myo Renge Kyo

- "When it came something good, I thought it through" Nam Myo Renge Kyo ", something unpleasant: I surely did something wrong or did not practice enough."

- "The more you recite, the more you want to pray for the things that provoked in me a great discomfort because it does not fit the idea of liberation of the individual that I did Buddhism."

- "Sometimes I refrained from practice because it became a chore. Other times I forced myself and it seemed to get a soothing (or perhaps take away some guilt)."

- "The daily practice is demanding and difficult. There are ups and downs. For periods I practiced more and others less, but it really changes the results. What is that, turned a corner after a fortnight of 'years, I practiced less and less. "

- "When I wanted to stop, I could not. The recitation of mantra and gongyo needed to myself when I did not want" then I felt the danger of alienation in depth in my mind. "

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What made me think, helped me to step back from the Soka Gakkai

- "When something was wrong and we asked the responsible direction, it was invariably the same answer:" Practice more and you will understand. "Years later, one can realize that we practiced a lot but it does perhaps not much more than before. We practice to understand. As we do not understand, we always practice more. The more you practice, the less one has clear ideas ... and finally giddy. This is the impression of an endless spiral that pushed me to stop, as the edge of an abyss. "

- "The Soka Gakkai has always reply to everything that can be a problem in life: sickness, emotional and physical problems, divorce, unemployment ... all cases were expected and the response was made, prepared and labeled. Where the margin of freedom of the individual in that? "

- "What I particularly sobering was an article in the journal" Psychology "where the Soka Gakkai was pinned very clearly as a cult meeting the criteria given by journalists as characteristics of a cult:

1) First phase of seduction of the future practitioner with slogans: immediate happiness promised to all.
2) A language airtight, clean movement. It uses pleasure of Japanese words.
3) Gradually we devote more time to Soka Gakkai, one cup of her friends (people you see, is to convert them). It also gives more and more money.
4) paranoid fear of others who are "against us" mentality "besieged fortress". When criticism is published in the press, there is immediately an attack-cons and cons publication directed at members, for their desire to remove all doubt. It warns us "for our good."
5) Cult of President Ikeda. "

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- Evidence of parents, families, friends, followers and former followers


Meeting in ADFI in the same group of families, relatives and followers of former followers testify to turn.

What made us think that the Soka Gakkai was not really Buddhism

- "When I wanted to learn more about Buddhism by studying documents, I found not really the new way of life of our child. Buddhism me totally unknown, I respected him without ever having sought know his philosophy, and to affirm or clarify this approach, I happened to discuss this study with our child, whose answers did not correspond to my expectations. Our children spoke mostly:
- Promoting world peace
- Explore the human rights
- Prepare the bicentenary of the Revolution of 1789, marked by the arrival in Paris
Mr. Ikeda
- Participation in a performance as part of the festivities as expected, which has led to
abandon his own earlier artistic activities. "

- "He was not interested in many things that attracted him before: film, television, newspapers, dance, humanitarian causes ...

- "The physical and psychological deterioration of our child, her sudden sadness, loss of friends, isolation often, mood swings, and suddenly keen interest in money matters, we were led to believe that It was perhaps joined a sect. We also received frequent calls from strangers who did not leave their name ... the return of some sessions, our children avoided contact with us and had a hoarse voice .

- "She had become secretive and not always comfortable. In conversation, she had a different position or change in behavior after one of its meetings. She avoided spending time in the family.

- "Until then, I thought my daughter was a Buddhist and I did not worry. I began to think of a cult when she left for the weekend in a place called Trets. There was several cars reserved for them and she told me it was only two districts of Paris! She was very reluctant to give me the name and exact address of where she was: "it's called Trets, That's it! "When she came home this weekend, she was like" enlightened ", repeating for an hour without interruption" I found the true meaning of my life, I found the true meaning of my life .. . ""

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What makes us think that our child / my friend / my sister / my brother is not really happy and fulfilled in the Soka Gakkai

- "She lost her gaiety natural sleep, the taste out of family life, trade ... She has broken with his teenage friends and new friends are mostly people in check sentimental, dependent drink or drugs. She even smoke more and consume more alcohol. "

- "He no longer afford to take leisure, he dares not to make any purchase (too expensive). He leaves one by one all his plans to change region, make a hobby. "

- "He's encountering real difficulties in integrating into the professional world. He's afraid to drive his car, he lost the freedom to move independently."

- "The last Christmas that our child has spent with us, he stayed in his room without venturing down to receive the gifts chosen for him, he refused to go to the family meal with his aunt."

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What makes you think our child / my friend / my sister / my brother and helped him to stand back from the Soka Gakkai

- "At the request annual donation, Soka Gakkai has submitted a paper stating that the gift was entirely voluntary, but as cons, nothing should be given to the Nichiren Shoshu," otherwise it happens to you great misfortunes ": this sentence was a real shock to our child and raised awareness of the intolerance of the Soka Gakkai."

- "The attitude of members contradicted the principles of Buddhism."

- "The obligation to recite Nam Myo Renge Kyo took more important than relationships between people."

-"She was shocked to learn that the Soka Gakkai had sought - and failed to obtain - to sponsor the celebrations of the bicentenary of the French Revolution, in 89 ... By cons, all documents relating to the financial strength of the Soka Gakkai , tax evasion in Japan, the phenomena of political infiltration ... have had very little impact on it. "

- "Someone who has long lived in Japan, speaks Japanese, has given our children the exact translation of shakubuku = break and submit, which was much struck: this is not all that we said. "

- "He asked after seeing on television a document from the BBC on the Soka Gakkai."

- "She saw me crying on my return from ADFI when I learned that the Soka Gakkai was actually a cult ... It has been shaken to see that I cared so much for her (Of course, this is not mine it said it had shaken, but some friends of his age I have repeated). "

- "He saw that I had met for five years without attempting to dissuade the fact that he is Buddhist. He knew then that I recognized him the freedom to choose his own spiritual and religious, even if they differed from mine .
-----------------------------End of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote
The Anticult
There is also another large list of articles about SGI on Prévensectes.

(in French) [www.prevensectes.com]


(English) Soka Gakkai - The House of Clarification
Statement of Intent - Serve Counter Information on the Soka Gakkai
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