There's a scene from a rather cheesy 80's martial arts movie that I am reminded of by the SGcult ever-intensifying Ikeda cult worship. In this scene, a defeated youthful seeker of a great martial art "secret teaching" is having his head dunked by the villain, who wants to be acknowledged as his Master. Attempting to break will, instill fear, and coerce loyalty, every time the bad guy dunks the young man's head in the water, he asks, "who is the master?" Finally, the youth realizes the truth. Finding the strength to resist the onslaught of his oppressor, he stands tall and exclaims, "I AM THE MASTER".

Although it's just a movie/story, it does illustrate that we CAN take back the personal power that was lost or surrendered in the quest to find ourselves and the ultimate reality/truth of life. Some of us have stood up to the oppression and put a stop to it while others are still being tortured. It is important that we have the compassion to try and help those that are still being waterboarded by the SGcult.

To those who continue to suffer due to being unsure about leaving the SGcult, you will find breathing a lot easier when you stand up and stop letting your head be dunked in a barrel. Stop struggling for air and get your head out of the barrel - NOW!

It's always amusing to see "the faithful" paying lipservice to "Follow the Law, not the Person" and then fawning over every single detail about Daisaku Ikeda. It never sat right with me, even when I was staunchly in the organization. Why should we elevate any common mortal to the status the organization insists upon?

I remember at one YWD retreat, some women from "ever-victorious Kansai" were there. One was telling about how she hadn't been chanting much, so she had this low life condition (heh heh heh), and she was working at the reception desk at the kaikan, when Ikeda walked in. He told her she looked like a filthy mat! So she went home and chanted and chanted, and when he came back in again, he praised her for looking like a "beautiful carpet"! Most of the (American) young women found that *quite* offensive.

Also, it's pretty clear that much, if not most, of what is contained in his autobiographical books (that all the faithful are exhorted to buy and study as if it were their life manual) are just plain made up. For example, all of a sudden, a new edition comes out where he talks about how he was visiting, I don't know, Detroit or somewhere, and saw a black kid who wanted to play with some white kids and they wouldn't let him play with them. And his heart broke for that poor beleaguered lad. Yeah. Right. Yuh huh. I mean, the whole thing is such pedestrian, simplistic pap - why not just say "So I painted a billboard that said 'You should all be less racist!'"

What's funny is that he clearly takes the membership for being extremely stupid. He doesn't write those articles. Other people "behind the scenes" are doing the research and writing them up. Ikeda can't even speak Engrish.

And his poetry is brain-damaging! I used to dread the New Years meetings, because they'd read another *AWFUL*, tedious, puerile, stupid poem by Master of the Obvious!

Ugh. SO glad to be out!

Those poems did seem pointless as with all his other writings. I'm glad to know I was not the only thinking it all seemed like a bunch of hokey gibberish that said absolutely nothing. And people fawned over, "Oh how wonderful a painter, photographer, philosopher" or whatever else has been wrongly attributed to him. "He's so wise!" My butt.

Quote
sleepy skunk
Those poems did seem pointless as with all his other writings. I'm glad to know I was not the only thinking it all seemed like a bunch of hokey gibberish that said absolutely nothing. And people fawned over, "Oh how wonderful a painter, photographer, philosopher" or whatever else has been wrongly attributed to him. "He's so wise!" My butt.

Daisaku Ikeda-the master of the'point-and-click' school of photography. And the poetry is on a par with that found in The Big Issue. (A British magazine for homelessness feauturing bad poetry written by the homeless among other things).The DVD's are pretty corny too. Three Sensei's Streamings were enough for me. Everyone else seemed fascinated-one scene of him playing drums badly had them all in stitches. That was when the penny started to drop:" Am I in a cult?" The feeling persisted till I left.

Did you guys have your share of crazies as well? The only ones I remember talking about him in that way I had to wonder about, because of the idea, the wording and the way it seemed out of nowhere and from complete strangers. Add to that the ones for whom I finally understand the saying "the light is on but no one is at home." I've only seen maybe a couple of videos since I started and from what I recall I thought how different the Japanese were to our way of doing things. You'd understand what I mean with the military like environment. I just chalked it up to Japanese culture. When talking to others around the world I got so many different experiences but it's the same abuse and the money pattern that repeats itself over and over. They sure try to make him look good. We got the odd SGI magazine that had all the pictures of him with leaders like Mandela and Gorbachev, thinking oh wow that's so impressive! One(ugh) "benefit" that I got would be the attitude I must question absolutely everything if I'm to avoid this in the future.

Some of my random thoughts to many of the posts on this thread:

Quote
TaitenAndProud
I remember at one YWD retreat, some women from "ever-victorious Kansai" were there. One was telling about how she hadn't been chanting much, so she had this low life condition (heh heh heh), and she was working at the reception desk at the kaikan, when Ikeda walked in. He told her she looked like a filthy mat! So she went home and chanted and chanted, and when he came back in again, he praised her for looking like a "beautiful carpet"! Most of the (American) young women found that *quite* offensive.

I've heard different variations of this same story in the cult org.. It's kind of like the gakkai cult equivalent to urban myth. The people telling it were always somehow vaguely connected to the event, supposedly witnessing it from the sidelines, etc.. The theme was always how the YWD looked awful, Ikeda said something to put her down, so she transformed her life to be like the radiant sun for sensei, which he later praised her for.

The YMD version of the "Kansai Spirit" was that we should be ready to wear adult diapers and perform endlessly for Cousin Rufus, even performing in the rain and mud, without having to take bathroom breaks. Such a spirit, to be willing to crap your pants for sensei, is what we were told to aspire to; it would transform our lives and bring great fortune. (I kid you not. I have also written about this in the main thread.)

Quote
TaitenAndProud
And his poetry is brain-damaging! I used to dread the New Years meetings, because they'd read another *AWFUL*, tedious, puerile, stupid poem by Master of the Obvious!

His ignorant platitudinous ramblings always gave me a headache (the same goes for some of his so-called "dialogues", too.)

Quote
sleepy skunk
Those poems did seem pointless as with all his other writings. I'm glad to know I was not the only thinking it all seemed like a bunch of hokey gibberish that said absolutely nothing. And people fawned over, "Oh how wonderful a painter, photographer, philosopher" or whatever else has been wrongly attributed to him. "He's so wise!" My butt.

His poems say absolutely nothing and are incredibly lame. Every time I read them or some cult member stood up to recite them, I wanted to bang my head on the desk or nearest wall.

His photos (does he really even take all of them?) are just as banal and hackneyed as his poems (they often are meant to go together). In the motherland, they hold public viewings of his "photography", where the only people who come out to see it are cult members (who pretty much have to, because their districts take head counts.) Soka-han stand guard over the huge ornately golden framed Dear Leader produced photos. The display frames alone must be worth a small fortune and is probably what they are really guarding.

Quote
leeduffield
Daisaku Ikeda-the master of the'point-and-click' school of photography. And the poetry is on a par with that found in The Big Issue. (A British magazine for homelessness feauturing bad poetry written by the homeless among other things).The DVD's are pretty corny too. Three Sensei's Streamings were enough for me. Everyone else seemed fascinated-one scene of him playing drums badly had them all in stitches. That was when the penny started to drop:" Am I in a cult?" The feeling persisted till I left.

I saw the same kind of fawning over the USA general director (Williams-Sadanga). He would, on rare occasions, break out his saxophone and play "Danny Boy", or try to play it. It was horrible, but the culties ate it up every time, with huge applause. I remember one public cult outreach event where he got onstage and played it for everyone. All the gakkai members were hysterically enthusiastic, while all the regular non-members watching all around us were arching their eyebrows, mouths falling open and looking at each another shrugging their shoulders, not understanding what the hell everyone was going on about. It was hilarious.

The brainwashing does that to the membership.

Quote
sleepy skunk
Did you guys have your share of crazies as well? The only ones I remember talking about him in that way I had to wonder about, because of the idea, the wording and the way it seemed out of nowhere and from complete strangers. Add to that the ones for whom I finally understand the saying "the light is on but no one is at home." I've only seen maybe a couple of videos since I started and from what I recall I thought how different the Japanese were to our way of doing things. You'd understand what I mean with the military like environment. I just chalked it up to Japanese culture. When talking to others around the world I got so many different experiences but it's the same abuse and the money pattern that repeats itself over and over. They sure try to make him look good. We got the odd SGI magazine that had all the pictures of him with leaders like Mandela and Gorbachev, thinking oh wow that's so impressive! One(ugh) "benefit" that I got would be the attitude I must question absolutely everything if I'm to avoid this in the future.

All of the senior salaried leaders, in addition to being pompous ignoramuses, are hardcore Ikeda-bots. No matter how sane they may appear in everyday life, if you place one in front of The Dear Leader, you will see them instantly transform into a giddy crazy teenager meeting their idol. I don't care who it is, the all have the potential to turn into a nutso hardcore gakkai cult org. kamikaze zombie, given the right circumstances.

Crazy members where everywhere, but I do recall some really far out YMD (usually Japanese or Japanese-American) who acted like they were in love with The Dear Leader. One guy, in particular, came up to a group of us YMD completely out of the blue, clutching with both hands, Ikeda's "Human Revolution" closely to his chest, he looked like he had just been crying, and said something to the effect that "we are *so* fortunate to be able to study "The Human Revolution." He walked away and disappeared just as quickly as he appeared. It was bizarre and we all were silent for a few seconds. When he got out of earshot, we all bursted out laughing (I always naturally gravitated to the least brainwashed group of fellow YMD culties, to spend my time with).



- Hitch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2013 06:57AM by Hitch.

Quote
sleepy skunk
I've only seen maybe a couple of videos since I started and from what I recall I thought how different the Japanese were to our way of doing things. You'd understand what I mean with the military like environment. I just chalked it up to Japanese culture.

Part of it is Japanese culture at work, but even to ordinary Japanese, the gakkai cult is weird and extreme in their practices (cultural or otherwise).

Quote
sleepy skunk
They sure try to make him look good. We got the odd SGI magazine that had all the pictures of him with leaders like Mandela and Gorbachev, thinking oh wow that's so impressive!

I believe monies are paid for many of his "dialogue" visits. Maybe not outright quid pro quo, but to person's "foundations", projects dear to their heart, or in other roundabout ways.

That said, not everyone falls for it. Bill Clinton is one example. The Dear Leader went into a crazy rant against Clinton back in the 90's, when he was operating under the assumption that the two would meet. When his expectations were not met, Ikeda threw a semi-public tantrum tangentially criticizing Clinton (imagine what must have been said behind closed doors). Can you also imagine the PR coup it would be for the $oka Cult Org. to score a meeting with a new U.S. President. There are other examples (of The Dear Leader's supposed "charms" and deep pockets not opening certain doors) that many don't know about, too.

It's all a dishonest and slick con-job. The cult org. membership is being duped.



- Hitch

Since I don't see a link to Spartacus' memoirs in this thread, here it is again [spartacusrebel.weebly.com].

Valuable and recommended reading.


- Hitch

Hitch,

Thank you for the links, that will certainly cover my weekend reading. Is there somewhere to find these rantings about Clinton? You are right about what ordinary Japanese day about the org, I had been warned about them by real a Japanese. Like other people have mentioned, it was too easy to dismiss and say "oh but it's so different here." I was so blind. All this talk about being enlightened and seeing things for as they are, only happens if you don't do what they say. It is no wonder they hand out charts to track your chanting and want to know whatever goals you are setting so that they can measure just how "in" you are. If you are still chanting about cars, maybe that means something. If you start to chant to bring about world peace then they know their hooks are in really tight, I imagine.

The first sign you are probably in a cult, random dazed and confused people talking about how this practice is so wonderful, Ikeda's wonderful and they are so grateful to be working for world peace with him by using magical thinking. That should be enough, sadly it isn't. I've got my own stories of some of the ridiculousness I've encountered and endured, I'll happily PM if interested.

-the sleepy skunk

If I could crash one of those Top-Secret PR meetings of SGI executives, particularly those in the Western Hemisphere, I'd ask them first: Have you all lost your minds? ..let that sink in for a moment or three- (not that it would sink in) and then proceed to tell them what an idiotic course they have taken for the "widespread of KR"...

How they think, for another moment or three, that an organization based on Master/Mentor/Disciple worship as the end-and-be-all, will spread like wildfire, through the States alone!!!

I digress from the other thread---maybe they really, truly JUST DON'T CARE.

Scratchin' my head,

Shavoy