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Miss66
Ratty Boy<

at what level leadership did he say these scum bags start to get paid? This is infuriating. I remember when a leader came up to me at a meeting ,smiled and handed me a donation envelop. Going back in time I should have punched her in the face.

This all makes me want to call them out,but I shall compose myself! Skanky corrupt SGI!

Hi miss 66 and welcome!

I don't know about how it works in the USA (or Japan), but in the United Kingdom it isn't a particular level of leadership that qualifies you for a salary from SGI. It is a matter of whether you are 'on staff' or not.

Some of the staff members eg. Those who have given up their 'outside' jobs to work full or part time for the organisation have relatively lowly 'responsibilties' - for instance chapter chief etc. Most of the highest level leadership do not in fact get salaries, because there are only 20 to 30 people on staff at Taplow Court the UK national centre. Some of these are quite poorly paid, such as gardeners etc. - although the three top jobs seem to have huge salaries in six figure sums when bonuses are included. In the UK SGI has to make public it's accounts by law and I posted some links to this way back in this thread. So most of the leadership are Ikea slaves working for him for free.

SGI-UK does not bring in enough money from contributions to support itself and is still subsidised from Japanese members contributions. I think they are frightened to push for contributions from UK members in case more people start to notice they are in a cult. However, since the main purpose of SGI-UK appears to be as a vanity project for Mr Ikea, I don't think Japan are too worried about subsidising the UK operation.

I'd be interested to hear how how the staff salary structure works in the USA, where there is obviously a lot more money available from member's contributions.

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simplify

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Miss66
Ratty Boy<

at what level leadership did he say these scum bags start to get paid? This is infuriating. I remember when a leader came up to me at a meeting ,smiled and handed me a donation envelop. Going back in time I should have punched her in the face.

This all makes me want to call them out,but I shall compose myself! Skanky corrupt SGI!

Hi miss 66 and welcome!

I don't know about how it works in the USA (or Japan), but in the United Kingdom it isn't a particular level of leadership that qualifies you for a salary from SGI. It is a matter of whether you are 'on staff' or not.

Some of the staff members eg. Those who have given up their 'outside' jobs to work full or part time for the organisation have relatively lowly 'responsibilties' - for instance chapter chief etc. Most of the highest level leadership do not in fact get salaries, because there are only 20 to 30 people on staff at Taplow Court the UK national centre. Some of these are quite poorly paid, such as gardeners etc. - although the three top jobs seem to have huge salaries in six figure sums when bonuses are included. In the UK SGI has to make public it's accounts by law and I posted some links to this way back in this thread. So most of the leadership are Ikea slaves working for him for free.

SGI-UK does not bring in enough money from contributions to support itself and is still subsidised from Japanese members contributions. I think they are frightened to push for contributions from UK members in case more people start to notice they are in a cult. However, since the main purpose of SGI-UK appears to be as a vanity project for Mr Ikea, I don't think Japan are too worried about subsidising the UK operation.

I'd be interested to hear how how the staff salary structure works in the USA, where there is obviously a lot more money available from member's contributions.

They make far more than Nichiren and his priest disciples, even accounting for the brainwashed lower level staff [although one once wrote me anonymously that because of the poor economy he was earning peanuts but he gave no details]. Probably, he is not qualified for real work. The top leaders like Nagashima, Aiken, McCloskey [SGI's lawyer advisor] Al Albergate, and Jerry Hall for example, call themselves laymen but live high off the hog of the members donations, just like the corrupt priests in Nichiren's day. When you inquire about their salaries, they take Nichiren out of context and admonish you, "Its like counting your neighbor's wealth", rather than giving you a straight answer.

Nichijew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2011 11:35PM by Nichijew.

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Miss66
Hello Shavoy,



I still have my gohonzon. It went on 7 years this past September that I've been a member. I've been MIA for the past year and a half. I haven't had any home visits for a little over two years,after they asked me about a leadership position,and I refused they just kind of gave up.



The home visits would start with me wanting to take a break from the SGI and/or sharing my concerns of things that I didn't like in the SGI. This would be followed by a couple of phone calls for someone to come over ,chant with me, and then have a little talk AKA home visit,sometimes I would refuse these but they insisted. It was usually one person or leader that was coming over and that morning three would show up at my door,all leaders at different levels,so you're expecting one and you get swarmed with three.



I probably had a total of about four serious home visits during my time there.



They did probe me,basically like a therapy session asking me about my life and whats going on,how chanting is going etc bleeding the conversation over to how my practice is,if I'm reading the publications,am I doing activities etc. If I was lacking in any of these It would depend on the leader but I was usually told chant more,do more activities ,make a big contribution,if May was around the corner,start reading the publications more. I was even told to write a letter to President Ikeda thanking him for all he's done. I didn't of course.



Whatever it was the solution was always to benefit the SGI more,sometimes they would bring over a article in one of the magazines about how a members life changed after doing more activities or making a big donation. These were all things they would suggest after sharing my misgivings.I felt like I was chasing my tail with them.By the time they left I always felt like I had just been negative and wasn't trying hard enough ,then things would be fine for awhile again and then the same stuff would resurface.

How long has it been since they've stopped calling you?

Ahhhh, That Fundamental Darkness.....When natural questions and instincts kick in, blame it on Fundamental Darkness and chant more, activity more, donate more. And now, the write-to-President-Ikeda stuff. God, this is creepy! You're right, it depends on the leader. Leaders who are hard-core can't seem to come to grips with what you are telling them. So they have to dole out what they know.

I can't believe though, that when you refused, they still insisted!

I have to believe that some of them truly believe they are doing the right thing, and that they are fighting with you for your happiness. And by doing so, will reap The Good Fortune and short-circuit Karmic Fallout.

Which poses a question: Did anyone here when they were in the practice, feel they had reached Enlightenment/Buddhahood?

Welcome Miss66! Thanks to others on the forum for some answers to the salary question. Picturing these moments of probing by members reminds me of a confrontation years ago that I had with some sort of christian group that was using cult-like tactics in our brief sidewalk encounter. At the time I'm sure I had been mulling over my involvement with SGI and had already been doing cult research. It seems like I had been for years. I was in an unfamiliar part of a city I rarely visit when a group of about 8 people approached me, one person in front of me telling me something about their group and a person on my right handing me some pamphlet. I noticed they had formed a circle around me, 1 or 2 of them off the sidewalk in the street in order to do so. "I know what you're doing!" I said. Looking at a woman who was the best dressed of the lot I said " You're the leader. Make them stop!" She waved at them to open the circle. As I walked away I turned back and said to them: "You might want to rethink what you are doing and why you are with this group". I don't think I had ever been so direct and assertive about anything without expressing anger. Very matter of fact about my opinion and personal needs and what I perceived. All that pent up non-action toward extricating myself from SGI and Ick-eda's mandate for better living came into play before this new mind virus could even get into my airspace. I remember my words because it felt like a strong moment. And then I was on my way. But. I spent way too much time with SGI letting doubts wash over me. In the SGI group circle in which the leader mentioned leaders needing money ("believe me!" he said) as I posted earlier in this forum, it wasn't going to be easy to question him in front of so many of my peers. So I didn't. - Many of them having given experiences, perhaps with tears attached. But still I gasped silently to myself like a few other times at that gathering and others.
I haven't encountered an SGI member in quite a while. I think the directness could be there, but the less involvement the better. "Do not engage in any discussion" I had to tell myself after a while. That worked.

Don't forget, in every western country, even the US, SGI tells its members that the SGI members from Japan are supporting them, as they don't donate enough money.

You must realize these are lies from SGI.

SGI has almost no expenses. They don't pay almost anyone, everyone works for free.
Many people meet at friends houses.
SGI buildings are often donated, fixed up for free by members.

There are many wealthier SGI members in western countries, who give much more than basic dues each month.

So SGI is lying, when they say country X is supported by Japanese members. This is propaganda, to make people feel guilty, and give more money, and work harder.
Its probably also for Ikeda to feel superior to the "lazy westerners".

SGI-USA makes a bloody fortune, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as shown in this thread.

So when SGI starts saying country X is so lazy that the Japanese members are supporting them, that is a lie.
SGI has minimal expenses.
SGI pays no taxes.
SGI hires only a few people, and gets dues from thousands of members, subscriptions, as well as large donations from wealthy members.
Those Direct Deposit dues VANISH the day they are deposited, and go offshore somewhere, with the complex SGI global financial system.

The brazen lies that come from SGI are incredible.
Institutional lies.

SGI is probably the riches sect/cult on planet earth.
SGI is worth many billions of dollars, and its all controlled by Ikeda.

It is so completely outrageous for SGI to keep lying, and telling everyone that the hardworking Japanese SGI members, are supporting the lazy westerners.

What is the truth?
The truth is that the SGI members are SUPPORTING IKEDA to live as a multi-Billionaire.

What has SGI ever done to financially support a regular workaday SGI member?
Do they pay their rent or mortgage? No.
Do they pay for their food? No.
Do they pay their travel? No.

SGI pays for nothing.
You pay for SGI.

But Ikeda pays for nothing. Ikeda lives like an Emperor, like the King of Japan.

So don't believe that SGI bullshit and guilt trip about how the lazy westerners are supported by the hard working Japanese SGI members.

The fact is that the Egomaniac Ikeda is the freeloader. He's the one who has sucked up the billions of dollars from SGI, and needs golden toilet fixtures, and invites nude young women into his luxury hot-tub. [forum.culteducation.com]

Ikeda is literally the Anti-Buddha.

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The Anticult
Don't forget, in every western country, even the US, SGI tells its members that the SGI members from Japan are supporting them, as they don't donate enough money.

You must realize these are lies from SGI.

SGI has almost no expenses. They don't pay almost anyone, everyone works for free..

Hi Anticult,

I absolutely agree with you about this in reference to SGI-USA, but as far as the UK operation goes it is definitely heavily subsidised by Japan. After all Ikeda can afford to pay millions for the fancy historic house near London so that it is available to him in case he ever wants somewhere to stay for a couple of nights when in the UK.

I know that Japan subsidises the UK because SGI-UK is forced to reveal its accounts online for anyone to see. So I took a look at them. It is true that in the 2006 accounts it says:

'The charity received donations from SGI - Japan amounting to £nil (2005: £370,000).'

Showing that although in 2005 SGI-Japan had given SGI-UK £370,000 they had not contributed an annual amount in 2006. However in another part of the account there is an item of income amounting to around £25,000,000 called e Expendible Endowment. this is what it says in the accounts for year 2006:

'The Expendable Endowment was established on 21 July 2006 by an initial donation as commemorative fund from Soka Gakkai International on the 75th anniversary of the foundation of Soka Gakkai. The investment income as well as the principal amount of the endowment are available to be spent at any time in promoting its charitable purposes after consultation with the donor.'

So it looks like in 2006 Japan gave a lump sum to the UK, so that the UK could continue to rely on the income from that in the future.

The accounts back to 2006 are available at:

]SGI-UK accounts on Charity Commission web site.

They make interesting reading, showing income from donations, shop etc., expenditure on salaries, number of staff etc. The 2010 accounts are particularly detailed and give discussion meeting charts etc!

So although I think the fact that SGI-UK uses the excuse that Japan supports the UK to wheedle more money out of its members is disgusting, in this case it is true. What they don't say is don't bother to give us any money as Japan has already given us enough to keep this cult going because Ikeda has donated enough for years to come.

It is also true that they keep the bare minimum of staff at the UK Headquarters, relying heavily on unpaid volunteers for even quite responsible posts. This gives an impression of ' We're only just managing', whereas the truth is they have access to pretty unlimited funds from the main Japanese organisation!

Again the UK is definitely a vanity project or hobby that Ikea is happy to pay for (with the hard earned donations of members in other countries).

That's is great to access those docs. One could study them very carefully to see how SGI-UK is operating.
As SGI-USA is able to completely conceal their documents, as they are not forced to reveal them.

So experts would have to figure out, what kind of tax-benefits is SGI getting from this?
SGI in Japan is apparently totally exempt from all taxation.
Some have speculated about the source of some of the money that comes into SGI in Japan. That does not require a degree in rocket science.

Then moving of $40-50 million dollars into the UK, would be a way for SGI to make even more money.
They buy Ikeda's bachelor pad and other property and investments, and they can always resell those properties, with no capital gains or other taxes.

Does SGI-UK accept cash donations? Because cash might not make it into the balance sheet.

After watching how SGI operates, they hire the best financial experts in the business to do all of the fancy financial shenanigans, all structured around avoiding tax, and being able to put tax-free money into the market and make a profit, and then take those profits back into SGI.

SGI is simply a global financial corporation, and those companies move money around like water.

So when SGI moves 50 million dollars into the UK, what is SGI doing with that money?
In the USA, SGI had something like 900 million simply invested in the markets and real estate.
That is Ikeda's charity work.
Investing billions in the market and real estate, and collecting dues from SGI members.

Its just using religion as a front to avoid paying tax, while investing and profiting in business.

Someone could post in this thread, from those docs, where the 40 million dollars is being used in the UK. One assumes it will be like SGI-USA, invested in stocks, bonds, and real estate.

"Then moving of $40-50 million dollars into the UK, would be a way for SGI to make even more money.
They buy Ikeda's bachelor pad and other property and investments, and they can always resell those properties, with no capital gains or other taxes." - Anticult

That makes a lot of sense. SGI-UK is a registered charity, so therefore pays no taxes (I guess), so it would be a way to move money around and invest in UK property without Paying taxes like the rest of us. Yes, Soka Gakkai is a very successful global corporation using sophisticated mind control techniques to fill up its coffers with donations from members, some of whom need the money they give for their own survival.

Here is another cry for help from some guy in Matsudo, Japan.

"Soka Gakkai is a mastermind of gang stalking...

I have been working near the Airborne Brigade base in Narashino.
The family of the soldier of Airborne Brigade was working at my office.
The stalking was done in the office, and the office was driven out to me.
(Read "I was driven out of office" - workplace mobbing)
Even if I still change my job to which office, I encounter annoying.
The line of my home has been inadvertently tapped until recently.
It is difficult for me to change job any further in Japan.
I want help."

[www.topix.com]

Read the posts on this page by min25, Matsudo, Japan.

You can also browse through the forum, thousands of people claim that they are being gang-stalked.

Personally I prefer the terms "cause-stalking" or "vigilante-stalking" as they better reflect the origins of this phenomenon.