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Hitch
Japanese commercials featuring the soka cult:

1. [www.youtube.com] "Got anything good to read? Seikyo Shimbun."
2. [www.youtube.com] "Put a new rhythm into your life. A new day for you starting tomorrow." With a soka gakkai jingle at the end.
3. [www.youtube.com] "What is your dream? Soka University."
4. [www.youtube.com] Soka Univ. U.S.A. promo.
5. [www.youtube.com] Japanese talk show apologizes for remarks about Ikeda ("send him back to China along with the pandas").

Also has some interesting political related clips for those that understand Japanese. Enjoy, watch & learn about the cult in Japan, while you can.

Here are some amateur sgi-usa member made commercials (these are pretty stomach churning). Enjoy the heavily sugared kool-aid on these two:

1. [www.youtube.com] Sensei worship.
2. [www.youtube.com] Protect the castle. Watch the dorky and overweight soka-han/gajokai superheroes watch over and protect the precious members and community centers. "We Will Protect The Gakkai."

And one more sip of the kool-aid before you go:

L.A. Parade, 99% of the clip is just crap but the highlight comes at the very end, ~ 1:40 min. mark [www.youtube.com]. 9-10 foot Gandhi, King, Ikeda banner portraits.

Man this stuff is so embarrassing. It's a cult we all know it. As a side, the SGI experience has reinforced my Atheism. The reason is the same reason we all believe other religions are not true as well as SGI not being true. They are all to a greater or lesser degree trying to brainwash people into FAITH. Faith is belief in unprovable beings and forces. And ultimately faith is seen as more important than knowledge. We need to wake up to this devisive nonsense.

The truth is that the SGI is not of spirit is the issue. Not that it doesn't exist. I learned a vwry important lesson regarding that fact. The source of all life is surrounding us. We r immersed in it. The name that can b named is NOT the eternal name....1st verse Tao...the SGI is EGO which means edge God weout. Which simy put is how we create the illusion that we are better than, self important and lost that fact that we r part of all that is bigger than we are. Please don 't cut yourself
off further today I had a conversation with Abes Pgram, one of thirteen indiginous Grandmothers who are traveling the world to. save it for future generations. Grandma Aggie is the last remaining in Her tribe here. The other grandmas r the last of tbeir people
as well. Grandma said to me "I knew nothing good would come from that. The greatest journey we take is 18 inches from our head ro our heart. When we cut that out we r left vulnerable to negative energy. They all speak different languages from all parts of the world but they understand that u lead with your heart where love sits. I wish i had paid attention when grandma gave me the stink eye in the first place when we first told her about the SGI. We cut ourselves off from our ways & we learned.

I can't type on the phone! The above correction Agnes Pilgram!

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jlynneda63
I feel so weird about this stuff. I was one of them.Not manipulative but still I can't be arrogant &point the finger. I need to
understand the psychology behind this. I don't think its productive otherwise. Who knows what the intent is? Is it in Japan where
tbwy plot to take over the world? I didn't know there were creepy commercials. I liked many of the members. So what is the trigger that turns good people into something else? I think I know. NoIt's not good. Why doesn't someone do an expose on the SGI? I wonder about how damaged I really am after so long entrenched, anxiety ridden &miserable?

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Hitch
I was one of them, too. We all were.

The intent is to legitimize the cult and gain members. Lots of people don't know a lot of things about the cult in Japan, simply because they don't tell you and they don't want you to know. Just look at how they kept the priesthood problems away from everyone until it all blew up in their faces and they couldn't anymore. Well, the internet is the same way. They just can't control it. Doesn't mean they won't try, but they can't. Same thing applies to critical thinking, there's no defense against it.

Hi Jlynneda63,

As Hitch says - I was one of them (we all were). What I found really useful when I first discovered this thread was to start right at page 1 and read through it. Doing this has really helped to answer a lot of questions I had when I first began to realise SGI is a cult. It has also encouraged me to do as much research as I can into the org.

As far as I'm concerned there is no doubt that that SGI is a cult using a corrupted version of Nichiren Buddhism to attract and keep members. Once they've got you, they use sophisticated mind control techniques to keep you giving (both financially and of your time). They have plenty of money to spend on researching techniques to keep the membership from thinking critically. They know the techniques to prevent the inevitable cognitive dissonance from breaking through so the minds of the members are unquestioning even in the face of things that make no rational sense at all. For instance all that stuff Ikeda 'writes' - yeah right.

Yes SGI has plenty of money. The money it takes from members, even encouraging people to donate their last spare cash in the expectation that they will 'benefit double or treble' as a result. What do they do with all this money? Well, apart from providing billionaire lifestyles for Ikeda, his family and chosen top leaders, the money seems to be invested in property and companies (like Mitsubishi bank). And remember SGI pays little tax on its investments, as it is a 'religious organisation'. So SGI makes little financial contribution to the social welfare of the countries where it is based, while it is continually profiting on and growing its investments.

In fact SGI contributes very little in a charitable way to any entity except itself, seeming to prefer to keep as much as possible for its own growth. Occasionally, if there is a global disaster, one hears that SGI have sent some aid but it is embarrassingly little compared to other far less wealthy organisations. But beware, if a member falls on hard times, you won't find the hugely wealthy SGI helping out that member, however generous that member's contributions may have been in the past.

Oh and it spends a lot of money buying honours, monuments and recognition for its dear leader. If an honour can't be bought, Ikeda has his own universities where he can give honours to others so that he will be repaid in kind.

SGI makes a big song and dance about being an organisation committed to promoting world peace, but what does it actually do as an organisation (as opposed to efforts that individual members may make)? It does a lot of talking about it and a team of ghost writers produce Ikeda's 'Peace Proposal' each year. My personal view on this is that Ikeda wants the Nobel peace prize, so gets his PR team to set up photo ops with as many world leaders as he can and the Peace proposals are part of that goal. It is all a load of talk and no action. Ikeda doesnt particularly want world peace, he wants the Nobel Peace prize and more power.

If you do ever read through this thread you will find out many reasons for my low opinion of Ikeda. Suffice to say that I'm convinced he has a serious Narcissistic personality disorder and that the organisation exists to feed this.

Yes there are lots of good, kind, even admirable people in the organisation, but that doesn't mean it isn't a cult. Nobody who is in a cult likes to admit to themselves that they've been deceived, so a lot of these good people stay with it. And some of them are so deeply brainwashed and their perception of reality is so flawed that they will never see what the SGI is. And for some of them it is such a major part of their lives that it would be almost cruel if they were to realise the truth.

Oh there I go again, off on a rant again. Thank you to anyone who read this far!

@simplify - how right you are about Ikeda's narcissistic behavior. Just look up the definition and he fits to a t.

Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power or beauty
Believing that you are special and can associate only with equally special people
Requiring constant admiration
Having a sense of entitlement
Taking advantage of others
Having an inability to recognize needs and feelings of others
Being envious of others

The list goes on. Just reading the HR and the NHR is a huge warning sign for anyone - gack!!!!

Know what else pisses me off? How EVERY book in the bookstores are by Ikeda.

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redrose
@simplify - how right you are about Ikeda's narcissistic behavior. Just look up the definition and he fits to a t.

Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power or beauty
Believing that you are special and can associate only with equally special people
Requiring constant admiration
Having a sense of entitlement
Taking advantage of others
Having an inability to recognize needs and feelings of others
Being envious of others

The list goes on. Just reading the HR and the NHR is a huge warning sign for anyone - gack!!!!

Gack is right, redrose!!! The HR and NHR were one of the first "bells-in-the-head" for me....I never really noticed at first, but in later installments in the WT, oh my. Sensei was the only one who got things totally right, had the most compassion, wisdom, etc. etc. Any and all dignitaries he met couldn't fall over him fast enough. Not to mention the members' eyes, glistening, shining always for Sensei....when he walked into a room, they could not BELIEVE that Sensei would honor them with his presence!

It is really, really sad that it's all been coming to this. Like simplify said, there are a lot of really nice, decent people who are in SGI.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2012 03:36AM by Shavoy.

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sirmrtony
Know what else pisses me off? How EVERY book in the bookstores are by Ikeda.

And therefore every penny of royalties goes to guess who? And therefore you are only presented with Ikeda's (or his ghostwriters') views. Talk about a captive audience.

I can remember years ago - early 90's - the women in my district would meet a couple times a month for some incredible spirited talks about anything and everything. We would have book reviews that had great meaning to us and almost all the books were non-buddhist! I miss those times. We were shut down. The only thing that we were allowed to talk about was Ikeda and his writings. For me that was the beginning of the end. When I go to a meeting now it has nothing to do with buddhist teaching.

I think people are starving for heart to heart conversations. The SGI says that's what we do, but only if the heart to heart is SGI and Ikeda talk. I know I'm hungery for some intelligent heart felt conversations where NO ONE feels threaten to speak what is in their heart. The format that the SGI has does not address a true expression of the human heart. It's too militaristic.

Here's a little e-mail i got today:

Date: Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Subject: Day 3 April Training Course

This afternoon we were able to attend the 57th Headquarters Leaders Meeting of the New Era which was commemorating May 3rd, Soka Gakkai Presidents Day, Soka Gakkai Mother Day!! It was an amazing meeting, filled with the spirit of disciples, fulfilling their vow to their mentor, Sensei.! Due to the prayers of the WD members throughout Japan and the world, the weather was perfect - sunny, warm and blue skies. In addition to the representatives from all over Japan, there were 104 participants from18 countries. The flower arrangements on the altar were truly stunning.

The meeting began with powerful performances by the Soka Gakkai Brass Band, playing a piece by Wagner and then by the Fuji Chorus singing "Song of Mothers" and "The Song of Human Revolution". Next Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda read Sensei's profound message about the significance of May 3rd. And then there was a surprise showing of Sensei's original calligraphy "May 3rd", which is engraved with Sensei's profound vow kosen-rufu. We all felt incredibly fortunate to see this calligraphy in person and up close.

A video was shown of the Soka Renaissance Vanguard marching band which won the Prime Ministers award for the best marching band in Japan. This was followed by the experience of the marching band leader, who dedicated 27 years of his youth to the Soka Renaissance Vanguard. His never give-up spirit to bring a victory to Sensei, his mentor, despite repeated failures was unbelievably inspiring - all members, especially the SGI-USA Ikeda Ensemble members will be so charged up when they hear his story.

SGI-USA Pacific Zone YWD Leader Moana-Marie Nazareno from Hawaii gave a passionate activity report, sharing her victories in the YWD and how Sensei's 17 visits since 1960 to Hawaii were the catalyst for the tremendous growth of the first Hawaii district to the now more than 8,000 members in the Aloha State.

Soka Gakkai WD Leader, Ms. Sugimoto shared a moving story of the little boy and girl who presented flowers to Sensei when he visited Cheju, Korea years ago. Sensei encouraged them to come to Soka University when they grew up. The mothers of the these children prayed deeply to fulfill Sensei's expectation and now years later, they are both attending Soka University. She said there is nothing more powerful than the prayers of mothers. She also shared about a WD in Brazil who Sensei introduced several years ago as a shakubuku champion with over 700 shakubuku who determined to reach 1000 shakubuku in her life - she just completed 1000 shakubuku, saying that with shakubuku, you can change anything in your life.

Soka Gakkai President Harada, showed a video and model of the new Joint Headquarters building to be completed on November 18, 2013 along with the new Soka Culture Center which will open this year in November. They are both under construction right now and will be fantastic castles of kosen-rufu designed with Sensei's wish that they will be places where members can fully relax and enjoy activities. Mr. Harada encouraged everyone to fight for kosen-rufu with the spirit and pride, "I am the Soka Gakkai".

In the evening we were fortunate to have a one hour meeting with Mr. Hasegawa just with the SGI-USA members! He took the time to speak to each person, inspiring each one about the significance of their mission for kosen-rufu in their own countries. He gave detailed guidance how to develop kosen-rufu in each country - it was so encouraging.

Tomorrow will be another activity packed day, this time at Soka University. We will report again tomorrow evening.

Thank you, Training Course participants.