Unfortunately I was one of those people. Now that I look back on it I think I was a captive...it feels like it. Once u b begin to see tbe crazy stuff u can't put it back in the bag. There is a lady here that just left her husband to move back here so she can have
meetings. We were told our house was too small. We jammed 30 people in a tiny front room. When we told our district leader we
needed to have people leave by 9 the look I got was withering. People came here with the flu although I have an immune disorder. Sat behind me &coughed in my face! Guess what happened next?i got the darn flu & was then told I was sick to often & needed to chant about it! I don't know how i got to this subject from where i started..sorry! Oh the memories. The poor woman. She doesn't know whats coming.

I googled Benjamin Fulford and he does seem to be quite involved with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories. Unfortunately I can't find any evidence for the stuff he claims.

Personally, waking up to the fact that I was in a cult has led me on a journey to hone my critical thinking skills and I am less able to believe what someone says without looking for evidence to support their claims. Just because something fits in with what I want to think doesn't make it true. It doesn't matter what the reputation is of the person making the claims, I won't take someone's word for it, I must see the evidence!

There was a respected journalist here in the UK (David Icke, sports correspondent for the BBC) who appeared to have a complete breakdown and used his previous reputation to publicise his new ideas in the media. For instance that many of the powerful people on the planet were actually shape shifting lizards. He never managed to produce any evidence for this though, a photo would have been a start :-). It seems even respected individuals can find their way into very murky areas!

As to whether Ikeda is in a coma, or indeed dead, we can only speculate. I don't doubt SGI's resources to keep this under wraps if they choose to. The following video says it is based on an article in the Japanese Magazine Shukan Bunshun which says it is based on the claims of an ex-nurse at the hospital he is in:
[www.saddharmapundarika.com]
However I can't find anything else to substantiate this and since I don't read Japanese I can't really take it further. Maybe there are more "leaks" (true or untrue) to be found if one is in Japan.

However, why is the SGI not issuing information about Ikeda not making appearances? It may be that it is because he is old and frail, which is a perfectly satisfactory explanation, this is a normal human state, but why not let the members know so they can chant for their mentor's peaceful passing? Oh sorry, I forgot, it is a cult so nothing is as it seems.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2012 05:05PM by simplify.

Exactly -- nothing is what it seems. As mroakes on www.buddhajones.com put it:

"In a previous thread, I said that one of the hallmarks of a cult is reliance on deception. Cults deceive potential recruits, members and the general public about the group's true aims and core beliefs."


To me, the important thing is not whether Ikeda is or isn't in a coma -- it's the fact that there is so much secrecy surrounding his health. A legitimate religious organization would be more open about its leader's health, and who is really in charge.


The rest of mr oakes' article is interesting, and relevant to what we're discussing here. The full post, "The Great Sensei Scam" is posted here: [www.buddhajones.com]

Some quotes:

-----------------------Beginning of Quote---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Suppose someone says to you, "Hey, come to a Buddhist meeting with me. The people are really nice. We talk about Buddhism and world peace..."

"If you're reading this website, chances are someone has invited you to such a meeting."

"Now, imagine receiving a different invitation."

"Come to a meeting with me. We're a group that adulates a Japanese billionaire whom none of us has ever met. We all consider him our mentor in life and an unerringly benevolent father figure. We quote his writings incessantly. We praise him incessantly. We liken him to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but he is greater than both of these men. He is a Buddhist teacher better than the Dalai Lama. You'll get to 'know' him through your own powers of imagination and projection. You will be peer-pressured by the rest of the group into praising and never criticizing him. You will pledge your life to him. So, please come to this meeting with me."

-------------------End of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That last was the real invitation. Sadly, we didn't know that at the time.

Hi Tsukimoto. I actually knew it after the first several months of a twenty year stay:

"Come to a meeting with me. We're a group that adulates a Japanese billionaire whom none of us has ever met. We all consider him our mentor in life and an unerringly benevolent father figure. We quote his writings incessantly. We praise him incessantly. We liken him to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but he is greater than both of these men. He is a Buddhist teacher better than the Dalai Lama. You'll get to 'know' him through your own powers of imagination and projection. You will be peer-pressured by the rest of the group into praising and never criticizing him. You will pledge your life to him. So, please come to this meeting with me."

Why did I continue? Because I believed [and still do] in Myoho renge kyo. SGI was very clever in promoting that they were the only game in town, the only ones privy to the Law and, at the very least, the only one's carrying out the correct faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra. Then I came upon some debates on the the aol groups forums and learned the truth of the matter. The truth is they have appropriated Namu Myoho renge kyo and the good name of the Daishonin as a get rich quick scheme and it worked. It is not an accident that they are the second richest multinational religious corporation in the world. These evil men, like the mexican drug lords, have a high demand very marketable product. Cocaine in the hands of an Ear Nose and Throat physician is the world's finest local anesthetic. In the hands of a drug dealer and addict it leads to tragedy and personal destruction. A hammer can be used to build a house or to hit one on the head rendering another unconscious. The hammer is fantastic tool. It all depends on who wields it.

Nichijew



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2012 01:35AM by Nichijew.

Quote
tsukimoto
Exactly -- nothing is what it seems. As mroakes on www.buddhajones.com put it:

"In a previous thread, I said that one of the hallmarks of a cult is reliance on deception. Cults deceive potential recruits, members and the general public about the group's true aims and core beliefs."


To me, the important thing is not whether Ikeda is or isn't in a coma -- it's the fact that there is so much secrecy surrounding his health. A legitimate religious organization would be more open about its leader's health, and who is really in charge.


The rest of mr oakes' article is interesting, and relevant to what we're discussing here. The full post, "The Great Sensei Scam" is posted here: [www.buddhajones.com]

Excellent link, Tsukimoto, thank you. By the way is your dog an Honourable Friend of the Bodleian Library yet? ;-)

I've mentioned before that one of the keys to understanding this particular cult is also understanding the Japanese mindset. The current emperor of Japan, Akihito, has prostate cancer and is regularly receiving treatment under secrecy that is not "generally" reported in the media (e.g., synchrotron radiation cancer treatment), despite it all being paid for by Japanese taxes, etc.. Over there, the mentality is "a need to know" one, "if we think you need to know, then we will inform you." Nobody makes a fuss about it, because it is "just the way it is/cannot be helped."

I think there is a bit of this kind of thinking going on in this situation, too. Also, consider, if the rumours are true, then it also opens the gakkai up to reverse negative confirmation bias: the priesthood excommunication --> slander of the "law" --> cerebral infarctions (strokes)/dementia --> head split into pieces, and all that. (If the reverse had happened to Nikken first, the gakkai surely would have jumped on the opportunity and not hesitated to capitalize on it.)

I think SGBye is really on to something in that it all would indeed make the dear leader and the gakkai itself appear less than "victorious." Again, it's all about "appearances" in Japan. It seems as though they have been putting a spin on things recently: "sensei is stepping back and letting the youth take over now", "we have achieved victory for the gakkai by making it a worldwide organization for kosen-rufu - congratulations! Now it's up to you!", and so on.

Sick or not, the dear leader is getting old and ain't gonna always be around as "forever sensei" in the flesh, so there can be no doubt that they are prepping for the post-ikeda era and it's all most likely being done according an original pre-prepared playbook. As I've said, nothing would surprise me when it comes to this manipulative cult.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2012 05:13AM by Hitch.

Quote
simplify

Excellent link, Tsukimoto, thank you. By the way is your dog an Honourable Friend of the Bodleian Library yet? ;-)[/quote]

Yes, and she's been impossible ever since. She turns up her nose at her regular dog food, which she didn't used to do. I guess she feels, as an Honourable Friend of the Bodleian, she is entitled to the more expensive stuff. Next thing you know, she will refuse to walk unless I buy her a fancier collar and leash.

Hitch, I have been told that the Japanese mindset is to just avoid talking about painful and/or embarrassing issues. That, for example, people who have terminal illnesses are often not told that they have only a short time to live. The reasoning is, why upset them about something that they can't do anything about. That could be part of it, but with SGI, you know damn well that it's also about money and power.

I was thinking of some videos I saw of a 1993 SGI meeting in Santa Monica. Ikeda was utterly obnoxious at that meeting -- mocking and interrupting Fred Zaitsu, who was trying to give a speech, pounding the table, and saying "Grrreaaaaat.....guuurrrreeaaaatttoooo!" and "Mahalo....maaaahaaalooo....maaahallllooooo!" He was acting like a toddler in a high chair. I wondered then -- is this just bad manners, or could it be the beginnings of dementia?

That was page 241 of this thread, I think. Interestingly, those videos are no longer on Veoh.

Quote
Hitch
I've mentioned before that one of the keys to understanding this particular cult is also understanding the Japanese mindset. The current emperor of Japan, Akihito, has prostate cancer and is regularly receiving treatment under secrecy that is not "generally" reported in the media (e.g., synchrotron radiation cancer treatment), despite it all being paid for by Japanese taxes, etc.. Over there, the mentality is "a need to know" one, "if we think you need to know, then we will inform you." Nobody makes a fuss about it, because it is "just the way it is/cannot be helped."

I think there is a bit of this kind of thinking going on in this situation, too. Also, consider, if the rumours are true, then it also opens the gakkai up to reverse negative confirmation bias: the priesthood excommunication --> slander of the "law" --> cerebral infarctions (strokes)/dementia --> head split into pieces, and all that. (If the reverse had happened to Nikken first, the gakkai surely would have jumped on the opportunity and not hesitated to capitalize on it.)

I think SGBye is really on to something in that it all would indeed make the dear leader and the gakkai itself appear less than "victorious." Again, it's all about "appearances" in Japan. It seems as though they have been putting a spin on things recently: "sensei is stepping back and letting the youth take over now", "we have achieved victory for the gakkai by making it a worldwide organization for kosen-rufu - congratulations! Now it's up to you!", and so on.

Sick or not, the dear leader is getting old and ain't gonna always be around as "forever sensei" in the flesh, so there can be no doubt that they are prepping for the post-ikeda era and it's all most likely being done according an original pre-prepared playbook. As I've said, nothing would surprise me when it comes to this manipulative cult.

I agree, Hitch. This pre-prepared playbook has been years in the making, I'm sure. Makes me suspect whatever chosen leader will be teaching the Sensei teachings, just like Sensei "taught the Nichiren teachings".

I also agree with what you say about reverse negative confirmation bias. If it is indeed true that P.I. suffered from a stroke and/or dementia, there is the head split in seven pieces. How can the Gakkai spin on that?

No matter how the Gakkai tries to figure out how to adapt to each country's culture, etc.--They are Japanese first. That's never and will never leave.

Quote
tsukimoto

...I was thinking of some videos I saw of a 1993 SGI meeting in Santa Monica. Ikeda was utterly obnoxious at that meeting -- mocking and interrupting Fred Zaitsu, who was trying to give a speech, pounding the table, and saying "Grrreaaaaat.....guuurrrreeaaaatttoooo!" and "Mahalo....maaaahaaalooo....maaahallllooooo!" He was acting like a toddler in a high chair. I wondered then -- is this just bad manners, or could it be the beginnings of dementia?

That was page 241 of this thread, I think. Interestingly, those videos are no longer on Veoh.

I noticed that these videos keep disappearing, so last time we got a working link I downloaded them for safe-keeping. I've uploaded them temporarily to a file sharing site for a few days so that others can keep copies if they want. They are .flv files and about 20 mg each. If the links don't work, let me know.

Part 1
[www.yousendit.com]

Part 2
[www.yousendit.com]

I think it is in part 2 that the toddler tantrum occurs, but haven't got time to check at the moment. If you haven't seen these before, enjoy!

(Moderator: Could these files be kept somewhere on this site, maybe?)

Simplify --

Thanks for saving these files and posting them on yousendit.com! I downloaded both. I found many scenes that I remembered -- but I seem to remember a scene where the pounding went on for much longer, and I didn't see that one on either part one or two. But still, some memorable parts:

Part I

00:42: Ikeda is walking into the auditorium. A woman appears to be so overcome with emotion at meeting him that she kneels on the floor in front of him.

03:54: Fred Zaitsu is trying to give a speech; Ikeda bangs on the table and jokes about his speech being as good as President Clinton's. (Ikeda loathed Clinton for refusing to meet with him while he was in the states.)


Part II

00:40: Ikeda makes an insulting joke about former SGI Director, George Williams.

02:40: I'm guessing that the men's division members are just raising their hands to indicate agreement with something that Ikeda said. But it looks awfully like a Nazi salute.

05:10: Ikeda keeps saying "Guurrrreatttooooo, Gurrreaaaatooo!" and "New Yooorrrrk! New Yooorrrrkkkku! Newwww Yooorku!" again and again.

06:40: Ikeda is speaking Japanese rapidly. His interpreter says "The members in Tokyo and Osaka are going crazy because of the gas (Sarin attacks on the subway) and to the Hawaii members, "thanks for the lei." Now, this could be a bad translation or bad editing....but it just sounded bizarre. The Sarin attacks were horrible -- imagine how you would feel if you or your loved ones suffered through something like that. It just sounds like a very flip way to refer to them.


Someone else commented that Ikeda took off his own suit jacket at this meeting -- so all the men in the audience did too. The men's division and women's division sat separately in the auditorium, and the men's division was a sea of white shirts. The conformity is so striking.