@Freeheartandmind

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I remember when the Foster Ave. CC was opened, the CC was on Lawrence Ave

I didn't realize how pathetic SGI (then NSA) was until they closed down the Foster ave Kaikan and moved operations to an old run down mansion closer to the lake. Parking was an even bigger nightmare than over on Foster ave., and the members (myself included) spent weeks (months?) renovating the location so it would even be usable. Everything was run down, the bathrooms didn't work, the electricity was ancient.

I recall that before they purchased that "new" building months were spent collecting money for the "new kaikan" fund. When we were able to see the wreck of a building they bought the disappointment was palpable.

I recall the building was in the area of Hollywood avenue on the near north side. Before the "reveal" we were told by the leadership that it would be easier to get to from public transportation (which was a lie). As I said the building was a wreck when folks started using it. Many members wondered "where the heck did our money go? Surely NSA has more resources? It sounds like you practiced then and probably recall that fiasco. The area also was pretty shady and the Toban's would occasionally have to walk people to their cars as it was that bad. (And of course Toban's are trained security professionals too, eh?)

Anticult in a previous post a while back said that this was a typical part of the cult's moves. Purchase a piece of distressed property, let the members rennovate it and then add it to the cult portfolio. That is certainly what happened here. I got to where I hated to go to the city for activities because that property was so disreputable. I don't think anyone was expecting a "santa monica center" but they certainly weren't expecting a slum. Again I wonder what happened to all of the money, because they collected a LOT from the Chicago members then.

Years later, when I made the decision to resign my position and then later to return my Gohonzon, this was one (of many) reasons why. Believe me, as a Japanophile I was one of those "forgiving" people, but you just get to the point where your common sense is screaming in your ear "Don't do this any more".

Regarding whether we knew one another, we probably did. After I returned from Japan I bought a house on the south side of the city and attended meetings at the Jeffery district for a couple years. I knew several leaders in that neck of the woods - but that was a long time ago indeed. After that I moved to the western suburbs and rarely got involved with the "city" activities except for the big ones.

Wakatta1



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2012 08:52PM by wakatta1.

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Freeheartandmind
"This drove me crazy when I was in SGI -- all the manufactured emotion. Leaders would mention some upcoming big meeting -- and everyone would start cheering. It was as if they'd pushed a button. All this excitement -- for what?"

AAO! AAO! AAO! We didn't even know what AAO meant, but it didn't stop us from screaming it with fanatic fervor. I HATED AAO, so fake for Americans. Manufactured emotion...you betcha.

What DOES AAO mean? It was a little before my time, I think. I remember about 12 years ago after a meeting, a men's division member recalling his fondness for the days of shouting AAO. He then shouted out AAO! AAO! at least 3 times. (With the fist pump in the air over his head) Those of us involved in the conversation and the others in the room just froze for a few seconds and then went back to our post - meeting scrambling and assimilation of self-help bullet points from the meeting. I can only imagine what our cartoon thought balloons read after the AAO demonstration. Probably a blank fog blocking the dissonance. AAO didn't work out of context without a lead in and done by a sole individual not on stage. I saw it for its weirdness and overblown artifice but stayed on course more or less, but like my examples earlier of dealing with manipulations from marketers on the telephone, perhaps I was mildly entertained by these antics.
Not a good reason to stay involved with a cult.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2012 08:48PM by rattyboy.

@rattyboy

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What DOES AAO mean?

I had always regarded it as sort of a "WA-SHOI - WA-SHOI" sort of a thing in which the participants of the group urge one another on with. I first heard it when I got to the US however, at the Soka Gakkai meetings I attended in Japan (1968 or so) I never heard it used, not even once.

Wakatta1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2012 08:50PM by wakatta1.

"Regarding whether we knew one another, we probably did. After I returned from Japan I bought a house on the south side of the city and attended meetings at the Jeffery district for a couple years. I knew several leaders in that neck of the woods - but that was a long time ago indeed. After that I moved to the western suburbs and rarely got involved with the "city" activities except for the big ones."

Wakatta1, I lived in the western suburbs for 25 years! One thing I have been wondering about is Mel Wright. I heard he got screwed over by SGI, but I never got the details. In NSA days, YWD had study meetings at his house with his wife, who was Japanese. I hear they divorced. Mr. Wright was a burly, cheerful fellow who did not power trip like the other "leaders". l am sorry that he did not get out before SGI worked him over.

You are right, all of this was so long ago, its amazing that I remember as many details as I do. I too was somewhat of a Japanophile back then, I immersed myself in all things Asian. After the pilgrimage in 1973, I kept up with my Japanese pen pals for years. I enjoyed the beauty, delicacy, and peacefulness of Japanese homes, gardens, and art. It was an exotic culture, especially for a Black girl from the south side of Chicago, and because of my attraction, I too was forgiving of the mean Japanese WD and abuse I suffered at the hands of the org.

It's nice to see you on the board.

I've seen salaried gakkai cult "leaders" talk about "spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti" (over and over again, to the point that it got quite old), relate slightly twisted and tweaked urban myths (with a gakkai cult related spin of course), and had to sit through a completely unsolicited Williams diatribe against christians and the virgin mother Mary once. (And what does this all say about the membership, too?)

You guys are definitely right in that they don't really value intelligence as a requisite quality in their senior leadership. The Japanese wd were always hungry for and impressed with native Japanese speaking senior leaders who could mesmerize their simple minds (in their native tongue) with esoterica picked here and there, from the gosho, etc.. I've even seen them extrude their venom towards younger new generation American salaried leaders (heavy kool-aid drinkers) who were dumb enough to try to lecture and treat them the same way they do all the rest of general (i.e., naive and gullible) membership. Some incredible dysfunctional dynamics going on all the way up the cult leadership ladder. The dysfunctional CEO at the top is, of course, the narcissistic (insecure), ego maniac, ultra-manipulator, messiah complex cult guru, Ikeda.

I mean let's face it, how bright can you really be if you willingly choose a human being like Ikeda as your master/mentor in life - especially in this information age, where ignorance is basically a personal choice.

Wakatta 1-"I had always regarded him as just a "lay leader" back in Japan"

Me too. Ikea worship was not a part of my practice back in the day.

I obtained Mel Wright info from the Taiten Yahoo group, and the Proud Black Buddhist site.

Wakatta 1: "SGI never valued leadership unless it was the brain-washed kool-aid drinking type."
Hitch: "You guys are definitely right in that they don't really value intelligence as a requisite quality in their senior leadership."



True and true. Thus the mediocre "leadership" that has landed the cult where it is today, a splintered ineffective delusional group of quasi-Buddhists.
Even as a teen I could see that most of the so-called "leaders" did not merit my respect and added nothing to my practice.



Hitch:"...how bright can you really be if you willingly choose a human being like Ikeda as your master/mentor in life..."



If this master, mentor, or whatever the heck Ikea is supposed to be worship had been promulgated when I was in I think I would have run for the hills. The whole idea of "enlightenment" being dependent on somebody else was contrary to my understanding that Buddhism was about finding and developing your own inner Buddha nature. How do current cult members resolve this discrepancy? Of course more experienced people can mentor folks in any endeavor, buy not somebody you have never met! It's crazy! It is so cultish, all cults revolve around personalities, not so much doctrine. I cannot see for the life of me how current members, particularly those who practiced back in NSA days, cannot see this. They don't want to see it, that would mean admitting to many years of living a lie. Not stupidity, but denial maybe?

@Hitch

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and had to sit through a completely unsolicited Williams diatribe against christians and the virgin mother Mary once

You reminded me of a speaker at a Headquarters meeting in the dim and distant past. In the middle of a riff about how singularly important NSA was, he made the comment that every great religious leader was killed by the people around them except for Nichiren. I hit <TILT!> and was sorely tempted to ask him about who exactly killed Shakyamuni (not to mention a raft of other inspired leaders) but since it was a big meeting I chickened out. The point being that besides being inept he was also ill informed. Now if we were sitting in my living room and he'd said it, that would have been one thing, but there were over a hundred people at that meeting and he was pretty high up (An american leader I might add). Another AAO moment :)

Of course, when that happens so often that it becomes the norm, it is so easy to just shake your head. The few times I dared to correct those over me, I just got "guidance" rather than them even admitting the error. Pretty sad, but I'm sure there have been a lot of people from the .org that ran into the same thing.

I did find that over at the Temple (near Chicago) the priests seemed to be more open to discussion, and of the times I spoke with them, they always seemed to respect questions rather than try to muzzle you and shut them down.

Wakatta1

That's an excellent way to put it, "muzzling questions and shutting you down." That's all I ever encountered my entire time in the cult gakkai (from salaried "leaders").

I chalked Williams' bizarre behavior up to his frustrations and obsessions in converting a christian nation over to the cult side.

**********

Another video, this one from a Japanese citizen who went "undercover" posing as a gakkai (cult) member to the Shinanomachi HQ area. It's all in Japanese, but you get a look as to the insular community the cult has created there and a sense of how people on the outside view and feel about it. The comments section is also very revealing.

The video takes you from the station, to the official cult bookstore, cafe shops, "You Are Here" directory board and then around to different cult buildings. Photos of cult colored paraphernalia include, a hand fan, cult colors (red, yellow & blue) on display to identify cult friendly businesses, and cult sweet cakes wrapped in special cult paper served alongside some coffee/tea.

Video also mentions that there was a lot of "CONGRATULATIONS!!" going on (in the cult, they like to congratulate you for everything, in this case probably for making the trip and visiting cult land), inquiries about were you are from/details and "please come back soon", etc.. There's also advice to people who may venture into the area, if they run into trouble (i.e., harassment or being followed) to call the police (but you do need to be aware that calling the police can also be luck of the draw as to whether you get a cult-friendly police officer or a cult-neutral one).

Some of the comments go on to mention how creepy it must have been for him to venture there and how much courage it took to do it.

[www.youtube.com]

When you are a member, especially a non-Japanese speaking one, all of this kind of stuff just flies right over your head. There is, however, a palpable sense of distrust, ingratiating falseness and oppressive authority vaguely floating in the air everywhere in the cult HQ area. All Japanese non-cult members feel it and so will you once you become cognizant of it. I'd say it's the equivalent to walking around a Scientology community in America. Just replace the bookstore with Hubbard books, the paraphernalia with Scientology logos and place Sea-Org security all around, you pretty much have the same effect.

The person who filmed it also states that he was scared, he felt it was dangerous and advises against going alone (only do it in a group). I'll admit, I've had too much experience with the cult to be too creeped out about it all, but if you don't know their ways, I can see how it can be scary. Most Japanese people feel the same - uneasy about the area. I've mentioned before, too, how even trying to get a taxi to the cult community can be a gamble - some will take you, others won't and some will even feign ignorance saying they don't know where it is or how to get there (which is an extremely lame excuse coming from a taxi driver. I'm not sure they could even get away with this now, because of the ubiquitous car navigation devices in the industry). The area, however, is generally avoided by your average Japanese citizen.

If you are a foreign member, visiting in a group, then it becomes like Cult-Disneyland, groups of members are brought out to line up and applaud your arrival, with plastered smiles, bows, waving gakkai flags and handing out little trinkets of cult paraphernalia mementos. You might even be deceived into thinking that all of Japan is like this. It's a manufactured alternative cult reality that washes over you to make you feel good. You will be welcomed everywhere and even leave with a bag (or two) full of cult goodies (dear leader bookmarks, poetry cards, dear leader photograph post cards, advertisements, reading samples, etc.). Another bizarre aspect to take note of, if you are aware of it, is how super "UP" everybody is (again, just like Disneyland). "CONGRATULATIONS!!" If you are a heavy kool-aid drinker, you may even convince yourself that it is because everybody "practices" and has sensei in their heart. Well, ironically, that, in a way, is true. I would also like to add, however, that once on the inside, especially as a private member (not part of an expected visiting travel group), you will see stern faced soka-han ($oka police force) with earpieces standing guard over all floor access points (stairs, elevators, especially staff offices) - it's a bit reminiscent of the secret service guarding the President.

I advise serious International members to check it out sometime and see for yourself. You may think your eyes are open, but can you really see? You are part of a filthy rich International pseudo-buddhist cult of the dear leader personality that has spread abroad. It reached its saturation point a long time ago in America (the flame ignited in the hippie 60's, blossomed in the New Age 70's, before blazing out in a spectacular self-destructive fireworks display in the 80's, followed shortly thereafter by a schizophrenic meltdown in the 90's. What you have now is a lost regrouping, IMO. With Ikeda on the way out, they may even be trying to eventually shed the "Dear Leader" mentality stigmata that has plagued them. How they can omit the center of gravity and not spin out of control remains to be seen.), but it is spreading like wildfire in other nations with acutely susceptible societal structures (e.g., Brazil, India, Italy - Vatican anyone?, etc.).

Inform yourself and think for yourself. This mb is the best place on the web to start.