Come and work your posterior off, for Cousin Rufus! Free labor for the billionaire's pseudo-buddhist cult, including toilet cleaning (I kid you not). Take a look here [www.youtube.com]. These are some of the people whom I really feel sorry for, just look at them working their tail off and for what? To line Ikeda's pockets and help his cult grow.

There are even members in the motherland who take multiple subscriptions of the cult org.'s propaganda newspaper(s), because the gakkai needs the "support"/the money/ the numbers, etc.. Once again, I kid you not. Just as a random side thought, how many of you have ever set foot in the $oka Tokyo Fuji Art Museum? [www.fujibi.or.jp] / [www.daisakuikeda.org]. If you never have, once you do, your eyes will open even further as to the sheer moolah that this cult org. has dripping out of its pockets. This is one the billionaire dear leader's little hobbies, nothing more. It beggars belief how anyone could even posit such ignorant nonsense that the gakkai needs your "help" as a member. The financial resources of this cult are simply staggering. Once again, the information about this cult is out there, all one needs to do is go to it and inform themselves.

All of which makes the above clip all the more despicable to see. (For the record, I've walked in their shoes and contributed bucket loads of sweat for the dear phantom leader and cousin rufus, unfortunately. I know exactly what's going on in that video. Towards the end, it even looks like the Ikeda Auditorium in Santa Monica, right down to the toilets. Other portions look like SGI cult plaza across the street, too. It brings back some long forgotten memories to see a new generation of "YOUTH!" huddling around a "leader" dispensing orders, pointing around, people mouthing the word "HAI!" ("Yes Sir/Maam!", in Japanese), etc.. Since the clip only shows happy smiles all around, I'm sure they had to edit out all of the shouting, getting yelled at and other not suitable for "G" audiences material while compiling it.) Take note of what they get at the end of the clip: a "Happy Valentine's Day!" from the charismatic, genius cult org. general director, Nagashima. That's it. Yep, that's exactly what I remember from my time "in", too.

Hitch: "Oh, hell yeah! The broken grammatical sentences, the inhaling air thru the teeth habit, the bowing (even when talking on the phone), the chop-chop hand gesture to excuse yourself when cutting thru a crowd of people, the change in pronunciation of certain words, etc., all coming from caucasian native speakers, too. It was a combination of bizarre, hilarious and disturbing to witness."

It wasn't just Caucasians making fools of themselves doing this, although it seems that Caucasian cult members took the "Asian" part of Caucasian too seriously. It was pretty funny to see and hear folks with southern, New York, Boston, and other regional accents using butchered Japanese. Chanting and gongyo used to crack me up sometimes hearing the various accents spouting rapid-fire Japanese. It was indeed bizarre and hilarious.

A little ways upthread I asked why people have stayed in NSA/SGI for 40 years. I was questioning my inability to drink kool-aid for extended periods as perhaps being a flaw. Shortly thereafter, I came across an article that addressed this question quite well. Just replace the term "abusive churches" with "cult NSA/SGI" and the resemblance is uncanny. I have included the link to the entire article, along with selected parts.


http://counterthought.org/why-stay-in-an-abusive-church/
I was recently asked why people stay in abusive churches, not only refusing to leave, but actively defending the system, even when there is overwhelming evidence of hypocrisy, deception and unethical behaviors. A variety of factors combine to produce this state, and while motives can be complex, they generally revolve around the fear of losing connection with the community. Instinctively, most people prefer the familiarity of an unhealthy community to abandonment by the community. Better to belong to something, even if it’s bad, than to be alone.
The threat of being ostracized hangs over every part of abusive church systems.
Why is this drive so strong? Why is being alone so terrifying? There might be many reasons, but the one that dominates my experience can be seen by examining what causes members of an abusive church their greatest anxiety. Having spent many years in a church where the pastors understood how to push all the right buttons to keep people in line, I’ve had considerable opportunity to observe abuse at its most subtle and its most effective.
People work incredibly hard for the smallest pat on the back, in the form of some sort of public mention or a title or a small, inexpensive thank you gift. Anything to feel that our efforts were noticed. We see it as an acknowledgement that we have earned a position in the organization. We belong to something bigger than ourselves.

Conversely, we are terrified of what might happen if we do not perform well enough or if we make a mistake. Someone else might replace us and we will suddenly be on the outside looking in. We can’t conceive of not being part of the group. Our sense of who we are becomes so enmeshed in the organization that being kicked out would confirm our worst fears that we might not have much value. No identity and no connection. Alone and forgotten.

It’s not hard to manipulate such people.

Add to that a steady diet of sermons about obeying leaders and submitting to authority if you don’t want God to be displeased with you, and the result will be a loyal, devoted fanatic, for whom no amount of rational argument will be adequate to break the hold of the abusive system. They will defend the pastor and the church against all comers. Note the reaction of Creflo Dollar’s congregation as detailed in Part 13 of this series. The facts of the case don’t matter.

An unhealthy community thrives on hierarchical control that forces its members into subservient roles—for the good of the organization, not the good of the members within the organization.

It is in our nature to seek community, but it is also in our nature to seek individuality within the community. We must express our unique identity to ever find genuine contentment. Express yourself in an abusive community, however, and they won’t allow you to hang around. You are a threat to the power structure. Until you start questioning the authority, you might never see the overt hostility. Question leaders, however, and you are guaranteed to see it firsthand. Abusive leaders never react nicely.

Where you fit into this dynamic says a lot about you. People stay in abusive systems because the desire for community has overwhelmed all other needs. Fear of abandonment has obscured the necessity for individual expression. Fear of not being good enough has twisted commitment to the community into a self-destructive duty, devoid of personal fulfillment or satisfaction.

Why do people stay in abusive churches? Because they have been taught that disapproval by the church or by the leadership equals rejection by God. And if you’re rejected by God, where can you go? That kind of fear is not easily overcome.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 01:37AM by Freeheartandmind.

You can literally hear the ridiculous Stanlist-style musical propaganda.
At the same time, other links show SGI using "rock" music to ensnare the young, but its the same strategy.

Is SGI illegally using current bands music to promote SGI?
Is SGI violating the rights of those bands, by stealing their music for propaganda?
Do they have permission to use that music, or not?

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Hitch

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[www.youtube.com] - Malaysia
[www.youtube.com] - Brazil
[www.youtube.com] - America (brainwashing the young)
[www.youtube.com] - The Original, in Japan (Pay particular attention to the English lyrics and the dear leader's attire, which is also emulated in the Malaysia and Brazil clips above).

Just wanted to add this clip to the above post -

[www.youtube.com]

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Freeheartandmind
It was pretty funny to see and hear folks with southern, New York, Boston, and other regional accents using butchered Japanese. Chanting and gongyo used to crack me up sometimes hearing the various accents spouting rapid-fire Japanese.

You know, I had pretty much forgotten, but you've brought the memories back for me all over again. I sometimes busted a gut over the weird rhythms you'd hear and the hilarious mispronunciation of some of the words. With some members, you couldn't even recognize it as "gongyo", because it was so completely butchered.

Another thing, related to your next comment below (and this always set my skeptical alarms gently chiming) was when they appointed these kinds of individuals into leadership positions. I remember one appointed "leader" who got up and kept pronouncing the dear leader's name with a long "i" and long "e" (as in the American pronunciation of the Swedish "Ikea" store). Of course, he was quickly corrected privately, but he still sometimes persisted in mispronouncing it (causing some members to physically wince whenever it happened, because any perceived slight of the dear leader was an unwritten "no-no" in the cult org.).

(Random thought: if I had to re-infiltrate (a part of me wants to do this, with a hidden camera) the cult org. undercover, I can still fake a pretty mean and impressive gongyo / daimoku. I'd have to be paid a lot of money to do it, though.)

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freeheartandmind
A little ways upthread I asked why people have stayed in NSA/SGI for 40 years. I was questioning my inability to drink kool-aid for extended periods as perhaps being a flaw. Shortly thereafter, I came across an article that addressed this question quite well. Just replace the term "abusive churches" with "cult NSA/SGI" and the resemblance is uncanny. I have included the link to the entire article, along with selected parts.

Being skeptical is always the way to go. Looking back, I can see that it was my inherent skepticism that kept me somewhat shielded from the manipulation and fear mongering. I never really felt the "need" to belong, but I did feel the "need" for my hardcore gakkai kamikaze parent's acceptance, especially when I was very young. As I got older, it turned into an "obligation" to practice, as I slowly began rejecting the cult belief system.

As a novice skeptical teen, I remember actually "testing" their claims just to see if what they were saying was true. I'd miss gongyo for a day, just to see what would happen. Nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. Then, I'd go on to skip a few days more, eventually a week, or a month. Same result, no major accidents, no trees falling on me, no lightning bolts from the sky. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. They'd say it was because of accumulated fortune, but it would eventually be used up. By then, my skeptical alarms were starting to "ding" even louder. My missing gongyo eventually became confrontational questioning and criticizing, which they even started to label as official "slander." Again, nothing ever happened (although I'm sure some of them wanted it to). It never has and my life just kept getting better and happier the farther away I got from the cult's dysfunctional organization, attempted mind control and manipulation. And oh yeah, during my confrontational stage, I bumped heads with many so-called "leaders" big and small. This part of your posted article:

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"Express yourself in an abusive community, however, and they won’t allow you to hang around. You are a threat to the power structure. Until you start questioning the authority, you might never see the overt hostility. Question leaders, however, and you are guaranteed to see it firsthand. Abusive leaders never react nicely."

..... is absolutely 100% correct. If any of those current or ex so-called "leaders" ever come forward and join this mb, I'll gladly name names, give examples and specific details. "Abusive" leaders, yep, there were many, and some are still there and have moved up to even higher positions. For a so-called peaceful, humanistic, religious organization filled with "bodhisattvas of the Earth", I saw a lot of sick and hypocritical behavior from the leadership.

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The Anticult
SGI-USA is a bad joke, but with billions invested and in assets, SGI is a giant financial corporation.

Perfect summation. SGI-USA is full of nothing but a bunch of empty-heads (Nagashima at the top) and it's like watching a bad "Saturday Night Live" parody of a cult skit that practically writes itself. Sometimes reality is much better entertainment than fiction.

Interesting link & website there freeheartandmind. I found another portion from it that perfectly sums up the abusive gakkai cult leaders that I saw when I was a ymd:

"• Abusers are more interested in control than in healthy relationships. Abuse is about power. Physical retaliation for a perceived lack of respect is a very common reaction. Abusers are convinced that their victims are there to fulfill the abuser’s purposes. Any time a victim resists or sets a boundary of any kind, the abuser genuinely believes something has been stolen from him. He will react. That Dollar would use force in the way he did is typical of abusive families. Choking your child is not appropriate discipline, biblically or otherwise, but it insures that everyone in the room knows who is the boss with all the power. Abuse is designed to restore everyone to his or her proper place in the abuser’s world."

This describes not only the incident that Nichijew witnessed with McCloskey, but many of the things that I witnessed with Gelbaum yelling at people and I myself even experienced multiple (bizarre for me, at the time) psycho reactions from an insecure transplanted Japanese-American ymd "leader." In particular, the bolded portions are right on target.

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The Anticult
Sadly SGI will be around for decades more, they just have too many billions in cash stashed away.
the Wife and Son will legally take over, as they will hold the financial purse strings through the Wills, and the like.
SGI is simply a giant private family business corporation.

I agree with this. The USA branch is just like a badly run subsidiary.

One glance of this, ...

---

Website: [www.sgi-usa.org]

"The SGI-USA Board of Directors oversees the corporate functions of the SGI-USA, which include managing the finances and assets of the organization. There are currently ten directors. Directors serve a three-year staggered term and are eligible for reelection.

Marylou Berk
Currently Senior Vice President, Commercial Real Estate at the Lefrak Organization in New York, NY. Ms. Berk has many years of experience in real estate and project development and management in the U.S. and globally.

Daniel Habuki
President of Soka University of America. Dr. Habuki is also a university professor with an M.A. in economics and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics.

Tariq Hasan
Tariq Hasan is Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer of SGI-USA. Mr. Hasan joined the staff of SGI-USA in a professional capacity in 2008 after many years in senior management with a major telecommunications company.

Clothilde Hewlett
Ms. Hewlett is an attorney and partner at the law firm of Nossaman, LLP, with a focus on assisting private sector companies and tax-exempt organizations. Ms. Hewlett was previously a partner at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, LLP. Prior to joining K&L/Gates, she served as the California undersecretary of state and consumer services agency and interim director of the department of general services.

Guy McCloskey
An SGI-USA staff member from 1968 until his retirement in 2010, Mr. McCloskey served in multiple management capacities and has extensive knowledge of and experience with the SGI-USA as both an organization and a corporation.

Danny Nagashima
Danny Nagashima is President of the SGI-USA corporation and General Director of the SGI-USA organization. Since joining the SGI-USA staff in 1983, Mr. Nagashima has worked in various offices around the country.

Gene Marie O'Connell
Ms. O'Connell was Chief Executive Officer of the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center from 1998-2009, and served in a variety of capacities at the hospital prior to that since joining the hospital staff in 1984. She was chair of the National Association of Public Hospitals and a member of both the San Francisco Hospital Council and the San Francisco Health Plan Board and its finance committee.

Jean Rosenberg
Currently Director of Meetings, Marketing and Membership at the American Society of Plant Biologists, Ms. Rosenberg has done extensive consulting and work in the fields of human resource development, membership development, and global event management. Ms. Rosenberg was also appointed to a 4 year term on the board of Tourisme Montreal, where she will serve as an advisor on customer-focused programs and services.

David Welch
Mr. Welch is an attorney with extensive experience in California State Courts and in diverse areas of law, including civil and business litigation, personal injury, criminal and bankruptcy.

Gregg Wolpert
A New York City real estate industry executive for the past 25 years, Mr. Wolpert is co-president of The Stahl Organization, a New York-based conglomerate with extensive real estate, banking, construction and other equity interests. Prior to joining Stahl, he pioneered the development of analytical computer software used in real estate analysis and building management.

---

... and you pretty much have all you need to know about the cult's USA branch's function and intended purpose. Real estate, Cult University expansion, public relations, finance management, investments, portfolios, legal cover, etc.. Everything else is just tax-exempt religious cover and membership manipulation to put on a good show. Eastern philosophy, nichiren buddhism, the magic chant, it's all (again, in the words of Anti-Cult) bait, a lure, a hook, to get people on board to ensure that the show goes on and that the family corporation (power, money and influence in the motherland) continues. International expansion is icing on the cake, when it works out well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 09:49AM by Hitch.

Brilliant Hitch. I was going to put that up on the forum tonight.

Look behind the facade and it's business as usual.


Normal organizations don't hound you if you leave. Normal organizations show how their money is spent. Normal organizations don't attempt to steal every bit of your time. In normal organizations if you were to put too much effort towards a project or task, they would ask you to slow down, out of concern. In the SGI cult, you are patted on the back and told to work harder.

Why is this so difficult to figure out? Mind control.

Once you break free of the tentacles of the Soka Gakkai, you can then , through your experiences warn others and participate in being on the right side of history.




Considering that this forum thread gets so many hits, thousands more since the last time that I mentioned the tally, it's clear that many members have concerns about the SGI cult. In fact, I imagine that many members struggle with the organization and carry on a running internal battle between staying and leaving.

What's more, the SGI cult leaders know this.



I hope that people who observe this site, personalize this information and see the SGI through the lens of critical observation. It's clear that many of us are taking up the mantle of concern for those who are still being used by the Cult.

Think about the fact that you are in auto pilot mode when participating within the SGI cult activities. It always shocked me to see groups of SGI members go through routines in such a manufactured way. Notice that your life is running on a false script that is set out for you.

It must be scary to think what to do without the cult, but frankly, you should take that fear and aim it at the SGI cult. You should be fearing an organization that works to take from you and offers up an artificial universe in which you have no actual say.

The heiarchial structure was no accident. They built that to get you woven into the organization. Everything about the SGI cult is to snare and entrap you.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 10:14AM by Upgrayed.

Nichiren stated: "I, Nichiren, am not the founder of any school." Yet all we hear from SGI is, the founders this and the founders that, Ikeda this and Ikeda that, and SGI this and SGI that. Nichiren so stated because Shakyamuni Buddha is the founder of Buddhism and there was never meant to be various schools or a myriad of founders.

Shakyamuni Buddha taught, "Be a lamp unto yourself" and on his death bed, "Let the Dharma [Law or teachings] be your teacher." Nichiren in accord with the Buddha stated, "Follow the Law and not the person." Only by familiarizing oneself with the Law and the teachings, can we protect ourselves from unscrupulous men such as Ikeda who would, for example, machinate to copywrite the Law for his own self serving interests. This historical fact alone should awaken all SGI members to the true nature of Daisaku ikeda and the Soka Gakkai. Attempting to force people to rely on him and the Soka Gakkai, rather than the Law, he has gone against everything the Buddha and Nichiren ever taught.

Nichijew



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 01:37PM by Nichijew.

Daisaku Ikeda has shackled his disciples to himself like a sick siamese twin who will eventually end up killing both himself and his
healthy sibling. SGI members are weak of mind and lame of practice. They should immediately wake up from their nightmare that is Daisaku ikeda and the Soka Gakkai and embrace the teachings of the Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin.

Nichijew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/13/2012 01:47PM by Nichijew.