Thank you, everyone, for your posts on this site. I left SGI two years ago and went through a deep depression. Reading your posts helped me sort through what I was feeling and helped me see what was real. Soon, I will post my story on this site. I want to share with you what I went through so that, maybe, my story will help someone else deprogram and heal from their destructive experiences with SGI. I am also going to post a blog. Shakabuku means: to correct erroneous teaching. Well, I'm about to do just that.

Thank you for sharing even this much Cultfree. The postings from new visitors to this forum are especially helpful in providing yet more reminders of what I already know. The programming runs deep so it always helps to hear what someone else went through.

Another glimpse into the true nature (the other face) of the cult org. in its motherland. Entire clip in Japanese of course, but you can easily get the crux of what is happening:

[www.youtube.com]

A group of protestors (anti-$oka Gakkai Cult - komeito - dear leader Ikeda, etc.) is harassed by a couple of beefy (actually, fat) gakkai members. The protestors do not back down, nor are they intimidated, even when the police arrive. The so-called buddhists and world peace loving gakkai cult members get right up into the protestors' faces, in some instances only inches away, neither party giving an inch. The protestors at one point even throw the mystical magic chant (NMRK) back at the gakkai thugs, which seems to make them even crazier.

You see, in the warped mind of the brainwashed gakkai cult members, they are making a good cause, creating fortune, changing karma and creating justice by confronting the protestors on behalf of their dear leader and cousin rufus. Standing up to a larger group of anti-gakkai protestors, out-numbered, earns these YMD Ikeda thugs brownie points and medals within the cult org. (promotion, power, trust, influence, deeper interpersonal acceptance, etc.).

This is how hardcore brainwashed gakkai cult members behave when confronted and especially challenged. This is with a group of "outsiders", so just think how it can also be for so-called true believer "members" on the inside, unfortunately.

$oka Gakkai = an abusive, two-faced, cult org..

The following is an excerpt from "The Blinding and Binding Teachings of Bill Gothard", book review by Paul Sue. Bill Gothard is an extremist evangelical Christian, and his followers worship him the same way $GI worships the dear leader Ikea. Just change the Christian references to Buddhist and the shoe fits...

"The authors go on to list other reasons why people refuse to leave an authoritarian or abusive group, even when the evidence is overwhelming:

they've invested too much (time, money, effort, emotion) in the group and are afraid to leave
fear of ridicule from others; fear that if they were wrong about the group, then they have wasted their lives (p. 321)
fear of catastrophic events if they were to leave the protective umbrella of the group; they've been brainwashed into believing that the chain of authority to God goes through their leader (the "fortress/remnant" mentality)
the people in the group seem so nice
afraid of being shunned by family and friends, most of whom are in the group (usually people who join authoritarian groups tend to be isolationists)
afraid of being cut off from God

This book is an important read for all Christians, serving as an warning against legalism, authoritarianism and blind submission to fallible leaders. Furthermore, the book underscores the pressing need for all Christians to be more discerning in an age of biblical illiteracy, theological confusion, and false substitutes for the biblical gospel. It's not entirely Gothard's fault though. Church leaders have failed to train Christians to be discerning, by giving them the tools to help them understand the Scriptures for themselves. As I've stated elsewhere many times, present church structures help facilitate an unhealthy view of authority and spiritual dependence.

Then too, Christians themselves are partly to blame:

fascination with novelty (WWJD, Prayer of Jabez or whatever is the latest bestseller or fad)
laziness (why study the Bible when you can just follow a few "basic life principles")
superstition (Cabbage Patch dolls are evil; Proctor & Gamble are satanic)
sentimentalism (more influenced by Touched By An Angel and Chicken Soup for the Soul than Paul or John)
moralism ("let's clean up our nation for God!")
desire for a strong authority figure to give moral guidance and sense of security in our wicked society
attraction to the personality cult (looking for charisma not Christ)"

Another particularly relevant except from the aforementioned article:

"Furthermore, Gothard's strategy is to ignore your questions and concerns and counterattack instead:

Critical questions are not answered in a reasoned fashion. Rather, the response is crafted in such a way as to suggest that questioning itself indicates a rebellious spirit. To question "God's appointed man" is tantamount to questioning God. This mindset is very difficult to overcome. (p. 316)"

This is $GI exactly..numerous posters to this site have recounted how after asking questions, they became the problem. Big, big red flag.

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Hitch

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Shavoy
Oh, man. How creepy it's all become. All the more reason why SGI will not get the numbers for KR they say they aspire to in the USA. If anything, it causes people to run for the hills in creep-out. What? More Rev. Moon stuff? No thank you!

As it's been stated on this thread, they must not really care at all if KR ever actualizes. They truly must not.

I think the cult org. went completely off the rails with the priesthood breakup and has long since lost all connection with reality. It truly is bizarre.

Insight I've gathered through this thread shows that the seeds for Ikeda worship have been there for eons, even before the priesthood debacle. When the break happened, it created the fruition of Ikeda as Numero Uno in earnest.
I believe that the main reason Mr. Williams was shown the door was that you can't have more than one Master Chef in the kitchen. Mr. Ikeda saw how popular George was and could not have it for another second.

I remember reading in the last few years an experience from a YMD who attended said conference at the FNCC. He was really struggling with the issue of taking P.I. as his Mentor in Life. It dogged him the entire conference. But, in the end, he reported a victorious breakthrough. He could, indeed, take the Man as his Mentor! You could not help but sense, that underneath, his heart was giving him the pings of doubt, but he had to turn off those pings with all his might...

In the end of his experience, I could still hear those pings loud and clear, victory or not. And it was sad.

Welcome to CultFreeinVegas! Looking forward to hear from you.

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Shavoy
Insight I've gathered through this thread shows that the seeds for Ikeda worship have been there for eons, even before the priesthood debacle. When the break happened, it created the fruition of Ikeda as Numero Uno in earnest.
I believe that the main reason Mr. Williams was shown the door was that you can't have more than one Master Chef in the kitchen. Mr. Ikeda saw how popular George was and could not have it for another second.

I agree, the Ikeda worship was always there, but it was kind of kept on a leash inside the cult org. and kept in a box to outsiders. The priesthood schism seems to have led to the unboxing and unleashing as an act of desperation.

Having encountered both, IMO, Williams (Sadanaga) had more of that undefinable "charisma" than The Dear Leader did. I think that was a factor. I also think that Williams' padding the numbers game and the inevitable decline of the membership that followed, was another factor. I equate the 1980's and the cult org. in the U.S.A. to be like a pyrotechnic flameout display of self-destruction. The priesthood debacle that followed, was another self-inflicted wound to the cult org. overall.

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Shavoy
I remember reading in the last few years an experience from a YMD who attended said conference at the FNCC. He was really struggling with the issue of taking P.I. as his Mentor in Life. It dogged him the entire conference. But, in the end, he reported a victorious breakthrough. He could, indeed, take the Man as his Mentor! You could not help but sense, that underneath, his heart was giving him the pings of doubt, but he had to turn off those pings with all his might...

In the end of his experience, I could still hear those pings loud and clear, victory or not. And it was sad.

Members cannot see the FNCC for what it really is - A Cult Retreat, for focused thought reform. This is because they are viewing it from the inside, out. Their thoughts about *what* it is have been defined and framed entirely by the cult org.. Based on some posts on this thread (from those who have gone) and what I've picked up from the grapevine from others who have attended, there are somethings that are causing some people to begin to hear that "knocking" on the door, requesting that Mr. Critical Thinking come out to talk. Some actually engage it, but others compartmentalize it and shut the door again.

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Freeheartandmind
This is $GI exactly..numerous posters to this site have recounted how after asking questions, they became the problem. Big, big red flag.

Absolutely.

"To make a contented slave it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken the moral and mental vision and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason." - Ch. 10, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave (1845)."

It is always necessary to control what people (members) see, think and hear. (Again, hence, The FNCC.) Real, non-compartmentalized, critical thinking is a form of sedition within a cult org.. It's dangerous and actively discouraged (it definitely was for me, going through the initial throes of starting to disconnect myself from the cult org., back in the 1980's). The cult org.'s discouragement and forbidding of it, only encouraged me to pursue it with more fervor.

When my senior "leaders", even salaried ones, would visibly start to squirm when confronted with critical thinking, or worse yet, be entirely baffled by it, flustered and lost - I *KNEW* something was up. Thereafter, it was only a matter of time before I reached the exit door.


- Hitch

For current cult members who may be reading this mb:

(It is advisable to watch in the order presented.)

1. [www.youtube.com] (Especially ~ 6:18 min. mark)

2. FNCC WD [www.youtube.com] / [www.youtube.com]

3. FNCC YWD [www.youtube.com]

4. FNCCC MD [www.youtube.com] (More on The Dear Leader Museum & Memorabilia at 2:30 min. mark.)

5. FNCC YMD [www.youtube.com] (HI! Salaried Cult Leader ETHAN GELBAUM!!! 2:52 min. mark. At his current age, he still holds the microphone like a good trained YMD monkey should.) / [www.youtube.com]

6. And finally, [www.youtube.com], sing Forever Dear Leader.

********

Honestly, the cult org. shouldn't allow filming at The Cult Retreat. Hmmm, but if they "officially" forbid it, that might be going a step too far, it might set off even more skeptical alarms to begin clanging. It's always a delicate line for the gakkai cult to try to navigate.

IMO, the above FNCC clips, are beyond pathetic.

For those who may be groping for a way out, please don't feel bad. We've all walked in your shoes, followed the same path out and had to painfully remove the bamboozling blindfold. If any part of you is receptive to what you are reading on this mb, there is always hope that you will break the bonds and exit. It gets harder though, the longer you've been under the spell. Take the power away from the charlatans and back into your own hands. In doing so, also post here and share your own stories, to help others.

Welcome to all the new board members. I look forward to hearing your stories, too.

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Hitch
For current cult members who may be reading this mb:

(It is advisable to watch in the order presented.)

1. [www.youtube.com] (Especially ~ 6:18 min. mark)

2. FNCC WD [www.youtube.com] / [www.youtube.com]

3. FNCC YWD [www.youtube.com]

4. FNCCC MD [www.youtube.com] (More on The Dear Leader Museum & Memorabilia at 2:30 min. mark.)

5. FNCC YMD [www.youtube.com] (HI! Salaried Cult Leader ETHAN GELBAUM!!! 2:52 min. mark. At his current age, he still holds the microphone like a good trained YMD monkey should.) / [www.youtube.com]

6. And finally, [www.youtube.com], sing Forever Dear Leader.

********

Honestly, the cult org. shouldn't allow filming at The Cult Retreat. Hmmm, but if they "officially" forbid it, that might be going a step too far, it might set off even more skeptical alarms to begin clanging. It's always a delicate line for the gakkai cult to try to navigate.

IMO, the above FNCC clips, are beyond pathetic.

For those who may be groping for a way out, please don't feel bad. We've all walked in your shoes, followed the same path out and had to painfully remove the bamboozling blindfold. If any part of you is receptive to what you are reading on this mb, there is always hope that you will break the bonds and exit. It gets harder though, the longer you've been under the spell. Take the power away from the charlatans and back into your own hands. In doing so, also post here and share your own stories, to help others.

Welcome to all the new board members. I look forward to hearing your stories, too.

Hitch, your reply to my post where you talk about compartmentalization fits right in with what you are saying above. It is hard to relinquish the thought processes, and compartmentalization is one way unsure members try to cope, to rationalize, to keep that inner cheerleader cheering that it's All Good!


I was a bit surprised to read in these most recent posts that excursions outside the FNCC are discouraged, unless they are already sanctioned. Ohhhhhh, boy. A whole new level of creep.

Anyone viewing the clips from the FNCC who has a free-thinking mind---once again, it ain't gonna add to the SGI Rosters. You're right, it's desperation.

Here's to critical thinking and being true to oneself!