Quote
Hitch
I've imagined myself happening across this $GI "buddhist" "organization" as a full thinking adult, in this present day and age ...

If I encountered this [www.youtube.com] type of individual and this type of "activity" [www.youtube.com] as part of someone I met at an event that I was invited to, I'm pretty sure my "cult" alarm bells would be sounding off.

Quintessential "Cult" material.

- Hitch

Talk about superstition...the first video was pointless. Who wants to see this lady doing gongyo (the title is misleading), and with her rhythm (or lack thereof), she would have driven me crazy if I sat next to her at a meeting. The short gongyo seems less reverent, not that it matters. And the second video...I'm 57 years old and not about to act like a fool, not for cousin rufus (or anything else for that matter!).

If I were still in, I would have 40 years practicing, what a terrible thought (I was a "YOUTH!" member, as Hitch puts it). To waste your life like this. Happier out than in? Hell yeah! In cult life, you live with a millstone around your neck but the brainwashing makes you believe the millstone is "privilege" and "benefit"! Thank you so much Hitch for continuing to post these ridiculous videos, which make me grateful every day that my mind and heart are indeed free. Just hang in there, those of you starting your journey out of $GI's clutches. We are here to support you in any way that we can.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2012 03:45AM by Freeheartandmind.

Quote
Hitch
From the perspective of the $GI cult org., once you join and receive a gohonzon (scroll / mandala), you are a "member" forever - period. To them, there are different kinds of "members":

1. Active Members (believers, participating, the whole nine-yards)
2. Inactive Members (quasi-believers, no longer participating, also referred to as "sleeping" members --> i.e., the kind that can potentially be brought back to "active" status)
3. Taiten Members (no longer believers, have left permanently and not likely to ever return or be welcome back - depending on their "offence" --> i.e., returning vs. ripping up / destroying your gohonzon, etc.).

There is probably a fourth category nowadays ...

4. Ex-communicated members (non-believers of Ikedaism who caused too much trouble, who have abandoned the "One True Way" for "inferior" buddhist sects).

It doesn't matter what The Cult Org. says or thinks. As mentioned before, their "authority" is all smoke and mirrors, a figment of their imagination, and yours - if you let it be.

AntiCult is correct, all that matters is what you decide.

I am a taiten "member". HA!, LMAO, all of that. It's not just Forever Sensei, apparently.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2012 03:46AM by Freeheartandmind.

Quote
ScoobyDooby
Absolutely key for me - my kids "fortune babies" are starting to reject their mother's practice. I may have something to do with it although I have not overtly criticized to them. They are mostly questioning on their own.

This post is music to my ears and it brightens my heart to hear it. Keep up the good work "Scooby". Once you begin questioning, there is no end to it and it's the beginning of the end of the cult's hold. Someday, they will thank you for it.

- Hitch

Quote
Freeheartandmind

Quote
Hitch
I've imagined myself happening across this $GI "buddhist" "organization" as a full thinking adult, in this present day and age ...

If I encountered this [www.youtube.com] type of individual and this type of "activity" [www.youtube.com] as part of someone I met at an event that I was invited to, I'm pretty sure my "cult" alarm bells would be sounding off.

Quintessential "Cult" material.

- Hitch

Talk about superstition...the first video was pointless. Who wants to see this lady doing gongyo (the title is misleading), and with her rhythm (or lack thereof), she would have driven me crazy if I sat next to her at a meeting. The short gongyo seems less reverent, not that it matters. And the second video...I'm 57 years old and not about to act like a fool, not for cousin rufus (or anything else for that matter!).

If I were still in, I would have 40 years practicing, what a terrible thought (I was a "YOUTH!" member, as Hitch puts it). To waste your life like this. Happier out than in? Hell yeah! In cult life, you live with a millstone around your neck but the brainwashing makes you believe the millstone is "privilege" and "benefit"! Thank you so much Hitch for continuing to post these ridiculous videos, which make me grateful every day that my mind and heart are indeed free. Just hang in there, those of you starting your journey out of $GI's clutches. We are here to support you in any way that we can.

Oh believe you me, I danced around (all pun intended) how I should post that clip and what I should actually say about it. I decided on letting it speak for itself.

On the second one, the most hilarious part about it is when the dancers try to co-opt the photographer toward the end and you can hear him exclaiming "I'M FILMING, I'M FILMING!!" In other words, "no thank you."

Regarding the bolded, my feelings exactly. I actually first started to feel that way as a teen and more and more as a young adult. The endless hours of driving to and from literally stupid "YOUTH!" practices, listening to the asinine drivel of "leaders" (in retrospect, whose IQ's are seriously in question, btw) and the horrible mindless meetings / activities, all a glorious waste of time. This was one of the driving forces that helped propel me to exit door a little more quickly. I had slowly gotten to the point where I just couldn't tolerate it (even pretending) any more.

I've also had the same reaction as you, seeing so-called senior leaders (Ted Fujioka, Ethan Gelbaum, et al.) on various YouTube clips STILL up there, older, grayer and balder, acting like the same trained monkeys that they were from my time in. They haven't changed, not one tiny bit. What a sad waste, indeed. This is another side-effect to what the cult does to people's lives - it permanently regresses you, your intellect, your mind and your behavior. It my book, that's a crime.

- Hitch

Facebook Tribute page for George M. Williams (Sadanga) [www.facebook.com]. (Former N$A Cult Org. U.S.A. Boss, who went down in smoke because of Cult Politics & in-fighting.)

Take a look at this bizzare post on it from Nov. 8th -

---

"I remember Mr. Williams from 1973 when I attended a lecture he gave at the Seattle Center. At the time I had already joined Nichiren Shoshu and received remarkable health benefits.

When I first chanted the Daimoku to the Gohonzon at an NSA meeting, I chanted to be happy, and I became happier and happier as I chanted. I had had an out of body experience in the spring of 1970 and I saw my experience in the patterns of the Gohonzon so I had started by chanting for enlightenment :-) . I quickly realized that that might take a little longer. At that time I had glaucoma in my left eye and bleeding kidneys. I thought I would die within a year. My eye was very painful, so I chanted sincerely that if the Gohonzon would cure my eye, I would be a Buddhist for the rest of my life. Just when I thought I could not try any harder to focus and pray and say the words right, a stream of what looked like water shot out of the Gohonzon and hit me in the face! It dropped into my lap and bounced out in a number of streams that curved gracefully and dropped through the floor. I thought, "My Enlightenment!!! I've Lost it!!!" But then I realized that I could see clearly out of my left eye, and all the pain was gone. So later, when they asked for me to give $5 for the privilege of receiving my own Gohonzon, I gladly gave them my last $5 and filled out the application. I was very poor at that time.

About a month later, I had an opportunity to attend the lecture with Mr. Williams. I had been told to chant an hour a day for him to answer a question, any question I might have. I was still very discouraged about the difficulty of attending school as a starving college student, and though I wasn't seriously considering death as a way out, I chanted for an answer to the question "If I commit suicide will I be born into a better existence, now that I have encountered and worshiped the Gohonzon?" At the lecture hall I sat at least 100 feet away from the front of the crowd, but at one point, Mr. Williams looked directly into my eyes and without pausing in his lecture, said "If you want to die, it is very easy. I can show you how! But if you want to live, it requires great effort! If you go to sleep at night with a broken leg and it has not been set by a doctor, it will be worse when you wake up, if you wake up at all." This was very valuable for me. It showed me that there was great power to this Buddhism, and it helped me resolve to be more courageous.

I managed to attend many meetings that featured lectures by Mr. Williams in the subsequent years, and he found things to say that I needed to hear at many of those meetings. Once though, I was embarrassed about my thoughts and looked away. Later at that lecture, he told the crowd, "If I look into your eyes, don't look away... it is how I can tell what you need to hear!"

The last time I saw Mr. Williams was at an SGI meeting. The SGI had already broken their relationship to Nichiren Shoshu, and I was wondering what Mr. Williams thought about Nichiren Shoshu. I hoped to ask him that. I was in the front row and he walked toward me, he put out his hand but it was for the man next to me. I grabbed both hands as they shook. There was some foul odor, and Mr. Williams became angry. He turned and stormed out of the meeting hall. I still don't understand that.

Later I made the decision to honor my vow to be faithful to Nichiren Shoshu that I made when I received Gojukai, and I joined the Hokkekyo. I hope that Mr. Williams continues to progress in purifying and deepening his faith and practice. I would like to invite him to attend meetings with the Hokkekyo.
"

---

It's obvious to me that this is a good example as to the kind of psychopathology that exists in The Cult Org. amongst some of the membership, including some of those who have just moved into other sects.

Regarding the bolded portions - Can there be any doubt whatsoever that some people are just hallucinating and / or delusional, out of their minds?

It certainly is a bizarre Cult World out there, isn't it.


- Hitch

Quote
Hitch
Facebook Tribute page for George M. Williams (Sadanga) [www.facebook.com]. (Former N$A Cult Org. U.S.A. Boss, who went down in smoke because of Cult Politics & in-fighting.)

Take a look at this bizzare post on it from Nov. 8th -

---

"I remember Mr. Williams from 1973 when I attended a lecture he gave at the Seattle Center. At the time I had already joined Nichiren Shoshu and received remarkable health benefits.

When I first chanted the Daimoku to the Gohonzon at an NSA meeting, I chanted to be happy, and I became happier and happier as I chanted. I had had an out of body experience in the spring of 1970 and I saw my experience in the patterns of the Gohonzon so I had started by chanting for enlightenment :-) . I quickly realized that that might take a little longer. At that time I had glaucoma in my left eye and bleeding kidneys. I thought I would die within a year. My eye was very painful, so I chanted sincerely that if the Gohonzon would cure my eye, I would be a Buddhist for the rest of my life. Just when I thought I could not try any harder to focus and pray and say the words right, a stream of what looked like water shot out of the Gohonzon and hit me in the face! It dropped into my lap and bounced out in a number of streams that curved gracefully and dropped through the floor. I thought, "My Enlightenment!!! I've Lost it!!!" But then I realized that I could see clearly out of my left eye, and all the pain was gone. So later, when they asked for me to give $5 for the privilege of receiving my own Gohonzon, I gladly gave them my last $5 and filled out the application. I was very poor at that time.

About a month later, I had an opportunity to attend the lecture with Mr. Williams. I had been told to chant an hour a day for him to answer a question, any question I might have. I was still very discouraged about the difficulty of attending school as a starving college student, and though I wasn't seriously considering death as a way out, I chanted for an answer to the question "If I commit suicide will I be born into a better existence, now that I have encountered and worshiped the Gohonzon?" At the lecture hall I sat at least 100 feet away from the front of the crowd, but at one point, Mr. Williams looked directly into my eyes and without pausing in his lecture, said "If you want to die, it is very easy. I can show you how! But if you want to live, it requires great effort! If you go to sleep at night with a broken leg and it has not been set by a doctor, it will be worse when you wake up, if you wake up at all." This was very valuable for me. It showed me that there was great power to this Buddhism, and it helped me resolve to be more courageous.

I managed to attend many meetings that featured lectures by Mr. Williams in the subsequent years, and he found things to say that I needed to hear at many of those meetings. Once though, I was embarrassed about my thoughts and looked away. Later at that lecture, he told the crowd, "If I look into your eyes, don't look away... it is how I can tell what you need to hear!"

The last time I saw Mr. Williams was at an SGI meeting. The SGI had already broken their relationship to Nichiren Shoshu, and I was wondering what Mr. Williams thought about Nichiren Shoshu. I hoped to ask him that. I was in the front row and he walked toward me, he put out his hand but it was for the man next to me. I grabbed both hands as they shook. There was some foul odor, and Mr. Williams became angry. He turned and stormed out of the meeting hall. I still don't understand that.

Later I made the decision to honor my vow to be faithful to Nichiren Shoshu that I made when I received Gojukai, and I joined the Hokkekyo. I hope that Mr. Williams continues to progress in purifying and deepening his faith and practice. I would like to invite him to attend meetings with the Hokkekyo.
"

---

It's obvious to me that this is a good example as to the kind of psychopathology that exists in The Cult Org. amongst some of the membership, including some of those who have just moved into other sects.

Regarding the bolded portions - Can there be any doubt whatsoever that some people are just hallucinating and / or delusional, out of their minds?

It certainly is a bizarre Cult World out there, isn't it.


- Hitch

Cray-cray for sure.

That sounds like a SGI BRAZEN LIE, not just a delusion caused by drugs or mental-illness...

Why?

Because right after claiming their false bullshit non-miracle (that never happened) about the water spraying in the face and curing their disease in a Miracle Healing, they make the pitch for MONEY.
and to give YOUR LAST $5.

So its all about persuasion, to persuade you to GIVE SGI THE LAST MONEY YOU HAVE in the world.
Its for desperate people, and people who are sick.

As the next step is...if giving $5 to SGI is good, isn't $500 better?
If you want to cure your disease, then give SGI ALL your money, is the message.

The above is a self-conscious lie by the conmen at SGI. It stinks the same as countless other SCAMS out there, claiming fake-healing.
They all claim a fake-healing, and then demand cash in the same sentence.

SGI is a blatant scam for cash, and the above is more evidence.

Hello I have recently in the last 2 years left SGI after 10 years. I feel I may be of help to anyone leaving with my experience. For years I was very doubtful about the organisation and the mentor/disciple relationship with Mr Ikeda. I obviously never met the man but to me he had very little spiritual presence and looked and felt more like a Japanese business man. I have since taken refuge with a Tibetan Lama and my Buddhist studies continue. In SGI we were taught to look down on anyone in holy robes which I think was most damaging. I now have a relationship with a proper fully qualified spiritual master on a one to one basis. I spent many times at Trets in the south of France doing activities and I remember Mr Oramaki (can't remember his name something like this) who was caretaker asked us 'keibi' to burn a Gohonzon with no instruction on why or where it came from or any guidance on intention. I believe it was from someone who returned it to the organisation. This was a real eye opener. There used to be 2 Nattatsu(sorry for wrong spelling) 66th High Priest Gohonzons enshrined there until recently and replaced with SGI Gohonzons. I presume these were burned with mindless intention. Finally coping on and being brave enough to listen to my intuition I finally stopped all contact and meetings in SGI. One of the biggest jokes about the organisation was that my last district leader didn't even practice gongyo or diamoku but he was "great friends with the most experienced Buddhist in the country" his words. I have loads to say about my time in the organisation and will post again. I hope I've posted this in the right place can't seem to open a new thread. Bye for now my friends.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2012 12:00AM by Litchen.

Quote
The Anticult

Quote
Findingmywaytoday
I am sorry for my ignorance, but is one an SGI member as long as you have an SGI Gohonzon? I no longer attend meetings, and I am rarely called. I am connected to a district, but no one asks about coming to chant with me, so that is fine. Am I still a member, as long as I have a Gohonzon from the SGI?

SGI plays mind-games with their members.
They try to make people believe they are a "member" due to something like that.
You are a member, or a non-member, based on what YOU decide.

Some people might give their Gohonzon back, some might give it away, others might throw it away, its up to the freedom of the individual.

Some people who grew up in a religion, as an adult they may choose to reject it. They may choose to take all of the "official papers" for various religious rights, and then burn them, just as a symbolic gesture.

So its up to the individual to decide for themselves what they belong to, and what that means.

Don't let SGI mess with your mind...

This thread has over 233,000 views, and the thread was RESET a while back deleting massive amounts of views, I believe. So there are very large amounts of people looking for some critical information about SGI, and not the junky vain superficial advertising propaganda on the SGI website.

Hello Findingmywaytoday
When the time is right you will instinctively know what to do with your SGI Gohonzon. Believe me trust your instinct. There are 2 ways to dispose of your SGI Gohonzon. 1. Hand it back to the organisation. 2. A more final way is to burn it while chanting the Daimoku and look at the flames going up into the sky. There are other mantras you can say but all sacred material when no longer needed should be burned with compassion. You intention is paramount.

The SGI Gohonzon might also be simply mailed to SGI without a return address.

This might be the easiest and most reasonable way to go without any potential for confrontation.