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DavidM
I occasionaly did read the daily guidance, looking back on it now its all just cutesy inspiring words (or serious cult manipulation whichever way you look at.
I had a very cathartic experience last night of going through the piles of SGI magazines and 'study' materials I've accumulated over the years. The person I had been trying to shakabuku was with me too. We wound up on the floor laughing at how often the phrase 'Oneness of mentor and disciple' comes up.
I've decided I'm going to recycle it all.
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sixtyseven
I am new to this forum. I have spent my time with the SGI since 99. I stopped chanting in February after a miraculous moment with the Gohonzon. Believe it or not the scroll itself showed me this thread. A deep depression followed since I was reading every page of this mb and when I started distancing myself from the SGI and my so called SGI family. Maybe later I will tell you my story,but first, I want to thank you all - you saved my life.
This morning I have read following post on my facebook wall:
J.M.
Btw, do you know if Yoshida-san has any English info about the policies of the New Komeito? Will be meeting some Japanese friends and election time is 9 days away. I don't really feel comfortable talking about politics and convincing Japanese friends to vote for Komeito when I have very little info myself.Will search the net tonight before I meet them this Sunday but it would be nice to have something to show on paper.
It never fails to raise an eyebrow when I tell my friends that I'm a member of SGI. Most people here think that we only have members here in Japan. And they can't figure out why foreigners would be interested to join and become a member.
...ahh convincing Japanese friends to vote for Komeito!
I reckon I have nothing to add.
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sixtyseven
...ahh convincing Japanese friends to vote for Komeito!
I reckon I have nothing to add.
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debonaire
Thanks to everyone for their very insightful posts on SGI. I have learnt so much from reading many of the posts.
I have an issue that is concerning me, regarding SGI. I will give you an abridged background.
My friend started practicing through SGI about 2 years ago. They are heavily involved. Chants twice a day. Goes to various meeting each week. Has hosted mass events, organised conferences of some sort, given their testimonies in front of many people at the local SGI community centre. They are also a leader for young people in their region. It didn't take me long to realise that SGI was cult-like. The constant chanting worried me. It started to scare me, to be honest.
My friend has become self-centred and now only has time for their SGI associates. They are friends with me, when it's convenient for them. I have noticed that my friend is extremely charismatic and in a very covert way, influences people to come to meetings and to support them. Quite a few of my friends have fallen prey. I must admit that I did too for a short while. They encouraged me to go to their local meetings whilst I was feeling depressed and vulnerable. Sure, the people involved in SGI are very friendly...but there has to be some alterior motive. I have become friends with a few of them and I find the way that they communicate to be so contrived, with all their too-good to be true 'lingo'. Their 'worship' of Ikeda is a concern. I find it hard to understand how they can claim that they are authentic buddhists. Anyway, that's the background of my issue.
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wakatta1Quote
shavoy
But there is a new sense of happiness brewing---the peace of knowing that I have listened to the voice inside and am living true to myself.
Consider this: We all have had the "value creation power" within us. Ours to focus and use however we choose. Getting sidetracked by the Gakkai is like the person who doesn't trust the accelerator pedal and brake pedal in their car and depending upon their mechanic to tell them on each and every occasion to use one or the other.
Didn't Nichiren say that the Boddhisattva's of the earth had obtained enlightenment in the distant past? Wasn't Jogyo Bhoddisattva himself enlightened from the past and it was only revealed at that critical point in time when the treasure tower appeared? Where in all of that was Ikea and the great money absorbtion machine in those allegorical treatices?
Each person has the seeds of enlightenment, the organization doesn't control, manage or direct how those seeds sprout. It's all just stage scenery. Once you see that for what it is, then you are set free.
Wakatta1
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sixtyseven
The young man was told to chant for Komeito, to convince his japanese friends to vote for Komeito. I think, he feels quite uncomfortable with this situation.
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sixtyseven
I guess he will not find a lot of information in English on the net. The Komeito or New Komeito is the political wing of Ikeda. And parliamentary elections will be held on Dec. 16th in Japan : it's not about Buddhism, or world-peace, or compassion, or enlightment. More power to the SGI- only 8 days left!
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sixtyseven
This makes me so angry, SGI utilizes and ruins frienship.