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holly_golightly
At this point the report states that the SGI leadership from Japan came over
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holly_golightly
IMO there was a lot of fear installed in the UK leadership at that time from Japan,
I remember when I was working the front desk at the Minneapolis/St. Paul kaikan, since I was a byakuren, I think it must have been on a Sunday or something - a meeting of some sort had just broken up, and this guy walked in, rather ordinary looking, kind of fuzzy reddish-brown hair, slightly chubby, but it was so long ago that I wouldn't recognize him if I ever saw him again, and all of a sudden, all the WD who were there were all nervous and alert. One of them whispered to me that, some time ago, he'd ripped up a joju gohonzon.Quote
Apparently, somebody, somewhere (I'm not even sure if this is true or made up by the cult org.), a deranged member, walked up to one of the gohonzons in one of the kaikans and proceeded to rip it up.
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TaitenAndProudWe're starting to see the same reaction against Evangelical Christians and Mormons. And they've *earned* it - in spades. Any group so arrogant, so preening, so contemptuous of others, and so clannish (will only be friends with members of their church) really should not expect society at large to treat them so much more generously and magnanimously than they're willing to treat anyone else.Quote
Btw, in Japan, amongst non-gakkai ordinary citizens, it is often shared as to whether or not other people (strangers who one has just met) are "gakkai" or not. If somebody *is*, they generally go out of their way to try to avoid them and have any unnecessary interactions with them in everyday life. Let us not forget, Japan is also the land where Cousin Rufus has supposedly officially achieved some of the greatest heights anywhere on the planet earth. - Hitch
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HitchQuote
holly_golightly
At this point the report states that the SGI leadership from Japan came overQuote
holly_golightly
IMO there was a lot of fear installed in the UK leadership at that time from Japan,
This is absolutely 100% correct. The international cult org. leaders (in the U.S.) live in fear of the biwigs from the motherland. I saw it firsthand with Williams and Mr. Wada (Ikeda's right hand man who came over to crack the whip for sensei). Whenever an Ikeda appointee came over from Japan, I noticed that that was the only time in the USA Cult Org. that you could sit back and watch all the "senior salaried US leadership" turn into ordinary "members" just like the rest of us sheep. They would sweat, be nervous, stand straighter, move faster, be on extra good / strict behavior and be ready to say "How high?" if asked to jump by anyone from Japan.
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The "translator lady" (that's what I always called her) was the same lady pretty much all through the 80's. I've forgotten her name, but I do know she's a hardcore 100% dyed in the wool Ikeda-bot. I remember a meeting in Santa Monica (WCC) where she was the focus of one of the "experiences" or guidance sessions and they told a drama-like story about how it was her lifelong dream since she was a little girl to be the "official" translator for The Dear Leader. It was supposedly a highly coveted and competitive "position" that many (young?) women aspired to. It was the typical generic story of somebody struggling with their studies (in her case language studies) and overcoming it all by "going to the gohonzon", chanting and embedding "sensei's spirit" into their heart, blah-blah-blah. Long story, short, she got it and was living THE dream. Meeting was closed with the carrot that any of the YWD in the room (very sexist) should strive for the same attitude in their practice to serve the cult org. and receive the same results.
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In relaying the above "translator" story, it just made me remember that there was a lot of hardcore indoctrination going on at the Santa Monica WCC (National HQ) meetings. I also just now remembered a soka-han / gajokai meeting where "protecting the gohonzon" was the focus. Apparently, somebody, somewhere (I'm not even sure if this is true or made up by the cult org.), a deranged member, walked up to one of the gohonzons in one of the kaikans and proceeded to rip it up. Ever since then, all of the bustudans everywhere in the cult org. centers suddenly had special locking glass doors that enclosed and protected the gohonzons. The WCC had some uber-special joju (high priest inscribed) gohonzons that had to be protected at all costs. The implication was made that soka-han or gajokai had to be ready to lay down their life in defense of the paper scrolls, if need be. I kid you not. (These, btw, are the same gohonzons that the cult org. replaced after the excommunication, because they suddenly lost their magic powers.)
Looking back, the kind of stuff that they were feeding our heads, was just plain ridiculous. Hardcore manipulation of the YMD, to make kamikaze-like gakkai Ikeda-bots.
- Hitch
This, BTW, is one of the pieces of evidence used by other Nichiren sects who claim that the Dai-Gohonzon is an artefact made by Nikko and his followers to solidify their claims of authority. This sort of thing happens *all the time* - look at the Catholic Church's history with "relics"! Seven different skulls for John the Baptist, including one from when he was a child (!), and a doctrine that evidence of a relic's authenticity is its ability to replicate itself!! YIPPEE!!Quote
Nichiren said 'Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself.'Surely then all this tripe about authentic vs inauthentic scrolls is moot at best and superstitious nonsense at worst. Glad to be out once again. - leeduffield
This statement suggests that there *is* a defined "purposeful" way of leading one's life, and I disagree with this basic principle. It is presented as obvious by all intolerant belief systems, as THEY define what, according to them, is "obviously" the most "purposeful" and "fulfilling" and "correct" way of leading one's life. And that "obviously" means embracing their particular belief system and living according to its dictates, naturally. No other option can possibly result in anything other than "having led their lives in vain."Quote
Those who remain in the cult to the end will have led their lives in vain. - Nichijew