Quote

Mentioning the cranes jogged my memory. I was told by a WD senior leader that the two cranes represented male and female. Supposedly, the crane with the closed beak was male, and the one with the open beak, female. Why was female associated with the open beak? Because women are always talking! How blantantly bias, this traditional Japanese regressive culture against women (there's a lot of prejudice in Japanese culture).

Quote

Mr Colin, having seen many of these people begin their careers and gain success noted that many spiritual leaders by their sucess in lose access to thier private lives, their deepest selves. . They become their roles, get lost in them.

And he observed that most gurus die 'in harness'. They can never get free from the role, the public persona. Its like a mask that gets stuck to one's face after awhile, that cannot be removed.

Some gurus do manage to go into retirement or into hiding, but its rare. And if they do flee. suddenly and abruptly, followers experience this as trauma. Disciples can remain dependent on having someone to look up to, and unless they work on themselves, have a 'guru sized hole.'

Quote

Career

In 1913 Aimee Semple McPherson embarked upon a preaching career. Touring Canada and the United States, she began evangelizing and holding tent revivals in June 1915. She first traveled up and down the eastern United States, then went to other parts of the country. Her revivals were often standing-room only. One such revival was held in a boxing ring, with the meeting before and after the match. Throughout the boxing event, she walked about with a sign reading "knock out the Devil". In San Diego, California, the city called in the National Guard to control a revival crowd of over 30,000 people.

McPherson practiced speaking in tongues but rarely emphasized it. She was known as a faith healer and there were claims of physical healing occurring during her meetings. Such claims became less important as her fame increased.
In 1916 McPherson embarked on a tour of the Southern United States in her "Gospel Car", first with her husband Harold and later, in 1918, with her mother, Mildred Kennedy. She was an important addition to McPherson's ministry and managed everything, including the money, which gave them an unprecedented degree of financial security. Their vehicle was a 1912 Packard touring car emblazoned with religious slogans. Standing on the back seat of the convertible, McPherson preached sermons over a megaphone. On the road between sermons, she would sit in the back seat typing sermons and other religious materials.

By 1917 she had started her own magazine, The Bridal Call, for which she wrote many articles about women’s roles in religion; she portrayed the link between Christians and Jesus as a marriage bond. By taking seriously the religious role of women, the magazine contributed to the rising women’s movement.[citation needed]

Her husband made efforts to join McPherson on her religious travels, but by 1918 he had filed for separation. His petition for divorce, citing abandonment, was granted in 1921.

Not all healings were successful and McPherson had occasional well-publicized failures. But these were apparently few and people in ever increasing numbers came to her. She was invited back again and again to cities that she previously visited.[27] Perhaps one of the more dramatic public faith healing demonstrations of her career occurred starting in late January 1921 at Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The Spreckles Organ Pavilion in the park, was site of several earlier revival meetings by many of her predecessors, and there, McPherson preached to a huge crowd of 30,000. She had to move to the outdoor site since the 3,000 seat Dreamland Boxing Arena could not hold the thousands who went to see her. To assist the San Diego Police in maintaining order, the Marines and Army had to be called in.

During the engagement, a woman paralyzed from the waist down from childhood, was presented for faith healing. Concerned because numerous, previous demonstrations had been before much smaller assemblages, McPherson feared she would be run out of town if this healing did not manifest.[28] Believing in the reality of the living Christ, filled with sincere passion beyond love for humanity, McPherson prayed, and laid hands on her. Before 30,000 people — and captured for all time by photography — the woman supposedly got up out of her wheelchair and walked. The large gathering responded with thunderous applause.[29] Other hopefuls presented themselves to the platform McPherson occupied, and though not all were cured,[30] the sick, injured and invalid continued to flood forth for healing. Before witnesses and reporters, a goiter allegedly shrank, crutches abandoned, an abscessed arm purportedly returned to normal.[31] Many hundreds of people wanted her help, more than she could handle and her stay was extended. As with many of her other meetings, McPherson labored and prayed feverishly for hours over the infirm, often without food or stopping for a break. At the day's end, she would eventually be taken away by her staff, dehydrated and unsteady with fatigue; her distinct, booming voice reduced to a whisper. Originally planned for two weeks in the evenings, McPherson's Balboa Park revival meetings lasted over five weeks and went from dawn until dusk.

Ironically, when McPherson retired for much needed rest after a long and exhausting faith healing service, she would sometimes suffer from insomnia, a problem she would contend with for the rest of her life.

Reported kidnapping

On May 18, 1926, McPherson went with her secretary to Ocean Park Beach north of Venice Beach to swim. Soon after arriving, McPherson was nowhere to be found. It was thought she had drowned.

McPherson was scheduled to hold a service that day; her mother Minnie Kennedy preached the sermon instead, saying at the end, "Sister is with Jesus", sending parishioners into a tearful frenzy. Mourners crowded Venice Beach and the commotion sparked days-long media coverage fueled in part by William Randolph Hearst's Los Angeles Examiner and a stirring poem by Upton Sinclair to commemorate the tragedy. Daily updates appeared in newspapers across the country and parishioners held day-and-night seaside vigils. One parishioner drowned while searching for the body, and a diver died of exposure.

Kenneth G. Ormiston, the engineer for KFSG, had taken other assignments around late December 1925 and left his job at the Temple. Newspapers later linked McPherson and Ormiston, the latter seen driving up the coast with an unidentified woman. Some believed McPherson and Ormiston, who was married, had become romantically involved and had run off together. Several ransom notes and other communications were sent to the Temple, some were relayed to the police, who thought they were hoaxes and others dismissed as fraudulent. McPherson "sightings" were abundant, as many as 16 in different cities and other locations on the same day. For a time, Mildred Kennedy, McPherson's mother, offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the return of her daughter. After about a month, McPherson's mother received a ransom note (signed by "The Avengers") which demanded a half million dollars, or else kidnappers would sell McPherson into "white slavery." Kennedy later said she tossed the letter away, believing her daughter was dead.

Shortly thereafter, on June 23, McPherson stumbled out of the desert in Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican town across the border from Douglas, Arizona. The Mexican couple she approached there thought she died when McPherson collapsed in front of them. An hour later she stirred and the couple covered her with blankets. She claimed she had been kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and held for ransom in a shack by a man and a woman, "Steve" and "Mexicali Rose". Her story also claimed she had escaped from her captors and walked through the desert for about 13 hours to freedom.

Following her return from Douglas, Arizona, McPherson was greeted at the train station by 30,000-50,000 people, more than for almost any other person including movie stars and presidents. The parade back to the temple even elicited a greater turnout than President Woodrow Wilson's visit to Los Angeles in 1919, attesting to her popularity and the growing influence of mass media entertainment. Aircraft flew low overhead, dropping roses, which drifted around McPherson as she stood surrounded by white-robed flower girls from Angelus Temple.

Some, however, were skeptical of her story since McPherson seemed in unusually good health for her alleged ordeal, and her clothes showed no signs of a long walk through the desert. This was disputed by most Douglas, Arizona, residents, the town where McPherson was taken to convalesce, including expert tracker CE Cross, who testified that McPherson's physical condition, shoes, and clothing were all consistent with an ordeal such as she described[70] At first Prosecutor District Attorney Asa Keyes and Deputy District Attorney Joseph Ryan seemed empathetic to the story, with Ryan saying he could make the desert trip without scuffing or marking his commissary shoes.[71] Then later, McPherson and her mother were instead investigated for a possible deception. A grand jury convened on July 8, 1926, but adjourned 12 days later citing lack of evidence to proceed with any charges against either alleged kidnappers or perjury by McPherson. [en.wikipedia.org]

Quote

I am wondering whether uttering the words has some kind of self soothing effect for the person doing the 'witnessing' and that the presences of the other person doesnt actually matter--is just a pretext.

That may be what you and others find annoying--that our presence might be a trigger for someone to utter a favorite set of phrases, and who we are as persons doesnt actually matter(?)

I am thinking again of Marc Lewis telling us that 'dopamine provides thrust'. Perhaps uttering the phrases associated with outreach, whether its SGI or another group is a way to stir up dopamine in whoever is doing the 'witnessing'. (?)

If someone else comes along who shares the formula utterance, then one gets not only the dopamine thrust but the opioid soothing of social bonding. (?)

Quote
Spartacus

Quote
Hitch
The celebration at a "grand reopening" of a $GI CULT pseudo-buddhist community center [www.youtube.com].

Now, I ask you, where exactly is the "buddhism"?? All I see is bizarre cult-like behavior. I never saw anything like this when I was in the gakkai cult org.. This is completely unrecognizable to me. It just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

- Hitch

This was an unexpected surprise. So the San Antonio CC has transformed into a "Buddhist Center". HA! Looks like just a remodel of the old kaikan, which was originally a leased property. Perhaps the SGcult purchased the building, or maybe they just needed a tax write-off - oops, almost forgot - they don't pay any taxes, because it's supposed to be a "church". Well, all that money goes... somewhere? (trickles up to the top - magically). It only comes back down when it benefits the cult organization.

Looks like this is the same San Antonio kaikan where I took to the mike to redress the culties almost 20 years ago. At last, I had grown courageous enough to speak the truth about the inequalities and unfair practices of the SG cult. As I read from a lengthy pre-prepared speech, I watched the crowd's agitation rising like a rocket. They began to seeth with anger as I continued my verbal reprimand of Gakkai rules and policies. Near the end of my statement, I could see some of the members struggling to keep themselves seated and their rage contained. I could sense how the audacity of my telling the unadulterated truth about the cult had brought me very close to being physically attacked. Culties do not want to hear about anything that does not conform to their pre-programed cult reality. It can be dangerous to step inside and stir the hornet's nest. But now I'm very happy that I did speak out against the cult at that old kaikan that I unwittingly donated so much of my precious time and energy to.

The first frame of the video opens on a band playing. BAM! The dark haired guy with a pony tail playing the bass guitar - he's one of my old shakaubuku. He and I played music uncountable times for gakkai activities in SA over the years, and there he is, still hanging around with the cult (its difficult for him to wake up, especially with his catholic upbringing.) Maybe someday he will finally awaken and begin to grasp how the SG is nothing but a cult, but i'm not holding my breath 'cause he's been hooked for almost 30 years now. Seeing him still there, stuck in the same old rut, makes me realize how lucky I am to have moved on with my life 20 years ago, and how happy I am now without the SG cult dominating my life.

I barely recognized any faces at all, so I went through the video several more times. Even then, I only saw about 7 or 8 faces out of the entire crowd that I remembered. I did notice there were 3 men with ties and lanyards. I assume that they are the current senior leaders. I didn't see one senior leader from previous eras. Not one. Thats because the SGcult churns though 'em like butter. Use people up and throw 'em away when they are completely burnt out and no longer useful to the cult. Went back to Dallas, once around 1996 - same deal - no senior leaders there that I could recognize either.

As to "where's the buddhism" (thats kinda like the old Wendy's commercial - where's the beef?), this video was recorded at a Kofu gongyo meeting, as evidenced by the clock's pre-noon time. You can bet they did gongyo, diamoku, experiences, guidances, senior leaders speeches, and most importantly, holiest of vows dedicated to the big cheese, all before this little gem started. You know - the same old tired crap that has been passed off as "true Buddhism" for decades. Let 'em have a little fun dancing - 'cause the big zaimu campaign is almost here and they're gonna need a glimmer of happiness to hang on to for another round of being bled dry. Vampires. Well, at least the music wasn't totally awful, I've heard much, much worse! Where's the Buddhism indeed! That's what I've been wondering for years!!!

Spartacus

Quote
Hitch
$GI CULT informercial, made voluntarily (?) by a cult member eager to do "shakubuku", save other people and change his own karma. It reminds me of those con-men self-motivation speakers who promise to deliver all the secrets of "hope, courage, confidence, & unshakeable happiness" to you, for "free." "It won't cost you a dime, not one penny." Only 30 minutes a day of the magic chant. Yeah right.
[www.youtube.com]

****

And this looks to be another voluntary upload, this time of perhaps an ex-$GI cult member, who has cult hopped to another similar cult (JMO) and still regards Williams-Sadanaga as his "hero." Virtual daimoku (magic chant, sansho, etc.) for the U.S.A. gakkai cult org. mini-master-boss of the olden days.
[www.youtube.com]

There is no end to the wishful and magical thinking, is there.



- Hitch

Quote

I've also seen WD members practically physically attack temple members who dared show up at a gakkai meeting, in the immediate aftermath of the priesthood breakup. I watched HQ level "leaders" do nothing as they watched in silence. I had to physically step in between them, separate them to keep the gakkai cult crazed out zombie WD members from striking them. The temple members were pushed away by gakkai WD and arms and fists were raised in the air ready to strike. I will also add, the temple members were shocked, completely cordial, respectful and did nothing wrong. The temple members where the ones backing up and retreating and it was the gakkai members who were pushing forward like wild animals on the attack, calling them "spies" and to "get outta here!", etc..

Some of the people in that attack group were also the precious, can do no wrong, pioneering member Soka spirit bodhisattvas. Exemplary "peaceful", "buddhist" behavior - gakkai cultie pseudo-buddhist Dear Leader cult member behavior, that is.

Quote

Looks like this is the same San Antonio kaikan where I took to the mike to redress the culties almost 20 years ago. At last, I had grown courageous enough to speak the truth about the inequalities and unfair practices of the SG cult. As I read from a lengthy pre-prepared speech, I watched the crowd's agitation rising like a rocket. They began to seeth with anger as I continued my verbal reprimand of Gakkai rules and policies. Near the end of my statement, I could see some of the members struggling to keep themselves seated and their rage contained. I could sense how the audacity of my telling the unadulterated truth about the cult had brought me very close to being physically attacked. Culties do not want to hear about anything that does not conform to their pre-programed cult reality. It can be dangerous to step inside and stir the hornet's nest. But now I'm very happy that I did speak out against the cult at that old kaikan that I unwittingly donated so much of my precious time and energy to.