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TaitenAndProud
The last time (I think) that I heard Matilda Buck speak, she offended me with her stupidity.

Listening to this guy speak, was like getting hit upside the head with a big "stupid" stick:

Ethan Gelbaum, you out there?!?!

<-- Gakkai Cult Org. Cretin

He always spoke with a raspy, hoarse voice, because he was always yelling at all the YMD members, especially once their parents were gone. He always liked to believe that he was giving his voice over for Cousin Rufus, so in his next life, he would be reborn a famous singer (I kid you not).



- Hitch

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So now, after several reorgs and a giant decrease in the number of chapters which caused the demotion of many chapter leaders (these former chapter leaders are now available to support the districts much to the chagrin of current district leaders), we are taking another step towards admin nightmare by renaming the districts and groups.
Posted 3 weeks ago by Joe [sgiwatch.blogspot.com]

I've recently heard thru the grapevine that many looooong time chapter and district "leaders" had their titles pulled. These are people that I knew back when I was "in." Very sincere and hardworking gakkai cult org. slaves, for as long as I can remember. And what "thanks" have they gotten in return?? Stripped of their titles, told to do their "Human Revolution" and to just keep marching forward for Cousin Rufus. Keep the faith!!

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Anyway, after the departure of Mr. Williams, the youth division sort of melted away, Some will say that the youth aged and not enough youth appeared to fill the aging ranks. In actuality, it appears that many youth simply left the organization. Some former members have posted anti-SGI rants on various websites. A recent zone 16 March commemorative meeting elicited a whopping 36 members and 4 guests. Sad.

BINGO!! These are also called cult "walk-aways."

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After a while things seemed to slow down. Many members became disaffected. Weak faith? Extremely authoritative leadership? Lack of leadership? Perhaps all of that and more. Yesterdays youth matured, got jobs, started families. President Ikeda said that gakkai activities were a leisure time activity. Leisure time became scarce.

Some of that sounds right to me. Disaffected by the "extremely authoritative leadership"? Absolutely. Power hungry "leaders" were everywhere when I was in the YMD.

Maturing? Yep, that's also part of it. Growing up and seeing thru the con-job, too.

All of the "senior leaders" that I knew (and know) all suffer from that "arrested development" that I mentioned earlier. People who were in when I was, and got out, have all moved on and become quite different (e.g., rational and intelligent) people. Those that I knew (and know today) who didn't "practice" hard back when I was in, but became hardcore Ikeda-bots later on, all regressed in their mental development, adopted that fake gakkai automaton personality and in some ways bear very little resemblance to the (normal) person that I used know them as before.

Now that's really sad.

And most of all, this applies most to the one that became a gakkai cult org. salaried leader; they literally have this glazed countenance, especially to their eyes, and I can tell, the person that I used to know, is looooong gone.


- Hitch

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Maturing? Yep, that's also part of it. Growing up and seeing thru the con-job, too.

When you're new and getting all that fawning attention, you can easily be persuaded to see the "hand of God" - I mean, the POWER OF THE GOHONZON!!! - in the smallest coincidences. However, as time goes by, as everyone else's attention shifts to the new prospect du jour and you are left more or less alone with your own thoughts, if you're honest, you'll acknowledge that you *don't* get everything you chant for. No one does. You'll watch people chant for the most necessary things, like for a child to be cured of a dangerous illness or injury, or to beat the odds and overcome cancer, or to be able to get a good raise this year, and they don't get it. It is impossible to continue to regard the gohonzon as "a machine to produce happiness", as - who was it? Toda or Makiguchi? - said. When all that chanting and efforts to contribute to the organization gain you absolutely squat. You get *nothing*.

Then you start to realize that, really, nothing remarkable is happening in your life. You are surrounded by people who don't practice who make more money than you do, who have more successful love lives than you do, and who are happier than you are. Sure, you might try to convince yourself that they just *look* happy, and that, in private, they're crying themselves to sleep, but more and more, you can't buy it. You just don't believe that. Even though you're supposed to. And the fact that you don't believe it, when you *know* that you're supposed to believe it, simply makes it ever more clear that what's going on around you doesn't fit you. It isn't working. You tried, but in the end, it's not you.

The hardest part is when you decide to pull away. Because your entire social circle likely consisted of SGI members. So there you are...alone. Your leaders may have manipulated you into antagonizing your family members, leaving you estranged from them. All alone. And in order to reconnect with your estranged family, you probably have to admit that you were involved in something stupid - how embarrassing. People hate doing things that embarrass them - that's why it's such an accomplishment to get the faithful to alienate their own family members. They isolate themselves, making themselves all the more dependent upon the organization for social contact.

Some people can't face the difficult work of getting out of it and try to just make the best of it. That's fine. Others can't stand the hypocrisy that entails and walk away. That's fine, too. Both have their difficulties. In the first case, there is the wrenching loneliness of understanding that no one around you really *likes* you - they just hang out with you because they think you believe what they believe. If they had *any* idea that you didn't, they would avoid you like the plague - their "friendship" is just that conditional. In the latter case, they're truly alone - it takes time to build a new social circle. In this respect, I think the internet is a life-saver - you can go online and find people who share your views, anytime, night or day. It takes longer to find kindred spirits in real life, and I can understand when people gave up, caved in, and went back to the only social circle they had access to, even though it required a betrayal of their own truth. But now, you can be alone, but not alone - friends are as close as your keyboard!

Part of growing up is realizing that living a life of integrity can be lonely and painful, surrounded as we are by people and organizations that seek to manipulate us, use us, and co-opt us for their own benefit. Sure, they all appear sweet and sincere at first - they practice that. It's only once you've swallowed the hook that they start to turn the screws to get what THEY want out of you. And if you don't put out, watch out! The fangs come out.

Being a former cult member is definitely bittersweet.

SGI Member's Creed

This is my gohonzon. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my gohonzon is useless. Without my gohonzon, I am useless.

I must show actual proof. I must chant harder than the enemy who is trying to defeat me. I must be victorious before he is. I will.

My organization and I know that what counts in cousin rufus is not the how much we chant, the vigorousness of it, or the causes we make. We know that it is the dollars that count. We will win.

My gohonzon is magical, even as I am magical, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as my mentor. I will not learn of its true weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its meaning and its use. I will keep my altar clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

Before the my master I swear this creed. My gohonzon and I are the defenders of my faith. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is Sokka Gakkai's and there is no enemy.

Hey taiten and proud - I was just thinking of Williams' "A New Common Sense" this morning. OOOOoo ...how Myoho! I'll look for it. I was thinking that he was competing with great author/ dear leader Ikeda with that one.

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TaitenAndProud

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Maturing? Yep, that's also part of it. Growing up and seeing thru the con-job, too.

When you're new and getting all that fawning attention, you can easily be persuaded to see the "hand of God" - I mean, the POWER OF THE GOHONZON!!! - in the smallest coincidences. However, as time goes by, as everyone else's attention shifts to the new prospect du jour and you are left more or less alone with your own thoughts, if you're honest, you'll acknowledge that you *don't* get everything you chant for. No one does. You'll watch people chant for the most necessary things, like for a child to be cured of a dangerous illness or injury, or to beat the odds and overcome cancer, or to be able to get a good raise this year, and they don't get it. It is impossible to continue to regard the gohonzon as "a machine to produce happiness", as - who was it? Toda or Makiguchi? - said. When all that chanting and efforts to contribute to the organization gain you absolutely squat. You get *nothing*.

Then you start to realize that, really, nothing remarkable is happening in your life. You are surrounded by people who don't practice who make more money than you do, who have more successful love lives than you do, and who are happier than you are. Sure, you might try to convince yourself that they just *look* happy, and that, in private, they're crying themselves to sleep, but more and more, you can't buy it. You just don't believe that. Even though you're supposed to. And the fact that you don't believe it, when you *know* that you're supposed to believe it, simply makes it ever more clear that what's going on around you doesn't fit you. It isn't working. You tried, but in the end, it's not you.

The hardest part is when you decide to pull away. Because your entire social circle likely consisted of SGI members. So there you are...alone. Your leaders may have manipulated you into antagonizing your family members, leaving you estranged from them. All alone. And in order to reconnect with your estranged family, you probably have to admit that you were involved in something stupid - how embarrassing. People hate doing things that embarrass them - that's why it's such an accomplishment to get the faithful to alienate their own family members. They isolate themselves, making themselves all the more dependent upon the organization for social contact.

Some people can't face the difficult work of getting out of it and try to just make the best of it. That's fine. Others can't stand the hypocrisy that entails and walk away. That's fine, too. Both have their difficulties. In the first case, there is the wrenching loneliness of understanding that no one around you really *likes* you - they just hang out with you because they think you believe what they believe. If they had *any* idea that you didn't, they would avoid you like the plague - their "friendship" is just that conditional. In the latter case, they're truly alone - it takes time to build a new social circle. In this respect, I think the internet is a life-saver - you can go online and find people who share your views, anytime, night or day. It takes longer to find kindred spirits in real life, and I can understand when people gave up, caved in, and went back to the only social circle they had access to, even though it required a betrayal of their own truth. But now, you can be alone, but not alone - friends are as close as your keyboard!

Part of growing up is realizing that living a life of integrity can be lonely and painful, surrounded as we are by people and organizations that seek to manipulate us, use us, and co-opt us for their own benefit. Sure, they all appear sweet and sincere at first - they practice that. It's only once you've swallowed the hook that they start to turn the screws to get what THEY want out of you. And if you don't put out, watch out! The fangs come out.

Being a former cult member is definitely bittersweet.

Try our new improved anti-cult formula, Former Cult Member - its 99% sweet and only 1% bitter... Mmmmm!

Kidding aside, your post cuts straight to the heart of religious cults. T&P, you have practically told my (and so many others as well) story in just a few paragraphs. Kudos!

S

"Kosen Rufu will be achieved when 1/3 of the world's population have become practicing Soka Gakkai members, and another 1/3 support the SGI."

That was one steep pile of steaming cultspeak, frequently used during the early 70's Shohondo era of delusion and lies. Can you imagine one top heavy, personality driven cult being in total control of 1/3 of the world's population? This is the ultimate power that Fearless Leader Ikeda has always dreamed of attaining. But the would-be King & Master of the World will soon be dead and gone, without getting his ultimate wish (proof that even the #1 cult man can't achieve what he most desired by chanting.)

Dictatorial power hungry Religious Cult Leaders tend to become the biggest terrorists because they are already dangerous psychopaths with large armies of unquestioning faithful followers, ready to do the master's bidding, even at the cost of their own lives.

The hidden goal of the SGcult is embodied in Elliot's cultspeak statement, "everyone seeks power". This is the true nature of the cult.org as personified by Napoleon Caesar Ikeda, now another fizzled-out would be ruler of the world.

Spartacus

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Spartacus
"Kosen Rufu will be achieved when 1/3 of the world's population have become practicing Soka Gakkai members, and another 1/3 support the SGI."

That was one steep pile of steaming cultspeak, frequently used during the early 70's Shohondo era of delusion and lies. Can you imagine one top heavy, personality driven cult being in total control of 1/3 of the world's population? This is the ultimate power that Fearless Leader Ikeda has always dreamed of attaining. But the would-be King & Master of the World will soon be dead and gone, without getting his ultimate wish (proof that even the #1 cult man can't achieve what he most desired by chanting.)

Dictatorial power hungry Religious Cult Leaders tend to become the biggest terrorists because they are already dangerous psychopaths with large armies of unquestioning faithful followers, ready to do the master's bidding, even at the cost of their own lives.

The hidden goal of the SGcult is embodied in Elliot's cultspeak statement, "everyone seeks power". This is the true nature of the cult.org as personified by Napoleon Caesar Ikeda, now another fizzled-out would be ruler of the world.

Spartacus

I also heard many times, that "Kosen-Rufu" had technically been achieved in Japan. Then, the economic downturn, great Hanshin quake, Aum attacks, 3-11, Fukushima, tsunami, and the list goes on. The ol' confirmation bias is a double-edged sword that cuts both ways, you can also use that silly primitive argument to back up your claims no matter what side of the argument one is on.

What are some others I heard?

The dai-gohonzon is life changing, go on tozan, create immense good fortune and make a breakthrough in your life. Now, it's not so important; in fact, it might even be fake.

The Nikken gohonzons are beautiful, with powerful calligraphy ("WOW!"). Later, they are the incarnation of evil, you must get rid of them, lest you suffer from misfortune from chanting to such a heretical object. Use our own gakkai cult org. specially created magic scroll for the magic chant instead.

Ikeda is our "Master in Life." On second thought, since so many members are having problems putting this square brainwashing peg into their cerebral round hole, we'll change it to "Mentor & Disciple."

We are not a cult of the personality of Ikeda. Let's all sing "Forever Sensei" and teach everyone how to do The Dear Leader Golden Fan Dance.

You must respect and listen to the priesthood. Never mind that one, they are a "cancer" on the world Kosen-Rufu scene and must be destroyed, eradicated and completely demolished, no matter what! (This is stuff that I actually heard, too.)

As per some posts above, giving $zaimu$ donations will get you 10-20X more reward in return fortune. Nowadays, you must give only with right spirit and no expectations of material wealth or benefit in return.

The cult org. is schizophrenic and making this stuff up as they go along, counting on long-term memories fading as the fairy tale is revised as needed.

This list could go on, but I think many can see the point clearly. Then again, since many people are still gakkai cult org. members, . . . . . maybe not.



$oka Gakkai (International) = Pseudo-buddhist (using Nichiren Buddhism as cover) CULT Org. Con Job.



- Hitch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2013 06:58AM by Hitch.

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"Kosen Rufu will be achieved when 1/3 of the world's population have become practicing Soka Gakkai members, and another 1/3 support the SGI."

That was one steep pile of steaming cultspeak, frequently used during the early 70's Shohondo era of delusion and lies. Can you imagine one top heavy, personality driven cult being in total control of 1/3 of the world's population? This is the ultimate power that Fearless Leader Ikeda has always dreamed of attaining. But the would-be King & Master of the World will soon be dead and gone, without getting his ultimate wish (proof that even the #1 cult man can't achieve what he most desired by chanting.)

So they've stopped with the whole "1/3" line of crap? Ha ha! They were still saying that when I was a YWD, from 1987-1992. Imagine how thrilled I was to read this, from the eeeEEEEEeeevil Nembutsu sect (aka "Shin"):

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The last important difference between Shin and Christianity which we will discuss has to do with the concept of conversion.

Christians believe that all people in the world must accept Christ, and missionaries undergo all sorts of hardship to bring the gospel of Jesus to all mankind. Christians "have a story to tell to the nations." They go to teach and elevate people.

Shin missionaries, on the other hand, go out to seek people who have similar opinions to their own. They invite them to join them in their activities. Shin regards entrance into the Hongwanji as a union of attitudes. The basis of these religious attitudes lies in one's past experiences. No amount of arguing or teaching can bring these attitudes about without there having been the necessary conditioning experiences in one's past.

Shin does not believe that everyone will or must become a Shin follower. It is said that Sakya taught 84,000 different doctrinal systems so that there might be one suited to each possible kind of human personality. Shin, as one of these many doctrines, will find kindred spirits in every country of the world, but were any one country even -let alone the whole world- to follow Shin alone, it would be a sure sign that Shin is not a true doctrine.

With regard to conversion, then, Christianity and Shin are quite different. Christianity finds evidence of its truth in the fact that all people will accept it. Shin takes universal acceptance as a sign of not being a true doctrine. [www.seattlebetsuin.com]

Now THAT ^ is mature, egalitarian, magnanimous, and...yes...Buddhist. The SGI? Not so much O_O

ratty, I got a copy of "The New Common Sense" without having to buy it - early on, I realized that the SGI publications were terrible so I rarely bought them and only sporadically subscribed to the periodicals. After I moved here to So. CA, it seems a long-time member died, leaving no heirs. I suspect he was gay, but I never met him. Anyhow, one of the WD members who lived near me, a lesbian, had known him and took some of this things after he passed (his family didn't want that pseudo-Buddhist crapola). So I got a medallion with a picture of the Sho-Hondo, which I still like, as I loved the architecture (even though it's now gone). Funny - I remember in either Jr. High or High School (this would be mid-late 1970s) seeing a film strip (remember those, anyone??) in class, that showed various houses of worship around the world. There was a picture of the Sho-Hondo, and the teacher said it was designed to look like Noah's Ark! HA!!

Anyhow, I am of the school of thought that, if someone offers you something, you take it (unless it's super gross and you don't mind offending the giver). So among the things I got was a copy of "The New Common Sense." Now I'm wondering if I still have it in the bookcase downstairs...>>runs to check<<

Nope, I guess I chucked it. Unless it's in a box somewhere and I run across it O_O

What I DO have is George M. Williams' book "Freedom and Influence: The Role of Religion in American Society, An NSA Perspective, from 1985. It's got one of my local former chapter leaders' names in it O_O which means that either he gave it to me or I borrowed it and never returned it. Whatevs!!

It looks sort of interesting, and there's a religion-connected project I'm working on, so I may browse through it. Here's the final paragraph of his introduction, auspiciously dated July 4, 1985, from Honolulu, HI (there's a picture of the Statue of Liberty on the cover - again, how impressively significant and momentous *eye roll*):

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I have dedicated this book to all the NSA members hwo have stood by me over the years. As they well know, though, there is one man without whom none of this would be possible. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my lifelong mentor, President Ikeda. His personal encouragement made this book possible; more importantly, his courageous leadership made NSA possible.

MY ASS it did! I wonder if, now that he's persona non grata, Mr. Williams/Sadanaga ever speaks candidly about the megalomaniac he so dutifully served, only to be tossed aside like so much garbage when his perceived usefulness came to an end.