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meh
. . . her friendship is conditional upon me re-joining sgi? Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer my freedom and having relative control over my own thoughts.

Anyone or any group that requires you to not think or shut down your critical faculties, is never your "friend."

The $oka Gakkai Cult Org. = coercion by groupthink and manipulators / users, for their own (and the group's) gain (whether they realize it or not).

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meh
I have absolutely no illusion that she'll hear a single word, . . . .

In my experience, there is absolutely no reasoning with a gakkai member, for as long as they remain in the cult / under the spell. I have yet to see it happen.


- Hitch

Thanks for the advice, corboy. I did finish my letter to her but have decided not to mail it - it would be pretty pointless, since she's much more of a company zombie than I realized. I'm just going to return hers. I want her to know that I received it and sending it back to her will be a statement on its own; that's important to me, because I want her to understand that I won't be guilted, bullied, intimidated or manipulated. I was stunned at how vitriolic and accusatory her letter was, but I'm edging from being hurt into being angry. Kind of amazing how quickly she went from being a friend to a member-on-steroids - she may have whiplash at this point. Although I've never thought of her that way, she is a wd leader, and I guess that really kicked in for her. I've read enough on the mb's to know that this isn't uncommon, but I really didn't expect it from her. Oh, yeah . . . I will make a copy of it before I send it back.

This is painful, but worth it. If anything, this really reinforces my (non-cultish) determination to remove sgi from my life. I don't want to devolve into the kind of person that she and so many of the other members are.

Ever seen someone drop a can of beer that they've shaken up?

If that can is hit hard enough, the contents, already under pressure, will rupture the seam around the pull tab -- and you get smelly contents all over the place.

Contents under pressure let loose.

Due to years in SGI your friend had years of inner pressure because the cult can tolerate only the nicey nice aspects of a human being.

A person trained to be nicey nice all the time will have shoved anger and doubt down below.

All that will blow up when somone taps on the seam by expressing doubt or by revealing they have left.

What you saw was probably more than just the incident with you and your friend. What you saw her do was probably release years of pent up frustration--frustration she has been trained to direct at anyone besides SGI.

Contents under pressure.

A returned letter may be an excellent message that leaves the door open.

Your pal might, just might get tired someday. And want out.

We can never tell who will decide when to vote with their feet.

Great analogy! The state of sweetness and light can't hold forever; whether I agree with her or not, her response came from a place of shock and disappointment. Whether we can remain friends is doubtful, but one never knows. I'd certainly be happy to support her leaving the org. Does anyone actually leave after 40+ years? I have to wonder if the programming isn't so absorbed on a cellular level if that's even possible.

Heh. I was on the bus earlier this week.

Someone dropped a full can of cheap skanky beer. The seam around the pull tab couldnt take the impact and split open when the can hit the floor.

The pressure release was such that after it hit the floor, the can spun around almost full circle, belching out a cloud of white foam and splattering yellow liquid as it did so.

And, what a stink.

Contents under pressure.

OMG - that's funny CB! At least it wasn't a durian!

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meh
Great analogy! The state of sweetness and light can't hold forever; whether I agree with her or not, her response came from a place of shock and disappointment. Whether we can remain friends is doubtful, but one never knows. I'd certainly be happy to support her leaving the org. Does anyone actually leave after 40+ years? I have to wonder if the programming isn't so absorbed on a cellular level if that's even possible.

I would venture to say that those with 40+ years do leave, but most likely depart - in a casket. Used up, burnt out, beat down, drained, fried, chewed up, spit out, tossed aside, and ultimately forgotten. You know - like a Sadanaga, no further use to the cult.org (that is unless you died and left a nice fat sized trust fund set up with SgCult named as the beneficiary - one of their newer never-stop-giving financial concepts).

But there are some rare cases of escape after a lengthy term of sentence. Although I did repeat the cycle of coming and going over three different time periods, I did manage to make my final departure in 2003 after 31 years. In the words of Dr. King, " Free at last, free at last".

I am so much happier than ever before in my life, I will never again be suckered into such a unhealthy and disfunctional relationship. Since renouncing my membership, I'm enjoying more actual good fortune than ever, and here's the icing on the cake: I will never again have to endure this cult's lies, distortions, manipulations, magical thinking, never-ending meetings/activities, contribution campaigns, get-guidance fetish, willful confusion, publication sales strong-arming, extreme bias, total exhaustion 24/7, mind-numbing tosos/speakers/jargon/peer-pressure/uniforms, brainwashing agendas, creepy father figure worship, racial prejudice, overbearing arrogance, boiling anger, hidden jealousy, destructive criticisms, isolation/aloneness, fake smiles, love bombing, pretend friendships, fanantical members, dumb-ass cult songs, Divisions, savings-draining cult trips, hypocritical guidlines/policies/rules, power hungry psychopathic leaders, or the closed minded world of a dangerous religious cult that supports warmongers while giving lip service to the cause of peace. Gee - what a shame my life will never be filled to the brim with cult crap like that again. :-D

Now for a moment of philosophising. There are indeed, a countless number of higher paths to enlightenment for Bodhisattvas with actual seeking minds. I believe it is up to each individual to discover, and then to follow one's own way along one's own path. No one can better know what the right path is than ourself. Our Buddhahood exists first and last within our humanity.

There is no magical solution to all life's problems, there is just our own human creativity and resolve. When we stop seeking all the answers outside of ourselves, and instead endeavor to reclaim our true selves, we begin to experience an elevated level of living happily and harmoniously - without having to artificially rely on anyone or anything externally.

May we wisely create our useful tools/means without becoming enslaved by those same tools/means. May we wisely recognize those who would harm us while pretending to help. May we wisely lead others by embracing good example.

I embrace calm silence with clear mind/spirit - absent grotesque sucking sounds from that unquenchably thirsty energy-vampire, SGIcult. Mmmm! Such sweet relief!!!

Spartacus

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Spartacus
I would venture to say that those with 40+ years do leave, but most likely depart - in a casket. Used up, burnt out, beat down, drained, fried, chewed up, spit out, tossed aside, and ultimately forgotten. You know - like a Sadanaga, no further use to the cult.org . . .

Agreed, 100%.

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Spartacus
I am so much happier than ever before in my life, I will never again be suckered into such a unhealthy and disfunctional relationship. Since renouncing my membership, I'm enjoying more actual good fortune than ever, and here's the icing on the cake: I will never again have to endure this cult's lies, distortions, manipulations, magical thinking, never-ending meetings/activities, contribution campaigns, get-guidance fetish, willful confusion, publication sales strong-arming, extreme bias, total exhaustion 24/7, mind-numbing tosos/speakers/jargon/peer-pressure/uniforms, brainwashing agendas, creepy father figure worship, racial prejudice, overbearing arrogance, boiling anger, hidden jealousy, destructive criticisms, isolation/aloneness, fake smiles, love bombing, pretend friendships, fanantical members, dumb-ass cult songs, Divisions, savings-draining cult trips, hypocritical guidlines/policies/rules, power hungry psychopathic leaders, or the closed minded world of a dangerous religious cult that supports warmongers while giving lip service to the cause of peace. Gee - what a shame my life will never be filled to the brim with cult crap like that again. :-D

Best post I've ever seen on this mb with regard to the $oka Gakkai. An excellent summation. This should be a poster and put on the wall, or at the very least, made into a "sticky" for the $GI CULT Org. threads. An absolutely perfect summation, nothing left out and not a single word too many. Perfection.


- Hitch

Beautifully put and absolutely every aspect covered. Poster, hell - I'm getting a tattoo.

Careful, its hard to stop at just one tattoo.

You can do a henna drawing while pondering something more permanent.