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Soka Gakai (SGI) Criticism Thread
Postby illarraza » Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:57 pm
The SGI is a Destructive Cult by Definition
1). "Destructive cults actively recruit new members, often through deceptive “front” organizations."
The SGI has the Boston Research Center, the Institute for Oriental Philosophy, Victory Over Violence, Institute for Human Rights Equality, the Japanese 7/11 [hehe] and others where their affiliation to SGI is rarely if ever mentioned.
2).Destructive cults claim to offer absolute Truth. Their teachings are not (to them) mere theory or speculation. The most effective cult doctrines are those which are unverifiable and unevaluable.
The SGI claims that their believers are the only Nichiren Lotus Sutra believers capable of obtaining Buddhahood, going so far to claim that all SGI members are Buddhas while those of the Nichiren Shu and Kempon Hokke are “deluded Shakyamuni worshippers”.
3).Destructive cults reduce everything to a bi-polar attitude: “for us, or against us.”
Anyone who criticizes the SGI, no matter how wise, is a fool and anyone who praises the SGI,no matter how foolish, is wise. Daisaku Ikeda writes, for example:
“Seven years have passed since then. The outcome of the struggle of good and evil and the workings of the law of cause and effect have been strict and uncompromising. The decline of the crazed and destructive Nichiren Shoshu is clearly apparent. The victims, unfortunately, are the la ybelievers who practice with the temple, who are not aware of Nichiren Shoshu’s evil and have been deceived by the priests.”
4).Destructive cults generate some kind of external “pet devil” with which to threatentheir members if they should doubt, or fail, or ever leave the group.
The SGI has dozens of “pet devils”. Those who leave will have misfortune on their jobs, in their families, in the social lives,have accidents, fall into hell, etc. President Toda stated: “If you keep this up, you’re going to cometo a pitiful end in life.” and “Betraying the Soka Gakkai is betraying the Daishonin. In the end, they’llreceive the punishment of the Buddha, you’ll see.” Ikeda says, “To take action to fight againstwhatever forces appear as the enemies of the Soka Gakkai is our most noble mission.” Matilda Bucksays, “How tragic it would be for even one person to have found the great means of bringing forthBuddhahood only to be diverted to another, seemingly similar, path that is incapable of leading thatindividual to his or her deepest happiness.” This is the jist of the Gakkai’s attempt to chain themembers to the Gakkai way of life. The Biggest ”pet devil” is Nikken of the Nichiren Shoshu:
“When Buddhism speaks of “devilish functions,” what does that really mean? These represent whatever tries to prevent us from advancing in our Buddhist practice. In a sense, they are frightened when we expand the Buddha?s forces, because the realm they want to control will the nbe changed into a pure land. In our case right now, this function is being manifested in the currenthigh priest of Nichiren Shoshu.”
5).Destructive cults lead their members to believe they are somehow superior to all other humans on the earth.
In many of Daisaku Ikeda’s speeches we see how the SGI members are to view themselves:
“Sons of the Gakkai”,
“Inheritors of Myoho”,
“Lions of the Mystic Law”,
“The sole group of true believers”,
“Truly praiseworthy are you who resolve to work hard for kosen-rufu and the SGI. You are the most noble of all people.”
6).Destructive cults put the will of the group above the will of the individual. This is often reinforced with simplistic games or rituals of some type designed to make the individual subservient to the group.
If you search, you will find such quotes from the eternal Soka Gakkaimentor, “the Soka Gakkai is more important than my life.” We also see the special Soka Gakkaiholidays like May 3rd, day of mentor and disciple, and such slogans as, “reaffirming the prime point of the Soka Gakkai”
We see inordinate references to Soka Gakkai, SGI, and Ikeda in nearly every experience given by an SGI member. There used to be dress and hair (short) and beard(none) codes for the SGI Young Men’s Division and on saturdays everyone had to dress in whitepants and white tee-shirts.7).
7).Destructive cults teach that the end justifies the means.
How they misuse upaya (expedient means) is a travesty. Flirtatious shakabuku by young women’s division, telling peoplethey can get new cars and even drugs if the chant, teaching people that they will immediatelybecome Buddhas if they join the SGI, and the list goes on and on how they utilize the ends justifythe means philosophy of Machiavelli, the antithesis of the Buddha’s teachings.
8).Destructive cults teach strict obedience to superiors and encourage the developmentof behavior patterns that are similar to those of the leader.
Is there any doubt why the SokaGakkai is known throughout the ten directions as the Ikeda cult? Guidance division, never criticizing leaders, “follow no matter what”, this is so apparent to everyone but the brainwashed SGI memberhimself. Lately, the SGI has abandoned any subtle pretense with such overt youth division guidelinesas, “
Reveal your true identity as Shinichi Yamamoto” and “I want to be ShinichiYamamoto”
9).Destructive cults offer acceptance by the group for good performance, and conversely,withhold it for poor performance.
Moving up the ladder from Jr Group Chief, to Group Chief, toDistrict Chief, to Chapter Chief, to Area Chief, to Territory Chief, to Joint Territory Chief and so on.Busting people from their position or moving them at the leaders will.
10).In destructive cults, fear is a major motivator. Guilt is a close second, and shame isthird. Only the cult leader is perfect, so everyone below is fearful that those above willfind out their shortcomings. Cult members feel constantly guilty for having those real or imagined shortcomings, and are ashamed that they haven’t worked harder to get rid of them.
“Never talk about your problems to the members until they are resolved.”
“Did you know that so and so got hit by a car and is paralyzed. He should have stayed with the Soka Gakkai.”
“She turned in her SGI Gohonzon and lost her job and her house.”
“He committed suicide not soon after joining the Nikken sect.”
11).Destructive cult members swing from emotional highs, to emotional lows regularly. Lows are not long tolerated, and result in more indoctrination, or even ejection from the group if they last too long.
Here are some examples of SGI speech used to control their members: “You have weak faith.”. ‘You had better go for guidance if you want to resolve that problem”. Rumors to stay away from depressed individuals. Not inviting less than enthusiastic members to certain meetings or not telling them about “important” meetings. Lectures about “emotionalism”, [unless the emotion is rapture about the SGI and the mentor]. Every last former SGI cult member will attest to this.
12).Destructive cults tend to re-write their members’ past, manipulate their present, and distort their future. Disrupting time orientation is an honored technique of all such cults.
Human Revolution, New Human Revolution, New New Human Revolution. Need I say more?
13).And, finally, there is never a legitimate reason for leaving a destructive cult. The only reason members leave a perfect system, is because they are imperfect in some respect and will be punished for it.
“He was angry.”
“He was jealous.”
"He couldn’t get along with his leader.”
“He had weak faith.”
(even if "he" continues to chant three hours a day and does shakabuku with the Nichiren Shu or the Kempon Hokke). “No matter which destructive cult you choose, the above 13 items will almost universally apply".
The author of these 13 points [whose name escapes me] then goes on to conclude: Study the methods of est, LaRouche, Transcendental Meditation, Truth Station, Soka Gakkai, TheWay International, Children of God, Temple of Set, Synanon, Scientology ®, The Peoples Temple, Unification Church, Hare Krishnas, House of Judah, Ramtha, Garbage Eaters, Rajneesh, ECK, ChurchUniversal and Triumphant, Elan Vital, Posse Comitatus, or any of the others…. they use the same techniques, even though each of them claims unique and absolute ownership of the “truth.”
Illarraza [www.dharmawheel.net]
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Former SGI-USA Leader Denounces Money Collecting Style
TAWDRY FORMER SGI-USA LEADER DENOUNCES MONEY COLLECTING STYLE OF AMERICAN SOKA GAKKAI
Shukan Shincho, 8/4/94
"The Soka Gakkai is the world's largest cult." Scathing flames of denunciation blaze up from a former leader who engaged in activities in the U.S. for 20 years. Until three years ago, Mr. Frank Ross (46), who resides in Chicago, served as the Lake Shore Headquarters Chief in the American SGI (Soka Gakkai International). The money gathering style in the U.S. he speaks of is pernicious, the same as in Japan. He says Honorary President Ikeda is a "money-sucking vampire."
Mr. Frank Ross was born in 1948 in a rural town on the outskirts of Chicago. His father is Polish and his mother is German. Mr. Ross himself was originally a Catholic, as are both his parents. He currently is employed as a manager (assistant manager) for a major company in the retail trade. He is married and has a ten year old son.
"It was 1968 when I first came into contact with the SGI. At that time it was known as NSA or Nichiren Shoshu Academy. The Cold War was in full swing, and the war in Viet Nam was going strong. President Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King had been assassinated. Young people in America were horrified at the world into which they were just beginning to emerge as adults. And I was 20 years old."
He left his home town and went to work in San Francisco. The first person who approached him about Buddhism was a certain Japanese woman. "A woman I happened to meet invited me to a Buddhist discussion meeting. I declined at first, but I ended up going with her. We removed our shoes outside the meeting site, and when we went inside, there were many people gathered. One woman was speaking about world peace. Since then, I had been pulled into this religion which chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, with the belief that whatever I prayed for would be realized."
He was told that the Soka Gakkai began its propagation activities in the U.S. around 1960. At that time, activities centered around so-called "war-brides," Japanese women who had gone to the U.S. after marrying American servicemen who had served in Japan during the Occupation.
However, most of the credit must be given to George Williams, a.k.a. Masayasu Sadanaga, the current SGI-USA General Director Emeritus. He was originally a full-fledged Japanese, but he changed his name and his citizenship for the sake of propagation. This man built the foundation of activities in the U-S. The basic style of activities at that time was to hold stage shows in the streets, do street shakubuku, and solicit hippies and such. Mr. Ross was one of the Americans who was swallowed up by the Gakkai.
"I thought that by serving the Gakkai, I would achieve magical, mystical or supernatural results. I was convinced that benefits lay only in attending meetings, buying Gakkai publications and receiving guidance from leaders. Afterwards I repeatedly changed jobs, and spent several months in New York, but the Gakkai members always helped me. I joined in 1969. After that, I was a Gakkai slave for more than 20 years."
In 1991, because he followed up on the dishonest way the money collected from believers was being spent, Mr. Ross was instructed that he was excommunicated. However, Mr. Ross, as a leader, experienced the Gakkai's cruel money gathering activities.
He further relates, "Several years ago, an SGI Headquarters Chief in Chicago contracted AIDS and subsequently died, even though hundreds of SGI followers were summoned to the Kaikan to chant for his recovery. He was called enlightened and with Buddha. On the other hand, if I get so much as a pimple on my nose, the Gakkai would now tell me, 'You received punishment from the Gohonzon' That is how much they employ brain-washing and mind-control. However, they clearly are nothing more than a business which borrows the title of religion to use as 'bait.' l truly regret doing the activities I did."
The SGI-USA organization is comprised of 4 major regions under the current General Director Fred Zaitsu Eastern (New York, Florida, etc.), Midwestern (Chicago, New Orleans, etc.), Southeast and West (California). It is then further divided into smaller regions. Responsible positions range from two people responsible for the smallest organizational unit up to 15 Vice- General Directors. The person responsible for Chicago, including its surrounding environs, is Vice-General Director Guy McCloskey. It is said that in the entire country, he is in the number two position behind Mr. Zaitsu.
Mr. Ross began engaging in activities of the World Tribune, the U.S. version of the Seikyo Shinbun, as a staff member in the 1970's. For 18 years he participated in this work in a non-salaried position.
"The World Inbune is exactly like Pravda of the old Soviet Union. I wrote nearly one article a day, but the contents were entirely favorable to the Gakkai. Their only goal was to brain-wash existing Gakkai members and to acquire new members. I had my choice of which meetings to cover, but I was told by the leaders to falsely report the number of attendees. A camera angle from one shot could make a few hundred participants seem like several thousand, and that's what we reported."
However, Mr. Ross says that aside from acquiring subscription charges for that kind of periodical, the contrivances to coerce donations from believers are the same in the U.S. as they are in Japan.
"Donations are all made by check. A representative would then gather them together and remit them to the Los Angeles Headquarters. When I was doing activities, the minimum a person could give every month was $20, but there were many people who donated $100 a month. This would be either inserted into a box at the Headquarters, or placed in previously distributed envelopes. Among those giving donations, there are some Japanese women who married wealthy Americans and who give $500 a month, but of course there are also many people who are struggling financially in their daily lives. I too, collected money from such people, and I truly regret it."
At that time Mr. Ross, as well, threw himself into propagation activities, including donating to the Gakkai one-third of his $20,000 a year salary. "I naturally was often asked by believers, 'What's this money used for?' However, I had no authority over how the money was spent, so I could only answer, 'It's used for world peace.'"
In addition, the infamous money gathering activities in Japan known as zaimu [financial affairs] are also designated as zairnu in the U.S.
"Zaimu campaigns are conducted once a year. In September of both 1988 and 1989, large scale zaimu campaigns were conducted for a one month period. At that time, I was the Lake Shore Headquarters Chief with over 300 members. At that time, $3,500,000 was collected, and the purpose of the money was to construct a completely new Ikeda Auditorium on the site of the existing Chicago Culture Center. However, though it's now 1994, not a single structure has been built."
Lying behind the Soka Gakkai's slipshod money gathering activities are pathetic believers. It could be said that this is something all nations share in common.
"The zaimu related to the building of this Ikeda Auditorium caused suffering for many people. For example, a young man named Jon Samos donated the entire inheritance, $40,000, he had received from his father who had just passed away. He told his leaders that it was too much to give, but a leader told him to give it to him, and the leader walked away with the check. In addition, a man and a woman sold their engagement rings and donated $5,000. Another young couple, despite having trouble buying milk for their child, somehow managed to donate $1,000. I myself took two mortgages out on my house, and in 1989 donated $2,500. I eventually went bankrupt with over $20,000 worth of debts. In spite of that, I still continued doing activities, because the Gakkai always taught that no matter what happens, it's your karma. When something bad happens, their explanation is that it happened because you don't have enough enthusiasm."
A Women's Division Chapter Chief under Mr. Ross continued to donate $100 a month, despite having no heat in her residence and her refrigerator being broken. In the end, she declared bankruptcy just like Mr. Ross, but currently she has yet to extract herself from Gakkai activities.
Mr. Ross repeatedly questioned the organization's upper echelon about how the money was spent, but what he received in reply was a notice that he was excommunicated.
"Since I joined, the total amount I paid out for the Gakkai exceeds $100,000. However, that is a trifle compared to the total of donations the Gakkai takes in, and they have never made public how that moneymoney was being spent, and they ultimately told me to resign my Headquarters Chief position. I've sent 15 letters to Mr. Daisaku Ikeda requesting that donations be returned, but I've never received even a single reply." is spent. Despite hiring a high-priced accountant, cash, checks and receipts frequently were lost. However, the Vice-General Directors and others are paid a salary, and when there is even a single conference in Los Angeles, they use high- class hotels, and they purposely hold some conferences in Hawaii. I demanded to know how the
Incidentally, Mr. Ross twice came to Japan, once in 1970 and once in 1973. He says that he met Mr. Daisaku Ikeda at Taisekiji, where Mr. Ikeda happened to be.
"I was completely immersed in the Gakkai, so at the time, all I could say about meeting him was that it was wonderful. However, now I'm convinced that Ikeda's a money-sucking vampire. The Soka Gakkai is the world's largest cult. Not only are they dishonoring Japan, but in America as well, their existence is inhuman and causes trouble to people. Currently, Vice-General Director McCloskey took the previously mentioned zaimu and arbitrarily purchased a separate plot of land than the one for which the auditorium was previously planned, and says that they will build the auditorium there. However, even by Chicago standards, that location is famous for being in a high crime area overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes. Any religious group which continues such activities will only end up being disbanded."
Journalist Kunio Naito says, "No one will stay in an organization which exhibits objections and suspicions. This applies equally to Japan and the U.S., and is a sickness which is characteristic of the Gakkai. In the same way, it is unwholesome for the flow of money to be extremely cloudy. Unlike the Japanese, American Gakkai members abound with discernment and if they do not agree with something, they will steadily resign. I've heard that in America, there are not a few believers who joined amid the background of a heightened interest in Buddhism which occurred in conjunction with the advancement of the hippie movement, which itself occurred in response to the intensification of the Viet Nam War. However, regardless of the particulars of how they joined, veterans like Mr. Ross who have worked for 20 years or more of course become business-like and devoid of sentiment. If they were to disagree, they would be discharged, or they would be given the option to resign."
Mr. Toshimitsu Ryu, a former Komeito Party member of the Tokyo Diet, makes the following observation about the American Soka Gakkai of late. "In the U.S. they are saying that if money is paid to the SGI, benefit will result. This is worse than an 'Inspiration Business.' At any rate, in that country, they are stressing the adoration of Ikeda as a sage, and are teaching that kosen-rufu means spreading Ikeda's name, but Ikeda has been excommunicated from the sect, so to do such things cannot be justified. Originally, U.S. believers knew nothing about such things, but now the facts are coming to light. Last year during a speech at the SGI-USA General Meeting, Ikeda called Clinton an idiot. His true image is becoming completely clear to U.S. Gakkai members. For that reason, Gakkai members are quitting one after another. In order to locally maintain the organization and paid staff, they have no choice but ignore appearances and collect money under the pretext of constructing buildings."
Of course, Mr. Ross himself is aware of such circumstances. He says that in the U.S. they are playing a "numbers game." "Just how many Gakkai members currently exist throughout the entire country presents a very interesting problem. In the 1980's, the current SGI-USA General Director Emeritus George Williams claimed a membership of 500,000 and a World Tribune subscription base of 100,000. However, it is a certainty that today in 1994, there are 20,000 World Tribune subscriptions. This is a surprising decrease. Furthermore, Vice-General Director McCloskey tells the mass media that the SGI-USA has 350,000 believers, but recently, he admitted to a certain group of people that the actual number of members is close to 20,000, the same number as World Tribune subscriptions." No matter how much they bluff, the Soka Gakkai International-United States of America is certainly walking down a path toward destruction. [www.culthelp.info]
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"Since I joined, the total amount I paid out for the Gakkai exceeds $100,000. However, that is a trifle compared to the total of donations the Gakkai takes in, and they have never made public how that money is spent. I demanded to know how the money was being spent, and they ultimately told me to resign my Headquarters Chief position. I've sent 15 letters to Mr. Daisaku Ikeda requesting that donations be returned, but I've never received even a single reply." Despite hiring a high-priced accountant, cash, checks and receipts frequently were lost. However, the Vice-General Directors and others are paid a salary, and when there is even a single conference in Los Angeles, they use high-class hotels, and they purposely hold some conferences in Hawaii.
Ho ho - that reminds me of my first husband's step-grandparents. They were all about the Shaklee, too. They'd tell us about how, when they had diarrhea, they'd use the Shaklee "Herbees" (not sure how it's really spelled - don't care), which is a laxative! INSANE!!Quote
Solemnly, amid unbearable tension, the fellow got the words out. "Its time for us to talk...about...Shaklee".