I've been over at the reddit boards the past couple of days, which is always an interesting experience. There's one guy that crops up every couple of months, and he pretty much epitomizes everything we've mentioned here, in terms of member behavior. When anyone posts anti-sgi statements, his immediate responses have been "liar, liar!" and accusations of being temple members. Or mentally ill. I think there's must be an sgi poster somewhere with his face on it. It's been impossible to engage him in any kind of discussion, because he becomes so incredibly defensive . . . he just seems to shut down to any reason and reverts back to name-calling. Kinda scary.

I came across the following, which seems to clearly define the line where sgi has turned itself into a religion as opposed to being true Buddhism:

[www.buddhanet.net]

This excerpt really struck me:

Buddhists do not worship an image expecting worldly or spiritual favors, but pay their reverence to what it represents.
.

Sgi is all about chanting for worldly or spiritual favors, particularly the worldly ones. You can bet the ranch that as I sit here typing, some sgi member somewhere is chanting for more money, a better job or something similar. How does this relate to the essence of Buddhism? And if sitting in front of the gohonzon and chanting to it is not worship, what is it?

And this:

Furthermore, it must be mentioned that there are no petitional or intercessory prayers in Buddhism. However much we may pray to the Buddha we cannot be saved. The Buddha does not grant favors to those who pray to him. Instead of petitional prayers there is meditation that leads to self-control, purification and enlightenment. Meditation is neither a silent reverie nor keeping the mind blank. It is an active striving. It serves as a tonic both to the heart and the mind. The Buddha not only speaks of the futility of offering prayers but also disparages a slave mentality. A Buddhist should not pray to be saved, but should rely on himself and win his freedom.

And finally this:

In Buddhism there is not, as in most other religions, an Almighty God to be obeyed and feared. The Buddha does not believe in a cosmic potentate, omniscient and omnipresent. In Buddhism there are no divine revelations or divine messengers. A Buddhist is, therefore, not subservient to any higher supernatural power which controls his destinies and which arbitrarily rewards and punishes. Since Buddhists do not believe in revelations of a divine being Buddhism does not claim the monopoly of truth and does not condemn any other religion. But Buddhism recognizes the infinite latent possibilities of man and teaches that man can gain deliverance from suffering by his own efforts independent of divine help or mediating priests.

While senseless has not verbalized himself as a deity, he has never discouraged others to view him with almost god-like awe. He has appointed himself as having enough wisdom that, based on his interpretations, members have no need to study the lotus sutra or goshos - his interpretations are definitive. And we all know what's supposed to happen if you piss off the mystic law!

I think this article clarifies how perverse sgi is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2014 09:28PM by meh.

Great post Meh. These quotes say it all:

"Buddhists do not worship an image expecting worldly or spiritual favors."
(Gohonzon - object of worship)

"There are no petitional or intercessory prayers in Buddhism."
(Chanting for your desires to be fulfilled)

"A Buddhist is, therefore, not subservient to a higher supernatural power that controls his destinies and which arbitrarily rewards and punishes."
(the all-powerful and incomprehensible "mystic law")

"Buddhism... does not condemn any other religion"
(Soka Spirit mission - to destroy Nichiren Shoshu Temple)

"The Buddha not only speaks of the futility of offering prayers but also disparages a slave mentality."
(Chanting is futile - serves to create an enslaved mind.)

Each one of these quotes by itself clearly disqualifies the SGI from being a "Buddhist" organization. SGI dressees up Buddhism into a pretty package, but the package's contents are rotten to the core.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2014 03:00AM by Spartacus.

Okay, here's a good laugh for everyone. The maniacal Sgcult defender over on Reddit is so detached from reality, he actually said that this forum (cult education institute) IS A CULT !!! BWWWWAAAAAAA!!!!!

How's that for a perfect example of SGcult mind control?

"I know YOU are, but what am *I*???"

Let's face it, it was kind of a battle of wits with an unarmed man.

You're a cult.

No, you're a cult!

Deep, thoughtful conversation.

We're the anti-cult-cult? So is there an anti-anti-cult-cult-cult? This is going to get confusing.

Spartacus wrote:

"Okay, here's a good laugh for everyone. The maniacal Sgcult defender over on Reddit is so detached from reality, he actually said that this forum (cult education institute) IS A CULT !!! BWWWWAAAAAAA!!!!! "

Guys, this slur has been around for a long time. Kid you not.

We've been referred to by pro guru types as the 'Rick Rossers' and yes, as the 'anti-cult cult'.


Can tell you when this is thrown at us.

In discussions where trolls persistently sought to disrupt/subvert the discussion and they did not succeed because Mr Ross vigorously thwarted the troll activity.

And the rest of us refused to be distracted and collectively kept our eyes on the prize -- analysing the organization and ignoring the trolls.

When they throw the anticult label at you, it means you're standing firm. Take it as a back-handed compliment.

When the trolls were not permitted to fuck up the discussions, they'd accuse us of being cult like (!)

(That is like claiming a person's immune system is overreactive because he or she successfully resists succumbing to infectious disease)

Examples:

Years ago, in a discussion of Byron Katie, one of the members, who went by the name 'The Anticult' provided detailed analyses.

So, others accused TAC of playing word games and being a performance artist.

Juicy discussion here.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Other citations here, where the anti-cult cult label got thrown around

Byron Katie's School For The Work March - Guruphiliac Forum - LeforaMar 30, 2009 ... ad hominem, you say? then what's with the attack on 'the anticult' dude? ...
occurred to any of the Rick Rossers that:- RR participants are ex-cult members
with ... incredibly, astoundingly wealthy Guru as long as you live, right?
guruphiliac.lefora.com/.../Byron-Katies-School-For-The-Work-March-09?... - 176k - Cached - Similar pages


Byron Katie's School For The Work March - Guruphiliac Forum - Lefora[forum.culteducation.com] ... One the face
of it, the work is a cognitive parlour trick, and the inner workings of the org reek of
cult. .... RandomStu's own guru is Seung Sahn, the deceased Leader of the Kwan
Um School ..... It doesn't seem to have occurred to any of the Rick Rossers that:
guruphiliac.lefora.com/.../Byron-Katies-School-For-The-Work-March-09?... - 155k - Cached - Similar pages

Anti-cult movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe anti-cult movement (abbreviated ACM and sometimes called the countercult
..... Anti-cult movement groups such as Rick Ross's Rick A. Ross Institute and ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-cult_movement - 112k - Cached - Similar pages


Rick Ross (consultant) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaFor other people with the same name, see Rick Ross (disambiguation). ... He
runs a blog called Cult News and in 2003 founded the Rick A. Ross Institute, ..... "
New Twist In Anti-Cult Saga: Foe Is Now Ally -- Bellevue Man Who Put Group Into
...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Ross_(consultant) - 119k - Cached - Similar pages

This one speaks of the 'anti cult zeigeist'

The Believer - est, Werner Erhard, and the Corporatization of Self-HelpDespite the anti-cult zeitgeist, or perhaps because of it, change and personal ...
dream catchers and learned energetic massage techniques, the HPMers
engaged in far .... in the workplace, even though he refused to foot the bill for her
training.
www.believermag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider - 61k - Cached - Similar pages

More discussion here

[forum.culteducation.com]

This may seem quite different from how SGI does things. But this material may be useful in avoiding other time wasting pitfalls that are out there.

Thanks corboy - as always, you provide great info. It's nice to be over here where it's sane! And I am as happy to bear the title "anti-cultist" as I would be if someone called me an "anti-blindist."

@nichijew

Good to see you here in the happy hunting grounds, looks like I missed a lot in the last 6 months...

Wakatta1