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The Anticult
Firings:
Its interesting about those SGI firings. Is that happening in other locations too?
Maybe they are having trouble, and want to clean house. Or maybe they just purge the ranks once in a while.
Very interesting SGI talks about "not taking money" in the Code Of Conduct. Seems SGI fears some local leaders are scooping up some money?
And the part about not taking sexual advantage, also points to abuses at the local level.
Maybe someone can post that new SGI Code Of Conduct in the thread?[/quote/
The subject of the SGI Code of Conduct is discussed extensively in the Fraught With Peril website, a collection of blogs about Nichiren Buddhism.
www.fraughtwithperil.com
1. "The Diary of a Chapter Leader" blog, November 14, 2008, and March 26, 2009
2. The "Joe Isuzu" blog, April 5, 2008
3. The "A Byrd's Eye View," blog, July 10, 2008
The Code of Conduct itself is on the "Diary of a Chapter Leader," the November 14, 2008 entry -- bottom of the page. I don't know if this link will work:
[www.fraughtwithperil.com]
It contains this gem. DO NOT:
"... engage in any other behavior that disrupts the harmonious unity of the SGI or disturbs the faith and practice of its members. "
A little bit broad, eh? This can be ANYTHING that your senior leaders interpret it to be --- questioning a leader at a meeting, reading or posting on the Rick Ross website, criticizing SGI, saying that you don't like President Ikeda's writings...anything.
If you want to see an example of how this was actually used against an SGI member, read the "Byrd's Eye View" blog. The woman who wrote it actually loved SGI -- God knows why, the way SGI leaders treated her. She loved SGI, and felt that it could and should be improved -- and she wrote about this in her blog on Fraught With Peril. Her leaders came down very hard on her, berating her and telling her that she couldn't come to meetings. Last summer, she died very suddenly. Apparently she had some kind of heart condition. While that wasn't SGI's fault per se, the stress that the SGI leaders in her area put her through surely didn't help. I never met her, but in her writing, I saw a very thoughtful, witty and intelligent woman. I was sorry to hear of her death, and angry...but not surprised...at how SGI treated her in her last days. Their rationale was probably that she "disrupted the harmonious unity of the SGI" by having the nerve to suggest that it could be improved.
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obsidian
From my point of view and what I've seen of SGI, my biggest problem is their "mentor-disciple" method of teaching. You don't get to choose your mentor and the mentors don't need to have any qualifications or training as far as I know. On top of that, there is no regulation on what the mentors can and cannot do. My ex's mentor for example is using SGI to back up her claims of having psychic powers and is using it to control my ex.
As well, I'm not sure how much of what she is teaching is actual Nichiren Buddhism and how much of it is her own interpretation or her own beliefs. For example, she told my ex that I had bad family karma and that if he continued to associate with me, my family karma would drag him down. As far as I know, your karma is your own and is not related to others. What really drove me nuts the first time I met her was she wrote "nam myoho renge kyo" WRONG. Then she started asking for rides to the local SGI centre. It was literally 50km out of the way for my ex, but he would drive her EVERYDAY. He said it was good for his karma. On top of that, she had him drive her to a local casino, so she could use her "abilities" to win spending money. I'm not kidding. Her husband has been laid off. One of her kids is deathly ill in the hospital and her other kid is going to court and might even end up with jail time and she is currently not working. She refuses to do small odds and ends jobs to make money, so she has to resort to exploiting her "abilities" at casinos to make money. I don't understand how someone like that can be a district leader and a respected member in SGI.
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obsidian
From my point of view and what I've seen of SGI, my biggest problem is their "mentor-disciple" method of teaching. You don't get to choose your mentor and the mentors don't need to have any qualifications or training as far as I know. On top of that, there is no regulation on what the mentors can and cannot do. I don't understand how someone like that can be a district leader and a respected member in SGI.
That is so truth, it would be perfect if everyone could agree in a good cause, but the reality is we are human beings with different experiences, so I think it is very normal to think critically, instead of letting others do the thinking for you and just obeying. Whenever I wanted to talk to a member about something else regarding SGI, they went either UH?! or WHY DO YOU BOTHER THINKING THAT?!. One time, when I was organizing a SGI club in my college, I meet this Japanese girl who is a "Fortune Baby" (being born and raised in this Buddhism) to talk about how to organize the club. I suggested for the final meeting we were going to have, that we should discuss about how this Buddhism thinks about problems in society in general. Example: Poverty, Violence, Race, Sexuality, Abortion, Discrimination, Abuse, Justice, etc, and how SGI Buddhism think they will address these issues for the betterment of the world. She went like, NO WAY, THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! WE ARE HERE TO SHOW THIS BUDDHISM, TO DO SHAKUBUKU AND TO SUPPORT SGI, WHO CARES ABOUT THOSE THINGS, OR DETAILS!!!Quote
tsukimoto
"Harmonious unity," indeed. Life would be perfect in SGI-Land if we could just all be of one mind and all have the same opinions about everything when we have our dialogues.
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tsukimoto
Obsidian, I'm sorry about what's happened with your former fiance. Some of what you describe is very familiar to me: unqualified leaders giving bad advice, new members getting totally drawn into SGI and spending all their time there to the detriment of families, relationships and jobs, the idea that you can just chant for whatever you want, and that all you need is SGI.
The psychic angle, though, is something that I have never heard of! I spent eighteen years in SGI, and never heard of anything like that. Psychics definitely are not part of Nichiren Buddhism. This woman sounds like a total fruitcake...but a very conniving, manipulative and clever fruitcake. Unfortunately for your ex. She sounds like a cult unto herself, a cult within a cult. She's using SGI to hunt for people she can use. I can't understand why the SGI leaders in that area are allowing her to do this. Is "mentor" the word that she uses? When I was in SGI, we were told that President Ikeda was our mentor. The word was never applied to anyone else. Certainly, we were to respect our leaders and ask for their "guidance'' on a variety of issues. But nobody referred to them as mentors.
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SGI-USA Code of Conduct for Leaders
...and to resolutely protect the harmonious unity of the SGI; ...
...
Abide by the guidance and activity guidelines of the SGI and participate in and promote the kosen-rufu activities of the SGI, including, but not limited to, propagation, publications and contributions;
Study and apply the writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the guidance of SGI President Ikeda to deepen my faith and understanding of Nichiren Buddhism;
Refrain from using religious activities to involve the organization or its members in political activities, recognizing that I, as an individual, may freely engage in political activities;
Restrict my leadership role to my assigned organizational responsibility—not giving direction in organizational matters to members in other organizational units—and connect members to their direct organizational leaders and never promote exclusive relationships between members and any leader, including myself;
...
Not engage in any other behavior that disrupts the harmonious unity of the SGI or disturbs the faith and practice of its members.*
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Yzak
One time, when I was organizing a SGI club in my college, I meet this Japanese girl who is a "Fortune Baby" (being born and raised in this Buddhism) to talk about how to organize the club. I suggested for the final meeting we were going to have, that we should discuss about how this Buddhism thinks about problems in society in general. Example: Poverty, Violence, Race, Sexuality, Abortion, Discrimination, Abuse, Justice, etc, and how SGI Buddhism think they will address these issues for the betterment of the world. She went like, NO WAY, THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT! WE ARE HERE TO SHOW THIS BUDDHISM, TO DO SHAKUBUKU AND TO SUPPORT SGI, WHO CARES ABOUT THOSE THINGS, OR DETAILS!!!
That really shocked me, because how do they plan to make world peace without a solid philosophical argument that could say how to make the world better. But it seemed to me that they don't care or don't even bother to think about it, like contributing to SGI itself is enough for world peace.
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obsidian
Honestly speaking, I never considered SGI a cult per say, but I would definitely call it a cult the way that crazy woman is running her district. She is a leader. The psychic angle is what she uses to entice certain people. That's how she drew my b/f in. She is a fruitcake. She did a reading for me and it turned out to be mostly wrong or general stuff that you could apply to anyone. For instance, she said I had a family member or someone close to me had a gambling problem. That can be taken as someone who plays the lottery often, or someone who plays a lot of online poker. I'm sure you can think of at least one person you know that that statement would apply to. She also said she converses with spirits and sees dark energy or bad karma radiating off of people. You're right. She is very manipulative and conniving. She tells people to keep her gift a "secret", because she doesn't want people bothering her and she will only see people she deems "fit". As well, she's starting to charge people for her "services", but ONLY because she has no other way to make money.