One other thing that is important is that I was taught the inherent evil of any other type of Buddhism. Having recently been invited to a Tibetan Buddhist gathering in the presence of a venerated Lama, as others were respectfully bowing back to the Lama, I myself could not. It was respectful and traditional, and showed the equality of Lama and student. However, I still had that mental image of Buddhist devil in my head so much that I could not offer even the simplest acknowledgment of the Lama. He exuded peace and love, and all I had from my "Buddhist practice" was arrogance and distrust.

The Lama knew that I had been in the SGI but did not disparage the fact; I think it explained my attitude. I feel so ashamed as he extended himself very humbly to me..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2009 05:08AM by sushigrl.

Quote
sushigrl
Hi everybody. This forum is interesting. I joined the SGI (NSA) in 1974 when I was 15. I was indoctrinated like everyone else, and had some pretty nasty experiences along the way with activities and the leadership etc. I left about 15 years ago in 1994 having developed a mental disorder which I believe was partly due to the unreasonable expectations of SGI tenets.

If I was an active member, any problem I had was due to my karma or my imperfect "faith". Any paranoia or disillusions I had about leaders was only due to my own "dirty mirror". Honestly, I'm amazed that I didn't commit suicide at some point because the level of gossip due to trusting unscrupulous leaders with private and very painful information for "guidance" purposes was almost too much to bear. During all my years with SGI, I think I met one or two people that I could possibly trust, and even they betrayed my confidence.

In all sincerity, the manipulation and fawning over a young woman who was admittedly very vulnerable showed to me the sick side of people and the SGI. One experience which defined this was that once after a chapter meeting, the young people were encouraged to jump naked into a pool during a "pool party" by the shibucho. We of course declined, but what a thing to do given the "precious" status we had as YWD.

Many other experiences led me to distrust leaders, especially when we learned that the general director was having an affair with the then national YWD chief, and they both subsequently "disappeared".

Everyone is human yes, but that same YWD leader had given me guidance to be a "good girl" and don't do anything she wouldn't do, as I confided that I had some personal problems with a YMD.

How laughable!

Sorry for the rant, it's been pent up for a while.

Because I wouldn't follow guidance, I was "disowned" by my HQ chief, who was a japanese transplant. Consequently, I was shunned by many of my fellow members. I guess they wouldn't be following guidance either if they associated with me.

It was a rocky ride at best, being praised as a wonderful byakuren and then ostracized as the worst Byakuren because I got lost..

My most poignant memory was as a kotekitai, we were marched for HOURS in blazing hot sun with few breaks. When we arrived back at the kaikan, I collapsed with heat exhaustion. My japanese territory leader scolded me over the PA system for not being better "prepared" and asked if there were a doctor in the house. This made me feel like the lowest of the low. I also gave many hours of service as a byakuren(what would be the english term for this...andy frain maybe) going without food or water for hours at a time in horrible conditions, only to be scolded that I had not chanted enough daimoku to get me through.

I'm sure this type of abuse is not as bad nowadays, but that it even existed was so dangerous.

Dear Sushigirl:

Nothing has changed nor will it change until "follow the Law and not persons" and all other authentic Nichiren Lotus Sutra teachings are embraced, not just paid lip service. Byakuren means White Lotus.

Nichijew

sushigrl - doesn't it feel wonderful to look back at our screwed up childhoods and say "that was really ____-ed up?" I wouldn't have had the courage to go against the establishment as a kid. It wasn't till my twenties that I had assistance with being "desensitized" to the trauma of growing up with NSA/SGI.

After graduate school I met another professional on the job - she knew me as a child and had led many endless kotekitai drills in the hot sun. She stopped practicing many years ago. She said "don't you remember so and so slapped you when you wouldn't listen?" I had to pause because I had no recollection of this.

Amazing

Hi Nichijew, yes you are right that the law must be followed, but that would mean that all the leaders would have to dump their egos and face their truths, that they are not anymore enlightened than anyone else if their practice is so outward and ego driven. I don't know if that is possible in SGI. Sigh.

Hi Evergreen, it is nice to meet other people who have left SGI. I have recently spoken to some of my YWD comrades who I would have expected to be WD leaders by now, but are taiten. This made me feel less alone and more secure in my decision. It's sort of an emotional divorce that you go through from a bunch of people that you once thought cared for you, but really are only towing the line for the organization.

It has also taken me a great deal of time to realize that I wasn't crazy or paranoid as I was being told, that I was following the people as Nichijew said. I think that was to be expected when we were all force fed Ikedaisms till we couldn't think for ourselves or even value ourselves.

Dear Sushigirl and Dear Evergreen:

I left the SGI in 1995. It took me 11 years to fully recover. Nichiren Daishonin teaches that we can neither see the heat nor the cold but "in winter the cold comes to attack the trees and grasses, humans and beasts, and in summer the heat comes to torment people and animals." What the SGI has done to our psyches is not different than the sweltering heat or the frigid cold. Nichiren however, goes on to say:

"As a lay believer, the important thing for you is to chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo single-mindedly and to provide support for the priests. And if we go by the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should also teach the sutra to the best of your ability. When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."

Nichiren doesn't say, "The important thing is to follow a living mentor, buy and study the World Tribune and Human Revolution, receive guidance from your seniors in faith, realize every last one of your worldly desires, go to more meetings and donate your last dollar to the organization in order to change your karma, denigrate the priests, denigrate those in the other Nichiren sects, or step over those members who leave the organization."

By following Nichiren's guidance [rather than Ikeda's and SGI's], I have finally come to experience joy and hope. By teaching what I know of the evil's of the SGI and the wonders of authentic Nichiren Buddhism, I have a renewed purpose. I have also met many fantastic people who I would have looked down upon as slanderers, were I still in the Soka Gakkai.

Hi Nichijew, I love your post. And I'm glad you were able to hang onto the gongyo and daimoku, the most important part of the practice in my opinion. I haven't been able to chant, because I still feel the sting of guidances that say faith practice and study in the SGI are the only way to obtain benefit from the Gohonzon. I find it useless to fight the doubts I have so ingrained in me. Sad but true. I still chant under my breath sometimes, maybe as a comforting mechanism when things get tough.

Thanks for welcoming me! :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2009 04:01AM by sushigrl.

My Dear Evergreen:

You, of course are not alone. Of the 570,000 - 600,000 people who received an SGI/NST Gohonzon, less than 70,000 continue to chant. Nichiren Daishonin teaches us to not discard gold because the bag is dirty. I now have a nice Louis Vuitton bag to go with my gold.

Nichijew disciple of Nichiju

Nichijew, He did say that didn't he....Nichiren made no mention of a gigantic lay organization taking over his religion did he....thanks for reminding me.

hello "sushigrl" and others.

Its very important to see the direct comments from those who have been in SGI since childhood. One can see the first hand evidence going back decades, how Ikeda has used his extreme influence techniques within family groups and on young children.

For example, if Ikeda is going to NAME a child, that again sets up a powerful Identity control (Ikeda hopes) that will last for the life of the child.
Of course, it doesn't always work out that way.
Some people do walk away from SGI, but of course some don't, it seems everyone is unique.

Another interesting fact, is that SGI gets young people to tell their SGI leaders their painful and private intimate details of their life for "guidance", and then uses that against that person.
Again, that is a very common and classic technique in these groups/sects, where they have an internal snitch-line, where everyone is reporting and talking about others. It keeps people in-line, and people learn fast they cannot trust ANYONE, as any secrets or complaints will be reported and talked about.
So people become extremely fearful of saying anything other than praise for the leader.
Many groups do that. That is a technique of group control.

There is also another report of SGI naked pool parties with young women. There was a previous report in this thread, that Ikeda did the same thing with his President Ikeda "nude guidance sessions" in his President Ikeda hot-tub.

SGI President Ikeda, hot tub, nude guidance to Young Women's Division [forum.culteducation.com]
Anyone can see what that is really about, and perhaps one day the sexual abuses that have occurred inside SGI will become public.


SGI also practices shunning and disowning of anyone who dares to speak up and tell it like it is. When combined with deep family influence, this type of family and group ex-communication can be very powerful.
Most sects like SGI also use that technique to try to keep people inside the group/cult.

More SGI techniques of extreme persuasion/brainwashing have been shown, about having youths march in the hot sun for hours, and deprivation of food and water.
Again, very standard techniques of breaking down people's sense of self and identity.

Every single technique mentioned so far that is done by SGI, is a common technique used by other sects/cults/groups who are also engage in extreme influence of a large group of people.

Identity manipulation of children, cultic renaming of people, internal snitch-lines and betrayal of trust to create fear, nudity, excommunication, shunning, heat exhaustion, food and water and sleep deprivation...these are all standard techniques.

Daisaku Ikeda has studied and systematically implemented those advanced persuasion, mind-control and extreme influence techniques, and dozens and dozens of others, which give him maximum control of his global organization and followers.
One could list all the techniques here, from the unpaid staff, to all the other techniques discussed in this thread.

But there are ways to fight back.
There is a thread about techniques people can use to fight back against these techniques in their own minds, even many years later.

"IDEAS on how to KICK-OUT byron katie from your Mind-Soul-Life forever" [forum.culteducation.com]


Daisaku Ikeda is just a narcissistic, self-obsessed, mass manipulator of the highest order. His dream was to become the President of Japan, and thank goodness he completely failed at that. Now he just calls himself President of his own sect.
Daisaku Ikeda is very well practiced and schooled in many of the most powerful social influence techniques ever used, and he has used those techniques to make himself a multi-billionaire.

Ikeda obviously studied all of the main techniques of mass influence and brainwashing, and also has a small group of experts around him who keep up with the latest refinements.
When one looks carefully at the evidence and facts, the REAL Daisaku Ikeda is seen, and that person is basically the exact opposite of all of the SGI propaganda.
Daisaku Ikeda is a sick person, with a bloated malignant Ego, a man who loves to extract the last dollars from bank accounts of desperate and vulnerable people, to add to his billions in global investments.

The image of SGI and Ikeda that SGI promotes, is literally a complete illusion.