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tsukimoto
This is from sokacult.com. It's long -- but Lisa Jones explains many of the issues we've discussed here so clearly!


-------------Beginning of Quote----From Sokacult.com 2004---------------------------------------------------------------

One of Ikeda's recent speeches provides examples of some of the manipulative messages that are communicated to SGI members. Most of Ikeda's speeches follow the same pattern and say mostly the same thing, time after time. But the speech I refer to here was published in the February 27, 2004, World Tribune "special insert." It's SGI President Ikeda's address at a nationwide executive leaders conference held in Tokyo, November 25, 2003.

The paper says,"In this speech commemorating 12 years of the SGI's spiritual independence, SGI President Ikeda discusses the intense growth and development of our organization in accord with the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin."

Right from the start, we are told, as always, that the SGI and its activities accord with the teachings of Nichiren. And of course "spiritual independence" is a big fat euphemism for excommunication from Nichiren Shoshu.

Ikeda begins: "Who are the worthiest of respect? It is those working for the happiness of others, those firmly dedicated to truth and justice. This describes our noble Soka members, each of whom is a priceless treasure."

So he begins with flattery, an example of what cult critics call "love bombing." According to Sensei, if you are a Soka member, you are dedicated to truth and justice; you are working for the happiness of others. ...All of this just by virtue of your membership in Ikeda's organization! How wonderful!

Ikeda continues: "It is imperative that we change the state of the world in which good-hearted ordinary people are oppressed and forced to suffer. This is an age of democracy, an age where people are sovereign. Those in even the most powerful positions of authority are there solely to serve the people. It must never be the other way around. Our second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, strictly taught us this point."

This is the classic Ikeda mixed message. Yes, democracy is a great thing, but Ikeda fails to mention that there is nothing even remotely approaching democracy in SGI. Leaders are not elected, and leadership appointments are not reviewed by the membership. There are no term limits. The membership is not polled or consulted regarding organizational policies. SGI finances are kept secret. Ikeda pays lip service to democracy and rails against authoritarianism -- yet he himself is not accountable to the membership. Say one thing, do another.

The next section is under the heading "We uphold true friendship." This imparts the familiar SGI message that SGI members are your real friends, your comrades in faith whom you should trust without question. In this section, Ikeda says: "The courageous German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht, who vociferously opposed the Nazis, called out to the people, "It's yourselves you'll be deserting / if you rat on [betray] your own sort."

Hmm. Ikeda name drops a famous poet, suggesting a kinship between the two of them, and invokes the Nazis -- emotionally loaded in any context. Then he uses Brecht's words to send a strong message about "betrayal" (interesting editorial insertion by the World Tribune of the word "betray" for "rat on," by the way.) The implication is obvious: those who leave SGI are betrayers and deserters, akin to those who betrayed their neighbors to the Nazis.

Ikeda continues: "As comrades, family, brothers and sisters, fellow human beings, we will fight all our lives for kosen-rufu. This is our mission. This is what unites us. We are a fighting force, a fighting fortress."

What is kosen-rufu exactly? The SGI defines it in different ways, usually having something to do with world peace. Kosen-rufu is a vague goal, as is "world peace," a broad generalization, yet Ikeda declares that "this is our mission." There are no objective measures of progress, no benchmarking. So members are "united" by fighting all their lives for a non-specific goal. And how many peace organizations would brazenly declare themselves a "fighting fortress," I wonder? This rhetoric speaks to the siege mentality inculcated into SGI members: we are surrounded by enemies and we are the only ones who can save the world.

But now Ikeda returns to flattery and a show of humility, saying: "Allow me to deeply commend and thank all of you for your tremendous efforts this year. Our repeated triumphs in 2003, the Year of Glory and Great Victory, have indeed been significant."

He cites no examples of what has been accomplished, but goes on to say, "We have never before received such a flood of praise and congratulations from our friends, supporters and leading figures around the world."

What accomplishments? Which leading figures around the world? Ikeda does not say, but the message is clear: whatever vague things SGI members are doing, they are glorious, significant, global and widely celebrated. This is another example of flattery, with the added boost to member self-esteem of being "special" on the world stage.

Ikeda says: "The only way we can accumulate lasting and eternal benefit is through our Buddhist practice. Striving earnestly and humbly for kosen-rufu, without airs or pretensions, is what matters."

Hear that? Without your Buddhist practice as defined by SGI, you'll never have "lasting benefit." Also, you are profoundly special...but don't get a big ego about it. Meanwhile, Ikeda names buildings after himself and ranks himself alongside Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the traveling SGI-sponsored Gandhi-King-Ikeda exhibit...

The exercise of critiquing one of Ikeda's speeches is exhausting...and there are three more text-crammed pages of this speech to analyze, including a section titled "To betray the SGI is to betray Nichiren Daishonin." Ikeda's long harangue is enough to make me turn off my brain and nod my head in passive agreement. Which may be the whole point...[/b]

Ikeda reportedly once said at a meeting that he didn't care if people fell asleep. People cannot close their ears, he said, and even when they are asleep his words will still penetrate their subconscious.

Yikes.
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