Item six of SGI's charter, by the way, says this: (from the SGI-USA website)
"6. SGI shall respect the independence and autonomy of its constituent organizations in accordance with the conditions prevailing in each country."So, where is SGI-USA's independence and autonomy?
----------------Quote, Message #99089, SokaGakkaiUnofficial-----------------------------------------------
Re: SGI-USA's subservience to Japan
You unwittingly zero in on a critical point here, Don. While the publications
and Mr. Ikeda's ghost writers continue to churn out words that sound nice,
people (some of them, anyway) read them and believe them and don't look past
them to the reality of what your organization actually is.
Andy
> --- In
SokaGakkaiUnofficial@yahoogroups.com, "Brian" <bholly72@> wrote:
> >
> > The sad thing is that even the top American born leaders accept the
superiority of the Japanese in the practice of Buddhism.
A couple of years ago,
in the course of a long conversation, an SGI-USA vice-general director, one of
the most liberal minded, by the way, said to me that he thought we in the US
still had not grasped the true spirituality of the SG in Japan. There was so
much else going on in the conversation that it took me a few hours to realize
that this was the most depressing I'd heard. Our spirituality must be
second-rate. And, boy, we must be dumb. If, after 50 years, with the tireless
work of so many wonderful pioneer members, we still haven't gotten it, well... .
It didn't occur to him, apparently, that maybe we ought to just work on
developing our own SGI-USA spirituality.
> >
> > I do know that Danny Nagashima at first balked at becoming General Director,
on the grounds that an American born member should hold that post. He was talked
out of it, apparently.
> >
> > --- In
SokaGakkaiUnofficial@yahoogroups.com, "andyhanlen2000" <hanlen1@>
wrote:
> > >
> > > Dave, I did not intend to demean any individuals. I agree with you that
most of the top leadership of the SGI-USA are entirely sincere folks, with a lot
of compassion. That said, I also believe, based on my own experience and
observation, that
the paid staff at SGI Plaza and around the country are hard
line True Believers in the party line; loyal to a fault to that line. If they
were not, they would not hold those positions.
> > >
> > > I personally know (or knew) a lot of highly qualified and motivated top
American leaders, men and women, white and black, who were more open to reform,
discussion, debate and even dissent, and who are not there anymore, They have
been eased out, retired, or otherwise encouraged to quietly fade away. These
are the folks who, if given the opportunity, could have guided the SGI-USA into
becoming a mainstream American Buddhist organization. They are all now gone
from any positions of influence.> > >
> > >
The next top leader or leaders will most certainly be
Japanese, loyal and subservient to the top leadership in Japan. Watch and see.
> > >
> > > Andy
> > >
> > > --- In
SokaGakkaiUnofficial@yahoogroups.com, "gaydave53" <gaydave53@>
wrote:
> > > >
> > > > "andyhanlen2000" wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >> The True Believer round eyes and token women, who haven proved their
loyalty and adherence to the Gakkai party line, are there for show and little
else.
-----------------------------------End of quote---------------------------------------------------------------
Americans can't grasp "the spirituality of SGI Buddhism"? Sure we can. Most of us on this forum grasp it quite well: we were to worship Ikeda, who worships power and money. Nothing complex -- or particularly Japanese -- about that.
These posts highlight a mindset that kept me in SGI far too long -- the idea that sincere members could change SGI. They can't. The organization is exactly what Ikeda and his cronies want it to be -- a moneymaking and political enterprise with a thin veneer of Buddhism on the surface to attract new members.
In SGI, there is just this huge gap between what SGI SAYS it is -- and what it really is. Maybe that accounts for the tension many of us felt while we were in SGI....we felt this truth gap.
As Wakatta said, you might as well just play video games.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2010 02:00AM by tsukimoto.