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cyclops
well some of us sat this one out and didn’t go – one member that did go said that most of us that didn’t go were on the sign-in sheet as attending! He said he went to the Area Leader and asked why we were on the sheet, because he said that we weren’t present @ the rally – the Area Leader said well I know they are here in spirit so we added them on the sheet!
One of my children had much the same experience – YD rally for no other reason than to show their devotion to their Master Ikeda – well she and some others didn’t go and a friend that did go said that they were on the sheet as attending – and all they got was a e-mail invite to go – SO I guess the Leadership felt their presence – sort of like THE FORCE and placed their names on the sheet –
Indeed, what up with that? If it were any organization but SGI, I wouldn't believe it.
I do remember being asked to estimate how many members were at this or that meeting (for reports to senior leaders) -- and when I'd come up with a number, the leader would say, "Oh, that sounds too low...I think it was really such and such," (a number that was higher than my estimate.) At the time, I didn't think about it much. I figured I just didn't estimate well, or that I just didn't remember the meeting well.
Between grad school and getting the job I now have, I was living with my parents in another city. I was often out, and my mother took messages from SGI members for me. They were charming to her, and she kept telling me, "Oh, those Buddhist friends of yours are so nice!" A leader told me, "Your mother is really a Buddhist in her heart; she is serving kosen-rufu by supporting your practice."
At the time, it just seemed like a nice compliment. Now, I'm wondering if the leader put my mother on the membership list, even though she has never chanted nor attended a meeting.
I wonder if the leaders here put me on the list for the Rock the Era meeting. I was in another state, visiting a relative that weekend....how amazing that I can be in two places at the same time! Man, when they say that this practice allows you to do unbelievable things....they meant it.
Heck, maybe my mother even made it to Rock the Era, even though she insists she was home that weekend.
If SGI leaders are under such pressure to inflate their numbers, doesn't that mean that Rock the Era did not accomplish what it was intended to?