Buddhism
Jan 17, 2011

At the Soka Gakkai Hyogo Culture Center
On the 16th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (January 17, 1995) in Japan, Soka Gakkai held memorial services on January 17, in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Services were held at four venues in Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures.

At the Soka Gakkai Hyogo Culture Center, after prayers for victims of the earthquake were offered, one Soka Gakkai member shared how her daughter, who was injured in the earthquake, overcame her resulting handicap and is now fully contributing to the development of her community.

A memorial service was also held at the Soka Gakkai Kansai Culture Center on the same day. A Soka Gakkai Kansai leader expressed his appreciation for SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's messages of encouragement throughout the years to those affected by the earthquake.

[Adapted from an article in the January 18, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan; photo courtesy of Seikyo Shimbun]

Strange they just had this about a month ago and then , this tragedy. Very sad.

SGI certainly isn't the only sect to believe that "mind" can control "matter", ie that "chanting" can directly affect the external world.

But as been shown earlier in the thread, there is absolutely zero proper evidence or proof that "chanting" does anything externally. Anecdotes and stories are not proof, that is selective abstraction. [en.wikipedia.org]
For every Story, there is another story with hundreds of SGI chanting for a person, and they still died of a disease just like everyone else.

The only way to get "proof" are by controlled, double-blind scientific studies, and there have been none of SGI "chanting".

Not sure what one would call the belief that "chanting" can affect an earthquake, or other acts of Nature, that has nothing to do with human activity. It seems to be related to prehistoric sympathetic magic? [www.skepdic.com] or group psychokinesis? [www.skepdic.com]
Magical Thinking [www.skepdic.com]

Unfortunately for humans, the movement of the earth's plates, which causes earthquakes and tsunamis is totally out of the control of humans. Which is more 'spiritual', to pretend humans are some kind of prehistoric "gods" that can control the elements, or to accept the reality that humans are just another species on the face of the earth, and that acts of Nature have nothing to do with those species?

The SGI distorted "Buddhism" runs into the same trap as New Thought, its an absurd childish phantasy of control.
There is also a lot of engineered superstition put into the SGI belief system. [www.skepdic.com]

Quote
Morgaine
Buddhism
Jan 17, 2011

At the Soka Gakkai Hyogo Culture Center
On the 16th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (January 17, 1995) in Japan, Soka Gakkai held memorial services on January 17, in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Services were held at four venues in Osaka and Hyogo Prefectures.

At the Soka Gakkai Hyogo Culture Center, after prayers for victims of the earthquake were offered, one Soka Gakkai member shared how her daughter, who was injured in the earthquake, overcame her resulting handicap and is now fully contributing to the development of her community.

A memorial service was also held at the Soka Gakkai Kansai Culture Center on the same day. A Soka Gakkai Kansai leader expressed his appreciation for SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's messages of encouragement throughout the years to those affected by the earthquake.

[Adapted from an article in the January 18, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan; photo courtesy of Seikyo Shimbun]

Strange they just had this about a month ago and then , this tragedy. Very sad.

Hello, Morgaine, yes, the earthquake is a tragedy and it's very sad. But can you tell me how many lives in Japan and around the world have been destroyed by another disaster called SGI? I assume you are a devoted SGI member. If you are not, just simply disregard all I am about to say. In fact, I am not saying this to you. I am saying this to all devoted SGI members. Next time you do your morning gongyo I recommend you don't think about a new car; for a change, think about Akiyo Asaki. Just say Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and try to imagine her face as she jumped from a fifth floor to her death. Or even better try to imagine her husband's face as he learned about his wife's death. Poor woman, all what she did was publicly criticize SGI and SGI started a smear campaign against her! Then say Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and think about all brainwashed people who gave their last money to SGI because they were promised better future and ended up homeless and SGI turned away from them saying it's their own fault. Then say Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and think about all family conflicts and divorces that have been caused by "devotion" to SGI. Then say Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and think about Nichijew's friend who committed suicide because he accidentally damaged his Gohonzon, and his leaders totally changed their attitude. Then say Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and think about countless people in Japan whose careers, names, reputations, businesses have been destroyed by SGI just because they had guts to say something against SGI. Then think about ... yourself. Yes, yourself! You are so sure that if you kiss SGI's ass with devotion you are safe! You have to learn history, my friends. Devotion never saved members of totalitarian organizations from repressions. It will take just one other SGI member to report on you and SGI might turn against you. And they will come after you with slander and defame the hell out of you. In fact, you have already been marked. Do you know the first rule of Mafia? Nobody leaves the organization! Well, in a way SGI is a legalized mafia, and you are the members, my friends. What does it mean? You can't leave! They know your name, they know where you work, they know members of your family, they know who you are! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! Or should I say Amen?

Looking at the SGI website, where is the proof that SGI has "12 million" members? Its not believable without evidence.

An Ikeda statement on the natural disasters in Japan below.
So Ikeda is taking the godlike position that Ikeda is the hot-line to the Buddha and the "deities"? That Ikeda (and the wife) are sending them powerful vibes?
Of course in times of tragedy people turn to their religion.
But don't people need homes, rescue, relocation from nuclear radiation fall-out, food, and a new start?

Keep a close eye on what Daisaku Ikeda has to say about this natural disaster in Japan. His PR people will probably prevent him from doing a "Joe Vitale" and saying he was personally spared the disaster due to his superior spiritual thoughts and Buddhahood.
But how many people (SGI or not) will permit themselves the foolish ugly vanity of thinking they were spared personally, due to their superior spiritual nature? That means those who were killed or hurt deserved it? Its absolutely grotesque.

Because of SGI's closed secret accounting, of course donations for those afflicted in the Japan earthquake should NOT go to SGI, and instead to a totally open international organization with a proven track record in emergencies.

--------------------------quote-----------------------
[www.sgi.org]
On March 12, a message to all those affected by the earthquake from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda was published in the Soka Gakkai's organ newspaper, the Seikyo Shimbun:

I offer this expression of heartfelt sympathy and support to all those whose lives have been impacted by the massive earthquake that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. My wife Kaneko and I are sending powerful daimoku to you, my precious, treasured friends, for you to be able to experience the clear and certain protection of the Buddha and the Buddhist deities. As Nichiren Daishonin declares, "Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life." (WND vol.1, p.149) Now is the time to muster the indomitable power of faith and practice, in order to bring forth and make manifest the boundless power of the Buddha and the Law as we together strive to transform this great suffering and trial. ...

[Adapted from an article in the March 13, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan; photos courtesy of Seikyo Shimbun]
---------------quote--------------------



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2011 12:24AM by The Anticult.

Also, notice above, that Ikeda uses the word POWER repeatedly.
- powerful daimoku
- indomitable power
- boundless power

That sure sounds like Ikeda. He has reframed the Buddha, into worldly POWER. And according to Ikeda-SGI, that includes the power of worldly wealth, fame, accomplishment, golden faucets...
Everything the Buddha rejected.
So in fact, the Ikeda-SGi "Buddhism" is the opposite of classical Buddhism, he turned it backwards and upside down, to turn "Buddhism" into the opposite of what it was.

New Thought [www.skepdic.com] also did the same thing with christianity. And New Thought also believes you can control Nature and earthquakes and hurricanes, with the power of your Christ Consciousness Mind, if you believe hard enough.

SGI and New Thought are selling the same thing, Christ Consciousness and Buddha Consciousness, which both contradict the foundations of what they say they are.

Daisaku Ikeda is about worldly POWER, and his has lived up to his beliefs, using SGI and the Buddha as a fig-leaf.

POWER: as in the ability to act and the possession of control, authority and influence over others.

It's funny, ever since I've pulled back and let my gut feelings out, now I'm running into people at the apartment complex where I live, who used to chant, left the organization years back due to pressure about doing too many activities...but they still want to chant. I have no issue with Nam Myoho Renge Kyo itself. But I'm not encouraging them to go to a meeting. If they thought it was too much then, Today's SGI will have them running for the hills.

Ya know, if SGI wants world domination, keying more in on America, they are shooting themselves in both feet. How they think they are going increase numbers, when the Master/Disciple spin screams Cult!!! louder than life.

I know, there are still people who will accept the mind-set.

I said it before....Playing people for fools is a worst of the worst.

And it's sad to know that qualified professors had to leave, were escorted out, and left on their own, because of SUA's true intolerant intent.

God,this is nauseating.

Quote
Shavoy
Well, the news is here, about the 8.9 magnitude quake and the pictures and reports are heartbreaking. And you know one of the first things that crossed my mind? All the daimoku from SGI-Japan members could not halt this from coming..first an earthquake..then the tsunami...

Guys, that doesn't warm the cockles of this heart to think that. But throughout this thread, there is absolute realism that SGI cannot guarantee anyone's personal situation...or Acts of God...

SGI will probably tell its members that Japan suffered from the earthquake and tsunami because so many Japanese have opposed SGI. Whatever happens, SGI can twist things so that SGI is the poor, persecuted victim and anyone who criticizes SGI is evil, twisted, and headed for some terrible retribution. It's the sign of a cult....the cult is always right, and if you disagree with that, you are always wrong.

To the general public, SGI will be all sympathy, probably donating a couple of truckloads of medical supplies and bottled water, and then publicizing this in the media as if they've donated millions of dollars' worth of aid to the victims.

I mean, would Ikeda pass up a chance for some good publicity?

[www.sgi.org]

---------------------------------------Beginning of Quote-------------------------------------------------------------------

In response to the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunamis which devastated parts of northern Japan on March 11, the Soka Gakkai central emergency communications center at the Soka Gakkai Headquarters in Tokyo is coordinating closely with local emergency centers set up by Soka Gakkai in the prefectures concerned to gather information, contact those in affected areas and initiate relief efforts.

Soka Gakkai members continue to visit accessible areas to check on people's whereabouts and well-being, offering support and helping those in need of shelter find accommodation.

Soka Gakkai community centers throughout the affected region have been opened to provide accommodation and food for the public, including seven in the worst-hit Miyagi prefecture where Sendai city is located.

The Soka Gakkai Tohoku Culture Center in Sendai is now the regional emergency coordination center for the organization's relief efforts. Around 600 people spent the night there on March 11 and from 6:30am on the following morning, breakfast prepared by volunteers who worked through the night was served. Snacks and donuts were provided for children.

The center has a large parking lot that has been made available to local fire stations. Twenty fire trucks are now parked there and continue to engage in fighting the fires which are still breaking out.

The Soka Gakkai Headquarters, as well as Soka Gakkai members in Yamagata prefecture and the Shinetsu and Kansai areas, have sent trucks containing relief supplies such as water, blankets, food, stove burners and portable toilets.
Youth members in Yamagata prefecture on the northwestern coast, which experienced relatively little damage, collected food and beverages including bananas, sausages and tea, as well as nutritional supplements and medicine, and drove trucks carrying these supplies to Sendai, arriving at the Tohoku Culture Center at around 2am on March 12, after driving for over four hours.

Mr. Akihiko Morishima, regional leader of Soka Gakkai in Miyagi prefecture, commented, "We are so grateful for the encouragement and support we are receiving from throughout Japan and around the world. Now we are working hard to rescue the survivors. Here we pride ourselves on our 'indomitable spirit,' so no matter what the circumstances, we will not be defeated. We are putting all our energy into transforming this terrible situation."
-------------------------------------end of quote----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the relief work is going to be done by volunteers, SGI members, as it always is -- Ikeda taking the credit. With SGI's wealth, they can certainly afford some bananas and doughnuts, but I bet the members probably put in their own money to buy those things, too. And letting the firemen park the firetrucks in the SGI center's parking lot, that's hardly costing SGI anything -- but SGI will milk this for all the good PR that they can get.

I have the greatest respect for those individual SGI members who are taking action to help the survivors of this tragedy -- those people who are cooking in the shelters, collecting money and supplies for those in the affected areas. It's just irritating to see Ikeda take all the credit, and there must be many nonSGI groups and individuals who are helping out too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2011 02:37AM by tsukimoto.

Quote
tsukimoto

Quote
Shavoy
Well, the news is here, about the 8.9 magnitude quake and the pictures and reports are heartbreaking. And you know one of the first things that crossed my mind? All the daimoku from SGI-Japan members could not halt this from coming..first an earthquake..then the tsunami...

Guys, that doesn't warm the cockles of this heart to think that. But throughout this thread, there is absolute realism that SGI cannot guarantee anyone's personal situation...or Acts of God...

SGI will probably tell its members that Japan suffered from the earthquake and tsunami because so many Japanese have opposed SGI. Whatever happens, SGI can twist things so that SGI is the poor, persecuted victim and anyone who criticizes SGI is evil, twisted, and headed for some terrible retribution. It's the sign of a cult....the cult is always right, and if you disagree with that, you are always wrong.

To the general public, SGI will be all sympathy, probably donating a couple of truckloads of medical supplies and bottled water, and then publicizing this in the media as if they've donated millions of dollars' worth of aid to the victims.

You're totally right, Tsukimoto.. There's a "frame" for everything. Every situation. They've got The Frame. It never ends. Neither does "the persecution".

And as far as helping during this tragedy, it will indeed be interesting to see what they do actually and what they report. All those billions..

(By the way, Tsukimoto, I was also at the Worcester parade in '88..)

@bobze,

WhoW! Slow down and do daimukku three times. I am not an SGI Member. Since you changed it to everyone , I will ignore the rest of your statement as it does not apply to me. Though it is obviously something you feel strongly about.


I posted my comment because I was struck by the fact that SGI just had a prayer session for the earthquake in Japan in 1995 and then less than a month later a much bigger one happens, quite bad. I wanted to get the opinions of others,that are on the forum and have knowledge of the gosho Risho Ankoku Ron (sp). It shows that something is amiss in Japan. thats all I will say, because , sometimes when I post something here the response is quite strange.

PS. Even if I was an SGI member, if I was on this site , It would mean I am seeking ,so attacking the person, even if you feel you are right is counterproductive. Not to mention, it would have taken you five minutes to check and see, how long I have been posting here. Get some rest.