Quote
The Anticult
Doesn't the general public in Japan see SGI accurately, as a sect, cult, dangerous group?

In the west, many Swami's who are seen as conmen in their homeland, put on a robe in the USA, and those who don't know any better project their fantasies of holiness onto them.

But SGI global has too many billions in wealth to vanish, and its invested globally. SGI is probably growing more rapidly in countries who are trying to get a rise in the standard of living, as they can sell the "chant for stuff" gag there.

But SGI won't fade away by magic, it needs to be actively exposed and opposed.

For example, if the SGI-USA members, who are decent folks, the local people in groups, all got together, and went on STRIKE and did no more UNPAID LABOR by refusing to work-for-free, and did a total financial BOYCOTT of giving SGI one more dollar, until all their finances are made open...that would get the attention of SGI.
Someone might even tell Ikeda if thousands of SGI-USA members were in revolt.

Of course, he would then just kick them out, and add them to his enemies list.

But when the members of SGI-USA start to withhold all donations, withhold unpaid labor, reports labor violations, speak out, and leak documents, that is how to get at SGI.

SGI is a corporation, and its currency is deception.
Exposing the truth vigorously, and not giving them even ONE more dollar, that is all SGI understands.
If SGI-USA went on a free labor strike and boycotted their donations, then some folks in SGI HQ might wonder what is going on. Otherwise its business as usual for SGI Inc.

Maybe one day SGI will get some headlines like this, for any labor code violations?


Scientology: Slave Labor, Beatings, and an FBI Investigation? [www.theatlanticwire.com]

Anticult, great post, well, I think it's a philosophical question, to bring down a totalitarian structure, do you start from the top or from the bottom? Emperor Hiroshito, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Taliban regimes were brought down by removing the head structure of regime, so they were dismantled from the top. In case of Soviet Union, the death of Stalin brought the huge change, after Khrushchev Soviet regime became much softer, and after Gorbachev reforms the whole system collapsed. So, Soviet regime was also dismantled from the top. Hosni Mubarak regime was brought down by popular uprising, but with some pressure from the US on the head of the regime to step down. That's why I think what happenes in SGI headquaters in Tokyo is crucial. Death of Ikeda (he is 83 and will die soon from old age) might bring some changes, like making the totalitarian regime softer (like in case of Stalin's death) or bringing real life-changing reforms (like after death of Mao, when Den Xiaoping started capitalist reforms that completely changed China). I am not saying I don't believe in revolt, revolt would be great! In fact, this forum should discuss things like that more often, we have to think about some real steps how to bring Daisaku Ikeda's regime down!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2011 07:49AM by bobze39.

Quote
Shavoy

what you wrote about P.I. kicking revolting masses out made me think...If all these sincere, good-intended members rose up in defiance, refusing to do any more for the Gakkai in the functions you said...P.I. might do a double-turn...that's a lot of disciples to lose, a lot of revenue shot...Of course, he does not need any more, but gotta keep the funds flowin' no matter what....

Great post, Anticult..

Shavoy

I've wondered about this myself. SGI loses members all the time; so many leave due to constant pressures to do too much, the obsessive mentor/disciple talk, and total lack of democracy in SGI. So why doesn't SGI ease up on these things? If they did, they'd keep more members -- have more worker bees and more cash coming in. Hasn't this occurred to the senior leadership? Surely, it must have. So why haven't they changed SGI? In my opinion, the leadership just wants unquestioning, totally devoted Ikeda worshippers. Ikeda and cronies are fine with losing members who think for themselves. They want all members to be like this: (posted on www.fraughtwithperil.com, Kempon Hokke blog)

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

9-15-00 World Tribune study material:
“As the American poet and author Robert Bly says in Iron John, we
search for a “second father” or “a second king…”

“We can each ask ourselves: Is there anyone we know or have heard of
who possesses true greatness? If so, we should leave
with him or her”

Early in my youth I faced a huge test in my relationship with President
Ikeda. I loved him from the first and considered myself
his disciple. But I was very young and had no clue about the obstacles
that I would face in the future.

After a particularly severe set back in my life, I felt that I had
failed as a disciple. Before I realized it, I was overcome with
negativity. “I have failed him;’ I thought. And my heart broke. I had
to think deeply about what he really meant to me. What is a
disciple? What does a mentor think about a disciple?

I came to understand that I had a very shallow view of the mentor-
disciple relationship. When I realized that President Ikeda’s
belief in me, his belief in my potential, was unconditional, I was able
to pull myself out of the depths of that hell…

I heard the mentor disciple relationship explained once as the mentor
being like a transmitter and the disciples like receivers. President
Ikeda is always transmitting. It is up to us to receive the message.
Several months ago I heard a young woman describe her struggle with the
mentor-disciple relationship. She was devoted to her practice, to kosen
rufli and her members. She was acting as a person of the same mind as
the mentor. But al though she respected President Ikeda and thought he
was “a great guy” as she put it; her heart was closed to him. And this
troubled her. She was frustrated by the fact that she “just did’nt get
it.” This was some thing she pondered through many prayers.
Then one night as she was standing alone out under the stars at the
Florida Nature and Culture Center, she had an awakening,
a realization. It was a matter of trust It wasn’t President Ikeda; it
was her ability to open her heart to him. Her father had been a
very respected professional, but behind closed doors he was an abuser
feared by the family. She realized that this was the “wall” between
herself and President Ikeda. All of her chanting and prayers had led her
to see this and suddenly she “got it” and tears began to flow down her
cheeks. Her receiver was turned on.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Receiver on --- mind off.

The writer of this passage feels that he's let Ikeda down -- that Ikeda's belief in him is unconditional? This writer most likely has never met Ikeda and never will --- Ikeda doesn't know his name, wouldn't recognize him if he tripped over him. Apparently, Ikeda is like a combination of God and Santa Claus -- sees you all the time, and knows who has been naughty and who has been nice. Children eventually question, and outgrow their belief in Santa....so how is it that adults can still believe in Ikeda Claus?

I felt very sad for the woman that the writer describes -- who had the revelation at the Florida Nature and Culture Center. Here you have a person who was wounded at an early age, in pain and probably longing for a father whom she could trust.....as a lot of people are --- and instead of real help, she gets manipulated into buying into this daydream about a fantasy father. Who, in reality, is less trustworthy than the father that she couldn't trust. It's like encouraging someone to obsess on a crush on a movie star that they'll never meet -- rather than dating and having real relationships with the people around them.

I guess there's just this market for fantasy. People in pain are desperate to escape it -- and SGI has figured out how to exploit people's pain, and their desire for escape.

Basically every sect has "dis-qualifiers" at the beginning of their recruitment. They are MEANT to drive away people they don't want.
That is called Qualify the Customer...they want to fire people who are not going to follow along without asking questions.

So these big sects don't care if people quit, as long as new members keep coming, and the money keeps coming in.
If you raise your voice in any of these sects, they kick you out, and ban you, and even block you from seeing your family if they can. Scientology does that all the time, it works.

I don't know, it seems like from the perspective of SGI, they have done almost everything "right" for them. They are the biggest and richest sect/cult in the world, it appears. They are making millions and billions, and still buying stuff up.
They have silenced many of their critics with intimidation tactics of various sorts.

From the perspective if Ikeda, he probably believes he is a superman, that is why he bought a few hundred fake degrees, with donations. Ikeda must have a massive inferiority complex, which drove him to try to make others think he is a superman.
So SGI hired shills to write his books, and by him fake degress, make vain statues, etc.

Frankly, its hard to know for sure, but it appears SGI is doing extremely well, and growing all over the world.
They have an easy sell...

Chant and Grow Rich.

The SGI persuasion brainwashing system is highly refined.
SGI kicks out anyone who makes a stink, and the money keeps rolling in.

For example, wealthy families who belong to SGI, set-up a monthly direct-deposit SGI donation, and they can be donating many thousands a month to SGI, and that money vanishes the day its donated into the SGI rabbit-hole. Those wealthy donor families, get special treatment from SGI, to keep that donation $$ coming. That is not a theory, that is a proven fact seen first hand, and going on right now.

Quote
tsukimoto

Quote
Shavoy

what you wrote about P.I. kicking revolting masses out made me think...If all these sincere, good-intended members rose up in defiance, refusing to do any more for the Gakkai in the functions you said...P.I. might do a double-turn...that's a lot of disciples to lose, a lot of revenue shot...Of course, he does not need any more, but gotta keep the funds flowin' no matter what....

Great post, Anticult..

Shavoy

I've wondered about this myself. SGI loses members all the time; so many leave due to constant pressures to do too much, the obsessive mentor/disciple talk, and total lack of democracy in SGI. So why doesn't SGI ease up on these things? If they did, they'd keep more members -- have more worker bees and more cash coming in. Hasn't this occurred to the senior leadership? Surely, it must have. So why haven't they changed SGI? In my opinion, the leadership just wants unquestioning, totally devoted Ikeda worshippers. Ikeda and cronies are fine with losing members who think for themselves. They want all members to be like this: (posted on www.fraughtwithperil.com, Kempon Hokke blog)

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

9-15-00 World Tribune study material:
“As the American poet and author Robert Bly says in Iron John, we
search for a “second father” or “a second king…”

“We can each ask ourselves: Is there anyone we know or have heard of
who possesses true greatness? If so, we should leave
with him or her”

Early in my youth I faced a huge test in my relationship with President
Ikeda. I loved him from the first and considered myself
his disciple. But I was very young and had no clue about the obstacles
that I would face in the future.

After a particularly severe set back in my life, I felt that I had
failed as a disciple. Before I realized it, I was overcome with
negativity. “I have failed him;’ I thought. And my heart broke. I had
to think deeply about what he really meant to me. What is a
disciple? What does a mentor think about a disciple?

I came to understand that I had a very shallow view of the mentor-
disciple relationship. When I realized that President Ikeda’s
belief in me, his belief in my potential, was unconditional, I was able
to pull myself out of the depths of that hell…

I heard the mentor disciple relationship explained once as the mentor
being like a transmitter and the disciples like receivers. President
Ikeda is always transmitting. It is up to us to receive the message.
Several months ago I heard a young woman describe her struggle with the
mentor-disciple relationship. She was devoted to her practice, to kosen
rufli and her members. She was acting as a person of the same mind as
the mentor. But al though she respected President Ikeda and thought he
was “a great guy” as she put it; her heart was closed to him. And this
troubled her. She was frustrated by the fact that she “just did’nt get
it.” This was some thing she pondered through many prayers.
Then one night as she was standing alone out under the stars at the
Florida Nature and Culture Center, she had an awakening,
a realization. It was a matter of trust It wasn’t President Ikeda; it
was her ability to open her heart to him. Her father had been a
very respected professional, but behind closed doors he was an abuser
feared by the family. She realized that this was the “wall” between
herself and President Ikeda. All of her chanting and prayers had led her
to see this and suddenly she “got it” and tears began to flow down her
cheeks. Her receiver was turned on.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Receiver on --- mind off.

The writer of this passage feels that he's let Ikeda down -- that Ikeda's belief in him is unconditional? This writer most likely has never met Ikeda and never will --- Ikeda doesn't know his name, wouldn't recognize him if he tripped over him. Apparently, Ikeda is like a combination of God and Santa Claus -- sees you all the time, and knows who has been naughty and who has been nice. Children eventually question, and outgrow their belief in Santa....so how is it that adults can still believe in Ikeda Claus?

I felt very sad for the woman that the writer describes -- who had the revelation at the Florida Nature and Culture Center. Here you have a person who was wounded at an early age, in pain and probably longing for a father whom she could trust.....as a lot of people are --- and instead of real help, she gets manipulated into buying into this daydream about a fantasy father. Who, in reality, is less trustworthy than the father that she couldn't trust. It's like encouraging someone to obsess on a crush on a movie star that they'll never meet -- rather than dating and having real relationships with the people around them.

I guess there's just this market for fantasy. People in pain are desperate to escape it -- and SGI has figured out how to exploit people's pain, and their desire for escape.

I'm sure it provides the same kind of comfort that people get when talking with God, or the Lord. Since God and Jesus aren't on the SGI wave, then P.I. fits the niche just fine. God, it's so sad. Now, let me say I have seen proof of prayers and conversations with God and Jesus, will never dispute that. But when a human being with off-the-chart ego takes it upon themselves to fill the void, as only 'they' can fill....you get this.
Tsukimoto, you are right on in stating that Mr. Ikeda has no inkling...no clue. He has become God and S. Claus in so many member's psyche. And also the Father Figure. You are just spot on. Man, I could cry reading what they both expressed.

Transmitting...and Receiving. How creepy is this..

Another reason why people throw everything to the wind and keep towin' the Party Line, is the Proverbial Carrot of Enlightenment and Unlimited Benefit and Happiness. Soar with the Mentor! Everyone wants to be happy! And this is the Chosen Way to Do It!

I find what Anticult posted next, about how recruiting looks for people who will say screw this, I want noooo part to "purify the pool" very interesting, did not know about this tactic.

Shavoy

Guys, I think it's time for a real action! I suggest all dissatisfied SGI members gather in front of SGI-USA headquarters at 606 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401 every Sunday at 2 p.m. Demands: Danny Nagashima to step down, financil openness, discard the enemy lists, no more free labor and exploitation. If people in Tunisia and Egypt could do it, people in the USA certainly can do it too! Of course there is fear that SGI will automatically blacklist all those who come, but are we going to be afraid of that? Let them blacklist us! Tunisians and Egyptians were not afraid of their governments to blacklist them; are freedom-loving Americans going to be afraid of some foreign organization persecuting us on our own land? Besides, it's a question of number, if thousands will come, there is nothing they can do! Help me to spread this message among SGI-USA members!

Quote
The Anticult

From the perspective if Ikeda, he probably believes he is a superman, that is why he bought a few hundred fake degrees, with donations. Ikeda must have a massive inferiority complex, which drove him to try to make others think he is a superman.
So SGI hired shills to write his books, and by him fake degress, make vain statues, etc.
.

That, and he's got a persecution complex, as is evidenced by the following quote (www.fraughtwithperil.com, Kempon Hokke Blog, March 8, 2011)

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

The Lotus Sutra says that its practitioners will be cursed and spoken
ill of and will encounter hatred and jealousy even more severe than in
Sakyamuni’s time. ‘This sutra is hard to uphold,’ the Lotus Sutra also
says. In the Gosho, citing these sutra passages, the Daishonin
repeatedly explains that those who propagate the Mystic Law in the
Latter Day will be assailed by many difficulties. This certainly has
been the case in my life. I am living Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism
with my entire being. I have borne one attack after another. I have
inherited President Toda’s spirit and withstood all. **No one but I could
have endured what I have.** I am living solely to safeguard the legacy
of President Makiguchi, to protect the SGI and the members who are
so dear to me. Today, at this gathering to commemorate May 3 —
which represents the prime point of the Soka Gakkai and the SGI — I
want you to understand this earnest, unwavering spirit that guides my
life.” (World Tribune, June 13, 1997, p.11-12)
April 21, 1997, speech by Daisaku Ikeda in commemoration of May 3

“Probably no one could ever come close
to repeating what I have accomplished.”
(Daisaku Ikeda, World Tribune, September 26, 1997, p. 11).

"No one but I could have endured what I have." Oh, please. He is a billionaire, worshipped by thousands of people. How hard is that? He compares himself to Nichiren Daishonin, who was exiled, almost killed, and lived in extreme poverty. He compares himself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi, who were assassinated for fighting for their causes.

One of my young relatives is studying the Underground Railroad in school -- the a network that helped slaves in the Southern United States to escape their masters before the Civil War. The people who guided escaping slaves north -- or who let them stay in their houses along the way -- risked arrest and losing all of their property. Activists who participated in the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 60's, were sometimes arrested and beaten for their convictions. People who hid Jews from the Nazis in German-occupied territory during World War II also risked jail, torture and execution if caught. THAT's courage, risking and giving your all for your beliefs. When has Ikeda ever done anything like that? What has he risked?

Endured? Seems to me that a lot of people have endured things considerably worse than Ikeda could ever imagine -- concentration camp survivors, people who live in desperate poverty, slaves, young women and children who've been trafficked in the sex trade, most residents of North Korea, Sudanese victims of the Janjaweed....the list could go on and on. WHAT has Ikeda experienced that even comes close to what these people have suffered?

"I have borne one attack after another," indeed. What on earth has Ikeda experienced, but some deserved critcism? Yes, he's had such a hard life, being wealthy, and praised, and buying degrees. Poor guy.

"Nobody could have accomplished what I accomplished?" Well, scamming people to build a billion-dollar empire....true, not everyone could do that. Bernie Madoff was a slacker by comparison.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2011 08:28AM by tsukimoto.

Daisaku Ikeda is a sick man.
Not physically, sounds like he's been healthy like an ox.
But sick in the head.

The list of lies from this man would fix a textbook.
And his persecution stuff, that also seems to be a way to try and manufacture sympathy from his followers.
Other gurus fake getting illnesses, like faking cancer, to deflect away from their illegal, immoral and criminal activities, and get sympathy from their followers.
They will also say their followers CAUSED the fake-cancer, due to their criticism and lack of obedience.

That is not a theory, it happens all the time. Byron Katie has used it, and basically every Guru that gets busted, fakes some kind of illness to manufacture sympathy.


Ikeda knows the best way to unify SGI is through a common ENEMY, another tactic of Leadership.

And like James Arthur Ray [forum.culteducation.com] even after 4 people are dead at his seminars, he still claims he's the one being persecuted.

Bottom line, these mega-Gurus are freaking nuts. They have dedicated their entire lives to controlling people, using them, abusing them.
And of course they see themselves as being a Superman, and that the problem is everyone is against them.
They are sick people, malignant narcissists, and they have caused horrible damage to people, time and time again.

[www.ocweekly.com]#

Soka University of America, fine institution of advanced brainwashing studies. Please also search out SUA videos on U-tube. Frightening examples of SGI student brainwashing. Japan's decline at the hands of Soka Gakkai is a human tragedy. Don't let it happen to America and the world.

Mark

I know Arnold Kawasaki personally. He is Associate Vice President of Administation of Soka University [highly paid and highly trusted by Ikeda]. He was given the name Arnold by Ikeda himself. I don't even think he has a high school education. If he does [have a high school eduction], he has been reading too many World Tribunes and Ikeda speeches. A more brainwashed Ikeda cult member one can not imagine, his intellect destroyed by the Ikeda cult. I wouldn't let him train a dog. let alone our precious children. "Frightening" is not too strong an emotion when thinking of this uneducated sycophant and puppet of Ikeda teaching our children.

Nichijew

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...

I appreciate being able to vent and spill...it's helping to make sense out of all of this. These musings may come across as simplistic and obvious, so thanks for reading!

There are a lot of great minds here...Shavoy