Hello Former SGI Members,

I've been sneaking around the forum for awhile and decided to finally make myself apart of the support group here.

I'm a former member and once had a titled of "member with weak practice" LOL (sound familiar?)

I came to L.A in 2003 and found a SGI community after moving from another city in the midwest. I had briefly heard about it and chanted a bit with a friend, and her husband who are members there. In the fall of 2004 I received my gohonzon. I still hadn't met alot of friends or a strong support system out here so I was ELATED by these wonderful,sincere,loyal friends who were suddenly in my life!(sound familiar) WOW I had never met such a positive enlightened group of people cheering me on! This was awesome! I thought I had a whole new group of life long friendships!

For the next couple years the SGI was my life,amazing,untouchable,slaving away at the friendship center,cleaning toilets,washing walls and CHANGING MY KARMA!!In the eyes of the infinite undiscriminating universe I could have wiped a homeless mans butt on the street and had the same karmic benefit,maybe even more. I even said I would never marry anyone who wasn't a member...WOW!!! LOL as time when on I couldn't figure out what this nagging feeling of subtle anger and annoyance I was feeling with leaders and members. It was their subtle manipulation ,control and guilt tactics. My intuition started kicking in and I started complaining AKA "slandering the practice" I started to see everything that this entire forum has mentioned but kept saying it wasn't a cult because of my programming to what a severe cult is and since I was supported to live my own life couldn't possibly call the SGI a cult.

Since then I remained a member but have slowly died out ,stopped going to meeting stopped going to the friendship center etc... I won't go into everything that drove me away but basically whats been said here. The lack of tolerance for other Buddhisms,saying astrology is evil,President Ikeda worship,I never got into him AT ALL and felt I was missing something when Japanese members would start crying over him at meetings,for a bunch of slaves who make him money and worship him he hasn't even been to the USA in YEARS!! I signed up for Buddhism not Ikeda worship,also I was so exhausted of hearing about saving Temple members and they would never be happy if we didn't bring them over to the SGI! This got really old very fast!

I'm not to worried about harassment because I died out slowly and after awhile my connections with everyone just faded out ,remember I was "weak member" who didn't make much of a impact.I don't think there will be many bells and whistles down the line when others notice I'm gone.

I've gone through alot of fazes as I got my mind back and broke free from the hive mentality. I've felt sad at time and cried like it was a break up,realizing non of those amazing wonderful friends were really friends,non ever call anymore(actually that's good)I was a bit programmed and brainwashed and have started the deprogramming. I feel like a independent thinker again.

A couple things I want to say to newbies too is slowly faze hem out and NEVER announce you're leaving or you'll be bombarded with home visits and phone calls. Start doing things and connecting to your intuition and listen to what you need to do to start deprogramming yourself.

There's just so much I recognize now that hasn't already been mentioned I don't want to drone on and on,but one thing I thought of was the whole "fortune baby thing" there is such hypocricy in the SGI.Everyone is equal and has the Buddha nature but children born into the practice are "fortune babies"? In that case we're all fortune babies!

I will write more later but wanted to introduce myself and say a few things. I look forward to staying here for further support for others.

Miss66 (former weak member,now independent thinker)

Very good advice. Many people feel they owe someone an explanation as to why they are leaving.

If you have donated months of free labor and given money you dont owe a group or its already-rich-leader anything.

Make no announcements.

Just fade away. Make fewer comments, fewer commitments. Slide away skillfully and softly, just the way a cat enters and leaves a room.

Again, you're the ones who have donated time, effort, money. You dont owe them any explanation whatsover. Miss66 nailed it.

A point about SGI-USA.
Very clearly, their designed mandate, is NOT for many members to be SGI-lifers, as in Japan, for example.
Its very very clear, that in the USA, SGI came up with a strategy to be able to access a large number of more casual members, where they can just collect dues money.

SGI-USA also has another level, where they bring in some newbies who are gung-ho for SGI, and then get them to work and slave away for a few years for SGI, then burn out and leave.
SGI-USA has many levels of structured membership.

They are very happy to have those who just give them dues money.
Others, SGI-USA is happy to use as a workerbee for some years, and then dump them.

So its an error to think that SGI-USA wants to only create SGI-lifers with all their members. In fact, they do not want that.
SGI will only take those it can really control into its inner circles, and doesn't trust most americans, as Ikeda knows ultimately many Americans prefer to think for themselves eventually.

So the pattern described above, of joining and being Love-bombed by SGI, then being conned into being working a worker-bee for SGI for a number of years, then burning out and quitting...that is part of the design of SGI-USA. They know its better to burn members out, and then discard them, and find fresh meat, as they say.
Its like certain corporations that do the same thing, they just churn through entry level staff, and never have to pay benefits. Its the cost of business.
Same with SGI-USA, they churn members in the same way.

So SGI-USA has a number of levels.
And just using a member until they burn out, that is a huge part of SGI-USA. SGI doesn't mind, as then it gets rid of any "complainers" and forces SGI-USA to find new people, which these cults think of as "fresh meat".

Wel they certainly do that. I have also seen them pursue people relentlessly to come back. It is true though when you start complaining to much and they relaize you're not that controlable it's like they decide not to waste their time on you anymore.

They can tell within a couple years how easily prorammed one is. Thats why when they were "havin gproblems" with me and home visits were starting to happen. Top leaders would want to know how long I was a member before coming to see me.

so basically they use us round eyed westerners? LMAO

Ikeda must have learned long ago that those lazy Americans will eventually get sick of doing unpaid labor for a corporation like SGI-USA.

That is why SGI-USA brought in direct-deposit for donations to SGI-USA.
No sticky fingers possible.
Along with other conveniences.


Have seen several people slave away for SGI for years, and then just get dumped by SGI when they were used up.

On the other hand, if a person is from a wealthy family, and makes some big donations from time to time, then they are on a different list. Then they get special treatment.
That is not speculation, its based on how SGI behaves.

Quote
Miss66
Wel they certainly do that. I have also seen them pursue people relentlessly to come back. It is true though when you start complaining to much and they relaize you're not that controlable it's like they decide not to waste their time on you anymore.

They can tell within a couple years how easily prorammed one is. Thats why when they were "havin gproblems" with me and home visits were starting to happen. Top leaders would want to know how long I was a member before coming to see me.

Welcome, Miss66! I enjoyed reading what you've shared. I'm curious--when the home visits started to happen, during "the problem time", did the leaders probe you on the source of your "problems" and did you tell them your misgivings? If so, what were their responses?

Leaders have left me alone for a long time now, because I'm not down with the program and have been vocal about it.

Ahhhhh, it all makes sense.

Hello Shavoy,



I still have my gohonzon. It went on 7 years this past September that I've been a member. I've been MIA for the past year and a half. I haven't had any home visits for a little over two years,after they asked me about a leadership position,and I refused they just kind of gave up.



The home visits would start with me wanting to take a break from the SGI and/or sharing my concerns of things that I didn't like in the SGI. This would be followed by a couple of phone calls for someone to come over ,chant with me, and then have a little talk AKA home visit,sometimes I would refuse these but they insisted. It was usually one person or leader that was coming over and that morning three would show up at my door,all leaders at different levels,so you're expecting one and you get swarmed with three.



I probably had a total of about four serious home visits during my time there.



They did probe me,basically like a therapy session asking me about my life and whats going on,how chanting is going etc bleeding the conversation over to how my practice is,if I'm reading the publications,am I doing activities etc. If I was lacking in any of these It would depend on the leader but I was usually told chant more,do more activities ,make a big contribution,if May was around the corner,start reading the publications more. I was even told to write a letter to President Ikeda thanking him for all he's done. I didn't of course.



Whatever it was the solution was always to benefit the SGI more,sometimes they would bring over a article in one of the magazines about how a members life changed after doing more activities or making a big donation. These were all things they would suggest after sharing my misgivings.I felt like I was chasing my tail with them.By the time they left I always felt like I had just been negative and wasn't trying hard enough ,then things would be fine for awhile again and then the same stuff would resurface.

How long has it been since they've stopped calling you?

Ratty Boy<

at what level leadership did he say these scum bags start to get paid? This is infuriating. I remember when a leader came up to me at a meeting ,smiled and handed me a donation envelop. Going back in time I should have punched her in the face.

This all makes me want to call them out,but I shall compose myself! Skanky corrupt SGI!

Quote
The Anticult
Where is the PROOF that the Dr. Rev General Ikeda...

1) saw an incident of racism with children playing with a ball in Chicago
2) said anything about it?

Where is the proof? Is it recorded?
Or is it another outright fabrication by Ikeda and his public relations hacks?

Ikeda is an expert in race relations in Chicago in the 1970's?

This is sheer unadulterated SGI bullshit and propaganda.
They want to portray Ikeda like Caesar...who shows up somewhere and says..."I came I saw I conquered" then they build a statue to the Great Man.

Its vulgar, vile idolatry, the same as practiced by petty dictators around the world.
Who else, other than petty dictators, get their acolytes to build statues of them?

At least the pigeons will have somewhere to sit/shit, on Ikeda's head.

As has been said since the beginning of this thread, Ikeda is an Egomaniac.

Hehe. No problem. they will have a ymd cleaning off the pigeon turds several times a day, maybe even one chasing off the pigeons or they will call the pigeons "bluebirds of happiness" resting comfortably on Sensei's shoulders.

Nichijew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2011 07:10AM by Nichijew.