People who do the most harm, do so from dogma and fanaticism and their psychological manipulation is intentional (e.g., the note from your district leader) so as to control you and keep you in line. The bogeyman is nothing more than your own mind. Blow away all of the smoke of fear and guilt and you'll find there's nothing really there.

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jlynneda63
Hitch,
I'm old now! I should have figured it out! Even today I found myself thinking about people I thought were my friends! Thank goodness I found this site! I feel nervous & fearful "WHAT IF"WHAT IF SAYING BAD THINGS WILL SEND ME TO HELL. WILL SOMETHING BAD HAPPEN. AM I SPENDING MT FORTUNE? How crazy is that? I actually know when they r chanting for me. Oh yeah, I forgot. I got a note from my district leader saying they should have a new meeting house soon! Lets be victorious! Which remibds me THE MEETINGS WERE HERE! WHAT HAVE I DONE? I let members down. Then i realize its propoganda but i still buy into it!

I have spent from age 22 to 63 practicing in some form or another.I wonder how damaging it has been? So, its like yeah i got out but my life is almost over so,wtf do i do now?

The hardest. of all is hearing what u r saying about manipulation & not understanding who had the intent. I have 1 person i can say that about. The rest seemed to b well meaning people. So who r the boogey men? Am i naive? I have done my own share of being arrogant & unkind. Not purposely but was led by ego myself! Its lime being stuck on fly paper. u get one foot unstuck & a hand, loose ur balance & find urself stuck again! SO WHO R THE PEOPLE WHO HAD INTENT TO HARM? curious

A drunken driver has no intent to harm when he kills a family. Most SGI members have no intent to harm but their religion [philosophy] is all about "gain". It take a really wise and strong man or women to think of gain as gain for oneself and for others. Most people, when they adopt the SGI "gain" philosophy, they transition into ends justifying the means. Few come to realize compassion and wisdom. The bottom line for the top leaders is to strengthen the Soka Gakkai: More converts, more money, more power, more influence. The happiness of the individual, despite their noble rhetoric, takes a back seat to protecting and advancing the organization. When you work tirelessly for the Gakkai, you are praised by your leaders but you do so at the expense of your career, your family, and your personal development. When after 10, 20, 30, or more years of working for the sake of the Gakkai and you have failed to demonstrate "the great power of the practice", you are discarded like the used rind of an orange, the leaders blaming you for your shortcomings. The reality is that you believed and trusted these men and women who are blind to truth. Ignorance of the Law is not an excuse. Even if all the leaders meant well, their religion and philosophy has no power to awaken them to the harm they are doing to others. It is said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Without wisdom, they will continue to harm others. There are 60 year olds who have turned their lives around. You can do it too.

Nichijew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/19/2012 01:28PM by Nichijew.

In the Gakkai Fest video its amazing how bored Prez ikeda looks while clapping after human pyramids were constructed.
Here's a few selections from an Associated press article by Tim Sullivan (5/16/12) :

Seeking logic in North Korea's mass spectacles.

"The crowds bow before the statues in practiced unison and shake bright, fake flowers in choreographed praise. Some weep with joy to be in the presence of the baby-faced Kim Jong Un, who is now their Illustrious General, their Leader, their Supreme Commander".

"This is the complex reality of the spectacles, which exist at a particularly North Korean intersection of dogma, tedium and entertainment".

"The ceremonies, like nearly all life in North Korea, revolve around the three men who have ruled the country since its birth in 1948: The founder Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il and now his grandson Kim Jong Un.
Toddlers learn songs proclaiming their love of Kim Il Sung"

"In the official tales, the Kims are kind and they are brilliant, they are strong and they are all-knowing".

"Even people who have fled North Korea say say the spectacles can be transcendant experiences. Many say they believed the propaganda when they lived there, and that others did too".

"For centuries, rulers have used choreographed spectacles to help them maintain control, mixing the appearance of absolute public unity with an underlying threat of what happens to anyone who goes against the grain.
Mass rallies were a part of life in ancient Rome, in 1930's Berlin and in the former Soviet Union which helped install Kim Il Sung in power after World War II
But in Pyongyang, spectacles have become science."

" 'When we as outsiders look at these productions, we only look at the final product: these machine-like events that look very eerie' says Suk-young Kim, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara who has studied the spectacles. 'But imagine you're coordinating every breath you take with 100,000 people: It brings people together. It eliminates individual will. It has tremendous efficacy in running society".

"The crowds knew from years of practice to stand at attention as officials spoke. They knew when to applaud, when to throw their fists in the air, when to call out insults against South Korea."

Need I comment further?

Nichijew
Thanks for your perspective!
Very weird time in my life. I guess I will share the most recent confusion & an example of what u r sharing.

We had a man in our district who was a victim of agent orange in Vietnam. He has serious neurological deficits & I was concerned for his safety. I did senior care & saw that he could not take care of himself. Was not eatinf. had no help & certainly deserved better. When I brought this concern up I was told he has the gohonzon. I explained how serious his issues were & was told not to get invokved! I did it anyway & then the so called member care person told me she would take over. He was in our group but we weren't supposed to "get invokved". Then while online searching for benifits he was eligible for I found a site that makes quilts for soldiers affected by agent orange & I could make a sqare to send in for him which would b added to a new quilt that would then travel the country to various places for exhibit to educate people about how many people have been affected by agent orange. We wanted to present the sqare during our vet day distrct mtg. It took alot of work & we had it ready to suprise him & what do u think happened? We were told it "wasn't an activity" so we had to give it to him ourselfs. We wanted to honor him for his sacrifice
Forgot about that! He was thrilled. .

Got flack for the time it took fm SGI activities as well. so much for world peace!

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jlynneda63
Nichijew
Thanks for your perspective!
Very weird time in my life. I guess I will share the most recent confusion & an example of what u r sharing.

We had a man in our district who was a victim of agent orange in Vietnam. He has serious neurological deficits & I was concerned for his safety. I did senior care & saw that he could not take care of himself. Was not eatinf. had no help & certainly deserved better. When I brought this concern up I was told he has the gohonzon. I explained how serious his issues were & was told not to get invokved! I did it anyway & then the so called member care person told me she would take over. He was in our group but we weren't supposed to "get invokved". Then while online searching for benifits he was eligible for I found a site that makes quilts for soldiers affected by agent orange & I could make a sqare to send in for him which would b added to a new quilt that would then travel the country to various places for exhibit to educate people about how many people have been affected by agent orange. We wanted to present the sqare during our vet day distrct mtg. It took alot of work & we had it ready to suprise him & what do u think happened? We were told it "wasn't an activity" so we had to give it to him ourselfs. We wanted to honor him for his sacrifice
Forgot about that! He was thrilled. .

You were told he has the Gohonzon. Well, here is a situation where this gentleman may not have had the ability at that time to chant to the Gohonzon. He was struggling to take care of himself!!! The square for the quilt presentation-- Was not an activity??? Is SGI kidding, again? This really reels in the point to me that SGI is a totally insular-for-themselves organization.

Nichijew
Thanks for your perspective!
Very weird time in my life. I guess I will share the most recent confusion & an example of what u r sharing.

We had a man in our district who was a victim of agent orange in Vietnam. He has serious neurological deficits & I was concerned for his safety. I did senior care & saw that he could not take care of himself. Was not eatinf. had no help & certainly deserved better. When I brought this concern up I was told he has the gohonzon. I explained how serious his issues were & was told not to get invokved! I did it anyway & then the so called member care person told me she would take over. He was in our group but we weren't supposed to "get invokved". Then while online searching for benifits he was eligible for I found a site that makes quilts for soldiers affected by agent orange & I could make a sqare to send in for him which would b added to a new quilt that would then travel the country to various places for exhibit to educate people about how many people have been affected by agent orange. We wanted to present the sqare during our vet day distrct mtg. It took alot of work & we had it ready to suprise him & what do u think happened? We were told it "wasn't an activity" so we had to give it to him ourselfs. We wanted to honor him for his sacrifice
Forgot about that! He was thrilled. .

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Nichijew
The reality is that you believed and trusted these men and women who are blind to truth. Ignorance of the Law is not an excuse. Even if all the leaders meant well, their religion and philosophy has no power to awaken them to the harm they are doing to others.

Nichijew, are you implying that you have special access to the "truth", while others don't, or am I just misreading your words? If so, could you please elaborate.

jlynneda63 - I've noticed that the gakkai is never really interested in doing anything outside of their normal sphere of functions, unless it has something to do with bringing in additional members (i.e., shakubuku). Also, the cult organization "trains" people and encourages them to not think for themselves. Anything outside of normal parameters would require "official" permission up the chain of command in order to be carried out. If any Japanese "senior leader" nixes it, then that's the "official" end of it forever. Ideas and independent thinking can only come from the top --> down, never vice versa. It's like a computer program - it has to be written in by the software developer/programmer in order for it to happen. The best sheep members know this by default always act accordingly.

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rattyboy
In the Gakkai Fest video its amazing how bored Prez ikeda looks while clapping after human pyramids were constructed.

I always enjoy your comments rattyboy and the above is a good example as to why. There is a lot of truth to what you are saying.

I've attended some events (as a participant) with the dear leader and have been in very close proximity to him (about 6 feet away) on more than one occasion and have noticed the very same thing. There has always been an odd distance and "matter-of-fact" (unemotional) behavior from him, even when the performers in front of him are pouring their hearts out. It even struck me as odd as a teenager, the very first time I saw him. It's hard to explain, but it's definitely there. I can also attest that there was very little (at least for me) charisma exuded from the short pudgemeister.

After my first culture festival, I'll never forget how many of my fellow performers were in tears, sobbing pangs of emotion when the performance for the deal leader was finished, yet he just reacted like he was watching a rerun of an old movie that he had seen for the umpteenth time and had better things to do (which, ironically, was probably the case).

This discourse reminded me of the very last straw before I left. After all I went thru to finish the quilt.sqare in time my vice wd dl called to say that the "leaders" decided how nice it wpuld b if we could all sew beads cases for all the members for christmas. I had this thought "is she doing this on purpose"? I was in the middle of the above activity for the man i told u about. I said NO I DO NOT SEW" made my hair stand on end...sewing warehouse? Really? So everyone WILL participate. After i said no she called back to ask what day i was available! The last thing...the day before my exit I got a call that the leaders needed to come here for a leaxers meeting. This is after we were appointed "group leaders"...OH I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT SINCE WE WERE APPTED & THEY TOOK EVERY MEMBER WE WERE HELPING FROM US & gave us a list of people who do not even recieve phone calls! I WAS REALLY PO'D. They marched in here & said they had EXTRA WORK to divide up. What new nite did we want to help sign up for. I said uh NONE! I WAS TOLD IT WASN'T OPTIONAL! THAT WAS IT FOR ME!

Thank u sooo much everyone...I don't know how Ive blocked all this recent crap from memory! It was only a few mos. ago! I just gave them the benifit of the doubt over & over again! I was in a constant stste of anxiety the entire time! Is that brainwashing?

CAN U EXPLAIN FURTHER? I FEEL SICK...IT REALLY WAS MEAN HATEFULL & MOST OF ALL, INTENTIONAL!!

Besides it is suppose to b an organization to promote peace. I sincerely cared for every person. Looking back there was no other alternative than to quit! I was so concerned about affecting the members that i never have said a word to anyone! I didn't think it fair. Now I'm wondering if I should be honest! My wd vice has about 40 books i've lended her to b nice! They were certainly not nice to us?