Hitch, I just watched the clip on your post of The Last Detail. OMG, DID I REALLY DO THAT???? I sat with my mouth opened as I watched as those 3 guys attend the meeting. Too funny!!!!!!

I feel the same way when I look back on all the stupid activities that I had to go thru. What's even funnier (or sad, depending on how you look at it), is that current cult members most likely will not see anything strange or unusual about such behavior - even today. As mentioned earlier, they are perpetually stuck in a box and cease to evolve in their lives. One of my personal pet peeves is the forced, mandatory, feigned, guttural cheer and support clapping that was second nature at many meetings, especially "YOUTH!" meetings. (An example can be seen/heard here [www.youtube.com] at the 1:45 min. mark). It was done for everything and everybody, all the time. Completely meaningless, obligatory behavior, done just because it was expected and everyone else was doing it. Somebody was penniless and had to hitchhike to a meeting - "YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Somebody gets up and stutters through an incomprehensible "experience" - "YEEEEAAAHHHHHH!!! Somebody had suicidal thoughts, but chanted about it and changed their mind - "YEEEAAAAHHHHHHH!!" I kid you not. I absolutely couldn't stand this mindless automaton behavior.


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Btw, just a random thought: Is the "omamori" [en.wikipedia.org] gohonzon the gakkai cult's equivalent to the mormon's magical underwear [www.youtube.com]? Something that protects you and keeps you safe? I knew many gakkai cult members who secretly admitted to holding such beliefs.

I didn't have to see the Youtube clip to know exactly what you're talking about. The people in the area I used to practice in did this all the time and it drove me nuts as well. Many people did it but there's always that one guy who does it for literally anything and everything throughout the course of a 90-minute meeting. Even though I was steeped deeply into the cult from 0 years old, I can proudly say that I've never uttered a forced and guttural "YEEEAAAAHHH!" in my entire life.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2012 03:25AM by SGBye.

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SGBye
I didn't have to see the Youtube clip to know exactly what you're talking about. The people in the area I used to practice in did this all the time and it drove me nuts as well. Many people did it but there's always that one guy who does it for literally anything and everything throughout the course of a 90-minute meeting. Even though I was steeped deeply into the cult from 0 years old, I can proudly say that I've never uttered a forced and guttural "YEEEAAAAHHH!" in my entire life.

HAHA! Make that two of us. It was common in all areas, too. I usually just looked around to identify who was doing it the loudest, then I knew automatically who to avoid interacting with in the future. The person doing it invariably eventually turned out to (get ready for some well-worn cliched cult speak here) "have faith like burning fire" (in contrast to "flowing water"), meaning they would burn and fizzle out of their "practice" and enthusiasm after a short while. At least that was my anecdotal observation of it all over the years. The ywd had their own version of the obligatory support cheer, too, and it went something like a high pitched "WWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The people doing it were usually "YOUTH!" If it was other divisions, they either learned it in or from the youth division. No matter who was doing it (and you're right, there was always at least one), I had to suppress a desire to pick up the nearest book or shoe and throw it at them. It literally drove me up a wall. (I see one individual in that clip who was a salaried youth leader, way in the back, still doing it. They must be in their 50 or 60's now. It's pathetic as all hell seeing someone act like that at that age, never changing and having mush for brains. And so it goes, in the gakkai cult.)

From [fraughtwithperil.com] - "Subscription Check"

"I sent in a check for my subscription to SGI-USA publications. Today, a week and a half later, my check is returned in the mail with a letter. Sometimes I write my checks in purple ink, just because I like it. SGI-USA will not accept my check because it was not in blue or black ink. What the ??? Who does that? I now notice that the letter has a line in bold type stating that the check needs to be written in blue or black ink. I thought SGI-USA was using a subscription service. Why do most things technical involved with SGI have to be just slightly off? From a business point of view, I thought this was funny."

HAHA! If this is true, I'm gonna take a stab at answering it: "Why do most things technical involved with SGI have to be just slightly off?"

Because it's the anal Japanese way. Sorry if that's offensive, but it IS true.

If there's an edict handed down from a higher up, then there is no way around it - period. Common sense never applies, either. Automatons can only go with the program put into them - without question, without deviation and without any independent thought.

Sometimes, you just really gotta laugh.

"Snaps Please." (See clip and you will get it.)

This past May at a meeting in Chicago, "and now a moment from our sponsors": The "Contribution Cafe"

[www.youtube.com] (Reminiscent of the the old time black christian gospel revivals on Sunday church day.)

"At the contribution cafe, we all give."

"All you virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life."

"This is the story of a man - My Mentor." "Protecting his mentor, Josei Toda." (Pronounced with a long "i".)

"He cut his living expenses and went the entire winter, without an overcoat. And contributing any way he could to support gakkai activities and support Cousin Rufus." (Have you ever been without an overcoat in Chicago?!)

"Chant NMRK, find appreciation in your heart and see what fruits your good fortune has in store."

"The Fortune Contribution Song."

Next, the black preacher preaching against "fundamental darkness."

"Let's fight for Cousin Rufus together, make a contribution TODAY! YEA!!"

"The offerings and financial contributions to the org. are solicited exclusively to accomplish the daishonin's mandate, to widely propagate the mystic law. Offerings made toward this are equivalent to offerings to the original buddha. There is no greater offering and no greater good."

"The contribution cafe, 'were everyone gives AND everyone receives'."

"Repay the kindness you have received ....... even lowly creatures know this ........ surely you should not forget your debts of gratitude to your parents, your teachers and your country - the writings of Nichiren Daishonin."

"Repeat after me, 'boddishatva!'" "I'm a bodhisattva, I need you, gotta get together 'cause we need Cousin Rufus and got work to do!"

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C-U-L-T!

Hitch, this is the first time that a Youtube clip you posted actually put a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’m glad you wrote out some of the main lines of the video in your post because I couldn’t even get through it. Contribution campaigns were always sleazy: they’ll tell you out of one side of their mouth that everything you give will come back to you tenfold. Then, out of the other side, they’ll tell you to give without expecting anything in return. This is purely to get the most money out of members while covering their asses at the same time. Happened upon a lot of money after contributing? Of course you did, because you contributed to Kosen Rufu! Didn’t get anything after contributing? Of course not, because you gave with the wrong attitude of expecting something in return! It’s shameless and disgusting. Luckily, I never gave the organization very much but I lament giving the money that I did give.

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SGBye
Hitch, this is the first time that a Youtube clip you posted actually put a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’m glad you wrote out some of the main lines of the video in your post because I couldn’t even get through it. Contribution campaigns were always sleazy: they’ll tell you out of one side of their mouth that everything you give will come back to you tenfold. Then, out of the other side, they’ll tell you to give without expecting anything in return. This is purely to get the most money out of members while covering their asses at the same time. Happened upon a lot of money after contributing? Of course you did, because you contributed to Kosen Rufu! Didn’t get anything after contributing? Of course not, because you gave with the wrong attitude of expecting something in return! It’s shameless and disgusting. Luckily, I never gave the organization very much but I lament giving the money that I did give.

Although I consider myself to be immunized to just about anything in the gakkai cult org., I'll admit, that clip is like a bad car accident that you can't help to get a feeling of revulsion from after sneaking a glance at. It's so blatant that you want to tell yourself its got to be a parody, but it isn't. It just screams out C-U-L-T-! You are literally watching people who are out of their minds.

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Hitch
Although I consider myself to be immunized to just about anything in the gakkai cult org., I'll admit, that clip is like a bad car accident that you can't help to get a feeling of revulsion from after sneaking a glance at. It's so blatant that you want to tell yourself its got to be a parody, but it isn't. It just screams out C-U-L-T-! You are literally watching people who are out of their minds.

Ugh, I couldn't look past the first 30 seconds or so, it is so repulsive. How on earth could I have been part of an organisation that behaves like this? *Cringe* *Gak*

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simplify

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Hitch
Although I consider myself to be immunized to just about anything in the gakkai cult org., I'll admit, that clip is like a bad car accident that you can't help to get a feeling of revulsion from after sneaking a glance at. It's so blatant that you want to tell yourself its got to be a parody, but it isn't. It just screams out C-U-L-T-! You are literally watching people who are out of their minds.

Ugh, I couldn't look past the first 30 seconds or so, it is so repulsive. How on earth could I have been part of an organisation that behaves like this? *Cringe* *Gak*

+1, sickening