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Freeheartandmind
Gohonzon birthdays were not celebrated when I was in cult NSA. I was shortchanged!
Mine was supposedly my birthday. So, as a mis-fortune baby, we were all spoon-fed the extra sweetened kool-aid, every chance they got.
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The Anticult
well, since is this not a cult, then everyone is free to post different positions, and people can read them and think about them at their leisure.
:-)
What you are saying has been voiced in other threads, on other cults.
That is, some of the criticism seems too harsh, and will turn off soft-believers.
So if that is the case, others can voice another viewpoint.
But for example, posting an overgeneralization like..."chanting is bullshit" can actually have value.
But in fact, it should read "SGI-chanting is bullshit".
General chanting has been done for eons, its a form of singing, isn't it?
But the simple idea..."SGI-chanting is bullshit" might just be a thought that makes someone think...yeah maybe it is all bullshit.
but it might turns someone else off.
So since open public forums are wide open, you get the wide diversity of viewpoints.
There are chanters in this thread for ages, they don't get criticized, do they?
But the phrase "SGI-chanting is bullshit" is something that in fact is pretty darn accurate, if you think about it. SGI-chanting for a Mercedes, or to cure cancer, and the rest, it is bullshit.
of course, other might have a different viewpiont, and of course that is up to them..
As far as the Lotus Sutra and things mentioned later, does anyone see the Lotus Sutra taking everyone's money, and investing it in tax-loopholes globally like SGI?
So some might think that SGI-chanting is just bullshit.
Others might have a more nuanced viewpoint.
But the first time I saw with my own eyes some person chanting for a Mercedes and a Rolex, pretty much the first though that went through the head was...uh...this is bullshit!
;-)
Speaking as someone who partook in the "experiment" for decades (unfortunately), I concur, it's bovine excrement. I'd rather join a chorus as a hobby and get the same "high." (The cult also has a chorus group as an extra boost, for those that need more.)
It was an oppressive, primitive, magical thinking, burdensome ritual to me. I've also seen my share of whacked out crazy NMRK chanters in the nsa/sgi cult (people chanting to the point of collapse, losing their voice, eyes bulging out, spittle flying out of their mouth, fingertips pressed together turning red and white, furious juzu bead rubbing together as if they were kneading dough in their hands, heads-arms-body bobbing up-n-down & back-n-forth, tears in their eyes, tranced out, etc. Some people honestly looked like they were out on a day pass from an institution.).
If other people had different "experiences" with it, that's fine. I'm just sharing mine, as well.
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Freeheartandmind
I left through the back door also, no confrontations or anything. I went away to college, didn't know where meetings were, and didn't ask. Nobody from my home location bothered to contact me either, so it all faded away as I was exposed to a wider world with critical thinking at the core. I was disappointed at the time that people I thought cared deeply about me as a person, not just a fellow cult member, didn't bother to check on me once I went away to college. This also showed me that cult members work for themselves, all the incessant activities are to improve their own karma and relationships are tenuous at best, although loyalty is feigned.
College, graduate school, etc., were what allowed me to put some real distance between myself and the cult. Unfortunately, I had a family member who, unbeknownst to me, eventually kept "connecting" me to new area local "leaders." I quickly wised up and put a stop to it. Gakkai cult members are the same everywhere and
very predictable (they are all brainwashed with the same program and behave accordingly).
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Freeheartandmind
Interestingly, at the time, I attributed my acceptance to my dream university (a highly competitive school) to chanting, but perhaps my work to obtain excellent grades and recommendations had more to do with it. I think that some of my "friends" in the org were jealous when I reported this "benefit", because they did not want to take time from cult activities to plan their future or do anything but chant for things to happen without making any concrete efforts to reach these goals. For teenagers, the cult can seriously derail preparation for real life, unless their goal is to be a "top leader". Makes me sick to think of it, the damage done by the cult to unsuspecting and naive young people, or anybody who takes a sip of the kool-aid.
Some of my high school years were a blur, all because of the massive investment of time that I had to place in the cult org.. I had to dial back the practice to be able to get a proper education. Looking back, it was one of the first best decisions that I made as a young brainwashed, family indoctrinated cultie. And, yes, you are absolutely 100% spot-on the money when you say that getting an education didn't sit well with some people. I even encountered bizarre treatment from so-called "leaders." I understand it all now, but at the time, I was confused as all hell. The cult *is* just like a crab bucket and to some, learning how to think and bettering yourself is a threat to their perceived power.
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So, the gakkai cult org. "welcomes" critical thinkers as members? I have yet to see and meet a single one. Perhaps they mean ones who are members, but have to stay in the closet in order to remain so. I never went into that closet, so I wouldn't know.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/2012 05:12AM by Hitch.