"Many "leaders" were attracted by the assumed prestige and authority of having a title"

I know I was.

Beautiful post, holly_golightly. It sums up so much about the cult org., and what we all go through, perfectly.

I agree with you completely, about the "YOUTH!" division. It's an entirely different monster in and of itself. IMO, it's where the mind games, manipulation, use and abuse are the most severe in the cult org..

- Hitch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2013 03:50AM by Hitch.

" I feel like I'm going through stages. Lately I've been very angry but it's subsiding. At this point I don't want to debate with my former leaders as much as I want to punch them in the nose."

For me, it helps to simply acknowledge that I'm on a different path than they are. My anger came from a couple of sources: Frustration that the SGI's promises were empty and that Nichiren Buddhism was not providing what I had thought it would, but more from my own frustration that I had devoted so much time to something that obviously wasn't a good fit for me. In hindsight I should have recognized that earlier, but you need to continue in whatever it is, whether it's a job, a love relationship, or an organization, until you're certain, right? If I had left prematurely, I might have been one of those sad individuals who came crawling back and would henceforth be used as a cautionary example: "You don't ever want to go taiten! Look at [your name here]! S/He went taiten, and in the years away from the all-important organization, his/her life condition plummeted and s/he found himself/herself in the hell of incessant suffering! Now that s/he has returned, s/he is so happy to be back in the most ideal, family-like organization there is!"

So my anger is that I'm frustrated that I wasted all that time. Still, if that's what it takes for you to learn what you need to learn, it's not wasted time - I keep reminding myself of that. If you are happy with your life *now*, you can look back on every detail and say, "It took that and that and those for me to become *THIS* person who I am right now, and because I *like* this person who I am right now, I can embrace and *own* everything that has happened in my life." Theoretically :P I still get mad sometimes :)

Anger isn't all bad, though. It's got energy associated with it, so it's not as necessarily self-destructive as, say, depression is. No energy there! So the energy of being angry can motivate us to take action, like telling our stories right here.

For me, again, reading more widely made it abundantly apparent to me that I simply needed MUCH more than the SGI was prepared to provide. I needed extensive intellectual nourishment, not just a virtual cup of Ramen every now and then! Also, I could simply never come to terms with the intolerance of the SGI. Buddhism is *all* about tolerance and accepting that each person has a unique path and respecting each individual's right to walk his path - there is simply no room for intolerance there! The whole "Everyone needs to chant!" or the stupid "1/3 of the world needs to chant!" is indefensible. Nichiren was an intolerant a-hole who wanted the other Buddhist leaders to be executed so that HE could be the government favorite, and there's no way around that! Here's something I loved from that Shin/Christianity article I linked to upstream:

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The last important difference between Shin and Christianity which we will discuss has to do with the concept of conversion.

Christians believe that all people in the world must accept Christ, and missionaries undergo all sorts of hardship to bring the gospel of Jesus to all mankind. Christians "have a story to tell to the nations." They go to teach and elevate people.

Shin missionaries, on the other hand, go out to seek people who have similar opinions to their own. They invite them to join them in their activities. Shin regards entrance into the Hongwanji as a union of attitudes. The basis of these religious attitudes lies in one's past experiences. No amount of arguing or teaching can bring these attitudes about without there having been the necessary conditioning experiences in one's past.

Shin does not believe that everyone will or must become a Shin follower. It is said that Sakya taught 84,000 different doctrinal systems so that there might be one suited to each possible kind of human personality. Shin, as one of these many doctrines, will find kindred spirits in every country of the world, but were any one country even -let alone the whole world- to follow Shin alone, it would be a sure sign that Shin is not a true doctrine.

With regard to conversion, then, Christianity and Shin are quite different. Christianity finds evidence of its truth in the fact that all people will accept it. Shin takes universal acceptance as a sign of not being a true doctrine.

Shin followers rejoice that the Christian is Christian and that the Moslem is Moslem. They are happy with the atheist or agnostic who glories in his freedom from superstition. Shin missionaries do not seek to convert those who are content with their own religion. Shin finds the joy of others sufficient happiness for its own life of gratitude. [www.seattlebetsuin.com]

There's the link again ^. Shin is another name for "Jodo Shinshu" or "Nembutsu" or Amida Buddhism. I noticed fairly early on that the SGI's intolerance finds good company with Christianity's intolerance - that's probably why it was able to spread as far as it did in the US. It was simply more *familiar* to people who had grown up immersed in intolerant Christianity. But that intolerance never sat well with me.

"unwavering support of the cult (I spent a hefty part of my college scholarship money to go on the pilgrimage in 1973 the now destroyed Sho-Hondo temple)"

I meant to comment upon this.

We were always being pushed to go on expensive trips or whatever back when I was still a new member in the late 1980s. I would use my credit cards to afford it, leading to a habit of overspending that it took me *years* to overcome. I remember telling a YWD leader that I couldn't afford to go on tozan (because I couldn't), and she sighed and kind of shook her head, her disappointment in me palpable. But I couldn't afford it.

Later, I remember a discussion with another leader or two, after we'd been excommunicated by the Temple and these kinds of trips had stopped, where the leaders were acknowledging that, in the past, members would be encouraged to "make the cause" and go, that the money would magically appear to reward them for "making the cause" - and then, when they got back, they couldn't afford necessaries and then pretty much dropped out of sight. The idea that the leaders would encourage members to live honestly and practically within their means was completely foreign.

Does anyone remember that push to get 100,000 NSA members together at the New Orleans dome-stadium thingie? That was the big thing - there were going to be YMD pyramids on roller skates and singing and dancing and all that other crap - and then President Ikeda suddenly put the kibosh on the whole thing and Mr. Williams had to explain that, oh, New Orleans doesn't even have the infrastructure to accommodate an influx of 100,000 tourists! Yeah, whatever :D

After we moved here to San Diego, I volunteered to help out with the annual Haunted House. It was off-putting; I came in with lots of great ideas (I've done lots of haunted houses throughout my life) but was told that "President Ikeda gave guidance that the Youth Division should lead this activity." Well, I helped where I could, but as it turned out, one YWD spent way too much money on the activity and then disappeared. That's a heavy cost for following President Ikeda's guidance! Another time, I approached the Youth Division, offering adult division support (my own, but I was confident that I could get other adults on board ha ha ha) for activities that the Youth Division might want to do - go up to Big Bear for an overnight skiing, for example, or have movie nights or sleepovers at the community center or whatever - I was taken aside and firmly told that the "rhythm" was that the Youth Division needed to initiate all their own activities.

Well, guess what? Youth Division - teens - have no money! They have no life experience with calling and making reservations! They don't have good cars! They may not have enough life experience to come up with interesting ideas - where is the harm in more experienced members making suggestions that they can at least have the option of choosing from?? Dicks! Way to throw the youth enough rope to hang themselves with!

Oh, and at the Haunted House (which was advertised to the public), we all had to wear buttons that said, "Ask me about Buddhism!" *eye roll*

So now I take my kids and their friends on trips :P

Holly, I loved your post about the Youth Division activities - I agree with every part. That whole "high" of making [insert activity here] a success - boy, can I ever relate to that! And the whole idea that we should just stand there and politely *take* being yelled at by the Women's Division members (they always outranked the YWD, don't you know) and say "Hai" no matter what - disgusting!

Thanks taiten for the Seattle Buddhist Church stuff. Many in SGI slag off Pureland "because its like Christianity". It is of course only superficially similar. The SGI shot themselves in the foot by criticising Pureland to me because I became more curious about it. It is the most beautiful Buddhist teaching I have read, completely free of the empty rhetoric-human revolution et al-SGI folk parrot.

Well, looks like the song "Forever Sensei" is evolving, along with the cult org..

Small group performance [www.youtube.com].

Large group performance [www.youtube.com].

Another wrong turn in evolution for the gakkai cult org..


- Hitch

Lee, one of the first books I ordered as I was leaving the SGI was this odd little book I found on eBay, "Japanese Buddhism and Christianity: A Comparison of the Christian Doctrine of Salvation with that of some major sects of Japanese Buddhism", by Tucker N. Calloway, from 1957(!) [www.abebooks.com] (You can find a lot of old books priced decently at that site, BTW). Did I mention I'm a bit of an intellectual weenie?? :P

The author is *clearly* a Christian, but his perspective is nonetheless interesting. From the Preface:

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Though this book was written as a Doctoral Dissertation I have hoped throughout its preparation that it might be printed in Japan. I believe the material included herein will aid Christian leaders, missionaries, and evangelistic laymen of Japan to reach a clearer understanding of the uniqueness of their own faith and of the vast gulf which separates it from Buddhism. I believe the book will also give them a more adequate and more sympathetic comprehension of the true nature of Japanese Buddhism and will, thereby, prepare them to be more effective in leading their Buddhist friends to an appreciation of Christianity.

Because we all know that the *best* thing a friend can do is to persuade a friend to change in order to become more like himself, right?? ;P

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On the other hand, it is my conviction that Buddhist leaders and Buddhist laymen of Japan will find much to interest them in the pages which follow. The first four chapters contain as accurate and objective a description of the basic principles of Japanese Buddhism as I could make. Nothing has been introduced which does not have the authorization of some leading scholar of Japanese Buddhism or of some Buddhist Scripture of fundamental importance to Japanese Buddhist Sects. When differences between Christianity and Buddhism are indicated, they are frequently differences which are insisted upon by learned Japanese Buddhists themselves.

It is consistent with traditional Buddhist toleration that Buddhists should seek as correct an understanding of Christianity as possible. Most of the Buddhist objections to Christianity which I have encountered during the course of this investigation have seemed to me to be based upon incomplete comprehension of its nature. A reading of this book will, I trust, help to overcome many misconceptions held by Buddhists regarding Christianity. Chapter Five in which comparisons and contrasts are made should be particularly beneficial in this respect.

Ah, yes, another starry-eyed Christian *certain* that the only reason Buddhists (and everyone else) aren't converting en masse to Christianity is because they don't actually understand what Christianity is! It simply does not occur that the reason they remain Buddhists is because they actually understand exactly what Christianity is, thank you very much.

Still, it's an interesting little book. Author is clearly a creationist Christian - his insistence that the theory of evolution isn't well supported and that science agrees that special creation is the best explanation for human beings (ha ha ha) kind of puts the lie to his claims of objectivity, but it's interesting to see the perspective from 1957, which is before I was born. He's got a whole chapter on the Amida sect, which is interesting. All Nichiren had to offer was polemic, a screed against everybody else, which was patently obvious. As I mentioned a ways upstream, my first introduction to Theravada Buddhism was at the nearby Deer Park Monastery, started by Thich Naht Thahn (sp?), that prominent Vietnamese Buddhist leader. Really cool dude, BTW - he penned an excellent article in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on NYC. Anyhow, notice this, from their recitation of the-sutra-which-is-not-the-Lotus-sutra-and-thus-forbidden-according-to-Nichiren, aka the Pali Canon:

Quote

"Properly considering alms food, I use it: not playfully, nor for intoxication, nor for putting on weight, nor for beautification; but simply for the survival and continuance of this body, for ending its afflictions, for the support of the chaste life, (thinking) I will destroy old feelings (of hunger) and not create new feelings (from overeating). Thus I will maintain myself, be blameless, and live in comfort."

"Properly considering the lodging, I use it: simply to ward off cold, to ward off heat, to ward off the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun and reptiles; simply for protection from the inclemencies of weather and for the enjoyment of seclusion."

"Properly considering medicinal requisites for curing the sick, I use them: simply to ward off any pains of illness that have arisen, and for the maximum freedom from disease." [www.accesstoinsight.org]

I thought those eminently sensible guidelines, and their gongyo had the English translation right below each line! Eminently sensible! And we're supposed to reject this in favor of burning rival sects' sacred buildings to the ground and cutting their priests' heads off??? Shakyamuni Buddha changed his mind THAT MUCH???

One more comment on the Christian author described above ^: I think it is commonplace among those who gravitate toward intolerant religions, for whatever reason, to conclude that "Because this rings true for me, that means that EVERYBODY ELSE will want it, too, and if they don't, it can only be because they don't really understand it!"

I know I thought that way about Nichiren Buddhism. Early on, there was this older black man at the company I worked for, a contractor. And I discovered that he *used* to be a MD District Leader in what was then still called NSA! But now he and his family were Baptists! So I remember working into our discussions topics leading to Buddhism, and at one point he said to me, "Are you trying to shakoo-boo-koo me?" He drew the word out just like that :D

And I was all, "No! Of course not! Not at all!" Did you see the recent movie "21 Jump Street" with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum? It opens with a flashback scene to high school, right before prom. And nerdy Jonah Hill, all Sun-In-ed bleached hair and braces, goes up to this dishy babe (who looks all of 28 - yeah, SURE you're a high school student, hon!!) and is leading up to asking her to prom, you know, "we've lived across the street from each other all our lives" etc., and she interrupts, "You aren't about to ask me to the prom, are you?" And it was just like that! "No! Of course not! Not at all!" We delude ourselves with the narrative we create in our own minds that the impossible is actually possible for us - if we only *ask* for it. No, sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to just because you'd really like it if they would!

One of the major realizations that led eventually to my quitting the SGI is that there is no one "right" religion. They're all actually the same - and the same as none at all. It's a big buffet, a smorgasbord, and you can choose *whatever you like*! Or nothing if you don't see anything that appeals to you! And it's all equally *fine*!! People all have different needs and different paths, and one belief system will appeal to one person while a different belief system appeals to someone else. Choose whatever you like!

I was raised Evangelical Christian, as I've mentioned before. To be honest, I remember from my own experiences in Southern Baptist/Evangelical youth activities that the leaders exhort the youth to convert their friends, even telling them that their friends are “thirsting” for the “water of life”, and that they will appreciate so much the Christian youth’s efforts to bring to “those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death” the light of Christianity that they are awaiting so desperately, to be rescued from their spiritual blindness by having their eyes opened at last. If only someone will care enough, that is. It’s always couched in terms like this, that the Christian youth are doing such a big fat favor to everyone else by trying to convert them to Christianity.

No wonder NSA Buddhism seemed like a perfect fit! No gods required!! :P

Taiten I get where you are coming from.I cult-hopped from Iskcon to Islam to fundie Xtianity and finally SGI .One intolerant focus to another.One of the best things about Shin is there is no pressure to convert others.And Shin practice is clearly based on the Pure Land writings -chanting daimoku is not mentioned in the LS.But if people are happy in Nichiren i wish them all the best-theyll sure need it.