"And Shin practice is clearly based on the Pure Land writings -chanting daimoku is not mentioned in the LS."

Be fair - chanting daimoku is clearly mentioned in the Nichiren-school writings ;)

They call them "gosho" :P

If Shin uses any *sutras*, you can bet there is no mention in them that people need to repeat the name of Amida. Apples and apples.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2013 06:57AM by TaitenAndProud.

Amida's 18th vow refers to beings calling his name.

I will clarify my remarks. When I said" Shin practice"I was meaning faith in Amida rather than chanting nembutsu. Apologies for lack of clarity. As for the dreaded Gosho the only practice is daimoku-no mention of twice-or five- daily gongyo unless I missed it.

"Amida's 18th vow refers to beings calling his name. "

You know me - I'm the local intellectual weenie :P So can you link me to the sutra that has that 18th Vow in it? Thanks in advance!

[buddhistfaith.tripod.com]

Scroll down to the bit 'Forty-eight Vows'.

There is of course disagreement between Shin schools whether this entails regular chanting or just calling on Amida in faith and living naturally with no ritual practice but that is possibly off-topic here.

A breakdown of the USA Gakkai Cult Retreat.

The Florida $GI Cult Retreat Center - Published on YouTube January 13, 2013.

From The Men's Division (MD) Conference, Dec. 7-10, 2012.

I always remember the MD falling asleep, too (0:37 - 0:41 min. mark).

Meaningless Cult Presentation Certificates = "I completed the brainwashing course." (0:50 sec. mark). Many will probably have it professionally framed and either hang it next to their bustudan (altar) or set it next to their framed Ikeda photo, near the altar.

Getting ready to enter "Ikeda Hall." Everyone put shoe covers over your feet and "NO, NO! YOUR'E SUPPOSED TO TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF!! SHOES OFF!!" Someone replies, "Oh really?!" (The Dear Leader Museum is sacred, after all.) From 1:24 min. mark.

Post-propaganda mandatory movie viewing interviews (1:35 min. mark). "Did you like the movie?" "Did you cry?"
Response, "Yes, I did. I always do."
"It's touching, isn't it?"
Response, "Yes, it's incredible." "To think of the sincerity of the 'pioneer members', to think of the adversity they faced."

(Hitch's comment: Cult Org. 'pioneer' members are the most ignorant, intolerant and abusive members in the gakkai USA cult branch. I speak from first hand experience. The cult org. seems to be cultivating a myth, propping such "Soka Spirit" members up on a pedestal and rewriting gakkai history - again.)

Another respondent, "It's the most amazing video. I cried. I cried. I cried probably about 12 times."

Brief post-brainwashing affirmations / testemonials (2:55 min. mark). Paraphrased, "I understood the concept of 'many in body, one in mind.' From this place, you really let me feel it. Thank You.", "I learned a lot. There's some sort of 'human revolution' that is beginning deep inside me."

(Hitch's comment: This is implanting the master-disciple relationship mindset into cult members. It is also planting the seed for the cult member to begin reading Ikeda's Hubbard-esque novel.)

"Congratulations!" Behind the scenes (awards and presents) recognition to the cult retreat nurse and dish washers (volunteers? or minimum wage?). 3:26 min. mark.

(Hitch's comment: It's an old cult tactic to "recognize" your slave labors with some cheap trinkets and abundant cult member obligatory applause. For those that eat it up, it keeps them coming back for more. Oh, and btw, the cult org. loves the phrase "Congratulations!" for everything.)

Next on the agenda, ridiculous amateur cult member performances. This is bonding time for the retreat attendees, where everyone makes a fool of themselves in order to regress (control) your behavior and influence your emotions. Perform, be silly and be mindlessly obedient. From the 3:36 min. mark.

(Hitch's comment: IMO, this kind of stuff also serves to stomp down your ego and higher thinking abilities. Don't analyze anything, just have fun and, above all, don't think. It also puts you in a state to become more receptive and open to your fellow culties and the indoctrination.)

The most interesting part is the last portion (4:32 min mark). Salaried cult "leader" Tariq Hasan is up. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for making this journey." "You might think, 'what is the one essential thing that I can take back with me?'" "When in doubt, always trust and take sensei's message back with you." "It's ALL contained in there." "Especially, I hope, that you will read again, sensei's message which was to all of us, in the October 2012 men's conference, which was published in the 'world tribune', it's also in your book."

(Hitch's comment: This next part is a well-worn cult org. tactic, to close meetings with. It always has to be about The Dear Leader, his "special" concern for *YOU* and what *YOU* have to do for him and the cult org., wrapped up in the deceiving packaging that it is really about *your* life, and not the cult org..)

"In there, which is *so* unusual, he shared four guidelines for the men. I've never ever seen him share guidelines, within a message, to the FNCC." "You can forget everything else, just take the message back, and with that, you can create tremendous victory in your life! Thank you so much for coming."

Applause, then "2013, The Year of Victory for a Youthful SGI."

(Hitch's comment: I can't tell you how many old cliches these "leaders" are still parroting. None of them have changed. "From the bottom of my heart", "it's *SO* unusual that sensei does this for us", "congratulations!', "the essential thing to take back is sensei's words, his "special" message specifically to *you*", and of course, "create tremendous "victory!" in your life!"

It's all still the same.

The $oka Gakkai Cult Org. Retreat, FNCC [www.youtube.com]

Thought reform in action.



- Hitch

article
Found the article at Focus online politics. All in German, maybe you can look for an equivalent article in the US or UK. Would be interesting, if the article is on worldwide media.
Ikeda the LEADING BUDDHIST in the headline.
Ikeda the good man helps the poor.
Ikeda commanding for training of education in Human Rights at global level. Should we all join SGI to learn about human dignity? Get rid of your democratic rights folks and devote yourself to the Cult!
Ikeda the philosopher. Hahaha. Is he allowed to call himself a philosopher? You can call yourself a philosopher anytime, that means not that Ikeda is an academic philosopher! Ask Wikipedia and he is only the japanese author first.
Ikeda the peacemaker to China-Japan by talking, he is called "Friedensstifter". Thats the icing of the cake, his 45 years of deep friendship with China is affected and my tears are now flowing, the good man is in grief. He proposes dialog, even a hot debate is welcome. Ever heard the Leader in a hot debate. No? Guess thats why he alone is talking all the time and nobody is allowed to confront/challenge him.
Build up Cousin Rufus Reich with his peace proposal title:" COMPASSION, WISDOM and COURAGE-Establishing a global society of peace and creative coexistence"
Welcome in hell!
Wrong Wrong Wrong. Who can stop the man, he is a LIAR!

Reading, reading, and more reading...I am discovering and exploring an entire universe of religious and philosophical thought, including real Buddhism, various forms of Christianity, Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses, freethought (atheism and agnosticism), Scientology and other cults, and open theism, among others. I have my very own self-developed world religions course! It is all so very interesting, the things people believe and why. It is kind of a hobby now. In the course of my study I am discovering what is true for me and my mind has opened wide (I always had kind of an open mind but now it is downright expansive). It's pointless to proselytize to me.

As you ease out of Cult $SGI, open your mind to all that is out there, become a student, and find what resonates with your core beliefs. You may end up cobbling together a life philosophy of your own, or be able to enjoy bits and pieces of all of it without being dogmatic about anything. Relax, and let your curiosity lead the way.

holly__golightly-- so sorry for what you went through in the YWD and so happy that you have managed to get out of SGI. I know many others, (myself included) who have had similar experiences. The whole thing of meeting the Mentor's expectations (replying to the Mentor) is about the most un-Buddhist idea one could possibly dream up. As I have been learning about REAL Buddhism for the past several years, I have discovered that the Buddha taught that attachment and aversion are the main causes of suffering-- that means-- being attached to certain outcomes-- EXPECTATIONS-- is a primary cause of unhappiness, discontent, disappointment, etc. The SGI sets people up to attach to certain outcomes for themselves and for the group (all those manufactured goals for meetings, etc) which can only cause anxiety and disappointment OR temporary high feeling which will soon need to be replaced by something new (all is impermanent). It's like an endless training in exactly the opposite of what the Buddha taught!!

When I was still a member but began on my own to read more widely about Buddhism, I came across this statement by the Buddha in which he basically said that ALL of his teachings (that would include the Lotus Sutra) were like a "finger pointing to the moon" and that one must be very careful not to take one for the other. When I read that quote, I thought, my god-- SGI is all finger -- moon completely dropped out of sight!!

"When I was still a member but began on my own to read more widely about Buddhism, I came across this statement by the Buddha in which he basically said that ALL of his teachings (that would include the Lotus Sutra) were like a "finger pointing to the moon" and that one must be very careful not to take one for the other. When I read that quote, I thought, my god-- SGI is all finger -- moon completely dropped out of sight!!" - opendoor

Exactly!! That was my realization as well, but beyond that, I came to realize that, in order to rid ourselves of attachments and delusions, we would eventually need to leave Buddhism itself behind! The Buddha's teachings were a system designed to teach people how to understand their minds, their thought processes, and arrive at an understanding of their (mostly subconscious) assumptions and beliefs about reality (delusions). Once people had arrived at a correct understanding of both their own minds and reality, THEN they are ready to proceed unencumbered by anything - including Buddhism!

The drowning person will cling to one of those life rings as he kicks to shore, but once he arrives at the beach, he doesn't need to carry that life ring with him any more, does he? In fact, if he did, it would get in his way, slow him down, and wear him out! There's an analogy in this somewhere *wink*

So the idea that one must *cling* to an organization or a practice betrays a complete lack of understanding of Buddhism. That is not the point of Buddhism. The article that REALLY brought it all together for me was this one: [www.thezensite.com] Don't worry, Zen *isn't* "the work of devils", no matter what poor deluded Nichiren thought. And reading this article won't cause you to be possessed by the King Devil of the 6th Heaven or any others! Excerpt:

"However, ultimately no truth for the Maadhyamika is "absolutely true." All truths are essentially pragmatic in character and eventually have to be abandoned. Whether they are true is based on whether they can make one clinging or non-clinging. Their truth-values are their effectiveness as a means (upaaya) to salvation. The Twofold Truth is like a medicine;it is used to eliminate all extreme views and metaphysical speculations. In order to refute the annihilationist, the Buddha may say that existence is real. And for the sake of rejecting the eternalist, he may claim that existence is unreal. As long as the Buddha's teachings are able to help people to remove attachments, they can be accepted as "truths." After all extremes and attachments are banished from the mind, the so-called truths are no longer needed and hence are not "truths" any more. One should be "empty" of all truths and lean on nothing."

Drink it in, people!! :D

Hey, I was just over at Spartan's site, and where's Chapter 5???