Quotecyclopswell some of us sat this one out and didn’t go – one member that did go said that most of us that didn’t go were on the sign-in sheet as attending! He said he went to the Area Leader and asked why we were on the sheet, because he said that we weren’t present @ the rally – the Area Leader said well I know they are here in spirit so we added them on the sheet! One of my children h
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QuoteScoobyDoobyIt appears that Dr. Sigalovsky was director of a similar Mass charter school: Thanks, ScoobyDooby, great link! Dr. Sigalovsky was very controversial. Her contract with AMSA, the Advanced Math and Science Academy in Marlborough, Massachusetts was not renewed, and a parents' group was very vocal about wanting her out. They criticized the science curriculum, staff tu
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QuoteScoobyDoobyTsukimoto - It's interesting that the acronym for Spirit of Knowledge Academy = SOKA That it is. This is the Spirit of Knowledge Academy Staff. Does anyone know anything about any of these people? Administration: 1. Dr. Julia Sigalovsky, Director 2. Mikhail Khmeinitskly, Director of Curriculum and Instruction 3. Gene Buchanan, Dean of Student Life 4
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There was also this, from wormtowntaxi.com -------------------beginning of quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thursday, April 8, 2010 Cult News for Worcester Schools There's an interesting post over on the InCity Times blog today connecting the Spirit of Knowledge charter school with Soka Gakkai International and its current pres
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QuoteScoobyDoobyQuoteRothausConcerning the school business … has anyone of you thought about bringing this to the media's attention? Apparently, someone already has: Yes, and there have been others in Worcester who have serious reservations about the Soka Academy too. John Manfredo, for example, says that Soka is simply taking tax dollars to duplicate already-existing programs in Worc
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SGI's charter school, the Spirit of Knowledge Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts, is preparing to open this fall. They are currently advertising for five part-time teachers on cnn's website: Job Details Job ID: 38240 Application Deadline: Posted until Filled Re-posted: August 8, 2010 Starting Date: August 11, 2010 Job Description The Spirit of Knowledge Charter School’
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QuoterattyboyQuotedoubtful@Rothaus and Nichijew and everyone else. I still want to know, how do 10 million honorary doctorates bestowed upon Ikeda make the lives or practice of SGI members any better? I fail to see the connection. I also fail to see why the members should get all excited about the ones he has already gotten or why some should be working to get him more. So what? Unless a particul
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QuotecyclopsIt’s all window dressing – SGI – Ikeda and the rest of the cabal – POWER is the key all anyone needs to do is to chant – you really don’t need to do anything else – the rest is icing on the cake! If one wants to indulge in the study of Gosho - Lotus Sutra all the better – however chanting raises your life condition – not to achieve ones happiness the mantra I hear all the time from S
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Quotewakatta1 Your point, and a very a good one too, especially within the cult speak mentalities is: If you have a good outcome it is because of the "Awsome power of the SGI". But if you have a bad outcome or bad luck then it is because, first and foremost you weren't chanting right, didn't give enough zaimu, should have gone to that "special" meeting, didn'
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Quotedoubtful@Sparky You wrote that after Ikeda's departure, "possibly eventual reabsorption into the temple with a whimper" may be an option. I remember when there was talk of Nikken coming to Ground Zero in NY and we were supposed to prevent this, at least with our prayer. I remember not wanting that evil NS priest there. Why? I also remember Linda Johnson asking us to pr
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More info on the Priesthood/SGI conflict, from an article on the Nichiren's Coffeehouse website by Ryuei Michael McCormick, a Nichiren Shu priest. ----------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In 1977, however, the relationship between the Soka Gakkai leadership and the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood began to brea
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Quotewakatta1 Actually, I believe that SGI was told to disband and to direct it's members to focus on the temple. It isn't clear exactly what really was afoot since the SGI leadership are a secretive bunch of people, but to me at least it looked like a power play on the part of SGI - heaven forbid they respect the members enough to tell the full story. I believe eventually the tem
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Chloe: "she said that they were just a bunch of disgruntled memebers and most of the stuff was during the split when there was a lot of confusion." If there was confusion at the time of the split, who created it? SGI! SGI's standard response to any criticism is to bash the critic. Leaders will tell you that the SGI in Japan is persecuted by "yellow journalists"
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Like Rothaus, I can relate to both Wakatta and Dragon14's statements. I did appreciate, and benefit from the study meetings that we used to have -- the ones where we did serious study. That leader who ran them was a gifted teacher. He could make complex concepts clear, without dumbing them down. Shakabuku campaigns and some of the bigger rah-rah-rah activities just felt wrong
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Scared To Leave, many of us joined SGI when we were going through some kind of crisis or loss in our lives. It seems quite common that people join cults at a time like that. They're desperate and ready to try anything that might help. Cult recruiters know this. I think someone on this thread talked about leaders giving members guidance on doing shakabuku. The leaders advised fi
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To me, it's very telling that many people, including myself, don't want SGI to know our real names. In a legitimate church or group, people feel free to criticize and ask questions openly. That so many people are wary of openly criticizing or questioning SGI speaks volumes about SGI. If SGI wouldn't actually do anything to us -- the fact is, they've still put fear of r
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Quotedoubtful There's nothing wrong with encouraging people to reach for their dreams but there is everything wrong with equating the pursuit of dreams with a Buddhist practice. SGI will never succeed in this country as long as they continue dressing materialism up as Buddhism. Is it possible that SGI knows that a doctrinal approach will probably not attract very many people? Is that wh
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And to some leaders, the fact that you read at all is a problem. One of my friends was telling our leader that she got up a little earlier in the morning to read, and that she was reading a great book on Arabic culture. The leader scolded my friend, saying, "You should be using that time to do more daimoku!" My friend already did a lot of daimoku, and she argued "Doesn'
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Quotequiet one When I was "home visited" a few months ago, a couple of SGI senior leaders came over. I had a copy of a translation of the Lotus Sutra laying around, which wasn't SGI's translation. It was pointed out to me that I didn't need to read it. We were very lucky to have SGI's translation of the Lotus Sutra, so it was better not to read anything else. Th
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QuoteMorgaine@ David M Hi , I don't know about where others practice, but the last presentation I went to (and that was the last meeting ), a young lady read from Dr. Seuss and connected the various topics to Nichiren Buddhism, it was bizarre. The chapter study later that month consisted of the study leader person only reading from the living Buddhism, this resulted in us not studying th
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From the rickross forum "Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements," the "Eckhardt Tolle Made Me a Zombie" thread: -------------Beginning of Quote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just purchased The Guru Papers by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad. This book has really confirmed my belief that ET has manipulat
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From Fraught With Peril, the Kempon Hokke Blog: ----------------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------------ 3072 Performers East Zone x $125 performance fee. $15 for day spectators not including bus fees x ~ 3000. $3 lunch for spectators. Spectators $125 fee for Temple University shared four (two?) to a dorm room and 6 meals if staying
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I have been away from SGI for almost four years now. I never contact -- nor are contacted by -- any SGI members -- except for the May contribution. This year, it was a message on my answering machine by an unfamiliar voice -- telling me that I could donate online. Two weeks later, a letter. It begins "Dear Tsukimoto, how are you? I just wanted to thank you for your efforts in the
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From zendirtzendust.com Open Forum on Buddhist Personality Cults (This has also appeared on www.buddhajones.com) -------------------------------------Beginning of Quote------------------------------------------------------------- A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.
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Doubtful: "Well, I certainly ignited a reaction with those passages I quoted." You expected otherwise? Doubtful: "While I don't demand that any religious leader necessarily take a stand on all of these issues, unfortunately SGI invites a critical thinker's scorn when things like the following appear." SGI cannot have it both ways! With their ridiculou
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QuoteDavidMQuotetsukimoto 6. Awards? WHO is giving the award, and why are they giving it? I could make up some fancy trophy or certificate and say that I'm going to give my best friend "The Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award" from the Tsukimoto International Peace Foundation. It might sound impressive, but what would it really mean? Not much. I would like to humbly ac
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Quotedoubtful@tsukimoto You wrote, "SGI has an exhibit comparing President Ikeda to Gandhi and Martin Luther King" I just received the July-Aug 2010 Living Buddhism. But I must include a passage written by him after he refers to Rosa Parks as "my dear friend" and indicates how her arrest "galvanized the people, who initiated a boycott and a non-violent resistance
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Quotedoubtful I just received the April 2010 SGI Quarterly, a glossy magazine that supplements Living Buddhism. You probably know what it is. Reading through it, I did discover some peace-seeking/humanitarian/ecological initiatives sponsored by SGI or particular SGI members. I shall just quote the titles of some of the articles: "Creating Stablity" by E. Penioso Pernites, Phillipines
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QuoteBlue LadyThere are many things that SGI is duplicitous about .W hen you tote out a picture of the High Priest drinking and having fun as all high priest should --with Geisha gals - send him to Seattle to hang out with prostitutes. How is that in any way different from Mr. Williams and National YWD chief Ms Inowashi having sex in a Chicago hotel? My mother use to comment on that very fact t
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QuoteMorgaineHi all, How is it possible that in the space of only a few years, the SGI went from having no money to taking in $40 million in 1960??? That seems very strange to me. just a few years earlier they were broke. I wonder if they got money from other sources than just the pubs?? Does anybody know??? Morgaine, SGI is slipperier than a wet eel when it comes to finances. I very muc
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