tsuki you still out there?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Freeheartandmind.....you are not alone in your dislike of that website. It is definitely a racist.......maybe they will secede from the union?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks Hitch...glad someone got my message. Its hard when your parents are still practicing and they have to keep others thinking you are still practicing to save face. On another note, I have an attachment I can email you if you'reinterested in - a thesis I partcipated in last year. Its about SGA's or what's known in the cult world as Second Generation Adults (born into the cu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Had a really random experience today. Haven't been to a meeting (other than some funerals) in three years. Had a member from my old district call me and read me the schedule as if she was a telemarketer. No "How are you" or anything just "there will be a tozo at so and so's house tomorrow...." I could tell she was seething as she read me the schedule. I never r
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

OK so I get home and get this note HI......so and so and I stopped by after Kofu to say hi and encourage you to make a may 3rd contrubution to show your appreciation to the gohonzon and sgi. Ill call you later today. I'm leaving 2 envelopes in case so and so (my kid) would like to contribute also. I haven't been to a meeting in close to four years. I made the mistake of showing u
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi everyone- here's one for you - when I was a pre teen and teen all I cared about was flirting with the guys at meetings. Once Mrs. Inowashi (sp?) chided me for not paying attention to Ikeda at a convention because I was so caught up with flirting. Flirting made the meetings bearable. Later on in my life, after having relations with YMD I often felt uneasy afterwards. They were holly
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hitch how do I find the video of Mr. Williams be reproached? thanks! evergreen
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks Hitch I was looking for that movie on netflix but it was unavailable
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi Findingmywaytoday I found ICSA (International Cultic Studies Assoication) to be helpful they have speakers, referrals and conferences listed on their website. evergreen
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hitch thanks for responding and thanks to the others and their input as well
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hitch - former fortune baby here. I didn't get to bypass anything nor did I get a get out of jail free card either. evergreen
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

doubtful - I think it is up to you. Most funeral homes will accommodate your wishes. For example I want to be cremated. You may wan't a burial plot. Either way the directors will do what the family asks. If you want to enshrine a gohonzon at the funeral home so people could chant and/or offer incense thats up to you. actually you could even have a service in your own home held by others
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thank you guys! @Rothaus and @BeingAdagio and @hertford65 - I guess my need to chant with a group stems from the guilt I have of being born into the practice. Now that I am 37 I think its high time I give that guilt up. @backnforth - faith and daily life have been my focus as well. But like many of us here, I will not make my vow as a bodhisattva of the earth to accept Ikeda as my savior
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

backnforth - how do you chant for self and others if you aren't part of a group?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi backnforth (hi tsuki :)) Just wanted to thank you for your observation. I am not entering the cult again. I am there to check it out and one day build my own empire.....bad joke. Yes I am watching my way. But the wonderful thing about this whole process is that I have started to chant in a way that I never did before. My life has become amazing. I really appreciate being able to renew
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi Nichijew, Thank you for referencing that amazing quote. Yesterday you could definitely say I was angry (three thousand realms in a single moment), but I am feeling better today. evergreen aka OPENING MY EYES EVER WIDER
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hi everyone its been a while since I posted. Most of you probably don't know me cause I don't post often. And for those that did post long ago I'm sure you remember me. I have started chanting again. My agenda for my own life is to bring peace and stabilitly to myself and my family. Right now I am practicing shoju not shakubuku. I stopped posting on this board for a lot of re
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

chooselife - I wish I could help you with how to let your members know about your decision. the thing is I was never promoted much because of my rebellious nature. Am I bitter? Slightly. But that has to do more with my own self esteem than wanting to follow everyone else's mentor.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

just wanted to say that the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) has conferences and such on their website from time to time (www.icsa.org). I found their workshops helpful. I met other people from all kinds of cults and we definitely had more similarities than not. I have not found a more helpful resource than our discussion on this site as far as former SGI members supporting one an
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I remember hearing pledges like this one and even signing pledges like this one. I was youth division and then women's division. all this reminds me of Elvis. He will live forever. what would they call Soka Graceland?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

cyclops - I thought chant to become happy has been around since NSA's inception?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

alright already. the moderator did ask nicely for no personal attacks. I don't understand why Nichijew called Rothaus out from the sidelines deliberately even though the moderator specifically asked for no mud slinging. Nichjew - you must know that your posts are pushing the envelope. You are a learned man. However, there was no need to attack anyone personally. Nichiren was always up
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I posted back when I got back from my conference for Second Generation Adults who had grown up in cults. It didn't matter who was there, bible-based, eastern-basted, there were so many similarities. The similarities stregnthened the bond I felt with the other participants. None of us felt right or that we fit in while growing up in our cults. Having the choice as an adult to leave was a ve
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Ikeda fits the description of narcissist with a dash of anti-social behavior. Ironically, all these famous men were seriously flawed. No I am not denouncing civil rights. Nor am I defending colonialism. But these men were far from perfect. Even the great Dr. King is infallable. Didn't anyone else learn about his adultery and supposed plagarism for his doctoral thesis? Ghandi wasn
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

SoniqueSc - just wanted to say that according to the guidance I used to get we are not allowed to think of ourselves as mentors surpassing anyone age wise or other wise. I was told that I had an incorrect view of the "oneness" of mentor/disciple when I alluded to the fact that there were several people who mentored me in SGI while growing up. sounds like this may be different from your
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFindingmywaytodayYour posts regarding May Contribution and FNCC are very interesting. It is so refreshing, but challenging to realize I have been apart of a cult the last four years. I have to say that when I participated regularly and came to meetings and wanted support, I didn't get it. Now that I haven't been in contact, all sorts of people are coming out of the woodwork calling
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

hey all feeling really angry right now. My parents just called to ask if they could bring my five year old to the Rock the Era rehearsals for the Elementary School Division. As a side note, I tried to start a toddler group years ago and you wouldn't believe the bullshit I had to go through - local, regional leaders and even other mothers ("you have to meet here and not there"&a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

its funny you mention the Jehovah's Witnesses. There were some ex Witness SGA's (second generation adults) at the conference. we had a lot of things in common. one was all the prostelytizing going on around us. our parents were constantly working to teach/force others to learn about the true way. SGI isn't bible based but the weirdness of cult life still abounds. it feels
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I've never been moved by what Ikeda had to say - ghostwriters or legitimate it figures that he would be so beloved
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I remember one of my buddhist professors in college: when he introduced Nichiren he called him "a trouble making monk." He spoke of his letters as being incendiary. people have used his writings over time to suit their own need. Nichiren wanted to expose the corruption of his age - among priests, laity and political officials. I have always believed he wanted to emphasize equality a
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families