Howdy y'all. I don't know if you remember me but I used to hang around here a lot. I have been out of the SGI for so many months now and I am much happier without them. If anything, I have to credit all of you lovely people in this forum for getting me out. If it hadn't been for your support, there would be no way in hell I would live a happier life or even retain any sense of s
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I have been having a friend call me up to go to the one in Philly as well. Each time he put the pressure, I remember exactly the whole purpose of North Korea's Mass Games. Same deal, same propaganda BS, and all it happens is that time and energy is wasted on those who really wanted to make a difference. @quiet_one, There was no word on it in the newspaper!? Funny enough when someone asked
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@chloe Here is what I would tell your friend: Of course we are disgruntled members! We gave our lives and hearts to an organization that we believed in, only to be disappointed again and again until we said enough is enough! Also, I found it interesting that she referred back to the split. I joined long after the split happened, wondering who are these Nichiren Shoshu and why should we hate
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@overthetop You know, your post reminds the importance of gratitude in the healing process. Let me explain. In the year 2005 I got my gohonzon and it was the greatest thing ever for me. I loved chanting and I loved everything SGI. You never even had to cajole me to wake up early in the morning to do gongyo. The honeymoon lasted until I met some soka members in China. There is one woma
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Don't worry, I am not offended. If there is anyone who should use the word sensitive in a derogatory way, s/he would be an SGI leader! Perhaps they are trying to see if the US would be good for big conventions. Obviously that was what they did in Japan, South Korea, and really did a huge thing in Brazil. Who knows? You could be right that SGI is trying to purify its ranks, get less thi
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@doubtful One book I would check out as well is the Tale of the Heike by Eiji Yoshikawa. It is historical fiction and really takes place right before the Kamakura period. Besides being a great novel, it does provide a bit of view on what life was like in ancient Japan. In fact, read all of Yoshikawa's books. He was one of the best writers I have come across. @DavidM Truth be told
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Blue Lady- I agree with Rothaus that you should write as yourself. We all make mistakes and SGI does make us crazy/paranoid as it is. As it is, a lot of us face some risk when it comes to posting on this forum, no matter what organization they are from. I have friends in the SGI who I love and care for. If they ever do take a look at this forum and see what I have written (especially on my
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

@John Traficante Welcome to the forum, sir! We would love to hear your stories!
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

@tsukimoto, Blue Lady, rattyboy Reading is one thing that helped me get out of the SGI mindset. I used to live in China and therefore had a good idea what a communist country is like (although now it is in transition, so to say). I remember going back to the meetings wondering why many things seemed so similar to the Cultural Revolution, the videos, the adulation, the singing, and so on. It
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@DavidM Doctrine aside here, I do agree with you that SGI wants to go as simple as possible. In fact, I remember that when we had study meetings, it is mostly about the same basic things. In fact, I remember when I lived in Korea and went to a study meeting with no guests. You know what we had to study? The Ten Worlds. We actually had someone explain that to us as if none of has ever hear
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In my opinion, I can't see Ikeda as evil or bad as Hitler. However, to compare him to Gandhi, King, or even the Dalai Lama is ridiculous. As for SGI, the people there (and even the leaders) are not bad people either. I think they are more than a bit misguided. A lot of them do want to do good for others, at the same time though with their activities, the meetings, and what-not it makes it ha
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Quote: "When Dr. King and his compatriots were fighting on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, I was uniting the youth in Kansai, supporting and encouraging new members, and leading a great people's movement for justice." The Kansai exhibition was just about as helpful to Japan as the Airirang Mass games are to North Korea. As for doubtful's citing of articles ab
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Q:What is Daisaku Ikeda's favorite song when he goes out for karaoke? A: Forever me!
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Hello SoniqueSc, I would love to give you my thoughts as well. I too never saw SGI as anti-homosexual in any way, but I also came in long after the split with the priesthood. However, what I learned about soka (Japan and other places) long after I joined is that they tend simply deny any mistakes they made. Even at the center(s) I was part of open preached equal rights for all sexual orientat
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Dear GwT, I don't really know where you come off, but using canned gakkai-speak is not going to make anything clearer. Believe it or not, and I speak for everyone here, nobody is putting on a pity party. In fact, if you have ever read the board a tad bit deeper you are going to find everyone of us is doing something to make our lives a little better each day. When new people come on th
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Isn't it great that everyone in SGI is a lawyer of the Mystic Law?
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Howdy y'all, Glad things are going well for everyone, especially for evergreen and lthomas. I have a question here, I don't know if this is appropriate but I'll post anyway and would love to hear your opinions on this. The one thing I never liked about SGI, even when I was a "happy member" is the whole persecution/us-vs.them complex. Of course, many of you know
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I think I'll answer ScoobyDooby's question as well. I have been lurking on the boards lately, but haven't had any chance to write anything. My leaving SGI experience is like that of DavidM, tsukimoto, and wakatta1. When I first joined SGI when I was graduating university. For the time I was in SGI and the summer afterward, I loved it. I love chanting, I loved the Lotus Sutra
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I think "faith, practice, and study" is a pretty good concept in my opinion. Growing up as a Hindu, my family did lots of faith and practice, but very little study. As a result, we never really knew what we were doing. However, I think you hit it on the head, wakatta1. The question comes down to what kind of study, what kind of faith, and what kind of practice is involved. I was t
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Well, in SGI it is more important to chant for stuff. I mean, at the meetings, what kind of experiences did they give? It's all about "my goal is . . ." then "I chanted" then "I got this goal, and a new volvo while I was it! Thanks Sensei!" I also think part of the SGI mentality is a lack of accountability for ones individual actions. I remember ( about 2 yea
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Hi Nichijew, I just want to give a little of my input here. I also think you have good intentions, but I agree with Rothaus that using religious arugments is a gray area. First of all, not everyone, especially in this forum, believes in Nichiren Buddhism in any form. Another thing here, and obviously why there are arguments between all Nichiren schools, is that no can quite agree what was Nic
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Well, there ya go. Just like TVs, cars, and cell phones, you need have some way to mass-produce "happiness machines", eh? From the link tsukimoto posted, I found this site here. This article here is pretty damning as far as SGI is concerned. This article has a list of red flags that are common in Buddhist cults. Guess what? SGI has all of them! For your reading enjoyment:
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hey, that's why when I read Mao's Red Book, the writing and the style of the quotes seemed too damn familiar. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, may I present to you exhibit A: Quotations from Mao Zedong. So, if I were an SGI member and moved to Saudi Arabia, is that country #193? The country where Buddhism and all other religions besides Islam is illegal? Fascinating.
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DavidM says :In terms of 'not feeling the need to join another group', it might be helpful to read about a well known renegade who refused to accept the religious groups of his time, suffered abuse for thinking for himself and decided to find his way on his own... Shakyamuni Buddha. :) Daisuky "Forever Hentai" Ikea says: Ohhhh snap!
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Crazy, eh? I can somewhat relate to that, although nothing to do with appearances. The day I went to Beijing, since I lived far from there, I had 2 purposes: 1. To meet the SGI group over there (I was still loving the Hentai) and 2. To meet my Chinese teacher whom I haven't seen in 4 years. Remember, this was before the Olympics, and Beijing had a bad subway system and worse traffic. Onc
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@Findingmywaytoday, I'd like to add my two cents. First of all, welcome to this forum. Remember, if you ever need to sound yourself out, that's what this forum is here for. As for how to leave the SGI, it is up to you how you do it. As you know, they'll stop at nothing, using your fear and your guilt, in order to make you stay. I chose a non-confrontational way, but it may n
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@lthomas, Don't worry you'll pull through. Now that you're out, things will get better. As Wakatta1 says, it's all a numbers game. Part of it also is the lack of understanding of Buddhism in general, not just Nichiren's. If you study all other forms of Buddhism, and other religions for that matter, all of them place a heavy emphasis on being responsible in your actions
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Alright everyone! Let's keep a good thing going! I just want to say that I am very happy everyone is contributing an experience of life after SGI. It is my sincere hope that people out there can realize that not only that life is fine once you leave an organization like SGI, but it get better. Keep it up! I am personally happy to read all this.
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Tsukimoto, did you tell your friend Mary that Linda Johnson is not just any lawyer, but a prosecutor for the State of California? That ought to be a great scary story around the campfire. I am actually very appalled that Johnson would talk that way. It's the year 2010, for Ikea's sake! It reminds of the old-fashioned, backward, thinking that rape is always the victim's fault. Wh
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Dear Nichijew, The funny thing is, other members told me to write to him. I finally relented and wrote to him twice. He never replied, just like Santa. I'd like to think I scared him when I wrote about the famous Zen argument between Huineng and Shenxiu and asked his opinion on the first letter, then quoted the Tao Te Ching and compared it to ichinen sanzen. Nah, he probably just ne
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