QuoteSallie Then on the other hand they had us believe that we need to meditate constantly and that the earth's weather patterns could actually be effectd by our prayers. So think of it...I'm bad if my spoon was seen by the toilet....and I'm bad if there is an earthquake on another continent. Talk about crazy fears. Regarding crazy things that I was taught to believe: --My fo
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

I have found John Knapp's website to be helpful. He is an ex-cult member, TM, I think, and counsels people who have cult issues. His website has some good articles about meditation, and leaving your group. Regarding having a teacher or mentor...I don't know about that. My group insisted that the president of our lay organization had to be our mentor and teacher, that you need
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Yasmin, I'm pretty much where you are. I don't have that sense of religious certainty either. I wish I did, but maybe I'm slowly coming to accept that I don't. I feel suspicious of those who are that certain -- some of these people who are sure that they speak/act for God have done horrible things. It's the true believer types who become the terrorists and sui
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Quotepegasus I have heard from exmembers of my group, but they still believe it is essential to have a spiritual path (now they follow Buddhism) and I feel extra bad because they think I am wrong not to have a new path. They say that being spiritual and following a path is essential. pegasus Pegasus, people have said all kinds of things about spirituality, both now and in the past. Exa
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Quotepegasus Today I am aware of the difficulty I have in feeling vulnerable and childlike when I see someone else has a different opinion on what the truth is. Someone told me something that I dont agree with anymore, but yet I found it hard to say that in a mature way. From my cult days there was only one truth and everyone agreed on it. Now people have different ideas and I feel like saying -
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Quotepegasus For me right now, I am consciously choosing to find some ways to take part more in life with everyday people. It is an ongoing struggle however to cope with my automatic habit of feeling disconnected and thinking that I am different from others and wont be able to relate to them. I thought I had to be perfect to be accepted, and now I know that I am not perfect, I fear that others wo
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Sallie, they SAY that they would have come for me. Who knows, maybe they would have, but I wasn't willing to wait around and risk that they wouldn't. I had never been that sick, and in that kind of pain before, and I knew that something was seriously wrong. I snapped at them, "Fine, don't bother!", hung up and called a taxi. Sure, maybe they'd have come, but
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Quotequackdave There is no logical reason to be in a rush, so I don't see any reason for urgency other than the non-reasons given me by my former "guides", who I now look at more like "jail guards". They put this fear of 'getting it wrong' and urgently needing to 'choose' on me, basically to keep me under their power, and -- in the examples of Byron K
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

QuoteSalliePegasus, I think Keir is right on about finding ex members of your cult or a group was like yours. That ''fear of being normal'' doesn't sound crazy at all. I had that exact fear. I can so totally relate to what you are saying. Cult leaders ingrain in our minds the idea that the ''masses'' are bad.
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

For many years, I was a member of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Japanese Buddhist cult. Our leaders encouraged the same mindset -- that spending a lot of time chanting and devoting yourself to the organization and its activities created 'good karma' for you. We were also taught that leaving or criticizing the organization would create bad karma. Why and how did I
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

When I was in the Soka Gakkai, we would chant for anywhere from a half hour to an hour -- always at the start of meetings. The leaders would start talking about how wonderful President Ikeda was and the members would be cheering. To me, it felt very programmed, and I thought that the members' responses were just due to the group environment...if everyone else is excited, you feel as if
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

I agree with blacksheep and corboy: Military service is NOT the same as a cult. I have been in both the Navy and the Soka Gakkai, and there is no comparison. In the Navy, the rules and expectations were clearly stated in the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) and everyone had to follow them, enlisted and officer alike. While my Commanding Officer and Executive Officer had cons
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Solea, and Anticult, you've hit the nail on the head when you mentioned authenticity and critical thinking. For years, I'd go to Soka Gakkai meetings and I'd feel this queasiness in my stomach and not know why. Now, I think it's that I was very uncomfortable with things that were being pushed, especially the worship of the organization's president -- and yet, I thoug
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Stephen Cope's book, "Yoga and the Search for the True Self." Cope writes about his experiences in the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts, with Yogi Amrit Desai. My group was, in many ways different than Kripalu, but there were still many things I could relate to in Cope's book. Like Deikman, Cope writes about how people can become involved with a charismatic leader and h
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Why did you leave? What influenced you etc.? I just gradually became tired of my group...the audulation of the leader, the pressure to constantly be involved in group activities, the manipulation, being told that my life would go badly if I wasn't 200% devoted to the organization -- and never being able to discuss any of this with other members, and my leaders. When I tried, I was
Forum: Recovery from Destructive Cults and Groups

Location? The Soka Gakkai are like ants -- well organized and everywhere, from Kansas to Ghana. There is a Soka Gakkai Community Center in Queens, and a Culture Center on East 15th St. in Manhattan, but many meetings are held in members' homes. You'd find Soka Gakkai meetings in all of the boroughs of NYC, as well as Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. . SGI used t
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

The Soka Gakkai, which claims to be a Buddhist group, but is actually a personality cult to its leader, Daisaku Ikeda, has groups in New York City. Back in the eighties, a Nichiren Shoshu priest, (Nichiren Shoshu used to be affiliated with the Soka Gakkai), the Reverend Tono, was kicked out of Nichiren Shoshu. I have heard that he began running his own sect in New York City. I don�
Forum: "Cults," Sects, and "New Religious Movements"

Solea, Thanks for stating this thread. It was very striking to me how similar some of your experiences with your group are to my experiences with the Soka Gakkai. I joined the Soka Gakkai at a very low point in my life. My fiance had left me for another woman, and right after that, I had been fired from my job after several tense months of trying to please a new boss. I was miserabl
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families