To go off on another tangent -- an interesting post from SokaGakkaiUnofficial, message 99485: ----------------Beginning of Quote---------------------------------------------------------- Scientific American magazine (Oct.2004) published an article : Heartbeat Poetry which described the physiological effect of rhythmic chanting. The study focused on the efficiency of Hexametric or Six-
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

from This is an interview posted on www.sokaspirit.com several years ago. Jisai Watanabe was a Nichiren Shoshu priest who left Nichiren Shoshu to support Ikeda and the SGI. ----------------Beginning of Quote---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long-Time Priest Risks All To Support Kosen-rufu Jisai Watanabe, a member of the Association for
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If anyone is interested, I recently found a new website that deals with controversial Buddhist groups:
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Regarding the Nikken Gohonzon vs. the Nichikan Gohonzon -- wasn't SGI's argument that Nikken was not a legitimate high priest -- so how could his Gohonzons be legitimate? There was that whole flap, years after the fact, about whether Nittatsu, the previous high priest had actually chosen Nikken to be his successor. Nikken claims that he did, but conveniently, Nikken had nothing in
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QuoteDavidM However I've been trying to understand why SGI hasn't changed its 'tact' in the US and Europe. As far as I'm aware (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) membership in the US and Europe has been pretty much staying static. Now either SGI has realised it will never be able to grow any larger in these areas or is puposefully remaining at such a level.
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From page 52 of this thread, October 4, 2009 QuotecommongirlI don't usually respond to these threads, but the idea that Mr. Williams is a poor, defenseless man is so wildly off-base, I had to say something. Wherever Mr. Williams traveled, he had the women's division members wait on him hand and foot. They were required to be on standby to make Japanese food for him at a moment
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QuoteSGByeWell, to be fair, Ikeda did go through some suffering, but it happened ages ago. I'm talking about the war, his tuberculosis, and how he helped his mentor Toda when his business was in financial ruin. It's been very easy for me to remember all of this because he only mentioned it in every single frickin' speech he ever gave in his life! And, here, I have the quotes to
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Quotewakatta1I've dealt with CEO's on a number of occasions and I have seen the same behaviors. They rely upon silence and remoteness to substitute for their involvement. By not being there, but being there symbolically they cause their audience to supply it's own preferred model (which in many cases is far more complete than they could ever hope to be). Identifying an outsi
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QuoteRothausGood grief reading that quote in SGbye's comment made me shiver: QuoteSGByeGenuine disciples give their all to protect their mentor from malicious attacks, even if they come under fire themselves. They have the spirit to take on persecution to shield their mentor from harm. In contrast, ungrateful individuals who trample on the profound debt they owe their mentor are certain t
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findingmywaytoday: If you are not comfortable with being in SGI, those feelings exist for a reason. You owe it to yourself to at least examine them. A good therapist can certainly help you to explore your goals and decide what kind of life you really want. This website has a good archive, with many different articles about SGI. ICSA and the Cult Awareness Info Centre (www.culthel
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Item six of SGI's charter, by the way, says this: (from the SGI-USA website) "6. SGI shall respect the independence and autonomy of its constituent organizations in accordance with the conditions prevailing in each country." So, where is SGI-USA's independence and autonomy? ----------------Quote, Message #99089, SokaGakkaiUnofficial-----------------------------------
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When I was in, I was told that if I shakabuku'd more people, my own life would improve. I'd change my own karma -- which seems like a rather selfish reason to do it! At the time, I would think, "But what if being in SGI is not in the other person's best interest?" (Well, it wasn't in mine either, but I wasn't ready to think about that then.) Wakatta1,
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Quotelthomas As I've stated on this post before I came from a very abusive background. My mother and father were very emotionally abusive even while I was in the organization. I remember standing up to my mother and even separating myself away from my mother. When things like this would happened I was often told that I chose my parents in a different lifetime and in this lifetime this was th
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DrJesusEsq, I think it's a great idea to post about how our lives are better since leaving SGI. My perspective, after 3+ years out: 1. I don't ever have to see another Ikeda video. This would be enough of a benefit by itself! 2. I have more free time, and chances to explore other activities. I'm taking a class related to my work. I've joined a book club, an
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Quotelthomas In time as the healing goes on, I have faith that I will be able to report many good things that are going on with my life, as a result of leaving the organization. The most important thing for me was to have my mind right. I struggled with that so much. For everyday that I was in the SGI if I thought one negative thought then I thought something was wrong with me. I would create sce
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Quote: lthomas : "The minute you give up on an aspect of faith they think that you are doomed to a life of hell. I have had members come up to me on a perfectly fine day and ask me how I am doing. When I have told them that I am ok, they have literally given me a condescending look and said, "Are you sure about that" because you don't seem happy to me. I should also l
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QuoteNichijew If you are a relentless critic of the SGI, even after twenty or thirty years, they will ask around about you, find a leader who knew you, and bring up things from the past that only someone with intimate knowledge of you knows. They will do anything in their power to try and discredit you. just recently, an SGI pitbull wrote something about me on my blog that only one of several peo
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Quote: Nichijew: There are two types of chanting meditation, the Daimoku of contemplation where you let your thoughts arise and fall away and the Daimoku of prayer. As far as the Daimoku of prayer, it is possible to remain focused when praying for something of deep significance , for example, the death of a family member or best friend, food when there is no bread on the table, or shelter whe
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Quotelthomas Looking back on it now, I realized that she was trying to keep me in by saying that, "did your mother or father or sister's give up on you when you treated them wrong"? I felt trapped because I had shared so many personal things with her and she knew that I only mistreated my little sister at times because I had suffered at the hands of physical and emotional abuse fro
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Sushigrl: "For most of the time that I was in the org, I encountered internal obstacles to chanting to the scroll and much of the hype. Instead of listening to my heart, I took my resistance as "sansho shima" and fought myself hard all those years. All those years of doubt. My doubts were well founded, but by the time I realized that, I had really wounded my sense of self worth an
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QuoteRothaus Again we just have to read the SGI charta to see how SGI goes against its own so called principles. In many ways its quite schizophrenic is it not? Schizophrenic is the word, Rothaus. SGI as an organization is like those Christians -- politicians, priests, ministers -- who insist that they are for "family values," chastity before marriage, fidelity after, marriage is a
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Yes, indeed, one-ness of Mentor and B.ORG! From the Byron Katie Thread, "Cults, Sects and New Religious Movements Forum" --------------Beginning of Post---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inattentional Blindness. QUOTE: "Inattentional blindness...is the phenomenon of not being able to perceive things that are in plain sight. This
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David, that quote is right on target -- Toda's description of the Gohonzon as a "happiness-generating machine" encourages materialism, self-centeredness and the pursuit of pleasure. It enables members to do whatever they want -- and not feel guilty, as long as they're chanting. Anyone remember the "Daily Guidance" books? I found my book yesterday when I was
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From www.fraughtwithperil.com, Kempon Hokke Blog, Mark Rogow --------------------------------Beginning of Quote---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soka Gakkai's Teachings on benefit: Quotes from Josei Toda, second president of SGI "When I meet you, I don't ask: "Are you keeping faith?" The reason is that I take you
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Here's an interesting video -- a Princeton PhD scholar who went to Japan to study SGI in Japan -- from SGI Unofficial. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The presenter on this video is a non-SGI member who studied the SGI, primarily in Japan. I found it to be an interesting and somewhat different
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Evergreen, I agree with what you said about not being so hard on yourself; it's an issue I've had too. It was a button that SGI leaders could push, making me feel that I wasn't working hard enough for SGI! Your family practices -- and you've practiced since you were a child, right? Then I think, in that situation, it's so much harder to leave than it is for s
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QuotesushigrlAs this thread is for recovery from the mindboggling org that is SGI, maybe it would be good if we pondered this question: what constructive lessons or experiences could we take away from our escape from SGI? I for one have learned that it is important not to give over my mind to anything that asks me to throw common sense to the wind and believe in "an object of worship".
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QuoteRothausI think one should give DavidM the benfit of the doubt that he got the phrasing wrong the first time around. He sent me private messages too. For most of us here it took a while to to be able to look behind the scence. Some of the mechanism we were exposed to just became more evident to us after some time had gone buy. In retrospective I used ti defend SGI myself - even though I had
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QuotesushigrlAnd Nikken shouting "Baka neh!! Ikedasan Baka neh!!" (from what I remember aside from tasty Japanese food baka means stupid or crazy :)) And the muffled cry from under the snowdrift..."maaahaaaloooo....maaaahaaaalooo......" before all is silent.
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Sushigrl, I enjoy your way with words -- Nichiren Snowshoe! Now, I'm going to picture old Nikken in his gray priest's robes and snowshoes, chasing Hentai across the snowy terrain of Hokkaido. Hentai tries to run up the mountain...but gets buried in an avalanche of snow. An appropriate end, given how much of a snow job he and his cronies gave the members!
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