Well certainly you must have people who can give advice on legal matters. In almost all countries SGI is tax exempted, so that donations can be made that one can even reclaim in their tax form. What is certain is that in the HQ in Tokyo you do have foreigners too. The Williams incident in the early ninties actually shows what will happen if one national SGI does not follow the party line. Before
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From all that I know its the term mentor that is being used in Germany and the UK. The shift of using it came around the same time as Tsukimoto pointed out but for other reasons - certsinnly I can not make a bet on that for all languages. Waht I can imagine though that ther is (must) be a inner circle of decission makers otherwise the curiculum would not basically be the same all over the world.
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Sorry Anticult, but I am in Europe and they use the term Mentor just as well - the term Master was still used in the early, nineties, thats one of the few adjustemnst made as a reaction to the sentiments amongst members, mentor just sounds more pleasing, helpful etc . The sublte fine tuning - just the same. Here and there some adjsutments - somtething like "Victorious America" would not
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@ Anticult My guess is that you will not find that person in SGI-USA, as SGI's agenda is the same round the globe, Brazil, Europe, Asia - so you will be looking at SGI-HQ in Tokyo.
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So if I get you right SGI members study an interpretation of a work that is mainly preoccupied to clarify the Lotus Sutra. That is od must say. Because when you look at it, all that Nichiren did in his Goshos was basically a lecture on the Lotus Sutra. Nothing wrong with clarifying what Nichiren intended but that seems to go a bit over the top. What is said in the gosho? The longer the stream th
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So the next step will probably be to declare Ikeda a Buddha - just a lucky guess though. What almost everyone says especially those who have been with SGI for quite a number of years is the decline in serious Buddhist study. I believe the amount of people uncomfortable with the situation is greater than we can imagine. What astonishes me is that it seems at none of SGI's “universities” one
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I would be careful though even when we see those parallels to open a drawer under which we can can put SGI. What becomes clearer that ist attitudes become more extreme an uncomprimsing in terms of absolute submision to Ikeda as a Leader. What would ineterest me is that at time when I left I felt a sort of anti-academic atmosphere. Meaning that when ever I or somebody else raised rather academic
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I had to laugh a little bit. Did I not say earlier that SGI has many simularities to the Communist Party, in trems of structure, and Ikeda to Mao? I just see one problem I can not see SGI expanding in China as a religious Group (just look at Tibet or Falung Gong), the Communist Party is like God in the Bilbe - no gods beside him.
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Hi SGBye Welcome to the club then. Wonder how many more are just reading facing problmes in SGI. I think guys we should sort of refocus on that a littel bit . I think for anyone leaving any religious group is a hard time Would be good to hear the strategies you guys used to get back to normal again. In my opinion its grate that you still can practise Gassho Rothaus
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@ Nichijew Could you research the exact source (date an so forth), were that Makiguchi quote was made? Could be useful
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@ tsukimoto a book is a good idea but fear that I do not have the talent :-) good idea for a joint effort though. no the info is valuable for sites like wikipedia and so forth
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Need help guys I would like to get more information may it be internet, news papers or academic resources wich cover the following: - SGI as being defined as a cult - SGI's tax evasion efforts - Anything that deals with issues controversial on SGI other than personal experiene and that is not too out dated. Thank you all
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@ all As most of you on this board are Americans would it not be a good idea to inform the press or you senator on those issues regarding SGI concerning this school buisiness?? I mean this is EXTREMLY disturbing. I know that you guys have different sytem when it comes to school funding, but the way I understand it you are talking of the funding for public schools - if it were private (okay what
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@ quiet one As a European I must say that I also heard this claim of Mr. Ikeda having had an influence on the iron curtain to lift. Especially, and funny enough, in SGI-D (SGI Germany) this cliam was not too loudly popagated. There is absolutely no doubt that the Polish Solidarnosc; movement (together with the Catholic Church - and the then Pope John Paul II) played a key role all this in comb
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Do not know why this comes to my mind right now. I was 17, one of the youngest YMD at the time in my local HQ. I was hospitalised for a broken ligament. After I was sent home my grandmother asked me if any of my “cronies” meaning SGI-members, came to visit and see how I was. I said yes. My grandmother is gone long ago now – but I lied, no one from SGI came to see me. Might be trivial but it j
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Hi Tsukimoto, I think you are right. SGI does not have a doctrine, they shift (exaggerating it a bit) on a daily basis what SGI stands for form a Buddhist point of view. What I find interesting is that Ikeads thoughts, or what is being declared as his works, is being made equal to Nichirens teachings. Its about confirming loyalty of the SGI leadership to the organisation. What does it mean
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Hi Tsukimoto I think this report from France is very old though, SGI-F has been deletd from the list of dangerous cults meanwhile - at least to my knowledge. It would be interesting to read of a follow up.
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@ Tsukimoto Its interesting for you to mention the Shinto issue. There is and was Shinto and Shinto. Shinto is the ancient "religion" of Japan and it sort of mixed with Buddhism and vice versa. The "state Shinto" what we often refer to in the West is a relatively new thing in terms of its formalism. Most, if not all, Buddhist traditions in Japan have picked up Shinto aspect
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@ Nichijew To be honest I find the quotes from that october 2008 meeting quite disturbing - to say the least. Fanaticism pure actually. Could not access the site since it seems password secured --- ehm how were you able to access them?
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well what strikes me is that as Tsukimoto has pointed out already that the stories and experiences are very similar. As my own personal one even the the cracked mirror one is not sensational it would not even suffice as a basis for a news article (to many issues an outsider won't understand), but it does show that if members base their action on what the perceive to be Nichirens teaching an
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commongirl ... if you are a person hope you read all this ...
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The experience "THE DAY THE CLEAR MIRROR CRACKED " is quite breath taking. Anyone here remembers Byrd? Still have her picture on the PC. I guess I will print it out and put it near the butsudan. The experience above seems like a continuing storry to what Byrd would have faced if she had lived long enough to tell us. I heard that story of Rev. Myokei at the Houston funeral before, in a
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As shocking as all those experiences may be, they are not really a surprise either. Whenever I had doubts or I witnessed incidents that made me wonder I would allways push those doubts aside, thinking that those must surely be the devilish functions. Now I know it was my common sense. The beinnig of the end of my time in SGI was the split with the priests and I do not even have much sympathy for
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Well „Von“ I must say that I am glad you made it out of that homeless situation. With or without SGI, what an interesting life story you must have!! Reading this one incident came to my mind, which actually occurred during my last larger SGI-activity. A young man confessed to me in private that the only reason he was able to pay for the fare and accommodation for that meeting was due to the
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Hi Nichijew, thanks for sharing that! Very sad it is though.
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Dear Commongirl, You said QuotecommongirlTo remain silent is to be a victim, and I am not a victim. If I see something, I speak out. That is a good attitude, but why is it then that SGI-USA can openly by the means of all the media it has available attack Mr. Williams and he is not given the chance to tell his version of the (hi)story. Why is it that if Mr. Williams was so “unbuddhist” SGI qu
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another thing commongirl. I joined in 1986 and we did quite a good amount of studying - a considerable amount of exiting studying of NICHIERNS teachings, quite good converatiions and discussions as a result ever since the split the content of the studying turned towards ikedas interpretaion of nichirens work - shakyamuni hardly mentioned.
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dear commongirl, most exeriences on this board are quite up to date - "killing" reassesment groups in the nineties and beginning of this century (those were members who tried to bring transparency and democratic elements to SGI's structure) - unability of SGI to address critical issues i.e. financial tranparency - soka university - leaders giving "guidances" not qu
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Hi Tsukimoto, just a very short reply as not much time at the moment. Concerning the gohonzons and people who had mental problems ... no SGI did not ask them to my knowledge to give back their gohonzons. But there was an air of relief if they did. My personal belief though is not so much that SGI cared about the gohonzon (I guess they could not care less anyway), but rather that those people w
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Well Tsukimoto, I do actually recall at least two incidents were people had serious mental problems, from one of them I know that they handed back their gohonzon - the leaders then said it was for their own good. I often wondered if it was rather for the good of SGI no to be associated with "such people". Could it be that a therapy might reveal the negative influences of SGI? If some
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