FOR – SURE – SGI needs to justify their existence (Ikeda the great Buddha to us all) - Just in the month of August - pledges (loyalty oaths to their MASTER Ikeda) required to be signed by the MD and then there the RTE a youth informed me that there will be another event like this one in October (ENOUGH ALREADY) – and the embellishment of Ikeda – THE new pillars of Buddhism Shakyamuni – Nichire
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For Sure - Here here –to all that do speak up @ meetings or in group discussions – I always get a deer in the head lights look if I bring up the fact that Master / disciple – began with the priests and that SGI took this concept and morph it into mentor / disciple all look @ me like I was from MARS – yes I get flak and some grief – censure from fellow MD that have some type of power play in this
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On second thought you may be no to something – Ikeda @ Eagle Peak – and SGI is postponing the announcement! But could they get away with it – oops wait a tick - brain check of course they can! You also have a point with the pledge the MD do push this agenda – people do have a tendency to gravitate to like minded people so my cycle would be more apt to carry the same opinions that mentor /
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This thing about sign a sheet and make the pledge to the MENTOR in chief IKEDA - {excerpt -(a starting point to create a new history together as a response to our mentor) (Every man who participates in these meetings will have an opportunity to sign his name on a special signature sheet to mark his participation and express appreciation to his mentor at this historic time)} Just pondering the si
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doubtful - Please Don’t doubt yourself in this time of tribulation you seem to be on the right path taking care of yourself and those around you – practice and study with like minded people and you will achieve your goals - The power of just chanting is amazing – and you don’t need any external organizations or person to give you your piece of mind – but I feel I am being redundant because I fee
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evergreen - It's Hard - to chant to become happy - I was practicing for several years before I joined NSA – During this time my MASTER told me that you can never attain happiness – it’s to elusive for you to exist in, it’s always in a state of flux– so you practice in terms of lessening your negative karma – building up your positive karma – and the ultimate goal of raising your life condi
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Rothaus - for sure - I will have to admit – good analogy – this thing of chant to become HAPPY or you need a mentor (Ikeda) to become everything you want to be! It sounds like a comic book story type of reality- the Gohonzon as a wishing well for all of your desires and Ikeda as your mentor to show you the path to enlightenment - what a distortion – but the most outrage I have is the brainwashi
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doubtful, @morgaine, @rattyboy - For Sure as some of you do I still practice as does my family – on occasion I do venture to a meeting now and again – to see old friends and to see just how far the SGI movement has gone – it’s hard to see some of the insightful – thoughtful and I dare say educated members just taking it all in – I personal know a few in the SGI echelon (Chapter and below) that of
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doubtful - For sure - I started practicing in Korea before SG/NS was allowed in – it was a purer practice, then I found in either Japan or the States – because their was no Ikeda – Nikken - Priesthood – NS –SG – just practice and study (funny membership grew and people of like mind came together for dialog and Buddhist discussion of Buddhist philosophy and the strange thing about it we didn’t nee
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Strange occurrence – SO everyone on planet earth knows the Gandhi, King, Ikeda mantra – well there’s a new alignment in the heavens - I would surmise it as the three pillars of Buddhism – I have heard that there is a new comparison of Ikeda the great – having him compared now to – Shakyamuni – Nichiren – Ikeda. They are floating this premise @ meetings – gone from the collective memory – Makiguc
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On SGI and the numbers game – I have two for you – a while back the MD had a rally and the word went out far and wide to the far corners of the SG empire of course I mean e-mail, the rally of course was to give our undying support for our dear leader Ikeda – well some of us sat this one out and didn’t go – one member that did go said that most of us that didn’t go were on the sign-in sheet as att
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Beware of Greeks bearing GIFTS – I would include SGI in this stanza – RED FLAG - The last thing I wound entrust them (SGI) with is education – just look @ what they are doing with the YD it’s almost criminal, turning them loose wilily-nilly in a charter school – I hope there are going to be safeguards in place to keep the doctrine out – but I doubt it! Of course the school system here in the US
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doubtful - All in all you stated a good case! I agree all you need is Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, I have no problem in spreading the WORD sort of speaking. It’s the way SGI flaunts it. I know this first hand I started practicing in the 70’s showing my age just a tad. And practices in several states and countries and the MO is always the same speak out against the chosen one Ikeda on any of his po
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DavidM - SPOT ON- On target – I had a good rapport with a Sr. Leader (up in the know) so I asked him directly about us members that don’t go for the “Ikeda is my mentor” nonsense - he said that those that don’t or won’t accept this concept will probably leave and the rest will stay! He guestimation was 10 to 20% would leave. I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. He said that this push was
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WOW back in the day I do remember the white blazer with the NSA badge on the left breast pocket and white paints – dude what up with that – surely cultish with all of the YMD looking like an army of the SG. Yes it’s still their but not so much in the uniform but in the conditioning of the members focus on the YD because they are more programmable – sure a person who has a low life condition is mo
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For sure – I feel it’s a self inflicted purge – of course most of us old timers that have some grounding in Master – Disciple relationship know intuitively that a Master is a one to one relationship and has personal attachment and not someone who is thousands of miles away in Tokyo! SO what to do with the troublesome group of followers that know that this is all a made up chatter– well just push
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For sure – this is the fallacy of this Mentor and Disciple concept – the premise that the disciple will in time become the Master – this the SGI will never accept – for them the one and only Master is Ikeda - so their foundation is so distorted it makes any analytical person to just get up and walk out on this junket that SGI is pulling. SO many members that I know are voting with their feet on
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It’s all window dressing – SGI – Ikeda and the rest of the cabal – POWER is the key all anyone needs to do is to chant – you really don’t need to do anything else – the rest is icing on the cake! If one wants to indulge in the study of Gosho - Lotus Sutra all the better – however chanting raises your life condition – not to achieve ones happiness the mantra I hear all the time from SGI & Ike
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Question – I have had people in the know give me a couple of places where SGI banks the monies that they take in here in the US! I am sure that SGI is keeping as much of the monies as possible under the radar to shelter their cash. SO does anyone know where the treasure chest is located? I hear tell it’s in California! After all it’s all about the money – so trying to follow the money is a h
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So what was need to practice – so when I started back in the day one of my Masters asked me what was required to practices – so the list went something like this – Gohonzon, Gongyo, Butsudan, Chanting, Gosho, then the organizations NS/SG. After I gave my list to him he said all you need to do is to chant – and study Gosho – the rest is window dressing – Let me explain – Gohonzon is not requir
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Chanter16 - Yes the Masters that have taken in this practice, both had practice other Buddhist teachings – In my opinion they were well versed in Buddhist teachings. Also they would ask me questions and given me insightful answers! None of this mentor/disciple chatter that SGI is pushing. When I do venture into a meeting mostly to see how this theme(mentor/disciple) is progressing – when I am
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Chanter16 - For sure – I was a district leader for years – and I didn’t support the party line – that is I didn’t push FNCC – or contributions – and it was a no Ikeda DVD zone in my district - @ the planning meeting I asked about the DVD and it always got voted down – the members wanted to do Gosho or study – SO I would always get pulled aside by the guest leader and asked why – So on FNCC I woul
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For Sure Chanter16 I am dating myself just a tad. I started in the 70's and have seen a lot of stuff - priesthood - breakup –SG/NS/SGI - and some I just can't place - but Ikeda mentor (a misnomer) Master / Disciple is the correct term and it was established by the 'evil priesthood" so SGI really needs to check up on the history - Of course I opened my eyes when I was hearing t
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Thank you Rothaus for your kind words - things to remember - for sure my kids got turned off when they went to meetings and we told to take Ikeda as their mentor - they said that their mentors were their parents - and to follow the law and not the person! Of course they were told that only Ikeda could be their true mentor in life and my kids came home after a few of these meetings and said that
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For sure – SGI has gone off the deep end after the split – I noticed that the leaders relied more and more on the organization and Ikeda and less on gosho and the lotus sutra some would even place Ikeda guidance above all else – every time I would bring up this topic I got chatter from the leadership and Sr. members – it was all about group think and the Master that they served. My concerned is
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Quotedoubtful@cyclops, You wrote, "I see this lot where sincere educated young members are just getting up and leaving! I have also watched members with 15+ years stop coming to meeting – one told a Chapter Leader that he was tired of the Ikeda rallies disguise themselves as districts meetings!!!!!! " This is precisely why I cannot return to the organization. Despite the sentimental re
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OF course some of the YD is wakening up – in another district a YD member stated that their mentor was their parents – and no mention of Ikeda – a youth division leader shouted @ the YD member – stating that the member needed to get their head straight because Ikeda should be their mentor first before all others – the YD member just got up and walked out! I see this lot where sincere educated yo
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For sure – SGI members are mislead – misdirected – misinformed - cultish for sure – anecdotal – I am @ a meeting and a leader tells a new member having personal issues to “except president Ikeda as your mentor so that you can attain true happiness” I almost fell over! And @ another meeting they were doing a mind melt check and having everyone go around the room and expound that Ikeda is their
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I started my practices in the 70’s – what a difference a few decades make. I joined NSA/SGI in the 80’s – again a big change from the 70’s when I was just practicing Nichiren Buddhism. Now on the break –up yes I remember it well the SGI kept talking about the evil priesthood and we should chant for the downfall of Nikken and the temple – I would get into arguments with the hardcore members bec
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Yes it is a good possibility that history will repeat itself and just like Nichiren after his passing the practice broke up into several sects – Ikeda has casted the die for yet another break-up within SGI – I could see @ least two or more sects, there is in increasing number of older and some younger members that don’t buy into this Ikedaism - sometimes I feel like the Devil King of the 6th He
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