QuotebribriThanks for the greeting Shavoy, Interesting, your name, if it really is Shavoy. It looks like it may be a more phonetic pronunciation of Chavoix, a French family name. Many supporters of SGI will claim that there was never a policy of encouraging members to think of Ikeda as the True Buddha, but there was. As I mentioned before, things like this are not written down, just like so
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

@Findingmywaytoday...."how great and wonderful President Ikeda is"....that's the ticket!!! It boils down to that...we have to let the entire world know just HOW GREAT President Ikeda TRULY IS!!! Gack! It's coming out of so many members' mouths these days, Findingmywaytoday...IkedaBot-u-lism. Like Tsukimoto said, P.I. isn't the least bit interested in beco
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFindingmywaytodayI know what you mean Doubtful. I also find chanting NMRK to be a different experience than deep breathing. After chanting, I must say I feel more motivated. It isn't so much about relaxation, but whatever works for people is what is good. I see nothing wrong per se, with chanting NMRK, but I see a lot wrong with the context that it is under. Anyhow, I was just think
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QuoteFindingmywaytodayThank you Rattyboy. Ugh, it is really annoying, and I agree with you that it would be time to find some new friends. I also was thinking and wondering if SGI members feel like they can "win" and "create value" without chanting. I think and know you can, but caught myself doubting it because of my time in SGI. Findingmywaytoday, hello...people of all fai
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteFindingmywaytodayIncidentally, I also have gotten the message from the SGI that either I am for Ikeda as my mentor, and if I don't have him as my mentor, it means I haven't studied hard enough, or gone to enough meetings. This just makes my stomach turn. I find that assumption insulting. I am wondering how all of you feel about the President Ikeda's lectures. When I used t
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

@rattyboy, I remember that about how the YMD had to be clean-shaven, which I and others never could quite grasp. Talk about giving a chill up the spine, thinking about those days. What did facial hair, which men have the choice to grow or shave, have anything to do with creating world peace? There was not a lot of begging that I perceived for the majority of my practice to make contributi
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoterattyboyQuoteShavoyLotta great posts here the last few days, guys..... In This week's WT...now it is MANDATORY for new members just getting their Gohonzon to take out subscriptions to the periodicals. No ifs, ands or buts. Felt that familiar G-A-A-C-K-K yet again. Subscriptions were mandatory, or part of the deal without question back in the late 80's unti
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotetsukimotoQuoteFindingmywaytoday When I talk to people who have been in the organization for a long time, and still are in the organization, I feel their world is so colored and filtered through their practice. It is like they can't even consider another viewpoint. I've found this too. Now, we all have our own filters that we see the world through. You can't NOT have
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Lotta great posts here the last few days, guys..... In This week's WT...now it is MANDATORY for new members just getting their Gohonzon to take out subscriptions to the periodicals. No ifs, ands or buts. Felt that familiar G-A-A-C-K-K yet again.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Bingo, Tsukimoto! Now the pieces are really coming together...And the Japanese SGI wives are more than happy to donate a chunka-chunka hubby's change to the organization. Bingo! And hubby gets an allowance! When P.I. talks of the precious value of women, he ain't Whistlin' Dixie....They have fueled the fires.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Wakatta1....thanks for sharing secret tidbits from the Japanese WD! It's been commented over the years that SGI sure has a lot of women, and the men's numbers always trail behind. We used to discuss why this was so. One thought was that women, in general, are more inclined to want peace and harmony, having mother genes and all. Pretty rudimentary, yes, but it was one of the ones we
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotebobze39We discussed here a lot why SGI sells its product with Master/Disciple tag attached to it risking to lose a lot of potential customers. Tsukimoto said that SGI doesn't care about the number of followers, but rather their loyalty. SGI prefers customers who don't question Master/Disciple concept. So, who is the most typical SGI follower? Let's create a profile of the most
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteLanceLinkDear Fellow Ex-Members -- I am new here. I was a member from 1974 to 1977, in Los Angeles, when I was 14 to 17 years old. I have a lot of experiences I would like to write about, but, before I get started, I would like to know: Does anyone care if I use the real names of other members? I have true stories from that era. Personally, I don't think that's a great id
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Well, well....In last week's WT there was a statement from the SGI-USA CFO...saying that yes, the vast majority of member contributions go to running the joint, i.e. salaries for employees, community centers, and yes, into stock portfolios. It's the closest I've seen in 25+ years--a "breakdown" of sorts of where the money goes. At least as close as they'll come
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteNichijewHo Shavoy: The real meaning of Kosen Rufu is found in the Lotus Sutra: “After the Buddha’s extinction, In the dreadful age, We will proclaim abroad . — Lotus Sutra Chapter 14 “In the last five hundred years after my extinction, proclaim and spread it abroad in Jumbudvipa, lest it be lost and Mara the Evil , his Mara-people, gods, dragons, yakshas, kumbhandas, and other
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotequiet oneQuotetsukimotoQuotebobze39There is another aspect of SGI, that has been discussed here before. Did you ever have a feeling, when you came to SGI meetings, that you are in a looney bin and surrounded by a bunch of loonies? It's easier to convince people who are in a mentally vulnerable state to work for free and to give donations. So, SGI targets people, who are alone, depre
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The Anti-Cult...I have to say that Sai Baba sounds extremely hard-core. I clicked on the link and read a bit and wow.... Your comments tie in with what Tsukimoto said, how the marketing is very specific. People who are comfortable with the M/D angle will dive in. If you are a critical thinker who sees the shades of grey beyond black and white, SGI will skim over you. They are indeed gettin
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoterialcnisQuotetsukimotoQuoteShavoy And that Mr. Williams will be thrown under the bus under the protection of "It's Fiction!"...It's been said on this thread more than once already, but Mr. W. was probably kicked to the side and out the door because he was grabbing more than his share of the Top Dog Pie. . Some people say that GW's real crime was becoming more popu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

The Anti-Cult and Tsukimoto...thank you for answering my query. I also began thinking that because of the M/D hysteria mass, that objectivity has gone out the window. Of course, P.I. can afford to hire marketing consultants to tweak the medicine going down. One would think that a good marketing firm (If they are not members or have a major interest in SGI) could see and say, Hey....this cult o
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Tsukimoto, The Anti-Cult and Wakatta1: Your posts reinforce the thing in my head that I can't get my head quite around....help me out here. How does Daisaku Ikeda believe he can make huge inroads with the American/world masses for membership in the SGI when written words like what Tsukimoto posted above SCREAM CULT!!!??? I mean, there is no difference between Fire and Brimstone fundamen
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotetsukimotoQuoteShavoy And that Mr. Williams will be thrown under the bus under the protection of "It's Fiction!"...It's been said on this thread more than once already, but Mr. W. was probably kicked to the side and out the door because he was grabbing more than his share of the Top Dog Pie. . Some people say that GW's real crime was becoming more popular than Iked
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuoteNichijewQuoteShavoyA few things on the mind.....first off, in the latest WT coverage on the earthquake/tsunami...SGI-USA apparently donated $50,000 to the relief effort. A mere drop from the SGI bucket, shall we say? I'm also curious. How many people here have read some or all of the Human Revolution/New Human Revolution? I'd like to know your impressions. Dear Shavoy: T
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

QuotetsukimotoQuoteShavoy I'm also curious. How many people here have read some or all of the Human Revolution/New Human Revolution? I'd like to know your impressions. I was asked to join a women's study group a few years back. I was under the impression that we would choose what we studied -- a Gosho, or the Lotus Sutra. Instead, at the first meeting, we were told that w
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

A few things on the mind.....first off, in the latest WT coverage on the earthquake/tsunami...SGI-USA apparently donated $50,000 to the relief effort. A mere drop from the SGI bucket, shall we say? I'm also curious. How many people here have read some or all of the Human Revolution/New Human Revolution? I'd like to know your impressions.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Hello, Anita...thank you for sharing some background....The impression I've gotten, especially recently, is that the members from Brazil are probably the most die-hard SGI-ers outside of Japan. Hardline and hardcore, if you forgive me for saying that. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just how it's come across for me. The questions you pose should rightfully be answe
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

DrJesusEsq.....it seems the initial hook, as we all know here, is You Can Chant for Anything! The more you chant and feverishly work for KR, then that elusive state of Complete Happiness is automatically yours. Every human being wants just to be happy. So, the more you chant, you'll get your due! And activies, too! The emphasis on Winning, Never Losing, also creates pressure..like if
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Nichijew and Tsukimoto....first off, I admit I never bothered to find out meanings of all the SGI speak, so I did not know that Gajokai means "teeth of the castle"...Yikes. Because they have to maintain the unreality of Perfect Perfection, that all is Good and Pure, and of course, this HAS lead to World Peace, because everyone is a Stepford Ikeda Person......Everybody, smilin'
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QuoteNichijewhttp://www.youtube.com/user/sokacultikeda#p/u/1/IXlDQMaOITo Nichijew Nichijew, what is happening in this last video? It is in Japanese, with no English subtitles,and I'm not sure exactly what's going on. It does not look like a happy affair. Thanks, Shavoy
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotequiet oneQuotebobze39Morgaine, you are lucky you didn't become SGI member. I wasn't so lucky. I actually joined SGI and received Gohonzon and I did my share of free labor at SGI warehouse. In fact I personally know SGI-USA leader Danny Nagashima, I met with him on several occasions and talked to him. That was not because I was a leader, no, I simply happened to practice in the same
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Quotebobze39Hello, Shavoy, well, I talked to Danny only briefly, and it wasn't one-on-one, it was in the presence of many people, he said something like "Welcome", "Practice with determination" and some general phrases. I don't really personally dislike him, in fact, he has a certain charm and appears to be strong (or plays this role well). He speaks with an accent,
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families