FNCC - The Cult Retreat: Propaganda video . Why did you come here and what did you get out of it? Attendees paraphrased excerpts - followed by my (Hitch's) take on their words. 1) "I don't have a lot of connection." - There aren't enough hardcore brainwashed members from my area, yet. I'm going to become one and make more. 2) "A bigger perspectiv
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Corboy, the sg is the most militaristic "peace" organization I've ever seen. The more tired, sweaty, wild-eyed, unthinking, obedient and out of your senses you were, the more you "bonded" and were accepted in the ymd. The goal of the ymd leaders in my day was to make their members into bigger mirror images of their own numbskull selves. QuoteShavoyHow can M/D g
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QuoteNichijewQuoteScoobyDoobyQuote list is great! I like especially "Singing "Forever Sensei" for the umpty millionth time and wondering if any of those "smiling people" truly were." I liked that one, too. My teenaged son always comments on the photos of people in the WT with their forced smiles. My this place has been very quiet... We've all rejoined
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It's all indeed true, Nichijew. I couldn't make this stuff up, even if I tried. Non-mentally ill members? I know this may sound harsh, but is there any other kind? If you're brainwashed, you are mentally ill, IMO. Just did a quick search and came up with this: "Once of the most memorable of these early culture festivals was in Chubu in September, 1982. It was pourin
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QuotecorboyQuoteThat "Kansai Fighting Spirit", with your diapers full, made you a better member. I kid you not. I'm 100% serious. We were told to strive for that same kind of "spirit." The implication was very clear - that if called upon, it would be a honor to sh** our pants for sensei. Here is a possibly byproduct of this extreme behavior. It would isolate the
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Quotedragon14I was in Boston in the late 80s, and as a YMD then, I took a lot of trips to Flushing Meadow in Queens to participate in these same kinds of activities. One time, George Williams made an appearance while we were sweltering in the sun. To this day, the "Ay Ay Oh" stuff also makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. In a five minute "guidance and encouragement"
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QuoterattyboyBtw, regarding parades, when the one parade I was in was over and we were on the bus, our "cho" or whatever he was as a leader was pumping his arms and his voice was nearly gone from screaming in delight over our victory. He reached toward me, grabbed my shoulders and shook me while looking wildly into my eyes. I wanted to give the right response and react way big beyond my
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Excellent, Nichijew. Well done. Those clips need to always be up and out there, if for no other reason than the gakkai wants them down. Evergreen, Ikeda is insulting Williams at the beginning of part II posted by Nichijew. He's basically saying how Williams is standing alone on the stage tooting his trumpet (i.e., saxaphone) while all the members are leaving, blissfully unaware. He
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QuotesimplifyHere's the link to the ChantBuddy version of the song on YouTube (those of you with weak stomachs may want to prepare yourselves with a sick bag before watching ;-) I Seek Sensei That's some very heavily sugared kool aid there. As a random side note - the culture festivals that I participated in always reminded me of The Nuremberg Rallies, especially from the perspecti
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QuotelthomasAlso, another thing that I noticed within SGI was the fact that, the higher you were promoted, the more colder you seemed. It was as if normal human emotions such as, sadness (and in some cases anger) were not allowed. I remember one time suffering as a result of a emotionally abusive relationship. I got no support at all. The members kept telling me that, I was the one who cause this
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QuoteevergreenHitch how do I find the video of Mr. Williams be reproached? thanks! evergreen Hi, I just checked the links in my original post (back on p. 348 , see 6th post down) and they no longer work. They worked before, so it appears that the videos have been removed. "Terms Of Use Violation." Hmmm, wonder why. ;-)
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QuoterattyboyI also saw that famous P.I. pounding the table video at a meeting and enjoyed laughing with my friend at the humourous side of our dear leader and almost started to like him. (but not as a leader?) Its funny that the one time I felt I was really beginning to connect with Ikeda, at another meeting, after a video, one of the members said to me something like "Wow, that ikeda
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QuoteFindingmywaytodayI am just wondering if it is far-fetched to feel like some of my paranoia about stuff happening to me came from my participation in the SGI? I am saying this because there was this constant feeling of doom happening to me, that I never felt before the SGI. Yeah, stuff happened before the SGI, but I was much less afraid. That constant feeling of "doom" is classic
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"How Cults Work" . So many parallels to sg. A disturbing video, direct evidence as to how the cult of the gakkai works . (The brainwashed members' testimonials, the cult speak, individuals, families, generations of families, deeply deluded leaders, kids sitting on the ground outside chanting, the quasi-deified pioneering members, the obviously very young man's voice towar
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Quoterattyboy"Ticket to Heaven". It is not just a movie. It is a process of following the main actor through the cult indoctrination and recovery process. (And the main female sponsor type is a familiar T.V actress in her younger years!) This movie includes a chase scene similar to what I mentioned I experienced running from a few other YMD. I'd like to mention the external event
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There really are a great number of fantastic posts from times past before I joined this mb. So many I'd like to add my thoughts to, but I've chosen only a few: QuotesushigrlTsuki, this rush to exchange Nikken Gohonzon for Nichikan Gohonzon (or whoever) was one of the first threads that started to unravel the cloak of my "faith". Other than styles and border colors, what d
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I'm just now finding this incredible "experience." It reveals so much that is typical of the sg. QuotescaredtoleaveI went to a meeting and knew immediately it was not for me. I thanked them profusely for inviting me and sharing their beliefs with me, and kindly explained I was going to stick with my own practice. I thought this would be the end of it. Instead, people jus
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QuoteSGByeQuite a few years back I was doing Gajokai duty at my local kaikan, answering the phones. One night the phone rang and it was George Williams. A “pioneer member” in our area had passed away and Mr. Williams was calling to get info about attending the funeral. So, I put him on hold and rang the office upstairs to tell them that Mr. Williams was on the line. None of the leaders wanted
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QuoteFindingmywaytodayQuoteHitchFindingmywaytoday, you stated that you were happier before you joined. Therein lies your answer. Time to get out. I can tell you that absolutely, positively, you have been brainwashed. All the fear and talk of sansho shima is manifestations of that. People (potentially) chanting for you? Well, in my view, that's entirely their problem, not yours. Don�
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Nichijew, one parent gone and one remains. The one that remains has a fear of death, which is the anchor that shall keep them in to the end. How is it explained? The same ol' spiel - training, fortune bank, blah, blah, blah. Siblings practiced a bit when younger, but none continued. I was the first "fortune baby" ;-). They weren't "blessed" to see and experienc
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QuoterattyboyQuoterattyboyI wore one of the ill-fitting tri-corner liberty hats and handed a tourist the rope so they could ring the bell. 2 or 3 other stoicly smiling YMD and The bell was on a large platform with red, white and blue Patriotism smattered all over it. When our leader was asked "What is NSA?" he looked a little uncomfortable and replied that it was a World Peace Organi
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A brilliant post by tsukimoto: QuotetsukimotoAnd the chanting -- leaders will often recommend that you do hours a day, especially if you have some problem that you're trying to change. We chanted at the beginning of meetings -- which made us more inclined to accept what was said at the meeting. And then we chanted at home too. I knew that chanting made me feel more relaxed; I undere
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Findingmywaytoday, you stated that you were happier before you joined. Therein lies your answer. Time to get out. I can tell you that absolutely, positively, you have been brainwashed. All the fear and talk of sansho shima is manifestations of that. People (potentially) chanting for you? Well, in my view, that's entirely their problem, not yours. Don't worry about it. The only w
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Anticult, the more I read your posts on this thread, the more I realize that you got this cult wrapped up pretty good in your summations. QuoteThe AnticultHumans can believe almost anything, they can believe there are aliens living in golden cities beneath the earth, some sects believe that. So the SGI-Karma stuff is pretty tame compared to some crazy belief systems. On the surface it'
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Thank you Shavoy. I was there, but it is all a blur to me. Until you just mentioned it, I had no memory of Tina Turner. Now, I do recall a huge stage and her performing. That trip was a horrible experience for me; I also remember one of the buses breaking down on a busy, traffic jammed D.C. freeway or highway. Utter chaos from beginning to end. Simplify, thank you, too. I didn't kno
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I keep going through parts of this huge thread and when I find something that I'd like to comment on, I add my thoughts. QuoteRothausI meant that in regard to children of young age, I suspect that in such a case that brainwashing is done by the parents, as in my experience young children were always showed into a back room with some YMD/YWD doing the baby sitting, Sorry if I came accross
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Question for all old time ex-members: Does anybody remember the "We Love America" rally in Washington D.C in the early 80's.? Was it part of a bigger mainstream (non nsa) event being held at the same time? Huge parade with American flags, flags, flags and more flags. Massive, EPIC disorganization, too. What year and month was it and what exactly was it?
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QuoteNichijewYou know what is a zenchishiki? Hi Nichijew, yes I do. I will also agree with you that sg is akuchishiki. Back in my day in the practice, we actually studied the gosho 1st and not Ikeda's drivel. Study Dept., the whole nine yards. It's interesting history and good literature for me, but that's about where it stops for me, too. ***** Findingmywaytoday, learn
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Some of the recent posts have got me thinking. How many of you gave out "guidance" that you now regret? Or was it all just generic stuff like chant more, challenge yourself more, practice with a sincere heart, etc.? Were there ever times that you felt or knew you were in over your head and declined to give substantive advice to someone who came to you with a serious problem? I d
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QuoteNichijewHi KR. I've helped convince people to leave the SGI. One, I spoke to online for almost 5 years but I really don't know how much I actually contributed or if it was solely due to his own awakening. The other several people thanked me for helping to open their eyes to the true nature of SGI. I can't even remember who they all were, I've been doing this for so long.
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