Gotta love that weird logic; one of the leaders (I could never keep the hierarchy BS straight) just knew that she had COPD because she had tried to commit suicide; it couldn't have possibly had anything to do with the facts that she smoked for a zillion years and weighed about 300 lbs., right? I'm embarrassed to admit that I bought into that kind of twaddle myself, but there were always
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Okay, I've wiped my eyes after laughing about Cousin Rufus. Oh. My. God. That terrible, terrible music. You'd think with Tina and Herbie we could do a lot better than "Forever Senseless." I always wanted to stand up and start singing "The Internationale" - given my singing abilities, that would've been sufficient punishment for anyone in the room. And, I know th
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

You're not out of the woods yet, sleepy skunk - the campaign isn't over until 6/3.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sleepy skunk and Hitch . . . the more I read here about the commonality of experiences across a range of other districts, the happier I am that I watched all of my sgi books go bye-bye in the trash. My punishment for being a bad zombie was to not be allowed to distribute the monthly schedule or have meetings at my place. Oh, boo-hoo. It was the sheer arrogance that these ding-dongs felt that they
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Sleepy skunk and Hitch . . . the more I read here about the commonality of experiences across a range of other districts, the happier I am that I watched all of my sgi books go bye-bye in the trash. My punishment for being a bad zombie was to not be allowed to distribute the monthly schedule or have meetings at my place. Oh, boo-hoo. It was the sheer arrogance that these ding-dongs felt that they
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks, TaitenandProud. From some reading I've done over the past couple of days, most of the mayahana texts do date from that period, having supposedly been compiled from other material at that time. I think that the sutras suffer from the same issues that other religious texts have . . . they've been translated, interpreted, cobbled together and then been thrown into a blender to be r
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Double-speak, indeed. I spoke to a couple of friends yesterday; they're both members, but we have a lot of mutual interests outside the practice so I'm hoping to preserve the friendships once (and if) they get over my "defection." It seemed as if they were unable to get through a couple of sentences without reverting to jargon. I really understand that it's a common langu
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I agree with you, tsukimoto (I'm not sure when you originally posted what I'm reading) - different districts are, well, different. I originally started practicing in the southwest, and they were really laid back. It may have been because I was a newbie, but they were gracious about responding to questions, not defensive in the least and we had some fun, pretty unconventional meetings. I
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Once again, I'm appreciative of the support on this site. The experiences I've been reading so closely parallel my own! I emailed the members of my district last evening to let them know that I was leaving the organization, in part out of common courtesy and in part to avoid solicitous phone calls asking why I'm no longer attending meetings. And there was just something inside me t
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thanks, Shavoy! I'm feeling better and better about my decision, as if I've cast off a burden. It's going to be weird not having nmrk going through my head during idle moments, but I'm sure I'll find something else to fill some of the empty space.
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

Thank you so much, Luz - I'm still in a state of being brain-washed, but it's good to know that it will pass. Like you, I like to believe that I have a skeptical mind, but I think that when we are in positions of vulnerability false hope may over-ride that skepticism. I put my gohonzon and butsudan away this morning and cleared my altar - I feel like I've cast off a bit of a burden
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families

I was really grateful to find this forum – thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences (“experience” being used in a normal-human-being-non-SGI-way). I’ve been practicing with SGI for seven years now, diligently chanting (well, trying to be diligent), actively participating in meetings and activities, and now in the position of group leader and subscription coordinator. I’ve held any numbe
Forum: Former Cult Members and Affected Families