Cult Education Forum

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[www.youtube.com] - Malaysia
[www.youtube.com] - Brazil
[www.youtube.com] - America (brainwashing the young)
[www.youtube.com] - The Original, in Japan (Pay particular attention to the English lyrics and the dear leader's attire, which is also emulated in the Malaysia and Brazil clips above).

Just wanted to add this clip to the above post -

[www.youtube.com]

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tsukimoto

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rattyboy
It was the most enthusiastic YWD (Young women's division member) in our group who the leader chose to get up and speak. This leader was not explicitly introduced as a leader. She was, seemingly, just a part of our group of 10 - 15 people. All these group mouthpieces had nothing but good things to say.
"That was Great!" shouted even louder instead of "Wasn't that Great?" saves the thinking and immediately puts everyone on the same page. I was seeing that more and more. The response from the emcee after the MJ song singer on a posted video is an example.
These are seemingly passing comments on the microphone but keep everyone in agreement.

Spending so much time cheering about how far we drove and whooping it up for our own district. I guess that's what it means to be a "Youth!"

This drove me crazy when I was in SGI -- all the manufactured emotion. Leaders would mention some upcoming big meeting -- and everyone would start cheering. It was as if they'd pushed a button. All this excitement -- for what? The chance to hear some mid-level leader give us the party line? The chance to hear some amateur singing or instrumental music? What's the big deal?

There was a subset of members who lived for and thrived on creating and putting on silly (in some cases horrid) meeting time-filler brain pap. They were often wanna-be "artists" (usually ripping off other people's material) who were living out some kind of fantasy by performing for real people in the cult manufactured environment. These "performances" (if you could call them that), along with the over the top feigned cheering (the guttural cheer was reserved for the really, really bad ones) were usually my signal to make a restroom visit. After I felt better, I'd return to the meeting (sometimes not).

Prime example [www.youtube.com], "Shakubuku Baby!"

The King Event of manufactured drama was always the infamous cultural festival [www.youtube.com]. "The first major festival .... in 20 years." After self-destructing and stagnation, the cult re-wheels out an old tried and true desperate formula to "revitalize" the cult members. Hmmmm, I wonder, ..... did it work? It usually does for the short term, but not the long.

Lots of good posts lately and videos that make me want to upchuck. I've been trying to open my mind to being moved by these animated sequences of bright sunrises and flowery words, to see if I remember how to be moved, but nothing will take. That's a very good thing. Songs sung by the elders are seen as poignant and profound reminders of strong faith within the ranks but now I see them a whole different way. Maybe I always found them too glorifying of the leader and the mission.

2 months into my practice in the late 80's, I said to other members after a meeting: "I feel like I see everything objectively now. Everything except the practice itself." So, because as a youth I finally had some core perspective to adhere to, like a political or religious viewpoint of my world, I felt I could see things as they really are. When I made that statement I had a sea of dead eyes looking back at me. Like that video posted of one YMD helping another YMD with his tie. Lifeless. There wasn't any response like "You are going to find a lot of wonderful things in your new practice." I think none of the members were representing a leadership position in my district and therefore had no response. It was like "Stepford Wives" or pod people from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Dead eyes, no expression. No words. Yet I stayed.
EVERY time I had a friend join me at a meeting, no matter how well they seemed to get along at the meeting, that friend would at some point ask me: " Is that a cult?" Yet I stayed. For years it was like that.
There's 2 lingering thoughts I have as I continue to reflect on this group. One is that I need to remind myself that I am not going to find any resolve discussing matters with an active member. And, secondly, the voices I hear in my head, the imagined responses from leaders about these 'negative' inquiries and conclusions and discussions with ex-members are all going to bear the stamp of disapproval from SGI members.

I appreciate (sorry, I think that is a common cult word), the long posts from Upgrayed the elaborations from Hitch and the return of other voices from earlier in the thread - it has stirred up anger in me, but also a sense of a humourous perspective with LOL moments. Thanks! Or should I say with great eechy nin: Thayu berry Muuuch!

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rattyboy
When I made that statement I had a sea of dead eyes looking back at me. Like that video posted of one YMD helping another YMD with his tie. Lifeless. There wasn't any response like "You are going to find a lot of wonderful things in your new practice." I think none of the members were representing a leadership position in my district and therefore had no response. It was like "Stepford Wives" or pod people from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Dead eyes, no expression. No words. Yet I stayed.
EVERY time I had a friend join me at a meeting, no matter how well they seemed to get along at the meeting, that friend would at some point ask me: " Is that a cult?" Yet I stayed. For years it was like that.

Their manufactured alternate universe [www.youtube.com] vs. the reality (zombie mode) [www.youtube.com] (a gakkai stalker has to be chased off by plainclothes police who are protecting the protestors). Jekyll & Hyde - meet Jekyll at meetings, but Hyde comes out to play when called on (as in that clip). Manipulative cults do this kind of stuff to people.

Why do you think some people have stayed in the cult for 40 years? I was looking at pictures of Dave Grilly, a YMD brass band leader in Chicago who joined NSA around the same time, and same age that I did, 1971. He is still a loyal ikeabot. Sometimes I envy people who stick no matter what. I know folks who have been in their church for decades too. I guess I just have a skeptical nature, but it seems like it would be comforting to just be in the same place your whole life. Sometimes I wonder if something is wrong with me, making it so I just can't commit. Well, at least I'm not deceived, and I have my integrity. That counts for something.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2012 07:42PM by Freeheartandmind.

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Freeheartandmind
Why do you think some people have stayed in the cult for 40 years?

Because they don't see it. They only see what they want to see, or better put, what they need to see.

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Freeheartandmind
Well, at least I'm not deceived, and I have my integrity. That counts for something.

Using one's critical faculties, seeing clearly and not deceiving oneself, in my book, count for everything.

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Rattyboy
And, secondly, the voices I hear in my head, the imagined responses from leaders about these 'negative' inquiries and conclusions and discussions with ex-members are all going to bear the stamp of disapproval from SGI members.

In some of the literature associated with developing or recovering personal self-esteem, there is mention about what is referred to as the "Morbid Critic". The morbid critic is that nagging little voice (your own self-talk in disguise) which feeds you criticism, opinions and synthesized perspectives (at least what your subconscious thinks is perspective). If you are unaware of its mischief it can really do a lot of damage to your self confidence. At any rate, a lot of the "tut-tut"ing that the "leaders" load on the members I'm certain ends up in that "morbid critic" cesspool. It is incidious because it whispers this stuff to you and when you are used to it, you don't react to it, you just swallow it (like kook-aid). Unlike your conscience which comes to bear when you are confronted with a moral dilemma, the morbid critic is like a magpie that just chatters away at you unless you shut it down or counter it.

In my own case, after many years of practice, one of the obstacles I faced when walking away from it all was that sense that I was somehow "doing a wrong thing". Eventually I got over it, but in retrospect I clearly see my "morbid critics" greasy little fingerprints all over that. So, I'm sure much of the "dear leader" stuff we are seeing today with the cult is being programmed into people's "morbid critics" to keep them in line by creating an invisible authority figure for whom their efforts are "eternally serving" which has a perimeter "eternally" patroled by their "morbid critics" shaped into his likeness.

Wakatta1



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2012 09:16AM by wakatta1.

Cult rivalry - This rival cult of the gakkai, The Kenshokai [www.youtube.com], employs many of the exact same techniques and manipulation used by the soka cult (Their current dear leader is Shoei Asai.). In fact, stumbling upon it, with no prior knowledge, the uninitiated (especially non-Japanese) could very easily mistake it for the soka gakkai itself. It's a more blatant, in your face, unsophisticated version of the slick gakkai cult. (Clip is, of course, all in Japanese, but the images speak for themselves. It's an extreme version of what the gakkai could very easily morph (back) into, if called upon. The gakkai started out this way, but loosened up a bit, only a bit, to broaden its appeal.)

Just putting this out there so that others can see the gakkai for the cult that it is, from a slightly different perspective. The gakkai isn't the only game in town and it is all manipulation.

Soka gakkai cult brainwashed young mother/housewife reacts to being filmed (but only to the lady filming):

[www.youtube.com] at the 2:19 min. mark, there is a discussion going on between the protestors and a gakkai cult member, who happens to be a young mother toting an infant. She obviously isn't happy with the anti-gakkai protestors and has a visceral reaction when a camera lady approaches to film. At 2:47, the mother suddenly grabs and breaks the camera/microphone (you can actually hear it snap). Holding an infant only emboldens her behavior. They are separated and the cult lady eventually convinced to leave. One interesting part is when another gray haired gentleman comes up right after that and says you can't reason with these gakkai cult members, because they are under "mind control." He's absolutely correct.

I've witnessed much worse reactions from gakka cult members who don't like something that is happening or can't get their way (i.e., their magic chant is powerless). The above is nothing. I've seen temple members physically set upon, grabbed, pushed away and almost struck, when they dared to show up at a gakkai kaikan meeting. (For the record, I have no dog in their silly fights, either, because I think both sides are quarreling over nonsense.)

Crazy is as crazy does and cults make you crazy, including the gakkai cult. I've seen it many times, too.

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Hitch
Soka gakkai cult brainwashed young mother/housewife reacts to being filmed (but only to the lady filming):
[www.youtube.com] at the 2:19 min. mark, there is a discussion going on between the protestors and a gakkai cult member, who happens to be a young mother toting an infant. She obviously isn't happy with the anti-gakkai protestors and has a visceral reaction when a camera lady approaches to film. At 2:47, the mother suddenly grabs and breaks the camera/microphone (you can actually hear it snap). Holding an infant only emboldens her behavior. They are separated and the cult lady eventually convinced to leave. One interesting part is when another gray haired gentleman comes up right after that and says you can't reason with these gakkai cult members, because they are under "mind control." He's absolutely correct.

I've witnessed much worse reactions from gakka cult members who don't like something that is happening or can't get their way (i.e., their magic chant is powerless). The above is nothing. I've seen temple members physically set upon, grabbed, pushed away and almost struck, when they dared to show up at a gakkai kaikan meeting. (For the record, I have no dog in their silly fights, either, because I think both sides are quarreling over nonsense.)

Crazy is as crazy does and cults make you crazy, including the gakkai cult. I've seen it many times, too.

It is truly amazing how the Gakkai cult members talk the talk of self control and peace but they not infrequently get angry, scream, or even resort to physical violence. I saw Guy McCloskey, SGI's Vice General Director and lawyer, get up in a YMD's face, grab his lapels and push him into a wall. This occured at the first Union Square New York community center, somewhere around 1978. I've also seen SGI cult members get so angry they frothed at the mouth. That is because they chant Nam Myoho renge kyo with their mouths but Nam Ikeda Soka Gakkai in their hearts.

Nichijew