In a previous thread, I said that one of the hallmarks of a cult is reliance on deception. Cults deceive potential recruits, members and the general public about the group's true aims and core beliefs.
Suppose someone says to you, "Hey, come to a Buddhist meeting with me. The people are really nice. We talk about Buddhism and world peace..."
If you're reading this website, chances are someone has invited you to such a meeting.
I accepted such an invitation. Yes, the people were really nice. We talked about Buddhism. We talked about world peace. But there was something else, too. Something that wasn't "as advertised." It took me years to wake up to the fact that I had been initially deceived by and gradually lulled into the Big Sensei Scam.
Now, imagine receiving a different invitation.
"Come to a meeting with me. We're a group that adulates a Japanese billionaire whom none of us has ever met. We all consider him our mentor in life and an unerringly benevolent father figure. We quote his writings incessantly. We praise him incessantly. We liken him to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but he is greater than both of these men. He is a Buddhist teacher better than the Dalai Lama. You'll get to 'know' him through your own powers of imagination and projection. You will be peer-pressured by the rest of the group into praising and never criticizing him. You will pledge your life to him. So, please come to this meeting with me."
Would you go to that meeting? Hellz no!
This group calls itself the largest and most diverse Buddhist organization in the world. But Buddhism is just a front. If you think the primary concern of this group is teaching and promoting Nichiren Buddhism, you have been deceived. The true purpose of the group is to adulate, promote and immortalize the Big Sensei.
It may take years for you to see the truth behind the "Buddhist" rhetoric. It may take only a moment.
In my case, I saw the adulation of Big Sensei early on, but I talked myself out of my concerns. I had plenty of help from fellow group members.
There's nothing wrong with singing the praises of a great man, people said, and I believed. (But I wondered...what has he actually done that's so great?)
There's nothing wrong with pledging your life to a Buddhist teacher, people said, and I believed. (But I had friends in other Buddhist lineages who personally knew and worked closely with their teachers.)
There's nothing wrong with condemning and punishing the enemies of one's Buddhist mentor, people said, and I had a hard time believing.
Fellow members insisted: The fact that Big Sensei has enemies proves that he is the bigger-than-Nichiren Buddha of our lifetime. How lucky we are to praise him and serve him!
The more critical I became of the adulation of Big Sensei, the meaner my fellow members became toward me. They upped the pressure on me to revere the man. They threatened karmic retribution for my failure to recognize the greatness of Big Sensei. They questioned my personal integrity, sincerity, intelligence, and sanity. They whispered to others that I was emotionally unstable. They shook their heads and whispered that I "just didn't get it." They told people that they were concerned about my safety, implying that I might harm myself or others...because only a malicious, suicidal, crazy person would ever question the greatness of Big Sensei.
I asked myself: How did I get here?
I was suckered by the initial deception: Come to a Buddhist meeting. I didn't know it was an invitation to a meeting of the Big Sensei Club disguised with a little Buddhist window dressing.
I stayed because I was persuaded by everyone (including myself) who passionately talked me out of my concerns about the adulation of Big Sensei.
I was hurt when my fellow members turned on me. I didn't understand it. I was still operating on a flawed assumption based on the initial deception. I assumed that the group cared about Buddhism and helping people practice. They only cared about Big Sensei.
That's how I got mixed up with a cult. You might scoff and say, well, that's not really a cult -- it's only a cult of personality at worst.
A cult of personality is a cult, my friend. It's a cult. If you haven't felt its viciousness and its teeth tearing into yet, it's just a matter of time.
Do me a favor. If you have any links that demonstrate the adulation of Big Sensei, please post them below.
15 comments
FYI, the post above was triggered by this nauseatingly "uplifting" servile video that JoeIsuzu pointed out:http://youtu.be/3VEMHWnewuc
So everyone can enjoy THEIR day? I doubt many people agree with you, sadly! OrchidTigress
Since you don't seem to have the SGI members welfare in mind, why "correct" people? You don't care what happens to members that transfer to NST, let alone ex-SGI members which you don't like that have conformed and transferred to NST. That's quite apparent! Look at what happened to SGI members that transferred to NST who wish to belong there! Some are dead, or their posts were taken away, or they were constantly "corrected". However, I didn't see anyone with POSITION in NST fixing their actions if they varied from Nichiren's writings. Could this "correction" be one-sided?I am not a believer in your compassion, being that I experienced some of it first-hand, visiting the NST to see what it was about. So, why don't you sell your "corrections" to someone else?All I saw was discrimination (against women), and against ex-SGI members that transferred to NST. I also saw things that I didn't see Nichiren write about that needed change, like male members dating married women, or people writing derogatory songs or showing folks police reports with no signatures and saying there were witnesses they couldn't prove, or people saying SGI folks harassed them but there didn't happen to be REAL photos of such things. Why didn't anyone sign the police reports? Why are members singled out in Hokekko?You might want to know some of us NOTICE that there is a PROBLEM with people following folks and posting AT THEM, rather than talking too, like is happening all over the internet from NST members who wish to cause SGI to DISBAND.Personally, I have had it with TALK since you don't listen to folks, or care.OrchidTigress
See the reply to "I don'T believe animals are stupid".
SassyOne, I have blocked you from commenting further. You're not making any sense, and you're just going off on mroaks, flinging wild accusations that have nothing to do with him or this website. I'm banning you for being a troll, basically. If you want me to reconsider your ban, you can e-mail nine@buddhajones.com.
O- M- G...ohonzon!It is such a scam, but a person won't discover that until they do. Then who knows how long it will take them to accept it. Some people never discover or accept the fact they have joined a cult. As long as it seems to work for them or as long as they seem to think it does, goody for them.Everyone needs a little something to get them through their day. So if the fine folks want a little sensei I say have at it - as for me no thank you,I had my fill, just pass the Buddhism please!
Cults have become so all pervasive I don't think the word has any meaning.All of the religions are cults. Nations are cults. Political parties are cults. Even atheism is a cult. The anti-cult cult maybe one of the most nefarious.If you don't want to be in a cult I suggest learning to think for yourself. If all that leads to is attacking cults then you should know you're still in the cult.Free your mind.
I don't know how you get through two issues of the World Tribune without seeing this. The issues could be from this year or thirty years ago. People go for years unaware? At some level they must want to believe so bad they just close their eyes."Yea, though I walk through the valley in the shadow of propaganda,I fear no evil: my bullshit detector still works."Philip
Mroaks, I'm not going to post Big Sensei links. They're everywhere.Do we sound like broken records when we talk about this stuff? Maybe. I think it's worthwhile though for people to share their stories and their feelings about past cult involvement. Each story might help someone else say, "Yeah, I had something like that happen to me," or somehow recognize their own experience in the words of another person. Sharing stories helps people come to grips.Lots of Big Sensei fans are in deep denial. Many deny that cults exist at all. "Everything is a cult, therefore nothing is a cult." Or "A cult is a group I don't like or disagree with."This is why we have to keep talking through our own experiences and feelings. Cults do exist. They rely on a combination of techniques, such as high pressure and deception and emotional manipulation.The example I always hear about is the Marines. They're a high-pressure group that indoctrinates and emotionally manipulates recruits. Does that make them a cult? The answer is no, because they are not relying on deception. When people join the Marines, they're not deceived into thinking they're joining a quilting society. Recruits know that they will become trained killers in the service of the military.With varying degrees of subtlety, all cults pressure, manipulate, and deceive others for their own gain. "Gain" can be everything from more money to more members to more "honors" and good publicity.
Thge Marines may not be lied to about being made into killing machines but they sure are lied to about the reasons for going to war and how evil the enemy is. Is the U.S. Military a cult? Abso-fucking-lutely!! And they do more damage than any Sensei or science fiction writer.
I prefer the cults that lift me up to the one's that put me down."You, yourself, are a Thus Come One who is originally enlightened and endowedwith the three bodies."Maybe that's just cult jargon and nonsense.It's only rock and roll but I like it.
And there are those who claim that Buddhism, specifically Nichiren Buddhism, is a cult but a "good" cult.It's astonishing that anyone who embraces Buddhism can make such a claim with a straight face. The point of practicing Buddhism, of course, is to awaken to what is. Not to buy into a belief system that makes you feel good about yourself, or "makes" you feel any particular way at all.
The general public is lied to about reasons for war by politicians, etc., not just the military. Whole societies can suffer from mass psychotic delusion, and become like cult of insane charisma and power. (See Germany/Hitler.) That doesn't make it right or normal or any less pathological. And it doesn't make it any less of a cult.Your point underscores the need for people to take instances of deception, manipulation, and peer pressure very seriously, and to find a way to fight back against these tactics.
No doubt our leaders are liars. As William Burroughs said they are all insane or worse.You said that the Marines weren't a cult that's the only reason I mentioned them. The government, the corporations,the media, the religious organizations, they all lie. Never accept anything as true until you understand it for yourself. Who said that? Examine everything. Accept nothing at face value. Question everything you believe and see if it's worth believing. But only if that makes sense to you.
A cult leader can tell his sycophants "to awaken to what is."If sometyhing doesn't make you feel good or happy why do it unless some one is forcing you?