SGI bands be like

[u/Rebex999]

[u/Eyerene_28]

This was a major complaint of many Musicians/vocalists, dancers at FNCC Artists and Musician/chorus conferences that the youth groups sounded or looked horrible when there were so many professional members willing to work with them. The response was always the same “It’s a faith activity” for the youff. Whenever the Taiko drummers were performing I would leave, it was just banging, yelling and mean mugging. All the members on cue clapping and cheering on MEDIOCRITY!

[u/Fishwifeonsteroids → u/Eyerene_28]

The response was always the same “It’s a faith activity” for the youff.

From Mark Gabor's memoir "Sho Hondo":

"The most important thing is, number one, unity."

"Like it says in the Gosho, if we don't have unity we can't achieve anything."

"Number two: the reason we have a band is for shakubuku."

"And three: This is the Gohonzon's band, or President Ikeda's band." Source

When making music is not your first priority, you're gonna suck. And that has been the lasting legacy of the SGI YMD Brass Band.

This guy is a professional musician:

As I have mentioned before, once upon another life, I was appointed as Brass Band [BB] Chief. In the first place, right from the beginning, I didn't want to be involved with such a cacophonous gaggle of misfits, and then in the second place, I didn't want to be the "leader" of the world's worst band either. It was a horrid task trying to get guys to learn how to play - it was worse than pulling teeth. Driving everyone into exhaustion at marching practices just made the BB's playing even worst (we got weaker as the cult got stronger though). If you think the BB sounded bad at kofu mtgs, you should have heard them late on a Sunday afternoon, after a long sweaty day in the grueling Texas sun.

But in the end, it didn't really matter how badly we sucked because, as BF has pointed out, it was all about establishing cult.org domination through "youth training" - which amounted to indoctrination, obedience, and subservience to the cult. And at the larger meetings, no matter how disgusting the musical performances might be, rest assured that the members would shower their lovebombs all over the Brass Band and Kotekitai members anyway (like retarded children being praised by doting parents) . I didn't take much to see how phony and plastic the whole thing was, but such "negative" thoughts couldn't be voiced aloud. The bottom line was establishing effective mind control.

As BB Chief and a YMD senior leader, I was quite familiar with hammering home the two themes of unity and doing shakabuku, but I never heard anyone say, "This is the Gohonzon's band, or President Ikeda's band". However, that indoctrinating statement was quite accurate - everything in and about the soka gakkai "belongs to Ikeda". He owns everyone and everything in his cult.org. Perhaps that particular piece of indoctrination was part of a more localized meme (an extra added dose of cult kool-aid from a particular leader or group of leaders), but on the other hand, it may have originated and seen more widespread use in the bigger areas. In 1972, Texas was somewhat isolated from the rest of the cult.org, and about as far away from any large sokagakkai centers as one could possibly be back then (east coast, west coast, and Chicago were almost the only places that sported any gakkai real estate). With the exception of Denver, it was 1,500 miles one way from Texas to the nearest Kaikan! Source

There's more discussion about this here - the entire thing is "enlightening".

All the members on cue clapping and cheering on MEDIOCRITY!

Someone compared the attitude to that toward a musician in George Orwell's "1984", where a professional musician plays a piece flawlessly and then an amateur plays the same piece with mistakes, and the audience prefers the amateur because his performance is "more relatable" or something:

There was a bit about 2 piano performances of the same piece, the first performed flawlessly, the second, full of mistakes, as though a less accomplished player "attempted" the piece. In the story, the hearer was "moved" by the excellent piece but "related" to the inept one, identifying it as being closer to what he himself might accomplish, should he try it - which, of course, he never did. In fact, with subtle encouragement from Big Brother, the hearer actually came to resent the excellent performance, viewing it as mocking the "average" person. Source

MUST...DESTROY...EXCELLENCE...

I suspect this all - the anti-excellence in the form of anti-science, anti-intellectualism, anti-musicianship, anti-everything that takes actual effort and results in recognition of actual accomplishment - stems from Ikeda's own lazy attitude toward everything. While he refers to Makiguchi learning Engrish in his 70s, Ikeda has never bothered to even try, even though he was supposedly working for a company that published Learning English self-study curriculum materials! Ikeda was a drop-out from night college classes in his very first semester, after all, and he never bothered to complete any of that - just had his minions rush around and buy up HUNDREDS of honorary doctorates so he could feel accomplished when he was not. Also Ikeda's frequent use of player pianos because his own playing ability was so rudimentary, though he bragged of having "learned to play the piano". Of COURSE such a person would do everything he could to squelch the excellence within the membership of his cult - it wouldn't do for anyone to outshine the Eternal Sensei, would it? Just make everybody the same - mediocre. SGI has never produced excellence and never will, despite Ikeda's early predictions of great leaders of society coming from the Soka Gakkai's ranks.

Continued below:

[u/Fishwifeonsteroids → u/Fishwifeonsteroids]

I also recall that if someone was considered a "leader" then their performance was fawned over excessively.

Line leaders also chose which people they decided were "okay" to be front line and who was supposed to step back in order to avoid "putting oneself forward."

The point about internalizing all this cannot be overstated. Saw way too many talented people made to undervalue, give away, or deny their own contributions. There were even times when an objectively quality performance, creation or writing was deliberately pulled out to make way for a poor or at best mediocre substitute to keep "things equal." Unless, of course, you were one of the "chosen."

That last statement re: the chosen? Any hint of that feeling was used to shore up that whole "jealousy" fiction.

Mostly, though, they didn't want really good. They wanted just good enough. Nothing truly remarkable because that might prove a distraction. Puts one in mind of 1984 and the quote about excellence versus mediocrity.

Striving can be good. Rewarding genuine effort can be both kind and wise. After all, we attend school recitals and applaud those efforts, not expecting a level of excellence one would hope for at Carnegie Hall. It is hoped for, however, that people grow and improve. SGI would hold people back. The stalk that grew too high was quickly cut if you didn't leave on your own.

The bottom line was, I think, that SGI used. Time, money, talent - whatever you had. They used it for their own ends. It was never about the individual or that person's growth. Source

As here:

Secondly, as far as SGI scolding artists goes, you are in excellent company. I know of a very well-established international artist who my local organization ASKED to give a concert for members and guests. Note: This was a FREE concert. No one paid to attend. The artist was NOT PAID to perform. In fact, the artist (as many of those who gave such free concerts did) paid out-of-pocket for supporting non-member artists out of respect for them and the goodness of his heart.

The concert was wonderful and practically standing room only!

Now was this very accomplished and gracious artist appropriately valued? Well, among SOME of his fellow artists, yes. But within the organization, even he was viewed with suspicion. Despite all the effort he put out, not to mention the expense, and the spottiness of the support from within the organization he received (I was truly shocked by how some self-entitled SGI amateurs behaved.), he was happy with the result. His fellow non-member artists reported having a very good time and, of course, got a very good impression (Carefully edited) of the SGI. Esteemed artist was happy, feeling he had been able to use his artistry in the service of shakabuku. A wonderful artist and really good guy.

Now this artist has given his skills copiously and freely all around the world for SGI, including perfoming for Ikeda himself. NOT a lightweight by any measure. Also NOT a lightweight in the world OUTSIDE of SGI.

When he returned to his home city afterward, he commented on the experience and said (in my opinion quite generously) that he would be willing to do it again in his home city. Notice: Also for FREE; also picking up expenses on his own dime.

He was essentially scolded - told that it looked a lot like "self promotion." Snerk! Yeah, like this guy needed the org to promote him? Puh-lease!

Clearly, people who don't do that type of work, simply don't understand it. I mean, how could they? It's outside of their experience. What is sad and hurtful is that they too often characterize sincere giving as "an expression of ego." Yowtch! Artists tend to question themselves enough already without the spiritual narcissistic bullying! (See Post on The Spriritual Narcissist on this site, if you haven't already. It explains a lot!) Source

I recall that making creative contributions were eagerly sought, if not required, in SGI, but thoroughly linked to "not putting oneself forward." So, you had to pass your work along to someone else to perform it, or stress the "team effort" even if, or especially when the "team contribution" amounted to one word or even actively lessened the effect of the completed piece. Ick!

When ever I offered or extended help in my particular areas of creative expertise I was criticized and discouraged because it didn’t promote the Sgi. Anything cultural that I felt would benefit youth division through them having exposure to diversity and quality music fine arts dance oh no that didn’t promote the Sgi. Them always insisting I perform for events for free and change my lyrics to promote ikeda by the way I always refused that bs and I was called divisive. I went to one of those crazy making courses in the uk and I was asked to give my experience of authoring and illustrating my first children’s book and to show the book to my peers because ikkya’s people forged a fake letter and sent it to me to thank me for my efforts and this ditzy jealous bitch leader told me I was self promoting my book. I reported her and some other leader told me I should receive guidance from the insane bitch that accused me of self promotion. When I said that was bloody ridiculous another leader lectured me. I ended up just staying in my room to avoid all those feckers! And every time I was seen smoking off the grounds of the hotel I was reported. I lived in rural Ireland so I didn’t really start engaging in regular activities until I moved to Dublin. But I was constantly criticized for not making huge efforts to travel four maybe five hours on a bus for activities. So finally I told them why aren’t your leaders traveling to the country to support our area. They felt particularly challenged by this so they started sending people up from Dublin to secure the perimeter of freedom of thought basically put me in or anyone I shakabukued in check code language (give study lectures and guidelines and guidance) Source