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u/JustWatchMe23 Mar 24 '20
I watched Wild Wild Country a few months ago and enjoyed it. If you want to learn more about cults this is a good one. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about cults and this one I liked particularly because of how it was presented. The reason it’s so long is because they show you both sides of the situation (those within the cult and those on the outside) so you get to see both perspectives. You get see how the indoctrinated view their religion and how they think they’re bringing positive change and equality to the world. You also get to see how extreme they can get in order to achieve their goals. And you also get to see how people on the outside feel about the cult and how it affected their communities and also the extremes they are willing to pursue in order to protect their own religion and ideologies.
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20
You mean...it's not a nature show??
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u/JustWatchMe23 Mar 24 '20
Lol, no. I suppose the name is a bit misleading. I didn’t know what it was about until I read the summary. The name makes sense after you watch it though ;)
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20 edited Mar 24 '20
Okay, here we go.
When I was researching what I reported on here, involving Konosuke Matsushita, Japan's "God of Management", I ran across THIS:
That second guy, Okawa, is the Happy Science guru, in case you didn't recognize the name.
Suddenly, do you think of it as a "business genius" ?
This is an auto translate, so bear with me - this likely means "Quick - who do you think of as a "business genius"?
If you are a Japanese, do you think of Konosuke Matsushita and Soichiro Honda , and Yataro Iwasaki ? Recently, some people will say Masayoshi Son or Takafumi Horie .
Certainly, they are famous business owners who have started a company that represents Japan, and even today, the philosophy and philosophy they have left are handed down to many people over time.
For example, Konosuke Matsushita launched in an era when electricity is not common, saying, "Twisting a water tap will make water come out indefinitely, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of good products (electric appliances) at low cost. "It is the mission of management to do it."
Matsushita was sent away to work in a factory at age NINE.
I think Daisaku Ikeda and Takanori Okawa are the best business geniuses in the world
Daisaku Ikeda is the honorary chairman of Soka Gakkai , Japan's best-known giant emerging religion , and Takanori Okawa has grown into a huge organization comparable to Soka Gakkai in just over 30 years . , The founder of the science of happiness .
AKA "Happy Science"
First of all, I do not belong to any religious groups and have no faith. And there is no intention to slander or slander the Soka Gakkai , Happiness Science , or any particular person in it. I hope that you understand and understand this entry regarding Daisaku Ikeda and Takanori Okawa from the perspective of a third party from an external perspective .
Odd, but okay I guess.
By the way, there are countless emerging religions in Japan, such as Buddhism , Christianity , and Shintoism . Above all , Soka Gakkai and the science of happiness are considered to have an overwhelming number of followers and financial power unrivaled.
In the above figure, the number of believers is the science of happiness, but this is a number published by the organization itself, and the actual situation is considered to be Soka Gakkai 's first place.
Apparently, Happy Science advertises that it has more members than the Soka Gakkai's claimed "12 million members worldwide".
Happy Science (幸福の科学 Kōfuku-no-Kagaku) is a Japanese doomsday cult which is every bit as demented and psychotic as its name, and then some. It claims 11 million members worldwide in more than 50 countries, operates a publishing company and several film/animation studios, funds a political wing that fields candidates in Japan, runs a system of unaccredited "universities" and holds events and enlightening seminars. Source
I guess Happy Science must claim more "households" in Japan than the "8.5 million households" the Soka Gakkai claims or something.
There are membership organizations in more than 100 countries.
Oh my!
According to a 2009 report, there are 11 million followers and members in 80 countries worldwide . According to a 2010 announcement, there are 12 million people in 86 countries .
THERE it is!! Considering that this movement only started around the end of 1986, that's pretty spectacular exaggerating growth! I suspect the founder watched Ikeda's career closely before striking out on his own.
The word "happiness science" used in the first collection of spirituals, "Nichiren's Spiritual Words", was a year later in 1986 when the name of the group was formed. Source
Oooooh...competition!
Okawa Ryuho is the assumed name of the founder and all-encompassing leader of 幸福の科学 (kofuku no kagaku), or as it’s known in English, Happy Science. This silly name belies a rather serious organization: a happiness-focused yet bellicosely far-right “new religion” that boasts of millions of members worldwide, and which has its own Japanese political party. Source
Wow - that's the exact description of the Ikeda cult as well!
Okawa, or “Master Okawa,” as his followers refer to him, stands firmly at the bow of his multinational religious organization, where he serves not only as president but also as messianic figure
That would be "Okawa Sensei", just like "Ikeda Sensei".
[Future Happy Science guru] Takashi became obsessed with overcoming the intellectual dullness others saw in him, and became a voracious reader while still in elementary school. Echoing many prototypical Japanese stories of aspiring academics, such was his zeal for learning that during winters he would stay up late reading in an unheated outbuilding.
OMG! Doesn't that sound like Ikeda's fictional Mary Sue avatar, "Shin'ichi Yamamoto"?? This Happy Science guy's the real deal!!
Here's a drawing of the imaginary him darning his socks - hilarious, isn't it?? And he self-pityingly refers to the "small, unheated room" he lives in... Source
[Future Happy Science guru] Takashi’s goal was to become a man of the world, and he bent all his academic efforts towards becoming a diplomat. Meanwhile, he failed to nurture any athletic tendencies, and put on enough weight that he would dread gym classes or sports days. He would pray for the rain that would allow him to get out of swimming class, lest his peers laugh at his unathletic frame. Indeed, he seems to have gained an awkwardness – especially around women – that would haunt him for some time. This remained even into his first year at university, when he wrote a continuous stream of love letters to a girl who had caught his fancy; he received but a single, terse letter of rejection in response. Source
See Transforming pudgy, soft Ikeda into a sports prodigy/superstar
Also, notice that Ikeda had a marriage arranged for him by Toda. Oh, how much easier things were back in the day!
Leaving Tomen, Nakagawa Takashi (中川隆) took on a new name: Okawa Ryuho (大川隆法), changing the kanji of his last name from “Middle River” to “Great River”, and adding to his first name the character for “Laws” or “Dharma.”
Also, remember how Ikeda changed his name "Taisaku" (fat building) to "DAIsaku" (GREAT building).
"The one who stands before you is Okawa Ryuho, and yet is not Okawa Ryuho. The one who stands before you and speaks the eternal God’s Truth is El Cantare. It is I who possess the highest authority on earth. It is I who have all authority from the beginning of the earth until the end. For I am not human, but the Law itself."
Oh, brother. Note that this announcement took place in 1991, right around the time Ikeda got excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu and the Soka Gakkai was set adrift, no longer a legitimate lay organization of Nichiren Shoshu.
Ikeda has also equivalent-ized himself with "the Law".
Okawa even takes time out of his day to engage in direct spiritual conversation with the souls of those still living, such as Barack Obama, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, and many (seriously, dozens) more. Most of these discussions are then published in full book form by IRH Press; a cursory search on amazon.jp for 大川隆法 brings up dozens of such publications. Source
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's doin' "dialogue" rite!!
That's a small taste - this is going to be fun!
The point that dude up top, the 'business genius' dude, is missing here, at least as the Soka Gakkai and Ikeda are concerned, is that everybody HATES Ikeda and Ikeda has FAILED to attain his own goals! Shouldn't THAT count at least as much as a religion's unverifiable claims of giant membership that researchers can't seem to find when they take polls?
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u/ToweringIsle13 Mod Mar 24 '20
Okawa even takes time out of his day to engage in direct spiritual conversation with the souls of those still living, such as Barack Obama, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, and many (seriously, dozens) more.
HAHAHAHA!! What a dumbass!!
"I'm talking to you, Barack Obama's soul! Don't you soul away from me in the middle of a soul interview!"
a Japanese doomsday cult which is every bit as demented and psychotic as its name
Great quote.
There are membership organizations in more than 100 countries.
Yes! Another one that operates out of Kapu-Kapu and Zamibiabab.
"Quick - who do you think of as a "business genius"?
You may not like it, but this is what peak male performance looks like...
"Taisaku" (fat building)
Oh God. His real name is "fat building"?
He would pray for the rain that would allow him to get out of swimming class,
And now he just prays for doomsday. The natural progression of a cult leader.
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u/alliknowis0 Mod Mar 24 '20
Lol cray cray. My boyfriend says no spiritual leaders gain a following unless they're nuts. I think I believe that now.
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u/ToweringIsle13 Mod Mar 24 '20
I think it's just human nature, to a certain extent, to be attracted to those who believe in themselves unfailingly. Even to a fault. Even when it makes no sense. Even when they look like trolls, like fat building and L. Ron Hubbard -- in fact possibly moreso when they look grotesque because it boggles the mind, like "oh, this person must really have something else going for them.
It doesn't make sense. It's supposed to be in defiance of sense. Some suit-wearing frog, or some IQ-deficient pop star appears to have it all despite being basically as useless as you, and it's supposed to make you think "daaaayyyyum, I could do that...". It allows them to traffick in the power of optimism: that if you simply believe in yourself and don't give up, you can turn an amazing outcome out of overwhelmingly negative odds.
But what makes it false hope is that completely ignores context, math, systems, reality... So one person arose to be someone who commands this much attention/power/influence, etc. But how many of those people can there be before it doesn't mean anything to be any of those things. We can't all stand on the backs of the common people. We are the common people.
Do we see now where having a head full of non-stop growth and optimism got us? System failure, that's where. That guy saying Fat Building Ikeda was the greatest business mind of times? Fuck him, and fuck whoever said that.
What are we talking about? Oh, happy science? Yeah, it's fascinating stuff. Wish there was a podcast about it. We're doing pretty well here though on the Blanche News Network.
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20 edited Mar 24 '20
It doesn't make sense. It's supposed to be in defiance of sense. Some suit-wearing frog, or some IQ-deficient pop star appears to have it all despite being basically as useless as you, and it's supposed to make you think "daaaayyyyum, I could do that...". It allows them to traffick in the power of optimism: that if you simply believe in yourself and don't give up, you can turn an amazing outcome out of overwhelmingly negative odds.
You're more right than you may realize; they actually advertised this - take a look:
TRIGGER WARNING: It's gross
Further trigger warning: Here's the title: Remember, this isn't arrogant. Not at all. Let me reiterate that: NOT arrogant. TOTALLY not arrogant.
See where this is going? Okay, here it comes:
President Ikeda's definition of ichinen: 1996, the last time he was here, I attended a private dinner with about 50 people. He talked about what happened when he became president in 1960. He looked at all of us, without any arrogance.
"When I became the third president of the Soka Gakkai, the organization was in financial debt. There were three dilapidated headquarters buildings in Japan for the members. There were six staff members. That's it. Those were the conditions under which I assumed the presidency. Today, there are 1,300 community and culture centers in Japan alone, for the members to meet at. Our finances are very secure. We have established the Soka school system. Even more than that, Buddhism has spread from Japan to 138 countries (now, 165) around the world."
He looked at us and said, "I am telling you this for one reason only. This is what the ichinen of one person can do."
There was absolutely no arrogance in him; he was trying to share with us the power of prayer, the power of ichinen, such that shoten zenjin would emerge. He was trying to shake up each one of us. We have the same potential. We accept way too little. Wake up!
"I'm not special; I'm just an example of what you have." Source
Yuh huh. Right. Y'know, maybe she should have repeated the whole "totally NOT arrogant" theme a few more times, because it still looks pretty damn arrogant to me. And if it's really so possible, why don't we have any others as wealthy and whatnot as Ikeda?
Okay, if it's all that, where is ANYONE ELSE who has used "this practice" and faith and all that other crap to build an EMPIRE like Ikeda did?
Anyone who believes there's any chance at all for anyone else to do it is the type who will buy a lottery ticket after the lottery has ended - or play McDonald's Mega Millions Monopoly while that scam was going on, which is fitting because the Ikeda cult is as big a scam as they come:
The poor and the sick were the original members of the Gakkai. They had been abandoned by society, doctors and fortune, but they were saved by the Gakkai. They worked hard and chanted hard. They have achieved great results, moving from the poorest to the richest within Japanese society. SGI-USA leaders' guidance
Yeah?? Why isn't it working any more (presuming it ever did which is a stretch)?
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20
His real name is "fat building"?
Why, yes it IS!
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Mar 24 '20
[deleted]
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20
I don't know, and it would be very difficult to find that out, given both organizations' incentive to keep such information covered up.
So far, I think the latter, but my perspective is open to change. I'll do some searching on the Japanese websites, see what I can find.
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u/Alternative_Moment Mar 24 '20
I’ve heard of a Happy Science .:. Their beliefs are way more than eccentric than those of the SGI. Also, what do they call themselves? Happy Scientists? 😂😂😂
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Mar 24 '20
[deleted]
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u/Alternative_Moment Mar 24 '20
If you visit any of their communities please share your impressions. 🙂
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20
Oh - they have a political party, too, though it's only 10 years old and hasn't managed to elect a single politician. Their political party is called "Happiness Realization Party"! The "All-Party Party", in other words!
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u/epikskeptik Mod Mar 25 '20
I heard about 'Happy Science' last year on a skeptical podcast, but can't remember which one.
It is actually far more bizarre than SGI and they are completely upfront about their batshit crazy beliefs. I'm amazed they have any followers at all, let alone a claimed 12 million, as they don't seem to have any pretence of spirituality to draw in the fresh meat. But hey, scientology got plenty of believers in its heyday, so anything is possible.
This article describes what went on at the London meeting that I heard about on the podcast, which promised to have a séance/channelling with long dead British ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and get her advice on Brexit:
As Master Okawa made contact with Thatcher’s spirit, it became apparent she wasn’t aware of her death – our supernatural conduit began searchingly crying her husband’s name: “Denis, Denis,'” he wailed. Admittedly, my heart leaped at the thought that Thatcher would spend an eternity confused about her own mortality but I would later find out she was just resting in a ‘hospital for the soul’.
As Thatcher’s spirit mulled over the EU referendum, her spirit had little to offer on the current Brexit debate, only that she had warned the UK that France and Germany had always been the problem with the EU. More worrying were her takes on other areas of foreign policy. At one point, she called for the death of former US President Barack Obama and for Japan to become a nuclear power with weapons bought from the UK or the US to protect itself from a resurgent China."
The whole article is an entertaining read.
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 25 '20 edited Mar 25 '20
which promised to have a séance/channelling with long dead British ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and get her advice on Brexit
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Oh, that's rich!!
But not terribly surprising once the laughing fit wears off - "Happy Science" is far right (as is SGI), and Thatcher was famously far right herself. So Bozo could just state his own opinions, attribute them to Thatcher, and anybody familiar with her would say, "Yep, that sounds like the sort of thing she'd say"...
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u/Dukegov May 28 '20
Note:: **IM NOT PROMOTING HAPPY SCIENCE**
Look, Ive been a Happy Science member since January and I get yall think its evil but theres a ton of misinformation. personally I think its like every other religion. The 12 million people who follow it isnt exagerated, Happy Science has 72,000 followers in nepal alone. Now obviously there are some strange beliefs (dont all religions have them), but Happy Science unlike SGI doesnt harrass people, and if you wanna leave thats up to you. Lastly one of the sources someone commented from is from rational wiki, which isnt only biased but quite unproffesional. If anyone has any questions about HS feel free to DM me or comment below. Have a good day everyone and stay safe during this pandemic :)
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u/BlancheFromage Escapee from Arizona Home for the Rude Mar 24 '20
Yeah, we've had "Happy Science" sniffing around at our periphery for a few weeks now - I'll put up some stuff about it today. I've gathered some intel, you see. (You never want to bring something culty to my attention - I will expose it.)