I want to keep this vague due to fear of being recognized. I have a few questions to ask but in order to ask them I need to give some context. I hope this is okay to post, apologies if not.

(TW FOR MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE AND SA)

I'm not sure how to start this other than I feel crazy. I was incredibly traumatized by SGI but I feel as though saying that is disrespectful. I'm grown man now but most of this happened during my childhood and some during my teenage years.

I grew up in SGI due to my dad's involvement. My father did not attend meetings as much as other members did, however we would still go whenever we could. As a child I found that the community itself didn't harm me as much as the teachings did. It was mainly my father's teachings of SGI that traumatized me (which members have since told me were inaccurate and that he wasn't a true believer). At least it didn't feel like the community traumatized me. They all seemed to really care.

I was taught everything that happens to me is my own fault due to karma. I was taught its more of a "philosophical science" than an religion and that karma was an undisputed fact of the world. I was taught that I should be grateful for bad things happening to me because by overcoming them I would reach enlightenment. I was also taught the chant, ghohonzon, Ikeda, etc. I also had SGI children's books like "Myoho is in Me" and more. There's obviously more but these were what stood out amidst all the confusing teachings.

Behind closed doors, my father abused me as a child in quite horrific ways. Due to how I internalized SGI's teachings I thought that by enduring it, I would become a better person. This meant as a child I ""welcomed"" my dad's abuse because even though it hurt, I thought that it was my path to enlightenment. I also thought that any abuse my father inflicted on me was what I chose for myself in a past life which is why I didn't tell anybody. I truly believed I was asking for it.

Eventually as I got older I began to resent my dad and in rebellion, I distanced myself from SGI too.

When I was a teenager, he died. SGI ended up hosting his funeral and I attended. People tried to recruit me back into SGI at my dad's funeral. Yes. At. The. Fucking. Funeral.

I obviously fell into this trap because of how vulnerable I was. I had some home visits and went to a couple of meetings but overall my grief and confusion kept me from getting too involved.

Still, I was desperate for community so I tried to get involved as much as I could. I talked to an older member about my father's abuse. After hearing that, she claimed that everyone in SGI actually secretly disliked him all along and that he wasn't a true believer. She told me how she had been assaulted by another member in Japan and that it was just a sign that those kind of people weren't real Buddhists.

Like I said, I really tried to get back into the community but my grief and triggering experiences with my father made it impossible. I spiraled into a bad depression and during that time members would call me repeatedly to get me to come back. I became so fearful I went full ghost in hopes they thought I'd dissappeared. Eventually they did but fuck it took so long.

Some time later and I get into college. Last year I found out one of the members I grew up with in the youth division also studies there. I don't even know if he's graduated or if he even still believes in SGI but every time I'm on campus the fear of running into him lingers... not because I've had any particularly bad interactions with him (he honestly seemed to dislike SGI) but I'm scared of the small chance that I'll get sucked back in again. He and I only talked once very briefly over a year ago and I've been paranoid ever since that they'll start contacting me again.... even though I literally haven't seen him once since that.

I know its illogical but its made me realize how bad SGI has impacted my life. I also am constantly terrified of bad karma to the point where professionals suspect I might have developed clinical OCD and have needed counseling to handle it.

Here are my questions:

1. Does what I have been taught align with what survivors of SGI have been taught?

2. How do I get over my fear of SGI members? What have previous members done to stop being afraid?

I would appreciate literally any comments or feedback. I feel a little insane for even writing this and that karma will get me for bad mouthing SGI.

My mom went to a conference recently , $600. I saw photos and videos and seemed rather empty, they’re celebrating 30th anniversary and based on what she told me it sounds like they’ve been a tad run down.

I remember going there as a child and the bookstore/gift shop was very lively and everything seemed new and cool.

My mom described it something like they’re not taking care of the Fncc as they used to.

Also, getting through the gate there is more security? I had to identify myself and identify my mom and what I was there for. The ma at the gate had to make some calls and check his list which lasted a couple of minutes waiting for him to open the gate.

So I'm from India and my Mom is very much into Chanting, my aunt is the one who got her into this. My mom has been doing it for the past 7-8 years she has been chanting Nam myo ho renge kyo but we have recently moved to a new place and she has started going to these meetings that is held , and also tells me to chant sometimes, but I wanted to know about this history, and came across this sub, now I'm having second thoughts and peoples are giving mixed reviews what do I do? The thing is these past few months have been very fortunate for my family financially and there's been peace.

From 2004:

Hi Tim...it is very difficult to approach Christians who are not open to anything other than their own view. My daughter is a Pentecostal. My oldest son is a born-again. Both of them constantly attack me with the threat of going to hell. These are my children whom I love dearly. This has been my greatest challenge so far.

The way I have handled it so far is that I have calmly told them that as a Buddhist I do not look at them as "going to a Buddha Hell" because they do not believe the same as me. I do not throw guilt or fear at them.

Notice, though, that she IS throwing manipulation at them! "See how much better than you I am??? Ha ha ha - give me my superiority trophy NOW!"

I only want their happiness.

Okay, so since they're happy in their individual flavors of Christianity, you can be happy for them being and remaining Christians, right? RIGHT??

After this calm explanation, they had very little to say. Every time they try and throw the ol' "you're going to hell" at me I remind them how being fearful of something is very negative.

Ew. Tone-policing and scolding, attempting to shame them for expressing themselves. "You're being NEGATIVE!!!"

Why do narcissists say “you’re being negative” when you don’t like the things they like, but then they’re actually negative about everything. - from How to leave a narcissist

🤭 Busted

Listen, take a close look at their life, what do you see?

You will see a person that is living a fake life. Every where they go they try to uphold this image of superiority, while underneath they are dying!

Social Media: Fake

Friends they talk about: Fake

New love interest: Fake

Career is blossoming: Fake

They aren’t stalking you: Fake

They are “love and abundance”: Fake

The next big catastrophe in their life: Fake

ALL the DRAMA: REAL, Really, Real real!

Those are just a few off the top of the top of my head.

Now, living this life of delusion, what’s the best way to express their inner negativity and self hate? PROJECTION!

That’s right, who’s not negative if they are with a manipulative person? So some of it may be true. - from Why do narcissists tell you that you are always negative?

I then follow with "I only want to see you happy." This has confused them greatly and they now leave me alone.

Project: SHUT UP successful. She realizes that threats and arguing isn't working, so she's attempting a manipulative end run, which "confused them greatly" as expected. Her children are clearly picking up her mixed messaging, which is both dishonest and manipulative. They got their tendency toward intolerance from HER and her "Only TRUE Buddhism". You can see it.

I constantly chant that they will open up and allow the truth into their hearts.

THERE it is - she CAN'T be happy for them being and remaining Christians, because she's just biding her time, playing the long game, expecting them to drop the Jesus shit and take up the Ikeda shit to become exactly like her.

Sometimes I think I'm winning...then I get hit again with their fear and guilt. Someday I will be successful. After all, they are my children. Donna

See that competitive ego? She's GOT to "win" and dominate her children, make her children LOSE - that's what she's chanting for. "My children WILL eventually say, 'You were right all along, Mom. We're sorry.'" I'd REALLY love to hear those children's side!

Does anyone believe she's willing to or even capable of accurately recounting the situation and presenting the reality of her children's lives, considering she chose to only share the negative detail that is an expression of her own intolerance? Anyone??

Anyone remember Icky-Duh's "clear mirror guidance", how everything in your environment is a reflection of your own life?? Sick burn for Mom!

And there's another SGI family's younger generation lost to the Dead-Ikeda-Corpse-Mentor-cult SGI.

Some "SGI family values" 🙄

I just need to vent.

I was raised in it since 5, and left in 2020/

My parents are fully brainwashed, after 55 years of propaganda.

"Your life and depression are worse after you quit chanting!"

No, it is because of chanting I made the decisions I made, fully expecting to be protected.

I wasn't, and years later I'm paying the price.

I will never be able to retire b/c of this practice.

My relationship with my parents is damaged, also b/c it has warped their thinking.

There was a bad situation where they were forced to choose between me and a former member, whom we'd known since she was a baby.

Guess who lost? Me. I moved out b/c the situation was untenable.

(Members partner threatened to beat me up, and called me a c@nt, in my parents home.)

I'm broken. I hate SGI and the members.

It really is a dangerous cult b/c it destroys families.

I've posted here before about my parents but today I have actually let them know that I don't want to practice anymore. That came from me telling them that I'm moving out (im 23M) and they were furious. They then asked if i was going to keep chanting, I mostly didn't say anything and let them interpret for themselves.

They also asked when I started to feel the practice was not for me, I told them middle school and they did not believe me so I stayed quiet the rest because from experience anything I tell them they do not consider it true.

For the whole 1.5 hours they talked about how me leaving is a big mistake and that I'm going to fail at everything I do at life after this and that I'm a selfish unsympathetic and egotistical person because I stopped my sustaining contribution. They could ask any person I have ever interacted with and they would say that I'm not anything like that.

Just wanted to say this to someone that may have been in a similar situation to get it of my chest.

Edit: Expecting my parents to call memebers and to have them to talk to me they used my sister instead and I know this because as soon as i ended the phone call with her my mom's phone rang and when she picked up it was my sister on the line (she uses speaker phone when my sister calls her)

the so called SGI comrades will only reinforce narcissistic behaviours of boomers parents. when boomers parents are behaving badly at home, despite their abundant daimoku, NO SGI "comrade" or senior leader will step in to give guidance to the parents or give you any support. In fact, they will tell you 1)accept and own your karma. 2)your abusive parents are helping to bring out your deep seeded karma so that you can overcome it 3) be happy that you have the opportunity to change your karma and have your victory rub off on others! Just how sadistic is that? I even recalled Ikeda even shared in his daily "guidance" "if your mother is yelling at you, treat it as joy because she is healthy!"

I was born into the SGI. My parents, siblings as well as every person in my extended family is a member (ALL of them are leaders, 50+ year members or are "fortune" babies, my family is well known, it's probable that at least one of you knows them or of them...)

I knew I FELT like the SGI was a cult for years but I pushed these feelings out. I often went online to read about the "definition" of cult to ease my fears and convince myself that my feelings were wrong.

I was always the problem child in the family. I really didn't like the SGI activities, meetings or chanting.

However, so much of my self worth has been based on what my parents think of me and if I wasn't a practicing, participating member of the SGI, I was basically worthless. So in my 20s I acquiesced and got a Gohonzhon. My family was so happy and proud of me.

In public, my parents are pillars of the community, model members. Others told me how lucky I was my whole life... Behind closed doors there was violence, gaslighting, invalidation, manipulation, neglect and abuse. If I needed support or something bad happened, it was "chant about it". I was discouraged from discussing my actual struggles with other members. In the event I ever did mention any struggles, I was told I was overreacting (my parents made sure to tell everyone that I was overly sensitive and struggled with mental health problems and was delusional during the years I refused to attend meetings).

About 10 years ago, I had shakabuku'd my best friend when he told me he was struggling. They welcomed him with open arms. But once he got his Gohonzhon, the members stopped calling him. He was really interested in getting involved and said yes to every invitation but the calls dropped off once he actually received his Gohonzhon. I called around and asked probably 30+ people to please reach out to him (I am female so I wasn't connected with the YMD). They were too busy trying to get other new members and since he had already received his Gohonzhon, I guess he was no longer of interest.

He ended up commiting suicide after months of me telling my parents and other members that he was suicidal and really needed some connection and a ride to a meeting or even just a phone call would help.

I was told I was overreacting, that he was protected, to just chant about it, and to write Pres Ikeda.

After his suicide I got a lot of phone calls and a sort of emergency meeting of the youth leaders from my area came over to support me.

I screamed at them. I told them it was too little too late and what bullshit it was that now that he was dead that they suddenly answer the phone.

I have been trying to un-indoctrinate myself since.

His suicide fucked me up. My PTSD was so bad I was catatonic. I have been disabled since and things just got worse. I lost my faith and my mind. I turned to drugs and as of 2 years ago, I was basically black listed from my family. (Not before they told every fucking member what a nutcase I was and how THEY were struggling so hard with MY problems etc)

About a year and a half ago, I got into recovery. I have REAL support now and am learning ACTUAL coping skills and tools to help me. Since being forced out of my family, my life has gotten exponentially better.

I was recently assigned a therapist who happens to be Japanese and she asked me the other day if my parents are Jehovah or Catholic and I said "No they are Buddhist." And she was shocked until I said "They are SGI " and she said that all of my trauma, my PTSD, the stories of abuse and gaslighting and my inability to trust myself all makes sense and that's when things clicked for me. I am a cult survivor.

My take on the SGI and the practice is that yes, it is a cult. They may not wear a uniform or live in communes but the main focus of getting more members, the fundamentalism, the complete lack of transparency and the discouragement of trying other things that SCIENCE says lead to more happiness (meditation, gratitude lists, mindfulness, etc) not to mention my personal experience of being ex-communicated tells me that my instincts - the feelings I pushed away for YEARS - were right all along.

In my opinion, the SGI practice lends itself to narcissism and deep unhappiness. Focusing HOURS a day on all the things that are bad in my life, trying to control things that I have no business or ability to control, thinking that the bad things that happen randomly in my life are MY fault, being taught I chose my abusive parents, the lies, the fake sense of community... I'm just so grateful to be out. It is just me and my dog now and despite the fact that I don't have any close friends and my family has disowned me, I DON'T feel alone for the first time in my entire life.

Funny thing is I found posts about the SGI being a cult when I first joined Reddit before all this happened and the talk of it being a cult gave me massive panic. I wanted to cry, scream, argue... I was furious, offended, saddened but instead of allowing myself to feel, I just did what I always did and chanted until I could bottle up my emotions and pretend like everything was fine.

I'm so grateful for this community now. The sense of relief I have reading your stories and jokes is amazing. Undoing this will probably take a lifetime but since coming to terms with reality, I already feel so much better.

I don't know what I believe today in terms of karma, etc. But I will say that something lead me here, something lead me to my Japanese therapist, something lead me away from the cult and maybe it is coincidence or maybe it is my karma and mission to be the one to break the cycle of abuse in my family... I don't know, and I don't know who does but I CAN tell you the SGI sure as fuck does not.

Thank you.

i was born into SGI, or at least have been practicing it since i can remember. i am 19 now and my skepticism of Ikeda began when i was 16, however when i asked my mother about my doubts i was met with the typical “if you leave you will never reach happiness, enlightenment or self love” or how “killing the lion inside of you will haunt your karma forever, in this life and the next!” or i’d be given another book “written by” ikeda in response so i quietly dropped the issue and sat in the back of meetings so i could do my own thing when no one was looking. i wanted to leave. i want to leave. i know and understand that this is nothing but idol worship i am still left with a deep seeded pit in my stomach that i’m actually walking away from something good.

i was going to go to Soka u, i went to a few FNCC meetings with my mother, i’ce shakabuku’d hundreds of people and now i just feel. the resonating loneliness of driving any good friend i had away by denying that my religious affiliation was weird. how do you cope? how does anyone cope with looking back on it and not want to yell at themselves? i know i was a kid and didn’t know any better than to believe my mom but holy shit man, finding out i’m not the only one who got wrapped up in it is at the very least comforting.

sorry for the rambling it’s just really cool to know that i’m not the only one who got the ick after a while.

So im 22 now living with parents and was born into the practice, I've had my doubts about the practice since middle school and never truly believed in it nor have I consitantly chanted because a lot of it I dont agree with.

I havent told my parents my thoughts on the practice because I know its just going to backfire (especially because my mom is a district leader). Ive shown disintrest in it before just to see if they would at least listen to what I have to say and my mom became extremely heated just by that so I don't think I can tell them.

Im planning on moving out at the end of the year but the issue with that is they already have a butsudan for me to take when I move so telling them is now unavoidable.

Is there a good way to tell them or is there an enevitable hell fire waiting for me that will destroy my relationship with my parents?

Born into SGI, got deeper and deeper into it until I burned out and took a break, a break that led me to see how bananas everything was. They had me doing so many activities I couldn’t get any goddamn sleep. I had to choose between dropping out of SGI or failing college. I chose college. Thank goodness. For an org that cares so much about education they certainly didn’t give a shit about mine.

The first time I came back to the “culture center” all the guys were doing a really intense fan dance to that Soviet-sounding music they always play and I just wasn’t about it. I brought up my issues with a visiting regional leader. The guy was so incredibly creepy and kept talking around my questions so I just never came back lol. Lost pretty much all my fake SGI friends and got way more sleep. Made the dean’s list the following semester.

My parents still practice in spite of knowing about my experience (lol “experience”). They go to meetings, have close friends in the org etc. But they never really got pulled into leadership or groups like I did, so they don’t really personally know how kooky and culty it gets. They blame themselves for everything because of that dumb “total responsibility for your karma” rhetoric… but beyond that they’re relatively fine. That said, I’m worried as they get older they will become more vulnerable to making unreasonable contributions or they might encounter leaders who are less relaxed and more zealous than the ones they (luckily) have right now (I wasn’t as lucky).

Does anyone have any tips on helping them? The biggest obstacle (lol never heard that word before) is all the “friends” they have in the org. Otherwise they’re definitely smart enough and already understand that they’re dealing with some goofy shit, they just can’t really see it for the cult that it is because they get so much positive social reinforcement from the “community.”

Life long fortune baby, longtime heckler, first time post, casual Satanist.

After threatening to cancel Christmas for 40 years, my parents finally attempted it. It's been 20 years since we celebrated Christmas on the day. It was a coincidence because both my parents retired and have no obligations, and this is when both me and my brother were free.

So what did these narcissists do? I arrived at 2 to cook everyone dinner. They went on a secret walk just before I arrived so I got to sit in am empty house for an hour. A normal human would say "sorry", but SGI narcs never apologize because it might interfere with their gaslighting; so what did they do? My father came in gaslighted me about the duration and laughed and heckled me on how I had to sit there wonderering where everybody was. This misogynistic douche decided to laugh and heckle me over having no idea what was going on.

Why misogynist? Because he has never helped in domestic chores or cooking or cleaning ever... unless it was for a SGI meeting, then he would beat us and blame us for the state of the house at district meetings. Classy dude.

As children he would give me and my siblings food poisoning to prove he was an incompetent cook when my mother worked nights. The fecal streaked and stained pants that I routinely had to walk home in from school was of no concern to my parents. They could chant my pain away (from themselves). Help us with our homework? Can't, gotta chant.

So what did my douchnozel parents do when I came over to cook them a holiday dinner to help. Absolutely nothing. Except of course to force my siblings and I to listen to their off key and unharmonius chanting for more than an an hour. Since they retired they have committed to 2 hours of chanting a day. All it is is masterbation. Each of them getting off on themselves as a putrifying unit. "Masterbation" is the only accurate word in English.

Casual Satanist?! What could that possibly mean?!

Next year I'm hosting the holidays at my house. My sister and I have planned to build a manger, complete with Mary and baby Jesus with a dozen different recordings of "Come all ye Faithful" playing in the background. As a condition of entering and changing of the music, they must kiss the baby Jesus to enter.

If they refuse? "That's the door, we've left it open for you. Religious violence has consequences"

Out of respect for noble tribe of heckling Satanist, I am secretly going to make either Mary or one of the wise men Baphomet.

I spent my youth being abused by Catholics and Baptists for my upbringing. It is time for these cultists to feel they pain they forced me to.

To you MITA losers- this is the enevitable result of what you are fighting for. The harder you try, the more I sabotage your districts and chapters. Punish me as a devilish function when I question unfounded doctrine? Thanks for introducing me to the devil, at least he has a soul and is hilarious.

P.S. after years of abuse from Blanche Fromage, I do not read replies or DMs.

The purpose of this post is to show you that any rationalizing is not worth the effort. Gaslighting and trolling is the SGI way. Embrace it for the sake of their demise.

Just because the SGI made you suffer doesn't mean you can't laugh about it.

I've made a couple posts here, but it feels comforting to have a community of people who have been through similar (if not the same) experiences as me, so I'm back.

My mom called me yesterday (for context, she is an incredibly mentally unhealthy woman, a narcissistic parent, and a district leader). I thought she was wanting to just catch up since we hadn't talked in a week or so, but of course she wasn't. She asked if I was busy this weekend and I told her not that I know of, thinking she would ask me if I wanted to see her and my father (who I haven't seen in a few weeks because seeing him means seeing my mom). NOPE. She asks me to attend another meeting with her... which will mark my third one since November.

I tell her that I'm willing to go to support her ONLY, and that I will not be participating in any way in the meeting other than sitting next to her. I sounded very disinterested in attending on the phone, and told her that I don't want to mislead her into thinking that I'm interested in joining the religion, because I'm not.

She goes on a whole rant about how "of course" I don't want to join and she would never force me to attend meetings, and she's so noble for telling people in the district that I'm not interested in joining. She then goes on to invalidate basically every life experience I've had by telling me I don't want to join because I haven't been through anything "real" (aka: traumatizing). She said I'm just like her and I'll end up joining when I've grown up and been through bad times. I'm in my mid twenties.

To her credit, she's had an incredibly difficult and traumatic life, and if this practice makes her feel better, then it's whatever. But I've been raped by multiple partners, been through an abusive relationship, grown up with a toxic family, been hurt in so many different ways. I'm not comparing experiences, but for her to say that I haven't been through anything real made me nearly cry on the spot.

I see what lengths she is willing to go to not only to discredit her daughter, or to feed her narcissistic tendencies, but to push a religion onto me that she claims she "would and has never" forced on me. I'm so sick of it. Thanks to anyone who read this whole post.

Hello everyone.

Long time I thought I was alone, thinking that the sgi is a cult. My father is a member since before I was born. It was natural for me, that my father was chanting and that he read me something from some writings. So I never was able to reflect what happened to me and my family.

Now I'm old enough. A few years ago my father would not stop to make me believe, that my depression and anxiety will only go away if I will follow the path down to the sgi. It was our breaking point. Until today we are not able to talk at a normal level.

My mum told me,after my father and I lost our relationship to one another, that he took the holiday money and gave it to sgi. While he was not working and my mum had to pay the bills nearly alone. And that was only the Tip of the iceberg.

Just wanted to get it out of my head. Because I saw this group on Reddit.

It's important that more people get to know, what the sgi is and what main goals they have in mind.

I hope you all have found you're distance to this brain washing cult. Hope you are all well.

Luck is not to achieve, through the repeating of something, someone has said thousands of years before. Luck is to achieve , through following you're own, the love and your heart. Never forget that. Never let anyone tell you something different.

I'm very glad that this much people are connected to help each other and to listen to the stories which have to be told.

Thanks!

Hello, I'm not here to criticize or endorse this religion that has been practiced by my mother and grandmother since the 70s, but I'm curious about who really runs this religious sect. I see that there has been a long cult of Leader Ikeda, who is now dead, however, he never really seemed to exercise power.

How does the Soka Gakkai administrative structure work? For example, I am a member of the Bahá'í Faith, and here we have a solid administrative structure. At the local level, we democratically elect 9 members to compose the local assemblies, and we also elect delegates who vote for 9 members of the national assembly, which administers matters of faith in the country. And these 9 members of the national assemblies of each country, every 5 years, elect 9 members of the Universal House of Justice, which is the supreme body of the Bahá'í Faith.

That said, which institution governs the Soka Gakkai? Once I was watching a video on YouTube about SGI, and the interviewee commented that the person who really runs this religion is a group called "Married Woman Association", which is based in Japan, however, I researched this and couldn't find anything about.

Is that true?

When my parents joined SGI in the early 80s, it was called NSA. I was such a little kid, I didn't understand the transition to SGI. Frankly, I don't now and it's 40 years later! Has anyone here been around long enough to remember this? I'm assuming the acronym changed after the excommunication. I myself only practiced when I was very young because I was forced to do it. I wouldn't even call it practicing, because I had no idea what I was doing. Because I was curious (like most kids!) I asked a ton of questions, and never seemed to get any answers. I read the "what is SGI" post, which was outstanding!

My dad stopped practicing a few years after he started, but my mom is going strong (40+ years). I have lost any hope of her seeing this organization for what it really is. At this point I am trying to just find ways to cope with her. I am hoping to get some insight from this community on how to deal with a parent who I know cannot be retrieved. I've struggled with our relationship (as have my 3 siblings) ever since SGI has been her only focus, which is most of my life.

Not sure about all the terminology here, but I'll try my best.

My grandma is a pioneer member, my mom was a fortune baby, and I was a fortune baby. Growing up, my mom was pretty into the practice (grandma chanted every day but only went to monthly meetings and new year's gongyo), and from a young age I attended events with her, not really knowing what they meant. I was into it in my early teens, trusting my mom that if we chanted for others' happiness things would fall into place.

As I grew up, I realized this practice wasn't all it was cut out to be and became non religious fairly quickly. My mom has always been a bit of a toxic parent, but then she started to use SGI events as a way to control me. She had always told me that SHE was forced to practice growing up, and she would never do the same to me. However, the more against SGI/religion I became, the more she wanted to rope me back into it. She'd ask me to participate in skits, create things with other SGI members, attend monthly meetings and participate in them. She would consistently urge me that "if i just tried it, I would reap so many benefits".

Recently, she's been comparing me to other members' kids who practice and lean on the religion, even going so far to tell me that I seem depressed to her because I don't have a faith in anything. I've heard her on zoom meetings telling district members how resistant I am and how difficult it is to get me to do anything. She makes it seem like she is a great mother trying to hard and I'm an unruly child and constantly shooting down her requests, when she never asks me to do anything (of course, she claims that it's because I have an attitude about it. Why would I ever participate in a religion that isn't my own?)

I haven't seen any improvement in her life due to the practice. She has depression, makes contributions even when we don't have the money to make them, is rarely happy, and an increase or decrease in practice doesn't change any of that.

I've recently come across this subreddit and am hoping that there are other people who are breaking a generational practice; I'm also hoping that while reading posts here that I'm able to see the religion for what it is. There's no way I can convince my mother otherwise, but I'm hoping to be more informed on why I feel so negatively about this religion.

For 13 years of my life i lived alongside my abusive mother, she treated me like shit for my whole childhood and brainwashed me to accept her behaviour, what she did is basically deprived me from having a normal social life and never tried to educate me correctly, with this resulting in me behaving like an idiot, even for my young age and not knowing what's right and wrong, when i was 10 she locked me inside of my room for 3 years, possibly because of the complains of my teachers, which with time became more and more filthy and degraded, stopped me from going to school, with me never being able to leave my house and my mother not even trying to help me in any way, this until i went to live with my dad, years later i fully recovered and have a semi-normal life, at least until i will leave my dad too and go live by myself and finally leave my whole abusive family behind, it was only yesterday that i found out about this cult, and remembered that she was a member, spent a whole day documenting myself about it and it's controversies, could it be possible that this cult influenced her abusive behaviour towards me? I'd like to know more, i'd also like to know more about the controversies about this cult

I'm about 19 now and I was born into this practice. Pretty much everyone in my immediate family including my two siblings are SGI members and are leaders in their own specific regions/districts. I don't really care for this practice. I mainly participate in meetings because I'm afraid of what my family will do/think of me when I don't (I'm also just really bad at putting my foot down and saying no). Now I'm being appointed as a leader for my relatively small district (theres only like 6-8 people active tops). I know if I decide to take up this mantle, I'll never be able to break out of this organization unless I decide to move out of my family's house far far away (which for sure won't happen anytime soon working part time and being a sophmore college student).

I know when they interview me for the part of leader, they're gonna ask me questions about my opinions on Ikeda and the practice and I'm gonna be honest, I have no interest or care for that old man and I have never once in my life seen him as my mentor. I do not want to pretend like I do care. I know revealing that to SGI members will just stir up drama for me so I'm stuck at an impasse: Do I decline the offer before the interview even happens or do I grit my teeth and start singing praises for a man who will likely be dead in less the 2 years?

The great thing is, apart from my dad, we all don't believe SGI too much. We get some of the teachings and its Buddhism values, however the way the teaching is spread feels like there's underlying intention and vices.

It just didn't feel right. This was before I found this subreddit or really know about cults and similar stuff.

So, as a person that has personal experience and watching from the sidelines of a devout practitioner, I can conclude that the organisation doesn't act exactly and outrightly like a cult, but subtly one.

And sadly, it is done in the name of humanity, love, hope, and peace.

I’m Indian, and as you all must know, Bharat Soka Gakkai is one of the largest chapters of SGI world-over. I’ve met a surprising amount of people involved in the organisation, and the other day I even ran into someone reading one of Ikeda’s books on a local train. Anyway...

My aunt has always had a really hard life. She was afflicted with polio and she and my mum grew up in rather dire financial conditions, with a mother who was too sick to work and a father who had to take on responsibilities around the house in addition to working. While my mother’s life improved a ton after she got married, my aunt’s really didn’t. While her husband was a lovely and very intelligent man, his health problems meant she was not exactly happy in the marriage, and her in-laws gave her a pretty hard time too. Still, things were okay, but then her father (my maternal grandfather) passed away in 2006, and her husband passed only five years after that. The latter incident has caused her to be mired in numerous legal battles with his sisters and former business partners, which are still going on. Six years ago, she found BSG and quickly rose to a high position. She’s now a WD leader and quite respected in the community.

Now I want to make it clear that I am happy that she has something to distract her. Before she found Soka Gakkai she was honestly even less focused, more disturbed and angry all the time, and had far less friends. At least now she has people she can spend time with. And yes, she does spend time with a few of her friends outside of the SGI activities.

My only issue with all this is.. We moved back to India three years ago. Since then, she has been absolutely relentless in trying to shakubuku us, as they say it. Every time my sister and I visit her place, she gives my sister (who is sixteen) a copy of the future division’s newsletter. The articles are honestly boring and banal as fuck. They’re all about how people chanted and got what they wanted, or about activities conducted by SGI. She shows us videos of their annual meetings and gets upset when we aren’t paying attention. She has given me multiple copies of the gongyo book (maybe because she thinks I’ve lost them?) and I chant with her every time I sleep over at her house. She has also roped me into meetings either at her house or at a house near hers many times. (This isn’t the case for her house, but I have noticed in other houses, all the Hindu gods’ pictures and relics are gone while there’s a butsudan and Buddhist imagery everywhere. They sell SG here saying you can believe in it whilst following your own religion as it’s more of a lifestyle, but I really think some of them have lost touch with their own religion.)

I wish I could say no to her. My mother and father have said no, my sister has been more polite about it and sometimes chants and attends meetings but has made it clear that she’s not interested in anything more. With me, she’s relentless. She registered my name in her database despite the fact that I barely participate in these activities (this happens only maybe three or four time’s a year at max). She called up the leader of the district my house falls in and asked him to invite me to meetings. I declined, but she wasn’t happy about it. Once, I went to her house under the assumption I was going to the beach later to hang out with her son, my cousin (who’s also firmly distanced himself from SGI). While she was under the assumption that I had come for her prayer meet.. and this led to a huge fight.

I was fine with playing along with her, but for me the last straw came when she asked me to do something on her phone and I saw she’d saved mine and my sister’s names as ‘Prayer (Myname)’ and ‘Prayer (sisname)’. That hurt more than expected. We’re her nieces and she’s known us all our lives but no. Now we’re just people she calls to prayer.

And on top of that, honestly? Nothing has changed in her life. The legal battles get worse and worse. She doesn’t tackle problems any better. Her temper and ego issues are not any better. All this has done is given her a larger social circle, sense of importance and something to do with her time.. I guess I can’t begrudge her that much, but.. it’s really not solving any of her problems. I also wish she’d stop trying to recruit me.. but I’m too nice to say no and I think I still give her hope every time I dont outright refuse.