You may dispute Nichiren’s teachings and the efficacy of chanting to the Gohonzon. But whether you agree with it or not, Nichiren Buddhism offers a legitimate tradition of spiritual exploration and growth.
At the same time, Nichiren Buddhism, like any religion, is easily hijacked and distorted. Many groups that claim to propagate and protect Nichiren Buddhism have been called cults. Kenshokai dead link, a so-called Nichiren organization in Japan, is widely regarded as a cult. Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu and other self-proclaimed Nichiren organizations have also been characterized as cults. Perhaps there is some truth to these accusations, but how much truth?
Using the word “cult” excites people and conjures up the most lurid images. I went online to find a checklist of cult characteristics to find out what exactly people mean by “cult.” On one site, I found a list of 100 characteristics that most cults share, and I decided to see how SGI-USA stacks up.
I am a member of SGI-USA; it’s the Nichiren organization with which I’m most familiar. SGI-USA definitely has an organizational culture. My question is: How cultie is this culture? By examining this question in light of “cult characteristics” I hope to raise people’s awareness about what’s going on inside their own minds vis-à-vis their relationship with the organization.
For years I have called myself “a member of SGI” -- this description has become part of my identity, part of who I believe myself to be. I have never considered myself “a member of a cult.” It is very painful (and more than a little embarrassing) to acknowledge that SGI is more cult-like than I wish it to be.
I am of the opinion that SGI-USA has two distinct personalities -- a "village" mindset and an "ocean" mindset to use Dr. Obo's terms; one is more cultlike and one is more true to the spirit and purpose of Buddhism. This is my point: I do believe that SGI is what its members make it to be. If we can clearly see how many of our organizational values are actually cult characteristics, we can reflect, chant and take action to eradicate all symptoms of cultishness from the SGI, thus allowing our "ocean culture" to flourish.
As I said, the Cult Test web site dead link lists 100 cult characteristics. Many seemed repetitive to me, and I did not want this article to be too long to read, so I did not address all points. Without further ado, here is my SGI-USA Cult Test -- it is set up in the format of a statement taken from the web site, followed by my response.
1. The Guru is always right. The Guru, his church, and his teachings are always right, and above criticism, and beyond reproach.
In SGI, we say that we are all equal with President Ikeda, yet criticism of him is frowned upon -- and that’s putting it mildly. We are told that we “don’t understand Sensei’s heart” if we have the audacity to not adore him. Yes, SGI-USA has a “guru is always right” problem. It's important to note, however, that President Ikeda himself has discouraged members from engaging in guru worship. He has said repeatedly that it is an incorrect attitude to put a leader on a pedestal, and many members have taken this to heart. This is one area where we can see the "dual personality" of SGI-USA in action.
2. You are always wrong. The individual members of the cult are told that they are inherently small, weak, stupid, ignorant, and sinful, and are in no way qualified to judge the Guru or his church.
Again, this is where we can see the dual personality of the organization. Buddhism teaches that we are all inherently powerful and respectworthy, and SGI-USA emphasizes this teaching. At the same time, the SGI keeps secrets from its members (the financial disclosure issue comes to mind) and declines to publish member opinions in the members’ own newspaper. These are just two small examples. But honestly, how many times have you heard that if you don’t agree with the party line, you just “don’t get it” or that your faith is weak or that you have not chanted enough or that you life-condition is too low, blah blah blah?
Some members use the creepy, classic cult-speak analogy that SGI-USA is a family -- the leaders are the parents and the members are the children. Apparently, they think this analogy is warm and comforting, but I see it as a blatant example of how some people are willing to infantilize and degrade the members. I already have a family and friends that I'm quite happy with, thank you, and I think it's dangerous to seek these relationships from a religious organization. A religious organization should provide something called fellowship. Look it up.
3. No Exit. There is simply no proper or honorable way to leave the cult. Period. To leave is to fail, to die, to be defeated by evil. To leave is to invite divine retribution.
This attitude is frighteningly prevalent in SGI. If you leave the organization, the assumption is that you have abandoned correct Buddhist practice and you with suffer, suffer, suffer. We need to get over this.
4. No Graduates. No one ever learns as much as the Guru knows; no one ever rises to the level of the Guru's wisdom, so no one ever finishes his or her training, and nobody ever graduates.
Buddhism teaches that the Buddha’s supreme wish is for all beings to become Buddhas too. SGI emphasizes this teaching, but it’s understood in the organization that no one can equal or surpass Sensei. He is the sensei, and we are his eternal students.Then again, Sensei has said that he does not want sheep-like followers, he wants lion-like successors. This is another area where the SGI is at cross-purposes with itself.
5. Cult-speak. The cult has its own language. The cult invents new terminology or euphemisms for many things. The cult may also redefine many common words to mean something quite different.
Um, can you say “Soka Spirit” and “Soka Care”? In SGI, “religious tolerance” means, paradoxically, that it is OK -- in fact, it is imperative -- to crush other religions, namely Nichiren Shoshu. Don't even ask what the true meaning and nature of "evil" is. Lets all pick one mainstream dictionary and let it be the arbiter of word usage in SGI-USA.
6. Group-think, suppression of dissent, and enforced conformity in thinking. …Independent or critical thinking is discouraged, especially critical thoughts about the leader or group. Positive thoughts and statements about the leader and the group are encouraged.
Yes, this is the reality in SGI-USA. Seriously, do you think this article of mine would ever be printed in any of our publications? Look at the way SGI-USA came down so hard on the organized dissent of IRG and other reform efforts. Look at the way they disparage this website and its contributors.
7. Irrationality. The beliefs of the cult are irrational, illogical, or superstitious, and fly in the face of evidence to the contrary.
This gets into the realm of faith rather than organization, and faith does not necessarily function in accord with the dictates of so-called logic. I think there’s an element of what some people might call irrationality in any religion, and even in the attitude of, say, optimism. There’s nothing cultie about faith; it is a subjective experience. Some people judge faith as irrational, and that's that. There’s no use arguing the point.
8. Suspension of disbelief. The cult member is supposed to take on a childish naïveté, and simply believe whatever he is told, no matter how unlikely, unrealistic, irrational, illogical, or outrageous it may be. And he does.
Hmm. I don’t know about this one. It appears that the population at large has this attitude regarding what the government says, or what the media says, or what liberal extremists say. This phenomenon is not exclusive to SGI-USA or religion by any means.
9. Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions, groups, or organizations. …The closer two cults are in their beliefs, goals, activities, philosophies, appearances, and everything else that defines the group, the more they seem to hate each other.
Yes, of course, this is SGI-USA’s stock in trade of late. Consider the "Temple Issue" -- oops, I mean Soka Spirit -- and the way SGI-USA has traditionally looked down on and spread misinformation about other Nichiren groups like Nichiren Shu. See the SokaSpirit.org site to see how convoluted and self-righteous SGI's justifications are.
10. Personal attacks on critics. Anyone who criticizes the Guru, the cult or its dogma is attacked on a personal level. Rather than honestly and intelligently debating with critics, using facts and logic, the cult will resort to low personal attacks on the critic, using name-calling, slander, condescending put-downs, libelous accusations, personal slurs, accusations of bad motives, and casting aspersions on the critic's intelligence and sanity.
This happens all the time in SGI-USA. Again, look at the official response to IRG and alternative Gohonzon distribution. Look at SGI leader Tariq Hasan's speech denouncing SGI critics. There are countless "off the record" examples of this that I have personally witnessed.
11. Insistence that the cult is THE ONLY WAY. …The cult is the only way to Heaven, or world peace, or enlightenment, or clean and sober living, or do-it-yourself psychotherapy, or whatever the goal is supposed to be.
Some SGI members and Nichiren Shoshu adherents may make this exclusivist claim, but I think most SGI leaders and members understand that we need to work closely and respectfully with people of different faiths if we want to create a peaceful world. Then again, if you leave the organization, you will suffer. Dual personality.
12. The cult and its members are special.
Uh huh. SGI members are the only ones on the whole planet who are fulfilling the Buddha’s decree and working for kosen-rufu. President Ikeda makes this claim repeatedly in his speeches, and leaders and members parrot it. At the same time, SGI emphasizes the Buddhist teaching that all people have a Buddha nature and are therefore "equally special." No wonder SGI-USA has a hard time moving forward -- we are deeply at odds with ourselves philosophically.
13. Induction of guilt, and the use of guilt to manipulate cult members.
In SGI-USA we are told repeatedly of the debt of gratitude that we owe to the organization and to President Ikeda. Without them, we would not be able to practice Buddhism. We owe them big time, and we need to do all we can do for them to repay the favor. Now, get out there and work harder for your district, your chapter, etc. At the same time, we do owe a debt of gratitude to Nichiren and to all our Buddhist teachers, as explained in the Gosho and the sutras, and presumably we all have a deep desire to reveal our enlightened potential. I do think that the organization capitalizes on and distorts this fundamental sense of Buddhist gratitude, which is supposed to be joyful.
14. Dogma, Unquestionable Dogma, and Sacred Science. The cult has lots of it to teach you. Dogma can also be defined as doctrine, beliefs, convictions, teachings, precepts, or tenets. And they are all true, always.
Buddhism teaches the value of rigorous examination and questioning of doctrines. To its credit, SGI-USA has made study materials available (such as Gosho and sutra translations) and has not rigidly defined its doctrines. The organization could do a lot more to bolster a real study program, but SGI-USA does make a serious attempt to present Buddhist teachings in a non-dogmatic way -- which favorably sets SGI apart from Nichiren Shoshu, in my opinion. The SGI is dogmatic, however, about teaching its own greatness and the greatness of President Ikeda.
15. Indoctrination of members. Members have to learn and believe all of that dogma.
Again, in the last ten years, SGI has become less and less dogmatic about Buddhist teachings. If there’s pressure to believe anything in SGI, it’s to believe in SGI’s inherent wonderfulness. I would not call this brainwashing, although the claims of greatness are forcefully and frequently repeated. Regarding Buddhist teaching, there is no indoctrination, just study and learning through ordinary experience in daily life.
16. Appeals to "holy" or "wise" authorities. The authorities can be anything from the Bible or other religions' holy scriptures…and all of them are supposedly endorsing the cult.
Obviously, we need to refer to the Gosho and the sutras to practice Buddhism correctly, so there is a need for documentary authority, even in religious debate. I think the key here is the part about scripture “endorsing” SGI. I think that SGI-USA does push this view -- that members are the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, as portrayed in the Lotus Sutra. Some people even claim that the “three eternal presidents” in SGI are reincarnations of bodhisattvas mentioned in the sutra. “President Ikeda is really Jogyo.” That kind of thing. Reliance on or frequent reference to bona fide religious texts does not mean "cult." All religions have their sacred or instructive texts -- that's just part of the deal.
17. Instant community. You get a ready-made extended family when you join the cult. … you just spend all of your spare time at the temple or center or meeting hall, only associating with other members, who are your new circle of friends.
This was the case in SGI a dozen years ago, but this is not the case now. There is however a cliquishness that varies depending on area, where it seems that the only friends SGI members have are other SGI members. See my answer to #2.
18. Instant intimacy. This "instant intimacy" often takes the form of confessing all of one's sins and faults and dirty little secrets to the whole group, which can then of course be used for guilt induction or blackmail.
This has not happened to me, but I know of other membes who have “opened up” to other members only to have their words used against them later. On the whole, I don’t think this is a particular problem in SGI-USA. Rather, the impression I get is that leaders really don’t care what members think.
19. Surrender To The Cult. New members are expected to hand over their minds, their wills, their lives, and sometimes even their souls, to the group. This is often masked as surrendering to God or Jesus or "the Will of God”…
No, I don’t think this happens upon joining SGI-USA. Maybe later, there is pressure to “accept President Ikeda as your mentor,” but I don’t think that’s as extreme as asking someone to “surrender.”
Nichiren Buddhism never asks us to accept its teachings blindly. When Nichiren encourages us to embrace the daimoku and the Gohonzon, it is within the context of exhaustively explaining the philosophy and meaning behind both, and discovering for oneself the efficacy of both. It's a life-long process, not something that happens when you walk through the doors of an SGI-USA community center.
20. Giggly wonderfulness and starry-eyed faith. The cult wallows in an anti-intellectual euphoria… people have shut down their logical minds for the duration, in trade for group acceptance and a world of spiritual make-believe.
SGI-USA is decidedly anti-intellectual. At the same time, there truly is something wonderful about the Gohonzon and Buddhist practice that does not require intellect to appreciate -- remember Suri Handoku. So SGI gets a “yes and no” on this one.
21. Personal testimonies of earlier converts. They will all tell you that the cult is wonderful and the best thing that ever happened to them.
Actual proof is a cornerstone of Nichiren Buddhism -- why practice a religion unless you can see tangible results? Of course there were (and still are) times when SGI members act as if the Gohonzon is Santa Claus. There was a time when the leadership encouraged this view, but this is no longer the case. The "Santa Claus" view of the Gohonzon is a fundamental misunderstanding of Buddhism, not necessarily proof that SGI is a cult.
22. The cult is self-absorbed. That is, the cult is the most important thing in the lives of the cult members. Sometimes, it is their entire life. …Sometimes, cult members live together and have few social contacts besides other cult members. And all they talk about is the cult.
True in SGI at times, but also true in other religions at times. Priests, monks and nuns from all religious traditions fall into this category, so in and of itself, this characteristic does not make a cult.
23. Dual Purposes. The cult has a publicly advertised purpose, and a hidden purpose. For example, many cults will, while raising funds, claim to be very busy solving social problems like alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness, poverty, or abandoned orphans. But when the money is spent, little or none of it goes to the good cause; rather, the money is used to support the cult, and further its hidden agenda, and finance the leader's luxurious lifestyle.
Ahem. As I have been saying, SGI-USA has a dual personality.
Also, we do not know where the money goes in SGI-USA -- other than, ostensibly, “for world peace.” Yet another reason why SGI-USA ought to open its books. Otherwise, we look like a money cult.
24. Aggressive Recruiting. Cult members work hard at getting more members. That, and fund-raising, are often the major activities of the cult.
No, not in SGI-USA, not anymore. The street shakubuku campaigns are a thing of the past. I am concerned however that some of our youth festivals are used to lure recruits rather than simply have a festival to celebrate and have a good time.
25. Deceptive Recruiting. What you are joining isn't what you think you are joining.
I thought I was joining a group of people who chant and study Nichiren Buddhism, and that’s what SGI-USA is, most of the time. Sometimes it looks as if the organization's focus has shifted more toward being a “defeat Nikken” organization. This is also an area where dual purposes are at work. What is SGI-USA? A Buddhist organization? A leftist peace organization? A youth-against-violence organization? A win-President-Ikeda-the-Nobel-Prize organization? The organization's secular campaigns do not always jibe with the teachings of Nichiren.
26. No Humor. Try telling jokes about the leader and the church. If the members go ballistic on you, you are involved with a bunch of religious fanatics. Jokes about other stuff don't count -- the jokes must specifically poke fun at the leader and his church and the church's beliefs. Some humorless cults pretend to have a lot of humor by laughing and joking all of the time about everything except the leader and the cult.
BuddhaJones is full of humor but the items that draw the most ire from members I know are the Ikeda Punching Puppets, the Ikeda Action Figure. No one makes fun of Sensei and escapes the back-stabbing wrath of Gakkai True Believers. Then again, other members think this stuff is hilarious. Village/Ocean split.
27. You can't tell the truth. If you find that you can't tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, when speaking to the group, that you have to censor your own speech, and can only say certain things in order for what you say to be acceptable to the group, then you should strongly consider the idea that you are in the wrong group. A corollary to this is that you can't ask for the whole truth either.
Yes, in my experience, this is true in SGI-USA. But it is also becoming more and more true in our super-patriotic American society. As Nichiren Buddhists we need to be on the front lines, speaking truth to power, whether that power is the media, the president or SGI-USA leaders.
...Whew, I'm getting a workout! That's all the typing I can do for now. Please go to the Cult Test site dead link and honestly consider the information presented there in light of your own experience with SGI-USA. Decide for yourself how your organization stacks up, then spread the word. Awareness is the key to change.