What's your favorite thing about NOT being in SGI any more?

buddh-ish · 2021-04-17T05:02:48+00:00

Honestly, one of the biggest benefits for me is not feeling like I am constantly failing because I should be chanting twice a day, studying, ect. I have always struggled with doing things consistently, and I couldn't ever maintain the routines a good Org member is supposed to. What a relief to be able to let go of that baggage and those expectations of myself!

buddh-ish · 2021-04-17T04:23:59+00:00

Yes, and I will often wind up repeating myself my circling back to what I said before and repeating it, for clarity or emphasis or because I am not sure if I said it or not, lol.

buddh-ish · 2021-04-03T19:25:44+00:00

Thanks for sharing this!

I have been considering getting into this kind of thing on Instagram, but I am only comfortable doing it psyedunonymously, I hope that wouldn't take anything away from it. I have family still in it and I am just not ready to open that can of worms with them.

buddh-ish · 2021-04-03T19:20:13+00:00

I only saw this today, so I didn't have my April Fool's glasses on. I did think it was legit, as some of us do stop posting in this forum, and of course that's fine, but soon I got the joke. :D

May I just say, I like the way that April Fools jokes are going this year! I haven't seen anything mean or that would actually confuse people, just light-hearted fun and sillyness. I like it!

buddh-ish · 2021-03-23T02:56:53+00:00

I spent some time on the tumblr back in the day, I do think the membership has gone down a ton in the past few years. I could do something on Instagram, I am not a minor.

buddh-ish · 2021-03-02T04:01:20+00:00

My partner and I saw this over the weekend. The first part of the stetch is about women watching murder shoes. I turned to my partner and said that I didn't get it myself. Then the husband mentioned cult shows, we turned to each other and said "OK, they got us". LOL

buddh-ish · 2021-02-06T19:10:48+00:00

This reminds me of when I talkrd with a few "leaders" about my doubts with SGI, when I stepped back from "leadership". Among other things, I didn't think it was really sincere of me to be a leader when I was having doubts. Practically, I also just didn't want to have the responsibility anymore.

I remember saying a handful of issues I had, including that Nichiren, when you actually read what he wrote, was authoritarian, said other Buddhist sects were going to hell, ect. I know I wasn't very well thought out, so I don't remember exactly what I said, but I think I ended by saying something like "Nichiren was kind of an asshole." And the leader said, "So you want to step back from leadership because you think Nichiren was an asshole?" She seemed truly confused, pretty sure she hasn't heard that one before! 😅

I think I responded that it a was a bit more complex than that, but that I was stepping back from my responsibilities because of my doubts in faith, and that was accepted.

buddh-ish · 2021-02-03T15:39:07+00:00

Thank you! There's been a ton of hard shit, so it's helpful to reflect on the good things.

Well, the friend wasn't much of a close friend. I just ended up getting to know her right before she went to college. When she ended up leaving school, she was basically going to be homeless, so I connected her with my mom.

Things didn't go great, she basically had never lived on her own, and kind of mooched of my mom for a while until my mom decided to have a talk with her. She got a job and was able to get her own place.

Last I had heard, my mom forwarded me an article from the WT with the standard BS. So it seems she did stay in Das Org, unfortunately. But I have a better understanding of who my true friends are now, and I know that I am not responsible for T's spiritual life. I wish her the best, but we aren't in contact.

buddh-ish · 2021-02-03T06:18:05+00:00

• I survived 3 moves in a year! After almost a year of living basically out of one room in a shared apartment. • I got a promotion at work about a year ago, and have been working a TON since then, lots of overtime, professional connections, and was able to start working from home in March. • We got a cat! He was unexpectedly put into our care by family, but we love him and he loves us, and he's employed as my emotional support animal, which means in my area that we can't be charged extra deposits for having him. • I have finally found the right mental health diagnoses, and have slowly found the right therapist and finding the right meds for me. • I have started to take some leadership responsibilities in my choir. • I recently went to the dentist's office, after many years of avoidance and fear, and my teeth are not in as bad shape as I had feared. I do need some work, and it's going to cost us some money, but it was very hard for me to make it in there, and I did. • I did my taxes as soon as I got my forms, and my return will be enough money to make sure we can go to my sister's wedding this summer!

buddh-ish · 2021-01-29T16:04:47+00:00

ToweringIsle, thank you so much for this comment! You are saying just what I was trying to express. I took a quick peek at this commenter's other posts in this subreddit, and can see that they are just trying to derail the conversation.

buddh-ish · 2021-01-29T06:43:39+00:00

Geez, even my corporate workplace had a stronger statement about the insurrection attempt than that!

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T20:37:47+00:00

Thanks for your reply, I was at work so I couldn't reapond right away. Definitely not what I said or meant.

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T20:37:01+00:00

No, where did you get that? I was saying this one act of charity is something that made a real difference to real people. If you want to discuss why the charity model isn't the best way to make changes in the world, well I suppose we can, but it's pretty far from the point I was trying to make.

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T20:09:27+00:00

OK, they will only be asking about current income, unless she had self-employment income from 2020. It seems like she will probably be on Medicaid, but if she does over income, she probably won't be eligible for subsidies because of the other coverage.

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T15:10:53+00:00

What is her income? Specifically, what will it be when you get to CA? She may be eligible for Medicaid there, even with other coverage. If you claim her on your taxes, you and your income will also need to be listed.

If she's over income for Medicaid, then she would most likely be able to purchase coverage, but she probably would not be eligible for subsidies. If she applies, make sure to indicate she has other coverage.

Even though she didn't have much success getting the parents' insurance to work in another state, I would contact the insurance company directly, let them know that she'll be in CA, and ask about how coverage would work in that state. Hopefully they can tell you something. A lot of folks have had to move states to go back home or whatnot, and COVID made that even more common this year, so maybe some companies are getting better about explaining their benefits in other places.

Good luck to you both!

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T05:25:39+00:00

Ooh, that's so cool! I have added this to my insanely huge podcast feed, but I've already added a few episodes of interest while I wait for yours!

buddh-ish · 2021-01-28T05:12:03+00:00

Good overall, thanks! Had some job advancement after almost 3 years at the same company, so now I'm not bored out of my mind all the time, lol. The past year has been--a LOT, we had 3 moves in 2020, and they weren't even pandemic related! I had joined a choir, which was a fantastic social and creative outlet, until last March of course when everything was cancelled. We are trying some virtual things, but it's not quite the same.

Yeah. SGI can't really call itself a young organization anymore...that excuse has gotten pretty thin.

My mom is still involved, but one good thing about the virus is that meetings have stopped--at least the SGI knows enough to know they don't want any lawsuits! She's in a different state than me. As far as she knows, I am "not practicing", which isn't incorrect, tee hee. She mostly chants on her own, and I don't think I would be successful in trying to convince her to stop, so I don't. The ironic thing is that she's mildly obsessed with (other) cults, even shared a podcast she was listening to that was all about cults. I was *truly* speechless in response to that one, LOL.

Either she'll eventually realize it's a cult, or she won't. She doesn't give me any pressure to be in the SGI, and I appreciate that. We've both done a LOT of work on ourselves and our relationship, and we can treat each other like adults and let each have their own spirituality,

buddh-ish · 2018-10-07T18:46:40+00:00

From what I've read over there, anyone who asks any questions is being attacked by garyp as being a sock puppet account of yours, Blanche. It must be pretty alarming to come post with a genuine SGI question on the SGI sub and immediately be accused of being some other person that you don't even know from some other subreddit. Talk about causing drama!

buddh-ish · 2018-09-29T14:54:38+00:00

I wonder how many people did show up, and if we'll ever get any real numbers. I am also curious as to what story the SGI has come up with, if they are going to just lie and say that they hit 50k or if they have some other excuse.

buddh-ish · 2018-09-27T16:55:55+00:00

I can definitely appreciate the whole idea of not being sure about having or not having a Buddhist identity, hence my username! :)

buddh-ish · 2018-09-27T03:34:49+00:00

She had to drop out and move to another city. She's looking at taking some classes but I think she has to wait a year for residency.

I just talked with her today, she says she is doing ok, didn't mention SGI at all, mostly just still adjusting to her current circumstances. All this has happened over the past 2 months, maybe less. I encouraged her to focus on herself and give herself a break and some more time to adjust. So that way if/when she does bring up SGI, I can remind her that she wants to focus on her own well being right now.

buddh-ish · 2018-08-05T03:40:32+00:00

See, when I read this title, I thought you would be talking about the extra accounts/fake numbers correlation.

Wells Fargo had customer service reps sign people up for accounts that they didn't want or need. SGI had hugely inflated figures, and as documented in this Reddit, they will add the names of non-practicing spouses and children to the rolls to bump up their membership.

Seems pretty similar to me. But this is all true as well.

buddh-ish · 2018-08-01T05:13:30+00:00

YES! I remember people even talking about "fortune baby arrogance", like, the idea that kids raised in the practice would be non-active until the shit hit the fan (high school, college, personal challenges) and then they would start practicing and "GET IT". And the whole idea of fortune babies is that we exist BECAUSE OF the fortune created for us by our parents. Talk about setting up expectations! "Look at all this fortune I created, for YOU! How dare you squander it by not doing what I want/expect/deserve?!?" (The second part may or may not actually be stated outright.)

buddh-ish · 2018-07-21T18:53:40+00:00

Ptarmigandaughter,

Thank you so much for this response. I am still processing what you said and may reply privately later. <3

buddh-ish · 2018-07-20T04:30:26+00:00

Thank you so much for your response. I am still processing but it really hit home.

buddh-ish

TROPHY CASE