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Sunday, July 3, 2016

Everyone is bumbling and confused except for mentor

"Here's an example of a method of achieving authority over a large Soka Gakkai gathering from Dr. Hirotatsu Fujiwara's book "I Denounce Soka Gakkai" from 1970: 

"Ikeda's close associates, when addressing the audience, do so from a higher level in commanding tones and authoritative speech, and by means of this maintain vertically a great distance between themselves and the audience, and they leave no doubt in anyone's mind concerning the difference in their rank and that of the audience. Their obvious aim is to make it clear that their position and rank is vastly higher than that of the members of the audience. Then, the one who is the highest ranking, the man at the very top of the organization enters, and in a tone and manner far removed from that of the lower ranking executives, addresses the audience in gentle tones and on their level! By comparison with his close associates, not only is the President's personality much brighter, but also between the highest ranking member, the President, and the lowest ranking members present there is a feeling of intimacy and familiarity. In this way, by manipulating the psychological distance they create familiarity and authority...." 

I happened upon a rare recorded glimpse of this in The New Human Revolution, a passage from Volume 10 written under Ikeda's pseudonym Shi'nichi: 

"They felt as if they had glimpsed part of this young leader's mind for the first time, a mind amazingly profound for his age. They simply marveled and heartily agreed with him." 

Just before that, the other young men were bumbling and confused while our great hero was steadfast in his ability to be right in every action, attributing it sometimes to Daimoku and sometimes to following his mentor, but nevertheless getting it right." -- Rattyboy

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