A Byrd's Eye View

Over the Hills and into the Future: Part 2

So after we all had chanted to the incredibly bright morning sun and chanted the Hoben and Juryo chapters of the Lotus Sutra, we got a nice little talk from Bishop Kanai. We were encouraged to think about how chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo causes the sun of enlightenment to rise in our hearts, and how Nichiren named himself "Sun Lotus" because of the sun's rays which shine brightly and equally on all with no discrimination. In the same way, all who chant the Daimoku receive the benefit of enlightenment.

After this little talk, we all introduced ourselves and then we broke for some fabulous refreshments. There was coffee and tea and water, and of course different sorts of breakfast sweets. The ubiquitous donuts were there, and I brought some Cuban pastries - mango empanadas, coconut strudel and other fine delicacies. And oh, yes - I can't forget the rice balls. Of course some of the Japanese women brought rice balls for the group. Just one bite of that rice ball and I was transported back in time to my old Byakuren days in those horrid lavender polyester suits. Yummy rice balls- just like the pioneer women's division members used to make! I had two, just for old times' sake.

The conversation flowed easily and in such a natural, friendly manner. Nichiren Shu, SGI, and Independent practitioners able to enjoy their common practice and love of the Daimoku without any posturing or remonstrating - just meeting new friends and enjoying a beautiful clear mountain morning. The sun of the Lotus Sutra did really shine equally on all of us and from each of us without discrimination as to denomination or sect. We were Nichiren Buddhists together and loving every minute of it. What a happy holiday celebration!

The time seemed to fly, until we looked at our watches (oops, I mean we looked at our cellphones) and saw that it was well past 8:00 am. Just driving back to the San Fernando Valley would take over an hour, and five of us were planning on going to the Gathering of Friends meeting at Bill and Jean Anker's house.

One of our party was hungry, so on our way to the Anker's house, we stopped at the Wat Thai temple close to my home. This is a huge Thai Temple which is a center for Theravada Buddhism, and every weekend, they have a Thai food fair. You can get a huge chicken satay stick for only $1. I had two or three. And a large Thai iced coffee. Then, off to the Ankers' home in Granada Hills to do gongyo (again). After chanting, about 15 of us sat around and discussed how we had started to practice and what the Daimoku had come to mean to us. Oh, and yes, one of the couples had a beautiful new baby daughter who was the apple of everyone's eye. Those babies are real show-stealers.

After the discussion was over, we broke for the traditional bagels, lox, onions and tomatoes. And don't forget the leftover mango empanadas. Again, it was a wonderful and warm discussion where nobody asked anybody's association and nobody warmly encouraged anybody to leave their current association and join someone else's (what Michael McCormick calls "member poaching"). That kind of silliness would not have occurred to us. We were all happy grown-up friends in faith, and we had some time to discuss what we'll be doing at that Gathering for the rest of this year.

This year at the Gathering of Friends, we will have speakers from different faith traditions. The rules are that the speaker will do our practice with us, and that we'll do theirs with them, and they will explain theirs to us. The idea with this is that the Lotus Sutra is the Great Ocean into which all teachings flow, and we're going to just explore what's up some of the rivers. Ryuei Michael McCormick will be coming back on the last Sunday of July, and in June we're having a Wiccan couple help us celebrate the summer solstice. Is it different? Yeah, you bet - but it's also a lot of fun. The spirit of sharing and adventure is strong and getting stronger.

Sunday night, I slept like a log! More than like a log, like a dead log. I deserved my rest after all that faith activity, although I think I worried my cats - they had to poke my nose extra hard to wake me up to feed them on Monday morning.

I entitled this blog entry "Over the Hills and Into the Future" because I was thinking of the beautiful foothills we looked over from the moutaintop. I was thinking of how clear and how bright they became when the sun came up. I believe that the future of Nichiren Buddhism in America is like those bright, lovely morning hills. The sun of the Lotus Sutra will still shine on us if we make new friends in other denominations. There is no cause for jealousy and nothing to fear. The future is beautiful. Thanks for reading.

Be hopeful, be fearless, be cool.

Byrd in LA

Posted by wahzoh at May 1, 2007 09:06 AM