On one of the Yahoo Boards I moderate, we got into a discussion about Buddhism "working" - i.e., how do we know we're doing the right thing, and engaging in the right practice? Some SGI members point to parking spaces or "changed financial karma", others point to an overall "higher life-condition", or health-related benefits from chanting Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. The problem (in the US at least), is that the "chant for what you want" pitch was unique back in the 60's and 70's. Since then, the open marketplace of ideas has been inundated with everything from "name it and claim it" Christianity to "The Secret". It seems like everybody and his brother has a publishing deal promoting the latest means of getting whatever you want by "correctly" hooking up with the Big Whatever (i.e., God, the Universe, the Field, whatever). So, why in this environment, try to "sell Buddhism", and how do we go about it?
Nichiren Buddhism is sort of unique, in that we actively engage in propagation of our teaching. The "why" of propagating comes from the founder himself, who wrote that we should widely proclaim and establish this teaching and practice (a process we usually refer to as "kosen-rufu") We're out there trying to convert people to our practice -- sharing the "good news" of the Gohonzon and the Gosho with everybody and anybody, whereas other schools of Buddhism rely on an ethnic membership base, or on new people actively seeking out the teaching.
Anyway, one of the discussion participants wrote in about her SGI experience as follows:
(SGI members aren't sure) what it is they are practicing. Is it Buddhism, Ikedaism, SGIism, Todaism,Makaguchism, Nichirenism? Mentor/Discipleism? What is it? What struck me finally, was I had to admit to myself that all those years of chanting and participating in SGI activities did not make me a Buddhist. I was a marketing agent, a sales person. Instead of monetary compensation, I racked up benefits and good fortune. Or so I believed.
Ouch. That hit home, and it sort of stung, too.
I, too, spent many years engaged in SGI "campaigns", believing that my Buddhist practice was sort of like a "cosmic bank account" (leaders even used this image to describe the practice to guests at meetings). If I showed up for an event, brought a guest to a meeting, or taught someone how to chant, it would result in a sort of karmic "deposit" in my personal account.
And so, motivated by my own ambitions and desires, I campaigned vigorously, loking for the karmic equivalent of compensation. This is how I was taught to see my life, and so this is how I "practiced Buddhism". I'm older, now, and have fewer raging hormones, so I don't have the same level of insane passion that I once had. But I still have the residual belief that Buddhism is about being rewarded for selling something, but like the writer above, I'm having to re-define what it is that I'm selling.
Now, with the marketplace of ideas what it is in the West, the idea of "chant for what you want", or "campaign for what you want", no longer has the punch it had 20 years ago. People today can go online and buy a CD of a disembodied entity named Abraham, telling them how to get the same effect with none of the chanting in strange foreign languages or needing to "sell" anyone else in order to get what they want from life. Why should they pick Buddhism? And why should I sell it?
We no longer believe (as Nichiren did) that false religions cause earthquakes and natural disasters - well, Pat Robertson seems to believe it, but not otherwise sensible people. So, we can't sell with superstition.
So, how do you propagate, and what is it that you are propagating?
Enquiring minds want to know,
Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at April 29, 2008 12:14 PMHi, Byrd -
One thing I have noticed is that propagation is a very much more relaxed process if one drops the whole *sales* meme. I don't think the end result in the long term is much different; it's just a lot less frantic in the early stages.
Dropping that meme also means learning to understand progress in a different way. It's not a numbers game anymore; not about how many or how big, but whether the individual finds what they are seeking. Sometimes what they are seeking is not to be found in our sangha; sometimes not in Nichiren practice at all. Learning to accept that took a bit of work, don't ya know?
I believe that those who are truly seeking Buddhist practice will continue to find it. This is one reason I have no problem with having a variety of Nichiren sanghas who have different practice styles; we will appeal to a much broader range of people that way. Part of my practice is making sure that one variety of Nichiren Buddhism is available for those who need it or are drawn to it, in my neck of the woods anyway.
Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett
About a year or more ago I confessed to Sr. Carment (no, not a formal confession, I was just thinking out loud) one of the founders of Faithful Fools that I did not know what I was doing. What I meant was that I was not sure if I was there to share meditation practice with homeless people, or if I was there to promote Buddhism to all and sundry, or if I was there to build a Nichiren Shu Sangha or what? And furthermore, who was I to do this? I'm no more or less a buddha than anyone else. I'm not even a famous punk rock Zen master with a column on a porno site. So what am I doing and who am I to be doing it? Well, actually I didn't say all that - I just said I wasn't sure what I was doing and that hopefully in the course of just doing what I was doing I would figure it out.
Now a year (or more) later I can say that I know what I am doing. I am sharing what has been shared with me. That goes beyond any particular sect or religious thing, and it certainly isn't about recruiting people, and its not even about having some condescending bleeding heart liberal mission to share the Upper Middle Class Way of the Onefold Path of meditation with the down and out.
What I have figured out is that I have been helped so much by the things my mentors have shared with me. I could start with my parents here who encouraged me and taught me to think for myself (and so much more but I want to keep this short), to my great mentors in high school and college who shared with me their spiritual maturity and insights - many related directly to Buddhism and some not. And of course to my specifically Buddhist mentors like Glenn Wallis, Rev. Bokin Kim, Taigen Dan Leighton and many others but esp. my sensei the Ven. Ryusho Matsuda. Because of them I was able to learn about Buddhism, take up actual Buddhist practice, and have thus (granted with many mistakes - or as Dogen would say, "one continual mistake") been able to live with more peace, more responsibility, and a much deeper sense of meaning and purpose and hope that at the bottom of whatever challenges may arise is the peace of an unconditional true nature welling over with compassion. Whatever my own failings, I have experience Buddhism and Buddhist practice as a precious gift - I can really say with the conviction that the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are three precious jewels. And I have been fortuante to have had many good teachers and then to have had the chance to be trained and certified (within the Nichiren Shu confederation of lineages) as a teacher myself.
So out of compassion for myself and others, and out of gratitude to all my teachers and mentors (which includes my parents and family) I have realized that my mission is to share with others what has been shared with me. To share the practices and teachings that have helped me so much. I do that in the cotnext of Nichiren Shu because that is the lineage I have been trained in, and that is the Dharma Gate that I feel the most affinity for and conviction towards. But I am not at Faithful Fools to recruit, or to do outreach, or to set myself up as a guru, or to sell something. Rather, I am there to practice the Dharma as best I know how, to study and reflect upon the Dharma as best I know how, and to share the insights, values, and fruits of that with whoever finds their way there so that we can all learn together.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
I always had the best success with the membership card assumptive close. Pull out the card, ask the questions, fill it out. Then tell them the cost for gujukai and ask if they want to pay in cash or by check. A lot of times I would collect a years WT and kofu fund too.
If they ask what it is all about, tell them we chant to know Ikeda's heart. :)
Posted by: robin at April 29, 2008 06:04 PMByrd,
I think I simply want to pass on those teachings and practices that I have found were treasures, out of both gratitude towards those who have taught me and out of caring for the people I meet.
For a while, I got in the "gee, I have to SELL Buddhism" mode, and it had to be a particular "Brand" of Buddhism. Occasionally, I confess, I'll revert to it.
But when I am really acting out of my best, most buddhalike center, I recognize that the point is not to promote this or that brand. The point is to express my gratitude and fledgling bodhicitta by sharing the parts of Buddhism that I have found to be of merit. I decided, for instance, that it would be better for me to point out simple truths without the "Buddhist" label, if it would make more sense to the individual I was conversing with. To paraphrase a story attributed to the Buddha, who cares about the particulars of who made the arrow, when removing it is more important? The point isn't that everyone become a nominal Brand X Buddhist. The point is that we, and those whose lives we touch, ultimately act in a more Buddha-like manner as a result of our shared interactions and insight.
Now, because I have deep gratitude towards the teachings and teachers that have shaped me, I am eventually going to bring up Shakyamuni Buddha, or Nichiren with people I spend any appreciable amount of time with. I likely will mention Nichiren Shu, the lineage I feel most closely affiliated with. Certainly, I would love to have people to study and grow with who value these parts of my belief system. Of late, though, I am striving not to be attached to that. People are who they are. You can't come across a orange tree and expect it to produce an apple. You can, however, provide water and shelter for it, so that it can produce magnificent oranges. I think each individuals' personal practice is going to be different, and may flourish best in an environment that wouldn't be best for me.
For instance, I really love symbology and rituals (and yes, I was raised Catholic). They are meaningful to me. I like the "bells and whistles". But for some people, those things are meaningless. Indeed, for some folks, ritual and symbology provoke fear. That's okay. I like pizza sometimes with anchovies, some people don't. We still all need sustenance; it's just we have leanings towards different flavors.
Oop. I'm rambling. What do I propagate? I try to propagate relevant facets of Buddhism that are of value to me, when it seems apropos. What specific facet is highly dependent on who I'm interacting with, and in what context.
If it seems appropriate, sure, I'll invite someone to chant with me, or aim them at the Lotus Sutra, or the Dhammapada. I try not to have that weird spiritual "Tourette's Syndrome" of blurting out stuff that seems weird and useless to the person I'm interacting with. I think, for me, the key is developing the wisdom to use the most skillful means I can to share the best jewels I have experienced with the people I am communicating with.
So... Byrd... what and how do you personally propagate? How best do you feel you can do that?
Peace to you,
Kris
Hi Byrd! You wrote:
"We no longer believe (as Nichiren did) that false religions cause earthquakes and natural disasters - well, Pat Robertson seems to believe it, but not otherwise sensible people. So, we can't sell with superstition."
Who is we? I believe it and there are thousands of Nichiren Buddhists who believe this and I consider myself and these people sensible. I am shocked you would somehow connect Nichiren Daishonin to Pat Robertson. The Right Law of Nichiren is not the wrong law of Pat Robertson. Realizing that, "All laws are the revelation of Buddhist truth", it is not alltogether surprising to me that Pat Robertson has observed one facet of the Buddhist Law and seen it to be true. Too bad he embraces the wrong Law and the wrong cause (God). Being ignorant of True Cause and Effect (Myoho renge kyo) he doesn't see that his own religion is the cause of disasters such as warfare, inflation, pollution, and pestilence. Flowers bloom out of season when a sage dies or is born and flowers and grain fail to develop when evil men fill the land.
As far as propagation, I have been most successful with shakabuku practice especially towards those I love, pointing out that, their faults and problems derive from failing to embrace the Right Law. Those I love who love me know that I would never say or do anything to harm them. Therefore, when I point out their path to unhappiness and suffering they are most apt to embrace the Right Law.
My enemies hate me for pointing out their path to unhappiness and suffering by not realizing I also have their best interests in mind. Nevertheless, they too benefit from a reverse relationship with the Law despite themselves.
Either Way, Buddhism practiced as the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin teaches is a win, win situation.
Mark
Posted by: mark Rogow at April 30, 2008 02:24 AMPropgation?
Want nothing, sell nothing. Your life should be like a lighthouse on a stormy sea shore, it should be magnetic. All this is achieved by embracing the Lotus Sutra without expectations, attachments, or intent for specific outcomes.
Messianic speech, exposing others weakness and faults, or the conspicuous benefit bait and switch are lowly forms of propagation. All one needs to do is reveal their inner Lotus Sutra. How does one that? First and foremost; STFU and listen. Two; know the Lotus Sutra. Three; leave on a high note without trying to "close the deal." The Lotus Sutra, if people are ready sells itself. As my dear old dad used to say "AAO, N.O."
Charles
Posted by: Charles at April 30, 2008 11:13 AMI been trying to figure this out forever- I hardly ever heard "AAO" in my district. What does it mean? Is it short for something? Is it like a rally cry?
Can someone explain?
My efforts to sell/shakabku friends of mine were hilarious. Its hard to sell things that are intagible or inconspicuous- and there's millions of self help books out there that claim what we claim to be able to give.
I got super smart cynacle friends that could not get past the organized religion part. It was too creepy for them. It just didn't fit for them on many levels. I think so many people have been burned by the church or by a teaching that left them feeling judged. I find alot of younger folks just prefer to figure out spirituality by themselves through books or cautious experimenting. I've known some folks who got sucked into some pretty scary cults as well. I think SGI could from many angles appear that way to others.
That's too bad cause you can learn alot from others but I understand the need to be independent.
This buddhism offers something pretty
hard to believe and in a world with so much going on- I think people go-hmmm... if it sounds to good to be true ( happiness! Enlightenment! big bank roll! than it probably is...
I was told that SGI is the only way to practice correctly. and that it was not enough to simply introduce the practice of chanting. I had a hard time with feeling comfortable with this.
There is alot to learn about this practice and Buddhism in general. SGI is an invaluable resource for information and support but a part of me was really uncomfortable with "selling the practice".
I was taught growing up that spirituality was a profoundly individual private experience. My parents never forced christiantity on me and for that I am really grateful. I know that chanting works beautifully in my life and when my practice is enjoyable and strong than people seem to respond. I want to continue to uncover a relationship like that with my practice so that when I talk about Buddhism its a natural feeling and not oh boy if I get this person to sign up than I get a karmic reward! when I started to have the attitude like - you need to chant with SGI or if you don't chant at all than than you are practicing incorrectly - the results were terrible! My friend was having some problems and I tried to shakabuku her so she could work out her issue. She tried it- got her desire fulfilled using the microspecific prayer I was taught and it ended up being the wrong situation for her entirely! It backfired terribly! YIKES! The tension that the issue brought to our friendship was unbearable. finally she told me- "look -I respect your path- I tried it but it doesn't feel right to me and I need you to be okay with that." That was so humbling to hear. As soon as I let go of this feeling that I knew what was best for her( that she receive gohonzon) and when I stopped judging her and thinking- she isn't practicing with SGI and therefore is suffering all this karmic consequence- how stupid! then our friendship healed and her life under her own spiritual strength and direction blossomed beautifully. She found a way to heal her life and walk her own path of beauty.
and
then I found a way to practice that was about deeply enjoying the practice and studying the Lotus Sutra. not about campaigns and or membership numbers or what have you. What a difference! when I made that change- wouldn't you know it a friend out of the blue called me up to ask about Buddhism. I'm not saying shakabuku is bad at all- I'm saying that everyone may have thier own style and pace of sharing the practice. It does not include selling anything and it definately has to be in accord with their own style. I like what Charles said- I'm going to STFU and let my magnificent life/behavior do the talking.
Hi Byrd,
You write:
"We no longer believe (as Nichiren did) that false religions cause earthquakes and natural disasters - well, Pat Robertson seems to believe it, but not otherwise sensible people. So, we can't sell with superstition."
A few questions come up then:
What about esho funi?
The three poisons in our life, can influence through our actions our environment. Anger, for example, can lead to war. Greed can destroy the environment, as we have been seeing.
Isn't the whole point of the Rissho Ankoku Ron that if a religion / philosophy is not able to overcome the three poisons, then these poisons will continue their influence?
In other words, viewed from this angle, I would hesitate to call this idea 'superstition'.
Regards,
Loric
Sorry, one more thing.
I agree with Charles that it finally comes down to our behaviour. It's not a matter of some protocol but living up to the challenge of the example of Bodhissattva Never Disparaging.
regards,
Loric
Hi, Loris - I think that esho funi is a good doctine, and science, I believe, bears it out. After all, most of solid matter is "empty space" between atoms and ions, so in a way, there is no real "out there" and "in here".
For me,the esho funi concept was problematic during my early years in NSA (I don't know how long you've been practicing). Many, many people were encouraged to stay in abusive or otherwise negative situations and "esho funi" their environment - i.e., your wife-beating husband will change when you change. In real-time, it may have been a situation the member needed to just get up the guts to leave behind. The same is true of obnoxious working situations.
The esho funi concept was also frequently used to encourage people to submit to oppressive situations within the organization. If you have an aggressively mentally ill leader, it is up to YOU to change your karma so that she will change, etc. That sort of thing,where individuals were expected to submit to a lot of bad situations in the name of Buddhism.
I don't think Zen Buddhism caused earthquakes in Japan. I think that earthquakes in Japan are caused by the fact that Japan is on the "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific ocean and sits atop a constantly shifting set of tectonic plates. If we start to say otherwise, yes, we look silly and superstitious, IMHO. Nichiren just didn't know any better. I'm sure he'd feel differently today.
Gotta go now, thanks for writing in, all - Best, Wahzoh