I embarked on a massive, death-defying adventure yesterday. Braving heat and layers of dust, and with the help of my trusty sidekick, Gilbert (whom you will recall as my literacy pupil), I decided to empty out my commercial storage space! (cue primitive drumming and surging dramatic music)
Needless to say, I spent most of last night sneezing uncontrollably, due to the dust. I still have a lot of unpacking to do today, and I have stocked up on Kleenex as a precaution.
Like Indiana Jones, I am uncovering rare antiquities like:
Old photo albums I thought I had lost. Some really nice pictures of my family, which I was very happy to see.
A framed copy of VP Tsuji's "zange" guidance (remember that?)
Ladies' size 8 clothing (you heard me -- size 8!)
I also had some articles of furniture in storage, and I gave those to Gilbert. He makes regular trips to Mexicali, Maxico, where he gives stuff away to the poor. I figure if someone can actually use my old furniture, that's better than me paying to keep it in storage.
The cats are quite bewildered by the whole thing. They have been sniffing around the boxes, which I moved from my patio into my living room, where the boxes form a sort of mountain. The top box (almost six feet up) has an old sofa pillow on top of it, which Wobbly has decided is the perfect place to nap while maintaining control over her domain. It gives her a great line of sight to the door and also to the food bowl, so she can be "on top of things" if Elvis comes through the kitchen window to chow down on some kibble.
There is no way I can fit all this stuff into my apartment in anything resembling an orderly fashion. And I also have a junk room to clean out! Has anyone out there had any experience with this kind of thing? I feel completely overwhelmed by my stuff.
This is where the hero is supposed to come in, like Indiana Jones and get me a fabulous museum contract for my "antiquities", or better yet, just crack his whip at the boxes and make them disappear in a puff of smoke.
Ack!
Oh, well - I will keep you up to date on any further adventures.
Stay tidy, stay organized, stay cool.
Byrd in LA
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
It was 755 years ago today that Nichiren went to the top of a mountain and chanted Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. He then came back down to the Seicho-ji temple, and gave a lecture in which he declared the Lotus Sutra to be the Buddha's Supreme Teaching. This teaching could be encapsulated and made accessible to everyone by the simple practice of chanting the Sutra's titles: Myoho-Renge-Kyo. According to legend, this new way of looking at things went over none too well with those who had come to hear his talk, and Nichiren spent much of the remainder of his life in exile, or otherwise "on the lam".
So, let's take this day to think about what it is that we have in our practice of chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra.
It's a good day for saying "thank you", for looking back at our time of practice, and for looking forward to explore the future of Nichiren Buddhism in the West.
How do you see Nichiren Buddhism taking root in the West? What do the next 700 years have in store for this form of Buddhism?
Enquiring minds want to know,
Byrd in LA
I do so wish I could have been in San Francisco this weekend. Two friends of mine, Michele Chavez and Kris Alvarez, will be receiving Jukai and officially joining the traditional Nichiren Shu. Their ceremony will be held on Sunday afternoon at the Faithful Fools Center in San Francisco, and presided over by our very FWP blogger, Ryuei Michael McCormick.
I remember how excited I was when I heard that Kris was coming down (all the way from Alaska, no less!) for the same cermony as Michele. It seemed like a fabulous coming-together of like minded and free souls who were taking the next step (for them) in faith.
Kris is a friend of mine from online, and she also was a part of the conference-call Lotus Sutra study group that I belonged to a few years ago. That was a fabulous bunch of folks, if I do say so myself. Although we had some guys pop in and out, it was mostly the gals, and we tried to get together by conference call every Sunday morning (at least it was morning here in LA). We had women from places as far-flung as Belfast, Northern Ireland, London, England, and of course, Kris in Alaska. Not to mention me in LA, and gals in Arizona, Indiana, and Virginia.
This was the telephone activity where we first discovered the fabulous. world-famous "washing daimoku", a visualization which has served me well for many years, now.
Michele and I also met online. I think she first wrote in to one of the blogs here asking about whether there were any "free-thinking"-type chanting gatherings available. She and her husband started coming to the Ankers' home for their monthly Gathering of Friends, and now Michele and I are the best of friends. I have enjoyed doing inter-faith activities with her, and she also encouraged me to get in shape last year through my marathon trianing (sort of) through the LA Leggers organization. Soon, we will be bike-riding and swimming together, as well (right, Michele?)
Anyway, I am having one of those kind of misty-eyed days where I wish I could be somewhere with someone or an important step, but I have to just settle for sending them the best energy I can - golden rays of Daimoku and good wishes.
I hope that Kris and Michele will be taking pictures at this event and posting them here in a guest blog.
Knock 'em dead, guys!
Be true to yourself, be hopeful, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Remember these song lyrics?....
Very superstitious, writing's on the wall,
Very superstitious, ladders bout' to fall,
Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass
Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past.
When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way
So, what is a superstition? An online dictionary gives this definition (of course, you are free to look up your own:
1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the
ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence,
proceeding, or the like.
2. a system or collection of such beliefs.
3. a custom or act based on such a belief.
4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, esp. in
connection with religion.
5. any blindly accepted belief or notion.
I had a lot of whacked-out superstitions instilled in me during my early "training" in the old NSA (Nichiren Shoshu Soka Gakkai of America - now, SGI-USA). Let's look a t few of them. Maybe you-all out there have a few more you'd like to throw on the barbie...
1. No flowers on the altar, because they die. Therefore, we should only offer evergreens.
2. If you clean out the toilets, you will have many beautiful children (a supersition used to get the young women's division in there cleaning out the johns)
3. One shakubuku (sponsoring a new member) is "worth" a million daimoku (chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo).
4. Don't point your feet towards the Gohonzon
5. Never breathe on the Gohonzon
6. Never take a photo of the Gohonzon (I don't know where this comes from - it sort of reminds me of those primitive tribesmen who believe that a camera "steals your soul")
7. Don't put your altar with its back to a window (maybe this is a feng shui concept, I dunno).
Back then, the idea of being "punished" for breaking one of these superstitions was pretty widespread - I'm glad the people coming in now don't have to deal with this as much.
Does anyone else here recall any strange superstitions that were instilled in you (either inside or outside the Gakkai)? Did you break these habits of thought? If so, when and how? Or are you still carrying them around with you?
Just curious. Be reasonable, be observant, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Mavis Coyle, my Mentor in life, is quite a believer in feng shui (for those of you who are blissfully ignorant of this Chinese art and practice, it is a system of arranging one's living or working space in such a way as to maximize the flow of beneficial "chi", or energy).
She gave me a book to read, which is the same book that Barbara Pike gave me a few months before she died, and is also a book which I got from Amazon.com a year or so ago and conveniently lost. I told Mavis that her copy was the third copy of this book, "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life" which had passed through my hands. Here it is, for those of you who may be interested:
"See?" Mavis said, and nodded her head in that way she does, sort of signifying that something has great meaning - a meaning which is generally lost on me. In this case, the great meaning was that I was supposed to be reading this book and applying its wisdom in my life, in my kitchen, in my apartment, wherever.
Now, I will be frank. I am not a big feng shui believer. But then, I'm also not the world's tidiest person, so the anti-cluttering principles of feng shui tend to go against my nature. I don't mind putting a red windchime up in my prosperity corner, but I'm not exactly convinced that a lotto jackpot will come of it, either.
Barbara Pike was a huge believer in feng shui - her entire apartment was filled with feng shui "remedies" of one sort or another - hanging crystals, windchimes, and large cut-outs of various colors, which were supposed to direct the energy vibrations of those colors around her apartment. I thought it was a little bit kooky, but what the hell, I'm game to try anything at least once.
Anyway, part of my house-cleaning and re-arranging has had to do with "unclogging" the "helpful people" portion of my "bagua". In other words, I have to clean out my junk room. Of course, I have known for some time that I need to clean out my junk room, but the carrot of having more helpful people in my life if I do so is sort of encouraging.
I am also cleaning out and fixing up my bedroom. This is partially for the purpose of attracting a mate. Mavis suggested putting a red satin brassiere under the mattress of my bed. She felt that this would attract a lot of sexy "menergy". I'm still thinking about that.
Have any of you out there had any kind of experience with this feng shui stuff? Has it worked for you, or is it just a lot of hot chi?
Be tidy, be energized, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Over the weekend, I gave my literacy student a new and different homework assignment. I told him to take 20 empty flashcards (he usually makes his own flashcards for basic words like "him" and "her" and "their" and "kitchen" and whatever), and on each of these 20 cards, he was supposed to write a word which he saw in daily life, but he didn't know the meaning of it, and he wanted to learn the word.
This exercise turned out a bit more comically than I expected when we got together for our study session last night.
"So! Did you do your flashcards?" I asked. And yes, he had. He reached into his backpack and pulled them out.....
The new words themselves fell into three major categories.....
1. Cleaning products;
2. Movies;
3. Made-up words (my favorite category, but not too good for literacy teaching).
So, anyway, I took the cards from him and we started to read them off....
"Dracula.....Clive.....Hogs....Murder.....Owen.....Caine...."
"Gilbert," I asked. "Did you get these words from movie posters? I mean, Clive Owen and Michael Caine are actors, and Dracula...well, he's a movie guy, too. And 'hogs' - well, 'Wild Hogs' was a Disney movie. Is that where you got these words?"
Gilbert nodded his head in the affirmative. We had spoken on the phone on Sunday night, confirming this week's meeting times. I had asked him then whether he had gotten into his homework at all. On Sunday night, he hadn't started yet. I recognized the syndrome. It's called "Last Minute Homework Syndrome" or LMHS. I have suffered from LMHS myself for most of my life, so I know the signs. Well, now at least I know the kinds of movies that Gilbert likes. He likes Dracula and Wild Hogs.
I read a few more cards:
"Cleans...Wipes...Pure....Scented....Heavy...Duty.....Pine..."
"Gilbert", I said. "Let me guess. You got these words from some kind of cleaning product. Like maybe Mr. Clean?"
Gilibert frowned. "I thought you liked Mr. Clean," he said.
This was true. During our reading tour of K-Mart a few weeks ago, I had admitted to him that I sort of dug Mr. Clean. I mean, Mr. Clean is big and muscular and bald and happy. My kind of guy. I'm sure that housewives around the world have had all sorts of unclean thoughts about Mr. Clean. I know that I have, although this blog entry is the first time I have admitted it to anyone.
Then, there was the third category of words. These were words for which I don't know the definition, and which I have never seen before. Tonight, I will try to get from Gilbert where (if anywhere at all) he saw these words.
Words like:
"Funning". Actually, that is an excellent word. I'm surprised no-one has thought of it before now. Of course my student's "n"s look a lot like "w"s (his handwriting is so bad, you'd think he's a doctor or a lawyer). So, "funning" may actually be "fuwwing", but I like "funning" better, so I'm going to start to use that word. Can you use the word "funning" in a sentence, boys and girls? Like, "we went funning in the park on Sunday after church".
"Forees". Now, I have absolutely no idea what a forees is. It's possible, that, due to the handwriting issue, Gilbert may have meant to write "forces", but since he can't read the word himself, it's impossible to tell. "Forces" could be a movie word, or it could be a cleaning product word. "Forees" could be anything at all. It could be a timepiece, as in "he consulted his forees and saw that he was five minutes late". Or, they could be small insects, as in "her apartment was infested with forees". Can you use the word "forees" in a sentence?
Are we funning yet?
Be happy, be funning, be cool.
Byrd in LA
A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting my dear aunt Irene, and together we were watching a series of lectures from a company called "The Teaching Company":
http://www.teach12.com/teach12.asp?ai=16281
This company is so cool and no, they don't give me a kickback for plugging them on my blog. It is one of my life's ambitions to have gobs and gobs of money so that I can sit and watch lectures like this all day long. "Sick, sick, sick!" I hear you cry. Well, maybe, but I really do dig browsing through their online and mail catalogues. So sue me - some women like looking at pictures of jewelry and clothes, I like browsing through lecture course catalogues. It gets me excited, I guess. "Ancient and Modern Political Philosophy, Oh, God! Yes! give me some of that! Oh, yes, yes, yes!"
But seriously, folks, so I gave my dear aunt a set of these tapes for Christmas - a series of lectures on early Christianity by a professor named Bart Ehrmann. In one of his lectures, he talks about how anti-Semitism developed in the Christian Church as a result of the Christians trying to obtain a sort of market monopoly on the idea of One God. Basically, the Christians had to hate the Jews, and even had to eliminate them, or there would be living, breathing, walking, talking proof that the One God concept wasn't basically owned by the Christian (i.e., Roman) Church.
You see, at that time in Rome, the religious conccept of One God was sort of novel. Rome had all kinds of different gods - different strokes for different folks. They had a hearth god and a fertility god(dess) and a god of messages and a god of health. They had gods for every day of the week and two on Sunday, so when the Christians came along with their One God concept, it sort of blew everybody away. So the Christians had to get a market monopoly on the concept. That meant going after the Jews. Making them out to be ungrateful and blasphemous and disrespectful for all that the One God had done for them. It ultimately meant killing a lot of Jews, but that was to come later.
I was watching these tapes just about the same time that my friends' home in the Antelope Valley was being placed off limits for SGi meetings because the wife was converting to a different denomination of Nichiren Buddhists. One of the reasons given for this was that the Nichiren Shu and the SGI were "too similar". That's right, we're not worshiping with you because you're too much like us. Sound familiar? "Too similar"...that's not a world peace argument, that's a market monopoly argument.
I mean, think about it: How many times (if you are an SGI member) have you sat through a presentation about the practice where the person introducing the practice said basically that there are (X number) of Nichiren sects (or Y number of Buddhist practices), but ours is the only real one, or ours is the only one that works, or ours is the only True Buddhism, or whatever? I've certainly heard that a lot myself, over the years. Usually from people who know little or nothing about the other schools they are talking about. All we know is that we're better.
The SGI's market monopoly on the Daimoku is important to us, just as the Church of Rome's market monopoly on monotheism was important to them. And why should this be important to me?
Well, I guess it's important to me because I'm a German. That whole hatred of the Jews thing came to a huge head a couple of thousand years after it was started, and I don't want to be creating the same karma for myself or anyone else. That's why I get so cranky about the SGI's campaigns to close down Nichiren Shoshu temples. The German in me doesn't want to be associated with declaring that other churches are 'evil, and trying to close them down, or trying to get rid of them because they're in competition with my church, or because they don't revere my religious leader-of-choice.
So, who's the slanderer? I have gotten calls from very upset Gakkai members who believe that I'm engaged in some sort of slander campaign against the SGI on this blogsite (which I don't personally think I am). I've actually been told that I'm "slandering the SGI" by someone who refused to even look at this site!! Really. On the other hand, we regularly (I mean regularly) try to treat the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra as if it were our church's property. Which it isn't. Isn't that a slander? I dunno - you tell me.
You know what they say- those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Bye for now.
Have a good day, all - Byrd in LA
I have been observing and participating in an interesting discussion at an online chatboard where I am a moderator. The discussion has been focused on the difference, if any, between chanting Nam(u)-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and meditating. The SGI-USA's webpage contains a section dedicated to answering this question here:
http://www.sgi-usa.org/is_chanting_meditation.php
The segment reads, in part:
Meditation is a more passive exercise than chanting; one usually calms one's mind by concentrating on a particular phrase or image. At first glance this may seem close to the practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, but actually the difference is apparent. The practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables us to express and experience our innate Buddhahood and release the powerful energy contained within that, rather than to calm our minds or negate certain ways of thinking.
So, we know that meditation is more passive than chanting is. But what if an individual is seeking to calm his or her mind? If that's the goal, then is a silent meditation practice somehow in conflict with chanting, or not? Also, can silent meditation, or deep relaxation techniques provide "benefits" which can not be obtained from chanting Daimoku?
I think that they can, but only further research will show for certain. I'm interested in hearing any kind of anecdotal evidence you-all out there in cyber-land may have on this subject.
I was recently reading a book entitled "Healing Back Pain Naturally", by Art Brownstein, M.D., a doctor who prescribes a program of stretching exercises coupled with twice-daily 20-30 minute periods of "deep relaxation" as a treatment for chronic back pain. A few of the benefits of deep relaxation which he cites are:
1. a greater consciousness of harmful emotions such as fear and anger;
2. a greater awareness of how the mind affects the body, and vice-versa;
3. normalized blood pressure;
4. an enhanced sense of "inner peace";
5. improvement in any areas of anxiety, phobias, and depression;
Dr. Brownstein's theory (and the theory of some other mind/body authors I have read) is that meditation, mental calming, and deep relaxation provide an opportunity for the body's natural healing mechanisms to work optimally. He also believes that back pain is related to areas of stress in our lives, and that deep relaxation serves to counter-balance and relieve the stress which results in back pain. At any event, he seems to have a number of patients who have benefited from his program.
The SGI-USA's theory as to what makes chanting "better" than meditation is that chanting causes the individual to bring out his or her inherent Buddha nature, thereby changing his or her karma in relation to whatever illness he or she is sufferering from (if I have this wrong, somebody pipe up and point it out to me).
I have certainly heard any number of amazing health experiences over the years from SGI-USA members who have overcome severe illness through their practice of Nichiren Buddhism (one such experience, from a young man with rheumatoid arthritis, is in the most recent issue of "Living Buddhism"). Anyone who has been in the organization for awhile has heard a large number of these experiences.
I guess the question I'm trying to get to is whether this chanting/meditation thing needs to be an either/or analysis? For me, I enjoy doing both. I can see how I get energy from chanting, and I can also see how I get an enhanced insight into the workings of my own mind from silent meditation. I'm sure others can see advantages to both as well.
I look forward to the time when the SGI-USA is able to honestly answer a question like this by saying "we don't know all the answers, but there is certainly research to support the value of meditating. The two are not mutually exclusive" or something like that. What do you all think? How would you answer this question for a beginner seeking to understand and apply Nichiren Buddhism?
Be energized, be calm, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Well, since my car broke down a week or so ago (and with me looking for a new job right now), I have been doing a lot of walking - walking to the store, walking to the library, walking to the bus stop, walking here and walking there. The world looks a lot different from the sidewalk than it does from the inside of a moving vehicle, that's for sure, and I am enjoying the different perspective. I have also lost a couple of pounds, and that's OK, too.
The inside of a car is pretty much a controlled environment. And here in Los Angeles, we love our controlled environments. Air conditioning keeps away the heat of the sun. Radio or CD creates a cocoon of chosen sound. The windshield puts a slab of glass between us and the rest of the world. The body of my car is like an extended skin, expanding my sense of what is "personal" to include a quiet retreat from whatever is going on "out there". Two weeks ago, I was cruising down these North Hollywood streets at 35 miles per hour, on my way to someplace at a pretty good clip. Now, I am walking and paying more attention to what I see.
The first thing I notice is that I have to be careful where I step, or I might break a bone and have a medical bill. These North Hollywood sidewalks have definitely seen better days. There are plenty of potholes and huge mounds in the pavement where either tree roots have grown up through the sidewalk, or where earthquakes have split the cement. I have to be mindful of where I'm putting my feet, just for safety's sake. Screw Thich Naht Hanh and his lofty mindfulness, I have pay attention or get hurt.
Another thing I have noticed is that my neighborhood is definitely a neighborhood of immigrants. Mostly Spanish-speaking. My housing co-op has a lot of people who are Russian and Armenian, but once you're out on the sidewalks, the shoppers and street vendors and mothers with their baby strollers are all pretty much Latino. This reminds me that I really need to learn Spanish.
Another good thing about walking is that I can always find someone to give away my daily dollar to. If you will recall, I recently wrote about generosity and my practice of giving something away every day:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/002374.html
Here on the streets of North Hollywood, if you walk a couple of miles a day, you're pretty much guaranteed to run into a homeless person who will appreciate the dollar. That makes my generosity practice easier.
While you're out walking, you can also watch to see what people are doing on a Saturday. My walk to the library takes me past a public park where a league of co-ed kid's soccer teams play on the weekends. Mostly Latino kids, of course. Those Latinos love their soccer. Anyway, this morning I walked past the park just behind a goal which was being guarded by a chunky kid who looked like he'd be sort of slow-moving. But when that ball came at him, WOW! Did he make a quick block! I was really amazed at how fast he moved! I clapped for him and called out "way to go!" Dad was on the sidelines clapping and calling out in Spanish. Not only will that kid be physically fit, he'll also be bilingual -- a good start in life. Now, if I had been in my car, I would have been singing along with the radio and missed that.
Well, that's all for now. I have some real writing to do (i.e., I'm working on a book proposal, but I can't tell you what it is. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with Buddhism.)
Enjoy your weekend, all - be healthy, be alert, be cool
Byrd in LA
The other day, in a discussion with one of my SGI leaders, she encouraged me to consider a couple of things:
1. What it is that I want to accomplish with my blog, and
2. Whether my tone is helping me accomplish it.
If I have this wrong, I hope she will write in and correct me.
After yesterday's "year-end round-up" entry, I went back and counted the number of blog entries where I had been specifically discussing SGI-USA policy, doctrine, or activities. I counted 33 out of 101. Of course, there were other entries where I made a passing reference to the Gakkai, and I did not count entries where I discussed Buddhism or Buddhist activities outside the purview of the SGI (i.e., my visits to Brad Warner's zendo in Santa Monica, my interfaith visit to speak to a synagogue youth group, or the Gathering of Friends in Granada Hills). These 33 entries were pretty varied in content, ranging from a warm agreement with a World Tribune article, to a sharp rebuke of the SGI's "chant to close the Nichiren Shoshu temples" campaign last December.
So, I have given the question of tone some thought over the past few days, and I am curious to know what you all here think about the issue of tone in writing about Buddhism.
Our first dilemma in approaching this issue as Nichiren Buddhists is, of course, that Nichiren himself had a pretty confrontative and combative approach to writing about Buddhism. I don't care for this, myself, and I discussed it in my entry entitled "The Nichiren Virus":
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001816.html
I'm glad the issue of tone has been raised. Honestly, I don't think I'm too bad of an offender, in that regard. At least not by Western standards. And Westerners are, after all, my primary audience. If you, my readers, feel otherwise, I am happy to hear your comments in this regard. I promise I won't bite.
I probably sound a bit too confident sometimes, particularly when I'm disagreeing with the SGI's approach to Nichiren Buddhist history or its approach to interfaith cooperation with other Nichiren Buddhists. But I am, in fact, confident of my opinions, and no, I don't think I owe anyone any apologies for that.
I have, on occasion, also been insistent, or even demanding. For example, this past December, after hearing the announcement of a local campaign to pray for the closure of Nichiren Shoshu temples (for those of you unfamiliar with the SGI, Nichiren Shoshu is our parent sect, from which we were "divorced" in the early 1990s), I wrote and published the following statement on my blog:
"Daisaku Ikeda and the SGI owe a huge debt of gratitude to the principle of religious freedom. There would be no world-wide Buddhist world peace organization, and Daisaku Ikeda would be no-one's eternal Mentor if it were not for the fact that Douglas MacArthur imposed a constitution on post World War II Japan which allowed the Soka Gakkai to grow and flourish as a lay organzation of Nichiren Shoshu. The SGI owes its very existence, and the organization's President owes his position to the principle of religious freedom. Here in the United States, that means that we respect other peoples' right to be wrong. We respect their rights to worship as they choose, even if we think it's dung-headed.
The SGI's campaign to shutter rival houses of worship in the United States is the height of ingratitude. It must stop immediately. I am no fan of Nichiren Shoshu doctrine - anyone who knows me knows that, but if the SGI wishes to spread Nichiren Buddhism as a mainstream religion in this country, it must do more than develop choice real estate and print glossy publications. We must respect the principles of this society, and religious freedom is chiefest among them.
Stop the War Now."
The tone in this statement is not warmly encouraging, nor is it chipper and joyful. It is insistent and it is direct. It is a demand. What I wished to accomplish in that case, was that I wished to make an articulate and strong demand that the hostilities with Nichiren Shoshu stop being promoted by the SGI-USA's leadership as a "faith activity".
If the problem pops up again, I will make the same point. In fact, I will continue to make it as loudly and as bluntly as I can, until whomever makes these "campaign" decisions decides that it is not worth the embarassment to continue fighting a Japanese religious turf war on American soil. There, I said it, and I said it in a direct tone. It is not intended as a challenge, it is intended as a statement of fact, and a clear and honest statement of my intentions. I hope that you, my readers, can handle it. If you cannot. you are under no obligation to read here. It's just a blog, after all. I hope that my frank tone is not offensive to you in that regard.
In the frenzied heyday of our conflict with Nichiren Shoshu, American SGI members were expected to study official materials which were filled with the most extreme rhetoric against our parent sect (a sect with whose doctrines I strongly disagree myself). Our own official publications even went so far as to compare (in writing) the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood to nazis and slavemasters (despite the fact that they weren't running any crematoria or putting any SGI members on boxcars or holding anyone in the church pews against their wills).
Seven years ago, some American SGI members tried to speak out against this, writing in a position paper addressed to the SGI-USA leadership:
"SGI-USA members embroiled in the campaign against the temple have demonstrated an increasing comfort level with vitriolic invective and negativity which can not be value creating in the long run. Among other things, it creates alienation in new members who know and care nothing about these matters. We know personally of many instances where potential new members have chosen not to practice the Daishonin’s Buddhism, based on this conflict alone. Historically, ideological war has led to actual war. While we do not suggest that this is a possibility in the case under discussion, we do feel that the spiritual violence being committed, and encouraged by the leadership, is damaging and harmful to our organization’s growth. Negative speech and actions can only generate negative results."
How does the tone of that sound? It sounds pretty reasonable to me. By the way, the individual members who authored this bit of reasonably-toned and insightful wisdom were denounced by the SGI's national leadership, and I think they even got a cease and desist letter from the Gakkai's lawyers telling them not to use the SGI-USA's name in the name of their group. I'm sure the tone of that letter was warmly encouraging.
I know of plenty of people who were scared away from the SGI by our tone during those "war years". Of course, as mom always said, "two wrongs don't make a right." So, shall we all think together about our tones and what it is that we want to accomplish? Or are self-reflection and self-restraint in writing, like Leona Helmsley and her taxes, only "for the little people"?
Personally, I look forward to a happy, golden age of true dialogue in the future, and I'd like to see all the membership at the table, and I'd like it to happen out here, where we can have a record and take the time to frame our thoughts in response to one another. But that's me. I like to write.
I'm curious to know what the rest of you-all think about the tone issue. Me, the more I chant about it, the more I think it's a way of avoiding dealing with content. But again, that's me. Thanks in advance for your input.
Byrd in LA
Well, tomorrow, April 18, 2008 will be the one-year anniversary of this blog, "A Byrd's Eye View" at Fraught With Peril (cue cake and candles). And this entry is....the 101st entry! Wow. I'm getting all misty just thinking about it. So, let's take a stroll down memory lane and see what all sorts of fabulous online mischief I've gotten myself into this year, and if you have a special request (as they say on the radio) for any online mischief you'd like me to get into this coming year, feel free to let fly in the comments section. For those of you who have recently started to look at this blog, a "greatest hits" (in my opinion, at least) list may help you understand what's goin' on, as the man sang. All right...dim lights...cue soft, nostalgic music.....
It all started when this blog got introduced with an entry I called "A Soka Gakkai Jerk" This title was meant as an acknowledgement that not everybody was going to like what I was saying, or the way I was going to say it:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001438.html
Then, I discussed one of my favorite members of the Nichiren family, the Nipponzan Myohoji monastic order, then I discussed memorial prayers and the truly inspiring Nichiji Shonin, who was one of Nichiren's original disciples, and who went to China after Nichiren's passing, to single-handed fulfill Nichiren's dream of carrying the Daimoku from East to West:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001451.html
I love that guy! Anyway, two entries that I am really proud of laid out my hopes for interdenominational Nichiren Buddhist cooperation:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001454.html
and:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001455.html
I took a little detour to post a tribute to the woman without whom, I wouldn't be here, blogging or doing anything else, my mom:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001489.html
I took my first foray into truly deep SGI doo-doo in July of 2007 when I wrote about the opening of our (much appreciated) Burbank Activity Center (what a rash of comments this one drew!):
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001541.html
Of course, we Boddhissatvas of the Earth aren't always engaged in Gakkai activities and policy discussions. Sometimes the most important things in our lives involve higher life forms than humans. Yes, sometimes they involve cats:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001630.html
and:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001635.html
I bounced around a bit, writing about my encounters with other schools of Buddhism, including Zen Buddhists Brad Warner and Thich Naht Hanh. I nipped back into the SGI policy realm with a couple of posts about how the organization didn't respond to an interfaith marriage too well:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001696.html
and a few thoughts on how Nichiren Buddhist "unity" should (or should not) look:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001697.html
Then, I talked about everything from dieting to the Writers' Guild strike, with silent meditation, juvenile diabetes, and the SGI-USA Learning review in between (not to mention an emergency trip to the veterinarian).
In November, I took on one of the most rewarding projects I've done in a long time -- I became a literacy volunteer with my local public library:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001736.html
And I talked about the future face of Nichiren Buddhism in America, and how I believe the ongoing monthly Gathering of Friends in Granada Hills is a good pioneering experiment:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001737.html
Things got good and heated up in December, when I decided that I was going to really put my foot down about the SGI's campaign to pray for the closure of Nichiren Shoshu temples in the US. This one brought in a lot of comments, and it may be what my SGI leader was thinking of when she encouraged me to chant about my tone. Actually, if I could have used a stronger tone, I would have:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001753.html
and:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001756.html
Actually, that whole fracas was sort of a"blast from the past" with all those old Shoshu War emotions getting dragged up again. I'm happy nobody got a chair broken over their head, anyway.
Well, that's my greatest hits up through 2007. Whew! What a year! Thanks for being in there with me.
I'm going to stop there, just because once I got into 2008, it was tough for me to decide what I wanted to include in a list and what to leave out. Anyway, I think you all get the idea. Anyway, it's been a hell of a year, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.
I don't want to leave you with the impression that I am always at odds with the SGI or its policies. Not at all. I frequently find myself very much in agreement, as I did here:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/002374.html
Hope this upcoming year is a doozy, too! If there's something you think would make a good topic, let me know. Otherwise, happy birthday to you, Byrd's Eye View, and many happy returns of the day.
Keep reading, keep chanting, be cool.
Byrd in LA
For you old fogies, this is where you hear the theme song and see the animated tapping toes....
Anyway, yesterday, I made certain to assure my SGI leaders that I had no intention of importing any unorthodox or unscheduled ideas into my district or chapter. No non-SGI publications, no none of that. That seemed to go over well, except that one of them remarked on the contrast between my online persona and the persona that I use at official gatherings. I think the word she used was "duplicitous." Honestly, I'm not at all offended that she said that, please don't think that I am. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot or make anyone feel like they've been violated or betrayed by my responding and raising what is actually a very, very important point. I don't like dishonesty, either, and I think it makes a super-dooper interesting topic for a blog entry. My faithful reader Kyoushin sent me a link to this site which explains the Japanese concepts of "Tatamae" and "Honne", (i.e., public persona and private feelings):
http://japan-101.com/culture/tatemae_and_honne.htm
As this site points out;
"Core of tatemae is politeness to avoid confrontation. To the westerner, this may sound dishonest." (my emphasis)
Hence, my attempts to be polite by organizational standards and keep up an appearance of complete harmony and agreement about everything at official SGI activities is coming off as dishonest or deceitful to my leaders. "At least", I boasted to my leader, "I'm up front about both my faces! " I'm not actually trying to "hide the ball" on anyone, I'm just trying to be courteous at activities, as I think people have a right to expect, no? Oh, well. And here's another bit about the "true feelings" part:
"It is something a Japanese shows only to his closest friends (or sometimes when very drunk)."
The problem here is that I don' t drink. Not anymore, at least, and I have no intention of getting drunk in order to say what I want to say. Maybe this contrast between "tatamae" and "honne" goes a long way toward explaining the high rate of alcoholism which has been observed in Japan. After all, if you have to use the excuse of drunkenness to say what you feel, then you'll probably be doing an awful lot of drinking.
Now, where this comparison with my blogging falls apart is in the idea of what is public and what is private. I am being my normal, standard, sincere and earnest, supportive Gakkai self at Gakkai activities, which is actually a rather small and private group. Then, am speaking my mind and offering my opinions on the internet, which is open to anyone who wants to read. So the whole concept of where we're allowed to speak our minds and where we must mind our manners is completely turned on its head. I'm being polite with the small group of friends, and honest with a bullhorn. What an upset of the natural Japanese order that must seem like! This must be extremely confusing to those earnest souls on the other side of the Pacific who are trying to make sense of this whole Nichiren blogging phenomenon. It must look a lot like the end of civilization as they know it!
Does anyone here know how to say "Oy vay!" in Japanese?
I wonder if this is also where the Gakkai's emphasis on "private guidance" comes from? I'm thinking about the idea of creating an environment where (theoretically) it is safe to open up and let it all out? Show your "true face"? The problem of course, is that for us in America, we like to just have one face all the time anyway, so there's no need to create a special environment for it. Less stress, if you know what I mean.
The Gakkai places such an extreme emphasis on "harmonious unity", which is also an important Japanese cultural value. The problem is that the cultural device which the Japanese have developed (tatame/honne) to advance this goal (harmony) is a sort of chronic two-facedness. This is a personality feature which we in the West find untrustworthy, and which certainly does not lend itself to the "bonds of trust and friendship" which we are supposed to be building with each other.
If you're honest (or even if you want to discuss non-SGI publicatins), you run the risk of conflict and "disunity" on doctrinal matters. If you're united, you have to suppress honest disagreement in order to maintain the facade. This, in my experience, is where the Universe, as we are often taught to understand it in the Gakkai, steps in. The great Law itself stands as an enforcement tool of the virtue of Unity. Causing disunity is a "bad cause", which means that if you want your benefits, you have to watch what you say, or at the very least, watch your tone.
What a conundrum! How can we resolve this dilemma in a way that lets us communicate freely and honestly about policy and doctrinal issues, and still be united in faith? I mean, I don't mind my two faces, but this tatame and honne thing is not likely to be a big seller here in the States. How do you think this issue of "agreeing to be polite" as a standard of practice should be addressed here in the West, if at all?
I know I am supposed to be thinking and chanting about my tone in my blog ( which, actually, I am doing), so I will try to have as neutral a tone as possible when I pose this question for discussion...
Have you had any experience with a "private" and "public" face of the SGI as an organization? I am thinking, for example, of the public face of religious tolerance as contrasted to the vehemence of our campaigns to "crush" Nichiren Shoshu over the past two decades.
I'm genuinely curious.
Tomorrow, we'll discuss my tone......
Be multi-faced, be multi-faceted, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Well, I had my pow-wow with my WD leaders today, and it was actually quite encouraging. They did think it was odd that I had two "faces" - gee, am I two-faced -- online and at my district. I referred them to the Japanese terms of "Tatame" and (you Japanese speakers,what's the other one?) In other words, at least I'm public about my varoius faces.
All in all, though, it was an interesting talk, and I'm glad I did it. I hope that something better comes of it by way of enhanced communication between me and the org.
An over-riding issue seems to be that blogs like this one attract the "disgruntled" - Andy, are you disgruntled? ;) Actually, just because people are disgruntled in someway or another with the org doesn't mean that they don't want world peace or are unwilling to chant, does it?
The leader (and a friend) expressed again the pretty much standard approach to dialogue that there's nothing like a face-to-face. I expressed my pretty much standard response that there's nothing like a written record or a global community. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive, and I dig my online stuff. Then, of course, there's the issue of my tone.....
They seemed to think getting the Young Writers online and blogging was a good idea, we'll see if anything comes of that.
Anyway, all in all, a good afternoon. Now, I have a real writing project that I have to get back to. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Be open-minded, be friendly, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Last week, I discussed how happy I was to receive some written response, however scolding, from an SGI-USA staff member. One of the groups I was supposed to owe an apology to was the area leaders who govern the SGI-USA Area where my friends Michele and Richard Chavez live - Richard is the fellow who was told he couldn't have SGI meetings at his home anymore due to the fact that his wife was joining a different Nichiren denomination.
I discussed the matter here:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001696.html
and here:
http://www.fraughtwithperil.com/blogs/byrd/archives/001697.html
Look Ma! I can do links!!! YAY!!! Okay, back to the blog.....
Anyway, apparently, I owe an apology to these area leaders for misrepresenting the reasons why meetings were discontinued at this particular home. The problem is, we still don't know what the reasons were, except that whatever I say is a misrepresentation. At least that's a rule we can all count on.
Anyway, when I first received the apology demand related to Michele and Richard's home, I forwarded it to Michele. I mean, it did concern her and her home and her husband, right? And it did come from an SGI e-mail account, and an SGI staff member, right? Why shouldn't she know about it?
Well, she got sort of a laugh out of it, and drafted an explanation of her and her husband's perspective and sent it to the staff member in question, copying all the leaders he had originally copied on his request for an apology from me. So, now, for the first time ever, the people who apparently made the decisions are actually hearing from the people they've been making the decisions about. I guess that's a step in the right direction.
Anyway, Michele didn't receive a response which spoke to the actual issue of why her husband was no longer able to host Gakkai meetings, but she did get a mesage which made it clear that the staff member's e-mail to me had been "meant as a private message" - in other words, the staff and the area leaders were supposed to be talking about Michele and Richard and demanding apologies from me about them without Michele and Richard even knowing about it by way of a pesky forwarded e-mail. I guess I was just supposed to get an e-mail about them from Gakkai Central, copied to a whole bunch of leaders, and keep them in the dark about it? Gee, where's that written in the new personnel manual?
Even stranger was the idea that I should get an e-mail all about the content of my blog from an SGI e-mail account, (and copied to several other leaders' private e-mails), and see this as being "private". I don' t get that. If you want an e-mail to be private, don't copy people I don't even know. That's kind of easy, isn't it? Anyway, as part of the non-responsive response, this individual also wrote to Michele in part:
Contrary to what you might have heard, the SGI Plaza does not know of yourself or Byrd. Because I work at the Plaza, my concerns are being represented as those of the Plaza.
This is what Washington correspondents call "backpedaling". Kind of like, "the White House denies that the President had any knowledge..." Maybe there was even a lawyer involved in that wording, although I doubt it. Not verbose enough.
Anyway, what is that figure of speech where you use a building to represent a person or a group of people? Like "The White House", or "10 Downing Street", or..."Dodger Stadium". Help me out here, someone. Because I know that the SGI Plaza Building itself doesn't talk. That's a good thing. I wonder what sorts of tales it would have to tell if it did.
Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that the good people at the SGI Plaza don't have any awareness at all of the online discussions which go on at this site. I find that just incredibly hard to believe. Even Patrick admits to writing to Gakkai Central about this site. Didn't they open his mail?
Curiouser and curiouser......anyway, the day after the good people at SGI Plaza didn't read my post about the apologies I owed to Makiguchi and Toda, I got a phone call from a WD Area leader who wanted to set up a home visit at my place with herself, me, and a Region WD leader. Coincidence, I suppose. Anyway, I look forward to the meeting, it should be interesting.
Anyway, the next time you're in Santa Monica, you can drive by the SGI Plaza. Bring a microphone. Put it up to the plaster walls. See what the Plaza knows. See what it is concerned about...
How incredibly wierd.
Well, anyway, it's back to painting my living room. What a fun job that's turning out to be. You can come by and ask the walls some questions sometime.
Bye for now,
Byrd in LA
I was browsing through my most recent edition of the SGI-USA's "Living Buddhism" magazine last night, and enjoying both the study material and the personal experience articles very much.
One of the things I have noticed in past months is that a number of contributors belong to something called the "Young Writers' Group". This has to be an exciting group to belong to. I'd like to see them posting some blogs online (I know I keep harping on this topic, but it's something I'd really, really like to see). Online is where young writers are writing these days, right?
To quote Billy Crystal in "Throw Momma From the Train" (and to also quote a number of other writing teachers:
"A WRITER WRITES...EVERY DAY."
As of the 18th of this month, this blog of mine will be one year old, and I hope that I will have completed 100 entries in that time. That's roughly one entry every three and a half days. A pretty good clip, I like to think. For those of you who can't live without your daily dose of Byrdshit (yes, Santa Monica, it's OK if you want to use that word to refer to my blog, just give me credit for the term), I will try to come up to speed and do more in the coming year.
I have noticed a lot of changes and developments as a writer as a result of blogging regularly. These are:
1. I have become more confident in my own voice.
2. I have developed a stronger "habit" of writing regularly.
3. The blank page (or screen) doesn't scare me anymore.
4. I have started to actually have fun writing, and I have started on a new and exciting project (Note to Kris in Alaska, don't spill the kibble and tell anyone! Not even in San Francisco!)
I would really recommend blogging for any young writer, and particularly for members of this Young Writers' Group. I mean, why in the hell are you leaving the Nichiren Buddhist blogging field to a bunch of altecockers like me and the other guys here? The kids should be out here on the field playing their hearts out. At least that's what I'm thinking.
And if anyone at Gakkai Central is reading this:
Rather than sending out senior leaders to talk to me about my online activities, field your own all-star team online - I'm sure you've got a lot of talent, there.
I'll tell you, if I was an SGI-USA Young Writer, I'd be quoting that fabulous John Fogerty tune (that's right, whippersnappers, I said it - John Fogerty)
"Put me in Coach,
I'm ready to play
Today
Look at me
I can be
Centerfield."
Come out and play guys, it's really a lot of fun
Enjoy your Springtime everyone, Byrd in LA
I was so happy to read Jeff Kriger's article entitled "The Pursuit of Happiness" in my most recent World Tribune. This opinion piece deals with the relationship between generosity and happiness. Kriger talks about studies in which people were given sums of money, and told to spend the money either on themselves or on others. Those who spent the money on others were demonstrably happier.
I know that the SGI-USA is currently gearing up for its annual May contribution campaign, and that the issue of "giving" is going to be a big one for the coming eight weeks or so. I plan to do my usual bit and contribute to the special campaign, but I'm also pleased to see that the question of generosity in general is being addressed.
I don't have a lot of money. Not at all. In fact, I'm currently looking for a new job and squeaking by on unemployment. But, because I have noticed in my own life the phenomenon which Kriger writes about, I have made it my personal practice for awhile to give away something material every day. It might be money, it might be food, or it might be clothing. Next week, I'll probably give my car away to one of those charities that comes and picks the car up. Good bye, old friend, fare thee well.
For me, the net experience of giving things away is an increase in my own sense of having plenty for myself. No matter how broke I may be (temporarily), I always have something that I can share with somebody else. That's true abundance, at least from my current POV.
Sometimes, I even have an opportunity to promote this practice to others. A couple of days ago, I was checking out at the grocery store, and the checker asked me if I wanted to make one of those one-dollar donations to a charity (I think it was a children's cancer hospital or something like that).
"Sure!" I responded with delight. "And thanks for giving me this opportunity!" I explained to the clerk about my practice of trying to give something every day, and she perked up and seemed to think that was a good idea.
I genuinely think that most Westerners have little or no idea what real poverty is like. By the standards of most folks, I am currently "broke". However, I have a roof, and I have food. I have a flush toilet. Believe it or not, that is a mark of wealth in many parts of the world. In fact, by world standards, I live like a Queen, and I'm very well aware of that fact. I have traveled to parts of the world (like Sudan in the late 70's) where the level of poverty was truly shocking, and where children actually had those distended bellies that come with malnutrition. That's something that I will never forget, and I do not focus on lack when I'm in a situation such as I am now. I try to focus on being grateful for what I have, and on doing what I can to help those who are less well off.
As a result, I am quite happy. I'm getting a visit next week from a couple of SGI line leaders (area and region, I think), and I can hear the question now: "Are you happy?" And the answer, surprisingly enough, is "yes, I am." I really am enjoying my days, enjoying my job hunt, enjoying my Spring cleaning and apartment painting, and enjoying the writing projects I have started, and I think this is because I have chosen to practice generosity. When I'm more flush, I enjoy giving to charities at the Hunger Site, that encourage third-world women to become more self-sufficient with micro-business loans. I also enjoy supporting education in third world countries. Of course, I do my regular literacy volunteering as well. That gives me a lot of happiness. My pupil is pleased with the progress he has made, and I am thrilled, too. It truly is a wonderful thing to learn to develop generosity, but not when it comes from guilt or from a sense of martyrdom and duty. When it comes from joy at being able to give, it is a wonderful elixer of happiness.
So, thanks to Jeff Kriger for a fabulous article. It's a piece I'm really happy to recommend and agree with.
Be generous, be happy, be cool.
Byrd in LA
My good buddy Michele just sent me a link to the following article (you may need to cut and paste into your browser):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joanne-bamberger/blogging-is-the-new-femin_b_95948.html
This kind of gave me food for thought --- according to the author, 36 million women in America are blogging. 36 million? And a whopping three of them are at Fraught with Peril. We've got a long way to go, baby.
Now, this is not intended as a shot at our darling Reverend Greg, who runs this fabulous site, or at any of my fabulous fellow (as in male) bloggers here, but I think we need a little bit more estrogen-charged Nichiren Buddhist blog action, here!
If not at FWP, then somewhere else. Does anybody here know of any other Nichiren Buddhist bloggers out there? I'd love to read them. Send me the links, puh-leeeeeze!!!
Anyway, I have been targeted for a home visit next Tuesday evening by my SGI-USA Womens' Division Area and Region Leaders (gee, I wonder why?). That will be a fabulous opportunity for me to invite them to join the cyberspace revolution and blog away from their POVs as Gakkai leaders, don't you think?
I mean, nobody in the "line" has to do it here at FWP, if they don't want to give the false impression of endorsing the opinions of the others here. They can create their own blogspace and talk about whatever is going on in their areas - I think that would be a great way of sharing information. Sort of like an FNCC conference online, all day every day.
I really would like to see some SGI-USA YWD step up to the plate and blog abot their ongoing experiences with the practice and organization in their daily lives. It would be a Buddhist feminist act. A way of saying, "I am not controlled by a hierarchy that tells me who I can talk to and about what. No, I am a free and free-thinking (young/middle aged/doddering/whatever) woman, and I will speak my mind! Let's go, Nichiren Buddhism! Yay!"
Come on, girls, let's hear it!
I understand that my friend Michele will be starting her own Buddhist blog, "The Dragon King's Daughter" sometime soon (not here on FWP,at another page). Another exciting development.
Four down, and several thousand to go....
Be outspoken, be free, be cool.
Best, Byrd in LA
Gee, I hope I didn' t give the impression that Mavis Coyle, my Mentor in Life, had died. She hasn't died at all. In fact, her son just called me last night from her trailer to give me some tips on re-selling used books. I could hear her talking in the background.
The gal who died a couple of weeks ago was Barbara Pike. And the 83 year old lady who just came up to me at the public library and kissed me is Eva, the Holocaust survivor. And the gal whom I liberated from a crack-addicted "caretaker" through artful interface with the LAPD Elder Abuse Squad - that was Sylvia. And the other old lady I sometimes visit in my Co-op is Penny.
Geez! What's up with all these old ladies?!?! Do I love them or do they love me, or is it both?
I think it's both.
I remember the first time I saw my Mentrix, Mavis. Her son had brought her to an SGI toso, and when I walked in, I saw this old, wrinkled woman. She was sitting in a chair with her eyes closed, listening to the daimoku. She was wearing a purple turban and some very strange-looking, large, clunky jewelry (I later learned that the necklace she was wearing was made out of dried and shrunken mandarin oranges. It's one of her favorites. Right up there with the real bear claw.)
I looked at her and a thought crossed my mind.... "Who's the crone?" This thought was a bit strange, as I didn't normally use the word "crone". Mavis opened her eyes, looked at me and nodded her head. I kind of nodded back and took a seat. I never mentioned to her that I had thought of her using the word "crone". Never mentioned it at all.
Afterwards, my friend Jim introduced me to his mom. Soon, we became friends, and Mavis was hugely helpful to me in pulling myself out of a deep,deep funk I had sunk into because of a number of personal issues. It's arguable that she saved my life, and we have become close friends. I can talk to her about anything.
One day, we were driving in my car and Mavis said something to me about how I had thought she was a crone when I first saw her. "But I never said that!" I exclaimed, and it was true, I never had.
"Well, you thought it, didn't you?" Mavis asked. And that was true. I had thought it, and that was enough. You have to kind of watch what you're thinking around her. She can pick your brain without asking too many questions out loud.
Mavis proceeded to make clear to me that a "crone" wasn't a bad thing - not a mean old witch or anything like that. She claims that the word "crone" comes from the same root as the word "crown". Mavis' interpretation is that a crone is a woman who is a "queen of life" - someone who has lived long and who has developed deep wisdom. That's my Mavis, of course. And I think that's why I like talking to old gals like Barbara Pike and Eva and Sylvia and Penny and Mavis so much. They really have a lot of insight and wisdom to share. And they're past the giggly obsession with guys that you get on younger women. If I can help these good old crones by taking them shopping or to the library, then that's a good deal for me.
Hey! I think I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up! A crone!
Anyway, Mike and Lynda in Houston - Mavis is alive and well. If you want to chant for her, she would probably appreciate a prayer that she makes it to Macchu Piccchu in this lifetime. That's a place she really wants to go.
Bye for now, everyone. Crones rule!!!!!
Be wise, be kind, be cool.
Byrd in LA
I keep trying to learn how to do links in this page, and I keep getting fouled up.
So, I will post a web address (not a link), and hope that you can get to it by cutting and pasting. Here it is:
http://www.knbc.com/news/8471699/detail.html?subid=10101581
Or, you can go to knbc.com and put "mavis Coyle" into the search engine. It will pull up a video of my Mentor in Life, Mavis. Oops, since she's an old female, I shall have to call her my Mentrix, in order to distinguish her from my Mentor.
You can watch the video and tell me what you think.
I went to see my Mentrix on Saturday, the day after I had learned that someone at Gakkai Central thinks I owe apologies to Soka Gakkai Presidents Makiguchi and Toda (both deceased).
It was one of those fabulous days, where everything goes click, click, click, just right. Everything scooting along perfectly. What the Gakkai calls "being in rhythm". We had a talk and did some chores and went out for fish and chips for lunch.
At one point, while we were sitting outside Mavis' trailer, she could tell that I was disturbed. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her - it's the church....I read a book by a professor of Japanese religions and I expressed an opinion that I got after reading that book, and now....well....they want me to apologize to dead people.
Mavis looked puzzled.
Dead people?
Yes. Dead people who held different opinions from the professor and me. They think I should apologize to dead people.
Mavis threw her head back, and peal upon peal of laughter just shot out from her throat, her chest, her belly. And I joined her.
Wow, what a relief. My mentrix - I just love her.
Laughingly yours, Byrd in LA
Well, according to the staff member who wrote to me last week, with copies to various other staff and area leaders, I owe an apology:
To all SGI members for characterizing them as lacking understanding of Buddhism and being mindless followers. Etc, etc, etc,...
I don't think I have characterized the membership as being mindless followers. If I have, please point this out to me, and I will address it. I genuinely do not want to be offensive, but I also wish to be as clear as possible. I'm glad we have an open marketplace of ideas in which to do this, aren't you?
I think my general perspective on the SGI-USA membership is that they are strong, capable, and mature adults, with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. We operate in this country on the assumption that other adults are adults, and I think that's where I've been operating from. For example:
1. I think the SGI-USA membership is capable of managing their own local finances, and I have said so.
2. I think the SGI-USA members are smart enough and mature enough that they do not need to be "protected" from exposure to the ministers of other denominations, or from doctrinal discussions on the worldwide web. I think they are more than capable of handling that kind of stuff. The fact that people of good faith may differ with each other may take a little getting used to, but I think the members can manage it. I don't think they're dopes at all.
3. I think that the SGI's members are capable of engaging in the kind of nuanced reasoning about the Gakkai's history which I discussed in my last blog. Perfectly capable. I don't think they need to be given a watered-down version of history. I think they can handle differing perspectives, and I think they can handle the truth. I think they are capable of standing up and taking the lead in establishing a truly Western Buddhism which will be readily accessible to people in our country. I think the members are more than capable of doing that. Of course, they might have to apologize to the ancestors if they try, but that's another matter.
4. I think they are capable of choosing their own leaders, as well as those leaders' terms of office and powers over the general membership population. I think they are fully capable of that - I have said so on many occasions.
For those people who are happy with the status quo, that is fine. I am hardly forcing anyone to read this blog, nor am I forcing anyone to agree with me on anything. No one is duty-bound to examine the differences between Japanese and Western culture and how they impact the organization. No duty at all. But if someone is interested in doing it, I for one think it's a heck of a fascinating arena for discussion. I'm sure those who wish to do it are capable of doing it. In other words, the SGI-USA membership is....
Not mindless at all.
As far as the issue of whether or not I have characterized the SGI general membership as "lacking an understanding of Buddhism"...
That, I will admit, is true, I have made that characterization, but it is not necessarily an insult. A well-trained Catholic or Lutheran doesn't necessarily have a broad understanding of Christianity. A sincere Hassid doesn't necessarily have a broad understanding of Judaism. In fact, their denominations may actively discourage a broad understanding of history or of context. Unorthodox views may not be tolerated. That may be how the sect survives. I hardly insult them if I observe that. Their understanding of faith issues is sectarian, and developing that sectarian mind of faith is well within their rights and the rights of their denomination. I don't quibble with that, or expect anything else from the SGI as a denomination.
The difficulties for SGI members arise when we try to interact with other Buddhist or with people who have some passing knowledge of Buddhism in general. I am embarassed by the fact that most SGI members I have spoken with cannot articulately place Nichiren Buddhism in a context other than to say, in some way, "we are better". Perhaps taking too strong a cue from our founder's combativeness, we are too often driven to prove our practice's superiority to others', and in the process, we lose whatever insight we can gain from others' perspectives. I have seen Gakkai members, time and time again, move to refute or rebuke other practices of which they have little or no understanding at all other than that which was framed in the 13th century. This has earned us a reputation among many other Buddhists as being closed-minded, and not the 'world citizens" which President Ikeda encourages us to be.
The above observation on my part is not intended as an insult, and I don't have to apologize for it. Nichiren Buddhism is a noble and a valid tradition. We should be able to dialogue intelligently and confidently with other Buddhists. I think our failure to develop this skill is a detriment to the overall goal of worldwide propagation. I think that SGI members in general are more than intelligent enough to develop this kind of broad understanding. Again, that is my opinion, and I don' t have to apologize for it.
So, for what it's worth, I come to the end of another blog.
I am genuinely interested in how my readers here feel I have injured the general membership. Feel free to write in and let me know.
Have a good week, everyone.
Be clear, be calm, be cool.
Byrd in LA
P.S. I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings by saying that they were capable, intelligent grown-ups.
Well, guys, I am very, very excited. After almost a year of blogging here, as well as writing opinion pieces at some Yahoo boards, I have gotten some written feedback from an actual SGI-USA staff member! Yay! I had always believed that our online discussions were read in Santa Monica (and Japan), but only had incidental proof that this was the case. Anyway, this person in Santa Monica believes that I owe apologies to the following:
1. To the first two presidents for accusing them of making a mistake and being fooled by the priests.
2. To President Ikeda for teaching incorrect Buddhism.(sic) (Note: I'm not clear here whether the staff member is saying that I have accused PI of teaching incorrect Buddhism, or whether he is saying that I have been teaching incorrect Buddhism myself - I would appreciate some clarification on that)
3. To all SGI members for characterizing them as lacking understanding of Buddhism and being mindless followers. Etc, etc, etc,...
Well, it's a breakthrough, anyway, and I'm not going to sneeze at it. There are couple of matters to clear up, though. Let's start at the first allegation, that I owe an apology to the first two presidents (i.e., Maikiguchi and Toda) for "making a mistake and being fooled by the priests".
What is strange to me here, is the idea that stating a belief that someone else has made a mistake is some sort of "accusation". People make mistakes. Infallible deities don't, but people do. It happens all the time. No problem. An example is my previous blog here. If I made a mistake, then I can apologize and move on, trying not to make the same mistake again. There are more substantive issues to be dealt with than forcing individuals into postures of apologetic submission, I'm sure we all can agree. Can't we?
Now, to the question of whether I have "accused" Preident Toda of "making a mistake". Although I understand that Santa Monica might be annoyed with me for deviating in writing from the standard orthodox perspective on Gakkai history and the three eternal mentors, I believe what I believe based on what I have read and studied (and much of that is outside the Gakkai's sphere of publication). In the US, we don't generally believe that we owe each other apologies for our opinions. That's how we play ball here on this side of the Pacific, and (as you know) the differences between how the
japanese play ball and how we play ball here are also a major topic of interest for me. In this country, we generally can write about topics of interest to us, no?
It is my belief, based on my own reading of the Gosho as well as modern independent scholarship (particularly Professor Jaqueline Stone of Princeton University) that Nichiren Shoshu's doctrinal deviations from Nichiren's teachings far, far pre-date the tenure of Nikken Abe and the SGI-"divorce" from Nichiren Shoshu in the early 1990's.
If we're not in the business of making infallible gods out of our founders (and only someone who is more in the know that I am can tell us that for sure), then the issue of whether or not the SGI spent its first 50 years in an alliance with a deeply distorted school of Buddhism (i.e., Nichiren Shoshu) is a perfectly reasonable topic of discussion. Not a personal "accusation" at all.
It's not as though I have accused Makiguchi and Toda of any felonies, I haven't called them child molesters or sexual deviants. Nothing of the sort. We are free here to discuss history and the development of our sect, no? That's all I'm doing. I know that my opinions are not in agreement with standard orthodoxy, but that's not a form of wrongdoing, is it? I mean, who is hurt by a disagreement?
I am somewhat befuddled as to what duty Santa Monica believes that individual SGI members owe to the organization's founders as far as creating a sort of myth of infallibility. Is that what we're doing? I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I'm just curious.
Finally, the whole issue of "being fooled by the priests" makes little sense to me. I don't think that either Makiguchi or Toda had any reason to disbelieve the Nichiren Shoshu's doctrines. Nor do I think they were tricked. They went with what information they had available to them at the time, and worked very hard for the expansion of our practice and the growth of the organization. Ikeda has worked hard to make this an international reality. That they believed what they believed based on the information they had available to them at the time is not a form of wrongdoing, and it is not an allegation of gullible idiocy.
Gotta go now, an update on this fabulous breakthrough tomorrow!
Be calm, be collected, be joyful, be cool.
Byrd in LA
Hi, everyone - after some feedback I have received off-board, I want to be very clear that my recently deceased friend, Barbara, very much loved the SGI and its International Honorary President, Daisaku Ikeda. I didn't realize that I was giving any other impression of her. She gave me an interesting persepective on President Ikeda, in fact - feeling strongly that because they were almost exactly the same age, that he was sort of her "classmate", and her peer. I thought that was a very interesting POV.
She also expressed a lot of concern about the amount of Japanese cultural influence within the organization - it was something we talked a lot about. She gave me a whole lot of books on the subject and recommended a lot more.
I hope I haven't given anyone here the impression, conveyed to me off-baord, that I was in some way wrongfully using Barbara or her death to "besmirch" the SGI. She was opinionated and outspoken, and did not always agree with the org (characterizing to me the recent "chant to close the temples" campaign as "silly" - I agreed with her on that), but she did love the Gakkai, warts and all. So do I. That was something we had in common.
Here's Barbara on that campaign:
Dear Byrd --
Your posting was terrific. I totally agree. I've been enrolled in that old-folks Pioneer group and am embarrased by its silliness.
When my European ancestors went through their "get rid of priesthoods" phase 500 years ago, the battle was a lot bloodier. Lots of well-meaning people killed each other.
But the rebels and free-thinking Protestants then subdivided into many rebellious, free-thinking sects -- try counting some of them in your local Yellow Page "Churches" secton...keeping them in Unity -- even with intimidation and punishment -- was not possible. The genie was out of the bottle.
I think that will be SGI's major problem -- and good news for those of us who want to practice more Western Buddhism.
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Pike at December 12, 2007 10:53 AM
I certainly intended no insult to anyone. If you want to get to know Barbara's opinions on the SGI, you can certainly go back through my blog here and read her comments for herself. She had a lot of particularly interesting opinions about the impact of Japanese hierarchical cultural norms on the Gakkai. Here are a few insightful quotes from her:
Howdy --
As you know, I've amassed a whole shelf of books on Japanese culture, while trying to sort out what is Buddhism, and what is merely cultural peculiarity -- essentially Confucian...
I can recommend "The Unspoken Way --Haragei in Japanese Business and Society" by Matsumoto, "Hidden Differences: Doing Business with the Japanese" by Howard & Mildred Hall, "Japanese Culture and Behavior" edited by T.S and W.P.Lebra and the not-outdated classics by G.B Sansome and Ruth Benedict.
I have misplaced a main one by a Japanese psychologist, with the word "Dependent" in the title -- explaining all Japanese relationships -- in corporations, the military, social organizations, etc -- in terms of the "amae" emotional dependency of spoiled small boys upon their mothers. He's so right! And maybe why Douglas MacArthur called Japan "a nation of twelve-year-olds."
Ideally, superiors are nurturing, indulgent and very much feared. Inferiors are unquestioning, blindly dependent upon their betters, learning how to behave when they get dependent inferiors of their own.
It seems to be emotionally growth-stunting -- sort of training human bonsai trees. I don't think that most of them ever learn to cope with adult life the way that grownups in the rest of the world do.
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Pike at January 23, 2008 07:56 PM
Or, from the same blog entry:
Me again.
I understand that there is no word for principle in Japanese. It's too non-situational. I think even their math is situational, in that there are several words for one, two, three, etc., depending upon who is involved.
Also -- I've been trying to remember a very important verb in Japanese that describes the activity before any business meeting, in which all issues are decided and concensus arrived at. Meetings are just feel-good formalities.
And we need to consider the passionate patriotism of Japanese expats. I'm recalling, in Mexico City, the exaggerated Frenchness of colonials at 14th of July parties, the veddy Britishness at Queen's Birthday parties, even gringos' homesickness on 4th of July... it brings out a lot of shared complaints about the wrongnesses of the foreign place where they happen to be.
Moreover, to some Japanese after WWII, we have been the enemy in what they called a Hundred Years War which was far from over. Before the Japanese economy tanked, they could feel arrogant.
As I recall, NSA offered training to upper echelon people in what it termed "mastery."
I remember World Tribune editor Gary Curtis, after a year of gakkai training in Japan, saying, "The Japanese have Democracy brand shoes and Democracy brand cigarettes. But they will never understand democracy."
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Pike at January 24, 2008 12:14 PM
Here's a goodie about Daisaku Ikeda, whom she very much admired:
Dear Byrd & all --
So true. And in case any SGI policy makers ever see this blog, I'd like to add that the Japanese are also shooting themselves in the foot (in the feet?) with all the C-list school doctorates and other formal "honors" that are being collected. The Japanese seem incapable of comprehending anything beyond "face" facade -- of recognizing the cause and effect realities that the rest of the world feels entitled to take for granted. Everyone here understands that all those certificates have not been given without serious solicitation, probably accompanied by money. Money that we donate.
I don't blame President Ikeda for this. His aim is to proselytize.
I think he has been persuaded that the accumulation of honorary doctorates, titles, etc. will help in proselytizing.
And I think whoever is persuading him about that is doing a great disservice to SGI's worldwide credibility.
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Pike at January 7, 2008 09:18 PM
:
Here's a great one to close with:
Hi Byrd & all --
My 2cents' worth -- Much of the problem could be culture clash and misunderstand-able translations: guru=sensei=master...all implying the sort of "amae" emotional dependency that Westerners outgrow in adolescence, but Japanese seem to keep all their lives.
In America, I think substituting the word "mentor" has been unfortunate...as a woman in the business world, every time I refused to go to bed with a would-be mentor, he suddenly ceased to even be friendly.
I think that if Buddhism is to spread in the West, we need to appreciate the Oriental teachers -- learning all we can from them as we grow and change -- but always paying close attention to the Gohonzon within us.
Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Pike at December 1, 2007 02:54 PM
That's what I loved about Barbara - she was always more than capable of speaking for herself. Good writer, too. Take care, all. Best, Byrd in LA
I'm going to start this post off with a funny, true story. I was at a memorial on Monday evening for Barbara Pike, the 79-year old SGI pioneer member who died over the weekend. At one point, when we were sharing stories of Barbara with the group, a Japanese women's division pioneer member piped up and said,
"Oh, yes, today, at her apartment, we were looking at Barbara's X-Rated pictures!"
One of the participants leaned forward and asked, "You were looking at what?
The pioneer's answer came back,
"Barbara's X-Rated pictures!"
Well, there were 16 of us in the room, with two eyebrows each. I think it's fair to say that 32 eyebrows hit the ceiling at this revelation about Barbara's secret- X-Rated interests.
There was a huddle, and the truth came out. The pioneer lady corrected herself, "oh, I mean X-Ray pictures!" This was true, we had been looking at Barbara's chest X-Rays. Whew! What a wild moment in kosen-rufu history that nearly became!
But, seriously, folks, another friend of Barbara's and I have been talking lately about the issue of how the organization can best care for its pioneer and older membership. I am genuinely interested in any feedback that the readers here can offer in this regard.
In Barbara Pike's case, she had no children or husband, but she did have a lot of friends. After Barbara's death, the SGI members who have showed up to deal with her possessions have not been members of her Chapter or District. While she was in the skilled nursing facility, the individuals who were most involved with advocating for her with the staff were also not members of her immediate group or district.
This past Sunday, there was a meeting at the San Fernando SGI Community Center epsecially for the pioneer members - those people in the SGI who have been chanting for 30 or more years, and who are over age 60 (I'm not in either category, but I understand that these two criteria are somewhat flexible).
Those of us who were involved with Barbara's passing have been discussing among ourselves how to organize a system of care for the pioneer membership. I am assuming that this system would be trans-group and district (Barbara and I are not even in the same SGI-USA Region or Area, although we lived close to each other). Pioneers may need to be checked on, shopping trips arranged for those who need that, advocacy in nursing home situations, making sure they have enough food in the house, and all kinds of simple, basic concerns which are often overlooked in dealing with the elderly.
What do you people here think about this issue, and how should it be approached by the organization, if at all?
Thanks, I'm genuinely interested in your feedback.
Bye for now, Byrd in LA
And no, that is not an April Fools' Joke....
Anyway, Noah the Canadian monk then launched into a rather long discourse on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path of Buddhism. I found the talk interesting, but a dear friend characterized Noah as being "full of shit" - well, OK, different strokes for different folks, I guess.
One thing that was notable about this particular monk is something that I notice in speakers who are a part of Southeast Asian monastic orders. Thich Naht Hanh is another example of this, if you've ever heard him speak. That is, that they tend to speak very slowly, softly and deliberately. Every word is chosen, and every word counts. That's kind of refeshing to listen to. So many of us in the West are in a hurry with our speech, and we fill the spaces up with, like, the verbal equivalent of junk food, you know? I dunno, I mean, it's like sometimes you have to really try to pick, you know, the, I dunno, the content, you know, out of what people are saying. You know?
I enjoyed listening to some one who chose his words carefully, even if I didn't agree with everything he said. He didn't just "shoot from the hip". He wasn't out to impress me with his intellectual prowess, or his vocabulary, he was just choosing his words carefully and softly.
So carefully and softly, in fact, that two of our group fell asleep. One of them expressed some concern later that he had been snoring, but he had not (whew! What a relief!)
At any event, Noah discussed at some length the Buddha's "Middle Way" between indulgence and asceticism. This makes sense to me, but I thought that Noah's approach was a little bit odd. For example he considers things like stairmasters and treadmills to be forms of self-torture. But eating only one meal a day (which he does, and always before noon) is not self-torture at all. I didn't quite follow his reasoning, but it seemed to make sense to him. By the way, Noah is extremely thin, and not at all buff.
He also spoke at some length about our "addictions" to sensual pleasures, and to our emotional states. This was interesting for me, as I have long felt that some people get addicted to certain states of mind -- anger, for example. It seems like some people just go around looking for something to be angry about, so they can feed their angry head, the same way that alcoholics go around looking for a drink. Other people get addicted to television, or to whatever rush they get from chocolate cake or (in my case) spicy tuna sushi rolls. So, this part of the lecture made sense to me.
After the lecture was over, some of the group went into a Q&A session with Noah, while I went off to an appointment. If someone else has anything they can add about this field trip, feel free to pipe up.
Be moderate, be deliberate, be cool.
Byrd in LA