Dr. Mimi - The Snap Diva Sings

Last paragraph should have been;

...passion for life and and compassion for the people that touch you and are touched by you.

Doofus

Dr. Mimi,
I'm just glad the supermarket strike is over because I buy all my cloths at Ralphs. Yes, Pavillions has better stuff. But they're a little pricey.

My wife accused me of having no fashion sense. Psha! So I went to Abercrombie & Fitch and they have pictures of what a "hip" guy should look like; shirt open to the navel, baggy pants, unshaven. Now this works well when your in your twenties, but in your fifties? I looked like a homeless man living in an empty Fridgidare box under the freeway ramp. But this nice couple bought me a hot meal, so I guess it was worth the effort.

Grooming goes a long way at this or any age regardless of the cut of your cloth. I chant not to be so self absorbed as to wish I was in someone else's more fortunate shoes or arrogantly grateful not to be in ones that are less. Recognizing the dignity of all life and not begrudging my life because it's MY DAMN LIFE, sure lets me enjoy my day more and the people I bump into. I am ever grateful to be able to elevate my life condition.

You are the Snap Diva and therefore devine in your awsomeness. But what I really sense in your writings is your compassion for life and the people that touch you and are touched by you. In my book that makes you "BUDDHALICIOUS" and that's the jelly we all want on our toast.

"Buddha With A Butt Crack"

Editing that next to last sentence:

All those layers of pretty and expensive things DON'T DO much for someone suffering inside.

Mimi

Y'all have been mighty funny of late. Good thing there were no liquids in my mouth when I read David's piece on "chanting for others to have a Fendi bag."

I must not have a whole lot of fortune as most of the district and chapter meetings I have attended have been populated by those with a severe case of fashion emergency and size challenge. I guess I miss those "dress to impress Sundays" that I experienced at cousin's churches (I was raised a Unitarian Universalist so fashion emergency was de riguer at those churches).

As much as I like those red shoes, pretty clothes and the occassional manicure and pedicure, I still yearn for intellectual makeovers. Something to shine up the spirit and soothe the soul wouldn't hurt either.

All the layers of pretty and expensive things would do much for someone suffering inside.

Passing through Target (with the silent T) these days more than Nieman Marcus.

Dr. Mimi

aka Boddhisatva "get your groove on"

Brian,
I wasn't trying to strike you. If I did, I appologize. The whole thing was supposed to reflect in the silliest way the fact that we live in a sound bite world and I doubt whether NPR, SGI publications, Gosho thumping fundamentalists, or passionate heretics can impart everything that this practice can do or mean to any individual at any given time. No matter how much I write, I cannot accurately describe my full intentions. But, perhaps, what is written will invoke a response, and we can have a continuing dialogue. You can't have compassion for another without having it for yourself. If the road to that passes through Neiman Marcus, so be it. I just cracked myself up and attained enlightenment.
"Buddha Who Sets His Watch Five Minutes Fast Because He Is Always Late"

David, that is really very funny. Thanks. The thing that struck me was that the whole piece seemed to be right out of the 80s - "mystic law of cause and effect through vibration?" Cut me a break. And it certainly was nice to know that ll the members in the Hollywood producer's home were "perfectly coiffed." This doesn't sound like any SGI district meeting I've ever been to. - Brian

I chanted three hours a day for a year to get a Fendi bag for my birthday and when I opened my presents the closest thing I got to it was a lousy Gucci knock off. So I quit practicing. Then a "senior leader" told me the reason I didn't get what I wanted was because I was practicing only for myself. So I chanted three hours a day for another year that everyone in my district would get a Fendi bag. Wow! Did that ever open my eyes or what! I can't believe that I have been so narrow minded, myopic ( whatever that means), and indifferent to other people's plight.
I read an article in the World Tribune where President Ikeda said, "Gandhi was a great practitioner of appreciation and respect in the dignity of all human life; he always responded,'Thank you! A Fendi!'"
Maybe that's what King, Gandhi, and Ikeda have in common besides the BS in Denver.

"Buddha Who Accidentally Ties His Shoe Laces Together"

... and he who is first will find himself last...

Great reply Brian. Human Beings have difficulty with the difference between form and function. Unfortunately many seeking Buddhism really in fact crave the "Japanese-ness" and exotic fashion and appearance of Buddhism - the bells, the incense, the bald-headed guys in robes and especially that feeling of being special, having something special and belonging to something special.

Tribal membership is a very very big deal in Western society, which is why Westerners are so prone to following Indian or Tibetan gurus, or any self-proclaimed "teacher from another land".

This, in my opinion, is the spiritual plight of the first world man (and woman).

Rev. Greg

I couldn’t somehow make my computer play the report…it kept saying “error on page”… which is probably more be apropos than even the computer intended! I've enjoyed reading all your comments. What you people describe here hardly comes as a surprise. Part of the problem may be this:
SGI is just not mediatique, as the French say (I live in Quebec) … in plain English, it lacks media appeal. Assemblies of plainly dressed citizens bringing positive energy into their lives (human-revolutionizing their lives, in the SGI jargon) by sitting in rows of plastic chairs and chanting to a scroll… or meeting in small groups in each others’ homes… Whatever this is, it somehow does not provide the kind of catchy eye-candy the media desperately craves. Compare to Zen, compare to the Dalai Lama. What SGI proposes -- that ordinary people can transform the spiritual energy of their lives without living in monasteries or shaving their heads or assuming difficult postures, just by doing this highly unusual chanting morning and evening – well, there’s more to it than that, but it is all a disconcertingly mixed message, both too radical and too conservative, both unbelievable and a tad drab, for the media to get a handle on. How is mainstream media to deal with it in the most engaging (viz. entertaining) way possible in a short report? Through a kind of caricature. And those people who are naïve enough as to actually chant for all that material stuff (or who could be construed as doing so, by the way they talk and describe their experiences) provide the material required. Loathe are reporters to put their reputations on the line, suggest they may be swayed by some alternative religion’s slick PR campaign, by rendering a subtly sympathetic portrait of an organization like SGI. Dirt may come out…that President who looks like a businessman, who puts out so many books and is so lauded by his followers, looks awfully suspicious… All I can say is, we who are in SGI will likely have plenty to chant about in that regard (at least from time to time, whenever the media pays attention to us), as the organization is likely to bear negative “media karma” for some time to come…
Excuse me for my somewhat cynical tone here. I’m just commenting on the “surface” stuff. What others are talking about here (i.e. bonno soku bodai) plumbs more of the depths…. that I deeply appreciate…

Brian Campbell

Hi again Eddie,

Not to be tiresome but I wanted to provide a little Buddhist context for something you said at the end. You wrote:

"Besides, as long one's life has a physical form there will be "defilements." The "thousand natural shocks flesh is heir to."

I like the way you put that. Here is how Hinayana Buddhism recognized that. The term nirvana was used for those who had rid themselves of mental/emotional defilements but were still vulnerable to physical needs and vulnerabilities and also unpleasant events. Parinirvana" or "complete nirvana" was the term used for when a Buddha or an arhat passed away, because then even their physical needs and vulnerability would disappear.

"Klesha" however, only refers to those mental/emotional afflictions which the arhats and bodhisattvas can transcend even during their lifetimes. But there is definately a recognition that while suffering (our emotional reaction) can be transcended, pain and vulnerability and biological needs can not.

But there is another aspect here - I have been talking about the Hinayana and basic Mahayana position, but the T'ien-t'ai teaching that even Buddhas contain all ten worlds and the esoteric teaching that even the defilements are true suchness has a deeper insight (though this insight is contained in a seed form in Hinayan teachings but this is already too long and complicated). The insight is that the afflictions don't really go away, rather they are transformed into more positive qualities and also they are held in compassionate awareness by the buddhas and bodhisattvas so that they can relate to and help other beings. I think this is an important thing to keep in mind as well, that Buddhism is not about becoming perfected automatons but about acheiving a compassionate, positive and dynamic harmony that integrates all of who we are with the rest of the universe and all sentient beings.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Hi Eddie,
I think that you and I are not so very apart at all in our views on this. My problem is not so much with anything you are saying as with the way the bonno soku bodai rhetoric has sometimes been used to justify a kind of spiritual materialism (spirituality as a tool for strengthening selfishness rather than transforming it). I do not sense that is what you are saying though.

I think you are right in that some people need to start where they are with whatever motivations are at hand. I have privately termed this the "Fantasy Island" approach to Buddhist practice. If anyone remembers that show - it was about people who came a magical island to finally receive what they had always wanted, but over the course of the show they invariably discovered that it didn't really make them happy and instead they discovered the true values in life which really would make them and their families and friends happy. I think Mr. Rourke and Tatoo were like bodhisattvas who had set up the island as an expedient means so that people could move on from selfish or shortsighted goals to more comprehensive and compassionate ways of living. I do think the Odaimoku can function for many people in this way as well. The trick is to encourage people and give guidance which will enable them to grow rather than wallow when dealing with the afflictions.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Hi Eddie,
I hear what you are saying, but these people didn't strike me as down and out people who didn't have basic needs met. They struck me as people chanting for brand names hand bags and for the fulfillment of the materialistic L.A. style American dream.

>>So what? The point of is chant for whatever desires and one will attain what he/she prays for or learn what is what is beneficial for life and what isn't. When one commenses the practice of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, the motivation may not be pure and spiritual. The point is one practices, continues to practice, studies, and sees positive changes in life as a result.

As for "bonno soku bodai" I think that term is badly misunderstood. There are some who would relegate to the perversity of medieval Tendai original enlightenment rhetoric wherein we are all Buddhas from the get go so whatever we do, say, or want is a manifestation of our Buddha-nature. I want to hasten to say that I disagree with those people. Bonno soku bodai goes back to the founding of the T'ien-t'ai school in 6th century China and then even further to Nagarjuna's Verses on the Middle Way and the Mahayana sutras themselves.

>>I don't agree with them, either.

BUT, "bonno" (which is the Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word "klesha) does not mean "eathly desires." The original word "klesha" is usually translated by scholars as "afflictions" or "defilements" and it technically refers not just to worldly desire but to anger, jealousy, envy, hubris, and other forms of negativity.

>>That's correct. Of course, it is possible for one's desire to be an affliction as in an addiction. Hence, the categories are little more fluid than they would appear.

When Nagarjuna and Chih-i and others spoke of these as being enlightenment, what they meant was not that following them or fulfilling them would lead to enlightenment.

>>They meant that they could be a starting point or a motivators for one's practice Buddhism to lead one towards his/her Buddha Nature. Kind of like the way we use steps on a ladder or fuel for an engine.

Far from it. Rather, they meant that by really looking into them and contemplating them and seeing their harmful and contingent (i.e. empty) nature one would see through them completely and thereby attain enlightenment. So in other words, we attain enlightenment not by giving in to the afflictions (the worldly way) nor by denying or cutting them off (the Hinayana way) but by thoroughly looking into them (this would be "kanjin" or seeing the mind) and seeing that their true nature is the same as the true nature of all phenomena (in Japanese shoho jisso). Once we awaken to this, the emotional energy which is frozen up as afflictive energy is thawed out and begins to flow in a new way - as bodhicitta which is the "mind of enlightenment" the mind that compassionately aspires to buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. That, I believe, is the true meaning of the term "the affliction themselves are enlightenment."

>>And one way of doing that is to chant for what one desires. The Gohonzon is the object for observing ones mind and the 10 worlds within it. Hence if something is afflictive a person will eventually learn that, and his life condition will eventually reflect become more enlightened.

>>It's not a matter of giving in to klesha or annihilating them. It's a matter using them as a tool for one's spiritual growth, as it were. Besides, as long one's life has a physical form there will be "defilements." The "thousand natural shocks flesh is heir to."

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

Eddie

Hi Eddie,
I hear what you are saying, but these people didn't strike me as down and out people who didn't have basic needs met. They struck me as people chanting for brand names hand bags and for the fulfillment of the materialistic L.A. style American dream.

As for "bonno soku bodai" I think that term is badly misunderstood. There are some who would relegate to the perversity of medieval Tendai original enlightenment rhetoric wherein we are all Buddhas from the get go so whatever we do, say, or want is a manifestation of our Buddha-nature. I want to hasten to say that I disagree with those people. Bonno soku bodai goes back to the founding of the T'ien-t'ai school in 6th century China and then even further to Nagarjuna's Verses on the Middle Way and the Mahayana sutras themselves.

BUT, "bonno" (which is the Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word "klesha) does not mean "eathly desires." The original word "klesha" is usually translated by scholars as "afflictions" or "defilements" and it technically refers not just to worldly desire but to anger, jealousy, envy, hubris, and other forms of negativity. When Nagarjuna and Chih-i and others spoke of these as being enlightenment, what they meant was not that following them or fulfilling them would lead to enlightenment. Far from it. Rather, they meant that by really looking into them and contemplating them and seeing their harmful and contingent (i.e. empty) nature one would see through them completely and thereby attain enlightenment. So in other words, we attain enlightenment not by giving in to the afflictions (the worldly way) nor by denying or cutting them off (the Hinayana way) but by thoroughly looking into them (this would be "kanjin" or seeing the mind) and seeing that their true nature is the same as the true nature of all phenomena (in Japanese shoho jisso). Once we awaken to this, the emotional energy which is frozen up as afflictive energy is thawed out and begins to flow in a new way - as bodhicitta which is the "mind of enlightenment" the mind that compassionately aspires to buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings. That, I believe, is the true meaning of the term "the affliction themselves are enlightenment."

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

There is a big difference between chanting to meet one's needs and chanting for a Fendi bag (think very expensive designer purse).

Sometimes folks make the assumption that if you are a doc you are flush with all sorts of cash and baubles. I'm not one of those. Most of the patients I see are indigent. The spiritual rewards are great, the financial (especially now with all the health care cuts) pretty abysmal. Four years into a once growing and financially stable private practice, I am struggling to make ends meet at home and in the business.

Funny even when I didn't have ANY money early in my practice, I still had the maturity to chant for world peace, wisdom and compassion.

YMMV.

Dr. Mimi

Of course, for those of us who have are material needs met, it would be easy to roll our eyes at poeple who say they chant for a Fendi Bag (whatever that is). We have the luxury of taking things like that for granted.

Also, the concept of chanting for the more nebulous things e.g. World Peace, wisdom, and compassion are things things that accompany a maturity and development in faith that usually comes later.

Besides there is that little understood concept of bonno soku bodhai - earthly desire equal enlightenment. It is throught are earthly desires that learn faith in the Mystic Law and learn what is important in life.

I listened to it on the web yesterday and was just cringing. My mother told me that a family friend always listens to NPR and probably heard it and my heart sank. Anyone who heard it will be thinking - "Is that what Michael is into? How sad. I thought he was smarter than that."

I have to confess that I feel a deep sense of trepidation whenever anyone asks me what kind of Buddhism I practice because I know that they will either respond with: "Oh is that a form of Zen?" or they will give me a look that says: "Oh, you're one of THOSE people." And of course no one can comprehend the fact that there is more than just one group of Nichiren Buddhists. According to my wife even in Japan most people just associate Odaimoku with SGI. Yumi's family at first didn't want her to marry me because they were afraid I was an SGI member!

And what is also sad is that I have personally, online and off, talked to many SGI members whose practice of Buddhism has matured way beyond the "gimme gimme" and "name it and claim it" form of practice that got highlighted by that show. I was even beginning to think that SGI as a whole had evolved beyond that until I heard this special.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Dr. Mimi -

Unfortunately it is this type of coverage that causes the rest of the Buddhist community to look on all of Nichiren Buddhism askance. I don't know how many times I have had to address comments like "Oh, you're those Tina Turner Buddhists!", and convince people that there is a valid and worthwhile Buddhist tradition at the bottom of all of this.

BTW, we aren't the only ones; I heard a comment last evening from a Pentecostal church member asking NPR to remind listeners that the segment on Pentecostalism focused only on one element or viewpoint, and that it decidedly does NOT represent the entirety of Pentecostalism. The same applies to Nichiren Buddhism as well.

I am hesitant about the accuracy of some of the facts and figures quoted (directly from SGI-USA sources I must assume), but I have a level of insider knowledge (though dated) that very few reporters would have. That said, it was an overall positive piece; better that than negative publicity, on the whole.

Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett