September 25, 2009
Buddha's Wife
EXCERP:
I was taken aback to see women at the camp, as I had always been under the impression that they were forbidden. Pajapati asked a woman carrying water to a group of men if she was with the Buddha.
“I am a lay disciple,” she replied. “We follow our husbands and sons who have been called to live a life of renunciation and seek liberation from desire and suffering.” She continued walking and we followed.
“But surely, they have not allowed you to take orders and don robes like the men?” I asked, running to keep up.
“Oh no,” she replied. “Being of service to the followers of Gotama is reward enough.”
We watched the woman pour her jug of water into the cups of the men with robes and shaved heads. There were not many women present, but one or two I recognized. I saw Yasa’s wife and mother, who had left the province, unexpectedly, six months earlier. Rumors that they had gone to follow the Tathagata circulated freely, but I didn’t realize they had not only sought the Buddha, but had literally joined their husband and son as lay disciples. The realization that, unlike most practices of the day, one did not have to leave their family to follow a religious life threw a cold bucket of pain in my face. I stood as frozen as snow on the peak of a Himalayan mountain in winter. Pajapati was hit with the same realization. She saw the shock on my face and realized what I was thinking.
“Yasodhara,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”
REALLY?
"A COLD BUCKET OF PAIN IN MY FACE"
REALLY?
"FROZEN AS SNOW ON THE PEAK OF A HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN IN WINTER"
REALLY?
MY RE-WRITE:
It was hot in Bodh Gaya. When wasn't it? And the way Yasodhara looked in that flimsy saffron burnoose just made things hotter for me. She walked willfully towards me and I sensed that she wasn't in the mood for transcending attachments. Tossing a long strand of her raven black hair back away from her face in a gesture defying the warm breeze that that blew it there, I could tell she was cumin onto me like curry on rice.
"Is that a Bodhi tree you're sitting under, or are you just happy to see me?"
"Stop kidding around, Yasi. I'm not in that world."
But I didn't mean it. And she knew it. Her third eye could always see right through my bullskrit.
"You know what they say", she said, "when Gotama's away..."
"Wait. Don't tell me," I said. "He doesn't understand your desires. Spare me. I've heard it all before in a previous life time."
She threw her head back with a laugh that was both maniacal, angry, and sexy. Both those things.
"Ha! Just the opposite. He understands me too well. He understands everything. And I'm sick of it! Do you hear me? Sick of it!"
When she sat down next to me, I knew my mud pie was cooked.
"Don't get me wrong. I like a wise guy. As long as he knows how to use his wisdom. Do you know how to use it? Do you?"
She was so close to me I couldn't tell which ear she was whispering into. One thing I knew for sure. This path I was on was going to land me in a lower world and it wasn't Tierra del Fuego.
"Come on Shariputra, show me your Treasure Tower!" When we fell into each others arms, we just kept on falling. And they call me smart! How dumb can a sap get?
Oh I'll never finish my re-read of the Lotus Sutra, by first snow fall, now...(sigh)
Posted by: RougeBuddha at September 25, 2009 01:29 PMGood stuff. Thanks for the chuckle.
Posted by: Bill at October 9, 2009 10:29 PM10/23/09
Joe Isuzu,
This is Nicki. You replied to a comment I sent to Chapter Diary the other day and recommended that I read, "Herding Cats."
Thanks for your feedback. The practice, as you say, is a gift. This must be why I can't drop it--despite the difficult packaging it came in. I'm no longer fearful of becoming a cultie--if SGI hasn't brainwashed me yet, it can't. But I'm having trouble sitting in meetings and World Peace Gongyo and being clubbed over the head with the mentor/disciple relationship--i.e., why I must take Ikeda as my mentor.
I have a few friends in SGI, who are independent-minded. One is my sponsor, the other is the sister of one of my best friends from college. I can freely talk to either of them about my true feelings/thoughts about SGI and why I don't consider Ikeda my mentor. First, I don't know the man, and while I enjoy reading some of his guidance, what I enjoy seems to be from his older writings. Everything recent--as far as I can tell--is slanted toward deifying Ikeda and demonizing Nichiren Shoshu's priesthood and members. (How is this Buddha-like?)
That's why "Herding Cats," which I just read, was so insightful. (I'm also impressed by your knowledge of Invisible Man. :])
In "Herding Cats," you suggest that Ikeda may not be behind SGI's current direction. Rather the U.S. leadership is behind it. You also imply that Ikeda's and Toda's words are being used out of context to push the new agenda.
Do you think this is being done because Ikeda is 81 years old?
You've probably already addressed my next questions somewhere in your blog:
--Why did you come back to SGI after being away for 20 years?
--Do you attend district meetings? How do you sit through the dogma?
(I've been told that I just don't get it, i.e, the mentor-disciple relationship. I've also been told that embracing the concept of m-d is the only way to practice correctly, i.e., receive benefits and change karma. I've been told by one member that I'm a "slanderer," after she asked me about--and I answered her--my reservations about Ikeda. I could go on and on.)
--What other Web sites are geared toward independent-minded Nichiren Buddhists?
Don't want to get too personal, but if you can refer me to past blog posts in which you touched on my questions, steer me to them.
Best,
Nicki
Joe,
I just perused your index and saw several goodies, among them, What Japan Thinks--I think I got the title right.
Can't wait to go back and read this Anesaki essay. Read Anesaki's Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet this summer.
I noticed one of the entry's comments assumes that Anesaki was a Nichiren Buddhist. My take is that he wasn't--at least not at the time that he wrote the book. RE: In the preface of that book he says that when he learned that his friend, Chogyu Takayama had converted to Nichiren Buddhism, he "criticized his friend in correspondence." After Takayama died, however, Anesaki edited his friend's writings. This process allowed him to "study the process of [Takayama's] conversion."
I thought I'd heard/read that Anesaki was a Christian--perhaps Catholic?--which may explain the Catholic tone that one of the commenters noticed in Anesaki's bio of Nichiren.
So those wonderful images in the What to Wear blog entry are real? If yes, they are interesting artifacts.
Best,
Nicki
Hey Nicki,
There's a lot of ground to cover in your questions. I'm not sure that they can be answered in any one effort or without some time and experience on your part. That's where your friends become invaluable with patience and trust.
Firstly, the disciple picks the mentor regardless of what you may or may not have seen reflected. And the mentor you pick doesn't have to be alive. For the twenty years I practiced solo, it was Toda that I reflected upon for inspiration. That was given to me by Ikeda. If you read the Lotus Sutra, and commentaries on it, you may discover that the significance of the mentor's life is dependent upon the disciple. But this is what I have gleaned and you may find nuances which may affect you differently. My opinion: because of the culture of origin there is an enormous amount of additional attributes being attached the the mentor disciple relationship in the SGI paradigm that really have nothing at all to do with it. So it is important to ask yourself, is what you believe or are being asked to believe, valid everywhere or do you have to adapt your culture to it? In other words, does the belief transcend culture? And sometimes it is not easy to see because the ideas are so different.
"In "Herding Cats," you suggest that Ikeda may not be behind SGI's current direction. Rather the U.S. leadership is behind it. You also imply that Ikeda's and Toda's words are being used out of context to push the new agenda."
Regardless of what the SGI charter states, the SGI-USA is not completely autonomous. I'm either being polite or facetious. The huge campaign to read the Human Revolution is a effort to spread Mr. Ikeda's legacy through the continuing of the organization's paradigm of how to practice correctly through his example. There are several problems with this. One is that I doubt seriously if he wrote anything but the first volumes back in the 60's. The second is that it is just as hard to interpret as Nichiren's letters. I have four different translations of the first two volumes. Here's an example: a man who works for Toda's business, a trusted and diligent book keeper who is very good, leaves Toda's employment while he is in prison. In one version, Toda is sad for the loss of a trusted employee. In another he is portrayed as betraying Toda, the mentor. The city was being fire bombed, he wasn't getting paid, but as this version states, "a man's mind is a capricious thing". That's culture! A culture that was going commit mass suicide at the end of the war until the Emperor spoke to them for the first time via radio and said stop. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.
"Do you attend district meetings?"
Yes.
"How do you sit through the dogma?"
Sometimes I can't and I leave. Sometimes I travel a great distance to attend meetings with less dogma and more discussion. You asked why I came back. I think I answered that in another blog. It bears repeating. My life was not happy and my practice not strong. I was lacking study, involvement, and thought provoking dialogue. Humanity is based on culture, hope, and individual responsibility. Invisible Man was I. But like Ellison's character, found independence and humanity through a right of passage in overcoming betrayal. That's a whole other dialogue.
Anesaki:
That's interesting you bring up Catholicism. He does refer to Nichiren as starting what he termed his version of "The Holy See". I took that as Anesaki's way of relating to western minds what Nichiren was trying to accomplish with his religion. From what I have read and discussed, many think Anesaki was Nichiren Shu. What I find truly amazing is that his book was a result of the lectures he gave at Harvard University back in 1914-1916. You had to get approval from the board of directorship even when invited to be a guest lecturer. He was an expert on all Japanese religion. He picked and was approved for teaching about Nichiren. And his book is beyond studious. He is excited about Nichiren and what came about.
Thanks for your questions. I'm not a scholar nor an expert. I'm just a guy doing the best I can with the tools I'm learning to use. So are those I criticize in the SGI.
Posted by: joe at October 25, 2009 12:17 AMJoe,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm frustrated with SGI but can't let go of NMRK, the act of chanting. I'm a newbie and have a lot to learn, and you've given me plenty to ponder.
I'm a freelance writer/editor on deadline for a book project, but when I come up for air, I'm going to read your whole blog. Your entries are fun . . . and relevant.
With gratitude,
Nicki
If you find the time, Nicki, you'll find the late Byrd's blog entries wonderful reads, too.
Posted by: Michele at October 25, 2009 10:08 PM