We had our first Victory Over Violence meeting last night. About 30 of us attended including the daughter and mother of our member who was a victim of violence. We set a tentative date in mid-September. I don't think anyone in that room really understands what we are about to do. The MD area leader thinks he's going to run this project. That's not a good idea. We need a project manager for this. Someone who can delegate and communicate and get the job done. The project manage can't be a faith leader. Those two jobs conflict. He wanted to meet once a month for 5 months. That won't get the job done.
It was a great meeting. Several people really stepped up and got involved. I am looking forward to working with other members and other community groups to make this a success.
In SGI, we have a daily practice of gongyo and chanting morning and evening. We are allowed, if not encouraged, to chant for stuff or personal enrichment. We are also allowed and encouraged to attend meetings with other SGI members where we discuss Nichiren's Buddhism, our daily lives and, usually, some SGI politics. This how most of us started our relationship with Nichiren Buddhism.
Thousands, if not millions, of people only know the ways of the SGI. Some SGI members know of and maybe know a little about other Nichiren groups/sects/sangas, but have found their place in the SGI.
Then something happens. A "leader" says something or does something or doesn't do something or doesn't say something and some members become discouraged. These folks can't seem to reconcile their feelings and begin to drift away from the SGI. They have a connection to Nichiren Buddhism, but believe they can go it alone or converse with like-minded people on the 'net - they don't need the SGI. In some cases, these groups/sects/sangas (g/s/s)are actually founded on how misguided the SGI is. The SGI doesn't chant the right words or study the right stuff.
Then we all come together on the web. We talk about our different beliefs and politely, or harshly, bash each others' allegiance and hold our own up as the model. Yeah, I'm a member of the SGI. Do I think it's perfect? No. Do I want to leave? No. Do I think it is the only way to practice Nichiren Buddhism? No. I like the practice of the SGI. The chanting and personal contact with other members. I don't understand many of the other groups. So enlighten me by answering some questions.
How do you refer to yourself?
Do you practice as we understand it in the SGI?
Do you meet with others in your g/s/s?
What is the foundation or basis or purpose of your g/s/s?
Tell me something I don't know.
Nancy
How do I chant?
What should I think about?
I know I shouldn't beg, but should I demand or expect or ask?
I think we all have asked these questions. I have heard many different answers.
Some people make affirmations - "I will get this job!"
Some people visualize what they want - i.e. imagining a tumor shrinking.
Still others just think "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo"
I have done all three of these and still have trouble figuring out how to chant. Then Sunday at a meeting, a newer member gave an experience about how she chanted. She decided she would use a method I haven't heard before:
Make a very specific determination which includes very specific results.
For example, let's say you wanted a new job. You have chanted to find the best job and have applied or interviewed. Now you make a very specific result - I will get the job, I will receive the call at this time, I will start on this date, it will pay this much and have these benefits. When you chant, you have a very specific goal in mind.
I like this idea. Monday night when I was chanting, I came up with my own very specific goal. I owe my dad some money and I just can't seem to get far enough ahead to pay him back. My very specific goal is that I will be able to pay him back next Wednesday and the money cannot come from my business. It has to come from somewhere else. Where? I have no idea, but that's what is "mystical" (see Joe Isuzu's latest blog) about this practice. I believe, because of my past experience, that this will happen if I chant for it. That's not magical thinking (see Rev. Greg's blogs), it is experience. Our experiences with this practice lead to our faith.
Damn! I just got a phone call, one of our big printers went down, I got off on a discussion about Straw Man and Red Herring and several people asked me questions. I have no idea what I was going to say next. Maybe someone else can wrap this up for me.
This was "Think It Over" electronic baby weekend for my 15 year old daughter. For health class she had to care for an electronic baby doll. It screamed... alot. She had to feed it, change it's diaper and burp it. She picked it up Friday after school. We stopped by my parents' house and when my daughter gave it to my mother it started to scream. The big problem with this is that it didn't "Turn on" until 10:00 Friday night. It screamed for 30 minutes and we couldn't do anything to stop it.
It was a rough 3 nights. I think the thing is programed to keep the teenager from getting any REM sleep. My poor daughter was dragging all weekend. Now we all tense up when we hear a baby cry. I think we have PEBSS (Post Electronic Baby Stress Syndrome). My daughter never left the house the entire weekend. My younger daughter helped out during the day and I got up a few times in the night and my husband fed and burped it Sunday afternoon. We were at school 20 minutes early Monday to return the baby.
When my friend died, my younger daughter started chanting with us at meetings. She has attended a Women's General Meeting, a few district chanting meetings, a Young Women's Division meeting and was the MC for Sunday's World Peace Prayer. My older daughter says she will also attend the YWD meeting this Friday.That is something I wasn't expecting.
Also at WPP, a member came who we haven't seen in about 8 years. I have been sending him a calendar every month, but it started to come back with no forwarding address. That's another interesting thing - we are bringing back our Men's Division members. Tonight we are home visiting one and last night I home visited another. I am looking forward to more MD members at meetings. I am not looking forward to the next electronic baby doll weekend when my younger daughter has to do it.
Nancy