June 23, 2007
Finding My Own Voice in the Crowd
Buddhism and Positive Thinking
Ki to Revitaliztion
I recently read a guidance speech from an SGI senior leader. I had heard the same sort of guidance, pretty much the same speech, over and over since 1972. It goes something like this: 
You can be whatever you want to be. The only thing stopping you from reaching your goals is your own negativity; the fundamental darkness within. It is like we all have an evil twin; who is telling us we can not do it! Buddhism is victory or defeat, moment by moment!
Either you win, or fundamental darkness wins. Of course we all encounter negativity in our daily lives. It is a matter of whether we give in and are defeated, or if we fight back. It is Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism that enables to have the fighting spirit to defeat all the negativity we encounter, and be a winner in life.
The way to actually do this is often vague, and too often reeks of magical thinking. From what I can gather, all we have to do is assemble a list of goals, sit down in front of the Gohonzon, and chant to fulfill our desires with a lot of determination. Then, if it does not work, it is our fault. We need to go out and recruit new members, then our karma will magically change. 
Basically, my take anyway, what they have done is to graft western, secular, positive thinking success training methods onto the devotional-Insight practice of Kanjin as taught by Nichiren. In the past, people like Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and W. Clement Stone have done pretty much the same thing with generic American Judeo-Christianity.
"A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change." -- Earl Nightingale
Bondage is - subjection to external influences and internal negative thoughts and attitudes." -- W. Clement Stone
"Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do. -- Napoleon Hill
There is no doubt that there is a lot value in this type of philosophy. I think it worked during the post-depression era of the USA, and the post WWII era of Japan. Also, perhaps, the post Viet Nam era in the USA. This were times of great cynicism, so there were plenty of opportunities, and relatively little competition. It was largely a matter of a few ambitious individuals standing up and filling a huge void.
The problem is, at this time, and for quite a while now, there are a lot of people who are "just doing it." There is now plenty of competition, and relatively fewer opportunities. So the actual success rate of Positive Mental Attitude training has declined to where it is miserable. The "Success System That Never Fails" hardly ever works. The real success stories are the exception; many of them are highly exaggerated puff pieces. It seems like the real money is in selling success systems on late night cable TV, or better yet, Oprah.
I once thought that Daimoku was the missing ingredient. However, I applied this with a lot of effort for many years. In the end, all I was really doing was spinning my wheels and going in circles.
Around 2003, I bottomed out. Though I had enjoyed some successes, everything I had gained was lost; my health, my income stream, my insurance, ... 
well, I almost everything. I had always benefited in some way from chanting Daimoku while gazing at the Mandala Gohonzon. Besides the obvious, the energy it gave me, it also somehow opened up an inner voice, a sort of access to inuitive insight. However, what this voice told me was a bit different from SGI senior leader guidance. However, I was convinced that I should not 'listen' to my own mind; I should follow SGI guidance instead. 
Part of that involved the superstitious view of other forms of Buddhism that SGI inherited from SGI. Somehow, it was fine to basically teach the same thing, albeit in a shallow, diluted manner; as Nightingale, Hill, and Stone. 
But we did not dare borrow a single thing from Theravada, Zen, Shingon, etc. This never quite added up.
There was another thing; so much of the Gosho blew right past me. SGI would pull out certain quotes, and repeat them over and over. But there seemed to be some missing context. While I did not follow hardly anything Nichiren wrote, it was clear he was not talking about modern, self help, material success techniques. And he sure seemed to have read a lot of forbidden Buddhist teachings.
One thing: I think the SGI has been sincerely trying to apply Buddhism in the western gaijin realms. I just do not not think the marriage of Nichiren and Nightingale has worked out very well. In 2003, I decided to start listening to my own voice. Part of this was dumping magical positive thinking in favor of realistic critical thinking. It also included adopting and adapting teachings & practices from other schools.
I will refrain from saying the change in my life has been dramatic. In fact, I have had quite enough high drama to last several lifetimes. No more moment by moment, negative versus positive, Buddha versus Darkness, life or death, win or lose, victory or defeat struggles for me. What I have achieved is a steady, gradual improvement in every facet of my life.
Negative thoughts no longer bother me in the least. It is best to face things honestly and realistically. If things are bad, so be it. What scares me are negative emotions that tie the mind in knots. -- me
June 16, 2007
Coming Attractions on Nichiren, but first, Meditation
I intend to get back to Life and Legends of Nichiren soon. Part of this will involve redoing the photo albums at nichirenpix. So far, I have skipped around a lot. I shall be moving earlier Life & Legends of Nichiren blogs up to the front, so they are in sequence. I'll likely move quickly, then go back later and revise the entries. I expect to move the entries on his childhood and early schooling to the front page. Then, I will adding new entries on his training at the Kamakura Hachiman Shrine Temple from circa 1238-1242.
First, I have a few more in the hopper on meditation practices. I think a fairly detailed study of the different kinds of meditation is useful. It helps us to sort out our experiences, thus avoiding the pitfall of thinking we have attained what we have not.
The Buddha talks about two main forms of Meditation. These are the Concentration {Samatha / Samadhi / Jhana/Dhyana/ / Samapatti} Meditations and the Mindfulness {Sati/Smrti; Satipatthana} Meditations. From what I gather, later Buddhists sorted these into the Samatha and Vipassana categories. These later Buddhists may have included Buddhaghosa in the Pali-Thervadin tradition; and T'ien T'ai Chih I in the Chinese Mahayana tradition.
In terms of the Three-fold Training as Eightfold Path, as explained in the Nikaya/Agama Suttas/Sutras, it appears that both the Concentration Meditations and the Mindfulness Meditations belong to the second Training of Meditation {Samadhi-Jhana}. Insight {Vipassana} would then coincide with the third Training, that of Wisdom {Prajna}. However, for practical purpose, Mindfulness Meditation has become associated with Insight {vipassana} and the Training of Wisdom {prajna}.
That might be because mindfulness, or the Four 'Foundations" of Mindfulness, are prerequisites for Insight & Wisdom. Meanwhile, the Concentration Meditations, beyond Access Samadhi, might be considered optional, or un-required courses. Also, two of the four foundations of mindfulness are extremely useful in daily life. They might even be necessary for effective living. I do think the concentration exercises still have a place, though; they are like the magic city, a vacation from the stresses of daily life. And that thought just occurred to me.
At any rate, the two main classifications I shall use are:
{1}. The Quietude {Samatha}, Concentration {Samadhi}, and Absorption {Dhyana} Meditations.
{2}. The Mindfulness {Sati/smrti}, Wisdom {Prajna}, and Insight {Vipasyana} Meditations.
This creates the question of where to place the cultivations of the Four Immeasurables {Infinite Emotions}. or the Metta, Karuna, Muditta, and Equanimity meditations. My thinking is that they are a form of, or an approach to, the rupa-dhyanas. So that would make them part of {1} above. That makes the most sense right now. I should note that even though there are 4 Immeasurables, I do not think these coincide exactly with the 4 rupa-dhyanas or 4 main stages/levels of absorption.
Next entry: Glowing Gohonzons.
June 10, 2007
Concentration, Mindfulness, and the Writing Craft
I am a writer, not by trade, but by nature. Writing is what I do; it is something I have done since I was a young boy. I am still not sure why writers write. ...
... Part of it, in my case, is a need to logically, objectively, and concisely explain things to myself. That is perhaps why I write essays and articles. While I enjoy reading their work, I am neither a poet nor a novelist. My half hearted forays into creative writing have generally been rather pathetic.
Whatever the reason, writers write things; it does not matter if we have an audience. If people read our material, and find it helpful, then that is a beneficial side effect. Now; that said, whether we do it well, with mediocrity, or poorly; is another matter. Back in the day when writing always involved paper, most of what I wrote rightfully would up in the proverbial circular file.
Personally, I have some basic skills that I learned growing up, outside of formal schooling. An Aunt and my Mom both taught English; they were constantly correcting 'us kids' {we kids?}. I learned, via repetitive reminders, the difference between a noun and a verb, an adverb and adjective, etcetera, from them. If anything, the formal schooling that I endured actually encouraged sloppy writing. I think maybe the educational 'powers that be' were worried about discouraging creativity and self expression. Also, I think they were trying to move away from making it too complex and confounding; but moved too far.
There was one exception; a French 101 class that I took at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign circa 1971-72. The Teaching Assistant loved language in general. He thoroughly enjoyed exercises like conjugating verbs; and his joy was contagious. I probably would up learning as much or more about English as I did about French.
That much said, I was very ill a few years ago, and have had to recapture, and learn anew, a lot of basic skills. These included simple tasks; like sitting, walking, and speaking. Some who knew my rather whacky on line persona, back then, may recall that I had trouble writing anything that was even remotely comprehensible. However, that did not stop me. I still wrote things; writers write.
Chanting [the central Nichiren Buddhist Practice] to become more mindful was and is extremely helpful in the slow process of recovery and new growth. I still have no idea why it works, but chanting the Daimoku Mantra {Namu Myoho Renge Kyo}, with stillness of mind and concentration, elicits insight; or clear, luminous vision. I do have some idea how it works. The question is when it works. It works better if I do it. I should add, as a disclaimer, that improved concentration and mindfulness are not the only aims or benefits of the practice.
On the topic of improving my writing skills, there are some web-sites that I find useful. If I would have had this kind of rapid access to information thirty-five years ago, college would have been so much easier. Something that helps is to look up words and read the etymology. This is so much faster on line, in contrast with leafing through those old, thick dictionaries with small print. Also, if, while reading, I come across a an unfamiliar word, I simply "google" it.
In the process, I have book marked a few sites that I found helpful.
One thing, the 'stuff' that I find the most challenging is inevitably the most useful. By challenging, I do not necessarily mean hard. I mean something that hits home. something that needs my attention.
Overall, I think the best approach to essay writing technique is to keep it simple: write complete sentences, punctuate, use adverbs and adjectives sparingly and correctly, keep paragraphs thematic and brief, use capitalization at the beginning of sentences, watch out for homophones, and use a browser that highlights spelling errors.
I also try to keep in mind my own common errors, like hitting the 'i' key instead of 'o.' Spelling Checkers do not always catch those, like fir/for. By the way, I have noticed PhD candidates consistently make certain errors. Some of these are so common in educated circles, that they are becoming accepted usage. Here are the three examples I find the most annoying:
*Peak/pique/peek: When I peeked st his paper; it piqued my interest. My interest really peaked after I had waded the first few paragraphs.
*Then/than: If I use punctuation, capitalization, and paragraph breaks; then my material may not look kewl, but it shall be easier to read. I would generally rather read short, concise sentences and paragraphs' than long ones.
*Definate: Definite is the correct spelling; think: finite, define, definition. Something definite is finite and well defined; not finate or well defaned.
Of course, English is not always consistent, rules are not constant. When something appears clear, it is apparent.,not appearent. When we explain something , it is an explanation; not an explaination. Or when we talk, we speak, but use speech.
Finally, I am not here to harp on minor errors, better writing is just something I am trying to be mindful of. And, yes, I do occasionally start sentences with 'and;' as well as end sentences with prepositions. And both are acceptable, although the latter sometimes is not. 'Something to be mindful of'' is better and less awkward than 'something of which to be mindful.' However, 'prepositions are not words to end sentences with' is better worded differently. And in the phrase 'where is the bus station at; the 'at' is simply redundant, that 'at' happens to be a preposition is incidental.
