Reverend Greg

Shawn - strange yet wonderful reply.

I may have to become jealous. How does one get to be a bodyguard to a Yak Boss? Enquiring minds like mine want to know!

RG

Bringing the topic back to our friends the Yakuza (from religion, which starts wars, as you remember), I inadvertently found myself playing bodyguard for a boss in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago. "Otou-san" (lit. "[the [god?]] Father"), as he is known by those around him, wanted to make sure he could see without being seen. I did my best. He tipped well. I've tried to avoid him ever since, sometimes successfully, sometimes not - I've been invited out for drinks and hostesses a couple of times but have managed to squirm back under the radar for the time being. He had all his fingers, along with a punch-perm, a Louis-Vitton handbag, and a diamond-studded watch.

Interesting situations in which to practice the "martial arts of distance." Close can be good, but too close can be very bad.

Jussi - why is Buddhist enlightenment about faith? Did Buddha have faith? Faith has nothing to do with Buddhism. It is not an issue in enlightenment at all. Nichiren Buddhists speak about faith but faith in what? They are just nihilists at best.

I have no idea what your last cryptic comment means.
Be that as it may there is little use in continuing this as you clearly have no intention to think about others' point of view nor can you accpet others' words at face value to just mean what they say..
One could attempt to analyse what you wrote but all I sense from you is agression and anger which is an energy I do not particularly wish to be a part of.
All the best, Jussi.

Jussi -

It should be obvious to you at this point -

Your attempts to control my mind have failed.

You have failed.

I am awaiting your little finger.

Rev. Greg

well Greg; I did leave after those images were posted so that should have made it somewhat clear.
However I do not believe in going backwards in life so that is in the past now and does not matter to me.

I believe I did not mention slander in my reply to your blog here did I?
You seem to think I did . However if you read the reply I did not. I merely asked for you to change the obvious mistake which will cause some readers to think that the High Priest did indeed resign. It is not the one and same thing.
As for my quitting you can believe as you like.
I can not spend more time going through it now.

On your rant about your possible attainment of enlightenment...have I said anything about it?
Your enlightenment depends on your faith and not on anyone. Nikken Shonin or the current High Priest Nichinyo Shonin have nothing to do with it.
The question is what is correct faith which enables one to reach enlightenment.
It is always one's own efforts which can lead one there. A high Priest is there perhaps to point the way but he can not do anything about it if you have no faith.
This is in no way a comment on your faith as i have no idea what it is.

Jussi.

Jussi - I understand everything you're explaining.

However you're requesting I change the word "resign" with "retire".

The use of one word for another, in the context and spirit of my blog, is not slander. I say this because the general spirit of the blog was not anti-Nikken or the new priest. If I wanted to slander Nikken, you'd know it because NO Buddhist ANYWHERE should ever claim he stands before me and my own enlightenment. Not only is that wrong, it's downright evil.

All this being said, don't expect me to cater to your hurt feelings when I say something you don't like. You *did* give up your blog. The images weren't on YOUR blog, they were on someone elses. Frankly I don't really believe that was why you walked away.

So as far as my writing goes, live with it.

Rev. Greg

Greg; My decision to leave the blog was only to do with the Gohonzon images here and otherwise I did not particularly care who else writes here even if at times it was unpleasant.
People in free countries can write as they like- however as a Nichiren Shoshu believer I could not in any way be associated with what we call deep slander of publishing photographs of Gohonzon unathorised.
Silly as it seems to you - that is how it was.
If some bloggers here had a mocim of respect towards others beliefs it would have been possible to continue.
If you for instance opposed a photo of a ninja (for want of a better example)for some religious reason I would never wish to offend that even if I would oppose the beliefs associated with that. Of course I know you hold no such beliefs.

Jussi.

Well Peter,

Everyone knows that you can never have enough Ninjas around. That and "tricks are for kids", but that's another blog altogether now.

Rev. Greg

Yeah, the trainer in the Bujikan Sanshin Dojo, his name is Jasper, and he is really a 10th black belt in the art of ninjutsu. i´m determined to continue training in this dojo in copenhagen. we might need ninjas in denmark now that all muslim nations wants to kill us. i don´t blame them, by the way.

Wait, I'm confused now.

What's cooler, to be missing a finger or to have a drawer FULL of fingers? I need to know, I'm trying to move ahead on this...

RG

well, the fingers in the drawers mean that whenever you need something, you just gotta call the owner of the finger and he will take care of it, pretty much for the rest of your life.

It's also kind of a status sign, a sign of belonging to the group ( a big thing in all of japanese society) and it also means you wont make the same mistake again, probably...

Hmm... I have to agree with RG... I would rather just have the money. Remind me not to loan any dough to these fools... last thing I need is an empty bank account and a full drawer full of Yakuza fingers.

Blech.

-A

Peter, you're doing Ninjutsu now are you? Yup, you and Hayes - we're all in trouble now.

Let's see, what do I think of Stephen Hayes...

I really can't say on this particular blog, you see, it's completely overrun with NINJA! Geez, I think you and Jussi are the only non-Ninja, and now you may be one too!

Good times, good times...

Rev. Ninja

I might add that I meant this about Soka Gakkai in good spirit. As a Tibetan Buddhist, I don´t believe in essences at all so there´s no real significance in labelling neither individuals nor groups. This is perfectly obvious, isn´t it?

LOL, nice respond there to Jussi! Use your opponents own force against him. I´ve learned that in bujikan sanshin taijutsu (ninja) training all ready. Stephen Hayes look out, I´ll be 10th degree black belt within years. By the way, how about commenting on the real yakuza of Japan: the proto-fascist gangster mentality of Soka Gakkai?

Best regards
Peter

PS. What do you think about Stephen Hayes, by the way?

"What? Your little finger? Are you nuts? I want my damn MONEY!"

Yeah, it's like that.

RG

Normally they do it when they owe money and they cant pay it back. they do it to themselves.
They're all big gamblers...

Let's talk about pinkies.

Does anyone out there actually understand this pinky business? I mean, here in the USA we have a lot of notions about Yakuza from movies, anime manga, whatever... but seriously, does someone really know the deal here?
Do these guys contradigitate themselves, to show that they are cool and or loyal? Or does it have to do with screwing up? Are you supposed to remove your own finger 'on demand' when proof of (whatever?) is required? Or does someone else do it to you by way of making a point? (or both?)
This might seem to be a strange place for this discussion, but I thought someone might know...

-A

Liz - that was such a totally sweet Yakuza story.

Thanks,

Rev. Greg

I pulled an allnighter in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture the first month I was there. Stepped outside the bar to have a smoke - it was crowded and dark in there, and I just needed to collect my thoughts.

There was a guy in a shiny suit standing out front, staccato on the phone to his crony, and I noticed he greeted people with 'Ohayo' - Mornin' - although it was only 11pm.

I was digging in my purse for a lighter when he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, and I saw he wasn't wearing a shirt at all under the jacket, but barechested. My eyes were drawn to a large pearl held in the claw of a dragon decorating his chest. He made sure I had a good look at his pet tattoo.

He grinned, I said 'Naruhodo' - I see - and we both laughed, lit up and smoked standing next to each other silently, down to the filter. I bowed to excuse myself and go back to my companions and he said 'Nice meeting you' in English.

He had noth his pinkies. I looked.

Have I seen guys with the missing pinkies? Hell yes, all the time. They are everywhere. Three or four guys sitting around Denny's at 10 am on a Monday, suit jackets with track suits underneath.
sometimes its just the tip of the pinky, but if they hang around long enough, eventually they end up losing more. I remember one guy was missing most of his pinky and half of the ring finger on his left hand.
I wish I could give up a piece of my left pinky and have my school loan debts forgiven, pretty sweet huh?

Jussi -
First, I close off my comments on older blogs to cut down on spam. It's an unfortunately reality of having a blog site.

Second - this is the price you pay for not having the guts to have your own blog on Fraught With Peril. Your excuses about not thinking it proper to write on the same site with writers from other Nichiren sects was weak and silly.

You HAD a voice, but wouldn't stand behind it. Now you have to bother those of us who take the time to write about editing our blogs to fit your needs.

Want your blog back? No? Well, whine on. You're always welcome to bitch and moan in the comments section.

Rev. Greg

Sorry this is in the wrong post but you have not allowed people to comment on previous entries. You mistakenly write about High Priest Nikken Shonin's retirement as a resignation. It is not the same thing and has nothing to do with your organisation.
If you could edit what you wrote to be a bit more truthful to reality I would be most grateful.
I will not bother responding to some other things in your piece about the retirement as there is not much point is there?

Jussi.

Thanks for the comments Adrian and Danny.

Danny - have you actually ever seen a Yakuza missing a finger? THAT would be something to take a picture of...

Rev. Greg

Just for the record, its pronounced "Yahk-zah". the U is basically silent.
I dont know how a person defines a "gangster" in Japan when bribery and kickbacks are an accepted part of life. I think the only way you'd know a gangster here was that they all try to dress like gangsters they see in American movies.
Track suits, greasy swooped-up hairdos, a missing pinky finger...
I guess the reason its hard to explain is because there is no (noticable) public outcry against such things. There is no Japanese FBI or OCB.

Basically, the gangsters took over Japan at the end of WW2 and after the turf wars all got settled, things just became business as usual.

Are they nice guys? Maybe. It's not like they are tough guys anymore, they dont have to be. A predator is shaped by his prey, yes?
Well, these predators all have direct deposit.

In the old days, all Yakuza were also Irezumi.
(tattooed) I am irezumi but I am certainly not Yakuza. These days, the Yakuza dont get tattoos, they just get a check in the mail from the tattoo artists.
They tried to shake down my teacher in Koriyama and he told them to go to hell. they tried to shoot him but they only hit him in the leg and he laughed at them. They never came back.

The modern day Yaks, well, times have changed.
If the junior high school girl prostitution and the drugs (yes, drugs) and illegal gambling weren't so popular here, and they are, I doubt there would be any gangsters left.
As it is, they all have their jobs and the romance is gone. They all need to move to America and try shaking down some well-armed store owners...

Funny, that's how everyone in the West Bank talks about Hamas... well, we will soon know what it would be like if they were in charge...

-A