Hi everyone,
I am pleased to announce that NONA has given official recognition to my work in San Francisco. I am now an official Nichiren Shu missionary working in San Francisco and it is NONA's hope that I will be able to form a new Nichiren Buddhist Sangha in San Francisco which can someday be the basis of a new thriving San Francisco Temple.
At this time I am running a Sunday Meditation Program at the Faithful Fools Meditation Hall at 230 Hyde Street from 3pm to 5 pm. We begin with silent sitting for 40 minutes (framed by Odaimoku Sansho), we then have an informal discussion and question and answer session at which we investigate how to apply Buddha Dharma to our lives, and for the last half hour we do chanting meditation which is known to some of you as gongyo (we use the Sacred Services of Nichiren Shu format put out by the San Jose Temple).
It is my hope that in the next two years the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of San Francisco can grow into a solid core of at least 10 consistent and committed practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism. Put another way, I would like to find at least 10 people in San Francisco who I would feel confident in bestowing Jukai (the Diamond Precept of upholding Odaimoku) and the Gohonzon upon and who would be able to show up consistently as dues paying members of Nichiren Shu. I am looking for people who are really committed to learning, practicing, and sharing Nichiren Shu Buddhism who would be committed to supporting each other in their practice under my guidance as a Nichiren Shu minister in San Francisco. Without this kind of committment and support there can be no San Francisco Nichiren Shu Temple - which would be a shame since otherwise San Francisco is one of the strongest Buddhist cities in the mainland USA. There is no reason why Nichiren Shu should not have a strong presence in San Francisco.
If any of you are in the San Francisco area and would like to help me build a Sangha or if you know anyone in the San Francisco area who would like to be part of this, please contact me at ryuei2000@yahoo.com.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
I will continue to visit enjoyed the reading thanks
Posted by: Alena at August 21, 2006 12:01 PMCongratulations, Rev. Ryuei!
May your sangha grow and develop, and you along with them!
Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett
Posted by: Engyo Mike Barrett at August 22, 2006 06:15 AMCongratulations, Michael! Was this recognition bestowed at the recent convention? How do you go about getting "recognition" from NONA anyways? Does this mean you won't be able to come to LA anymore?
One of the old tricks we used in the old NSA was to lay old World Tribunes out on the floor and chant as though the room was full of people. If you build it,they will come, you know. I don't know if you're going to want to do that, but...
Anyway, congrats again. Best, Byrd i LA
Posted by: Byrd in LA at August 28, 2006 04:11 PMHi Byrd,
I will still be able to come to LA from time to time, but yes if there is a core of practitioners in San Francisco my responsibility will primarily be to them. There were five other people besides myself at Faithful Fools this past Sunday. That was the most I have ever had, and a couple of people who had said they would be there did not make it. So there could have been more. I do not know if this will continue, but I hope so.
As for getting recognition from NONA, NONA operates like any board or counsel and goes by Robert's Rules of Order. The first thing that happened was that in the ministers meeting the motion was made and unanimously passed to recognize my missionary work in San Francisco. This decision of the ministers was then put to a vote at the NONA business meeting so that all the ministers and lay delegates could make and pass the motion to grant my work recognition. This was later confirmed by the board (the bishop, lay president, vice president, and two minister board members).
This is not the same as having a temple or Sangha recognized. To do that I will first need to create a non-profit, and then have enough dues paying members of Nichiren Shu in San Francisco to warrant petitioning NONA for membership as a temple.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei