Real Life with Ryuei

My Living Offline Experience of Buddhism

In reading and hearing about other people's experiences regarding Nichiren Buddhism I have to say that I don't experiece anything like what they seem to have experienced or be experiencing. So I thought I would just share/think out loud about my own experience.

Yes, there are many similarities - I chant the Hoben-pon and Jigage and the Odaimoku. I have a butsudan (home altar where the Omandala is enshrined) and all that. I have to admit that between working full time and family I have as hard a time as anybody doing a regular "gongyo" but I do always try to make time to chant Odaimoku before I leave the house in the morning. The thing is - I do not feel any compulsiveness about it. I don't have any superstitious attachment to rites or rituals (such attachment being considered one of the ten fetters in Buddhism that keep us from being free of the six lower worlds). My spiritual practice/observance is not a symptom of OCD or magical thinking but is rather something carry with me throughout the day. There is hardly a moment that goes by when I don't think of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo and the perspective on life that it conveys to me - a perspective of selfless compassion and boundless freedom and joy. I see myself falling away from that perspective all the time, as we all do, when I get irritable or get obsessive about things that aren't so helpful to me or others, etc... But I always use the Odaimoku as a reminder to bring myself back to what really matters and what is really true - life as an expression of selflessly compassionate awakening.

Here is the thing we are always falling into provisional and even non-Buddhist frames of mind.

Sometimes we strive to act like buddhas but are self-conscious of our failings and how far we have to go. This is the self-conscious "not there yet" mindset of the provisional Mahayana bodhisattvas - whose very self-consciousness and sense of inadequacy is like the flaw in the jewel of their selfless acts.

Sometimes we just take a sour grapes attitude toward life because of its impermanence and unsatisfactory nature (from the ultimate point of view) and we retreat into an aloof detachment. This is the provisional mindset of the two vehicles - the voice-hearers and privately-awakened ones.

Sometimes we take up healthy forms of meditation, yoga, excercise, social engagement, charity, and so forth in order to feel good about ourselves - but there is no disillusionment with worldly goals. This is the non-Buddhist mindset of the heavenly realm.

Sometimes we hope to have a happy life through simply using reason and self-control, cultivating an ethical and responsible life without thought for any bigger perspective or the mystery of life and death. This is the non-Buddhist mindset of the human realm.

Sometimes we give in to arrogance, thoughtless impulsivness, obsessive craving, or despair - these are the mindsets of the lower realms.

Each of these mindsets are a falling away from the perspective of chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra - realizing, abiding in, and acting from the unborn deathless true nature of selfless compassion. Buddhahood has no beginning or end, it is not something we have to wait for or earn or get from someone or work our way up to. It is the true nature. On the one hand, it is always at hand. On the other hand, it seems so far from our grasp and is very hard to believe. So we fall away into the provisional and non-Buddhist mindsets. The Odaimoku and all our other auxiliary practices (reciting the sutra, copying the Odaimoku and/or the sutra, Shodaigyo meditation, and so on) are therefore ways of reminding ourselves and celebrating this simple but elusive and life-transforming truth.

So there you have it - my daily practice is living with the perspective that is hard to put into words but which the Lotus Sutra uses words artistically to point to and express and which the Odaimoku acts as a powerful and accessible way to recover that perspective in each moment.

So I do not experience Buddhism as magic or superstition or a verbal rabbit's foot. I don't experience it as some form of begging to invisible higher beings to change me or bring me luck and help me avoid misfortune. It is, rather, a way of being mindful of what is most important and most true and celebrating that.

Now as far as being a member of a group - what I or anyone who is actually the member of a formal Sangha really experiences is never the group in the abstract. We always experience the local manifestations of the group, but these local manifestations are themselves products of concrete relationships that go beyond the local area.

I experience Nichiren Shu in three ways most weeks:

1. Every Sunday morning I attend the San Jose Temple, wherein I assist my sensei and his son (the head minister) in the services or meditation or Shodaigyo practice. I also help my sensei's son Arnold in facilitating the monthly Lotus Sutra discussion . What I find at San Jose is that the people who attend are very engaged in practice and learning and our practice and study are focused on the Lotus Sutra and always have been. Everyone, minister or layperson, gets turns presenting the material at the study sessions. And after the services we almost always have tea and snacks and people are free to discuss whatever they want. It is a very friendly relaxed atmosphere. It is not like a meeting of the Communist Party or a Southern Baptist Convention or some supersecret Masonic order or spinoff. Basically it is ordinary people who really value the Lotus Sutra as Nichiren taught and practiced it. There are no Dharma police, the ministers don't lord it over the laypeople, we don't have call people and harass them if they don't come to the temple, no one is hounded for money (in fact, I am currently paying my dues going back to 2006 because no one ever bothered me about them and I finally realized I should start paying my dues). Everything is voluntary (well, except for me, as a minister and a disciple of the former head minister I am more responsible for being there and doing support work). And no one is forced to watch videos of lectures from some dignitaries - whether a "high priest" (which we don't really have) nor even of the NONA president or anyone else.

So when people talk about being pressured to get magazine or newspaper subscriptions, or being pressured to uphold a party line, or pressured to join, or having whole meetings dedicated to watching videos of some uber-sensei - I just don't experience that at all. Probably what I experience is not too different from what a Christian in a smallish liberal Church would experience - just good fellowship among friends in the faith. In fact, having visited my grandmother's Church in Chicago I know that is exactly how it feels like. Frankly, I can't understand why anybody would subject themselves to the kinds of things I am consantly hearing about.

2. Every Sunday afternoon I hold a meeting at the Faithful Fool's Meditation Hall. The Faithful Fools are an outreach program/community center created by a Unitarian Universalist minister and a Franciscan nun. They also do work in Nicaragua. As part of their center they have a meditation hall that was set up by a student of Mel Weitzman the former abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. It is now in the care of Janna Drakka, a Zen priest(ess?) from San Francisco Zen Center. Several years ago, the Faithful Fools agreed (enthusiastically too) to let me come in and use their meditation hall on Sundays for Nichiren Shu meetings. So here is where all this arguing, fighting, and sectarianism just isn't part of my experience either. What I see is mutual help and cooperation - with no question of co-opting or compromising. It is just like the late abbot of Mt. Minobu Kuonji told me - "Today we must have dialogue not only between Buddhists but between all religions for the sake of world peace." That is the attitude of Nichiren Shu, and that is the attitude I have met among people of conscience in various forms of Buddhism and Christianity and other religions.

The Faithful Fools meetings are open to anyone. I do not ask that people become Buddhists or Nichiren Buddhists or Nichiren Shu members. If they wish to do so, I am happy to help them and I have a six month (minimum) program for helping them learn enough about Nichiren Shu teachings and practice so that they can make an informed decision to take Jukai in Nichiren Shu (Jukai means to take the precept, in this case the precept to uphold Namu Myoho Renge Kyo). The meetings are open to anyone who wishes to come and participate - it's the same way at the San Jose Temple for that matter.

Our meetings go as follows:

From 3:00-3:40 pm we begin by chanting Odaimoku three times, then we sit quietly in meditation. As one Buddhist teacher Garma C. C. Chang put it, we abide in a state of "clear awareness in the tranquility of no-thought." That doesn't mean being thoughtless or blank by the way. It means not being attached or averse to whatever thoughts may arise, and maintaining an open filed of calm awareness. We do this because as buddhas we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose and so can just be mindful, aware, and caringly attentive to what is. We end with three Odaimoku. This part of the meeting is optional by the way, some people don't like sitting meditation, other people however come specifically because they are drawn to silent sitting and in doing so are introduced to Odaimoku.

From 3:45-4:30 pm we have a Dharma discussion. As the facilitator I keep this period very flexible. I don't usually ever come in with a planned talk, I just see who is there and what is on their mind or what would be most beneficial to talk about. Lately we have been slowly reading over and discussing the writing attributed to Nichiren called "Conversation between an Unenlightened Man and Sage." Now while I do present my own views of the material based on my own research and training, everyone gets a chance to comment and contribute. This is not an indoctrination session but a chance to really dig deep and explore. I feel badly for those who don't experience this in their own Sanghas. Dharma talks and discussions should not be ideological indoctrinations but true dialogue.

Finally from 4:30-5:00 pm we have a Nichiren Shu style service. We chant the Hoben-pon and the Jigage, mostly in Sino-Japanese but occasionally we'll do it in English. We chant the Odaimoku of course, and happily now have a taiko drum to accompany it. I am now beginning to train some of the participants in how to use the various instruments. This part of the meeting is also optional, as some people may just come to the meditation and discussion and then leave. That is ok, we don't force anyone to chant or to stay. They can join us for us much or as little as they wish. I do, however, want people who attend to discussion portion to attend at least either the meditation or the chanting service even if they don't join us for both - because the important thing is to engage Buddhism viscerally and not just talk about it.

3. Most Thursday nights I will be found at the Nichiren Buddhist International Center in Hayward, California. There I have dinner with the general manager Rev. Chishin Hirai and his wife. Usually my daughter comes with me and hangs out with Mrs. Hirai after dinner, they either watch t.v. or Julie helps Mrs. Hirai with her ESL lessons. Rev. Hirai and I work on revising an English translation fo the traditional Nichiren Shu liturgical manual - the manual that up until after WWII was used by Nichiren Shu, Kempon Hokke, and the Honmon Shu. It is basically the book wherein all the traditional practices of Nichiren Buddhism going back to Nichiren's time can be found (though with changes and revisions - but the point is that it is the current form of a 700+ year liturgical heritage, a heritage that has roots going back to Chinese and Indian Buddhism). To work on this is a real privilege and real education. In the past, I have also helped out the NBIC with translations of the gosho for their project of translating the seven volumes of the Nichiren Shonin Zenshu (itself based on the Showa Teihon and academic study of the authenticity of the gosho). Volume 5 of the set has just come out, they are all published by the U of Hawaii. A little more recelty I was involved in editing and revising the new English liturgy book for temples and homes that will be available later this summer. The NBIC is also working on translating a book that contains all the official teachings of Nichiren Shu (including the complex T'ien-t'ai teachings that Nichiren utilized) used to train ministers for the advanced test they have to take if they are to advance their standing and recognition within Nichiren Shu. It is a educational/quality control kind of thing. For my part, I look forward to seeing how these teachings are presented and finding out if there is anything in them that is new and/or clarifying.

Working with the NBIC is really the more international level of my involvement with Nichiren Shu - because their projects are not just for North America but for all English speakers around the world, and they also have projects planned to help those Nichiren practitioners who speak other languages. I feel really blessed to be able to be involved because it is really giving me the chance to do what I dreamed about back in college - to learn as much as I can about the traditional teachings, practices, and heritage of Nichiren Buddhism from the most authentic sources available. I am so glad that I have been able to do this - and don't have to be satisfied with a partial and biased sources or with huge gaps that some have tried to fill using other non-Buddhist sources - like Eckhart Tolle or the The Secret or even New Age sources. There is an integrity to the Buddhist tradition that I really appreciate - and it is not that I always unquestioningly follow traditional sources just because they are traditional sources - but like a martial artist I want to fully master a particular form in th traditional style before tinkering with or adapting it - or before even presuming that tinkering or adapting is needed or warranted.

Throughout the year I have other chances to be involved with Nichiren Shu on a larger scale - national conferences, ministers meetings in Japan, retreats and so on. I usually gripe about having to go to these things - but really if I am honest with myself I love them all. I love seeing old friends, and usually there is always at least one or two interesting discussions or talks (and juicy insider gossip!). I have never had a bad experience at any of these metings - no one's ever treated me disrespectfully or unkindly, no one's ever put pressure on me to conform or be quiet of follow some party line. In fact, what I usually experience is a lot of comeraderie and support - a feeling that trascends even the many language barriers. Now there are always some prickly personalities - but really you will find that in any large (or even small) group of people. And what I find is that everyone understands that we need to be civil and tolerant and supportive and that our various disagreements (personal and otherwise) can be worked out in a mature and constructive way.

Besides my own daily practice and weekly and monthly or yearly interactions with Nichiren Shu I also have many contacts with Buddhists from other groups. I sometimes visit the Won Buddhist Temple in San Francisco where Rev. Yun has graciously helped me with translation questions I have re Sanskrit passages or questions about koan practice in Won Buddhism. There is the monthly Sutra Salon wherein several people including myself discuss our readings in the Buddhist canon. I sometimes give talks at Hartford Street Zen Center or to the Gay Buddhist Fellowship (which also meets at Hartford Street). I was once invited to give a talk to the Buddhist group at San Quentin. What I have found is that other Buddhists do not try to put down other teachings and practices out of sectarianism (though they can be critical when appropriate), they do not try to pushily recruit people to their groups, they do not act paranoid or defensive when Buddhists from other schools come to their centers, and oftentimes are happy to see other Buddhists and share perspectives. What I experience is a general openess and friendliness and maturity. And this is something that is not only on the local level but is an attitude that seems to be modeled by the leaders of these groups and is just a part of either spoken or (usually) unspoken policies.

I would call it the unspoken policy of a mature group of people in a cosmpolitan society. It is not even something specifically religious or Buddhist - though most religions and Buddhism especially does emphasize the cultivation and/or expression of such civility and maturity as a matter of course.

That's all for today I think - but let me say this - if you are not experiencing such maturity, depth, civility, openess, and basic human decency in your own Sanghas - then something is drastically wrong. Maybe just on the local level - or maybe on the higher levels as well. But something is wrong - and red flags should be going up for you. This is not the way mature people or even groups behave - so please don't think it is normal and resign yourself to it.

And I agree with this - Be the change you want to see. And sometimes being the change you want to see means no longer supporting what is unwholesome. Isn't that the message of Rissho Ankoku Ron? And didn't Nichiren remonstrate three times and then retire on principle? And didn't Shakyamuni Buddha try to restore civility on several occasions among the monks of Kosambi, and when they refused his advice he left them to their own devices and went to the woods to hang out with the lone tusker? And didn't the young monks who had become disciples of Devadatta return to the authentic teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha after they got a chance to hear those teachings from Shariputra and Maudgalyayana? Sometimes real bodhicitta (the mind of awakening) means voting with your feet, it means choosing your integrity and dignity and the dignity of the authentic teaching and practice over assocation with those in provisional or even non-Buddhist mindsets. Sometimes the best thing a friend can do is to say, "Sorry, I can't support what you are doing, and I am not going to allow you to treat me like this anymore because it is not good for you and not good for me."

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Posted by Ryuei at July 16, 2008 10:49 AM