Real Life with Ryuei

My Journey in the Dharma

In my last entry I talked about the three alternatives I see, and I think it is true that different people require different things at different times, and also true that the same person can be involved with more than one of those alternatives. Again the alternatives I see in terms of Buddhism are:

1. Membership (or at least participation) in a traditional lineage that traces back to Shakyamuni Buddha.

2. Membership (or participation) in a newly created lineage or perhaps creating one from scratch. In this case the new lineage may be at least partly derived from Buddhism but may also contain some or many innovations and yet it still claims the title Buddhism (rightly or wrongly).

3. Participation in an informal group to study and practice Buddhism, perhaps many varieties of Buddhism.

4. There is actually a fourth alternative which is to just practice on one's own or at least to just read about Buddhism and be interested in incorporating it's outlook or perhaps some mindfulness or some other practice or method into one's daily life.

For my part, when I was in high school I was very much involved with that fourth way of being Buddhist - just reading about it and generally identifying with Buddhism. For me personally, I wanted more. I knew what it was to be a Catholic: I had been baptized, confirmed, and occasionally attended mass, and I was going to Catholic school and taking classes in religion, I used to do the stations of the cross with my grandfather - so Catholicism to me was a whole community, culture, worldview, ethical and philosophical stance - a complete package. After discovering Buddhism I wanted to know what the complete Buddhist package was. Reading books for Beatniks and Hippies was not the complete or authentic package I was looking for.

I later ran into Soka Gakkai. My first encounter with them did not leave me impressed. This was back in the old NSA days of the mid-80s. Even as a teenager I knew enough that they raised all kinds of red flags with their intensive recruiting, crass materialism, idolizing of Daisaku Ikeda, and triumphalism and dogmatism. They seemed like Buddhist Evangelical Fundamentalism with a Name-it-and-Claim-it mentality - like the T.V. Evangelists. I was sure it was a cult that would brainwash me and send me to California (as it turns out the Navy did that to me later). Anyway, I wanted nothing to do with NSA.

Despite that I liked the chanting. There was something about it that really resonated with me (and still does of course). Then I started coming across references to it in movies and books (that were about Japan of course). I realized that this might be a legitimate part of Japanese Buddhism. When I started college I sought out the teacher of Asian religions and found out that "Yes, there is a form of Buddhism in Japan that was started by a monk named Nichiren who had his own eccentric way of interpreting the Lotus Sutra." I think that is more or less what he said. He then invited me to take his survey course on Asian religions in the spring, which I did. At the same time, I was getting into the hardcore punk scene and a lot of people in the scene were either members of NSA or had been members. One person in particular impressed me with his intelligence and sincerity - and he convinced me to give NSA a try and to look past the hokiness. This person, BTW, has long since left NSA/SGI in fact all forms of Nichiren Buddhism and even East Asian Buddhism and wiped the dust from his feet. He now has a Ph.D. in Sanskrit studies from Harvard, has published translations of the Buddha's teachings from the Pali, and teaches mindfulness of the breath in accordance with the Buddha's essential teachings in the Pali Canon.

Anyway, I gave NSA a try. That lasted two years and then there was a mutual parting of the ways. I can't really say that it was my first experience with a traditional Buddhist lineage because it was not. At the time, SGI was ostensibly the lay association for Nichiren Shoshu, but the priests were kept far away from us except for the conferral of Gohonzons, pilgrimages to Taisekiji (I did not do that), and other special occasions. SGI was and is a New Religion through and through - they were only using the Shoshu to claim some legitimacy, but beyond that were not interested in anything the priests of Taisekiji had to say about anything. It was all lip service that was paid to Taisekiji. Dasiaku Ikeda's agenda was and probably always was about his own personal vision of Nichiren Buddhism and probably also his own self-aggrandizement (which he either encourages or at least shamelessly allows).

After that I met Rev. Bokin Kim of the Philadelphia Won Buddhist Temple. My association with them was very positive and very much what I needed. With them I learned sitting meditation, different forms of chanting (including dharanis), and aside from a more well-rounded and more tolerant and inclusive practice and teaching I also learned a great deal about traditional Korean Buddhism (with a particular emphasis on the Flower Garland Sutra and the Korean teacher Wonhyo). At about the same time, I met with the Rissho Kosei Kai in New York (who were very helpful) and read the writings of their founder Nikkyo Niwano, particularly his commentaries on the Lotus Sutra (which I was later told were derived from Nichiren Shu commentaries). I practiced sitting meditation with the Shambhalla Center in Philadelphia and read the writings of their founder Chogyam Trungpa (who one teacher of mine at La Salle U said "wrote like an angel and lived like a demon"). I also met and spent a weekend with the Nipponzan Myohoji. Based on these experiences I was able to see how most Buddhists are actually very tolerant, open, kind, generous, not focused on self-promotion and materialism, not triumphalist or dogmatic, and in general very very very (to the umpteenth degree) different from the mindset that is encouraged and cultivated by NSA (or now SGI). I also saw that some New Religions like Won Buddhism and Rissho Kosei Kai are very positive and healthy attempts to simplify, modernize, and reform Buddhism in a progressive way.

After college I did practice Buddhism on my own for many years. And this was before the internet, so I was very much an independent and a solitaire practitioner.

I did eventually discover Nichiren Shu in LA and later the Bay Area. This eventually led to my formally joining Nichiren Shu and in the course of time becoming an ordained minister. As Engyo said in response to my last entry, the experience of Sangha goes beyond anything that can be readily put into words.

At this time, I am involved in various manifestations of the Dharma that cross into the territory of the alternatives I listed above:

1. Obviously I am connected to a traditional lineage and have been accredited as a teacher or lineage holder.

2. I still have a very friendly relationship with Won Buddhism as I mentioned before. I also have friends in Rissho Kosei Kai. While I consider some New Religions to be just vehicles for the egos of their founders or presidents or gurus or masters or whatever, there are others that I have experienced as very authentic spiritual communities who are showing the way to make Buddhism relevant in the modern world. I think the traditional schools have a lot to learn from the New Religions, and in turn I think the New Religions have much to learn from the legacy that is being preserved and maintained by the traditional schools. One thing I really like about Won Buddhism and also Rissho Kosei Kai is that they both seem to be genuinely interested in nonsectarian research and consideration of traditional Buddhist teaching.

3. I also have a great interest in the more informal groups and movements. I think they are necessary, esp. for those who have been burned by dysfunctional and controlling institutions. I don't think any particular informal group is a long-term thing, but I also think that there will always be informal groups arising and ceasing over and over for as long as there are people interested in Buddhism. So for instance, I very much support groups like the Gathering in LA.

I'd also like to note that my San Francisco Sangha that meets at Faithful Fools is in my view halfway between a Nichiren Shu meeting and an informal nonsectarian group. It is obviously Nichiren Shu because I facilitate the meeting and lead the practice sessions. But it is also like the informal groups because only one other person and myself are actually Nichiren Shu members, and no one else who comes is even a Nichiren Buddhist let alone a Nichiren Shu member. I don't ever ask anyone to become a Nichiren Shu member either. Basically, my attitude is that if it is important to them to belong to Nichiren Shu then they will ask me about it - then I'll make them jump through some hoops for 6 months, and after that if they are still up to it I will give Jukai (bestowing the precept to uphold Odaimoku) and also bestow the Omandala if they should want the Shutei Mandala for their practice.

Also, we are kind of nonsectarian in that the first 40 minutes is silent sitting (which is a generic Buddhist practice though in our case we do chant Odaimoku before and after) that Buddhist of just about any stripe or level of interest find congenial. The discussion period that follows can be about any part of Buddhism that whoever is there wishes to discuss - though I will provide the perspective of the Lotus Sutra on whatever topic arises. For the last few months we have been reading and discussing "Conversation Between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man" attributed to Nichiren. We have now begun discussing the idea of Sudden Awakening/Gradual Practice in Chinul's treatise "Secrets of Cultivating the Mind." Other times we have discussed rebirth and karma and other general Buddhist topics. The last half hour is a Nichiren Shu style service. But this is optional as well. Some people may not like chanting and may leave after the discussion. All I ask is that those who come participate in either the sitting or the chanting - not the discussion alone. Most of the time people come for all three parts. So I see my Faithful Fools meetings as on the one hand being Nichiren Shu based, but on the other hand as being congenial to people who have a general nonsectarian interest in Buddhism and who may or may not want to formally become a Buddist or join Nichiren Shu. That is why I would consider my meetings between alternatives 1 and 3.

The Sutra Salon that I have facilitated in San Francisco on and off for the last few years is also an informal type of Buddhist meeting affiliated with no sect or tradition (other than the loose knit guidelines of Dharmajim's Way of the Scholar-Sage and his 16 year cycle of contemplative reading of the entire Buddhist canon in English translation).

So the way I see it, I myself am involved positively with all three alternatives and for many years I followed the fourth alternative of practicing on my own.

Also, some might wonder about my whining about how lonely it is to be a Buddhist and how I wish there were a larger community, blah, blah, blah...

That's just me being wisftul - a passing mood. The bigger consideration to me is what the Nirvana Sutra says about those who uphold the true Dharma are like sand piled on a fingernail compared to those who are deluded who are like the sands of the banks of the Ganges River. I would rather be a lone and even lonely practitioner with my integrity and spirit intact than a member of the biggest megachurch in Texas or of some personality cult run by a remote tycoon with millions of glassy eyed followers.

The thing is that my high school dreams came true - and I was reminded of this quite forcefully this past Monday when I had lunch with an old friend of mine from high school/college who was impressed that I was one of the few in our old crowd who followed my dreams. I have met with Zen Masters (good ones too, and not just one), I have traveled to Japan and Korea and visited temples that are over 1,000 years old, I have been able to study in depth and sometimes in the original languages (to the extent my limited ability allows) the teachings that fascincated, inspired, and gave me direction and hope starting in high school, I have been able to live like a monk in a traditional monastic setting in a temple over 700 years old in one of the most beautiful parts of Japan and witnessed ceremonies that were so moving they brought tears to my eyes, I have been able to share the Dharma with others who have in turn shared their understanding, insights, and generosity of spirit with me. In short, I have had a very rich and full life, and fulfilled my dreams and opened up new dreams - dreams that even now I strive to realize. But even with all these dreams being fulfilled or realized or sometimes delayed or frustrated - the Buddha Dharma has given me something even more wondrous - the realization of the sheer amazing gratuitious nature of life itself - to know that in this marvelous wondroup phenomenal nature of things there is ultimately no-thing that can be added or taken away. This really goes beyond words - the words always end up sounding hokey or Newagey, but however it is expressed it provides the ultimate backdrop or context to everything else and fills me with a feeling of awe and gratitude that overwhelms anyother more transitory mood or feeling. For want of any beter way of recalling, expressing and celebrating this intuition - I just go with Namu Myoho Renge Kyo - and share that with others when I can as best I can.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei

Posted by Ryuei at August 13, 2008 10:03 AM