Just yesterday I heard two apalling examples of people who think they are Buddhists but who obviously don't get not only the Dharma but basic human decency and sensitivity.
One example is that for the last three months or so I have been visiting one of the "pioneer" Japanese women who in the 60's had brought over a form of Nichiren Buddhism to the USA. Her husband called me in to the hospital because she had a terminal case of cancer and he felt it would really help her spirits to have someone come in to chant with her. She had long since (ten years or more) become disillusioned with her previous affiliation. I was happy to do this for her, and so made several hospital visits and one home visit before she passed away. At least one of her old friends, a fellow pioneer who was also a disillusioned former member of the same organization, came to visit her in the hospital and chanted with us, as did her husband and occasionally my daughter when she was with me. There is much I could say about her, her unflagging spirits, dedication, kindness even in the midst of a terrible sickness. She was truly an inspiration, and as I said to her husband I wish I could have met her earlier.
But here's what this blog is about - when her husband called me to inform me about her passing, he also mentioned that finally, towards the very end, some of her former compatriots in that organization she left finally showed up. When they heard that a Nichiren Shu priest (myself) had been coming to visit and chant with her their reaction was - "Well, that's all wrong. He wasn't chanting correctly." This woman's husband couldn't believe that these people would raise such an issue, and at such a time. The meaness and pettiness of was apalling.
My second phone call yesterday was from a member of my Sangha who called to tell me about the spiteful words being said about Byrd (who was, however, not named but it was clear it was about her) by another member of this same organization on a yahoo newsgroup. This person had been one of the people who was involved in banning Byrd from the activities of her chosen Sangha. One reason was because she dared to attend a retreat I was leading and had pictures of her and myself together at the retreat on her blog here at fraughtwithperil. Byrd died a few weeks later of a heart attack, but her body was left undiscovered for something like two weeks. None of her ostensible Sangha members ever thought to check up on her - afterall she was persona non grata due to her association with me. The apartment was later swept by a Hazmat team and for quite a long time sealed up. When these psuedo-Buddhists finally came in they found that Byrd's butsudan had been knocked down (it could have been by her abandoned cats or later the Hazmat team) and was collecting cobwebs (supposedly - and even then not surprising as her apartment had been sealed for quite some time). This psuedo-Buddhist posted that everything Byrd had ever written was questionable because due to the condition of her butsudan she had been neglecting her practice). So much presumption here! I don't even know where to begin. But to impugn the reputation of a woman who has passed away, furthermore a woman who the poster was instrumental in alienating and isolating before her death due to some misguided sectarian agenda and paranoia!
It is so obvious to me why people are scared of Nichiren Buddhism. No wonder they don't want to have anything to do with us when this is the kind of pettiness, meanness, sectarianism, and total lack of compassion that has come to characterize Nichiren Buddhism.
What drives me nuts of course is that it is not Nichiren Buddhism per se, it is a certain group within a certain group or some individuals within certain groups (though they all seem to be members or ex-members of the same group) that acts like this. But they manage to scare off everyone else by creating a really horrible reputation for us all.
Do Zen Buddhists ever act like this? I have never experienced any Soto or Rinzai people ever acting with such spite and malice.
Do Won Buddhists ever act like this? I have never experienced any Won Buddhist ever acting with such spite and malice.
Do Thich Nhat Hanh followers ever act like this? I have never experienced any admirers of Thich Nhat Hanh ever acting with such spite or malice.
Do followers of the Dalai Lama ever act like this? I have never experienced any followers of the Dalai Lama ever acting quite this spiteful and malicious. Occasionally I have met some that are arrogant and condescending as all get out yes, but I know the Dalai Lama has never condoned such attitudes.
But there is one Buddhist group, or group that claims to be Buddhist whose members do act this way - and it isn't even a matter of surprise. There are some good hearted members of this group - but I guarantee you that they are either on the fringes, have found a small bubble of sanity within that group, or they have to some extent compromised their principles or at least keep their own counsel to themselves to the org at large. And in the meantime, no one else who comes into contact with Nichiren Buddhism bothers to differentiate between the various kinds and ways of being Nichiren Buddhists. We are all tarred by this behavior.
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a Japanese-American woman in the Bay Area who was curious about Nichiren Shu. Her mother was from Japan and had passed away within the last year. The mother had been Nichiren Shu. But the daughter explained that her mother was so worried about this other group that I have been talking about that she preferred to just stay away from other Buddhists. When even people from Nichiren Shu from Japan are wary of Nichiren Buddhism because of this other group then you know the damage that this other group has done is considerable.
Did I ever mention that my own in-laws in Japan were originally worried when they heard that I was a Nichiren Buddhist? They weren't so upset that I was a gaijin (not that I ever heard) or that I wasn't some fast track executive or anything like that. They were worried that I was a member of this other group. When they found out that I was with Nichiren Shu and found out that Nichiren Shu was a legitimate traditional school of Japanese Buddhism that had absolutely no connection to this other group, then they were put at ease. But I learned then that even to the average Japanese, Nichiren Buddhism as a whole has been tainted by the actions of this group (which has its own political party in Japan) and the behavior of the people in this group.
Once I brought my good Dharma friend Rev. Bokin Kim to a meeting of this other group so she could see for herself what they were like. They spent the meeting telling her (a lifelong Buddhist, the daughter of the 3rd Prime Master of Won Buddhism, and a very dedicated Buddhist nun) that only they knew "true Buddhism" and that if you chant you can get anything you want - money, promotions, relationships, cars, etc... Afterwords, Rev. Kim sadly shook her head and said "those people are very confused."
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Ryuei,
Thank you. This was a vastly better response to the incredibly petty, mean and small hearted post slamming Byrd over at the Soka Gakkai unofficial board.
It was appalling. Absolutely appalling.
I think Rev. Kim is right on. I see so much compassion and tolerance and beauty in Buddhism, it is so sad to see such behaviour labeled as Buddhist by these folks. Sad.
Kris
Posted by: Kris at December 18, 2008 03:37 PMHi Ryuei,
It's been awhile. Man, you seem angry. I don't blame you. But come on, you and I both know that this "other group" - the SGI (which I used to belong to myself) is a CULT. I left and it took some time to get the anger out of my system and detoxify. Cults attract (with odd exceptions like Byrd and Greg) the egotistical and the mean spirited. The very DNA of these groups is to gain conformity and make money. I finally had enough of the whole mentor disciple bullshit and I ran (not walked) away.
I am a happy member of Nichiren Shu now and I get alot of heartfelt benefit from being a member of my small Sangha in Toronto. I had a couple of SGI members that I knew from my former district contact months ago to go to the Ashkenaz festival here in Toronto. I share a common religious heritage with a few of these members. What I thought would be a happy and Yiddishkeit get together turned into a nasty (on their part) and strange encounter.
Anyway, I have read enough of your posts here and there to appreciate your clarity on the differences between the SGI and Nichiren Shu. I am in a place now where I can concentrate on developing my Buddha nature in a safe and supportive enviroment and that is what I want to share with people when I share that I am a Buddhist. If the SGI enters the conversation I focus on my experience as a Buddhist and offer mild warnings.
Namu myoho renge kyo.
Aaron
Posted by: Aaron at December 18, 2008 07:37 PMHi Aaron,
I don't know if anger is quite it. I am long past being angry at SGI. But I will cop to two feelings I do acknowledge: disgust at this kind of conduct being done in the name of Nichiren Buddhism (or any kind of Buddhism, or any kind of wisdom tradition for that matter), and exasperation that so many people get tarred with the brush of this kind of behavior (including not only Nichiren Shu but even those good-hearted SGI members). It is this kind of conduct that is THE reason why to this day I encounter the "Oh, you're one THOSE people" reactions from other Buddhists when they find out I chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Fortunately that doesn't happen quite as much in the Bay Area to me anymore - but still.
Also, I received both these reports on the same day - so I figured I should write about it. I haven't blogged in a while, as I have been too busy and generally feeling pretty mellow - this doesn't lead to good blogs. So this gave me something to go on about a bit.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
I like my local SGI group it is one of the best sanghas.
Now do I have problems with some of the way some members view Shakyamuni(the other night some members got into a heated dissusion becasue one member said that the beginning and middle days of the law were irrelivant) and the fact that some use the whole "true buddhism" thing but the people are very caring overall. Of course I grew up in a Southern Baptist style church where they dammed the whole world pretty much so anything seems tame in comparison : )
"I like my local SGI group it is one of the best sanghas.
Now do I"
Suppose to be: it is one of the best sanghas I have seen so far. Now I do
Posted by: livindesert at December 19, 2008 03:23 AMOf course I also (unknown to my SGI friends lol) am mixing Kempon Hokke(thanks to Mark for the books) in with my practice to see what happens.
Posted by: Livindesert at December 19, 2008 03:27 AMFirst, Rev, Ryuei, I want to just thank you for your response to some text which could have been ignored, undigested and therefore made all the more vile. However, it also occurs to me (as I am a member of the organization's sangha of which you refer) that the entire world, with all of it's "organizations of people" contains the following: (those who)"...have found a small bubble of sanity within that group"
It is always worth it to fight from within to correct the frequency and negate the fertility of the conditions from which these incorrect types of attitudes arise. Yet, they will always exist and those who hold these attitudes, while perhaps being perceived as even "true" member of such an organization will definately be consistent from beginning to end in the very arrangement of qualities and life conditions they make manifest for themselves, it will show in all their qualities and "in their expressions."
Therefore, as you have already done, let us just be clear about how the effects of such statements.
namaste
What happened to Byrd's cats?
Posted by: Vanya at December 19, 2008 01:50 PMHi Vanya,
I'm not exactly sure what happened to Byrd's cats, but I think someone at her memorial said that they'd been adopted. I certainly hope so. She loved them very much.
Posted by: Michele at December 19, 2008 03:29 PMThanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Michael.
I wish that you would feel freer to also share this post on Will's board, but I am sure that you have your reasons for not doing so.
Best to you and yours, and of course to Byrd's cats. I remember the post Michelle too, where they said the cats were adopted. I remember it well because I was worried about it at the time, and couldn't volunter to adopt one since my dogs are not cat friendly.
CMC
I don't feel it should anymore be my business to post in the SGU forum. SGU is not about Buddhism, it is evident to me that it is about the pros and cons of SGI. I am not interested in SGI. I feel that it is a waste of my time and energy to involve myself any more than absolutely necessary discussing an organization that I have long since had nothing to do with.
There was a time when I was interested in discussing Buddha Dharma and Nichiren Buddhism there and with other Nichiren Buddhists on the internet. And there are people I can have fruitful discussions about Buddhism with who are in SGI, but they are the people who can leave SGI out of it and just focus on the Lotus Sutra, the Dharma, and/or what Nichiren himself had to say. But that forum is no longer a place where I feel one can have fruitful discussions, and if there are people there who want serious discussions about Buddhism, then they will themselves find other places to engage in discussion.
Again, I hesitated to respond to this kind of thing at all - but I guess it needed to be said because I have been receiving phone calls from people in addition to the responses here thanking me for saying what they felt needed to be said. I guess it esp. needed to be said because of my friendship with the people involved.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Ryuei:
As a former SGI member, I can honestly say that I am not surprised at the superstitious ignorance and ugliness of spirit that is possible by self-rightesous SGI members. I have heard it myself many times before. It is words, attitudes, and behavior as you described that negate and make laughable all their claims of being true Buddhists while destroying the image of all Nichiren Buddhists. I, for one, have never been so glad to have detoxed and moved far away from the SGI and their vicious mind-set. True, there are some wonderful people and good works, but it never seems to fail that beneath the surface there is some institutional, underlying evil spirit of intolerence that thrills in condeming free thinking and finds no moral contradiction in condeming the dying and dead who were not in lock step with their diabolical dogma. Woe on to those people who judge good people like Byrd from their place of ignorance - how I lament that kind of sickening judgment. It's enough to make The Buddha weep. It's enough to pierce the noble heart of Nichiren. It makes all Nichiren sects the radioactive waste of modern Buddhism. Such behavior is a carbon copy of the intolerence of bible-belt evangelical cults.
There really is no good response on SGI forums, nor would reprimanding offenders like the ones mentioned do any good as their minds are too far gone. The only way they will learn will be through extremely personal proof of their mistaken path, and by then it will be too late. I really pity them. Thank you Buddha for letting me escape and survive the SGI.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at December 20, 2008 05:43 AMAs stated I have my own problems with the SGI from a doctronal standpoint, but I personally have found the SGI to be the most relaxed religous group I have ever been a part of. I have been to Seon(Korean Zen)temples before and found them to be interesting but stifling with no compassion. While the ritual was interesting from a cultural standpoint the monastics there were very steril and cold.The lower monks seemed to have no minds of their own but just drooled over the head monk 100 times more than people like Ikeda. The SGI taught me that Buddhism can be warm and welcoming and down to earth.
Posted by: Livindesert at December 20, 2008 08:57 PMDear Livin:
To me that is known as "lovebombing" and is a common technique of the Moonies, Scientologists, and many cults. If you continue to assert your doctrinal positions and they are different than the mentors, the "lovebombing" will stop so fast it will make your head spin.
Mark
Thanks for being honest and sharing this important information to keep us afloat of what might be to come in other Areas. It is important to follow that Dharma always.
Posted by: Rita at December 21, 2008 08:57 PMThe behavior of one group toward others is a really important item; at least it has been for me. I also grew up in a conservative protestant group. I questioned their doctrine at 14 but what “did it” for me was the reality that my Jewish friend could never be in heaven although she was a good person. Supposedly, we worshipped the same god, but not really. The “us” versus “them” routine was unacceptable. With SGI, it is also the final item. I have had doctrinal differences for years but when I finally joined a group, I went back to the SGI simply because I wanted someone local to do Diamoku with. After all, I reasoned, diamoku is the focus; the most important thing. I finally had the realization that I am a “them”. I do not believe Ikeda is the master and I never really bought the concept of Saint Nichiren being the Buddha for this age. So I am in transition. I am not doing any activities with SGI.
Although the focus is supposed to be on chanting “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” (or variation), the focus becomes who is the master or who is the eternal Buddha. All I want is to chant.
The other thing was my own realization that we all are people and we need the right of passage ceremonies such as weddings and funerals beyond someone to chant with me or what if I need someone to chant with me at the hospital? How would any of these people behave to my mother who is still protestant? Do these people kick me out if I mention something that does not adhere to the group think? The question is rhetorical as I have had the indication that if I do or say something outside the official line, I am welcome as an attendance count only.
Posted by: Jeanne at December 22, 2008 08:10 PMWhat a sad thing it is
that people should die alone,
alone and forgotten,
because people are fools.
What a joyous thing it is,
that someone should come to see them,
warm them and guide them,
and make their passing easier.
"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with a strong prayer in itself suggests the transformation of earthly desires into enlightenment. To illustrate this point, the Daishonin states: "Through burning the firewood of earthly desires, one can manifest the wisdom-fire of enlightenment" (GZ, 710).
Because we have earthly desires, that is, suffering and delusion, we pray to the Gohonzon. Our hardships are often our greatest motivation to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. When we make a determination that our desires and hardships are yet another opportunity to strengthen our faith and our life, they no longer function as earthly desires that torment us.
Through our prayer we can sublimate our base desires into noble and creative causes. Through the Buddhist practice, an egoist whose only concern in life is to gain material wealth can change into a person of magnanimity who gladly uses wealth for the sake of others’ peace and happiness. Sexual desires can be destructive. Shakespeare writes about them as: perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust (Sonnet 129).
Passion, however, if imbued with wisdom, can become an impetus for our affectionate expression of humanity as the Daishonin states: "Even during the physical union of man and woman, when one chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, then earthly desires are enlightenment and the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana" (MW-2, 200).--http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/resources/buddhist_concepts/buddhist_concept2.php"
Dear Ryuei,
I am shocked to learn what happened after Byrd's passing. I was not aware of that. For my part I have been kicked off the yahoo board, but in retrospect maybe a good thing in oder to carry on and leave that group behind.
in gassho
gunther
I was dumbfounded when I read that post at SGU. It was beyond spiritually ugly, it was obscene.
I am also confident that Wendy {Byrd} feels compassion for him.
Hi Ryuei,
sorry to read about others peoples negative experiences. Although I don't consider myself a Nichiren Buddhist I am devoted to the Lotus Sutra.
Occasionally I will chant Nam(u) myoho renge kyo.
It has only been as a result of reading other sutras that I have developed deeper insight and reverance for the Lotus Sutra.
I love the Pureland Sutras as it is a message of hope and salvation.
I love the Lotus Sutra because it reveals the treasure tower of our lives.
I love the Flower Garland as it reveals the eternal cosmic majesty of the Buddha.
I love the Lankavatara Sutra as it reveals the path of spiritual growth. As well as the important message for us not to cling to the outward forms of words but to realize their inner meanings!
Ryuei, I strongly support your mission and you are frequently in my thoughts and prayers I only wish I had someone such as yourself here in Sydney with whom to banter.
Having been with the SGI for 4 years and since left because of poor impressions.
I still don't want to judge, the Saghata Sutra reveals that the Buddhadharma can take many forms some even appearing as negative. My only advice to people is to reflect on their practice whether Nichiren, Shin or Tibetan etc and ascertain if they are better more compassionate people as a result. If not then I would seriously question the path.
Our journey to Buddhahood is determined by our ability to bring in the light of love and kindness into our hearts.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
Namu Amida Buddha
Namu Shakyamuni Buddha
Om Mani Padme Hum
Thomas Sequoia
Sydney Australia
Thomas,
Very well said. Indeed, it is refreshing to hear mature and cause-awakened words in the midst of the finely threaded negative and positive sentiments of our universe (uhm, internet). I am a firm SGI member and embrace your view entirely. These two things are not mutually exclusive.
namaste
Posted by: cl at December 29, 2008 06:48 AMYes, I thought that Simmons' trashing of Byrd was just plain foul. Will (or someone) deleted my post about that on the SGU forum.
I'm not as kind as you, Michael. I would like to meet with Alan Simmons and tell him to his face that he is a turd. Only I wouldn't say "turd," and that's not all I'd say. Hopefully someday I'll get the chance.
Or maybe I'll chant enough to become as kind as you are. Whichever comes first.
Cheers!
Andy
Posted by: Andy Hanlen at December 29, 2008 03:24 PMHi Ryuei:
Years ago Roshi Kennet had a close disciple whose mother was badly burned in a fire. The disciple, of course, rushed to see her and told Roshi Kennet that he would read some Zen scriptures. Kennet responded negatively, noting that the disciple's mother was Catholic, and instructed the disciple to do whatever would bring comfort to his mother and not impose his own Zen view on the situation. The disciple followed his teacher's instructions and was able to assist the Catholic Priest as his mother passed away.
Sincerely,
Jim
Posted by: Jim Wilson at January 7, 2009 05:38 PM