Hi everyone,
I just got back from a weekend in Chicago with family - yes, it was very nice and relaxing and I got to see a good friend (fellow Nichiren Buddhist who has been trying to practice by himself for some years now) while I was out there and his extended family. So it was a great trip.
Oh, and no, I am not retiring my "Ryuei" persona. "Ryuei" isn't just a mask I put on or a hat that I can take on or off (though I confess I myself think that way sometimes - rightly or wrongly). "Ryuei" is more than just a pen name or user name or name to use just for Dharmic business. Ryuei is part of who I am, but it is not all of who I am though it is a part of all the other parts, and all the other parts are part of Ryuei. It's kind of like the ten worlds I guess. However, the problem lately has been that people have seen "Ryuei" in a very reductionist way - just a mouthpiece for Nichiren Shu. Now "Ryuei" is bigger than that - but the totality of Ryuei Michael McCormick is much much bigger than that. So my last post was trying to express a need for a bit more balance and a fuller representation of what I'm about (not that that is so important - but this is my blog after all).
So what am I worried about?
I am worried about the fact that lately I am getting more and more emails from SGI people or former SGI people. A few years ago this would have made me very happy. Now it just worries me. It worries me because people have been telling me that this was going to happen - that lots and lots of people will soon be contacting us (meaning us Nichiren Shu ministers) looking for an alternative to SGI. I didn't believe them - I still kind of doubt it. And yet, more and more people are emailing me looking for something else.
Now if they were in the San Francisco Bay Area I would just say come around to Faithful Fools on Sunday or to the San Jose Temple. If they are in areas where there is a temple I just send them here: Temples in North America. But many of these people are in places where there are no temples, or where the temples are not really able to accomdate what these people are looking for.
Maybe "worry" is not the right word, but it does concern me that I can't really do anything for anyone if they're not in my immeditate area. I can and do try to help people through my six month study program so they can receive the Omandala from me and become members of Nichiren Shu - but that is still very difficult when I can't be face-to-face with the person who is supposed to be studying and practicing with me. I'm happy to do it - but it takes a lot of patience and perhaps better organization skills than I have at the moment (that's something for me to work on and chant about of course).
The only thing I can do for most people is invite them to join the Nichiren Shu Yahoo group for online discussion or to go to www.nichiren-shu.org and look around there and see where the temples are.
Another thing is this - I have found over the years that most of the people who leave SGI are leaving because they had a bad experience. So they need to detox and they need to, in a sense, recover from that bad relationship before being in a place where they can seriously commit to something new. And make no mistake about it - Nichiren Shu would be a new form of Buddhism to you. We may chant Hoben-pon an Jigage-ge and the Odaimoku, but its very different in tone, pacing, attitude and everything. It's very much a part of the traditional East Asian Mahayana way of doing Buddhism. And though the handful of American ordained ministers are Americanizing it (or at least North Americanizing it), it is still along the lines of integral East Asian Mahayana. This is really something many of you have never been exposed to. And there is none of the pep rally/self-help/inspirational/The Secret/follow the leader kind of things that you may have come to associate with Nichiren Buddhism - not at all. So the transition would be very disconcercting I think.
Don't mistake me though - I am not saying that people should not email me or that I don't want people to be interested in Nichiren Shu. I do want to help when I can and I do want people to check out Nichiren Shu. I am just sorry that I don't have what people are looking for. I think they are hoping that I will respond with:
"Oh sure, we have a Nichiren Shu practice center just down the street from you there in Hoboken. Just show up anytime you like and chant with the hundreds of people who are usually there in the vast auditorium that we have set up there for 24 hour chanting. And no you don't have to join or contribute or do anything at all since we already have more people and money than we can possibly manage so all you have to do is show up chant whenever you feel like it for whatever you need at the moment and then leave. And we'll take care of all the rest. Oh, and if you sign your name on the register and attend a special free Saturday workshop held there every month we'll make you a minister as well and then you can start your own Sangha and be in charge and create your own version of SGI where you get to be sensei."
Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. The reality is that there are only a few temples, and they require money and people to operate and maintain (and some of them are just not set up to accomdate the needs and inclinations of convert Buddhists), and there are not enough American ministers yet to set up Sanghas all over the country, and becoming a minister requires years of study, practice, and training. Establishing the Dharma is something that requires deep faith, determination, dedication, discipline, money (yes money!), time, effort, and a lot of initiative. That's a tall order - and I honestly don't think that for the average North American the Dharma provides enough immediate payback to make it worth the trouble.
Buddha Dharma is about something more (as Nichiren said) inconspicuous. It is about planting the seed of selfless compassionate wisdom. Put another way: it is about facilitating the slow and painful growth to maturity, the kind of maturity that makes life wholesome and joyful and worth living.
There is no such thing as McEnlightenment - and when that is not forthcoming I think people get very very very very very very very very (to the umpteenth degree) disappointed and disillusioned. Especially since becoming a Buddhist in this culture (even a respectable Zen type Buddhist) means (at least partly) entering an alien culture and being alienated from all the other things you can be doing with your time, money, and energy (like attending a MegaChurch with a big community of happy content people who are given prosperity by Jesus or attending naked co-ed Yoga or doing whatever it is that everyone else is doing - like staying home and raqcking up the bragging rights of having made 1000s of friends on myspace without the troubles and travails of ever having to actually meet those people).
The fact is that I can't provide what people are asking for, or at least my worry is that I can't provide what I think they want. I think they want a new SGI with everything they like about SGI but without all the things they don't like. They feel they have an apple with a worm in it and they hope I can hand them a shiny new fresh apple. But what I actually have is an orange.
The thing is - I happen to really love the orange I do have and I am sorry that there is not enough to go around. If they want oranges to they will have to grown them on their own. We can provide seeds, but in most places those who want oranges will have to do some planting and cultivating from scratch. Sorry, that's how it is.
Now, what I mean by this is - from the very beginning (when I was in high school and long before I encountered any form of Nichiren Buddhism) I was attacted to and found great meaning in the East Asian Mahayana worldview and philosophy (as presented in Zen). Then I found Nichiren Buddhism to be a more accessible, dynamic, and straightforward presentation of that material - and with a practice I could engage in on a consistent daily basis. Then I found Nichiren Shu which struck me and has since proven itself to me to be a complete and legitimate form of Nichiren Buddhism. I want to share what I have found with others - but others aren't interested in this. I accept that now, but it doesn't make what I have any less meaningful or helpful to me. Now if someone really did want to share the Nichiren Shu way, they will have to do what I did - really make an effort and practice by themselves for years, and perhaps move to where there is Nichiren Shu or at least make occasional visits to attend retreats/workshops.
Other than that - all I can do for anyone is answer specific questions and refer you to the nearest temple/Sangha and if its not your cup of green tea (I prefer Lapsang Souchong myself) then there isn't much more I can do for anyone unless they are in the Bay Area.
If anyone is in the Bay Area and can visit me at Faithful Fools at 230 Hyde Street in San Francisco on Sundays from 3-5 pm, then they'll see how I personally have assimilated and integrated what I have been taught and how I present it to fellow North Americans.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Dear Ryuei:
You or I or Daisaku Ikeda, in the final analysis, can not help anyone. Enlightenment, Buddhahood, happiness, purity, and joy is through the scrolls of the Sutra. I have given out more than 500 sutra books in less than a year and several Gohonzon received through the Kempon Hokke. It's all in the Lotus Sutra and the authentic and even some of the apocryhal writings of Nichiren Shonin. Those people who stand up will create their own mini or large sanghas or will remain a Sangha of one.
Not all the disciples and believers of Nichiren Daishonin could be with Nichiren very often. I would be surprised if all the Atsuhara Martyrs met him more than once or twice. Faith is the key and if one sticks to the basic practice and reads and studies the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Shonin's teachings, the Lotus Sutra guarantees Buddhahood. Chapter 17 also teaches their is no need to build temples, or make offerings to the priests. One moment of faith and discern in the immeasureable lifespan of the Buddha is the source of Buddhahood. You are there is they have any questions. of course the Nichiren Shu has their requirements for receiving the Gohonzon and they differ than that of the Kempon Hokke's. Perhaps your requirements need to be modified for the realities of a sangha spread out across North America and the Globe? With faith in the saving power of the Sutra (Myoho renge kyo) there is no need to worry. The Sutra guarantees that Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sixty thousand ganges will emerge from the earth.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 17, 2009 11:39 AMRyuei,
Once in dokusan my Zen Master told me "You can't save anyone so go back to your cushion."
Gassho,
Joriki Marcus
Posted by: Marcus Barlow at April 17, 2009 04:43 PMDear Marcus:
That goes double for Zennists who can't even save themselves.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 17, 2009 08:39 PMThank you, Rev. Ryuei. I think that it's hard to convey sometimes to people who are interested in Nichiren Shu that in areas without a temple/minister, it's very much a grassroots and bootstrap process of growing a sangha. I get emails of people looking for a "temple" but when I reply back that there is none, just a small sangha, I don't typically hear back from them. This could be due to lots of reasons, but I think you tapped into a big one in your post.
Posted by: Erin at April 18, 2009 06:37 AMRev. Ryuei,
Thank you for being so forthright and open about this active subject. However, I would like to say that "my SGI" is very close to the following (of course without the 'minister'):
"Oh sure, we have a Nichiren Shu practice center just down the street from you there in Hoboken. Just show up anytime you like and chant with the hundreds of people who are usually there in the vast auditorium that we have set up there for 24 hour chanting. And no you don't have to join or contribute or do anything at all since we already have more people and money than we can possibly manage so all you have to do is show up chant whenever you feel like it for whatever you need at the moment and then leave. And we'll take care of all the rest. Oh, and if you sign your name on the register and attend a special free Saturday workshop held there every month we'll make you a minister as well and then you can start your own Sangha and be in charge and create your own version of SGI where you get to be sensei."
Everything is what you make it. Everything is your responsibility. This is what is meant by win or lose.
namaste
"If I could lead the people to the promised land, I wouldn't bother because someone else would lead them right back out"
a map, a compass, a sandwich for the journey, some advice maybe and good wishes. The explorer's shoes won't fit your feet and your shoes won't fit theirs.
Posted by: smibbo at April 19, 2009 08:49 AMIt may be quixotic to hope for a sangha that isn't
a) a personality cult or b)suffocating in ceremony and ritual, but one can certainly enjoy the quest. I think any Buddhist group that offers a way to improve people's lives through the Buddha's teaching in a way that acknowledges the differences between American Culture and Asian culture with prosper.
Hi Ryuei,
For a guy who's been planting the seeds of selfless compassion for a long time you come off as a pretty condescending dude.
What is McEnlightenment? Do you think you could find a way to take that desire and inspire people to seek In n Out Enlightenemnt even if you personally prefer omakase enlightenment? I understand it takes a long time to become a great sushi chef, but here in america the ones that will only do omakase or, for instance, will not serve california rolls, tend not to do well. Funny thing too, did you know that the california roll is now very popular in Japan?
I respect you tremendously and have learned alot from you. I enjoyed the retreat that you led last year as did everyone who attended. I enjoyed going to the Nichiren Shu temple in Los Angeles also. But these were all experiences that I would put in the category of special occasion meals. And the Nichiren Shu temple experience I would put in the category of #1 door, number two food if you know that expression.
I agree that Nichiren buddhism is a more accessible, dynamic straight forward presentation of Mahayana Buddhism than is Zen, but the stripped down nature of Zen practice is appealing to alot of americans even if the practice itself is just way too hard for most people to get into on a regular basis. The SGI practice is a stripped down kind of practice too and based on my experience of both Nichiren Shu and SGI, one which focuses far more on the core practice Nichiren described than Nichiren Shu which seems to revel in ceremony, glitter and ethnicity.
Fine, I have no problem with that am happy you have found something that appeals to your tendency toward things which are innaccessible or offputting to most others. I do not mean that as a put down. I think if you were honest about it you would agree that most of the things that appeal to you personally are things which most other people would consider pretty obsessively niche. Can you say Metalacolypse?
It's cool, some of my best friends are otaku.
Later,
Bill
Posted by: Bill at April 20, 2009 05:09 PMDear Bill:
SGI just the basics? Try practicing SGI Buddhism requesting a Nichiren (non-Nichikan) Gohonzon, vocalizing non acceptance of President Ikeda as mentor, not subscribing to the publications, or not going to meetings. Try choosing to place a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha or Nichiren on the altar or not signing the leadership code of conduct. They have more forms than the IRS.
You want true choice, Burger King Buddhism, then you need look no further than the Kempon Hokke. The basic Hamburger, burger (Namu Myoho renge kyo) and Bun (Shakyamuni of the 16th Chapter of the Lottus Sutra - Gohonzon) are the only requirements. You want to add ketchup (recitation of the Sutra), mustard (shakabuku), lettuce (meditation), tomatoes (shoju), onions (Sutra and Gosho study), mayo (Taiko Drum)? Go right ahead. You want to practice with others? Order the big meal with fries and a coke. You want to place statues of Shakyamuni and/or Nichiren on the altar, order a happy meal. True choice is found in the Kempon Hokke because the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren offer true choice.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 20, 2009 06:10 PMIs Kempon Hokke a restaurant or do I just have to order take-out online? If it is a restaurant do they have one anywhere near the San Fernando Valley?
Posted by: Jean at April 20, 2009 08:26 PMIf Kempon Hokke was a restaurant they wood soon close for lack of business.
Posted by: jp at April 20, 2009 10:50 PMMark,
Please chant for the wisdom to come up with a better analogy. Please chant to see yourself, you'll like what you find.
Bill- I agree with the notion of "stripped down" practice. If one were to get deep into this debate, we might say that the essence of what is perceived to be the essence of "Zen" is also within this direct practice within the SGI. When we look around at various schools, we might find certain patches of common ground and, of course, some basic notions of what it means to be a buddhist. However, we might also find a certain cynical fetishism with the "jewels of the far east." We might find a guru as a "king who makes free use of others." Yet, for ordinary people like myself who want to connect with all those who are part of my immediate perception in daily life, this "stripped down" and direct practice is that which is required and it doesn't have to look like very much, "just sitting" really, the only difference is the voice which does the Buddha's work. We have to do our best as teachers of others to bring them to this immediate state, no Burger "King" or Reverend required.
namaste
Posted by: cl at April 21, 2009 05:56 AMMedieval Japanese culture and history is fascinating when it comes to art, music and theater.
But when we are trying to share the Buddha Dharma with others who are suffering right here and right now it's as useless to ask everyone to learn to practice as a Medieval Japanese person would ( which is where most of the ceremony and pomp comes from) as it is to teach a starving person how to speak Mandarin Chinese so she can order her food.
There is an emphasis in Nichiren Shu (and, yes, I'm a member) on ceremony and scholarly study.
The outward face of Nichiren Shu is very Japanese
and based on a long tradition protected by temples. The way the temples run their business is in fact their own business. But please do not
tell people from SGI they'd be disappointed in
practicing with me.
Many of us who do practice out here would welcome
anyone who wants to chant together whether they want to convert to Nichiren Shu or not. So, please
don't speak for me with this blog.
Reuyi, with all respect, this blog comes off as if
you're warning all SGI people that Nichiren Shu
is too esoteric for their ability or needs. I find
this to be off-putting and rude. It doesn't speak
for so many of us who come from SGI, detoxed,
forgiven and come to a point of appreciation for our former Sangha. It shows a real bad attitude and prejudice, IMO.
My own experience with Nichiren Shu is that I have
my own practice and can share a service with any
friends who care to join me. I don't wear a robe
or strike flint, those the latter is a really, really cool thing to experience. The ceremony,
etc supports the ability of the teachings to
become a part of who we are. But in the end it's
just us and the teachings and what we do with them.
There is no perfect Sangha, only
the Sangha where we can practice with others.
Your blog entry is proof that Nichiren Shu Buddhists are still walking the same road to self correction and we can't claim to have mastered the practice. And my comment is proof that there
is freedom to disagree with anyone, priest or not,
if what they say isn't compassionate.
Gassho, Patty
Posted by: Patty at April 21, 2009 07:41 AMHello All...as a Nichiren practitioner who has jumped about a few of the schools, I have come to the conclusion that it is me that needs to sort things out....I could have stayed with SGI...lots of nice people not bad way of doing things....who knows which are the correct teachings...mostly following the Lotus Sutra is fine....tried Nichiren ShoShu after the row...or rather, maybe I should say "stayed" with the priests for various reasons. Lost my way again and retired to being with friends who had done the same thing, but always went on trying to practise the Dharma. Then found Nichiren Shu, nearly made it to become a priest but my "forthright" character managed to annoy, several times....each school has helped me to grow in some particular way. Whether I ever manage to find a place I feel 100 percent happy with I doubt, life is not like that. Each group I belonged to had its advantages and disadvantages....but mostly it is myself that causes the break beacause of who I am. In many ways this has lead to a freedom....however it is good to be part of a sangha, although one can find a sangha out of the Buddhist world....but a close group is warming to discuss and practise Buddhism with. We do have a group that gathers round us from all parts of the world, either in person or vie internet. We are O.K for the present, but I am putting my guard down and inviting (metaphoricaly speaking) the person who may be the next challenge to come into our lives, so the group has a home/teacher more than just us. On the other hand, maybe thinking they need this, is just brain-washing....will wait and see. Anyway, think hard if you decide to change groups, why are you doing this!? These groups/sanghas/temples are full of people....and people are not much different anywhere...until you have become O.K with yourselves you will trip up, being like this can be a fine if you can get it right, it will make you strong and fearless....but when from wrong place you may punch yourself on the nose.! If you find the teachings no longer to your liking then look carefuly at what the next group has to offer, before you throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Take care. Gassho Suzanne
Suzanne,
Gassho. Thank you for sharing this. I think you've said it best. Organizations are organizations, simply stated. I think it should be said here as well that the core strength of the sangha of SGI is the monthly discussion meeting. This is where, in our member's homes, in each member's very lives, specific to that member (no organzational interference) where we open our hearts, homes, and lives to rise and greet each bodhisattva observing the buddhahood called forth from within.
gassho.
Posted by: cl at April 21, 2009 08:26 AMDear cl:
Nichiren Shonin had meetings whenever people came to see him, his house or hut always open, and oo formality or rules in place.
Many people are now chowing down on the Kempon Hokke essential practice as many Sutra books have been distributed, several Gohonzons bestowed, and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. If you don't like the Kempon Hokke you don't like Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism. You are free to eat with Andrew Zimmer (bizarre foods)on the travel channel but if you want the best burger or grilled chicken sandwich, look no further than the Lotus Sutra and the writings of Nichiren Daishonin. Since you misunderstand the faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra, you misunderstand the Kempon Hokke.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 21, 2009 08:45 PMMark,
Since you misunderstand the simplicity of 'metaphor=entity' of Lotus Sutra buddhism ,then you fail to understand buddhism. There is no excuse for your racism, misogyny, self-hatred and distortion of the true teachings of the buddha.
may you find help
Posted by: cl at April 22, 2009 06:05 AMcl -
Being so fiercely hated for giving good advice is proof of the validity of the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. I don't know how to thank you enough?
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 22, 2009 09:19 AMMark,
Yes, indeed, if it was "good" advice you were offering, this would be the case. This happens to all who give good advice, namely Nichiren, Haile Sellasie, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Makiguchi, Today, Daisaku Ikeda, Dalai Lama, Gandhi, and so on. However, for you, it is just a feedback loop.
peace
Posted by: cl at April 22, 2009 09:27 AMcl - Haile Sallassie? LOl. Dalia Lama? Nichiren Shonin would have him for breakfast. I love the picture of him with Yarmulka dovening at the wailing wall. You forgot to mention the great Wahabi Imams. LOL.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 22, 2009 09:47 AMMr. Rogow,
You seem to me to be a very sad man.
I apologize.
namaste
Posted by: cl at April 22, 2009 09:56 AMDear cl:
Sad is the SGI Gohonzon and philosophy which breeds evil men and women. Don't apologize to me. Apologize to the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin for having embraced the warped SGI philosophy which can't even create a peaceful family life, let alone peace of mind but you would have the ignorant believe it can create world peace. The Lotus Sutra is universally valid and efficacious. If there is one example of failure to attain Buddhahood, it is not an expression of the Mystic Law. There are millions of such examples in the SGI.
Posted by: Mark Rogow at April 22, 2009 11:00 AMHi again Ryuei,
I found your observations brilliant. You really spelled out some of the issues I go through, being what feels like the only Nichiren Buddhist in my state that isn't in SGI. I say "feels like" because I often wonder if anyone else from the SGI group here is secretly disgrundled, but I have no way of knowing right now.
It is hard to go it alone. And leaving SGI but not Nichiren Buddhism does mean a real paradigm shift, regardless of what direction you take. Even the Shoshu does things that SGI doesn't, like intoning the Four Vows and Namu Butsu, Namu Ho, Namu So in their services--I knew SGI members who could barely pronounce 'Gohonzon', forget expecting them to understand the Triple Jewels!
And this isn't meant to be highbrow or elitist. Part of the problem is that SGI tries to "dumb down" rather than *teach* and *explain*. You have people barely able to understand the groupspeak sent out to teach it to others. That isn't learning, it's programming. And the Buddha was a teacher, not a programmer.
I do hope that people who are secretly unhappy or burned out do leave SGI, just to get out of an environment that's bad for them. And those that want to continue with Buddhism--to paraphrase Chapter 16, yearning to see the Buddha wholeheartedly at the cost of their lives--will find Nichiren Shu or Kempon Hokke or whatever fits them. Eventually there'll be enough of us to network them. They, and we, will just have to perservere.
(Course, you know to send anyone from Louisiana my way so we can start a Sangha here. >;)