Here is a link to an article about how Iraqi prisoners are being abused in Iraq:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/27/60II/main614063.shtml
I searched and found three photos of the many that are referred to. I have photos of the Iraqi on the box with the hood and hooked up with electrical wire. I have a picture of the female solier and the naked line up of Iraqis. I have a picture of the Iraqis stacked in a pyramid with what appear to be two US soliders smiling and laughing. So this stuff is for real.
Is it torture? Are people actually being electrocuted, beaten, raped, or killed? The article and others I have read seem to indicate that much worse is going on that just the humiliation exposed in these photos.
One point I find particularly apalling is that Fredericks, the soldier who is interviwed by 60 miutes II argues that the prisons have no guidelines or regulations relating to the treatment of the prisoners. My thought is - so what? Do adult Americans need orders and regulations to tell them what is or is not an acceptable way to treat people? Doesn't every human being on this entire planet grow up hearing some version of the Golden Rule or the negative Golden Rule: "Do not do unto others, as would not have them do unto you."
But of course it is also a worldwide experience to "Do unto others before they do unto you" and "Those with the guns make the rules."
I believe it when the army says that these are the actions of a small minority, but I also DO NOT ACCEPT that as an excuse. The army is ACCOUNTABLE for all its members and can not REFUSE RESPONSIBILITY. I was in the military as an officer and the one thing I learned is that you are responsible for what your unit does. But what I see now are the higher-ups all the way to the president refusing accountability and saying that this was not the action of the US Army but the misguided actions of some individuals - and some were civilians. Well, guess what? Those servicepeople (men and women) and/or civilians were working for you guys and you (the government and the military commanders) were responsible for their actions.
But even leaving aside the culpability of the military and the government - what does this say about the average American. I don't believe that it was just a few sick individuals. I think, and the article would seem to indicate, that a certain culture of intimidation, fear, and contempt for others was deliberately being fostered. In that kind of situation - with authoritarianism, peer pressure, and the temptation to have a godlike power over others - it would take a strong, mature, and compassionate person to stand up against the culture of abuse and say "NO!" Fredericks himself was apparently a corrections officer here in the States and supposedly "one of the best" who should have known better one would think. Apparently not. And I think this whole situation thus reflects on how criminals are treated here at home too - as subhumans with no hope of redemption who know exist for the pleasure of the gaurds and the exploitation of certain economic interests.
What I see here is that the culture of the United States has become exceedingly rutheless, cut-throat, and inhumane. Might makes right. That is the morality of the US at present - despite the exceedingly thin veneer of fundamentalist Christian "family-values" the Bushes and their ilk try to put on things.
According to Nichiren Shonin's Rissho Ankoku Ron a country whose values have turned away from the values of the Lotus Sutra - as embodied by Bodhisattva Never Despise - is karmically doomed to civil war within and invasion from without. Just look at Iraq. That is exactly what happened to them under the values of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. Their evil led to decades of war and civil war and now a humiliating occupation. Our country has aways to go before we reach the nadir that Middle Eastern countries have long since reached - but I do not want to see us go down that path at all.
I want to see a day when American servicemen and women do not need to ask for regulations or orders in order to realize that people are not playthings and that all beings, even our enemies, have Buddha-nature. That is what will save this country.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
So today is the day when we commemorate the first time that Nichiren formally chanted Namu Myoho Renge Kyo and initiated what we now call Nichiren Buddhism. Happy Birthday Odaimoku!
This past Sunday we commemorated a few days in advance at the temple by chanting Odaimoku for an hour with the taiko drums. That was really nice. I even tried my hand at drumming with two sticks with mediocre results - but practice makes perfect so I will keep at it.
The I went up to Marin County to meet with a couple of people I meet there on every fourth Sunday (or so). We do gongyo together and then discuss various topics in Buddhism (though the last three months our talks have centered on the Devadatta chapter and related stories - the story of Devadatta's schism, the Dragon-Girl and sex swapping episode in the Vimalakirti Sutra, and the enumeration of the Buddha's virtues, qualities and powers).
That evening I spent sitting and chanting at the Faithful Fools in the Tenderloin, and then I went upstairs from the meditation room to their community hall and joined the people who were gathered there for the Strong Medicine Show (which I caught the tail end of but am still unable to really describe what it is). Anyway, the people at Faithful Fools seem to be a really kind, caring, and thoughftul group of people. They have generously allowed the use of their meditation space (for free) so that I can meditate and chant there every Sunday night in what amounts to my own private temple space in San Francisco (at least for the two hours that I am there with my Gohonzon). I guess I should say who they are - the Faithful Fools is a street ministry at 230/234 Hyde Street which was founded by a Unitarian minister named Rev. Kay Jorgensen and a Catholic nun named Sr. Carmen Barsody. They have a copy shop there as well. They have collected a group of local artists, artisans, writers, poets, performers, activists, advocates, students, homeless, and just plain folk who get together to be thoughtful, silly, and above all caring. I have only been peripherally involved with them but hope to get to know them better as time goes on. I became aware in the past year that they held sitting meditation sessions in the mornings during the week, so I asked if they would like someone to run something in the evening. They were happy to have me onboard, and so every Sunday I come in to sit and do gongyo. The Faithful Fools also hold homeless retreats where for a day (or maybe more) one lives on the street as a homeless person would as an act of compassion and solidarity.
So my Sunday was my busy commemoration in advance of the founding of Nichiren Buddhism as I chanted my way up and down the Bay Area from San Jose to Marin County and then the Tenderloin back in SF.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Let me start by saying I do not advocate that Buddhists worship Jesus or Mary or any other deity.
My view is that as long as the supremacy of the Gohonzon or the sole efficacy of the Odaimoku is not put into question and the core insights and values of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching are not compromised then allowances should be made for the discretion of the individual practictioner. That was the courtesy my sensei extended to me, and it is what I will extent to others.
The whole Buddhist Christian thing is a big issue in my life right now for various reasons. One is that I just came back from the East Coast where I presided over a joint Catholic - Buddhist wedding for a member of the San Jose temple and his fiancee. Another reason is because my mother expressed some dismay that I had become an "atheist" whereas she had taught Sunday school at a
Baptist Church once upon a time (that was news to me). Finally, it has come to my attention that my positions have been misconstrued and/or distorted whether deliberately or accidentally on purpose. I have been assured by someone I trust that all my attempts to explain are futile and that people are only going to read and understand what they want to read and understand (either to slam me and/or Nichiren Shu and/or to use me as a basis for their own ideas which may actually have nothing to do with what I actually do or do not advocate). Nevertheless, I feel compelled to think out loud about all this again.
Let me start by saying I do not advocate that Buddhists worship Jesus or Mary or any other deity.
Now Nichiren himself wrote that he prayed to the gods of the sun and moon and Kishimojin and her daughters and whatnot. For instance in the Letter to Kyo'o he wrote: "Since I heard from you about Kyo'o Gozen, I have been praying to the gods of the sun and moon for her every moment of the day." http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/Gosho/ReplyKyoo.htm
Nichiren seemed to relate to the mythical beings on the Omandala as actual entities who could be appealed to and who were obligated by their vows to use their powers to assist the votaries of the Lotus Sutra. Whether Nichiren literally believed this or was just writing this way could be argued, but I personally believe that Nichiren and all the Kamakurans (and 13th century people around the world and even today) meant what they said in all sincerity.
I personally do not believe that there are literal gods of the sun and moon, nor do I believe there are any mythical pantheons or choirs of saints out there listening to us in the clouds somewhere. Having just flown in an airplane through many clouds I must in all honesty report that I saw no one up there benevolent or otherwise.
However, I do have to say that I have felt spiritual presence(s) in my life, and that when I am especially calm and attentive they make themselves known.
Now whether these are actual "spiritual entities" or some psychological quirk of perception I don't known. But I do believe that these presences can be related to in different ways. For some people they are angels, others call them devas, or saints, or shoten zenjin, or loas, or whatever. But they are there, they do help (or hurt depending), and they can be related to and appealed to within the context of one's upbringing and/or faith commitment. This is not something that can be faked however. One must really be open to and able to relate to them in a way that makes sense to you and touches your heart. It is like art in this sense - it either clicks with you or it does not.
But let me get back to my point: should we Nichiren Buddhists, like Nichiren, being praying to deities? And if so, should we only pray to authorized Vedic, Shinto, Chinese, Japanese and other deities who have already been officially approved by Buddhism in general or Nichiren in particular?
Let me start by saying I think the whole argument completely misses the main point of being a Buddhist in the first place. For this reason I find it petty and usually don't think about these things. But then people say I pray to Mary and Jesus and so I have to say something about it.
I think the point of Buddhist practice, including Nichiren Buddhism, is to attain the same degree of insight and compassion as the Buddha. As a Nichiren Buddhist I believe we do that through faith, practice, and study - and in that order of priority. Furthermore, our primary and sole essential practice is Odaimoku. Our practice really begins and ends with Odaimoku - it is both the seed and the fruit of enlightenment. By this I do not mean to reduce all of life to seven Sino-Japanese syllables, but I do believe that those syllables express what Nichiren saw as the bottom line of Buddhism which we should feel in the depths of our being and with faith and rejoicing express with our whole heart, mind, and body (specifically verbally through chanting).
I think that Nichiren saw all of life as arranged around the Odaimoku just as all the various beings on the Omandala are arranged around and illuminated by the written Odaimoku. So I believe that for him, praying to the gods was no different than appealing to the local magistrate in a legal matter. All of them served or should be serving Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. So I do not believe that praying to the "gods" is anymore or anyless a part of Buddhist practice than going to work, or playing with one's child, or paying the bills. But unlike Nichiren, praying to Shinto or Vedic or other foreign deities does not make sense to me as a 21st century American so it is not a part of my practice nor need it be - because the sole essential practice is Odaimoku.
But what about the "deities" I did grow up with? Like Jesus or Mary. Well, I am no longer a Catholic nor even a Christian (in the orthodox mainstream sense). But I do respond to certain images of love and compassion which are a part of what I see as the fruits of Buddhist practice. I also would not say I turned my back on Christianity so much as got a very different view of it. My worldview is now very different, and though there are many shared values those values are now rooted in Buddha Dharma as that derived from my upbringing, education, culture, and personal experience (for better or worse - I do not claim to perfectly abide by my own values but I won't compromise my standards even for me). Anyway, the bottom line is that I can relate quite well to Christian imagery and ideas but I no more worship or pray to Christian deities or entities than I do to Shinto or Vedic deities (who are incorporated into Buddhism). nor would I advocate that other Buddhists do so.
The fact is, I view all these deities and incarnate saviours and divine mother figures in all the world religions as the manifestations of psychological archetypes in forms appropriate to each particular culture. I do believe there are certain spiritual presence(s) that correspond to them but are above and beyond any of them as it were. I have not even made up my mind whether their "assistance" is objectively real or a matter of my own personal subjectivity and the mind's need to project or find meaningful coincidence or "synchronicities" in the flow of life's events. So for me it is not a matter of faith or rejection - it is a matter of being open-minded.
But let's suppose these entities exist behind the masks of different cultural images - Kannon or Mary; Jesus or Samantabhadra, or whatever - then I do believe, as Nichiren believed, that if they are benevolent and represent the values of love, compassion, joy, equanimity, insight and so on, then they are supporters of the Wonderful Dharma and those who uphold the Wonderful Dharma. This means, to put it bluntly, that they are working for us. They are a part of the team as much as our flesh and blood members of the Sangha. So I would not pray to them per se, but I can relate to them, be aware of them, and be grateful to them in the context of my primary and sole essential practice which is the Odaimoku.
A related and important issue is this - are all images appropriate? Vedic, Chinese, and Shinto images or beings seem to be ok (they are all on the Omandala) but what about those in other cultures? At this point - in the Nichiren Shu - there is NO official policy on this one way or another that I have ever heard of. Some ministers say we should not add anything Nichiren did not specifically advocate - which to me means we freeze Buddhism in the amber of 13th century Japan. Other ministers might say that anything goes and that we can willy nilly put anything up on our butsudans - but that might mean putting up images or symbols whose values and connotations are at odds with our founder Nichiren's intention (not to mention Shakyamuni Buddha's intentions). Others point out that the assimilation of other deities to Buddhism took generations. That is a plausible argument, but I really don't think it took quite so long and the Buddha added the Vedic deities from the very beginning. I do think the process in China and Japan and other countries took awhile, was ad hoc, and had many successes and failures. Still, it was always a part of the movement of Buddhism from one culture to another.
I think that our practice needs to be personally meaningful to us but at the same time we should maintian a certain simplicity and also respect the basic integrity of our practice. Different people will have different ideas about what this might mean. For some that might mean putting keepsakes or family pictures on the butsudan or statues of bodhisattvas that we relate to. For others it might mean enshrining nothing but the Omandala. My view is that as long as the supremacy of the Gohonzon or the sole efficacy of the Odaimoku is not put into question and the core insights and values of the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching are not compromised then allowances should be made for the discretion of the individual practictioner. That was the courtesy my sensei extended to me, and it is what I will extent to others.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
It has come to my attention that some people are confused about
the statue of the Good Shepherd on my butsudan. To many it seems to
signify that according to me it is ok to worship Jesus and the
Gohonzon at the same time. Nothing, however, could be further from
the truth. My placement of that statue on my butsudan actually has a
lot to do with my solid affirmation of apostasy - which is the
renunciation of my former belief in the teachings of Christianity
and baptismal vows to uphold the Gospel.
Apparently people have not read my FAQ for Christians, or my essay
on Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, or my essay Kuan Yin is God. So
want to write a little something here to clear things up.
But first let me state that the statue on my butsudan is not going
anywhere. That is nonnegotiable. I bought it in Chinatown in
Philadelphia after I left the Soka Gakkai because it spoke to me. It
had been carved in China and I appreciated the fact that here was
something that symbolized my own Western religious heritage but
which had been made in East Asia, even as I (a Westerner) had
embraced an East Asian religion. I liked the symmetry of that. Also,
it was not just any representation of Jesus, but the Good Shepherd.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains that he is the Good Shepherd
and that he has flocks elsewhere that the disciples know nothing
about. At that time in my life, I was really trying to find a way to
reconcile my Christian heritage and values with my Buddhist faith. I
did not want to repudiate my own culture, heritage and values just
because I had adopted an alien faith which made more sense to me.
That would be to betray who I was. So it encouraged me to think that
Jesus himself spoke of appearing in different ways to different
people outside the boundaries of his known disciples. Perhaps this
meant that he had also appeared in Asia in some mysterious manner?
Likewise, the Eternal Buddha in the Lotus Sutra speaks of appearing
in different guises in many times and many places in order to teach
the Dharma using skillful methods appropriate to each situation. The
idea of the Buddha and the the Christ appearing incognito all over
the world to teach and help people in accordance with their own
cultures appealed to me greatly and was symbolized by this statue of
the Good Shepherd - so it went on my butsudan as symbol of a
possible reconciliation of East and West, and everything positive I
had gained from Buddhism and Christianity.
Incidentally, the statue of Kuan Yin on my butsudan comes from the
same period - my undergrad years just after leaving Soka Gakkai. It
was a gift from my mother because she knew that as a Catholic I had
a thing for Mary. Here was a symbol from the East of all the
compassion and nurturing qualities that as a Catholic I had looked
to in the images of Mary. Even better, I found out later that these
portrayals of Kuan Yin had themselves been influenced by statues of
Mary brought into China by Portuguese missionaries in the 16th
century. So here again was an example of East and West, Buddhism and
Christianity, converging.
And yet, Buddhism and Christianity have two very different
worldviews and plans for salvation/liberation. They are indeed
mutually contradictory in many respects. For instance, Christianity
clearly teaches that there is only one lifetime and then an eternity
in heaven or hell, but in Buddhism the heavens and hells and the
other six worlds of transmigration are all impermanent and one has
countless lifetimes in which to suffer and/or "work out one's
salvation with diligence" as the Buddha said. And there is the other
big difference, in Christianity you can not save yourself, only
through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ can you be saved.
In Buddhism, there is no self to save, and one achieves liberation
from suffering by awakening to the selfless true nature of reality.
Now one can argue that Christianity is teaching the same thing by
using myth and symbol, but the mainstream Christian tradition does
not see it that way (I have been reading the Catholic Catechism for
the third time and they at least state what they believe quite
clearly). In the end, I realized that I could not be both, and that
all along it was the Buddhist view of things that made the most
sense to me. I also discovered that all the key values which
Christianity held for me were also upheld in Buddhism. I just needed
time to work this all out for myself. Thankfully I had good teachers
like Rev. Bokin Kim and Fr. Schepers in Philadelphia and others who
respected me and trusted me enough to provide me with teachings but
also the space to work it out for myself.
So the bottom line is that I no longer subscribe to the Christian
world view - though I share many of its values and I have been
inspired by many of its insights. I have even gone so far as to take
refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha (affirming that something
besides Jesus is efficacious for salvation) and even more I have
become a disiple of my sensei, the Ven. Ryusho Matsuda and become a
minister in the Nichiren Shu. So now I teach that it is the Lotus
Sutra which has the most comprehensive view and that (as the
Kaikyoge says): "All beings can expiate misdeeds, perform good, and
attain Buddhahood by the merits of this sutra. It does not matter
whether they are wise or not, or whether they believe the sutra or
reject it." The Lotus Sutra is the underlying truth behind all the
many truths of Buddhism and even other religions. To turn against it
is to turn against that from which all the other truths derive. And
this assertion makes me and any Nichiren Buddhist, an apostage
againt Christianity which clearly asserts that all truth derives
from the Word of God and not from the Dharma or the Lotus Sutra. So
in the end, I have made a choice in favor of the Dharma.
So let's be clear - if you are a Buddhist and were formerly a
Christian then you are now an apostate - which is considered a sin
as grave as murder, adultery, idolatry, and other such mortal sins.
Maybe you have not explicitly repudiated your baptismal vows or
confirmation vows or whatever, but in effect you have turned to the
Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for liberation/salvation and are
repudiating the Bible as the source of truth in your life. Do not
kid yourselves about this.
So where does this leave Jesus and Mary and God the Father and the
Holy Spirit and the rest? Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?"
That is a very good question for us Buddhists. In reading the
Gospels I get the impression of a man who constantly brought things
back to this bottom line - love for God and love for neighbor which
are not two seperate loves but somehow are bound up in one another.
Jesus related to God as "Abba" or "Daddy." He had an intimate
relationship with what he believed was the source of all things and
the source of love and he wanted others to share in that
relationship. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of that sharing. Mary,
the saints, and all the rest are the community which has been
transformed by that love. This is a marvelous thing - and I
certainly don't repudiate that. I cherish it, I value it, and I must
find a way to reconcile it with my faith in Buddhism.
Buddhists have confronted this before. In India, the Buddha did not
negate but rather affirmed the existence and even the assistance of
the Vedic deities. In China, Korea, and esp. Japan the local deities
were also recruited as protectors of the Dharma. In fact, the
Japanese even came up with a system whereby they taught that the
Shinto kami were the shadows of the buddhas and bodhisattvas cast by
them in order to teach, nurture, and assist the Japanese. But this
was not something the Japanese thought of first. Even in the sutras
which originated in India, it is asserted that the bodhisattvas
become Brahma, Indra, and the other Vedic deities. This is one
reason why the Shinto deities Amaterasu and Hachiman were inscribed
by Nichiren on the Omandala. So Buddhism has long viewed the deities
and spiritual figures of other religions as reflections of the
buddhas and bodhisattvas to some degree or another.
In my own reading of the sutras, I discovered that many of the
archetypal qualities associated with Jesus Christ, particulary the
images of the Suffering Saviour and the Cosmic Christ, were also
associated with Bodhisattva Universal Virtue in the Flower Garland
and other sutras. Thus my essay on Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
alludes to these similarities with what is said about Jesus Christ.
Jesus did not teach the unique insights of Buddhism such as the four
noble truths or interdependent transformation, instead he affirmed
monotheism which Buddhism does not. So I do not think he shares
those qualities which make the Buddha unique, but he does share many
of the qualities attributed to bodhisattvas like Universal Virtue.
Likewise, the East Asian image of Kuan Yin has much in common with
the archetypla image of Mary. So for this reason I associated the
statues on my butsudan with these two bodhisattvas. And there they
reside as Shugojin - or gaurdians of the Dharma. Since becoming a
member of the San Jose temple I have had them eye-opened by my
sensei as those two bodhisattvas.
And so there is a statue of the Good Shepherd on my butsudan, and it
does symbolize my own reconciliation of my heritage and childhood
values with Buddhism. But its placement also represents how this
heritage and these values are now viewed within the context of the
Gohonzon. The statues are off to the side of the Omandala which is
in the center. The Omandala itself contains buddhas, bodhisattvas,
Shinto deities, dragons, demons, and other beings all configured
around the Odaimoku to show that their illumination all depends upon
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. In the same way, Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
and Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries have drawn me to the Omandala
and even before I was introduced to Buddhism they reached me and
taught me the values of love and compassion through Jesus and Mary
and my many teachers in the Catholic Church. So I show my gratitude,
recognition and appreciation by keeping them on my butsudan, and I
show also that I see them as leading me to and supporting my
practice of the Three Great Hidden Dharmas of the Essential Teaching
of the Lotus Sutra.
Some here may agree or disagree. I wrote this not to convince
anyone, but only to show where I myself stand and will remain
standing.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
This is a repost of something I have shared elsewhere but I think it would be very appropriate to share it here:
A couple weekends ago Yumi and Julie and I attended the peace rally in
San Francisco (I had been marching with some other members of our
temple right alongside the Buddhist Peace Fellowship). Anyway, we
discovered that the Asian Art Museum was open for free.
There I saw one of the neatest art exhibits I have had the good
fortune to see. It was an exhibition called "Temple of the Mind."
This exhibit displayed the art of the late Thai artist Montien
Boonma (1953-2000). If you live in the Bay Area or the exhibit ever
comes to your area, I urge you to see it.
Here is the URL for the exhibit:
http://www.asiasociety.org/arts/boonma/
So many things impressed me about his art. The most important was
that his art transcended any division of Mahayana or Theravada
(Thailand is a Theravadin country). In fact, I would even say that
it transcended Buddha Dharma in the sense that what he expressed
using Buddhist imagery was a basic humanity that can be appreciated
by anyone with a heart. He explored the suffering that he was going
through with his wife's breast cancer and eventual death and then
his own imminent death due to a brain tumor but what he expressed
through his reflections was an art that celebrates healing and grace
even while recognizing the impermanence and fragility of life.
The art is itself struck me as remarkably visceral in that it
invites one to physically enter into it. One work is called "House
of Hope" and it is like a miniature temple made up on thousands of
prayers beads covering and surrounding a platform. One walks through
the beads as one circumambulates the platform. Another display was a
series of hollow Buddha heads sculpted from a fragrant wood and
found objects. One could put one's own head inside the space of the
Buddha head and just breath in the healing herbs, incense, and scent
of the wood. Another one that really struck me was a wall of bells
enclosing the corner of the wall. One could look through the bells
to see a golden lotus flower with its falling petals on the corner
where the two walls meet. That one was called "Lotus Sound." There
were other displays of stylized begging bowls drawn with crayon
hanging over bowls fashioned out of concrete and other materials. It
really invited you to look at the contrasting textures of the
objects depicting the bowls. All of his art seemed to include as
many senses as possible, sound, texture, scent, color, a sense of
space, and of course movement and the ephemeral contingent nature of
things. Much of his art used found objects to create the semblance
of other things - Buddha heads, lungs, stupas, begging bowls, and
other things. None of it was depressing at all - which is remarkable
considering what he was working though in his life. Rather all of it
was an invitation to explore, appreciate, and enter more deeply into
the preciousness of our life in all its transient glory.
Anyway, I do hope that more people will come to see and appreciate
Montien Boonma's art.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Hi everybody,
It's nice to be blogging again. I was as shocked and saddened as anyone else about the closing of BuddhaJones. I especially missed the blogs of my fellow bloggers there - so I am immensely grateful to Rev. Greg for setting up fraughtwithperil.com.
I have been superbusy lately, so not much to say now. I have been revising my translation of the Shishin Gohonz Sho (Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice) for the University of Hawaii, revising the Additional Discourses of Sot'aesan for the Won Buddhists, brushing up on my classical Chinese so I can get to work on translating the Diamond Sutra and then the Secrets of Cultivating the Mind by Chinul (also for the Won Buddhists), and then Yumi and I are translating and revising gosho study guides (for the Nichiren Shu), and I am preparing to do a wedding in New York in about two weeks, then I am probably going to Japan in May of an international ministers meeting, and I still have to get ready for a 4 day retreat I am going to run in Denmark in August. Plus my regular job and family, and temple services, and discussion groups and meditation meetings all need time and attention. So I feel kind of frantic. Time to chant more Odaimoku!
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei