So this past Sunday I had my Faithful Fools meeting and I found myself wondering what "guidance" to give to someone who has been out of work, out of medicine (needed for diabetes), and living in welfare hotels via the city for the past few years. This person has been committed to coming and doing meditation with me for the past few months and though she chants Odaimoku with me and is pretty good at following along when we do gongyo she tells me that she really gets nothing out of that.
So before anyone else says it, yes, I mostly listen to where she is at. A lot of our discussion sessions consist of me asking her how she is doing, what is happening, and her telling me about her daily struggles, the classes she is taking in graphic design at city college (she showed me some of her work which looks quite good to my untrained eye), the medicine she needs, etc. She does not ever ask me for money or help outside of my providing a space to sit quietly and talk about life and the Dharma. So this is not a matter of me trying to foist something on her or not listening. I mention this because people seem to assume that I don't know how to listen or that I just spout the Pali Canon or Lotus Sutra at people regardless of their circumstances.
Many times I will share stories or teachings from Buddhism that might be relevant, but mostly I respond to people's questions, whether this woman's or those of other people who have stopped in.
I do try to talk about the power of Odaimoku and the Lotus Sutra. But it seems incredibly lame to me to tell homeless people that they should just chant to get a job or a home, or the drugs they need (prescription that is), or to feel better about their situation. It feels doubly lame since I am living quite comfortably myself.
So should we Nichiren Buddhists tell the homeless to just chant about it? Is that enough? Is that considerate or even compassionate? Will the Odaimoku enable people to get a job, and housing, and the medicine they need, and their health and dignity back?
Since I am going kind of stream of consciousness here, I'll share this image that just jumps to mind of Jesus being mobbed by beggars, lepers, and the handicapped in Jesus Christ Superstar all trying to get him to save them. He finally shouts, "Heal yourselves!" and they all fall away. I don't feel anywhere close to be being overwhelmed like that, but I do think people need to heal themselves and stop looking for a savior or some kind of external magic.
So my answer is that the Odaimoku is not magical (though perhaps magickal but let's leave that aside for a moment) but is the bottom line of all the Buddha's teachings - and that bottom line is that we have the power to heal ourselves, our neighbors, and our environment. But we must have faith in ourselves and faith in the true nature of ourselves and all things - which we call the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching.
We must stop undermining our lives by thinking I am worthless, or we are worthless, or they are worthless, or this situation is worthless. We must stop looking for security in those things which can never deliver the kind of permanent safety, contentment, or satisfaction we are looking for. There is nothing in this world that is exempt from the three marks of impermanence, loss, and lack of stability. This is not something only Buddhist teach, it is clearly in the Bible. The book of Ecclesiastes is a good statement of this.
So what should we decicate ourselves to, if job, family, home, basic medical care, and even our own health and sanity are far from guaranteed? What is it which is beyond birth and death, beyond unstable conditions? Where do we direct our devotion to an ultimate concern (which is what the word Namu conveys)?
The Wonderful Dharma is what Buddhism proposes. The Wonderful Dharma means the Sublime Truth, the Wondrous True Nature of Reality, the Ineffable, the Ungraspeable, The Unconditional Source of Loving-Kindness and Compassion, the Unborn, the Deathless, the Mystic Law, the Unsurpassed Truth which is not a person, but is not merely impersonal. Why is there something rather than nothing? Because there is a Wonderful Dharma. Or as some have put it, all phenomena are not empty and meaningless, but rather empty and marvelous.
This Sublime Truth manifests itself in our lives like a lotus flower blossoming in a muddy swamp. We sometimes only see mud and defilement, frustration, disappointment, corruption. But it is from this that the lotus flower takes its nutriment and in the midsts of all this, untainted by it, that it blossoms. From our lives just as they are it is possible to awaken to a life of selfless love and compassion and to face our circumstances with renewed hope and a sense of meaning. Just as the lotus flower seeds and blossoms at the same time we become able to manifest seeds of insight and compassion and just in doing that there is a blossoming, it is the effort itself that makes life worthwhile.
Finally, this is what all the teachings of the Buddha are leading us to, this is what all of life is expressing, once we have the ears of faith to hear it. The "sutra" or "thread of discourse" is the thread of our own lives.
We chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo as a way of calling all this to mind and heart. I don't think lip service alone is enough. We must really be calling it into our heart and mind. Maybe this will be done silently or in other words or formulations. But the point of it must take root in us and come to flower. Certainly I think it is very efficacious to chant the Odaimoku out loud with others, but the point of it should not be missed. We must not be like those who Nichrien regards as "praising the sutra with their lips while slandering it in their hearts."
So this is some of what we discussed at Faithful Fools. Recognizing that babbling in Sino-Japanese was not a meaningful practice by her admission, I explained the point of it as I saw it. I shared my hope that she might as least contemplate its meaning and if recalling the sound of the Odaimoku to see that it carries the blessings and merits of her dedication and her own wisdom and her own compassion, and those things she feels in touch with when she is able to sit quietly in the peace of the Faithful Fools meditation hall. Perhaps this power and blessing and merit will open doors that seemed close, or will challenge underlying bad attitudes that she told me she had which were perhaps blocking her path. This is, of course, shakabuku, to "break and subdue" the false thinking, bad attitudes, and destructive tendencies and habit-patterns that hold us back. Through our practice we clear the way for something finer and for a sense of the unconditional love, light, life, and liberty that is buddhahood.
So those were some of the thoughts I shared at Faithful Fools on Sunday night in light of the struggles, frustrations, and setbacks faced by at least one homeless woman in San Francisco.
So, what would you say? Do the sick and homeless just need to chant about it?
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
- Denis Diderot
That has long been one of my favorite quotes, but I always thought that it was Voltaire or Rousseau who had said it. I just did a quick search and discovered that it was the 18th century writer Denis Diderot who said it. Interesting person, and he has a lot of other quotes that I really like that I may share later. I am going to have to read more about him. He seems to have really disliked monarchies and Catholicism if not Christianity in general. Very much a product of the European Enlightenment.
It might seem strange that I like this quote since some people would consider me a "priest" and also I have a great deal of respect for many so-called "priests." I certainly would not want anyone to think ill of my sensei, or my other Nichiren Shu ministerial collegues, or the priests and Christian brothers who taught and inspired me and to whom I am still profoundly grateful. At the same time, these people earned my respect through their actions and not because they wore a collar or a kesa.
If anything I am almost automatically suspicious of someone who wears some kind of clerical garb. It is as though they are putting on airs, esp. if they walk around that way when they are not doing ceremonies. I should note that most Nichiren Shu ministers I know only wear robes when they are doing services and otherwise wear civilian clothes. There are some who do not, and I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, I am just pointing out that in Nichiren Shu most ministers prefer to appear incognito in public and that is my personal choice as well.
Anyway, my usual approach to "clergy" is to be suspicious. My thoughts kind of run like this: "Why couldn't these people get a real job?" "Are they going to presume to have some kind of authority over me?" "Do they think they are holier or somehow better than the rest of us." If it is a presumably celibate clergy person my thought is, "Are they really celibate or is it a lie, or are they hiding something they are not willing to make public or deal with? What kind of dysfunction or deviance is at work here?" In other words, "Why aren't they capable of raising a family or having a relationship (hetero or otherwise) like the rest of us? What is wrong with them?" I am especially suspicious if such people presume to be able to dictate morality or judge the worthiness of others.
I guess the problem isn't really with clergy as such, but with those who are designated as authorities. I have no problem with people being in charge or being conferred some status or title to recognize a certain level of expertise or leadership ability. People who paid their dues and who know what they are about and who are willing to emobody a certain standard of knowledge, conduct, practice, or even faithfulness and sincerity do deserve our respect. Such people can be a great inspiration. They can be the most helpful mentors you could ever hope to find. I have been blessed to have met several such people including: Fr. Schepers (a Catholic priest), Rev. Bokin Kim (a Won Buddhist nun), Taigen Dan Leighton (a Soto Zen priest), Starhawk (a Wiccan priestess), and last but not least my own sensei the Ven. Ryusho Matsuda.
But I never approached any of those people with a simple minded trust that they were virtuous or wise just because they were ordained and wore special clothes and had been conferred certain titles. Again, if anything, I approached them with a level of skepticism and challenge. I certainly treated them respectfully as I would anyone else, especially teachers. But I did not grant them an uncritical acceptance nor did I take up a posture of unquestioning servility as some people do, but neither did I approach them with disrespect of flippancy either. Rather, I approached with a civil respect and a willingness to listen and watch and weigh the merits of what I saw and heard. This is actually the approach Shakyamuni Buddha recommends to King Bimbisara in the sutras when he is asked how one can tell if certain monks were arhats or not (the king actually knew the monks in question were actually his own spies disguised as monks). The Buddha said that one can only know from living with those monks long enough to tell what they are like. Or as Jesus said, "by their fruits you shall know them."
Why is this so hard for people? To be more up front, I am writing this because I have been hearing about a situation in Europe where a certain Buddhist "Master" is demanding that people prostrate to her and give her money to attend retreats at a distance (a virtual retreat?!), and whose son is apparently taking his pick of the female followers, and whose monks are likewise lascivious and/or appropriating money from the donors. I am not going to say who this is as I don't have documented proof and am getting this all on hearsay from the husband of a member of this sham Sangha. But what irritates me is that if this is true, or even partially true, why do people put up with such nonsense? I think they put up with it because they are so overawed by a fancy robe and title and a glib tongue.
I am glad to be a follower of Nichiren when I hear of such things. Nichiren was not someone to say, "Well respect them anyway because they are fellow Buddhists." He came right out and called those who abused their clerical authority in his day slanderers of the Dharma. Nichiren was right - the people who do the most harm to religion - whether it is Buddhism or Catholicism or whatever - are the clergy who abuse their authority, presume to be what they are not, and attempt to manipulate and exploit the laity. They are the worms in the lion's belly who of all creatures are able to consume the lion by doing so from the inside out. But it is not just clergy who do this - it is any religious authority figures who claim to be above accountability.
Well, this puts me in the hot seat of course. I too am perceived as an authority or as a claimant to authority by some people. I don't really see myself that way. I see myself as someone who has done some extra-training, done my homework, and as someone who knows what he is talking about when I bother to talk about something and will readily concede on subjects where someone else knows more. I do not pose as a mystic or an advanced practitioner or as a person of great morality or integrity, but I willingly humble myself to those who I perceive are those things so that I can learn and advance in my own practice and cultivation. But I do wear a robe from time to time. My hope is to be someone who doesn't fit the portrait Diderot had of a "priest."
Sorry if this essay rambles a bit. But I am dismayed at how Buddhism's reputation is being destroyed (for at least one husband) by the presumption, hypocracy, and slanderous behavior of a so-called Budhist "Zen Master" and other Buddhist teachers who seem to give ammunition to those who see Budhism as morally bankrupt or the purview of superstitious and gullible people who gives themselves over to gurus by whatever title. I am also saddened that my Catholic heritage is being squandered by both right-wing reactionaries and by left-wing looney tunes both of whom happen to have collars. I am saddened that many use their positions of authority to exploit others or to get an uncritical soapbox for their fears, bigotry, and paranoia. It is all the sadder because I have and do know many clergy people (Christian, Buddhist, and other) who are among some of the most gentle, compassionate, and sincere people I have had the privilege to know.
So I read Diderot's quote and I laugh because I see it as pertaining to dictators and fearful clerical hypocrites who abuse their authority to rule over others while hiding their faults behind robes and collars. But I also cry a little inside because collars and robes should be a sign of someone who is safer, gentler, kinder, more inspiring and upright. But then, as the (at least occasional) wearer of a robe myself, I do know how difficult it is to live up to such a standard. But the least we who are clergy and/or senior leaders of some sort can do is not presume auhtority over others, to be accountable to those we serve, and to retain the humility and compassion that will earn genuine respect.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei