Problem #1: the group study material being Daisaku Ikeda's literature, or his interpretations of the Gosho passages or the Lotus Sutra. I would have rathered study being solely the Gosho or the Lotus Sutra and Daisaku Ikeda's literature be read on one's own time. I would prefer it this way because these are the building blocks of Nichiren Buddhism overall. Having come from a Christian background, N.O.I. (Nation Of Islam) background, and having seen multiple documentaries, one considerable advice I took away was "know what your religious text says". I found it disappointing when no SGI member could give me an explanation of a Lotus Sutra pasage, that wasn't covered in Daisaku Ikeda's The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra series. I had to garner explanations from Nichiren Shu members. As I type this, I wonder, is this what happens when people are complacent with understanding the bare minimum?
Problem #2: The relentless and vexatious encouraging to to establish a mentor-disciple relationship with Daisaku Ikeda. I don't know him. I haven't met him. I more than likely will never meet him in this lifetime, and even if I did get that opportunity, we would not be able to communicate. He doesn't speak English, and my Japanese is scant. Also, in the real world, a mentor is someone who takes youn under their wing. You two interact with one another; establish a rapport with one another; bounce ideas off one another. Once you surpass the mentor, the relationship dynamic changes, and you go on your way to further your development. However, the salient component is the establishment of a rapport. Ikeda established a rapport with Toda. Toda established a rapport with Makiguchi. I don't call people my friends without establishing a rapport, and I sure as hell am not about to do that with a mentor. Like I mentioned in the last blog, a multitude of members will say, "You can understand his heart through reading his literature." Well I did not understand his heart via reading, rather I surmised it. And I have read a great deal of Daisaku Ikeda's literature. I have read his 1995 lecture "The Heart of the Lotus Sutra", his 2004 lecture "The Opening of the Eyes" his 2009 lecture"On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime", etc. I even endeavored to read The Human Revolution and The New Human Revolution series. (I tried to read The Human Revolution first because it formed the backdrop to The New Human Revolution). I even wrote letters to him, to which I received no response.
I am in no ways like Ma-Ti from Captain Planet. I don't have a ring with the power of heart. I cannot telepathically read someone's heart.
So there is no mentor-disciple relationship without the establishment of a rapport. In fact, the only connection between me and Daisaku Ikeda is that we share the same birthday.
Problem #3: For me, any leadership position within the SGI is a bane and a magnanimous chore. I know because I was one for some time. While people normally don't defect to avoid being a leader, I highlighted that to emphasize that members are not likely to leave you alone when you decline leadership positions ad infinitum. You will be barraged ad nauseam with encouragements that it's an auspicious way to change your karma and accrue good fortune. This is why being a leader was a bane for me.
- home visitations - when it was an active member, this was okay. When it was a member who had not been active for over 12 months, home visitations were just nauseatingly pushy for me. To add insult to injury, most of the YMD in my district had been inactive for over 12 months. They were inactive when I became a member. Personally, if a member has been inactive for over 12 months, and have not made any effort to reach out, I would have, and still would, chalk it up to "person is not interested in practicing with the S. G. I." And that's fine with me.
- calling up YMD in my district to encourage them to register for, or participate in events like the 50K Festival. Once again, when it pertained to YMD who had been inactive of 12+ months, this was a nauseatingly pushy thing for me to do. I hated it so much, that in the months leading to the 50K Festival, when my higher up leader suggested that me and other YMD leaders in our chapter call youth in our district to register, throughout the week, I didn't call at all. I waited until we did it as a group.
- fukudoshi - a frustrating drudgery. I don't know who the hell came up with that accursed and grievous idea to "chant with the rhythm of galloping horses", but for me it made chanting other members, and fukudoshi to be distasteful, discombobulated, and contemptuous drudgery. Why? Because for Daimoku, members, especially in the big city, want to go warp speed, even in the Gongyo. (The last district I was in was thankfully an exception). I find warp speed chanting to be mentally exhausting, and only befitting for two occasions: earthquakes and tornadoes. That's it!!!!! Also, as it pertains to Gongyo, I see no point in rushing, especially when rushing meant fucking up the pronunciation. I find it to be so much of a chore that when I was a member, I would do Gongyo by myself before doing it with members. Even during 50K rehearsals, when we had to do Gongyo together except in extenuating circumstances. I would do Gongyo by myself first.
- and one responsibility and bullet that I have been thankful to have dodged as leader. However I would have had to deal with it sooner or later. In the event that I home visited someone and learned that they either had a print off copy of the Gohonzon or painted it on a mirror in the house in its calligraphic format, and tell me that they also chant to it when they're away from their Gohonzon; I would not lose my shit; albeit I would advise them that there are members who will. And if they painted it on a mirror in its calligraphic format, I will actually take my hat off to them for their artistic acumen, earnestness in faith, and be glad that they didn't draw it on their windshield.
Problem #5 - I cannot work around and no longer endure Article 21 of Nikko Shonin's 26 Admonitions "Article 21: You should not sit together with slanderers of the Law at religious ceremonies for fear of suffering the same punishment as they." http://sokaspirit.org/home/newsletter/nikko-shonins-admonitions-and-nikken/
While this may have been a necessity in 13th century Kamakura era Japan, in 2019 I think this admonition is and will continue to be an inevitable and considerable impediment to any endeavor for world peace or for solving world issues. Is that why one will never find a picture of Daisaku Ikeda with the Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhah Hanh of Vietnam? Is that why they never engaged in dialogue about making world peace a reality? Is that why one will never find a picture of Daisaku Ikeda with Master Cheng Yen of Taiwan, even though she teaches from the Lotus Sutra? Is that why they never engaged in dialogue about Humanistic Buddhism, since Soka Gakkai purports to be humanistic religion? Even though Master Cheng Yen speaks Mandarin Chinese with a Taiwanese dialect, certainly Daisaku Ikeda could have found a competent translator to help with the dialogue. Upholding this article internationally in 2019 is conducive to tribalism in Buddhism. I have 0 interests in upholding it or trying to encouraging someone else to do it.
Problem #6 - I have 0 problems with anyone mixing practices. If someone chants the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra for their nerves and practices Christianity, that's fine with me. If someone chants the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra and practices Zen meditation on the side for their anxiety, that is fine with me. In 2019, no one has the right to tell anybody "don't mix practices". I think that discouraging people from mixing practices is an archaic, narrow-minded, tribalistic, and obsolescent way of thinking.
Due to my disagreements with Article 21 of Nikko Shonin's 26 Admonitions, the discouraging of mixing practices, and affixing the titles Original Buddha and True Buddha to Nichiren, I have no further interests in practicing with the Fuji tradition whatsoever. (And for those who don't know, that includes Nichiren Shoshu, and all its current and former affiliations). My views align more with the Minobu tradition. Gassho.
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