I have a confession. I sometimes lurk on the blogs of SGI members and people who chant, just to get a read on the state of our "movement." My prejudicial belief is that SGI is at best a self-help support group that uses daimoku as just another positive thinking strategy (rather than a practice that goes beyond the dualities of positive/negative.)
I like the blog myoho-a-go-go, and she recently posted something that I find quintessentially SGI, namely, an entry entitled "Pimping my friends in faith." She tells how she put out a facebook call for encouragement, and her member friends responded.
Now, am I such a huge tool that I have a problem with people encouraging one another? No. Not exactly. Still, something doesn't sit right with me about this general attitude toward Nichiren Buddhism.
I'm trying to figure out why. This is an ongoing question/problem for me.
Believe me, there have been times when I have "pimped" my friends in faith this way, but I want to believe that my practice has matured -- that I have matured. I want to think I don't need this kind of clubby cheering section.
I'm becoming attached to the notion that validating one another in superficial ways is not the same as helping one another grow in faith.
Any comments? Anything? Am I a tool?
7 comments
It's always so easy to diagnose what others are "doing wrong." I don't know if this is along the lines of what you're talking about, but it seems relevant to me:
From Pema Chodron, "Looking for Signs of Spiritual Progress."Yes.
Gee, mroaks, I guess you no longer need my best efforts to support and encourage you. Jerk! (grin) You might be surprised to know that you have actually supported and encouraged me at crucial moments. That is why I put up with you. Stay away from SGI websites. They put you in a bad mood.
Hi, mroaks!!I'm the myoho-a-go-go gal. First of all, I love Hawaii!! Second, if you're a tool, then I must be a way bigger one, because I actually installed a counter on my blog for the very purpose of surmising who was reading my blog and from where (not a very big readership, so still a novel thing to it). I read your observations as being very sincere and not scathing. I want to assure you that I do take seriously the constructs of Nichiren Buddhism and apply them to my daily living. Still, I've been practicing for 4 years--relatively new to the practice, I think.I gave a lot of thought to what you said. You've been practicing for 20+ years, which is something I really, really admire. I know there's controversy around the SGI. But apart from that, I'm trying to figure out how asking for spiritual encouragement is an immature behavior. Like I said, I'm new to this and would really be interested in hearing what you have to say. We both chant daimoku and we have a lot more in common, faith-wise, than we have differences. Right? I'd just like to learn from you and your experiences.Warmly,M
You have not been around long enough to see the other side of what passes for friendship in SGI. If you have not experienced the shunning, character assassination and harassment that SGI directs at members who question or step away from the group, you know only part of the story about SGI camaraderie. It's fake friendship.Encouragement in SGI is about swapping and embracing shallow ikedaisms, not about finding the strength and confidence in your own life to follow your own path. As long as you stay on the Ikeda/SGI path, you're fine. But if you develop enough clarity to call SGI on its bullshit and practice Nichiren Buddhism on your own or with a different sangha, well, you are a jackal according to ikeda.What i'm objecting to is excessive groupthink masquerading as Nichiren Buddhism.
I have found that there is a period of idealism people go through when they embrace this practice. It is a sweet, wonderful time when the practice seems to work miraculously and we are surrounded by new friends who want to encourage us. I do not think it's necessary or appropriate to criticize people who are enjoying this time in their practice.The harder times come soon enough. Times come when you doubt whether you're doing it right, whether you should be following a different path. Buddhism Barbara wrote about something similar as it relates to Zenhttp://buddhism.about.com/b/20...SGI is focused almost exclusively on capitalizing on the idealized stage of practice, as if all members should maintain a blissful state of idealization at all times. Most SGI encouragement, such as it is, is meant to cajole one back into a state of idealization and positive thinking.As Barbara's article implies, we are meant to get beyond the stage of idealism. The problem with SGI is that there's nowhere to go once you are past this stage. Nowhere to go but out of the organization.Some of us have found homes where we can continue lifelong practice with other Nichiren groups, or with a different school of Buddhism that recognizes there is more to practice than "eyes shining bright for sensei."You needn't rush people past their idealism. Better to create a resource for them, a place to go, words of wisdom, when they find themselves let down and bitter in the course of practice.
>You needn't rush people past their idealism. Better to create a resource for them, a place to go, words of wisdom, when they find themselves let down and bitter in the course of practice.<I agree with this completely. SGI loses its members because a natural function of practice is that people suddenly start to practice Buddhism even if they fell for the materialism that SGI promotes at first, at least westerners. I can't figure the Japanese out because they seem to stick far past the point a westerner quits, but I wouldn't lump them all into the same basket either.