Author and long-time Nichiren Buddhist warrior Charles Atkins has launched a new training program -- the Society of Modern Buddhist Healing -- for people interested in delving deeply into what I would call the mystical aspects of Nichiren Buddhism.

My initial reaction was skepticism. I thought maybe Mr. Atkins was pulling my leg.

But the more I think about it, the more the idea excites me. Yes, me -- someone who is not fond of organized religion and hierarchy.
Mr. Atkins' description of the the society appeals to me:

The primary purpose of the SMBH is to aid the sick, the suffering, and the forgotten. The secondary purpose is to awaken one's own higher levels of consciousness through samadhi meditation and mantra-powered visualization, based exclusively on the Lotus Sutra.

...SMBH is a teaching effort that instructs individuals how to connect with the essence and healing message of the Lotus Sutra, and how to use mantra-powered visualization to heal themselves and others...

In my learning about Nichiren Buddhism, I was initially taught that Buddhism is reason. It's all very logical and scientific if you're doing it right. The law of cause and effect is observable, and chanting is basically all about cause and effect.

The mystical aspects of chanting have been given short-shrift in the mass-market version of Nichiren Buddhism that's circling the globe. Many practitioners even sneer at mysticism as hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo hooey. But I would argue that mysticism is at the heart of Nichiren's teaching.

Mystical. In every religion through the ages, mystics have emerged, and there are similarities in experience and expression among them. The banishment, isolation, passion and vision of St. John of the Cross, for example, reminds me of Nichiren. Nichiren is rarely (if ever) referred to as mystic. He's a prophet, a Buddha, Bodhisattva Jogyo, the Daishonin, and so on. Yet I see him as a forest mystic banished to Sado Island, and a passionate lover, similar to the lover in John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul.

Mr. Atkins spells out a clear course of mystical development for participants in SMBH. His description offers a fresh look at the Ten Worlds and their function as a developmental ladder:

The Ten Levels of Jakkodo

Each level of initiation corresponds to one of the Ten Worlds. Knowing, then manifesting the ideal of their mutual possession is the only way through the passage. This is accomplished by actualizing the Ten Factors. The Three Realms is the lens through which one can see their way through.

Level One - Enterer: Hell. It is boot camp for the mind. When the aspirant is finished, they are potentially strong enough to face with fortitude the formidable challenges of the next nine levels. At the end of six weeks one will be transformed from neophyte into worthy. Reminder: Hell is a projection of your own mind.

Level Two - Nomad: Hunger. Desires are the blizzard of random thoughts that blow incessantly from the egocentric mind. Still the blizzard, quell the ego.

Level Three - Beast: Anger. Rage emerges when we recognize our lack of control over the darkness of our life and weakness before petty desire. Anger is transcended when we lose our attachment to outcomes.

Level Four - Instinctive: Animality. We are creatures, like a cat or bird. Our capacity for benevolence and advanced consciousness are remote while in this state. We are territorial and suffer from all manner of selfishness and instinctive behavior. You must tame your animal nature.

Level Five - Survivor: Humanity. Savage, saint, predator, healer. The realm of humanity is capable of destroying lives and building kingdoms. The key to humanity is the middle way, between two extremes. Love, mercy, and wisdom is the formula. We are the enemy, we are the hero.

Level Six - Dreamer: Heaven. Never be enraptured by pleasure, nor trapped by despair. Insanity awaits those enraptured by beauty and distracted by the enemy. Heaven is an illusion, like a mirage. Heaven is the Phantom City, the point of respite, not the final landing. To remain in Heaven is to end up in Hell.

Level Seven - Seeker: Learning. The more one learns, the less they know. Knowledge is the foundation of Jakkodo, then it must be discarded until you are empty, like a clean slate. Only then is one ready for the next level.

Level Eight - Magnet: Realization. Understanding comes from elsewhere without seeking.

Level Nine - Giver: Bodhisattva. Unconcerned for oneself, one attends the dying, then saves another. Facing the fears of one's own mortality, one hastens to "first, understand death."

Level Ten - Master: Buddhahood. Awakened to the nine worlds, one is free to heal others spirit, anywhere, with utter perfection.

I find this thrilling. Ever since we were baby bodhisattvas in the Nichiren community, we have heard about the Ten Worlds, mostly as dry concepts. Here, Mr. Atkins portrays them as training tools. Ever thought of it like that before? I haven't. It puts a new spin on everything.

Much as I despise religious organizations (and their inherent patriarchy) I do understand that some form of instruction and discipline is necessary for those on a spiritual path.

People often point to Shambhala training as the best example of how to "teach" Westerners how to wake up. Chogyam Trungpa translated his knowledge of Tibetan Buddhist mysticism into a course with clearly defined teachings and levels, designed specifically for Westerners. He understood that we like to have our lessons and levels and teachers along the way.

I have often wondered how differently the spread of Nichiren Buddhism would have unfolded in this country if it had been translated by someone with the same spirit as a Chogyam Trungpa.

Perhaps Mr. Atkins is our Trungpa. Maybe he has launched "the next wave" of Nichiren Buddhism -- a practical, compassionate seeking of the way that embraces rather than eschews mysticism.

Mr. Atkins invites inquiries and has posted . Cool.