Reader letters to BuddhaJones.com. Letters are separated by blank lines or bold headings.

Drinking, Driving and Writing

I certainly hope "H. Milton" didn't DRIVE to the 7-11 for that beer run unavailable. Probably can't tell from one try, but H. and I have something in common: We think we're a lot funnier that we really are when we're "in the bag."
peace (really)
jw

On Reform

B.W.F. makes an interesting suggestion (below). As one of the creators of one of one of the sites mentioned (www.daimoku.com), I, too, think we are too damn serious a lot of the time. I would greatly enjoy seeing BuddhaJones' particular brand of irreverent humor aimed at the issues of reform (and, if you must, at me unavailable). For what it's worth, I do have some specific ideas of what changing our organization "for the better" entails, but I see no point in cluttering up your dedicated bandwidth here with such tripe.
Cheers!
Andy Hanlen

Fun with a Religious Figurehead

Forgive my typos but I have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at your most recent movie unavailable. My sides hurt too. This chump is the personification of evil? Maybe your movie will help him get a role on South Park. He can play Mr. Hanky's mentor.
danny (not that danny)

Symmetry

Fiji forgot to connect a dot in his symmetry article unavailable. He states that when we chant for others, we ourselves benefit by virtue of the law of universal symmetry. By the same token, (and this is what I would like to make explicit, tho it was implicit in his article) as we make efforts to improve ourselves and become happy, others are affected positively. His article reminded me that I don't live in a vacuum. My life is closely interconnected with the lives of others. A change for the better in me is a change for the better in the world. Thanks much.
Stan

Scoldings

Hi!  I finally got my 2001 Scoldings!  Thanks!  And aren't you cool, right there at the top of the AltaVista search engine!  Now I have search engine envy!  (But don't let that kind of shit bury you, if you know what I mean! ha! ha!)
DJ

Organizational Reform Hullaballoo

I subscribe to several Internet discussion groups. In each one there has been a terrific hullaballoo regarding reform of the SGI-USA. Most of the debate centers on two websites, www.daimoku.com and www.victoriousamerica.com. I am a dedicated reader of your website and would like to request your analysis of this movement toward reform. It seems ripe ground for irreverent humor, although I am in support of changing the organization for the better. The big problem as I see it is that no one can agree on what "for the better" entails. Yours in cyberspace,
B.W.F.

Abuses in Tibet

A news section should be added to the site. There's stuff going on with regard to religion and persecution of Buddhists. I know there are Nichiren Buddhists who care about the situation in Tibet and others who think the Tibetan Buddhists are going through karmic retribution. (How do you judge if persecution is retribution for incorrect practice or if it's persecution befalling a true votary as described in the Lotus Sutra? Either way, how dare we be complacent or smug about the sufferings of others?) Here is a news item to post, from the Associated Press, Jan. 7, 2001.

DHARMSALA, India -- Human rights abuses by Chinese authorities in Tibet increased in the last year, in a campaign to break Tibetans' loyalty to their exiled religious leader, the Dalai Lama, a monitoring group said Saturday.

"Beijing's obsession with stability and control in Tibet was the predominant theme of the year 2000," said the annual report by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and democracy.

The independent group is based in Dharmsala in northern India, where the Dalai Lama has been living in exile since 1959. Its report is based largely on accounts by Tibetan refugees arriving in Dharmsala.

During 2000, the government expanded a ban on possessing pictures of the Dalai Lama from public workers to the entire population, the report said. Raids conducted on private homes resulted in fines and the destruction of altars, said Lobsang Nyandak, the group's executive director.

The report said 715 monks and 147 nuns were expelled from monasteries and convents as part of a "patriotic reeducation" campaign meant to quash political activity. Four institutions were closed during the year, bringing the total number of closures to 22 since the campaign began in 1996.

"One of the core objectives of this campaign has been to combat the deep devotion of the Tibetan populace to the Dalai Lama," Nyandak said.

Oh, please -- don't tell me that the Chinese government is trying to get the Tibetans to follow the Law, not the person. I will rant more about this later!
Ben H.

Resolutions for the New Year

My resolutions are as follows:
1. Read the Lotus Sutra cover to cover aloud and in English at least once.
2. Win the respect of my peers through meritorious conduct and devastating witicisms.
3. Pay my bills on time and still pay myself first out of every paycheck for smart, long-term investments.
4. Eat no more cheese logs.
Kindly publicize my resolutions to hold my feet to the fire.
Robert Robert (that Robert Robert)


Bravo

Great job with the buddhajones.com website. We at the EverLife Foundation salute your effort in contributing to an adult and contemporary mood in the Nichiren space on the web. Opening the windows into our beautiful religion will allow lots of fresh air to come.
Harvey Kraft
http://www.everlife.org


Thirty Seconds of Sacrilege

Hello dear devoted readers. Ben Hillcrest here. Thirty Seconds of Sacrilege unavailable got wacked out of sync and I am trying to fix it. In the meantime I have taken it off the site. Sorry for the inconvenience. Maybe we are getting too techie for our britches. Thanks for the mail we have gotten about the spot, both supportive and damning. See you again in the new year.
Ben Holly Jolly Hillcrest


Respect the Gohonzon

Your Sacrilege movie unavailable has been playing on a loop on my computer for twenty minutes (that song! I am hypnotized) as I am trying to decide whether you have committed outrageous slander, or if you are commenting in an ironic way about unauthorized use of the Gohonzon. (For Newbies, the Gohonzon is the object of devotion in this Buddhism.) My first impulse was to laugh out loud at your ballsy flick. Then I got to wondering what in the sam hill you mean by it. All I ask is that you respect the Gohonzon, which I think you are doing, but I am not a hundred percent certain.
Your webpal Al


On Judgment (which can also be spelled judgement)

Having had a good look at this website, I have noticed a lot of anger. This isn't a bad thing, because Buddhahood exists in all life-states, and all life states can create lasting value. However, I have also noticed that a lot of this anger has it's roots in judgement, eg. of Nichiren Buddhists, and of contributors.

I would say that all the world's great religions (and people) have said that no-one is perfect. However, the same religions/people also state that all human beings have a great potential to lead amazing, rewarding lives. It therefore follows that even if certain people appear to be making 'mistakes', they never lose their potential to lead the best life, for themselves and for the world.

Also, can judgement of individuals who practise a certain religion be the basis of judgement of the religion itself? In ND's Buddhism, you try to always improve yourself, which means that there will always be imperfections in the members. Does this make the religion invalid? I would say 'no'. I can say this easily, because I have seen countless examples of people using this religion to improve their lives, to become happy, to contribute to world peace, and to generally 'do good things'.

If we really can't see examples around us, then what about looking at the lives of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda? I would confidently say that being prepared to go to prison for your beliefs, and then, in Makiguchi's case, dying for them, is proof of a genuine religion. And Toda, having been through one of the worst prisons ever, having lost his treasured mentor, then continues to actually create the organisation that he believes will be an engine for world peace. These examples ALONE convince me that this is a great religion, and my personal experiences reinforce that conviction.

In any case, the only way to discover the true worth of any religion is to try it yourself, and to determine to get to the source of the spirit of the religion. To do this, I believe that it requires every effort. So, instead of critising others' imperfections, maybe we would be better off looking for our own inspiration, our own wisdom being the source.

To sum up what I'm trying to say:
1) Nothing/no-one is perfect (including this article)
2) Let's make efforts for happiness and peace!
James Pelham