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

 

Dear Buddhajones,
Thank you for Christian Oaks article, "Gandhism over Buddhism unavailable." I have been expressing my concerns to a number of people that Gandhi's teachings can't change ones karma. (It has kind of fallen on deaf ears). Gandhi, himself succumbed to the reality of separating the Muslims and the Hindus with the establishment of Pakistan. If world peace could be attained by positive thoughts, self discipline, dialogue, and keeping a list of my daily acts of violence, why would I need to practice buddhism? Something else must be going on. The SGI is transforming from a religious lay organization to a "world peace" organization. What this means, to me, is that the SGI is becoming more political. I find myself being among those that are selected to be "dialogued" to. Please convey to Mr. Oaks that he is not alone and that I deeply appreciate the courage of his writing. I love the Gohonzon, the Gosho, and my freedom. As a woman, I do not want to live anywhere else in the world. So highly do I esteem my country and it's people, good and bad.
Sincerely, K. Southworth

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I enjoy a lot of what is on your site. Interesting and diverse opinions. The only thing that concerns me is the flash movie unavailable of Gohonzon reproductions. I was taught early in my practice that this was not a wise practice, and I do think the flash movie is disrespectful at best. The other movies kind of cracked me up tho. Continue inspiring thought.
Bob Mack, proud to practice in the Soka Gakkai spirit of the Daishonin.
Santa Monica, CA

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Well my Nitatsu Gohonzon is in a beatiful frame on acid-free paper behind non glare glass. Had my first meeting with it on march 16, most people were positively impressed, others appeared to be quietly non opinionated. I did gongyo useing a Nichiren Shu litergy, with the english printed just below the traditonal wording.

I email my sgi leaders that I had downloaded a NShu Gohonzon for my niece to have and so far have had no negative response.

What has the effect on my daily life been so far? Well with all the new and different information I have been finding about all the different schools of Nichiren denomination I have only been able to come to one Sure conclusion, and I will print this in all caps to emphazise. THE ONLY FOR SURE THING THAT AFFECTS ME IS WHETHER OR NOT I CHANT SUFFICENT DAIMOKU, RECITE THE SUTRA DAILY, STUDY AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. wow what a concept.

No, I don't think all Nichiren schools are equal, some are downright scary, but I am not in a postion to be the judge of that for someone else. We all have the ability to make up our minds, I feel we just need to support anyone who is trying practice and create a better world for themselves and others.
thanks for listening.
dave.

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Hi Lisa:
Finally got around to reading the latest Buddha Jones. Christian Oaks article was interesting, especially as I have been contemplating such thoughts as "Does SGI resemble anything that Nichiren Daishonin had in mind", and "Does this organization promote a superficial understanding of concepts such as fortune and actual proof"? I also feel troubled by the Victory Over Violence campaign because it appears that some members use it to be critical of all artistic representations of violence. For myself, I feel that some of the films that have emerged since "Psycho" provide apt metaphors for these days of unexplainable and unexpected horrors. Hope you're doing well.
Peter Nellhaus

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IMO, the Pearl family tragedy has sucked the whole SGI community into a big mess. First off, any homicide is tragic. My most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Daniel Pearl. Now, I've just got to ask, what the hell was a nice Jewish man with a pregnant wife doing traipsing around Pakistan interviewing Islamic terrorists? What was he THINKING? You read stories all the time about the family pit bull who "never bit anyone" or the pet python that was "ever so gentle with the kids". It is down right moronic to play with dangerous animals and then complain when you get hurt. And don't give me any "dialogue" crud. There can be no real dialogue with committed ideologues. So what IS the value of giving these human monsters a platform? It is not just an interesting coincidence that Pakistan and the rest of the Muslim countries lead the world in poverty, illiteracy, misogyny, warfare, and corruption. This is a belief system that takes zero personal responsibility. There is no room for cause and effect and Law is an abstract concept. "When two hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom the will of Allah creates one water molecule." For dialogue to occur, there must be a fundamental openness on both sides. In Pakistan, and much of the Muslim world, a Muslim person who practices another faith is put to death. Some dialogue. So the SGI ends up in knots about saving this guy, his pregnant wife is a poster girl for dialogue and, IMO, no useful purpose is served by any of it.
Bob Ploss

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Re: girls kick bodhi unavailable

Can you add in a photo of Mariane Pearl at the end? If you dont know who she is, let me know. She deserves to be in there.

Arlene

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Editor:

I am a stained glass designer and glasspainter... a member of SGI, the same lay Buddhist organization as photographer Jonathan Wilson unavailable who is featured on your Buddha Jones site.

Almost every piece of my art is commissioned; therefore, few pieces' subject matter is generated by me. I create according to my customer's needs. One of my goals is to paint icons from every World Religion (where theologically allowed/permissible) and to concentrate on human portraiture. Bennett Stained Glass of Memphis Tennessee, one of my stained glass studio customers, surprised me by offering the opportunity to create a window of the historical Buddha's Mahasamadhi. The window below is featured in their stained glass gallery.

We at SGI are not prone to use representational imagery; however, as a visual artist I relished the opportunity to create this piece. My client had a window frame approximately 34" X 5" and asked that I design the window (now featured near the top of my gallery page on web site below). I decided to add elements from various regions (and disciplines) throughout Asia, from a hand-held stupa, to hands holding flowers and prayer beads, to the temple at the Bodhi tree in India.

Thank you for inviting artists to share their visions with you - whether published or not. I will be traveling to Memphis within the next month or so to attend the dedication of a fully painted 1904 restoration window, Christ with revealed Heart which I helped restore by repainting much of the glass.

The Buddha window pieces were shipped and assembled there in Memphis and I plan to take several new digital photos of that piece too. Please take a moment to click on the image on my web site as well which shows part of my original "cartoon" drawing and pattern as well as close-ups of individual painted pieces on the light-table.

www.BiggersGlassPainting.com
Thanks again. Blessings.
Wil Biggers

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dear buddhajones.com,
i have just stumbled across this site for the first time. i found it quite informative and hugely entertaining. i so enjoyed the e-movies namely the "new york groove". super funny! it had my 8 year old son in stitches. i have printed several of the short articles to bring to work and share with my non-buddhist friends. it was very refreshing to read something spiritual and humorous at the same time. keep up the great work.
thanks,
jen decker

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Dear editor:
I put an essay titled "Happy New Day" in my web site http://www.georgehwang.org dead link quoting a few sentences from BuddhaJones articles.

About me:
SGI participation: I moved from northern Virgina (Annadale district) to Bayside district in Queens in 1999. Currently I am living in Manhattan (Upper East Side/East Harlem). My parents in Taiwan started their practice when I was a teenager but I did not become serious until a few years after I moved to U.S. in 1994.

Professionally: I am currently an employee of a small management consulting firm serving clients in the financial industry. Previously, I taught finance and economics for one year at St. John's University and Pace University for one year after receiving his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University in 1999.

Academically: A long-term objective consistent with Kosenrufu is to invent and implement a peace-keeping system through financial markets.

Best wishes,
G. George Hwang

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My name is Amanda Davis, i have a personal website which can be found at www.sherbicide.com dead link I was hoping to get permission from you to reproduce one of the Flash Presentations found on buddhajones.com The one i was after is the "Song of the Open Road unavailable" piece. My first viewing of this was on your site almost 6 months ago, and i was deeply touched by it. Please be aware that my site is a personal page only, and has a very limited audience (only a dozen or so people regularly visit it, all of whom are my friends).
...Kind Regards,
Amanda Davis.

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Well so far in my experiment reciting the whole sutra one time in the morning and chanting more daimoku instead of repeated reciting the sutra appears to be working just fine as far as keeping my life condition stable and my daily life activities seem to be reflecting this. I have not yet place my Gohonzon behind glass. I have been very busy planning for my upcoming wedding, my bride is a Christian, and we do have some discussion on our faith but are mutually supportive. Any other Christian/Buddhists out there living happily while still stongly practicing their faiths? ...I have been sharing some of the articles and movies on your site with my fiance and she has been impressed with some things. Thanks again, look forward to hearing from you again.

Dave Halverson
Topeka, Kansas

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Kathy sent this link:

For women mostly ...

It's the Online Pre-Date Confidence Builder -- check it out: http://www.zefrank.com/ dead link