Etherbods is a contraction of "Bodhisattvas of the Ether" -- an allusion to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, who appear in the Lotus Sutra and vow to undertake a mission of propagating the true Law of life. For Mike Sims-Williams, creator of Etherbods Online, "ether" is steeped in meanings. It is most familiar to people now as part of the word "ethernet," as in a way for linking computers together. In ancient and medieval civilizations, however, ether was believed to be an all-pervading, infinitely elastic medium. Lisa Jones recently talked with Mike via e-mail.

LJ: With Etherbods, were you thinking, "I'm going to use my skills to create an online oasis/community for Buddhists" -- or what? What inspired you to create the site?

MSW: The first step towards what is now the Etherbods Online web site was an exchange of e-mail messages between myself and a fellow Tokyo International Group member. We'd studied the works of Nichiren and Daisaku Ikeda a lot, and all the time we were running into bits of this massive thing called the Lotus Sutra.

"You don't need to read the Lotus Sutra," we were told. "The essence is all contained within the 2nd and 16th chapters... Or the first part of the 2nd chapter... Or the one essential phrase 'Nam-myoho-renge-kyo....'"

Make your mind up!

We were agreed that chanting is the most important thing, but as Burton Watson had finished his translation of the Sutra into English we both got copies and decided to read them, one chapter a day, and exchange our observations each day by e-mail. When we got to the end, we went back to the beginning. There are 28 chapters, so in most months we got 2 or 3 days off from this mammoth study project. February/March was fairly intense!

After about six times through the Sutra, we were starting to see more and more of the serialization of Ikeda's "Conversations on the Lotus Sutra" coming out in print in English. These dialogues offered other insights into the auspicious tome, and so we decided to add them to our reading list.

The only problem was that, unlike the Sutra, the dialogue installments were scattered in months' and months' worth of magazines -- not terribly convenient to carry to work and back every day for a lunchtime read.

"What we need," said my friend, "is someone to scan these installments as they come out and put them on the web, so we can read them on computers at home or at work, or print them out whenever we feel the need for an extended trip to the loo." (I may be paraphrasing here.)

Well, back then, I was the one with the scanner (I frequently cry in computer shops when I see how cheap they are these days) so guess who got that lovely job? And that was the birth of Etherbods, an almost unknown web site growing month-by-month, and a private e-mail discussion about the content.

I realised that Buddhists around the world might also appreciate this resource, and so decided to build a nicer interface, add some more stuff, and throw it open. I had a lot of help from another friend in putting together the graphical feel of the site, and the response since then has been extremely encouraging! (See the etherbods online guestbook.)

What you see now is thus the result of an evolutionary process, rather than an initial strategy to create Buddhism Central. As I'm sure you'd agree, BuddhaJones, one could gladly spend hours every day building fantastic web sites about Buddhism. But with a family and two "paid" jobs that's not going to happen right now.

LJ: You're a Westerner (correct?) living and practicing in Japan. Did you feel isolated at first? Can you talk a little bit about the Tokyo International Group?

MSW: I'm British, but have been living continuously in Japan since 1994. My initial interest in Japan was kindled through the study of Japanese martial arts (I have a black belt in karaoke), and I first visited in 1990 as part of my university degree course in Japanese studies.

I've never felt isolated in Japan. In fact, arriving that first time on the plane I experienced a mystic but distinct feeling of "coming home." Of course, being fairly fluent in written and spoken Japanese helps tremendously. But there are times in everyday when it's also a useful strategy to feign ignorance and pretend to be a "polite tourist."

My wife, Yukimi, had been practicing with the Soka Gakkai since childhood. She introduced me to Buddhism after we moved out here from the UK. I rapidly identified with the basic philosophy, having worked out much the same principles on my own in previous years, and chanting brought many immediate and very positive changes in my life.

It was several months before I encountered the Tokyo International Group (TIG). TIG is a group of 200 or so non-Japanese SG(I) members practicing in Tokyo and it's environs. Meetings are held in English, although there are subgroups for those who are more comfortable in French, Italian, the-languages-of-the-Philippines, etc.

My time with TIG greatly accelerated my understanding of Buddhism and SGI, for better or worse! There are also similar groups in other areas of Japan. General meetings mainly take place on Sundays, but not as frequently as you might expect because TIG has to compete with Soka Gakkai for meeting spaces in central Tokyo.

LJ: There's a perception that members in Japan practice more "correctly" than people in other parts of the world, mostly because of proximity to SGI HQ and SGI President Ikeda. What are your thoughts on this?

MSW: It's always the same. When I visit the UK and meet fellow Buddhists they ask, "Wow! What's it like practicing in Japan? It must be really great being so close to Sensei. And their Butsudans (sic) are sooo big. And there're community centres everywhere..."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why ask me if you're gonna answer the question yourself? The interest and enthusiasm is understandable, but I do feel obliged to burst a few bubbles on most occasions without being disparaging -- I am never disparaging (most of the time.)

Etherbods Online can exclusively reveal, therefore, that this perception is total hogwash. Let's get the "so close to Sensei" thing out of the way first. The foreign pilgrim visiting Japan has a much higher probability of being invited to attend an HQ Leaders' Meeting than those of us -- foreigners or Japanese -- who actually live here.

In any case, the mystic law relies not on geographical or political boundaries, but on the readiness of each individual to open their mind to their true nature. Only a tiny fraction of this can be taught in any language. The rest must be "felt" and "experienced."

One real difference to other countries is, of course, the scale of the organization in Japan. One in ten households are members, which means that there will be an average of about 30 chanters in any given subway car on any given morning. But it's a moot point; no-one's going to pipe up, "Who's in the Soka Gakkai, then?"

There may be more "correct" practitioners of Nichiren's Buddhism in Japan than in other countries, but if so it's merely because of the huge practitioner base. There are also far more practicing "incorrectly" than there are anywhere else.

But in reality the numbers and statistics and measures of "correctness" are meaningless. It's up to each of us to find our own way to enlightenment. Japanese people can do it, as can the British, the Americans, the Brazilians, the Nigerians, and everyone else. Once the information (on the first steps) is out there, in an approachable form, people will find it and act upon it when the time is right for them.

Fortunately, in my opinion, more and more "established" members are coming to realize that the majority of what they have been taught as "essential" is, in fact, hogwash based on the Soka Gakkai's historical dependence on the Nichiren Shoshu tradition. So over the next few years we are likely to see more and more people finding themselves able to concentrate on the core of Buddhism, rather than the organizational trimmings.

Did you know that it addition to the squeaky clean [SGI daily newspaper] Seikyo Shimbun, there's a weekly newspaper dedicated to reporting on every smelly sock in Nichiren Shoshu's dirty laundry basket? A lot of people here have been deeply emotionally hurt by NS (having their deceased relatives' remains dumped in communal bin liners etc.), but where will it all end? Isn't this favoritism? Shouldn't we show our impartiality by also having newspapers dedicated to every other organization of which we are not members?

Interesting snippet of Soka Gakkai folklore: young women who become Seikyo Shimbun delivery volunteers exhibit more rapid conception of children than the general female membership. No scientific study has yet established whether this is a physiological or psychological phenomenon, but one contributory factor is that once a paper round is started the only acceptable reasons for passing it to someone else are death and pregnancy.

But in most respects, practicing in Japan is very much like practicing anywhere else in the universe. Get up. Chant (including Gongyo for the enthusiasts). Go to work. Come home. Chant (including Gongyo for the enthusiasts). Spend the rest of the evening on the phone.

Nichiren recognized, however, that the communal karma of Japan was SO backward that it was necessary for him to be born here, and for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to gain its first foothold here, in order to give the Japanese people a reasonable head start on the rest of the world... anywhere else and Japan would have been languishing in ignorance for centuries while the rest of the world got happy.

I should point out, however distasteful it may be to some of your readers, that members of Nichiren Shoshu, Nichiren Shu, etc. have exactly the same right to enlightenment as SGI members, inactive SGI members, ex-SGI members and everyone else. On the individual level, irrespective of our affiliation, if we chant daimoku and ponder night and day "the question that must be pondered night and day," we're going in the right direction.

In contrast, if we believe that, by virtue of our current or former affiliation we are more entitled to success than members of other groups, we only compound our delusions.

LJ: There are members who say that you can't make heart-to-heart connections through a computer screen. Do you share this view?

MSW: You can't hug an e-mail message, or wipe away the recipient's tears with a Kleenex. You just can't!

Making heart-to-heart connections through a computer screen screen is very difficult -- it's much easier to make hate-to-hate connections! But it's not impossible.

One can view the internet as an uncontrolled permanent global tabloid. None of the information out there (here?) is inherently good or bad; it just is. The positive or negative value lies in how people make use of this information.

Especially when dealing with crises, emotionally vulnerable individuals will find their weaknesses preyed upon by the instant, often inaccurate deluge of information. In such chaotic circumstances, it is more important than ever that we teach others to tap their inner wisdom.

We can all achieve balance and happiness within our lives if we embrace Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as our origin and our destiny. It's there! If we can spread that via the Internet, great! But let's not rely on the Internet alone. It's only a supplement to face-to-face communication, not a substitute.

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Mike Sims-Williams is President of the International Society for the Rehabilitation of Overused Parentheses.
http://etherbods.com/msw/