My name is Cris Roman and I am currently serializing a book I wrote a couple years ago here on BuddhaJones. Through the kind offices of Lisa Jones, the proprietor and editor of this most eclectic and wonderful Webfront office – far off the beaten track of the main information Superhighway, somewhere near the junction of Philosophy and Religion – I have been allowed to contribute my ramblings on the current state of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, a superlative (dare I say, the superlative) religious teaching in today's chaotic world.

Various lay and priestly Nichiren organizations have, in their hubris and need to retain power, allowed the teaching of Nichiren itself to become little more than a footnote to mainstream American religion, including Buddhism. They have encouraged a labyrinthine process of practice and communication which completely obscures the wonderful promise of Nichiren himself – universal enlightenment (salvation and redemption, if one prefers Judeo-Christian terminology) in this lifetime without resort to dogma and with complete respect for individual, personal differences. To whit, everyone who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to an object of worship known as the Gohonzon will ultimately manifest the Buddha nature that eternally resides within each of us: EVERYONE!!!

Ms. Jones and I are in delightful accord on the above point and our relationship, both personal and professional, has been in harmonious concert over the past year that we have been working and talking together. I respect her editorial prowess and have given her carte blanche to perform what miracles she might on my writing in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible. I chose BuddhaJones as my venue because I admire Lisa's willingness to take risks, adventurous spirit and great sense of humor.

Nonetheless, last week after reading some new letters to the editor, I wrote a personal note to Ms. Jones, telling her that I was in agreement with some readers who professed discomfort with the Flash videos of the Gohonzon existing on the site. They expressed everything from queasiness to sadness to rage at the presence of these videos on BuddhaJones. I wrote Lisa, "I… am just asking that you think about those representations… I just worry about alienating those who, like myself… just feel a little sad about seeing the Gohonzon used as anything other than an object of worship."

Well, Lisa replied as I knew she would – essentially respectful, acknowledging my concerns, but also steadfast in her belief that to remove the videos would be giving into the forces of superstition and censorship. Asking me to delve into the subject more deeply, Lisa asked, "Does it seem wrong because I feel superstitious? Does it really degrade the Gohonzon? Is the Gohonzon an image or is it something else, something within our own lives?" She concluded, "I have not been able to craft a successful argument about why a 'computer Gohonzon' is wrong and why artistic attempts to incorporate the Gohonzon are bad."

And now, even as I re-read what she wrote I realize that this is the problem with the whole issue: the tendency that so many in our religion, laity and priesthood alike, have to characterize so many things as wrong or bad.

People – and by people I mean "my Fellow Americans" – it is high time that we resist, nay repudiate, our peculiarly Western tradition of wanting to know the "right" way to things and insisting that major issues be colored only in Black and White. I chant and I chant and I re-read the Gosho as much as I can and I remain convinced that there are only two absolutes in the Daishonin's teaching:

1. Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon and
2. Treat every human being as though he or she were the Buddha.

How can you do the latter if you're so busy judging whether someone is wrong or bad? I'm not much for the Bible, but it seems to me that truer words were never written than, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

I am so sick of this internecine bickering and fighting. I am so sick of the schism between laity and priesthood. Is it any wonder that the Gohonzon informs none of our efforts to propagate, to do Shakubuku? This religion has stalled out for the last three decades because those in power refuse to acknowledge that "the times, they are a-changing" and that the sheer brilliance of the Daishonin's teachings were that they were simple enough and flexible enough to change with the times.

Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon and respect the hell out of every fellow human being. Is it really that difficult? And if it is, then can't we just chant about it… do we really have to condemn and criticize and fight? If we continue, we abandon the Daishonin's legacy – at least in this lifetime – because we fail to heed his admonition that, "All disciples and believers of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with one mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate law of life and death."

Don't believe the claptrap interpretations of this and other quotes from the "Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life," which would suggest that the spiritual bond is somehow vertical from High Priest or SGI President down. Read the words: we must transcend our differences; we must stop attacking one another.

If the Gohonzon manifests the power and ultimate reality we believe it does, do you think it can be diluted or distorted by a few Internet flash videos? The priests have one thing to say about the authenticity of their Gohonzon and the lay leadership would have you believe something completely different about those created by the SGI. Both are identical in asserting their mantle of legitimacy and orthodoxy derives from their Gohonzon. I really wonder how the Daishonin would react to his believers, no matter how sincerely they adhere to his teachings, beating each other over the head and asserting their righteousness based on the origin of the Gohonzon they chant to. For he was the origin of them all and yet his spirit of mercy and compassion has been lost in the melee.

If you've been reading my book at all (and I sincerely hope you have), you will note that the past several chapters (and I'm not done yet) have all been about the Gohonzon – my feelings for it and my understanding of its theoretical underpinnings. I don't think anyone can accuse me of not pondering these things, despite what they may feel about the credibility of my musings.

However, in the end, like my friend Lisa, I simply don't know. I know the Gohonzon works and yet is completely ineffable. That's why it necessitates "faith." I know that it is the ultimate bequeathal of Nichiren Daishonin to all of us. I know that I don't like the Flash videos. I believe the Gohonzon is best experienced face to face, in real time and space, and I no more like its computer images than I do photographic or artistic portrayals.

However, all of this is small potatoes. In the great scheme of things, these depictions of the Gohonzon are not nearly as slanderous as the Gohonzons that are either sold by profit-seeking peripheral Nichiren sects or promulgated as secondary mandalas to worshipping the personage of Shakyamuni. These are the kinds of slanders the Daishonin was attacking – slanders within the corrupt Buddhist world of the 13th Century which have NOTHING to do with 21st Century Americana.

Shit, people – according to the sequence of propagation, we haven't even segued from non-Buddhism to Buddhism in this country yet. We're all so ignorant of the depth and breadth of Buddhism, how can anyone have the nerve to call us slanderers? We're just poor babies, trying to get it right. Give us a break. Stop playing to our worst instincts that boil up from our truly ingrained notions of "original sin." Belief in that inherent imperfection completely contradicts faith in our eternal Buddha-nature – the ultimate teaching of the Lotus Sutra. The effect of that contradiction is manifest as no growth or benefit. And you wonder why we American Buddhists are at a standstill?

Hell, even Devadatta (a gentleman who attempted to kill Shakyamuni several times) got enlightened. He's even on the Gohonzon. And yet, a Nichiren Shoshu priest in the midwest, hearing from a friend of mine that I was on BuddhaJones, wrote:

"I am familiar with the web site called BuddhaJones and am very disappointed that Mr. Roman is involved in any way in such a slanderous site. It doesn't matter if he directly approves, condones, or is merely associated with the material on that web site; it is inexcusable for any Hokkeko member [Note: I am neither a SGI or Hokkeko member] to lend their support or make any contribution to a website which displays so-called dancing Gohonzons or any photographic image of the Gohonzon and which makes childish fun of our High Priest Nikken Shonin. This is a very grave slander, and I hope you will relay my concerns to Mr. Roman…I truly hope he will reconsider his involvement with the BuddhaJones web site, because there is absolutely no doubt that his continued involvement will only create more and more negative causes, the effects of which he will someday have to face."

With all due respect sir (and I do not say that facetiously), I do not approve of or condone the dancing Gohonzons. However, based on First Amendment rights and a profound belief that every human being should have the right to express him or herself, I will not subjugate my deeply held American beliefs to the whim of Japanese culture and dogma.

To be honest, I did, for a long moment, ponder pulling my writing from BuddhaJones… so deep was my unhappiness with the dancing Gohonzons. However, I love and respect its editor, and have a commitment to her (as she does to me). I realized that no matter how I might rationalize my withdrawal from the site, it would be nothing more than censorship based on emotion and superstition and I would like to believe I am not that shallow. And… in the depth of my respect for Ms. Jones and the Gohonzon, as well as my prayer before that divine object, I believe the Daishonin applauds me.

What I believe the Daishonin does not applaud, however, is the extent to which bickering and slandering of each other has caused the spread of his teachings to grind to a halt. Like him, I look at the world around me and wonder how in the face of such grievous avarice, anger and stupidity (and yes, I do mean our leadership in Washington, D.C.) any of us as Buddhists can remain silent. Can anyone please tell me where Nichiren, in his writings, said not to worry about the corruption of our nation and instead attend only to the petty squabbling in our community of believers?

When did our democracy begin to transform into fascism? When did "the pursuit of happiness" get translated into "free enterprise?" I'm afraid I missed school that day. But what I have not missed is the ever widening global abyss that threatens to swallow us all and the fact that we as Americans have a duty, a responsibility based on our tremendous fortune, to sacrifice and become a lighthouse to the world. I believe the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin provides a priceless, yet abundant, fuel to light that beacon, but only if we purify it from the slander of disunity that has tainted it and caused the majority of our population (if they know about it at all) to regard it as second-rate ethanol.

We are all culpable in this slander. We went (as so many Americans and leaders did) for the power and the glory and all we have at present are hazy memories of the way we thought things could be in the sixties and seventies. I've learned my lessons. My karmic corruption has cost me my parents, a marriage, the company of my youngest child and even a livable wage. However, an unwavering practice to the Gohonzon has led me to the point where I have never been happier, more confident or excited about my future in both this and subsequent lifetimes.

My faith demands that I anticipate fortune, not punishment. So go ahead and dance, Gohonzon. Excuse me if I don't enjoy watching but I'd rather sit myself in front of the real thing and make some fundamental changes in this world.