Just yesterday I heard two apalling examples of people who think they are Buddhists but who obviously don’t get not only the Dharma but basic human decency and sensitivity.
One example is that for the last three months or so I have been visiting one of the “pioneer” Japanese women who in the 60′s had brought over a form of Nichiren Buddhism to the USA. Her husband called me in to the hospital because she had a terminal case of cancer and he felt it would really help her spirits to have someone come in to chant with her. She had long since (ten years or more) become disillusioned with her previous affiliation. I was happy to do this for her, and so made several hospital visits and one home visit before she passed away. At least one of her old friends, a fellow pioneer who was also a disillusioned former member of the same organization, came to visit her in the hospital and chanted with us, as did her husband and occasionally my daughter when she was with me. There is much I could say about her, her unflagging spirits, dedication, kindness even in the midst of a terrible sickness. She was truly an inspiration, and as I said to her husband I wish I could have met her earlier.
But here’s what this blog is about – when her husband called me to inform me about her passing, he also mentioned that finally, towards the very end, some of her former compatriots in that organization she left finally showed up. When they heard that a Nichiren Shu priest (myself) had been coming to visit and chant with her their reaction was – “Well, that’s all wrong. He wasn’t chanting correctly.” This woman’s husband couldn’t believe that these people would raise such an issue, and at such a time. The meaness and pettiness of was apalling.
My second phone call yesterday was from a member of my Sangha who called to tell me about the spiteful words being said about Byrd (who was, however, not named but it was clear it was about her) by another member of this same organization on a yahoo newsgroup. This person had been one of the people who was involved in banning Byrd from the activities of her chosen Sangha. One reason was because she dared to attend a retreat I was leading and had pictures of her and myself together at the retreat on her blog here at fraughtwithperil. Byrd died a few weeks later of a heart attack, but her body was left undiscovered for something like two weeks. None of her ostensible Sangha members ever thought to check up on her – afterall she was persona non grata due to her association with me. The apartment was later swept by a Hazmat team and for quite a long time sealed up. When these psuedo-Buddhists finally came in they found that Byrd’s butsudan had been knocked down (it could have been by her abandoned cats or later the Hazmat team) and was collecting cobwebs (supposedly – and even then not surprising as her apartment had been sealed for quite some time). This psuedo-Buddhist posted that everything Byrd had ever written was questionable because due to the condition of her butsudan she had been neglecting her practice). So much presumption here! I don’t even know where to begin. But to impugn the reputation of a woman who has passed away, furthermore a woman who the poster was instrumental in alienating and isolating before her death due to some misguided sectarian agenda and paranoia!
It is so obvious to me why people are scared of Nichiren Buddhism. No wonder they don’t want to have anything to do with us when this is the kind of pettiness, meanness, sectarianism, and total lack of compassion that has come to characterize Nichiren Buddhism.
What drives me nuts of course is that it is not Nichiren Buddhism per se, it is a certain group within a certain group or some individuals within certain groups (though they all seem to be members or ex-members of the same group) that acts like this. But they manage to scare off everyone else by creating a really horrible reputation for us all.
Do Zen Buddhists ever act like this? I have never experienced any Soto or Rinzai people ever acting with such spite and malice.
Do Won Buddhists ever act like this? I have never experienced any Won Buddhist ever acting with such spite and malice.
Do Thich Nhat Hanh followers ever act like this? I have never experienced any admirers of Thich Nhat Hanh ever acting with such spite or malice.
Do followers of the Dalai Lama ever act like this? I have never experienced any followers of the Dalai Lama ever acting quite this spiteful and malicious. Occasionally I have met some that are arrogant and condescending as all get out yes, but I know the Dalai Lama has never condoned such attitudes.
But there is one Buddhist group, or group that claims to be Buddhist whose members do act this way – and it isn’t even a matter of surprise. There are some good hearted members of this group – but I guarantee you that they are either on the fringes, have found a small bubble of sanity within that group, or they have to some extent compromised their principles or at least keep their own counsel to themselves to the org at large. And in the meantime, no one else who comes into contact with Nichiren Buddhism bothers to differentiate between the various kinds and ways of being Nichiren Buddhists. We are all tarred by this behavior.
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a Japanese-American woman in the Bay Area who was curious about Nichiren Shu. Her mother was from Japan and had passed away within the last year. The mother had been Nichiren Shu. But the daughter explained that her mother was so worried about this other group that I have been talking about that she preferred to just stay away from other Buddhists. When even people from Nichiren Shu from Japan are wary of Nichiren Buddhism because of this other group then you know the damage that this other group has done is considerable.
Did I ever mention that my own in-laws in Japan were originally worried when they heard that I was a Nichiren Buddhist? They weren’t so upset that I was a gaijin (not that I ever heard) or that I wasn’t some fast track executive or anything like that. They were worried that I was a member of this other group. When they found out that I was with Nichiren Shu and found out that Nichiren Shu was a legitimate traditional school of Japanese Buddhism that had absolutely no connection to this other group, then they were put at ease. But I learned then that even to the average Japanese, Nichiren Buddhism as a whole has been tainted by the actions of this group (which has its own political party in Japan) and the behavior of the people in this group.
Once I brought my good Dharma friend Rev. Bokin Kim to a meeting of this other group so she could see for herself what they were like. They spent the meeting telling her (a lifelong Buddhist, the daughter of the 3rd Prime Master of Won Buddhism, and a very dedicated Buddhist nun) that only they knew “true Buddhism” and that if you chant you can get anything you want – money, promotions, relationships, cars, etc… Afterwords, Rev. Kim sadly shook her head and said “those people are very confused.”
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei