Breaking up with the organization

by: brooke

Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 22:47:57 PM MST

"Why did we work so hard for this organization," Ms. Collbran said, "and why did it feel so wrong in the end? We just didn't understand."

Like SGI, Scientology faults defectors for leaving:

As for the defectors, Mr. Davis called them "apostates" and said that contrary to their claims of having left the church in protest, they were expelled.

Also, check out the related video, "Leaving the church, not the faith." Linky.

Taiko master passes away

by: brooke

Sat Feb 27, 2010 at 16:24:21 PM MST

Roku-san, as he was affectionately known, was universally loved for sharing his warm-hearted passion and enthusiasm with young and old alike.

Nichiren Buddhism put the beat in his blood...

..."My family's religion is the Nichiren sect of Buddhism," Roku-san said.

"While we chant a sutra, we play a fan drum. So I always heard those rhythms when my mother was chanting, and was probably drumming in her stomach!"

Dorje Change Buddha III: fraud or...what?

by: brooke

Sat Feb 27, 2010 at 16:18:45 PM MST

"Dorje Chang Buddha III has already begun the transmission of the Mahamudra of Liberation, the highest Buddha-dharma, that offers a shortcut or quick path to liberation from the sufferings of this world," she says. "This is the dharma that all living beings must learn to become Buddhas."

Charles Prebish, a Buddhism expert at Utah State University and director of the school's Religious Studies Program, has never heard of Dorje Change Buddha III, nor, he says, have any of his Buddhist studies colleagues.

He indicated that virtually no Western forms of Buddhism teach the idea of a "Dharma-Ending Age." In the 13th century, the Nichiren School of Buddhism in Japan argued that it had the right teaching for the age of "Mappo" or the "Decline of the Dharma," Prebish says. "I have never seen this concept used in the context of Chinese or Tibetan Buddhism."

Still, Prebish says, the group uses appropriate ideas and references -- although he is withholding judgment on the new master's claims.

Anyone have more info about this group?

Soka Gakkai connected to Yakuza organized crime?

by: mroaks

Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 20:24:51 PM MST

Indirect threats, vulnerable sources and family members, and inadequate support from law enforcement in the form of programs like witness protection, are all factors that make the yakuza danger intangible and hard to combat. Adelstein identifies the yakuza's preferred form of retaliation, which, he says, is usually a disappearance or apparent suicide. He tells me of his survival strategy: "You make it clear you won't kill yourself."

In Tokyo Vice, Adelstein's source tells him the story of Japanese director Juzo Itami, whose 1992 film Minbo no onna satirized organized crime. Itami was apparently planning a new movie about Goto's yakuza faction and its relationship with the religious group Soka Gakkai.

"Goto wasn't happy about that," Adelstein's source told him. "A gang of five of his people grabbed Itami and made him jump off a rooftop at gunpoint. That's how he committed suicide."

Anyone surprised to see Soka Gakkai linked to organized crime and forced "suicide"?

Nichiren Buddhism - eating meat and fish

by: COS

Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 07:17:24 AM MST

Tiger Woods talks about Buddhism

by: brooke

Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 10:40:34 AM MST

Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught.

Well said.

Belated b-day wishes for Nichiren

by: brooke

Wed Feb 17, 2010 at 11:03:22 AM MST

For all you former Catholics, today is Ash Wednesday, the start of a 40-day period leading up to Easter. Just to stir the pot of the holy season, here's a link I keep bookmarked. From time to time, I review the portion titled "Jesus Christ, narcissist."

I'm not calling names, here. I do entertain the thought, though, that many vaunted leaders and founders of religion arguably display narcissistic traits.

Sorry, those are the only two links I have to offer right now. Later.

Chanter Eve Ensler on earthquakes

by: mroaks

Fri Feb 12, 2010 at 12:17:50 PM MST

Still, that's not as bad as asserting -- as some Nichiren fundamentalists do -- that earthquakes are caused by incorrect beliefs.

UN Council on Human Rights-Paper Tiger?

by: joeisuzu

Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 23:36:45 PM MST

Culty weirdness at National Prayer Breakfast?

by: brooke

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 16:54:49 PM MST

Usually, the annual event passes with little notice. But this year, an ethics group in Washington has asked President Obama and Congressional leaders to stay away from the breakfast, on Thursday...

The objections are focused on the sponsor of the breakfast, a secretive evangelical Christian network called The Fellowship, also known as The Family, and accusations that it has ties to legislation in Uganda that calls for the imprisonment and execution of homosexuals.

The Family? I'm creeped out already. Here's more from the CREW website:

The Fellowship has been cultivating an unorthodox brand of Christianity amongst the political, military, and economic elite of America and other countries for over 50 years, focused on meeting Jesus "man-to-man." The group operates in secret, away from the "din of the vox populi." Doug Coe, described as "The Stealth Persuader," has led the group since 1969.

The one time of year when the Family emerges from the shadows is the annual National Prayer Breakfast, its signature event. This large-scale function serves as a recruiting tool for the group, but is often misconstrued by attendees as an official government event....

Holy culty deception. The Family also provides lodging for philandering politicians. I'd say this almost rivals Sun Myung Moon's infiltration/manipulation of D.C.

SWAT team called to Soka U.

by: mroaks

Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 01:19:22 AM MST

ALISO VIEJO An 18-year-old student at Soka University of America has been coaxed out of his dorm room after hurtling furniture out a 4th-floor window and barricaded himself in the room for nearly four hours, sheriff's officials said.

SWAT officers and crisis negotiators were stationed outside the teenager's dorm after he locked himself inside and refused to speak to anyone. The teenager eventually gave up to deputies just after 8 p.m., said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

The student was reported to be suffering from psychiatric problems.

Soka University is closely affiliated with Soka Gakkai International, the scientology-like multibillion-dollar multinational religious corporation that claims to practice Nichiren Buddhism.

Links unrelated to the Colts or the Saints

by: mroaks

Mon Jan 25, 2010 at 09:32:19 AM MST

As luck would have it, some years later I happened to attend a lecture at San Jose State College conducted by Bishop Nippo Shaku (1910-1991), of the Nichiren tradition.  ...He began the lecture by showing us this crazy, poster size ink brush painting he had made with black ink.  It looked liked something Jackson Pollock might have done if he had been born and raised in Japan.

Bishop Nippo went on for a long time talking about the ordinary mind represented by the heavy, wild black lines.  Then with a grin, looking at the class he said, "And here is your pure Mind" pointing to the white paper...

A "crazy, poster size ink brush painting"? I wonder if he's referring to the Gohonzon. Interesting....

Bad beliefs cause earthquakes? Egad.

by: mroaks

Mon Jan 18, 2010 at 17:32:46 PM MST

Getting back to Nichiren, he went so far as to say that earthquakes are effects of the beliefs that the leaders of the land disseminate.

Nichiren knew nothing about plate tectonics. He didn't know even half of what the average Fifth Grader today knows about geology. That's not Nichiren's fault. If he knew these things, he likely would have revised his opinions somewhat.

As a devotee of Nichiren, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that his teachings weren't intended as victim-blaming cudgels. But that won't stop the Nichiren Fundamentalists from pointing fingers and claiming that erroneous beliefs caused destruction in Haiti. These people remind me of Christian Fundamentalists who deny evolution. Read A Fault Is Not a Sin for a general rebuttal of religious stupidity.

Shootin' Buddhists

by: deardenver

Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 21:16:26 PM MST

Not long ago, I was working on contract in an office when my colleague pulled out a pistol. He was showing me where the guns were hidden around the office just in case I needed to use one to defend myself. In his line of work, guns are an occupational necessity.

When I saw the pistol, I almost fainted. I felt dizzy and nauseated. It freaked me out. As a Buddhist, I should want nothing to do with guns, right? My fear was understandable. But I saw that my attitude could put others at risk. I imagined my colleague depending on me to pick up a gun in defense, and I pictured myself going all to pieces. I had to get over my phobia....

Prayers for Haiti

by: brooke

Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 19:24:19 PM MST

I find Pat Robertson's comments chilling. Wonder if Brit Hume has anything to add.

See The Buddhist Blog for info related to relief. More at Monkey Mind.