Miss Guidance
2004-Sep-08, Wednesday 06:43![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qiihoskehI can't say what I want to say right now, so I'll copy what someone else said a while back, even if I might disagree with it.
Greetings from Miss Guidance,
May 3, 2002
By Coco Kuroshio
Hello, my dear ones! It has been a long time since we last spoke. I have been on an island in the South Pacific writing my book, A Golden Treasury of Excoriating Rebukes. The palm trees sway in the ocean breezes. A beautiful young man brings me papaya spears and macadamia nut waffles. Ah, the King Devil of the Sixth Heaven knows how to party.
Yet I stand steadfast!
This place where I am is a unique spot on the globe. It is the place farthest from any major land mass. I am out there, Baby. But this does not mean I am isolated. This does not mean that I do not know what is going on. Distance is not an obstacle to our hearts!
Many matters of great concern have been transmitted to me through the mystic bonds of the mentor-disciple relationship. For those who are my true disciples, please remember that the mentor-disciple relationship is like an always-on wicked-fast modem connection. All of your mental activity sprays me like water through a fire hose. Forceful! Horrible! Please stop.
Now I must address your concerns.
Such wailing and woe I have heard from many of you about shabby religious leaders and their hypocrisy!
Do not worry so much about religious organizations. Did Nichiren Daishonin start a religious organization? Did he establish a mediocracy of timid bureaucrats who parrot slogans and congratulate themselves for their correct faith? No, my darlings, he did not.
I remind you: Nichiren wrote warmly of his followers, but he stated that he had not formed any type of sect. He expected his followers to be united in faith -- not united through well-intentioned coercion, enforced worship of a specific Gohonzon scroll, or even through consensus and jolly bandwagoneering.
My darlings, just because a group of people may be huddled together under an umbrella that they call SGI -- even if they like the umbrella and agree to certain rules while under the umbrella -- it still does not mean that such people are united.
The unity of faith cannot be created through organizational publications and youth rallies. Cultivated unity is sham unity! True unity springs spontaneously into being when people see reality through clear eyes rather than through the distorting filters known as ideals.
We are here to deal with reality, not to deal in high-flown fantasies of how we want the world to be. Stop trying to change What Is by using methods dictated by How It Should Be. Our problem and its solution always dwell together in the same place: in the realm of What Is. The answers are all innately within this moment, in your life as it is right now. Why must you run away and join the circus of rhetoric and abstraction? Ideals are simply that -- rhetoric and abstraction that exist only in the imagination. Stop running away. Face reality squarely.
Please humor me and think of the Captain and Tennille pop music hit of the Seventies: "Faith will keep us together. / Think of me babe whenever / some sweet-talking demagogue comes around, / putting me down. / Hear with your heart and you won't hear a sound." It is a catchy tune with profound meaning once you change the words.
Organizations serve an important purpose in supporting our faith and practice. Sometimes they also do foolish things that do not support faith and practice. I call such things fluffery. Do not allow yourself to become defeated by fluffery, which will evaporate in the sun like Mountain Dew.
The benefits of the Gohonzon are not owned by any organization; they are yours to discover.
Sometimes organizations do extremely foolish things that I call criminal stupidity. This is the great bane of all religious organizations. We can see this in the Catholic Church today, but they are not alone. People who abuse authority can be found in every denomination and organization. This is why we fight with the heart of a lion to embody the truth of the teachings.
Do not automatically trust people just because they wear the mantle of authority! Revoke tax-exempt status for all religious organizations immediately! Open the books! No more special treatment for religion! Let us all operate in a free market of teachings!
Ah. I am being served a slice of coconut cream pie. How wondrous. How sublime.
Are you a disciple of Nichiren? How do you know? There are no membership cards. There is no secret handshake. Who gives you permission to call yourself a disciple? It is not a claim to make lightly. To be a disciple is to be up to your neck in the crap of this world. If you are a disciple, you are in the thick of it and trying to be of some use. It is hard, dirty work being a disciple, and no one sends you a thank-you note.
No religious organization can confer discipleship upon you. You must choose and embrace the task yourself. You must ask yourself, "Am I a disciple?" You should not be so cocksure that you are. You should not go around bragging that you are a disciple. You should not go around questioning the discipleship of others. If you really understood discipleship, you would know better.
If you are practicing your religion as a way of becoming better than others, then sadly you have turned your religion into ugliness. Faith and practice are not competitive sports. There is no Stanley Cup of religion. There is no reward. There is no time off for good behavior. There is no coconut cream pie in the sky. There is only the working of the Law, or Dharma, which cannot be divided into simplistic, materialistic categories of reward and punishment.
Nichiren wrote: "Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat, while secular authority is based on the principle of reward and punishment." Do you understand the difference? Do you know what it means to win? It is the kind of winning in which there are no losers.
Nichiren also wrote: "When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
Not very comforting, is he? We are not supposed to be comfortable! We are supposed to win for the sake of all living beings! Eagle Peak is not some far off land of comfort that we fly to when we die. It is the living, eternal reality of faith. To dwell in this faith is to dwell boldly in the crap of this world and not be defeated!
I wonder if you understand.
If you do not understand, do not worry. If you *do* understand, please do not congratulate yourself for being such a smarty-pants. Please do not run around nattering, "I'm a Buddha! I'm a Buddha!" Merely saying it does not make it manifest. When it does manifest, you will not necessarily be conscious of it anyway. So you are babbling pretty-sounding abstractions, and what good does that do anyone?
If you were here with me, we could sip pineapple juice together. Alas, pineapple juice cannot be transmitted via the mentor-disciple pipeline. This fact makes me a bit forlorn, so I will now go float meditatively upon the crystal blue sea and send you all my best wishes.
Ever yours,
Miss Guidance
Greetings from Miss Guidance,
May 3, 2002
By Coco Kuroshio
Hello, my dear ones! It has been a long time since we last spoke. I have been on an island in the South Pacific writing my book, A Golden Treasury of Excoriating Rebukes. The palm trees sway in the ocean breezes. A beautiful young man brings me papaya spears and macadamia nut waffles. Ah, the King Devil of the Sixth Heaven knows how to party.
Yet I stand steadfast!
This place where I am is a unique spot on the globe. It is the place farthest from any major land mass. I am out there, Baby. But this does not mean I am isolated. This does not mean that I do not know what is going on. Distance is not an obstacle to our hearts!
Many matters of great concern have been transmitted to me through the mystic bonds of the mentor-disciple relationship. For those who are my true disciples, please remember that the mentor-disciple relationship is like an always-on wicked-fast modem connection. All of your mental activity sprays me like water through a fire hose. Forceful! Horrible! Please stop.
Now I must address your concerns.
Such wailing and woe I have heard from many of you about shabby religious leaders and their hypocrisy!
Do not worry so much about religious organizations. Did Nichiren Daishonin start a religious organization? Did he establish a mediocracy of timid bureaucrats who parrot slogans and congratulate themselves for their correct faith? No, my darlings, he did not.
I remind you: Nichiren wrote warmly of his followers, but he stated that he had not formed any type of sect. He expected his followers to be united in faith -- not united through well-intentioned coercion, enforced worship of a specific Gohonzon scroll, or even through consensus and jolly bandwagoneering.
My darlings, just because a group of people may be huddled together under an umbrella that they call SGI -- even if they like the umbrella and agree to certain rules while under the umbrella -- it still does not mean that such people are united.
The unity of faith cannot be created through organizational publications and youth rallies. Cultivated unity is sham unity! True unity springs spontaneously into being when people see reality through clear eyes rather than through the distorting filters known as ideals.
We are here to deal with reality, not to deal in high-flown fantasies of how we want the world to be. Stop trying to change What Is by using methods dictated by How It Should Be. Our problem and its solution always dwell together in the same place: in the realm of What Is. The answers are all innately within this moment, in your life as it is right now. Why must you run away and join the circus of rhetoric and abstraction? Ideals are simply that -- rhetoric and abstraction that exist only in the imagination. Stop running away. Face reality squarely.
Please humor me and think of the Captain and Tennille pop music hit of the Seventies: "Faith will keep us together. / Think of me babe whenever / some sweet-talking demagogue comes around, / putting me down. / Hear with your heart and you won't hear a sound." It is a catchy tune with profound meaning once you change the words.
Organizations serve an important purpose in supporting our faith and practice. Sometimes they also do foolish things that do not support faith and practice. I call such things fluffery. Do not allow yourself to become defeated by fluffery, which will evaporate in the sun like Mountain Dew.
The benefits of the Gohonzon are not owned by any organization; they are yours to discover.
Sometimes organizations do extremely foolish things that I call criminal stupidity. This is the great bane of all religious organizations. We can see this in the Catholic Church today, but they are not alone. People who abuse authority can be found in every denomination and organization. This is why we fight with the heart of a lion to embody the truth of the teachings.
Do not automatically trust people just because they wear the mantle of authority! Revoke tax-exempt status for all religious organizations immediately! Open the books! No more special treatment for religion! Let us all operate in a free market of teachings!
Ah. I am being served a slice of coconut cream pie. How wondrous. How sublime.
Are you a disciple of Nichiren? How do you know? There are no membership cards. There is no secret handshake. Who gives you permission to call yourself a disciple? It is not a claim to make lightly. To be a disciple is to be up to your neck in the crap of this world. If you are a disciple, you are in the thick of it and trying to be of some use. It is hard, dirty work being a disciple, and no one sends you a thank-you note.
No religious organization can confer discipleship upon you. You must choose and embrace the task yourself. You must ask yourself, "Am I a disciple?" You should not be so cocksure that you are. You should not go around bragging that you are a disciple. You should not go around questioning the discipleship of others. If you really understood discipleship, you would know better.
If you are practicing your religion as a way of becoming better than others, then sadly you have turned your religion into ugliness. Faith and practice are not competitive sports. There is no Stanley Cup of religion. There is no reward. There is no time off for good behavior. There is no coconut cream pie in the sky. There is only the working of the Law, or Dharma, which cannot be divided into simplistic, materialistic categories of reward and punishment.
Nichiren wrote: "Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat, while secular authority is based on the principle of reward and punishment." Do you understand the difference? Do you know what it means to win? It is the kind of winning in which there are no losers.
Nichiren also wrote: "When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
Not very comforting, is he? We are not supposed to be comfortable! We are supposed to win for the sake of all living beings! Eagle Peak is not some far off land of comfort that we fly to when we die. It is the living, eternal reality of faith. To dwell in this faith is to dwell boldly in the crap of this world and not be defeated!
I wonder if you understand.
If you do not understand, do not worry. If you *do* understand, please do not congratulate yourself for being such a smarty-pants. Please do not run around nattering, "I'm a Buddha! I'm a Buddha!" Merely saying it does not make it manifest. When it does manifest, you will not necessarily be conscious of it anyway. So you are babbling pretty-sounding abstractions, and what good does that do anyone?
If you were here with me, we could sip pineapple juice together. Alas, pineapple juice cannot be transmitted via the mentor-disciple pipeline. This fact makes me a bit forlorn, so I will now go float meditatively upon the crystal blue sea and send you all my best wishes.
Ever yours,
Miss Guidance
