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| Visit some old friends in Santa Rosa, CA, who practiced together in the old NSA. Now, it was a gathering of Left Wingers with different faiths and affiliations. It was a great interfaith conversation! | 12/28/03 |
| and study bodhicitta in San Francisco (in the Castro) with Dharmajim and Ryuei.
| 12/27/03 |
| At his request, I have added a listing for an Independent group in Walden, NY. However, as with Gerald Aitken's previous creation, Short-form T'ien-tai Buddhism, he wrote to me that his sangha "is not gay-friendly like SGI. It is pro-life, anti-abortion, and is non-pacifistic."
All veiws are welcome here in the Coffeehouse and I appreciate Gerald's up-front attitude. How truly marvelous the synchronistic nature of the Universe, because today I also received...
The webpage of a young gay man who has converted to Nichiren Buddhism of the SGI variety. Check out homiesexual.com/sutra.buddhism!
| 12/21/03 |
| Went to a fun Winter Soltice party at EarthMomma.com's where I visited with old friends (the creaters of a local Adverture Guide: SanDiegoOutdoors.com) who are long time SGI buddhists. The entertainment included belly dancers. Wow! Such vibrating hips captivated even THIS gay boy! | 12/20/03 |
| Added links to truly wonderful hand carved statues in the Nichiren tradition with a modern twist, the Rev. Zuiun Matsuda's BuddhaCarving.com. | 12/18/03 |
| Finished a complete revamping of my Reiyukai webpage, featuring their Sokaimyo for the first time in the Coffeehouse. Now includes a complete character-by-character translation of this ancestral tablet. While the Sokaimyo used by Reiyukai-derived groups varies somewhat, it is generally enshrined below or to the side of the Eternal Buddha. | 12/13/03 |
| Put online two more Dharma Talks by Ryuei from July of this year: and his . | 12/11/03 |
| "Today is Buddha's Enlightenment Day (according to the Japanese Calendar). This is a good occasion to offer thanks to Shakyamuni Buddha. 2,500 years ago a wave of compassion swept through the universe. It is still moving, still gathering all those sentient beings and taking them to the shore of liberation." --Dharmajim
Namu Shakyamuni Hum!
A series of Dharma Talks this year by Ryuei on the four immeasurables, a.k.a. the four divine abodes: | Compassion | Joy | Equanimity. | 12/8/03 |
Attend my second Reiyukai meeting near San Diego and received a nice hand inscribed Sokaimyo (ancestral tablet) for my home alter.
Resurrect IRG's homepages from the dead after their old server went offline, as a favor for old friends.
(Note: Don was IRG's webmaster from 1999 to 2001.)
Added new listings for Independent Sanghas in Florida, Kentucky, Washington, and across the pond in Ireland (as well as update my old listings) for the Nichiren Society of America.
Set free more than 1,000 living beings in my yard today: mixed manure worms in a specially prepared compost area. | 12/7/03 |
| Today, the Lexington Herald-Leader, a Kentucky newspaper, debuted this State's first Nichiren Buddhist temple, as well as the Rev. Shinkyo Will Warner's path to ordination as a Buddhist priest.
A new online forum was created today for independent Nichiren Buddhists in the NYC tristate area called: NYCindies.
| 12/6/03 |
| Added Dharmajim's in-depth and insightful commentary on the Confucian classic,
, which he calls . | 12/3/03 |
| Added a listing for Nichiren Shu's new temple in Denmark, at their request. This is the second listing for that country. Do you live in Scandinavia? Visit Nichiren-Shu.dk!
Updated the listing for the Lexington Nichiren Shu Buddhist Community in Kentucky. They recently acquired the first space of their own downtown. | 12/2/03 |
| Added my first listing for any Nichiren School in the State of Connecticut, a Nichiren Shoshu Hokkeko member wishing to be listed for Hartford, CT. Visit BizyLady!
Uploaded the newest version of the Jogyo Book used by the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Community in Lexington, KY to the Coffeehouse, at their request.
| 12/1/03 |
| Interested in SGI Reform? Charles Atkins essay, It's Time to Clean Up the Crap, is a fascinating and seemingly painful self-reflection of a former YMD leader in Chicago. Chuck is also the author of Modern Buddhist Healing: A Spiritual Strategy for Transforming Pain, Dis-Ease, and Death, a book I highly recommend.
Spent an enjoyable day visiting with old friends, Carmen and Tami of the Lake County Independent Movement.
| 11/30/03 |
| Had the great pleasure of joining Dharmajim's Sebastopol for the first time to study the , which I have been chanting on my own as a to follow along with his online Sutta studies. | 11/25/03 |
| Added one of Craig Bratcher's new Cult Watcher websites to my page on Understanding the Conflict: Daisaku-Ikeda.com is a Nichiren Shoshu view of SGI President Ikeda using SGI source material. | 11/17/03 |
Added Ryuei's recent summary of the key Issues Concerning Nichiren Shoshu Claims which he synthesized from the writings of Senchu Murano, Jackie Stone, Bruce Maltz, and Chris Holte. They are:
I. The Transfer Documents
II. The Dai-Gohonzon, a.k.a. Ita-Mandala
III. Nichiren as the Buddha of True Cause of the Latter Age of the Dharma
Set free about 100 red worms and african nightcrawlers in my garden today.
| 11/16/03 |
| Now you can visit and post to Andy Hanlen's Blog! Hosted by the Buddha Jones. Today's blog: There IS Life After the SGI-USA.
Nichiren Dai Shonin - Letters for Mappo by Jogyo, published in 2002 and now available thru eBay. Has the Prayer Gohonzon on its front cover! | 11/15/03 |
| Wow! A stunning portrait of a beautiful young Brazilian woman. As a symbol of her devotion to Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism she has the words 'Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo' tattooed down her spine! This digital photography by UK artist Sarah O'Toole is a must see piece of artwork. Auction ends Nov 22.
Found a rare First Edition of Nikkyo Niwano's Guide to the Threefold Lotus Sutra up for auction at eBay, published by RKK in Japan, 1981. Auction ends Nov 18.
| 11/14/03 |
Discovered two very nice items up for auction on eBay in which Lotus Sutra devotees may be interested, especially Nichiren Shu practitioners:
An antique Nichiren-shu Two Buddha statue for a home altar. (Long ago, Tendai also used a similar set up in some temples.) Auction ends Nov 15.
A HUGE temple sized scroll with the 16th (Juryo) chapter of the Lotus Sutra inscribed on it! Wow! This auction ends Nov 18.
While wandering around eBay after listing these two items, I learned about and made Nichiren's Coffeehouse an eBay.com affiliate. Watch this page for even more antique Gohonzons being sold online from Japan!
| 11/13/03 |
| Stephen S., a Nichiren Shu member in San Francisco, set up an MSN Group for sharing his recent experiences of spending a month volunteering in South Africa at an orphanage and hospice for children with AIDS. His moving stories are open to the public at A Musing Journey.
Set free about 100 Red Worms (Eisenia fetida) in a specially prepared area of my garden & added another 800 Red Worms to my compost bin. These are the best worms for composting & they can even be used in apartments under your sink! Learn more about recycling your organic kitchen waste and indoor urban composting by visiting The Adventures of Herman, a fun & educational site for children of all ages. I enjoyed it! | 11/9/03 |
| Attended my first Reiyukai America meeting this morning in National City (CA), recited gongyo with them which includes excerpts from ten chapters from the Threefold Lotus Sutra, and decided to (at least temporarily) join my local Reiyukai Circle of Friends which has no dogma or doctrine, other than to encourage people of all faiths to read & meditate upon the Lotus Sutra in one's native language, thus promoting the betterment of society and our families through socially aware actions. Reiyukai is the mother of the so called "New Religions" which emerged in Japan in the early 20th century. They are now the UU of the Nichiren buddhist world & would be a nice fit for any Buddhist (or even non-buddhists who like all things Asian) who enjoys researching their family history.
Thus have you heard: CampRoss-ji is now tri-sectarian: an Independent minded member of Nichiren Shu SJ and Reiyukai SD. (I'll try anything!) | 11/2/03 |
| Added the while he was the Buddhist Chaplain at a Prison Hospital; however, it is now used for a variety of occcassions.
Set free another 1000 living beings in my garden today: green lacewing eggs and larva.
| 11/1/03 |
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| Nichiren's Coffeehouse, including Ryuei.net, Dharmajim's Sutra Salon, and the BuddhistInmates.net, surpassed 1 million clicks today! Thank you, everyone, for continuing to surf our cyber home! | 10/31/03 |
| Received my first shipment of worms, 1000 Eudrilus Eugeniae more commonly known as African Nightcrawlers, from VierrasWormFarm.com for aerating the soil and vermicomposting (worm composting). Thus, after almost a year of buying and setting free millions of insects in my yard, this is the first time I will be raising them (on organic kitchen waste) so that I can release them regularly, to improve the yard with their castings and to decrease our contribution to the public landfills.
| 10/29/03 |
| The World Tribune Express reported that, "While as many as 12 fires blazed through six Southern California counties, SGI-USA members jumped into the fray, augmenting the efforts of rescue workers.... The fires, described in the news media as the worst fires in California history, stretched from Oxnard in Ventura County to the Mexican border.... On Sunday evening, Oct. 26, SGI-USA youth from as far away as Los Angeles caravaned to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego where a temporary center had been established to help more than 5,000 evacuees. Within a few hours, 54 SGI-USA youth coordinated their efforts to provide help wherever it was needed. Over the next 48 hours, more than 75 SGI-USA members volunteered, staying until the evacuation center was closed on Tuesday."
Note: the webmaster of Nichiren's Coffeehouse lives in San Diego, not far from the largest of these fires. While he has been safe and out of the path of the firestorm, many others were not so lucky. | 10/26/03 |
| There's an old biography of the priest Nichiren, dated circa 1700-1760, up for auction until Oct 26 at Ebay: NICHIREN DAISHOHNIN GODENKI vol. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 bound together in 3 volumes. 7x10 inches. Woodblock print illustrations about 22 pages per volume. | 10/20/03 |
| Here's an interesting site for Green Buddhists devoted to Environmental Action, GreenSangha.org in the SF Bay Area, in the lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Frequent visitors may notice a change in my linking method. I've added additional code to most external links in the top layers of the Coffeehouse so that when you click on a link not on this site, a new window will generally pop up. However surfing inside the Coffeehouse will continue to be as before, in the same browser window.
| 10/19/03 |
| Added the new unofficial website for SGI-USA's Mililani Chapter [BuddhistHawaii.com] in Central Oahu to my Hawaii directory, at the webmaster's request.
| 10/15/03 |
| 722nd anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin's death (jap. reckoning) in 1282.
| 10/13/03 |
| Signed up for a service today to voluntarily rate my websites with the
. This adds an extra layer of protection to ensure children do not accidently wander into my few adult webpages, as well as ensure that the vast majority of my webpages (997/1000) which are appropriate for all ages, do not become blocked by parental controls. Their logo can now be found at the bottom of many of my pages. | 10/12/03 |
| Yet another antique ten-world Gohonzon, dated 1845 from Honzan Myomanji Temple, is up for auction in Kyoto at Ebay. There are only 4 more days to bid on it! | 10/10/03 |
| A large antique "simplified" Gohonzon (NMRK-Nichiren only) in Tokyo is up for auction at Ebay! The auction will remain open until Oct. 18th. Outside of Japan, Nichiren Shu and Honmon Butsuryu Shu are the two most likely schools to use such a simple Mandala. | 10/8/03 |
| Adopted my 100th WebRing today, this one for . As its description states, this is a ring for Asian punks, bookworms, musicians, goths, fags, geeks, ravers, atheists, artists and anyone else willing to join.
The Zab Sang Institute requested today to be listed in the Coffeehouse. They are a non-profit Eastern Cultural Association and Tibetan Buddhist Temple of the Karma Kagyu lineage. They offer Classes for adults and children in Buddhist Teachings, Internal Energy Training and Meditation in Coconut Grove, Florida. | 10/6/03 |
| The Tendai Shu Hokkei-Dai-E, held once every 4 years has began today atop Mount Hiei. 325 priests are in attendance this year, undertaking this ancient and famed debate upon the Lotus Sutra since the time of Dengyo Daishi. [Kyoto Shimbun] | 10/1/03 |
| Long overdue, I transfered my SGI Letter of Resignation dated 11/29/1999, from the IRG archives to the Coffeehouse.
Adopted my 99th ring today, an .
| 9/27/03 |
| Added an old Meiji era Gohonzon inscribed by Honzan Myomanji Temple in 1882 to my Kempon Hokke webpage. It is currently up for auction (for another 5 days) by an antique dealer in Kyoto via Ebay!
Set free more than a thousand living beings in my yard today: 1000 lady bugs and 100 decollate snails (that eat other snails).
| 9/26/03 |
| Added the new homepage for Nipponzan Myohoji's Washington, DC Dojo to my Worldwide Directory.
| 9/25/03 |
| Sad news: the Kannon Bosatsu statue from the Haraobi Kannon-Do, a Tendai temple, reputed to have been fashioned by Dengyo Daishi himself, was stolen today (along with approx. $80). [Kyoto Shimbum]
| 9/23/03 |
| Adopted a small WebRing today called Modern American Buddhism and changed its name to , thus broadening its scope to include any webpage in North, South, and Central America, as well as in the Caribbean! | 9/20/03 |
| The Tendai Buddhist priest, Genshin Fujinami, completed an ancient running ritual on Mount Hiei today that took seven years and covered a distance equivalent to a trip around the globe, wearing only a flowing white robe and flimsy straw sandals. Since 1885, only 46 other marathon monks have survived the ritual, which dates to the 8th century and is believed to be a path to enlightenment, according to temple officials.
Pascual Olivera, the famous Flamenco dancer and SGI-USA leader, passed away from cancer tonight at 5:34 PM in a hospital in Chicago after a two year fight with the disease. There will be a memorial for Pascual next Tuesday evening at the Chicago Cultural Center at 7 PM. Please send your daimoku to his devoted wife, Angela (who used to be La Prima Ballerina of the Spanish National Ballet). | 9/19/03 |
| Added Richard Gere's website for the Gere Foundation which supports the plight of the Tibetan people, as well as help fund many humanitarian causes such as the International Red Cross/Red Crescent movements, HIV & AIDS programs, a post-prison ministry and more... | 9/17/03 |
| Adopted today, for all webpages by or about Mexicans.
| 9/16/03 |
| Added Dharmajim's Vision of Perfect Wisdom written in the tradition of Prajnaparamita, called . | 9/13/03 |
| A Day of Remembrance for all those who died 2 years ago on 9/11/01.
An editorial by SGI Pres. Ikeda entitled, "Challenge of Building Peace" appeared in today's edition of The Japan Times.
Added a link to a japanese language site with extensive gosho translations to the Coffeehouse. Includes writings from Nichiren and Nikko. Probably a Soka Gakkai member's homepage?
| 9/11/03 |
| Added Ryuei's new translation of the ancient but popular Mahayana text, . | 9/9/03 |
| Get an idea on how to interconnect my 94 WebRings to increase traffic between rings with complementary themes. Finish interconnecting the rings on 9/12. Visit or any of my other rings to see what I mean. | 9/7/03 |
A note to all SGI Buddhist webmasters:
I was contacted today by the webmaster of the SGI-Italia website as follows, "...last year we changed our domain name from isg.it to sgi-italia.org. In the mean time isg.it has been registered by somebody else. Please note that even the name of our organization changed from Associazione Italiana Soka Gakkai to Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai. So I would ask you to kindly remove the reference to www.isg.it and modify it to: www.sgi-italia.org and if necessary, update the name of our organization to the new one."
| 9/5/03 |
| Finally got around to visiting my local Reiyukai America for the first time. They have a small space in a shopping center about 8 miles from my home in San Diego. Unfortunately, they were closed during the day... but I will try again!
| 9/4/03 |
| Adopted the large and high traffic and put up for adoption a small ring I managed, Aye'nako Pinoy Pinay. | 9/2/03 |
| Don's two year anniversary of and joining Ryuei's temple, Myokakuji Betsuin of Nichiren Shu (on 9-1-1).
Put 8 WebRings up for adoption today that even after a year or more of advertising, they have done little or nothing; thus I have 94 rings at this time, still more than enough to take care for. | 9/1/03 |
| Reiyukai America has just put online a new homepage RYKUSA.org and so I updated my Reiyukai links. | 8/31/03 |
| Found an interesting article today, an exposé on the Soka Gakkai written in 1995: Consumer Buddhism: NSA, Patriotism, and America.
Gave Ryuei's a facelift. | 8/30/03 |
| Added a new Dharma talk given by Rev. Ryuei last Sunday at his temple on . | 8/29/03 |
| In this time of ever changing affiliations, I have removed the Nichiren Shu info for the Irish Republic and changed it to Rissho Kosei-kai (at the request of the contact person). I am not aware of any other Nichiren Shu contact in Ireland at this time, at least not online.
| 8/28/03 |
| Added the new website for SGI-North Carolina to my worldwide directory. | 8/27/03 |
| Updated my links for Fujisan Honmonji Honmon Shoshu (an independent Nikko lineage temple near Taisekiji NOT affiliated with Nichiren Shoshu) in the Gohonzon Shu and in my directory of Lotus Sutra schools for Japan. | 8/26/03 |
| Don's 19th anniversary of receiving his first Lotus Sutra Gohonzon in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California as a member of the old NSA. | 8/25/03 |
| Added several more major Nichiren Shu temples in Japan to my Worldwide Directory, plus another in India! | 8/24/03 |
| Begin a new phase today: chant the first sutta of , "The Root of All Things" in english to my Gohonzon and intend to chant the entire Majjhima Nikaya over the next year as I explore during this, my 20th year of buddhist practice. | 8/23/03 |
| Put online Dharmajim's , the Way of the Scholar Sage. | 8/21/03 |
Don was made a co-moderator of two more Yahoo Groups today:
(1) The Gohonzon Forum, a large but slow discussion group dedicated to an interfaith dialogue about the Great Mandalas of the Lotus Sutra. I have added a join box for this group to the bottom of most of my webpages with the various Mandalas, redirecting all inquiries about these Gohonzons to this forum. I have also added a direct link to this group to the navigation code for ; and
(2) The Buddhist Lampoon, a satirical group created by the quasi-fictional Polyester Cult and devoted to bringing humor to the NSS/SGI conflict. | 8/19/03 |
| Don's 19th anniversary of first uttering Nam(u) Myoho Renge Kyo. While it has been 20 months since I abandoned a ritualized practice, I have continued to chant the Wonderful Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra every day since for 19 years, bringing me good health and a longevity beyond my expectations (full story linked on 8/3 below).
| 8/16/03 |
| Created a tongue-in-cheek webpage today exploring my feeling that the daimoku has become a drug which clouds the minds of many Nichiren Buddhists. I adapted the classic AA model and call it, : Step 1. I admit that I have become powerless over the daimoku - hopelessly addicted to its gentle drone.
| 8/15/03 |
INVITATION: Over the last months I have added a few polls to some of my Buddhist WebRings to bring a little interaction. A few people have completed the two clicks necessary to participate in these easy polls, but I thought I would extend an Invitation to everyone surfing this page as well. Please consider voting in one or more of these polls!
(1) Where in the World do you practice Buddhism? (My newest poll, created today.)
(2) What kind of Buddhism do you Practice? (These are broad schools of thought.)
(3) Who is your favorite female Bodhisattva of Compassion? (The #1 answer may surprise you.)
(4) With whom do you currently practice Nichiren Buddhism? (It is anonymous!)
| 8/14/03 |
| Added a long but interesting article by Dharmajim about change, called Transcending Essence and Abandoning Being; or, Impermanence Means Buddha Nature.
Added something else new from Dharmajim, written to be the latest chapter in his spiritual journey, Chanting as a Meditation Practice called, Finding a New Mantra (scroll down to the last sub-section).
Namu Shakyamuni Hum!
Updated the contact info for Nichiren Shu in India and Sri Lanka, as well as the Independent Movement in Poland.
| 8/10/03 |
| Put up for adoption three WebRings today which I adopted last year, but that still had little to no traffic and were duplicated themes. | 8/8/03 |
| Discover today that I was successful in introducing a new (and rather expensive) relative of lady bugs to my yard this spring to combat the Giant Whitefly, the Delphastus Beetle. When I went to prune the plant where I had introduced them months ago, they were in all stages of development and were gorging on whitefly eggs and larva. After validating my observations on the internet, I have moved the beetles around the yard in the hope that more colonies are established. May the urban eco-system be balanced in part by the waves of beneficial insects emerging from my yard. There are very few whiteflies now on my plants compared to years past. Yay!
| 8/5/03 |
| Finished putting online an autobiographical exploration of My Early Adventures in Consciousness, from Baptist to Buddhist and the Beyond; or, Tales of a Spiritual Deviant. This essay was written last month, with its first draft serialized in the Sangha for Independents. This is the finished product. For those of you who have read my personal story of living with HIV that was written in '95, this is what came before.
| 8/3/03 |
| I received a nice email today from someone who enjoyed this website. When I checked his page, I liked it too and so thought I would share a link here. While not directly buddhist, it is an interesting Musing on Life. | 8/2/03 |
| This July was the first wherein the to the Coffeehouse exceeded 6,000 people in one month! Sometime during August the Coffeehouse will exceed who have visited this website.
| 7/31/03 |
| Added a new interactive feature to my Photo Travel Journals: ABS Travel Affiliate Network. Compare prices here! Discounted Airline Fares, Car Reservations and Hotel Rooms! | 7/27/03 |
| Finished a new webpage today called Zen in the Art of Bookstores. I had fun with it. Last year I adopted the and have long been thinking about creating a page listing all of the Zen and the Art of... books I could find. Amazon.com has almost 200 of them, on many strange and wonderful topics! Not sure what to buy a friend? Here are some great novelty gifts! | 7/18/03 |
| Set free 1000 living beings in my garden this morning: green lacewing eggs and larva. | 7/14/03 |
| Added disclaimers to my webpages that are sect specific, e.g., to all my orignal Links and Resources webpages. I have added a brief statement saying This website is Independent of any School to most, but have added additional text for Nichiren Shoshu, SGI, and Nichiren Shu stating exact dates of membership affiliation, past or present.
| 7/9/03 |
| Buddha Jones is a funny fox, hot on a rabbit trail as she tracks the SGI-USA's undisclosed finances on and off the net. Note: Financial disclosure has become an increasingly hot topic amongst SGI reformers.
| 7/3/03 |
| Recently the first ever Prayer Gohonzon Conferal Ceremony occured in a U.S. State Prison, where four men received their new 5"x7" Gohonzons in the Chapel. Generally, all Mandalas distributed by BIS are individually sent to prisoners when they are ready, by mail.
This same prison, Mule Creek State Prison in California, will also be the first where the Chaplain will be receiving an 11"x14" Gohonzon on behalf of their buddhist inmates to be enshrined in the chapel when they have Buddhist services. Their new group Gohonzon will soon be shipped, gifted from Chanterkyo.
Set free 1000 living beings in my garden this evening: green lacewing eggs and larva. | 6/28/03 |
| Historic decision: Today the U.S. Supreme Court overturned all anti-sodomy laws in the USA! It is no longer illegal to be Gay anywhere in the USA! For more on this topic, you can read the Reuters report or learn more about Les-bi-gay Buddhists in the Coffeehouse. | 6/26/03 |
| Updated my personal SGI webpage. Evidently, at least one person construed my top subheading to infer that it was an official SGI website. It is not. Therefore, I updated the page so that others do not have the same impression. (I changed the Official links subheading to Links to SGI Material.)
While there, I also added a link to SGI Pres. Ikeda's annual Peace Proposal for this year,
A Global Ethic of Coexistence: Toward a "Life-Sized" Paradigm for Our Age. | 6/25/03 |
| Nichiren Shu celebrated their 100th anniversary of propagating the Odaimoku in the USA today at the Nichiren Mission of Hawaii! Congratulations!
Went to a very nice Summer Solstice party at the home of an independent buddhist, EarthMomma.com, and had some delightful conversation with several friends who are SGI members.
| 6/21/03 |
Set free another 6000 living beings in my yard today.
Truly, this inner city plot is feeling more like a country garden!
Set free 5000 adult Aphytis melinus, a tiny 1 mm yellow wasp (that doesn't sting humans) to feed on red scales (a small limpid like insect which sucks the lifeforce out of a plant).
I also set loose 1000 green lacewing eggs and larva, the best broad spectrum beneficial insect available. It was the first time I have seen one of their alligator-like larve up close. Last week, I saw an adult in the garden from last month's batch of eggs. They are so beautiful and delicate as adults!
My neighbor told me he saw a good sized praying mantis in the yard recently. It must be one that hatched earlier in the season....
| 6/11/03 |
| Added several dozen BSGI Community Centers to my Worldwide Directory, sent to me by the webmaster of an unofficial SGI Brasil website in portugese Mais Belas Histórias Budistas. Thank you!
| 6/8/03 |
| Several hundred praying mantids hatched in my yard (from 2 pods) today. They are visible for only a few hours when emerging (and very tiny!) but I was lucky enough to see them. It was way kewl! | 6/4/03 |
| Mystic Lotus Discussion Group, yet another Yahoo! Nichiren Group was set up today by Mystic Lotus: a Nonsectarian Ministry in the Nichiren Buddhist Tradition. The purpose of this e-group is to carry on discussions/dialogues on the practice and teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha as they are found in the Lotus Sutra and interpreted by Nichiren Daishonin. Added to Discussions Around the Lotus Pond on 6/8.
| 6/3/03 |
| Mystic Lotus: a Nonsectarian Ministry in the Nichiren Buddhist Tradition is pleased to announce the printing of its first book, Romancing the Lotus: a Nonsectarian Liturgical Resource in the Nichiren Buddhist Tradition. The book is a full page in size in order to permit the use of a larger font (for those who need this) and is coil bound. The coil binding permits the book to lie completely flat on ones altar table, also the pages turn completely around, making it easy to hold with one hand. It has a stiff black cardboard backing and clear cover, so that it will not get all floppy in one's hands, it is also printed on high quality, heavy paper that will not fall apart.
| 6/2/03 |
| Writings of Nichrien Shonin: Doctrine 1 of Nichiren Shu's new seven volume series of authenticated gosho published by the University of Hawaii became available this month! (Doctrine 2 came out last year.)
now from Amazon.com!
| 5/31/03 |
| Signed up Dharmajim's Sutra Salon to be an Amazon.com Associate, converted the embedded links in his webpages from CampRoss to Dharmajim, and added keyword generated bookstore kiosks to the bottom of each page in the Sutra Salon. | 5/27/03 |
| Finished updating Ryuei's Amazon.com links (see below) and replaced the Link Exchange banner ads which were at the bottom of his webpages with keyword generated banner ads, giving his essays and study recommendations the added value of new and/or bestselling books on similar topics.
Set free another 300 decollate snails (to eat other snails) in my yard. | 5/25/03 |
| Surpass 800,000 clicks in Nichiren's Coffeehouse since 1997.
| 5/23/03 |
| Ever wonder why you feel better after meditating? Here's some medical evidence reported today by Reuters in London: Meditation Shown to Light Up Brains of Buddhists. | 5/21/03 |
| Since I began creating webpages in 1997, I have experimented with a number of affiliate programs, the vast majority of which failed miserably. However in the past year, as traffic to my webpages continue to climb, a few programs began to pay off. Not enough at first to cover my costs, but enough to keep me interested. This year, for the first time several programs are steadily covering my costs; so much so, I am making some changes in the Coffeehouse. Amazon.com was the first program which began to work in my webpages. Now that other programs are also being productive, I am setting up three new accounts with Amazon.com, so that the revenue of books purchased at Ryuei.net, Buddhistinmates.net and Dharmajim's Sutra Salon will go to them. I never intended for the Coffeehouse to make a profit (although it is nice to be covering costs ;-). Therefore the small income their sites produce should go to them. Thank you everyone for making this so.
Finished updating the Buddhist Inmate Sangha's Amazon.com links (only a few webpages).
I'm about half way through updating the Amazon.com links in Ryuei's 100 webpages and the links to the many books he recommends in his writings. It is a big project. | 5/20/03 |
| Set free more than 10 million living beings in my garden: 10 mil nematodes (microscopic organisms that live in the soil), 1000 lady bugs (to eat the aphids and white flies), and 400 decollate snails (that eat other snails). My partner calls my use of insects in the garden to fight other insects: biological warfare. 'Tis true, 'tis true. I set up colonies in my old-growth garden and establish lines of defense around the house.... While some may live, others will die. Such is the circle of life. | 5/16/03 |
| Sad news: Body of 4-year-old boy pulled from DuPage River, a newspaper article from the Sun Times in Chicago. Namu Myoho-renge-kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. | 5/12/03 |
| The young son of the Chief priest of the Chicago area Nichiren Shoshu Temple died today under tragic circumstances. People may wish to include him in their prayers. It is of course terrible for any parent to lose a young child but it is likely even more difficult being located half way around the world, far from family and relatives. Anyone wishing to express sympathy can send a card to:Myogyoji Temple, PO Box 403, West Chicago, IL 60186
| 5/10/03 |
| Here is an interesting site with a Buddhist response to the post 9/11 Warmongering of the United States at LoudZen.com | 5/5/03 |
| Updated my Worldwide Directory of Lotus Sutra Schools, mostly with updates for the Independent Movement, removing and adding groups, in these times of ever-changing affiliations.
Added Dharmajim's bookstore, Many Rivers Books & Teas in Sebastopol, to my California directory for monthly non-sectarian Sutra studies or Nichiren Shu style daimoku chanting. | 5/4/03 |
| Set free 2000 living beings in my garden, all beneficial insects: lady bugs, delphastus beetles, green lacewings, and decollate snails (that eat other snails). Noticed today that the praying mantids I put out last month are beginning to hatch. Yeah! | 4/30/03 |
| Added a listing of Nichiren Shu's Writings of Nichiren Shonin: Doctrine 2 to my webpage for authenticated goshos. Of the 23 gosho in this volume, all but four (#s 5, 6, 13 & 23) are fully authentic; at least nine are new goshos, not previously available in english.
Anniversary of the first time Nichiren chanted the Odaimoku of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, at dawn as the sun arose above the Pacific Ocean, near Seicho-ji temple in 1253.
Put online new photos of my current altar at CampRoss-ji, with a full item by item explanation. My 3D Hokke Honzon now includes 18 statues, drawings, or pictures (not including the kanji) of buddhas, bodhisattvas and protective deities. Can you count them all? 16 are visible.... [Click here]
The newest addition to my altar is a troll from Norway which was given to me as a memento from my grandparents. I first met this foot tall standing troll the first time we visited my soon-to-be-step-grandparents when I was 13. He was standing on their hearth. Walking into the room s/he demanded attention. Since the rest of my family were "kind-of-scared of him" he has now come to live with me (since I am known to be "kind-of-weird"). Lucky me. While my first thought as to his/her home was my altar as Kishimojin, I shelved that idea, and was leaning toward a bookcase. However, when I showed it to my (Catholic) partner and asked him where he thought it belonged, he immediately said my altar. Thus he became a she (no, not my partner, the troll ;-) and she was named, Kishimo-jin, Guardian of the Lotus Sutra, a happy but demonic troll living under the bridge of my Buddha Shrine.
| 4/28/03 |
| Added a pic of Dharmajim and his Traveling Mandala to my Zen webpage, taken on 4/19 (see below).
Added a new pic of myself (taken today) to this What's New webpage (see above).
| 4/27/03 |
| WebRing recently made available for adoption a bunch of rings. I have picked up a handful of them, listed herein.
Adopted my 104th WebRing, this one for . | 4/25/03 |
| This evening Rev. Ryuei drove north to Sebastopol with his family for a Dharma talk at Dharmajim's bookstore on Nichiren Buddhism. It was very well received and several people expressed interest in starting a local chanting group. Was this the birth of the first Nichiren Shu group in Sebastopol? [Source]
Adopted 3 more WebRings today:
,
, and .
| 4/24/03 |
| Attended my one SGI meeting for the year, this morning, at a daimoku toso at a friend's home in Sebastopol, CA. It was good to see old friends. One person whom I hadn't seen in many years said to me, "Wow, you look so straight! I don't mean heterosexual... just... normal!" As we laughed remembering my punked out youth....
| 4/22/03 |
Great News from Hawaii: Rev. Idei of the Rissho Kosei-kai was invited to do the Opening Invocation for today's Session of the Hawaii State Senate. Congratulations to Rev. Idei! The full text is below:
Invocation of the Opening Prayer for the Hawaii State Senate Session. On April 21, 3:00 pm at the Hawaii State Capital.
Aloha! I am honored to be able to offer the invocation on this occasion of
the opening of the State Senate Session.
With my Buddhist faith, I pay homage and pray to the Eternal Buddha
Shakyamuni, to all of the Hawaiian Deities, and to all the ancestors
who dedicated their lives to Hawaii, that your session, be guided by
them, toward a fruitful and meaningful conclusion, for the sake of
true progress of our society and the happiness of the people of
Hawaii.
I sincerely offer my prayer with you, that every person, every nation
not dispute amongst each other because of supremacy of race,
religion, culture and politics but progress together, embracing
diversity, cultivating the spirit of Great Harmony, like the spirit
of Aloha, which represents Hawaii.
If you can, please bow your head and put your palms together.
Invocation (with bell):
Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo, Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo, Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo.
We take refuge in the Buddha. May we with all living beings
realize the Great Way and aspire to the unsurpassable intention.
We take refuge in the Dharma. May we with all living beings
embrace the riches of the sutra and make our wisdom wide and deep as
the sea.
We take refuge in the Sangha. May we with all living beings
lead the multitude to freedom from all hindrances.
We put our faith in the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, Great Benevolent
Teacher, the World-Honored One; the protecting deities of Hawaii; all
the ancestors who dedicated their lives to Hawaii. We pray reverently
for the realization that every arrangement, be made under the
guidance of the Eternal Buddha, the very wonderful manifestation of
the Great Vehicle.
We earnestly pray, that with the help of divine protection, all human
beings in this world appreciate our wonderful debt to the blessings
of Mother Nature and revere the Buddha-nature in all, so as to become
one with the fundamental Truth of the Great Harmony of the Universe.
Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo, Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo, Namu Myo Horen Ge Kyo,
Thank you for your cooperation. [Source]
Celebrated the life of my step-grandmother today, who peacefully passed away last week at the age of 82 years and one day in our hometown of Sebastopol, CA. I spoke on behalf of the family during the sharing time. It was an interesting experience to be speaking at the last christian church (Lutheran) where I too was once a member, more than two decades ago while in high school. | 4/21/03 |
| Spent the day with Dharmajim: drove with him to San Francisco to hear him lead a Sutta study in the Castro, and then we studied the Gosho with Ryuei during lunch. It was a great day to meditate with and learn from my two favorite clergy. | 4/19/03 |
| Four American Nichiren Shu priests visited today the Rev. Zuiun Matsuda in Japan, a talented buddhist sculptor and monk, who put up a webpage to commemorate the visit. | 4/18/03 |
| Adopted the , my 100th ring! | 4/17/03 |
| Adopted the WebRing today. | 4/16/03 |
| An Open Letter to the Lotus Sutra Schools: Today I snail mailed 62 letters to a dozen Lotus Sutra based temples, sanghas and organizations in the USA, requesting new and used book donations for the Buddhist Inmate Sangha. Please consider supporting this worthy cause by putting out a box during YOUR meetings with a sign on it such as: "Used Books for Buddhist Inmates"
| 4/15/03 |
Celebrated my 40th birthday today by....
(1) Putting Ryuei's latest chapter on the Pali Canon online, this one about Nirvana;
(2) Set 1000 living beings free in my garden (lady beetles and praying mantids); and
(3) Began a letter writing project to the Lotus Sutra Schools in the USA on behalf of the Buddhist Inmate Sangha.
| 4/13/03 |
| Added two Renga co-written by Jim Wilson and Jane Reichhold. Renga is a particular style of Japanese poetry. Includes links to more books written by Jane, as well as to her website.
Reorganized my webpage for the Honmon Butsuryu Schools to more clearly differentiate Honmon Butsuryu Shu from Honmon Butsuryu Ko, which broke away from HBS in 1991.
| 4/12/03 |
| Updated the Buddhist Inmate Sangha's homepage and removed the webpages which list the inmates. The BIS database of inmates can now be found in our Yahoo Group.
| 4/3/03 |
| Added some nice poetry by Dharmajim called Sonnets of Emptiness to his website.
| 4/2/03 |
| The Rev. Ryuei McCormick of Nichiren Shu along with about 82 other clergy and religious people were arrested this morning in San Francisco, CA for non-violent civil disobediance against the war in Iraq after an interfaith religious service (all charges were dropped). You can find his personal account of this experience by clicking here or check out the articles in the Mercury News or Yahoo! News. | 3/28/03 |
| Added a short but timely piece by Ryuei on Bonno Soku Bodai called, Chanting and Desire: "In Nichiren Buddhism, the act of chanting or even silently reflecting upon the Odaimoku can help us to maintain our equilibrium in the midst of strong passions and desires...."
| 3/23/03 |
| Added a wonderful new essay by Dharmajim called Dharma View: an Essay on Interdependent Transformation, comparing and contrasting this key Buddhist concept with views about Ultimate Nature which are prevalent in our modern world.
Soka Gakkai Japan's Central Council on Social Affairs issued a statement today following the beginning of the attacks on Iraq.
SGI-USA issued a memo today, before the invasion of Iraq, calling for the use of SGI facilities for peace prayers.
| 3/19/03 |
| Added the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Nichiren Shu to my World Wide Directory. They are a growing community under the leadership of the Rev. Shinkyo Will Warner. They would like to invite any Coffeehouse visitors to Lexington, KY to join them for their Sunday services or Tuesday study meetings. | 3/15/03 |
| Statement of the Nichiren Shu Order for a Peaceful Solution of the Iraq Issue | 3/13/03 |
| Added a long, but great new article by Dharmajim to his Sutra Salon, Udumbara: An Introductory Essay On the General Theory of Interdependent Transformation (Pratityasamutpada)
| 3/12/03 |
| Here is the Dalai Lama's statement regarding Iraq and the use of violence:
War is Anachronistic, an Outmoded Approach. Dharamsala, India.
| 3/11/03 |
| Added a lisitng for Charles Atkins' new book Modern Buddhist Healing: A Spiritual Strategy for Transforming Pain, Dis-Ease, and Death to the Coffeehouse at the author's request. It is my understanding that SGI in Japan was very supportive of its publication, while SGI-USA has not. Heck, I figure that alone is enough reason to order a copy from Amazon.com. Thus I have done so.
| 3/9/03 |
| Updated the Worldwide Directory of SGI Centers nearly tripling the number of countries listed on my SGI webpage.
| 3/8/03 |
| At last! The Rev. Ryuei's manuscript, Dharma Flower: The Faith, Teaching and Practice of Nichiren Buddhism is now available in a spiral bound, pre-published format for those who do not want to wait any longer... click here! | 3/7/03 |
| Added Dharmajim's Eternity and Liberation: a Commentary on the Anuruddha Sutta | 3/4/03 |
| Added Dharmajim's essay, Analysis and Meaning: an Inquiry into the Meaning of the Buddhas View of "Pratityasamutpada" (i.e., dependent origination). | 3/3/03 |
| Added Dharmajim's Thirty Verses on Reading as a Spiritual Practice; or The Dao of Reading, an excellent guide to the Way of Contemplative Reading of the Buddhist Discourses. | 2/24/03 |
Here are two more webpages by Dharmajim:
Chanting as a Meditation Practice: a pan-sectarian look at the universality of chanting as a Buddhist practice.
Water Psalms: free form verse written after the great Rusian River flood of 1986 destroyed all of his belongings.
| 2/23/03 |
| Finished the NEW homepage for Dharmajim's Sutra Salon. This prolific writer, a former Abbot of a Zen Temple and Prison Chaplain, Dharmajim is now a lay practicioner of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren Shu. Included here are sutra commentaries, essays, diaries, poetry, and reflections of his 30+ years on the Buddhist Path.
Finished the first two webpages for the Sutra Salon: A Commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter, as well as 7 Verses on the Path and 7 Verses on Ultimate Nature. | 2/17/03 |
| Nichiren Shonin's birthday (1222)
Created my 98th WebRing for the sole purpose of navigating .
| 2/16/03 |
| CONGRATULATIONS to the THREE NEW SHAMI (acolytes) who today received their initial ordination (tokudo) at the Nichiren Shu temple in Portland, Oregon, becoming the disciples of the Rev. Ryuoh Faulconer, the new chief priest of the Portland temple and the first openly gay man to be put in charge of a Nichiren Shu Temple in the USA. The three new shami are: Lynda Caine-Barrett who is now Myokei (Wonderful Virtue), Matt Miller who is now Ryushin (Dragon Heart), and Phillip Sorenson who is now Ryunin (Dragon Benevolence). The Rev. Ryuei wrote in a Yahoo Group, "I had the privilege of helping out and giving the Dharma talk afterwards, in which I remarked that this is truly a historic occasion in which three American shami take tokudo under an American minister of a Nichiren Shu temple." The webmaster would like to further remark that Myokei is the first female of African descent (as well as the very first person of African-Japanese descent) to be ordained by ANY Nichiren School. What a momentous occassion! Bravo! [Photo Gallery] | 2/9/03 |
| Added Ryuei's latest addition, On Dependent Origination, to my WebRings. It is based upon the Pali Canon. The doctrine of dependent origination is the key insight upon which the entire teaching of the Buddha rests.
For the last few months, I have been focusing my attention on advertising (via WebRing and elsewhere). Nichiren's Coffeehouse is now receiving about 2000 clicks a day! And I have 97 WebRings to administer... hehehe... I think that is enough for now and so I will henceforth limit my adoption of webrings to the barest minimum.
Moving from growth mode in WebRing to maintenence, my mind is once again thinking of adding more Buddha Dharma to the Coffeehouse. Here are some projects which are now in the works:
(1) The BIS inmate listings are in the process of being moved from being publicly posted here to a private database in our Yahoo Group, where it is only visible to members and updatable by our moderators. (Rather than just me! Yeah!) The Buddhist Inmate Sangha has been a tremendous success and now others are also helping with data entry for inmates requesting books and pen pals. THANK YOU!
(2) Ryuei is working on a final redraft of his book, Dharma Flower, at least part of which will be appearing here.... Maybe even in the near future!
(3) Coming soon: another homepage for an American born Buddhist clergy who now practices the Lotus Sutra with the Nichiren School.... But who could it be??? Stay tuned!
| 2/5/03 |
| Added some New Religions in Japan that honour the Lotus Sutra to my Worldwide Directory. One organization with interesting english language websites that visitors may enjoy is Myochikai Kyodan with their Arigatou Foundation and the Global Network of Religions for Children.
Though NOT a Nichiren school, the Tzu Chi Merits Society based in Taiwan highly reveres the Lotus Sutra, and so has now been added to the directory for Taiwan and California, their main office in the USA. (Note: They have also spread to many other States and Countries!)
| 2/2/03 |
