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Letters
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We spend a lot of time writing people letters and meeting with people. Writing for the web site and other publications takes a back seat to such one-on-one interactions. It occurred to us that our letters, while written to specific individuals, could be useful to others as well. Most people ask similar questions. Maybe your questions can be answered by reading a letter to someone else. Besides that, people often wonder how exactly to apply shakubuku. As Marge Kirkpatrick has said, "Shakubuku starts at home." (Weekly Quotes, Jan. 30, 2005) We can't say we're experts at shakubuku. We struggle constantly with how to go about convincing and encouraging each person to seek the Buddha within themselves. But we can provide examples of what we've done. That's what this section is all about. It might be important to clarify something about our letters. Some people may be confused as to the way we discuss things with people. We don't encourage people to come to NBAA meetings, join the organization, read new poems by our President, or have tea at our house. We're not here to create a big organization. Our goal is to teach Buddhism and encourage people to seek out their Buddha nature within. As one NBAA member, David Heimburg, said in response to someone saying that we're trying to reinvent the wheel, "The only wheel we're trying to turn is the wheel of the Law." Toward that end, we support each other and other Buddhists in any way we can. That is the nature of our writing. That is the kind of culture we hope to communicate with other Nichiren Buddhists. We try our very best to emulate Bodhisattva Never Disparaging who ran around "arrogantly" proclaiming to each person that they will become a Buddha. He wasn't creating a society or supporting a church. He was simply teaching people Buddhism. That is what we do. About the Gohonzon |
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