"I was involved one single time in a "movement" with President Ikeda: 1993, at meeting in LA where "Sun of Jiyu" was read.... Was outside when his 2-car entourage pulled up, and then within an arms length of the great Ikeda for next few minutes..... Heard him giving guidance directly to a YMD friend.... I said "hello" to Mrs Ikeda (she nodded and smiled, with no eye contact).... Watched Ikeda and crowd disappear into secret area of Center, and then the meeting/poem.....
I felt nothing unique from the experience, but the emotion of it was real.... But I felt no tingling down my spine; no sense of eternal peace; and not one shred of seeking spirit FROM the Mentor TOWARDS us.... There were many of my friends doing special security that day; besides our highest-ranked YMD, Ikeda didn't look at, or talk to, or acknowledge, a single other behind-the-scene member.... We were all very active and dedicated, yet none of us received attention or interest of any kind from SGI cabal .... It was unnerving, honestly, and I remember looking around after the elevator doors closed, feeling "waitaminiteshatthefuckjusthappened".... It was so outside of what my expectations were, I felt reality shift..... The focus of that experience when I retold it to members was how plain and humble (read:cheap) Mrs Ikeda's shoes were, and how she "focused her ichinen Sensei" [rather than interact with anyone]....
During the meeting, Sensei gazed out over the packed Auditorium, and not once did he smile, wave, or interact with the audience. This really surprised me. I was sitting in a visible spot, but not once did he look at me or meet my "shining eyes calling out to him"..... Okay, so he didn't notice or acknowledge me, personally (ouch, ego), but he DIDN'T INTERACT WITH ANYONE that I noticed: I compared notes with lots of people after words and no one at all had been singled out..... The YMD who read the poem received no special attention, either....
This event was a "big nothing"-experience, and I was bewildered and baffled for days/weeks, until I settled on key details to re-tell, omitting the "vast emptiness" of it all
Now, seeing this video of Orlando Bloom meeting with Ikeda (after a big$$donation?), and hearing that Ikeda pushed "sincere disciple" away after embrace, held shoulders/upper arms (dominance display), then repeatedly slapped the most handsome face on the planet, and the "disciple" not only accepted the humiliation but then twisted it in his mind: "no! No, I wasn't assaulted! He was waking me up! No trauma here!"
He ain't NO MOST HANDSOME MAN IN THE WORLD. come on bro... the LS is not based on the prettiest and finest. Gimme a break
ReplyDeleteAgain, I suggest you read Chapter 18 of the Lotus Sutra:
ReplyDelete"The benefits of the first person will be such that when he is reborn he will be born in the same place as dharani bodhisattvas. He will have keen faculties and wisdom. For a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand ages he will never be struck dumb. His mouth will not emit a foul odor. His tongue will never be afflicted, nor will his mouth be afflicted. His teeth will not be stained or black, nor will they be yellow or widely spaced, nor will they be missing or fall out or be at an angle or crooked. His lips will not droop down or curl back or be rough or chapped or afflicted with sores or misshapen or twisted or too thick or too big or black or discolored or unsightly in any way. His nose will not be too broad or flat or crooked or too highly arched. His face will not be swarthy, nor will it be long and narrow, or sunken and distorted. He will not have a single unsightly feature. His lips, tongue, and teeth will all be handsomely proportioned. His nose will be long and high, his face round and full, his eyebrows long and set high, his forehead broad, smooth, and well shaped, and he will be endowed with all the features proper to a human being. In each existence he is born into, he will see the Buddha, hear his Law, and have faith in his teachings"
and
"The blessings that the first person gets in reward
I will now describe in detail:
Age after age, no afflictions of the mouth,
no teeth missing, yellow or blackened,
lips that are not thick, curled, or defective,
no hateful features,
a tongue not dry, black, or too short;
nose high, long, and straight,
forehead broad, smooth, and well shaped,
face and eyes all properly aligned and impressive,
the kind people delight to look at,
breath free of foul odor,
a fragrance of blue lotus flowers
constantly emitted by the mouth."
And Chapter 28:
"If anyone sees a person who accepts and upholds this sutra and tries to expose the faults or evils of that person, whether what he speaks is true or not, he will in his present existence be afflicted with white leprosy. If anyone disparages or laughs at that person, then in existence after existence he will have teeth that are missing or spaced far apart, ugly lips, a flat nose, hands and feet that are gnarled or deformed, and eyes that are squinty. His body will have a foul odor, with evil sores that run pus and blood, and he will suffer from water in the belly, shortness of breath, and other severe and malignant illnesses. Therefore, Universal Worthy, if you see a person who accepts and upholds this sutra, you should rise and greet him from afar, showing him the same respect you would a buddha.”