Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Hope Springs Eternal
Phil Wilder commented in his opening remarks at the MD meeting that he had received guidance to conduct the meeting as if it were his last. Let's hope.
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Advancing with Buddhist Optimism
About 25 PG Area men met this morning for the annual commemorative meeting (commemorating Pres. Ikeda's joining Sokagakkai in 1953(?), a Phil Wilder production. The theme, 'Advancing with Buddhist Optimism', was introduced by Phil, who then spoke at some length about the six stages of practice, referencing the Oral Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin.
The sixth stage is the final realization that everyone really does have the seed of Buddhahood. This is the important part. The rest is only to trace theory back to the Lotus Sutra.
Tom Joray showed us a video, lasting 20 minutes or so, of a Japanese study department leader delivering a lecture (in Japanese, of course, but with English translation). I was so thrilled. Courage, faith...
Jennifer Bryant then lectured us about how men should be more proactive with World Tribune, mentoring, etc.
By this time my cup runneth over and I left. So I missed out on final guidance.
I also missed the hotdogs & hamburgers. But I wanted to get an oil change at Jiffy Lube.
The sixth stage is the final realization that everyone really does have the seed of Buddhahood. This is the important part. The rest is only to trace theory back to the Lotus Sutra.
Tom Joray showed us a video, lasting 20 minutes or so, of a Japanese study department leader delivering a lecture (in Japanese, of course, but with English translation). I was so thrilled. Courage, faith...
Jennifer Bryant then lectured us about how men should be more proactive with World Tribune, mentoring, etc.
By this time my cup runneth over and I left. So I missed out on final guidance.
I also missed the hotdogs & hamburgers. But I wanted to get an oil change at Jiffy Lube.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Men's Division General Meeting
The annual MD commorative meeting will be held at the DCCC at 10am, 27 August (Saturday). The theme has something to do with getting the youth division off their butts. The format is likely to be some intro stuff followed by some discussion groups followed by summation. Afterward there will be hot dogs and hamburgers. There's no better way to spend a Saturday morning.
World Tribune Promotion
SGI-USA is having a nationwide World Tribune promotion campaign in September. The goal, as I understand it, is to have all leaders and 50% of the general membership as subscribers. Leading me to think that the subscription rate is not great. A couple of things that would help might be a) put in some interesting articles and b) provide better service.
The general WT format is a President Ikeda speech and some personal experiences. But not enought to compel an acceptable subscription rate. President Ikeda's message hasn't changed for 40 some years. Some members, it would seem, really like this format. But, if you've read one World Tribune, you've read them all.
Service sucks. They come as much as a month late; I have received 2 issues at the same time. Its's not unusual to receive them out of order.
The general WT format is a President Ikeda speech and some personal experiences. But not enought to compel an acceptable subscription rate. President Ikeda's message hasn't changed for 40 some years. Some members, it would seem, really like this format. But, if you've read one World Tribune, you've read them all.
Service sucks. They come as much as a month late; I have received 2 issues at the same time. Its's not unusual to receive them out of order.