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.

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.

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.