September 9 – random thoughts from home –
This morning I received an email from a Nichiren Buddhist friend who recently was contacted by her first convert to Nichiren Buddhism some 40+ years ago. On top of that a few days later she was contacted with friends in Ghana whom she had known 30+ years ago. In each of these cases they were people she had not heard from nor knew anything about their lives.
Over the course of my friendship with this individual and my interactions with others who practice Buddhism and Nichiren Buddhism in particular I hear frequently about the discouragement of practicing alone or without visible results. It is difficult I know to stay encouraged and also to practice in isolation. It seems to many that if only there were more buildings to attend in practice it would be better. It seems to many that if only there were more people to practice with it would be better.
This is an illusion, a mirage if you will. The fact is, even with a building and even with more people there is no guarantee it will be easier. It would be different, but not easier. When the practice is focused on self improvement and development then there can be no other place to practice any better than the place where you are. That is one point.
Another point is the ability to practice without constant visible proof of the benefit of practice. As one person who has reviewed my books put it, I have the audacity to suggest using a time frame of 10 years for finding evidence of proof of practice. I imagine it does sound somewhat laughable when put up next to the culture of instant gratitude. Yet, that is what my first teachers told me, and that is how I’ve always looked at it. At that time it had taken me 19 years to develop into the person I was. I wanted to change that so 10 years seemed like a bargain. In a way I was getting a 9 year discount.
Based upon the Predictions of Future Enlightenment Chapters I suggest that we each learn the Practice of Long View. Perhaps I’ll copyright and paten that term, haha. Long View Dharma Practice.
