Gay Pride 2008
By Gayla Preston
On June 28th, 2008, the
morning of the Columbus Ohio Pride March, I was
afforded the great opportunity of participating in the
Intertraditional Celebration of Life and
Community service, with several other GLBT
supportive religious organizations, to begin the march
with positive and protective energy.
It was
my pleasure to be among such groups as St Francis of
Assisi Roman Catholic Church, Humanist Community of
Central Ohio, First Congregational Church, New
Creation Metropolitan Community Church, King Avenue
United Methodist Church, St Stephens Episcopal Church,
Green Faerie Grove and the Three Cranes Grove Druid
Fellowship.
All of
these groups participated in the parade, all with
great support from their members...
The
following message is what I chose to share with
others, which was received with great applause and
cheers.....
Good
Morning,
My
name is Gayla Preston and I want to thank you for this
great opportunity this morning.
Nam Myoho
Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo...
....translated means, "The Devotion to the Law of
Cause and Effect through Sound"
Chanting this mantra is done by some 12 million
people, in over 190 countries and territories and is
also referred to as, Nichiren Daishonin's
Buddhism.
Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th century Japanese monk,
established the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge
Kyo, in 1253.
According to Nichiren, "There should be no
discrimination among those who propagate the five
characters of Myoho Renge Kyo in the Latter Day of the
Law, be they men or women. Were they not Bodhisattvas
of the Earth, they could not chant the daimoku." (WND,
385)
Nichiren Buddhist practitioners study the last sutra
expounded by the original Buddha, known as the Lotus
Sutra. The philosophy of this essential teaching is
for each human being, no matter the race, the age, the
gender or sexual orientation, to recognize their own
inherent Buddha nature and to be able to create a life
of indestructible happiness and joy.
Nam Myoho
Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Thank
you so much for this wonderful opportunity. Don't
forget to stop by our booth at the rally.
By Kysten A. Palmore
When I first started this practice I was very excited
I was gung ho. I wanted to go to study meetings,
district meetings and the GLBT meetings. I wanted to
bathe in Buddhism, but that was summer when my
schedule is light, then came fall and the pressures of
school, work and life came upon me like a fly hitting
a head light of a car on the freeway. Just like that
fly, my motivation went SPLAT! I was distraught. I
began thinking maybe I wasn’t really ready for this
Buddhist practice. I can barely prepare myself for
the following day when I come home at night and now I
am expected to chant too. You can’t be serious.
Maybe, I shouldn’t have said I was ready for my
Gohonzon, there is so much to this Buddhist practice
that I need to learn and there is just not enough
hours in the day. I have never been one for organized
religion or theology or anything of that sort. I
should have just remained a visitor until I knew I was
ready to dedicate myself fully to this Buddhist
practice.
Several weeks later, after that doubting spell I had
my new members’ class. The class was small, and
intimate and exactly what I needed to get some tough
questions out into the air and to better understand
the journey I had undertaken. In class paraphrasing
of course I said “I have only been practicing for a
month or so and already I am being lackadaisical in my
practice. I don’t chant twice a day like I am
supposed to and sometimes I can barely prepare for the
next day, let a lone chant.” I was told not to worry,
that, my struggle was a natural occurrence and one day
I might be able to overcome the struggle, or I may
never overcome the struggle, but when I chant, if I
chant with sincerity, that will help me on my journey
to find my own way of practicing this Buddhism. I
took that advice to heart I pondered it often but I
still felt as though I was missing something. I
needed, no I wanted an "ah ha" moment for all the
pieces to fall into place so that I was sure without a
shadow of a doubt I am a BUDDHA.
This week I picked up the Quotable Nichiren and let
the book fall open to a page and I came across a
passage that caused me to think of my own life and
where I am right now. What Nichiren said and how I
think of my life does not necessarily coincide but I
was grateful to the Great Nichiren for helping me
understand where I am in my practice.
Nichiren says that the Buddha is of course
respectworthy, but when compared with the Lotus Sutra
he is like a firefly beside the sun or moon. The
superiority of the Lotus Sutra to Shakyamuni Buddha is
as great as the distance from heaven to earth.
Presenting offerings to the Buddha produces benefits
like that. How much more is this true of the Lotus
Sutra.
From that passage I became keenly aware that the
journey I am taking is made especially for me, no one
can take it for me and no one can tell me how and
where to go. The journey is mine and mine alone. On
this journey, I will learn new attitudes and form new
beliefs and gain understanding about life’s purpose.
And more often than I care to acknowledge, I will
fall back on old habits, impolite behavior, and old
thought patterns but it’s okay. My journey is much
like the ocean tide and the sand. When the tides
comes upon the beach it gathers small grains of sands
and when the tide recedes to the larger body of ocean
it takes those grains of sands and deposits them on
the ocean floor. Each time the tide comes ashore it is
different than before each time the tide recedes it
too is different than the time before. So when I fall
back to my old habits, bad behavior, and old thought
patterns that is the ocean of self-doubt and
unhappiness I will deposit the small grains of sand
that I have collected while being on the beach of new
attitudes, pleasant behavior and new beliefs, the
beach that is Buddhism. For I am never the same person
when I fall back into my old habits, and bad behavior,
I have been changed, if nothing but oh so slightly I
have changed because of this Buddhism. It may take
thousands of years for an ocean to erode a beach and I
now understand it may take a lifetime or more for me
to deposit all my grains of knowledge, beliefs and
attitudes to form my new beach of happiness and peace
from my practice of this Buddhism.
By Don Hardy
The UNA
festival, held November 8-9, 2003, is now a thing of
the past and it was great fun. And true to my word, I
visited the food booths of several countries. China,
Hungary, Philippines, Viet Nam, Germany, The
Mediterranean (Greek/Middle Eastern), India, and
Macedonia (for several of those bread donuts I
remember my Italian grandmother making). Enough talk
about food-it's making me hungry.
The event was great fun. Several volunteers took their
shifts at the SGI booth and greeted hundreds, maybe
thousands of people. Our booth displayed information
for Soka University, the VoV Campaign, the Earth
Charter, Choose Hope (and other books by President
Ikeda), and provided information on the SGI. I was
encouraged to note how many people actually wanted to
know about Buddhism. I was disappointed to note how
many asked if we were Tibetan or Theravada or Zen. But
we all did our part to tell the visitors about the SGI.
I think that is the definition of shakubuku.
I am proud that we handed out so much literature
and even more proud of the more than fifty VoV pledges
that were signed at the event. It could have been even
more but we ran out of pledge forms on Sunday and we
had no signs to effectively promote the campaign. But
our message of self-mastery and conquering violence
within ourselves found more than one willing ear.
People wanted to be contacted. People took our
literature and people learned more about who we are
and what we are about. And many people, young and old
alike, got their passports stamped. That made me feel
good.
I would like to thank the members who took their shift
at the booth. They made the time go quickly and
pleasantly. I am proud to tell you all that the "Peace
Rhythm Project" (the SGI drummers from Cleveland)
performed. The music and dance covered the world over.
And if you like shopping...
By Sunday night I was tired after two full days and a
setup Friday, but I was glad that I had participated.
It felt good to share the SGI with such a large and
open audience.
See you there next year!
Don
By Ernestine Jackson
There are
moments when you know with great certainty that what
you are doing is absolutely correct. One of those
moments occurred with the Earth Charter Community
Summit on Saturday, October 11, 2003. From the
African drumming, to the reading of the Earth Charter
principles, to the panel discussions and web cast,
there were positive messages and opportunities for
involvement for everyone.
Our day
began at 9:00 a.m. with a viewing of the Quiet
Revolution, a video movie that features case studies
of ordinary people, showcasing the potential of one
individual to spark a positive chain reaction. This
was a sobering but encouraging way to start.
And then,
Elder Baba Tony West woke the audience up with an
African drumming presentation, “Calling forth the Four
Corners”. He involved everyone in the audience; it
was thrilling. Since our Summit was more about
creating awareness than taking action, every
opportunity was made to involve the attendees.
Instead of reading the principles of the Earth
Charter, Susan Tan created an environment for the
audience to reading the principles to one another. We
were then treated to songs by Joe Keehner, Jr. Mr.
Keehner calls himself a peacemaker and performance
artists. He has been writing songs and performing for
over 30 years. He sang two songs; “I stand in the
Garden of Humanity” and “He Planted Seeds for the New
Jerusalem”.
The
morning session also included a panel discussion of
diverse perspectives. Panel members were Harvey
Wasserman, a well-known journalist; Reverend William
Brandt, an ordained minister of the United Church of
Christ; Molly Springer, a Native American; and Dr.
Junko Watson, recent OSU graduate in Chemical
Engineering. Our panel members explored everything
from wind power to environmental catalysis.
Mr.
Wasserman is Free Press Senior Editor and senior
advisor to Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information
& Resource Service. Recently, he has focused on the
rising renewable energy industry. He is hoping to
covert Ohio and the world to a “Solartopia” of wind
and solar power. His discussion at the Summit was a
highlight of this interest. Reverend Brandt modestly
discussed his travel and work in other countries where
he observed or was involved in activities that embrace
the principles of the Earth Charter. Molly Springer
was sobering in her presentation about the life of
Native Americas when their desire to be responsible
for the earth and themselves is in conflict with the
need to survive. And, Dr. Watson was an inspiration
in explaining how her research and current work is
designed to respond to an ongoing concern of emissions
pollution.
In the
afternoon, Summit participants were treated to
encouragement from Councilmember Charleta B. Tavares.
Ms. Tavares was very responsive to the Earth Charter
and its principles and the Summit. Ms. Tavares, in
fact, sponsored a Resolution by the Columbus City
Council, which was presented, to the Summit organizing
entity, Earth Charter of Central Ohio, and Summit
participants. She encouraged us to continue our
efforts in promoting the Earth Charter.
Joining
the Columbus Chapter of SGI-USA in sponsoring the
Summit were Central Ohioans for Peace, Interfaith
Association of Central Ohio, Central Ohio Green Party,
Arts & College Preparatory Academy, Sierra Club,
Simply Living, Friends of Alum Creek Tributary, the
Institute for Location Efficiency, Heifer
International, Peace Resource Center of Wilmington
College, and True Majority.
The
Summit was Central Ohio’s first Earth Charter
Community event. Central Ohio joined 32 other areas,
raising awareness of the Earth Charter and its
principles. The other cities were Ann Arbor,
Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Boulder,
Colorado; Buffalo, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Ft.
Myers, Florida; Honolulu, Hawaii; Indianapolis,
Indiana; La Puente, California; Madison, Wisconsin;
Marin County, California; New Orleans, Louisiana;
Oakland/Berkeley, California; Oshkosh, Wisconsin;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; San
Francisco, California; Santa Rosa, California;
Seattle, Washington; Tampa Bay, Florida; Twin Cities,
Minnesota; Ventura, California; Washington, DC/MD/VA;
and Andhra Pradesh, India; Brussels, Belgium;
Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland; and Senegal, West Africa.
In many of these locations, SGI members were actively
involved.
Special
thanks to Kroger for health snacks.
By Susan Tan
On September 28, 2002,
Susan Tan and Donna Hamilton attended the Earth
Charter Community Summit in Louisville, Kentucky.
After a face-paced dialogued trip to the University
of Louisville, both ladies slipped into the
auditorium for front row seats. The all-day event
was a very grassroots led initiative as one of 20
community summits for the Earth Charter taking place
in the U.S. on that day.
John Hartmann, thought by
some to be a professor at the university, was an
ordinary interested citizen, employed with the
Louisville Library, who through one-on-one dialogue
at coffee houses was able to amass the community
summit in Louisville. A strong example of "the
power of one," Mr. Hartmann, a quiet reserved
man, was surfing the web and by happenstance ran
across the Earth Charter and wanted to introduce
Louisville to this important world document.
The Louisville E.C. Summit
began with a computer-audio and visual hook-up to
the World Summit in Johannesburg, Africa. This was
followed by songs, poetry readings, dance, and a
general joyous assertion of local groups and
individuals, expressing in culture, their sentiments
and support of the ideals of a sustainable earth.
Next on the agenda was the key note speaker, Mark
Steiner, Cofounder of Cultivating Connections and a
member of Creation Spirituality of Louisville.
Through his own personal
experience of encountering whales on an excursion
trip while in Hawaii, Mr. Steiner began his
passionate address. He encouraged us to seek out and
connect with non-humans as our neighbors imploring
us to make the Earth Charter a way of life. His
advice was to use the 16 principles of the E.C. as a
guide quoting Chief Seattle who said that, "All
things are connected", therefore, the earth is
alive in all of us. Finally at the end of his
speech, he used snowflakes as a metaphor asking each
individual to awaken to the principles of the Earth
Charter and as many snowflakes do, when gathering
momentum, can amass a slowdown and stoppage of the
earth’s destruction as powerful as any snow storm.
The speech was followed by
a lively panel discussion including individuals
representing the owner of a whole foods and
nutrition center, a church pastor, former county
commissioner from Vail, Colorado, a local
environmental activist, and Mark Steiner. Questions
were taken from the audience and although, local in
nature, represented many of the same issues all
cities face in maintaining a balance between
development and environmental protection.
Donna and Susan left
driving up the highway with an even faster-paced
dialogue making plans for next year's Earth Charter
Summit in Columbus.
For more information on the
Earth Charter and to endorse the E.C. check out the
web site at
www.earthcharter.org
By Linda Thornburg
Dear Danny,
Just wanted to let you know that members from Columbus, OH, participated in a weekend GLBT student conference "Loving With Pride". It was a Mid-West regional conference of GLBT students, but there were many from the east and west coasts, as well. There were between 1300 and 1500 student attendees. Local members prepared for, chanted for, and staffed an SGI-USA table on Saturday from 10am to 4pm, where we talked with hundreds of GLBT youth. We handed out valentines that said, "Say it out loud Valentine, 'I am awesome'" or "I rock!" or "I'm fabulous just the way I am" and stickers with VOV graphics that said, "I will cherish my own life. I will value all life. I will inspire hope in others." It was an ice-breaker that lead to hundreds of conversations. We gave out stacks of brochures with our local website and the SGI-USA website and told people how to get connected on-line. We also will get some students who are pretty far from community centers connected through the SGI-USA diversity list. We invited many Ohio State students to our regular LGBT meeting. Hopefully some will come this wednesday.
Member, Suzanne Westenhoefer (Columbus/L.A.) gave an excellent, from the heart, workshop on Saturday afternoon on comedy and living your own truth, and came-out as a Buddhist. Later that evening, she performed awesomely. (No surprise there!) On Sunday, I spoke as part of an Interfaith panel. As a result of the panel, we've been invited to Oberlin College to do a presentation for the GLBT interfaith group there.
The young people at the conference had incredible seeking spirits. At the very last moment, as we were packing up the table, two young women came up. One had heard that we were there. Her mother is a member, and she wanted to see the table. The other began to recite "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo," the instant I handed her a card that had "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" printed on it.
We talked with students of all faiths, some of the students who came by, took information to give to friends at home who hadn't been able to attend. One young woman who identified as a Methodist, took several brochures because she knew there were students interested in Buddhism at her school and she was the only one fortunate enough to attend the conference. What a boddhisattva!
Again, as at the national PFLAG conference I spoke at in September, I was so appreciative of this organization, the practice and the members who are so supportive of LGBT members. Even the other religious presenters had to talk about how their own organizations (Christian and Jewish) could not fully support their GLBT believers because of doctrinal issues. They were so formal in their presentations and spoke of the problems for clergy who supported same-sex unions and the difficulties within the faith traditions and how their support of GLBT practitioners had to be secret for fear of reprisals in their faith communities. I tried to respond about the power of dialogue to overcome such issues. I spoke about the discrimination SGI-USA members had overcome through years of "staying engaged in the dialogue" and strengthing their own elf-esteem. But, I must concede that though we face cultural biases, it is so wonderful not to have to deal with the horrid doctrinal and text based discriminations that Christians and Jews face.
So many of the students who attended the interfaith panel were trying to get help from anyone who could understand the difficulty of reconciling their faith practice and their lives. Many were having trouble being supported anywhere. Their churches don't support them for being GLBT and their GLBT friends don't support their Christian faith. They were such brave and seeking young people. At the end, I tried to encourage them by saying, "All people are spiritual beings and are ultimately seeking a spiritual path. You are to be congratulated for seeking those paths, whatever they may be, especially in the face of great obstacles. You are to be congratulated for coming here this morning, and for facing the issues you face in reconciling your spirituality and your sexuality. Thank you for your wonderful efforts. Don't give up. You will be able to change things." I just wanted so much for them to feel encouraged.
Thanks for all of your encouragement to LGBT members and for showing us so profoundly how to encourage others with our own lives.
Sincerely,
Linda Thornburg
Columbus, OH
By Theresa D. Bell
On
September 13, 2002, the Kentucky-Ohio Region welcomed
Matilda Buck to Columbus, Ohio.
The meeting hall was filled to capacity with
over 500 people from Ohio, Kentucky, and Western
Pennsylvania chanting daimoku.
The chanting errupted into cheers as Matilda
Buck took the stage.
Maltilda, in her “common Brentwood
housewife” style imparted some very important wisdom
to help us all deal with these trying times, to
continue open dialogue and kosen rufu.
She encouraged us to pray our strongest daimoku
for our determination, to take action through studying
and then to see it happen.
Also, she reminded us of Nichiren’s words in
“Reply to the Mother of Ueno” that to build a
great pagoda, you need to gather great wood and for
the scaffolding, to use a lessor wood.
The scaffolding is essential in building the
pagoda; however, it should be discarded once the
pagoda is completed.
It is the same with our practice – we should
build a strong practice based on the Lotus Sutra and
discard other teachings.
Lastly,
Matilda emphasized the need to overcome negativity
that she likened to a bad case of the flu.
We should give up grudges, turning them into
positive experiences and, through determination, not
repeat the act and polish our lives.
Our lives are a movie with a happy ending and
we are responsible for the details.
After
leaving the stage, Matilda greeted people outside as
they left the building.
Attendees lined up to take photos and continue
dialogue. Matilda
graciously shook hands and posed for pictures for over
an hour. We
all left there with the tremendous gift of
encouragement, a rejuvenated spirit and determination
to continue kosen rufu.
We want to
see Sensei in Ohio in 2003!
By Suzanne Garrett
Danny
Nagashima, the joyous, energetic and highly inspirational General Director of
SGI-USA, was in Columbus on August 3, 2002, to participate in World Peace Prayers
at the Columbus Community
Center. The Center was packed with standing room
only.
Danny presented Gohonzons to 15 new SGI
members and mugged for the camera while hugging and
shaking hands with each of them. Matter of fact,
so much energy was generated by the crowd that the
Center blew a circuit breaker. Nothing stopped
the festivities as Mr. Hamada named new leadership by
flashlight. We applauded, we laughed, we
sweated, we chanted, and power was restored (of
course).
Mr. Nagashima then spoke passionately about
"singing for President Ikeda" and how he
would not be denied that opportunity, particularly
when it came to the Brazilian delegation singing
"picka-picka-picka" which brought waves of
laughter from the group. He did get to sing, by
the way.
On
a more serious note, he spoke of death and
how one's life is but a page in a book and emphasized
that there are many pages in a book. "You
cannot take even a penny with you in death. The
only thing that you can take from this life into the
next one is NAM-myoho-renge-kyo."
He then compared the unenlightened to caged birds who
can hear the other birds singing outside the window
and only by chanting NAM-myoho-renge-kyo can they
uncover their true selves, bend the bars of the cage
and be free.
Not only was Mr. Nagashima an inspiration, he is a
mentor. His visit was food for the heart to
nourish your practice. Danny, thanks for
stopping by!
SGI-USA,
Columbus, Ohio © 2002-2008