 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
1. ‘It Is the Heart that
Is Important’ |
|
|
|
MARTIN GELBAUM, Moraga, Calif.
I practice in East Bay Area of Northern California, which
includes the town of Pinole, where Myoshin-ji temple is
located. As you can imagine, we were shocked and confused
when we heard about the priesthood’s sudden and
arbitrary dismissal of SGI President Ikeda as head of
all the Nichiren Shoshu lay organizations at the end of
1990. Many members had devoted much effort to protecting
the temple, cleaning it, helping the priests go on shopping
expeditions, taking their children to activities, volunteering
as receptionists, remodeling and landscaping, not to mention
donations and supporting various ceremonies. The local
chief priest, Giho Takahashi, gave all appearances of
cooperating with the SGI and never implied he would attack
our organization.
That is, until March 1, 1991. After two months of peaceful
relations, Takahashi suddenly, without notifying any of
the SGI-USA leaders, convened a meeting to form a temple-based
organization. He began stridently slandering President
Ikeda and the SGI and started an aggressive recruitment
campaign to get members to quit the SGI and join his group.
He was committing one of the five cardinal sins—the
most serious offenses in Buddhism—that of causing
disunity within the Buddhist Order.
Unfortunately, he was quite effective in his campaign.
He played on the confusion of the members and their warm
feelings toward the temple, of which they had been so
proud and that the SGI had so generously supported, even
donating the land on which it stood. We lost about fifty
members within a few months. I'll never forget one woman
who cried as she told me how members whom she had protected
and cherished for years were leaving the SGI.
Naturally, many members were very saddened by all the
events surrounding the temple. We felt like people attacked
in a war. Many of our former comrades were suddenly trying
to make members quit the SGI and telling tall tales about
our organization and President Ikeda. The temple members
disrupted two of our meetings, and then they stopped attending
SGI activities.
But we never lost hope. Increasingly, I realized that
I had to deepen my understanding of Nichiren Daishonin’s
teachings and strengthen my practice of Buddhism. I had
to work with all the members to protect our organization:
to visit and talk with members and chant and determine
to win over this storm. I also did my best to practice
SGI President Ikeda’s guidance — “We
practice this Buddhism to make our prayers and dreams
come true and to achieve the greatest possible happiness.
The purpose of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is to enable
us to realize victory in life. The fact that our prayers
are answered is proof of the correctness of this teaching”
(Faith into Action, p. 152). Every day I pray to the Gohonzon
that President Ikeda, the SGI, the members and my family
will win, no matter what.
And we have received great benefits, just as Nichiren
Daishonin promises us in his writings and just as President
Ikeda said we would!
The women’s leaders who struggled to protect the
members from Nichiren Shoshu got so much happier and younger
and livelier, including, of course, the lady who had cried.
She and her whole family have received many benefits and
she is a highly successful executive in her company. She
has also happily taken on even more responsibility in
the SGI-USA.
I saw many members who stood up to protect the SGI grow
so much and overcome so much— financial problems,
family problems, health problems, housing problems, shyness,
fears about pursuing their dreams, you name it. We have
been experiencing a renaissance, including a new generation
of youth active in our area.
Facing this issue, as difficult as it has sometimes been,
has strengthened our faith and practice and awakened even
more confidence in the Gohonzon, the SGI and President
Ikeda. Our continued efforts in our faith and practice
in the SGI had led to many positive developments in our
family life, in the lives of our two children, in my job
as a computer systems engineer, and created the fortune
to have a much nicer home. Further, since 1991, our financial
situation has greatly improved — we have been able
to vacation in Hawaii several times, and my wife Carla
now has a beautiful art studio in our home and is exhibiting
and selling her artwork in local galleries.
Everybody in this area got a wonderful benefit on May
3, 1992, when we opened the East Bay Community Center.
I think this is an example of changing poison into medicine,
just as Nichiren Daishonin teaches, When great evil occurs,
great good will follow” (The Writings of Nichiren
Daishonin, p. 1119). President Ikeda had said: “The
place that has undergone the severest hardship must become
the happiest place of all. It deserves to become so, and
it will become so — that is the law of Buddhism”
(From Today Onward, vol. 80, p. 51).
Our community center has two lovely Gohonzon rooms, lots
of parking, and safe and easy access to public transportation.
Many of us had a wonderful time working together to remodel
it.
The man who found the site for our community center is
a local district leader. He determined to chant one hour
a day without fail when he realized the gravity of the
situation with the temple. He has kept up this campaign
for almost 11 years, despite a heavy work schedule. Because
of his firm determination, he has continued to grow and
become happier with every obstacle he has overcome.
Around that time, I made a commitment to reconnect with
a lady who had been my district leader many years earlier.
She and her late husband had been very kind to me when
I was a new member of the SGI-USA. Some years later she
had chosen to practice with the temple. At first, she
wasn’t interested in talking about the situation
with me. She had many unresolved issues about the organization,
and it made my efforts to reach her that much more difficult.
It seemed like there was no opening.
I continued to try to visit her from time to time, but
it felt like I was making no progress. The only real action
I could take was to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It solidified
my commitment to her happiness and to my mission: If something
could be done, I decided, then something should be done,
and I was going to do it.
On March 2, 2000, I had open-heart surgery to replace
my aortic valve —which had not formed properly at
birth — with a mechanical valve. President Ikeda
often quotes Nichiren Daishonin, It is the heart that
is important (WND, 1000). I think this refers to our heart
of faith rather than to our physical heart. For me, however,
that passage connects with my life both spiritually and
physically. A nurse told me, before surgery, that it would
be so intense that I would not be sure whether I had had
surgery or been hit by a truck. She was right!
Owing to the support of many people— especially
my beloved wife, my children, my brothers and parents,
my fellow members, President Ikeda’s encouragement
and an excellent surgeon with nerves of steel —
I’m doing just fine – much better than before.
While I was recuperating, I determined to work harder
in the Soka Spirit and Courageous Hearts movements. After
nine years of building a friendship, I was finally able
to help the lady who had once been my district leader
to disconnect from the temple and reconnect with the SGI.
Thanks to her, I developed greater perseverance and greater
conviction in my practice. She started me on the path
to being a much better listener. She looks so happy when
I see her at meetings, including our August 2001 culture
festival and at recent activities at our community center.
Helping her made me feel that I had begun to repay my
debt of gratitude to the Gohonzon, President Ikeda and
the SGI. I promise to protect the members in my area and
to prove the justice of the SGI.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
