h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A couple of weeks ago, after months of listening to the news and ranting about the stupidity of the US government, I finally came up with a plan. Nothing about this plan is actually new or original; however, it's organized, implemented, and in progress.

It began with a proposal to three women who also chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo in my district. They have each been chanting in excess of 15 years, and they have all spoken to me about the obstacles they keep meeting in changing their karma regarding some pretty basic life issues. Also, they have each discussed with me the difficulties they have in getting along with each other. That started my mental wheels to spinning, and here is the proposal I made to them.

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World Peace on an Individual Level: A Plan of Action

Lately I’ve been thinking a great deal about kosen rufu (the process of establishing the humanistic ideals of Nichiren Buddhism in society), how the members of SGI chant whole-heartedly for world peace, but sometimes find difficulty in applying the principles inherent in world peace to their own intimate lives. We all *know* with our minds that kosen rufu begins with ourselves. However, it’s easier to think of it in the abstract terms of politics, sharing of resources on a global level, having respect for nameless and faceless others than it is to make the personal, immediate changes within ourselves, and in the way we interact moment by moment with the people in our immediate environment who, right at that particular moment, are getting on our nerves.

I’ve been reading a lot about the power of collective thought, the way a group mindset will manifest itself in those aspects of our environment which *seem* to be out of our control as individuals. I’ve been thinking about the way to change those huge issues—the destruction of our planet through plundering its resources, and the war, which seems to be escalating increasingly out of control.

As an experiment I’d like to see just how far collective thinking can extend itself, when executed with deliberation and consciousness by a core group of four people who all share the same value set: world peace based in individual happiness. To help me succeed in this experiment I’ve chosen (or more correctly the universe has present-ed me with) three other women, all strong-minded, powerful, opinionated individuals who, like me, have a tendency to do things *their* way. It’s an interesting dynamic because we all know that we must get along with each other in order to achieve a greater good, and we all occasionally rub up against one another’s prickly bits because (in my opinion) we’re, each and every one of us, convinced that we know what’s right for us, and by extension it must be right for everyone else too. Not to suggest that we’re in constant strife, but rather, that we will all gain greater benefit if we learn to support one another by reacting as an extended ‘self’ with an over-riding common goal than by asserting our individuality *at those times* when a common goal is our intention.

So: The Experiment.

To begin, we must each make a personal and inviolable commitment to chant together for an hour each week. I think that the focus of this chanting should be for kosen rufu amongst the four of us, to create from our individual essences a model for world peace. This chanting is an interesting thing—no matter how out of sync a group starts off in being, it seems a natural outcome that, given the time and *practice*, we cannot but help to bring our voices together in harmony and rhythm, and if we pay attention to that simple, natural outcome, then it extends itself into the other aspects of our personalities where we have more of a vested interest in, or just a habit of maintaining. I think our group focus should be to be conscious of putting a few things first, in that moment before we react with our egos: that we ultimately are *partners* in creating a common goal, that we cannot achieve this goal without each other’s support, and that each of us will have equal, albeit different contributions to make towards that achievement and that we absolutely *must* learn to respond to each other from a baseline of respect and love, as if the other person’s “whacky idea” were our very own brainchild.

I believe that, once we’ve developed the habit, or karma, of working together in this way as a small group, we shall all personally benefit because this dynamic will inevitably leak into the interactions we have with people outside the initial core group. It’ll leak because it’ll work, and, though it’ll be work, I think the results will be an astounding manifestation of the Absolute Proof that is the gratification of our effort towards human revolution.

The second part of this experiment, as I envision it, will be to make our little chunk of kosen rufu grow. That could happen in a variety of ways: we could extend our core group by including other people who we have difficulty in dealing with productively, or, probably more effectively, we could share our experience and plant the seed for new core groups while, at the same time, branching into new groups of people we find ourselves rubbing up against and start fresh, but with validated faith in our capacity to overcome individual differences. An interesting aspect of this plan is that I don’t think it’ll take too long before the initial four of us will be hard-pressed to find people within our SGI organization with whom we have difficulty interacting productively.

I foresee the exciting engagement of extending our ‘personal kosen rufu’ into the rest of society who may not, for a variety of reasons, have any interest in chanting, and figuring out a way to stimulate the essence of our practice in the lives and behavior patterns of the rest of our (world) community. I’m confident that it can be done, simply because I’ve yet to run across anyone anywhere who *doesn’t* believe that the world would be a better place if people could just learn to get along with one another. The idea is nothing new. Putting it into practice—intensively, individually, and comprehensively—becomes a doable challenge.

I’d like to ask that my three kosen rufu partners keep a journal of our progress, including the struggles and triumphs of our journey, so that, when it comes to fruition we can jointly publish a guide to inspire others to follow a similar path.

Nam myoho renge kyo.
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I shall keep my journal here.

We have had two meetings so far and progress has been made. Last week the four of us met and chanted together for about 45 minutes, then Trish had to leave. I think time management is going to be one of our first obstacles. Certainly it'll be one for me. I'm punctual, and I expect other people to make it a point to be on time as well. I get pretty rabid when people make it a habit to keep me waiting on a regular basis, because I'm constantly having to make decisions as to which activities I can fit into my day. Also, the logistics of my apartment complex make it extremely difficult to let people in if I don't know when to expect them ( a locked gate requires people to telephone when they get here, or else I have to leave the door to my apartment open so I can hear them yell for me. It's over 90F now! We SWEAT when the door stands open!)

On a personal level, I'm having to get over my anger at the disrespect of my life--after all, my time IS my life-- when others don't prioritise punctuality in the same way I do. The funny thing, and one which I'm soooo pleasantly surprised at, is that Trish, who is notoriously always quite late, made it a point to be here at the designated time. Mimi, who was the one who requested that we hold the meetings as early as possible, was more than half an hour late both times. Last night I was fuming about this, and Trish was mightily ticked off too. The good part of that was that Trish really got to see what it's like to be sitting there waiting on someone else, for a change. She remarked on that. So Mimi arrived, and we went right into chanting. I focused on appreciating the fact that they were there with me to do this thing, and on coming up with the right words to explain my feelings without being accusatory. When we'd finished chanting I was able to make my point without ruffling anyone else's feathers, and I think they got it and will remember.

The first meeting was interesting and surprising. We chanted, Trish left and came back, and then we all sat in the garden and had some wine and talked about personal stuff, got to know one another better. Linda left after a while, and Mimi and Trish wanted to stay and have cocktails. That was a learning experience, and I'll be careful not to offer that again. All of a sudden Mimi and Trish had a nasty disagreement. I was stunned, said something about this being a really good time to remember our committment to creating world peace amongst ourselves. Trish went into the bathroom and settled down, Mimi explained Sancho Shimo (sp?)-- wich is basically the reality that, when people are working on changing their karma the universe will present them with the necessary obstacles to really put their faith and effort to work. They were able to sort it out. At first I was mortified, thinking about what a bad start our kosen rufu had gotten off to, but then it occurred to me that it was actually a very *good* thing, because they were able to work things out and Trish took Mimi home. hehehe I think that's going to be the way things will work amongst us. I suspect that I'll have a grand opportunity to work out some of my avoidance-of-conflict-at-all-cost issues, as the others are much more volatile and easily offended than I am. There's a tiny part of me that wails "what have I wrought" in opening my tiny, peaceful, stable chunk of the universe to the chaos (in my opinion) of these other women's lives. The greater part of me is excited about this challenge. I just wonder what it's gonna be like when *I* piss 'em off. Oy vey.

Last night Trish had to leave because she wanted to go buy the car that she's been painstakingly working her way towards. Some time later she called, very upset because she just plain isn't able to afford anything even close to what she wants. She wanted to come by for a while and hang out before going downtown to party with her friends.

She's been trying to buy a car quickly because she has been planning to file bankruptcy in order to evade credit card debts which she hasn't been able to diminish. She has this whole scheme of declaring bankruptcy, moving out of her mother's house where she has no expenses at all, and renting somewhere. Not at all logical, to my mind. I started talking about reality, which naturally, she wasn't immediately receptive to. I grabbed the calculator and showed her how, if she were willing to get a job (or maybe two) closer to her home she could buy an older, less elegant car with the cash she has. She could continue to live with her mom for the next 8 months and pout $300 weekly towards her debts, and though it wouldn't be an easy time at all it would work. At first she didn't want to hear it, so then I started talking about the bad cause she was making by trying to escape responsibility for her debt and foist it onto the rest of society. She said she'd incurred that debt with good intentions, and I went off on a crazy rant about Bush starting this war in Iraq with the best of intentions, but no planning or management, expecting the Sword of God to fight this battle for him and that even now he's probably sitting in the White House denying responsibility and wondering how it all went so awry when he'd expected that by this time the whole world would be kissing the mighty Bush butt in gratitude. It was a funny and ludicrous rant, and we laughed. That somehow made the connection to Trish about the kind of karma she was creating for herself, and she said she was going to take responsibility for her debt. I hope she does.

Hiya,

read your recent journals with interest, its an interesting notion that you are playing out - peace in minature - see if *thats* possible!

its an idea that has always interested me, and I beleive that it is possible to have a generally amicable relationship with ones family, friends, neighbours - and by extension, surely, the world as a whole.

However, putting such into practice can be really hard. I live on a very rough estate (kinda like a what Americans might call a 'project' in Hackney, and what strikes me most about the place after living here for 5 years is that there is such diversity in the place. Me and some others here have begun work on a community garden; and the brutalised alchoholic down the road screams in the night and has been telling me her stories...

we live in a weird world,

er...



good luck with the karma

It's a very weird world indeed. Lately I've been working on really *getting* it, the concept that it's not external circumstances but how we react to them that makes all the difference in how we experience life. This peace in miniature (I like that phrase!) is forcing me to extend myself in ways I hadn't initially considered. Getting along (or getting back on track after a blowout) seems to be relatively easy, so far. Making that change within myself *before* ego takes over is incredibly difficult. I generally get along with people quite well-- at least I've pretty much learned how to stop and think about what I'll provoke before I act. But the negative stuff that goes through my head! I think I'd have given up on this experiment already if I hadn't been able to 'change my mind' in the way it functions regarding some other issues that I once believed were impossible to change.

I've spent a good bit of time wondering just what the hell I was *thinking* when I asked a couple of these women to help me in this. Then I remember-- it's a meaningless experiment if we're all starting off in hunky-dory agreement. *sigh* So I keep on trying to drag my mind back to the kind of thoughts I'm attempting to cultivate, rather than the frustrated, arrogant, WHY WON'T THEY JUST ***GET*** IT thoughts that keep sprouting in my head. I've got a loooooong way to go.

On the other hand, better to try for a mini peace than do nothing at all while feeling increasingly disempowered and hopeless and helpless and doomed in this weird world I live in.

Tonight I'm feeling tired and kinda afraid to call and remind them of our agreed meeting tomorrow. I don't know if they'll come. One of them hung up on me when we last spoke. She'd asked what I mean when I say I try to live nam myoho renge kyo, and when I explained it to her she asked if I'm ever allowed to just relax and I said no. She had to go. *click*. There's a chance she won't even remember that conversation, though. She was pretty slurry.

Thanks for the luck with the karma, Jenny. Keep building the garden! That's such a wonderful thing to do for all the people around you, and for yourself as well. Everything makes a difference, you know.

I'm getting some subtle, observable results lately.

My road-rage lunacy is slowing to a trickle. I'm much calmer when I arrive at work, don't hate the drive as much. Recently I was reading a book about chanting that told of the theory that sound waves (vibrations) have the potential for infinite, though diminishing, extension and that they *do* affect the things they touch. Don't want to put that kinda ugly in the world. It has enough. So not letting my head explode is less an act of will than something I just don't seem to do lately. Cool!

I'm noticing that my inner chatterbox seems to be shifting its focus away from one-sided conversations about other people's 'failings' and towards the things I'm developing for myself. It's a much nicer atmosphere in my head lately.

This past week I've had a rash of people coming up to me and telling me that I look wonderful, asking me what's new (as if they think I've fallen in love). Haven't *done* anything different, same weight, clothes, makeup, etc.. The furrow on my forehead doesn't seem to be reappearing even though the botox has worn off, but that's not something anyone *else* would notice, as I've been botoxed since last fall. Hmmmmm. Maybe it *is* that aspect of moving towards love (though not in a romantic sense) making itself visible. World Peace vs. Botox as a beauty aid. I'll have to think about how to market that. (envisioning south Florida's cosmetic counters as the Western version of Tibet) Whatever it takes, right?

I have all kinda nice crazy theories that seem relevant, but am quite incapable of putting them together.

Smiling is very important. Whether its a social signal or an expression of good cheer it opens up positive channels, and seems to make people keen to chat to you. They are likely to open the conversation with a nicety or compliment. I reckon thats partly whye you are getting so much flattery lately. The other reason is that happiness is the most attractive thing in a person.

Micro-peace is a neat idea, as it will encourage more localised smiling at least. And I believe that with some thought, a bit of chaosmaths and some really good diagrams a theory of exponential positive mood change could be developed. As you correctly pointed out, the vibrations spread out all over for eternity.

World Peace vs. Botox as a beauty aid. Ditch the botox! Natural beauty is where its at. From that point of view I like the bodyshop and have a fairly simple beauty 'reigime' (what a strange phrase that is). True beauty comes from within, and I theres nothing wrong with a few expression lines. Mind you, I am only 28, so ask me that again in 30 years when I've had my second face lifted...

Smiling makes a big difference in the way people respond to you. For years I've been on sporadic kicks of committing random acts of kindness-- usually just taking half a minute to say something pleasant to a passing stranger, occasionally doing something briefly helpful. Sometimes it's just a tiny thing that'll change someone's mindset and then they pass the good mood on to the next one they're in contact with. Nowadays I kinda make it a point to do that to at least three strangers daily.

Ditch the botox, eh? You know, the most interesting aspect of being botoxed is that I get along with people sooooo much better when I can't furrow my brow or do the single-raised-eyebrow of skepticism. I'm one of those people who has a very mobile face, and when I'm thinking "that's odd" it *looks* like I'm thinking "I want to kill you" according to a long-time friend of mine. I learned to keep my mouth shut when necessary years ago, but The Brow was impossible to control.

In my opinion natural beauty *is* where it's at. That's how I generally approach my clients as makeup artist, too, unless I'm requested to do otherwise. Just.... after a while, when all the sun damage kicks in, and your face keeps giving you 'birthday presents', for many people that's *all* they can see, and it's all they think *other* people see. I teach them how to bring the focus of attention to the parts they consider to be their best features and how to diminish the aspects that are making them feel old and ugly. They feel better about themselves that way and it generally doesn't take tremendous amounts of time or effort. See how you feel about it when you hit 40.

This experiment lasted for a little over a month, then fizzled into something (in my opinion) different and of lesser value.

Linda felt that it was inconvenient to meet weekly and wanted our focus to be on introducing other non-practicers to our form of Buddhism.

Trish wanted to be able to invite guests and create a greater feeling of community amongst the women in our district.

Mimi didn't want to come to meeting if Trish was going to continually obsess about finding a man/ the problems of having a man. Mimi ended up deserting her practice when Linda told her that she needed to stop drinking, get rid of her drug-addicted boyfriend, and take action to bring her life towards being what she wanted it to be, rather than whining about it.

Finally, the three of us left decided to re-organize into a district women's group that would meet twice monthly. I agreed to participate in this, though it's not at all what I'd envisioned. I *almost* told them to go ahead and do it on their own, but Trish reminded me that one of the reasons I'd wanted them to be a part of my group was that they'd been practicing for a long time and had greater experience. I decided that, in the spirit of *my* original plan (creating world peace on an individual level) I'd go along with them graciously, though my enthusiasm is diminished.

We've had 3 meetings of the new, evolved style. They're no different from the other meetings I've seen. Chant, discuss an article from the World Tribune, a few minutes of socializing. Nothing wrong with it, by no interesting, new dynamics.

The aspect of this evolution which I shall try to challenge myself with is to nurture a spark of....hmmmmmm.... integrity, I guess. I've started with Linda since she's such a fertile ground for it. She's extremely dogmatic, aggressively so, but often doesn't make that connection between the basic theories of our practice and implementing them in her daily behavior. I've a knack for reducing particulars to generalizations, so I'll work on pointing those out in a diplomatic manner rather than with my typical, prickly, humor fashion.

World Peace *is* getting people to see things *my* way, after all.

hee-hee,

well, its a nice idea to keep trying, and I'm sure that the new group could evolve in a direction more suited to your masterplan

best wishes to you,

Jen