On the theme of "chanting", I've got some stories to share.
It was very common to see "members" become chanting obsessed during big "campaigns' or other "official" pushes for supporting some formally announced event. 24/48 hour daimoku (chanting) tosos (non-stop marathons) and midnight gongyos (prayers) were routine at certain times. These kinds of "meetings" were for all divisions (YMD, YWD, MD, WD).
I can't speak for any of the other divisions, but in the YMD, chanting frenzies were invariably ad hoc. If you were at a practice and things weren't going too well, you would have to break up into a group, go off into a corner and start chanting for things to (magically) improve. There was no requesting or polite asking either, you basically
had to do it. If you didn't, then you were officially contributing to the disunity, disharmony and obstacles that were (again, magically) appearing to hinder progress. We're talking going off to sit in the corner of some warehouse or room and chant to the wall (or somebody's omamori gohonzon (miniature, portable, pocket-sized mandala), if you were "lucky"). These things would last for however long the "leader" subjectively felt was needed for things to change. You also had to chant with the proper level of vigor and enthusiasm, or face rebuke for being weak in spirit and effort.
YMD bus trips had impromptu designated chanting times. It was kind of like how on International plane trips you have a certain time where everyone has to close their window shades, the lights go down and everyone generally has to be respectfully quiet as it is "official" sleep time. Same thing on the bus trips. It was usually on the way down (not back, when everything was "mission accomplished"). They would announce mandatory chanting time for x-amount of time. You couldn't talk, read, stare out the window and enjoy the ride, relax or otherwise not participate. "Leaders" walk up and down the aisles like drill sergeants scolding offenders to participate properly. If the "campaign" had an accident or some other bad thing happened (and your particular "leader" was sufficiently brainwashed), you'd also have to have a repeat chanting session on the way back in anticipation of the next time and preventing a repeat occurrence of sansho shima (devilish obstacles).
Oh, and there's more: on tozan (cult retreat trips to Japan), all of that went into hyperdrive. People who went on tozan didn't have to ever be told to chant. They WANTED to and wanted to it at every possible free moment. Waiting in line for breakfast, lunch or dinner, chant quietly under your breath like whispering and lips moving as if you're talking to yourself. Walking or running to practice, do the same on the way. Being bused somewhere, again, spontaneous, random, group chanting: in this case, one or two people start and soon everyone is joining in without being told. At the height of the event, like right before going on for the cultural festival performance, it was common to see YD chanting wild-eyed off all alone facing a wall or under a tree; these people, I remember, actually looked psychotic in their pre-event chanting orgy (eyes wide open, praying hands pressed tightly together right up against their chin under their mouth, gripping their juzu beads with red fingers, head bobbing aggressively up and down with each syllable of nmrk and sweat even trickling down their brow).
Some of the things that I saw, no one can ever tell me that it wasn't anything other than pure crazy or at the very least, temporarily insane, behavior.
Here is a photo from a tozan [
www.freefallarchive.com], notice the little group off in the background, all sitting on their knees, facing toward the window. If there isn't a butsudan set up right in front of them, then I'd venture to say that they are facing the same area where the dai-gohonzon (or towards the former sho-hondo) is enshrined on the grounds of Taiseki-ji (head temple). This was the constant norm and frame of mind on such trips.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2012 05:30AM by Hitch.