Quote
tsukimoto
And to some leaders, the fact that you read at all is a problem. One of my friends was telling our leader that she got up a little earlier in the morning to read, and that she was reading a great book on Arabic culture. The leader scolded my friend, saying, "You should be using that time to do more daimoku!"
My friend already did a lot of daimoku, and she argued "Doesn't President Ikeda talk a lot about the value of learning? Doesn't he quote a lot of different writers? Doesn't he say that we should try to understand other cultures?"
The leader said, "Well, don't neglect your practice for reading. Chanting changes your life, reading doesn't." My friend later said that she felt she'd done something wrong, but didn't know what, exactly. What was so wrong with getting up early and reading, as long as you're also doing gongyo and chanting daimoku?
I guess a good SGI member is just supposed to stick to reading The World Tribune, Living Buddhism, and The Human Revolution. Otherwise they might get an idea that SGI doesn't approve of -- can't have that!
Its all over this disease " Where leaders do not think before they open thier mouths" All they do is parrot what THEY THINK IS PRACTICE.. thats why no benifit. We no longer practice the correct way. We just make up WHAT WE THINK IS THE RIGHT WAY TO PRACTICE. your friends can vouch for that.
That is why I rarely tell anyone what I am doing in my personal life. If they dont hear tht you are chanting 10 hours a day. Did 12 shakubuku, Study 20 mins . Something is wrong with your practice. GET A LIFE -- GIVE ME A BREAK.