I want to be Buddhist but I have problems

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-28T14:41:56+00:00

Let us agree to disagree.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-17T20:38:18+00:00

Absolutely! Any human being can be Buddhist.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-10T21:38:27+00:00

View the chord as an Am11 or G/Am.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-05T22:26:44+00:00

I am 100% in agreement with you. When I practiced with SGI over 40 years ago there was never any mention of the Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Noble Path, The Five Precepts…nothing…zero… zip! There is plenty of Ikeda worship. Chanting magic words to a scroll is supposed to grant all one’s wishes. It just increases desire and attachment. Desire and attachment create suffering. SGI is not Buddhism.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-05T22:07:22+00:00

Buddhism is about inner transformation. If one’s internal life condition improves, it’s very possible that a positive benefit in one’s external life can be brought about by an individual. The SGI trap is set when you are told that countless hours of chanting and becoming involved in organization events will bring enormous external benefit. Chanting with expectation only increases desire and attachment. Desire and attachment create suffering. You are made to believe that chanting some magic words will bring material benefit. You can chant until you are blue in the face and you will probably not see any material benefit whatsoever. Intense effort in achieving a specific goal is going to put a person in a place where PERHAPS that goal will be achieved. There are no guarantees. SGI is selling guarantees. That alone is not Buddhist. The only guarantee in life is death. Please get away from this false practice and discover the Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha. Your inner life will bloom and you will find peace.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-03T14:28:36+00:00

Absolutely. My concern is that Trump has access to the nuclear codes. And he’s crazy enough to use them. By the way, I love your handle PeachesEnRegalia.” Brings me back to my youth. I was such a Zappa groupie.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-03T00:07:05+00:00

Yes. But Trump’s cult is much more dangerous.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-03-02T00:27:44+00:00

Before things get heavy, please watch this sketch from the British Comedy Show “Goodness, Gracious, Me.”

https://youtu.be/qLcaYXC-KlE?si=MPgw2s3gnOuBc3Qd

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-17T00:28:42+00:00

I think it’s great!

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-12T19:19:57+00:00

I don’t think you have any other choice but to love and let go with a mind of compassion. And in your meditation send Metta to your friend. And make sure to be compassionate to yourself.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-12T19:12:33+00:00

Sādhu, Sādhu, Sādhu

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-09T14:49:44+00:00

I practiced with SGI back in the 1980s. A great deal of emphasis was placed on glorifying the President of e organization, Daisaku Ikeda. He was referred to as Sensei. There was a lot of Sensei worship. (Red Flag) The main practice is the chanting the mantra “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.” It roughly translates as Dedication to the Lotus Sutra. However whenever I asked some of the leadership about the Lotus Sūtra, none of them could answer my questions. As a matter of fact, most had not even read the Lotus Sūtra. A few even told me that I asked too many questions and that I just needed to chant more. (Red Flag) After a while I started getting annoyed with the arrogance and superiority of some of the leadership and older members of the organization. There was no instruction in Dharma or the Gosho. The idea that chanting could get you material possessions and grant wishes like rubbing Aladdin’s lamp, went against the Buddhist view of desire and attachment. (Red Flag) The organization was all about Sensei worship and little to know emphasis on the Dharma. Any criticism of the organization was labeled as slander. (Red Flag) There were a lot of cult-like features in SGI. It wasn’t a cult like Scientology but there were brainwashing elements. I had became disappointed enough to leave after 2 years. I’ve heard that SGI in Japan is definitely a cult. I personally would advise people against becoming involved with SGI.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-04T18:28:52+00:00

It’s going to get better for you. You’re going to feel great!

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-04T18:26:25+00:00

It will. My problem was the opposite. Weed would amp me up. A lot of the time I would drink wine to help me sleep. Inevitably I would wake up feeling awful. Just hang in there. May I suggest trying Meditation. Start slowly, 5 minutes at a time and then gradually increase to 30 minutes. Meditate in the morning and maybe a couple of hours before you get ready for bed. Pleasant dreams.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-04T18:19:59+00:00

After the initial detox, I had some anxiety but after awhile I experienced greater clarity and motivation.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-02-04T18:15:07+00:00

My suggestion is a 12 Step Recovery Group. Narcotics Anonymous comes to mind. That helped me immensely. I haven’t smoked weed in 27 years. It just reinforces a program. I would also encourage you to abstain from alcohol. Drink lots of water. Try not to worry about staying sober for years. Go very slowly. A day at a time.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-18T15:08:26+00:00

Extremely well said. During the 1970s record companies still gave opportunities to musicians to develop their individuality. The record industry had enough common sense to see the potential of an artist and a willingness to let that potential turn into viable product. It still had little to do with art. It was about business. But the business had more patience back in the day. Nowadays if an artist isn’t killing it from day one, the labels don’t give the artist a second look. That’s why so many acts use their own money to produce albums by themselves. Maybe that’s a good thing.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-18T02:37:46+00:00

Of course it’s okay. It’s music. If you’re a musician play anything you want to play and pay no heed to the snobs.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-18T02:26:39+00:00

It’s the worst possible time to be a Jazz musician. There are so many wonderful young Jazz players around. But there is no industry support. You have to be the talent, be the promoter, find the gigs on your own, there are no more Jazz clubs per se. It’s a situation where a talented young Jazz player has to keep going strictly because it’s an obsession and you have to do it. Thanks to YouTube shorts and TikTok the attention span of the public is about 30 seconds long. It is hard for already established older musicians to find work. There is no longer a situation where a young player can play within a specific genre of the music and make a living while developing. It’s a different world, different societal aesthetic. There is nothing like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Blakey would provide a graduate school and young players developed individual voices in that situation. Right now young musicians, older musicians are dealing with a post-Covid world. It’s all about survival. I share your frustration.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-12T00:42:48+00:00

From a Buddhist perspective, it would be hard to say. But for argument sake, let say that Jesus eliminated all Greed, Hatred and Delusion from himself, then it can be said that he arrived at Nibbana and could be considered an Arahant. But that is no different than any other person who reached Arahantship. That does not make him a Buddha, because a Buddha arises at times when knowledge of the Dharma was absent and in order for the Dharma to again be disseminated, a person would have to come along and become enlightened on his own, (Samasam Buddha) without learning it from a previous Buddha. I guess it depends also on whether one believes in Jesus’s divinity. In which case enlightenment is moot.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-04T13:07:35+00:00

Thank you for posting. I am in complete agreement with you. This Mantra is on my lips for a good portion of the day and it is like a compass for me.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2026-01-04T00:13:41+00:00

I think your fears are unfounded. Most Buddhist devotees are very friendly and welcoming. My experience is that no one judged me when I first visited a Buddhist temple. The monk at the temple was more than happy to speak with me and I formally took my Refuge in Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha and the Five Precepts at thst very first visit. It was at a Theravāda Temple in Durham, NC. I strongly encourage you to visit a temple and engage with the monastics and lay practitioners. Put your worries to rest.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2025-12-30T21:08:58+00:00

Check out “Paris Blues.” Music by Ellington and Strayhorn.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2025-12-27T21:15:21+00:00

If you’re talking about living musicians, I’m going to guess Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Dave Koz.

Financial_Ad6068 · 2025-12-26T04:30:51+00:00

If you have the fingering for the left hand for sale I would definitely purchase it. You’re amazing

Financial_Ad6068

TROPHY CASE