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A growing concern

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:55 am
by Seishin
Hi all,

I have a growing concern which, although on one hand, I should ignore, on the other, I don't think ignorance is a good thing ;)

Many of us have become aware by a buddhist by the name of Enjitsu who has been posting in various places on the web and declaring himself as the "official westerner representative of Buddhism". On a recent post of his on Facebook he has said the following;
Amito fo,

This topic is for the explication of the position of Westerner Representative of Buddhism. (wrob).

In spring/summer of 2006 public Shurangama dharma meetings were held, with many attendees. During several of the meetings I was publicly informed by the Samgha that I was now authorized to represent all westerner's in the world, regardless of their geographical location, in regards to Buddhism and was directed to do so. This position expands the authority of and supersedes a previous position I held, youth westerner representative of buddhism.

Full recordings of the meetings & transcription's of the sections related to this position will be more widely available shortly. The total length of these recordings is estimated at 12-15 hours and provides a complete explanation. The summarization of which is the holder of this position has blanket authority to represent all westerners in the world regarding matters of buddhism. This decree is by authority of the Samgha (Bhikksu's, Bhikksuni's) of Soto Zen, Shingon shu Acharya, Patriarchate of Kegon shu, Patriarchate of Hosso shu etc., and reporting to the same.

Amito fo,
Enjitsu
wrob
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=1 ... opic=16206" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Enjitsu appears to belong to the American Buddhist Temple http://www.abtemple.org/cgi-bin/abtempl ... 1065790136" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My concern is, not just with Enjitsu, but with a buddhist organisation that assumes the authority to appoint someone to represent all forms of buddhism.
Does anyone know about the ABT and what kind of authority they hold over other buddhist organisations?

Also, according to the Facebook website, the Enjitsu on this forum is not the "real" Enjitsu, so are we to assume that if he replies to this thread, he is not the real Enjitsu??
Specifically, neither myself nor any of my staff members have ever posted any material on the DharmaWheel website. So the site administrators should remove all those threads.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=1 ... opic=16134" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: A growing concern

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:19 pm
by Tree
Are we dealing with an unhinged mentally disturbed character here?

:thinking:

Re: A growing concern

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:17 pm
by Nicholas Weeks
He has posted here before: http://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f= ... su&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

His teacher is putting out terrible English translations of the Dharma. Whether his teacher knows about this "Western Buddhist representative" notion, I do not know.

Re: A growing concern

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:20 pm
by Ngawang Drolma
Thanks all, for voicing your concerns. The volunteer staff here is on top of it.

Best,
Laura :)

Re: A growing concern

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 4:13 pm
by Mr. G
Seishin wrote:Specifically, neither myself nor any of my staff members have ever posted any material on the DharmaWheel website. So the site administrators should remove all those threads.
No Admin, Founder or mod has received such contact.

I would request Cheng Kuan to respond to this:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?p=15876#p15876" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As Huifeng has pointed out so well, ācārya and monk are two different things. Some monks may be that, and some not. Also as Huifeng has clearly pointed out, there are no vinaya-holding monks within the Shingon tradition today. If any Shingon practitioners do hold a genuine vinaya, they received it from another (non-Japanese) tradition, and that should be made clear. As has been pointed out, simply being a monk does not mean one can teach anything. Many laypeople are more learned and skilled at teaching than monks. That's just the way it is.

Enjitsu, if you were really familiar with Shingon Buddhism, you would know that there is no such thing as a "53rd Generation Acharya of Shingon Shu." You would know that a person may be a "50-something generation ācārya (ajari 阿闍梨) of xxx-ryū," which signifies the reception of the denbō kanjō (傳法灌頂) and kechimyaku (血脈) of a certain hōryū (法流), which are the many transmission lineages in which Shingon praxis is transmitted. You would also know that there are literally thousands of people who are ajaris in Japan and some abroad, and that ajari is not in itself a teaching rank or qualification per se in the real world in Shingon, it is the prerequisite for advanced training and for conducting certain ceremonies. It can be earned in about one year through a specific, intensive training program. There are other teaching qualifications beyond it that may be received.

Re: A growing concern

Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:43 pm
by Dexing
During several of the meetings I was publicly informed by the Samgha that I was now authorized to represent all westerner's in the world, regardless of their geographical location, in regards to Buddhism and was directed to do so.
Claiming to represent someone without their knowledge or permission is reprehensible.

:rules: