VoicePost 192K 1:00

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Walkin this path, shit that I've seen
Sometimes just makes me wanna get into the green
And when I do I remember
How it felt when I saw burnin ember
Now Awakenin', on the path again
On the road in Shikoku, I'm back again
Henro Sendatsu
I'm on the road and I flow cuz I got to
Keep walkin on the henro michi
I'm coming through, where are you?
Come and see me
Only go where I walk, and I'm writin
On the walls of the halls that enlighten
My stencil is as sharp as my mind
No drips this trip pure grip no crime
I'm stakin out my claim, street graff and rap my game
Step to me where I live, you gone get seen man...

VoicePost 189K 1:00

(no transcription available)

Right attitude toward life bringing lives into harmony
Unique place for each being in the pattern, simple, start and see
Purification of the body, thought, desire, motive
Service is the key and it's the set you wanna roll with
Met a few who had to change their jobs to change their lives
But many more who only had to change their motives up to thrive
Relinquish your self will, not separate just a cell
Relinquish all attachments, negativity as well

This verse is a reworking of Peace Pilgrim's Steps Toward Inner Peace, the 4 Preparations, 4 Purifications, and 4 Relinquishments, which can be found here: http://www.peacepilgrim.com/stepssumry.htm

VoicePost 194K 1:00

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Here's the hook from the new HM song:

People are good
Walk until given shelter
People are good
Fast until given food
People are good
Never asked for, freely given
People are good
No matter how deep the spark is

Thanks to everyone for their interest and input into the whole expulsion from Sitting Frog situation. The comments seem to have run their course and gotten far afield from the original issue though, and for that reason I will be closing the comments on that particular entry soon. It looks like a couple people still have an unfinished conversation going on and I don't want to cut anyone off so I'll leave the entry open to comments for at least another day or two.

While I appreciated everyone's input on things like the ass pic and jerkoff tanka, they really don't concern me and have become distractions from the issue at hand. All I have stated so far is that I was kicked out of the Sitting Frog Sangha for asking the self proclaimed "abbot" to make documentation of his ordination and Dharma transmission available for examination. In a single email he stated that he would be removing all reference to myself and my artwork from his various web pages for asking, and at the same time promised to forward the address of his place of training in Japan for verification of his claims. The removal of all reference to me from his blog happened within the hour, yet I'm still waiting for the address, or any proof of ordination or Dharma transmission for that matter.

People have asked why I care and that is a fair question that I will now address. Myself and others associated with the Hoodie Monks have donated money and materials to Barry for use in the creation of an inner city training center to be called Daihizan Jigen-ji. It appears that there may have been misrepresentation on Graham's part involved in obtaining support for this project. Nothing was ever done to bring it to fruition, it has been suspended, and I'm left answering to people about where their money went. I simply asked Mr. Graham to back up his claim of Dharma transmission to alleviate the doubts that had been beginning to grow in my mind about his behavior and manner of teaching, so that I could continue in good conscience my association with SFZS, assure backers that I sent his way that all was well, and consider his request to study the Shingon teachings with me as his teacher.

His reaction was to not only cut off all contact with me, but to start rumors that I am no longer a monk and that I am a convicted felon, while at the same time leveling outrageously false charges against Ven. Kobutsu, who has been remarkably generous and kind to Mr. Graham. These claims are simply not true. I am very much still a monk in good standing with my teacher, ryuha, and the Shingon school here in Japan. I have never been charged with or convicted of a crime here in Japan or any other country. His claims against Ven. Kobutsu have been thoroughly discredited at http://www.engaged-zen.org/Kobio2.html.

I let these false accusations go without comment when he posted them the first time, apparently clever enough not to name me directly in charges that he knew to be untrue. Now that these charges have been repeated on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barry_Graham_(author)&oldid=275057461), naming Ven. Kobutsu and myself directly, either by Mr. Graham hiding behind the anonymous internet, or by someone influenced by his intentionally false post, I feel the need to respond, as well as answer the question of why I asked to see his transmission papers in the first place.

So there it is. I became suspicious of a person that I had provided financial and material backing to, and asked him to show the credentials that he claimed to have. His response was to cut off all contact with me while attempting to smear my name, and that of the teacher that had rejected him, in the process. Considering Mr. Graham's unfulfilled promise to provide proof of Dharma transmission, or even the most basic monk's ordination, coupled with his personal and untrue attacks on myself and Ven. Kobutusu as a result of my asking, I am lead to only one conclusion...Barry Graham obtained our support through false claims and it is highly unlikely that he is even an ordained member of the Buddhist Sangha.

Haven't been in the mood for blogging much lately, but a couple things have brought me out of my shell. The first was being named the blog of the week by the Planet Japan podcast. Thanks Doug and Jen! Check them out at http://planetjapan.org/ for a wacky look at Japan through the eyes of two...interesting foreigners. This week on the popular segment "Dick of the Week" they discuss the apparently drunken performance of Japanese Finance Minister Nakagawa at the recent G7 Economic Summit that resulted in his resignation.

The other thing that brought me back to the keyboard was the flu. I'm home from work today and have a minute to get back online.

So...changes...the High Life Records tour has been postponed due to our southwest tour planner going incommunicado despite assurances that the recent hullabaloo over kyosakus and inkas would have no bearing on the Arizona dates and the Dharma Dueling rap battle mentioned back in December. Because of the sudden lack of communication we have had to refigure our budget and reschedule the tour. The tour is now set to take place in September and will focus on the west coast and the midwest...cuz that's where I'm from and we wanna make a stop there. The tour is tentatively being called the LA to LA tour, which refers to Los Angeles and the Lansing Area, Lansing Michigan being my hometown. As far as the Dharma Duel goes, I guess I'm the winner by forfeit unless I hear otherwise from the challenger...

How many Sitting Frog Zen Sangha teachers does it take to change a light bulb?

Not two, apparently.
I've just been kicked out of the Sitting Frog Zen Sangha for asking Dogo to show me his inka.
Huh...
The cheese stands alone.

Since that last post, that got me thinking about my D&D days, I came across this internet sitcom and wanted to share it with the game heads that appreciated the nerd alert. I was thinking that I first came across it in one of the comments to the last post, but didn't see it there when looking for who to credit with giving me the link...now I'm not sure where got it...anyway check out dicejockies.com for more episodes

Way back in the day, my social life kinda revolved around playing Dungeons and Dragons. We used to play every Saturday from noon til about midnight, and spent a good portion of the other six days either getting ready for the next big game or talking about the last one. The friends that I still keep in touch with from school are the ones that I played D&D with. Go figure.

In my early twenties I was talking to a psychologist during a period of deep depression who made two comments that really changed the way I approached life. She asked if I had ever thought of going into the ministry, and when talking about what I got out of playing D&D she asked if I ever tried to make my life the adventure.

It wasn't long after that that I began studying Japanese, doing meditation, and thinking about traveling. D&D seemed to lose interest to me as I started having my own adventures, but I never forgot the good old days of weekly games.

I just heard a great story on 'To The Best Of Our Knowledge' about magical thinking, and one of the segments was about a kid who was totally into D&D and the book he wrote about it as an adult. It brought back so many great memories and reminded me how much I loved the game.

I wouldn't trade all those hours in the garage for anything.

If you ever got anything out of playing D&D you might wanna give it a listen:
http://www.wpr.org/book/090111a.cfm

On December 28th the Japanese Rapper Hanabis had a party here in Okayama to celebrate the international release of his new album, Just Time 420, which of course features a team up with the Hoodie Monks on one of the songs.

Something cool happened while I was at the club and I wanted to blog right then, before I forgot about it. I was having trouble accessing livejournal from the cell at the time so I put it up on MySpace, which has a handy, easy to use cell phone app (hint hint livejournal) and then, just like I figured I would, I forgot all about it.

Now that I've read it, I want to post it here, which is where I intended to put it in the first place. So here's the text as I typed it at the time:

Monday, December 29, 2008 1:41AM
I'm at club 9 for the Just Time 420 release party with Hanabis and a guy just walked up to me and gave me the handshake half hug and said in my ear "佛の心は何ですか。Hotoke no kokoro wa nan desu ka?" which means What is the Buddha mind? or more literally translates as What is the Buddha heart? due to the Japanese word for heart and mind being the same. He leaned back on the bar and looked me in the eye. I paused, leaned toward him to yell a question in the loud club. "hotoke no kokoro?" I asked, kinda stalling. He nodded and I realized and tapped my fist on his chest. He looked surprised, then got it and leaned back on the bar again, his fist over his heart in a sign of respect.

having hurt feelings-
a good way to recognize
the passive ego