I've been meaning to speak about this topic, which generally deals with the role of women in Nichiren Buddhism, for quite a while. Being a woman myself, it is obviously something close to my own heart, but I do believe that any person with a genuine humanistic spirit, be they a man or a woman, should be interested in the topic of equality. Discrimination is discrimination, whether it's done on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, pizza topping preference, IQ, it is still discrimination, and as such it is not conducive of a happy society based on humanism and fundamental respect. In many ways, discrimination is the polar opposite of respect.
I don't know about you, but me, I have a thing with bad spelling. And bad grammar. It might have something to do with me being a teacher, and a languages one at that. That said, some TEACHERS I know are guilty of some of my biggest pet peeves. The other day, an English teacher in my school corrected me when I said "I wouldn't do it if I were you", saying that "were" is for plural, and the snotty deputy head of English, who at least knew that "if I were you" is correct, had the nerve to give both of us a condescending smile and say that there was no rule for that. No, darling. There is a sodding rule. You are just ignorant. And arrogant. Pretending you know stuff when you don't, and ASSuming that because I'm a foreigner you automatically know better than me. Look up the word "subjunctive" and then we'll talk.
And yet more awesome stuff from SGI-USA. This is a short video that explains very clearly our daily practice of Nichiren Buddhism. Have fun and Happy chanting!
I went to a YW inspiration meeting tonight and one of my fellow District leaders mentioned having read a rather inspiring publication: SGI-USA District Leaders Handbook.
The handbook is written from the perspective of the SGI-USA. As such, some things will be different (like the concept of Groups, which we don't have in the UK), but the general spirit and the guidelines are actually relevant for any leader in my opinion. I thought the sheer idea was so awesome that I immediately looked for it to post a quick one on my blog. You can download the manual from here.
I know readers of this blog are just dying to know how I spent my half term holiday. I know, I know, but fear not, the end to your anguished questioning in the small hours of the night has come to an end, I am going to present you with the highly profound and dramatically interesting account of how a Nichiren Buddhist teacher spends her half term.
Now, allow me to give you a bit of much needed (and clearly yearned after) background.
This is my favourite section. If I don't ace this section, I'm going to go hide in a corner and cover my head with ash. Or whatever.
So, section D contains three sections: D1, D2 and D3. Each section contains a variable number of questions. In the exam, a different number of questions from each section will be asked. The length of the answer will vary, but the maximum allowed for each section is 400 words. Here are the questions:
I decided to redo the post on Section B because I finally realised the way the questions have to be answered. I'm sure most people got it the first time, but being a bit soft I only now understood that we are supposed to write 200 words IN TOTAL for the three questions (out of four) that will be asked in the actual exam.
This means that to prepare we need to write about 70 words for each question.
Sorry for the two week gap in posting, but I was assaulted by quite a big bout of negativity in my preparation for the Study exam.
As I mentioned before, the decision to take part in the study exam in the first place had been hindered in various ways for years, and obviously the obstacles didn't end with me posting the dreaded application form. Let's see...
