How to Join Transcendent Life Condition Buddhism
There is no need to join any organization in order to practice
Buddhism correctly. If you are just beginning your practice of Buddhism,
we encourage you to read
How to Begin Your Practice of Buddhism. Please return to this page once you've
decided to dedicate your life to the enlightenment of all beings
on the planet.
You become a member of TLCB by vowing to become a Buddha in this
lifetime, then taking actions to fulfill those vows. You can view
Transcendent Life Condition Buddhism's vows.
We urge you to take these vows seriously, as taking and keeping
them is the most significant cause you will ever make in your life.
The easy part (although not all that easy if you’re serious
about it) is taking the vows. The difficult part is taking action
to fulfill them. That will require that you take leadership to practice
Buddhism within your own organization. Most often this is an organization
of one – you. Ultimately the practice
of Buddhism is an individual thing. It means establishing the World
of Buddhahood as your central life tendency. No organization or
mentor can do that for you. It requires that you do battle with
your own karma and its influences on your life condition. It means
developing compassion enough to courageously refute mistaken beliefs
of those around you whom you care about. They are suffering because
they cling to the perception that an external power – be it
God, an organization, a mentor, or even a view of the external Gohonzon
as a God – has more control over their life’s suffering
than they do. You, through your compassionate practice of Buddhism,
can save them from living this life of suffering they’ve grown
so used to. They really, for the most part, have no clue that there’s
anything else “out there” that can do what chanting does
to strengthen their life condition. They don’t know about the
high of chanting an hour per day for at least three months. You
encourage them to do that and their lives will be indelibly changed
for the better. Then, to the extent they are able to discard their
fears and attachments to God or external powers, they will continue
to grow and become Buddhas themselves. (We really recommend that
you read Sam Harris’ book “The End of Faith” to better
understand why theistic beliefs are so harmful to humans. We use
many of his points, then teach Buddhist practice.)
To get an idea of how TLCB differs from other Nichiren Buddhist
organizations, you should read the
Organizational Differentiation Chart on our website.
We feel it would be irresponsible not to mention to potential members
that TLCB members have been officially expelled from SGI, in part
due to the contradiction between the vows taken by TLCB members
and the SGI charter. The most heavily discussed concern of SGI's
in its letter to us was the mentor disciple relationship. The letter
insists that we should all be following President Ikeda or at least
one of the three Presidents, and that without teaching their specific
version of the mentor-disciple relationship (as opposed to a similar
philosophy taught by Nichiren Shoshu) that we are distorting the
teachings of Buddhism. To us, their teaching of the mentor-disciple
relationship represents a conflict with TLCB vow number 2, and in
practice it's used to slander the Buddha nature of SGI's own members,
other non-SGI Buddhists, and the potential power of the practice
of Nichiren Buddhism on people's lives. Our teaching that each person
who has dedicated their lives to the enlightenment of others is
a Buddha in their own right, and therefore doesn't need to be told
what to do, offends them.
If you’re still interested in becoming a member of TLCB after
reading the above noted material, please let us know and we will
be happy to further discuss it and any additional questions you
may have, with you.
Becoming a Buddha is a daunting task. Becoming a member of TLCB
means vowing to become a Buddha. It can be no less daunting. But
it is definitely worth the time and effort. This world needs realistic
hope. No theistic religions can provide that. People who practice
Nichiren Buddhism universally become happier and have a stronger
life condition than before they began. We have something that is
provable and profound.
We hope you’ll join us.