By Bob Hasegawa, Las Vegas Join Or Visit Us At “Buddha Camp” at Burningman Aug 30-Sept 6, 2010. Contact Us: Bob@AmericanGongyo.org (use contact link on main page)
The very unofficial Black Rock “District” emerges from the dusty earth for seven days at the Burningman Arts Festival during the first week of September. Seattle SGI-USA members Angle Latterell and Sam Weiss and a hearty band of friends started the temporary Black Rock “District,” also called Buddha Camp, three years ago. The mission: share Nichiren Buddhism with as many people as possible. This year twenty members and friends gathered to bring Buddhism to the Burningman community.
The primary daily activity was morning gongyo (chanting of Nam myoho renge kyo and the Lotus Sutra) followed by a lively discussion meeting. The chanting space called the Lotus Dome filled up quickly with Buddha campers, SGI-USA members from other camps at Burningman and guests. The guests, about ten per meeting, had lots of questions and members had lots of answers. The meeting discussion lasted for an hour. Small groups formed naturally to continue the dialog, sometimes for hours. At each meeting the guests were offered copies of the World Tribune, Living Buddhism, along with watermelon, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo pendants and copies of my gongyo tutorial CD and American English pronunciation guide. (See AmericanGongyo.org for free downloads.)
The daily meetings attracted members and guests from all parts of the US and most parts of the world. Sean from London said his wife is a ten-year member of SGI-UK. He wasn’t much interested in chanting but came to the meeting out of curiosity. Sean began chanting with the members and became an active discussion participant during the week. “My wife will be surprised when I get home,” he said.
A young woman brought two guests and asked if she and her friends could chant in the Lotus Dome after the meeting. Surprisingly, she had a travel size Gohonzon (Omamori) with her. She said she had been a youth division leader but fell away from the organization during the SGI/temple schism. Although she continued to chant and did not join the temple, she had not been to an activity in many years. “The people are really warm and open here. It feels right now. I guess I’ll call my (SGI-USA) friend who hasn’t given up on me after all this time.”
In addition to the opportunity to encourage and be encouraged by hundreds of people seeking happiness, the 48,000 artists and interesting wanderers put on a fantastic show of art installations, art cars and performances. Most “Burners” spend the night wandering from one attraction to another. Plans are afoot for Buddha Camp at Burningman 2010.
Burningman Sidebar
The annual Burningman Arts Festival is gathering of 48,000 to 50,000 artists, performers and theme campers dedicated to free expression, ecology and peaceful community life. Commercial activity, even barter, is prohibited. It is a society based on giving stuff away without expecting anything in return. Campers bring their own food, water and supplies and often live in theme camps on the Playa, the dry lakebed. Theme camps provide entertainment, services and events based on a theme, such as club dancing, live entertainment, massage therapy or refreshments. Volunteers staff Burningman, including doctors and other medical professionals, mediators called Black Rock Rangers and café staff at the Center Camp, the city center hub. The burning of the “Man” on Saturday and the Temple of Sunday are the centerpiece events. Burningman runs from August 30 through Labor Day at the Black Rock desert 120 miles north east of Reno, Nevada.
