Actually, the selected passage refers to Nichiren Daishonin specifically and to us generally.
"Soka Gakkai Buddha"... conflating two of the Three Treasures [the Treasure of the Buddha and the Treasure of the Sangha]. Nowhere in the Lotus Sutra nor in the writings of Nichiren can we find the principle of Sangha-Buddha just as nowhere in the teachings is there the SGI concept of Bodhisattva-Buddha.
Ikeda is obsessed with acquiring the "32 features" but that is not appropriate for anyone else. Hypocrite!
"Namu Myoho renge kyo is the name of the Buddha of absolute freedom from time without beginning", here SGI conflates the Buddha with his teaching or Law. Nichiren has this to say about such men:
"The seventh volume of On 'Great Concentration and Insight' states: ‘Priests who concentrate on the written word’ refers to men who gain no inner insight or understanding through meditation, but concern themselves only with characteristics of the doctrine. ‘Zen masters who concentrate on practice’ refers to men who do not learn how to attain the truth and the corresponding wisdom, but fix their minds on the mere techniques of breath control. Theirs is the kind of [non-Buddhist] meditation that fundamentally still retains outflows. ‘Some Zen masters give all their attention to meditation alone’ means that, for the sake of discussion, T’ien-t’ai gives them a certain degree of recognition, but from a stricter viewpoint they lack both insight and understanding. The Zen men in the world today value only meditation [as the way to realize the truth] and have no familiarity with doctrinal teachings. In relying upon meditation alone, they interpret the sutras in their own way. They put together the eight errors and the eight winds, and talk about the Buddha as being sixteen feet in height. They lump together the five components and the three poisons, and call them the eight errors. They equate the six sense organs with the six transcendental powers, and the four elements with the four noble truths. To interpret the sutras in such an arbitrary manner is to be guilty of the greatest falsehood. Such nonsense is not even worth discussing.”
Certainly SGI is not protecting the teachings, merely protecting the Devedatta of the modern age, Daisaku Ikeda.
Yup! "SGI Buddha" - explained to me by a senior leader in Boston (2010), as the sacred nature of the Soka Gakkai imbued by Josei Toda. Therefore, the organization in the U.S. was an *entity*-- and as I pointed out to this leader, the individual members were judged according to their *suitability* for membership in this sacred sangha. The WD leader nodded and smiled.
ReplyDeleteShe lost her smile when I asked this question:
"So, the individual human being, chanting the mystic law, who has the world of Buddahood within his/her life is no longer revered in the spirit of bodhissatva Never Disparaging ?"
She replied sternly, "Our mission is to protect the SGI..."
ME: "But wait a minute, the organization IS the members--means ALL members are deserving of respect and protection..."
WD Leader:" You need to chant to Gohonzon to accept and have faith in SGI Buddha"
ME: "There is something wrong here -- it really seems like denying the basic Teaching of the Lotus Sutra to disregard believers this way-- How can the organization be called, "Buddha" if "it" [leaders] does not uphold and practice the BASIC TEACHING ??
WD Leader: "You do not have the wisdom to understand this profound teaching, but having faith in it is the only way to practice correctly. this is Sensei's guidance... "
In 2010 I could not articulate what made me feel queazy hearing this-- Now I see clearly how concepts of "Pure lineage" and usurping authority to add or change the Buddha's teaching was passed on from NShoshu to SGI.
Watching the "Ikeda Wisdom Academy" video, I am filled with sadness and fear.
What comes to mind immediately, after having read "The Day the Mirror Cracked" earlier, and reflecting on my own experiences -- my district was disbanded 1998; prohibited from practicing in my community district 2003; threatened disciplinary action- suspension/termination of my SGI membership 2012; all of these dehumanizing actions by leadership in SGI USA amount to "Protecting SGI Buddha" from members who make leaders feel uncomfortable. The egregious violations of basic human rights of members-- verbal and emotional abuse inflicted upon them, is justified by the insanity of "SGI Buddha" -- the strict admonishment and banishment practices of leaders who protect "the organization"
"[Among the five impurities,] the impurity of thought is such that as the former and Middle Days of the Law gradually pass, people transmit an insignificant heretical teaching while destroying the unfathomable True Law. It therefore follows that more people fall into the evil paths because of errors with respect to Buddhism than because of secular deed."
"... because the impurity of thought prevails,more people fall into the evil paths with the intention of creating good causes than they do by committing evil... thus they adhere to lesser good and do not realize that in so doing they bring about major evil."
(Encouragement to a sick Person, MW vol 6, p. 24-25)
What seems to have been completely forgotten is that so long as one does not enter the path to enlightenment, one will have the Devil of the 6th Heaven as his parent. The King Devil rewards those who recant their faith in the True teaching adorning them with treasures from the realm of thought and desire.
Will either of those sincere young people open their eyes to the arrogance displayed by leaders? Will they notice how they and their fellow members REALLY treat other people ?? Will they accept the made up teaching "SGI Buddha" as the justification for slandering the Law and those who believe in and chant the Mystic Law?
I have worked with youth throughout my 40 year nursing career and supported community youth arts activities as a dance teacher. My experience has led me to maintain hope in the natural capacity of young people to spot a hypocrite--
~Katie