"The fundamental cause of people’s unhappiness lies in their tendency to develop attachments of various kinds. Attachments are fetters on one’s heart—earthly desires, cravings and so on. In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, Shakyamuni taught people the path for freeing themselves from such attachments. The spirit of the Lotus Sutra, however, is not to eradicate earthly desires. When we base ourselves on the Buddhist Law, we can transform earthly desires—just as they are—into enlightenment. This is the principle of “earthly desires are enlightenment.” It’s not a matter of eradicating attachments but of seeing them clearly. Rather than causing us to abandon our earthly desires and attachments, our Buddhist practice enables us to discern their true nature and utilize them as the driving force to become happy. The truth is that we could not in fact eradicate our attachments even if we so wished." -- Daisaku Ikeda
"However, there is a difference if one chants the daimoku while acting against
the intent of this sutra. There are various stages in the practice of this sutra
[and various forms of slander exist accordingly]. Let me sum them up by quoting
from volume five of The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus
Sutra”: “In defining the types of evil, The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra
states briefly, ‘Expound among the wise but not among the foolish.’ One
scholar enumerates the types of evil as
follows: ‘I will first list the evil causes and then their effects. There are fourteen evil causes: (1) arrogance, (2) negligence, (3) wrong
views of the self, (4) shallow understanding, (5) attachment to earthly desires, (6) not understanding, (7)
not believing, (8) scowling with knitted brows, (9) harboring doubts, (10)
slandering, (11) despising, (12) hating, (13) envying, and (14) bearing grudges."* -- Nichiren Daishonin
*The Fourteen Slanders are found in Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra
Come closer SGI leaders. Why do you shirk from this vile wretch? Let us discuss the lofty principles of Buddhism. My mentor is but a character of the Lotus Sutra. Its name is Myo. Your mentor is the great Taisaku Ikeda.
ReplyDeletenice.
ReplyDeletehe certainly has made a great mistake in this life.
ReplyDeleteI think he got what he went after - money power fame. He just hasn't really paid for it yet
ReplyDeletenichiren tells us that there is two main reasons why one can make great mistakes in buddhist faith and practice.
ReplyDelete1. ignorance of the teachings, 2. following a bad teacher. ikeda speaks and reads japanese so there is no excuse for remaining ignorant of the teachings. rather than follow the buddha and nichiren, ikeda chose to follow someone else and he freely admits this as if it was a good thing. one cannot overcome the devil of the sixth heaven with an incorrect faith and practice. in the entire history of buddhism there has never been a bodhisattva of correct faith who looked like ikeda. its too bad that the sgi members cannot see things for what they really are.
I reckon that Ikeda is indeed a bad teacher. I was a member of the SGI, but have found a number of things quite uncomfortable about the group. I found it disturbing that 'study' groups centred more around Ikeda's words than Nichiren's.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Tamarai. Even worse, those who follow himeventually fall into the Lower Worlds of existence. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeletevery good tamarai.
ReplyDeletesgi is a cult that poops on the real teachings of the buddha and the buddhas emissary for the latter day. strange but, most people cannot realize they are in a cult until they leave that cult. only then does it become clear.
I'm glad you found us also. "Be pleased to be without anxiety."
ReplyDelete