Friday, July 25, 2014
On hitting an SGI nerve
"He is a misogynist", 'He seethes with hatred," "You are a hater", "foaming-at-the- mouth, exclusivist, seemingly hate-filled", "You are a serious hatemonger and it is shameful that you would ever consider yourself a "buddhist.", "I'm not sure if he is a hater." "I will respond to hate-speech, the posting of burning Gohonzons. the generalizations, racism, and distortions by Mark Rogow.", "You are embittered and hate filled", "You are a hateful Buddhist.", "If you need a straight male priest to tell you what to do, that's fine, be ok with it and end the slander of that which you hate (in your own heart). There is no corruption outside of you, only in your heart.", "What a sad life condition", "This isn't "free speech", "moderators, this is hate speech." , "You are filled with hate.". "The most dangerous thing to a bigot is to know the object of his hate and fear.", "With your ever present hate, you slander the good SGI members", "Your hate rants are tiresome", "You are a racist", "You are a fascist", "asshole", "jackass", "You really suck you ungrateful pig", "You are still a lying sack of s--t", "your holier than though, self serving BS", "Bulls--t, this is a place for Mark Rogow to slander people", "brain dead", "slandering idiot", "KEMPON HOKKE IS NOTHING BUT A PILE OF S--T AND ALL YOU F--ING PIGS ARE JUST S--T EATERS, GO F--- YOUR GOD DAMNED MOTHERS STUPID F--ING BITCHES THEY ALL ARE!* *LEAVE YOU TO YOUR DEVICES? F--- YOU ASSHOLES. i’LL KICK THE F---ING S--T OUT OF YOU. GO F--- YOUR DEVICE JUST LIKE YOU F--- YOUR MOTHER! PIECES OF F---ING S--T!*, "He calls for violence against the SGI", "bitter", psychotic", " He must be "drinking", "smoking","cowardly", "ignorant", "doing drugs", "scumbag cunt filled with s--t", "s--t stinking", "The f---ing assholes in Kempon Hokke can not be described, how evil they are is beyond words. I hope to meet some of you some day. I will make you sorry you were ever born.", "fool", "foolish", "deluded", "devil", "evil", "hateful lying prick", "counterfeit Buddhist", "conceited", "egotistical", "xenophobic", "pathetic fascist, asshole", "perpetrator of medicare fraud", "offensive", "no knowledge", "no wisdom", "lacking faith", "nutty", "f---ing moron", "Bodhisattva F---you."
this is how the sgi and nst debate the teachings.
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ReplyDeleteYes it does. What we can do is to attain Buddhahood and help others to do the same. Part of the process, according to Nichiren, is to refute slander. We should refute SGI and NST to the best of our ability, don't you think so?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely yes, if we consider ourselves to be the disciples of Nichiren, known as warrior priest how could we not. Nichiren is very clear about speaking out on matters of faith and I'm sure that you would have the appropriate Gosho's to back up what we agree on
DeleteI have just found out that you left Kempon Hokke last year. So it is true that you were but are now no longer, is that right? if it is then what is your current faith based situation. I can see that through your understanding of Gosho that you have a strong connection with Nichiren Shonnin which is the most important thing of all when it comes to representing/presenting the teachings
DeleteIs this true about what he said about you being a Kempon Hokke Buddhist, unlike all the other flattering comments that this SGI degenerate has said about you? I have also experienced this attitude from SGI members but Nichiren says to take it as an opportunity to eradicate the karma of slander from the infinite past
ReplyDeleteMy current faith based situation is as a direct disciple and believer of Nichiren and I have in my hand his letters and treatises to prove it. The things they said about me are among my greatest honors. When they said some of these things I was indeed a member of the Kempon Hokke. I still consider myself a follower of Nichiju and the martyr Nikkyo who had his nose and ears cut off for the sake of the teachings
ReplyDeleteWe are not alone. The stronger the wind the higher the waves, as Nichiren said.
It is true that the more we trust in or have faith in something or someone one the more like it we become, this is why it is so important in what we choose and it's just well that I learnt know how to surf
ReplyDeleteMuslims, Christians, Jews, and Hindus worship a cruel god and become cruel. We worship an actual compassionate and merciful Law and being and we become as they.
ReplyDeleteYes this is the true reason why we have hope and can share it with those who have the good karma to receive the good news
ReplyDeleteVishnu , Shiva , Brahma Indra, shakra just to name a few are protective Deity's of the Votaries of the lotus sutra,
ReplyDeleteI don't consider them cruel compared to the god of the Abrahamic faiths.
Kishimojin and evil entities like her also protects the votaries of the Lotus Sutra
http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Military-Science-in-the-Vedas-1.aspx
ReplyDeleteSGI membership as of 2011: 10,025.000
ReplyDeleteMark Rogow's blogspot followers as of today: 42
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Just as Chao Kao seized control of the country and Wang Mang usurped the position of emperor, so the leaders of the True Word school deprived the Lotus Sutra of the rank it deserves and declared that its domain belongs instead to the Mahavairochana Sutra. If the monarch of the Law has been deprived of his kingdom in this manner, can the monarch of people hope to remain peaceful and unharmed?
ReplyDeleteJapan today is filled with followers of Jikaku, Chisho, and Kobo— there is not a single person who is not a slanderer of the Law.
If we stop to consider the situation, it is very much like what prevailed in the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha Great Adornment or the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha All Bright King. In the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha Awesome Sound King, even though people repented of their wrongdoings, they still had to suffer for a thousand kalpas in the Avichi hell. What, then, of the situation today? The True Word teachers, the followers of the Zen school, and the priests of the Nembutsu show not the slightest sign of repentance in their hearts. Can there be any doubt that, as the Lotus Sutra says, they “will keep repeating this cycle for a countless number of kalpas” ?
Because Japan is a country where the correct teaching is slandered, heaven has abandoned it. And because heaven has abandoned it, the various benevolent deities who in the past guarded and protected the nation have burned their shrines and returned to the Capital of Tranquil Light.
Now there is only I, Nichiren, who remain behind, announcing and giving warning of these things. But when I do so, the rulers of the nation treat me like an enemy. People by the hundreds curse me and speak ill of me, attack me with staves and sticks, swords and knives. Door after door is closed to me, house after house drives me away. And when the authorities find that even such treatment does not stop me, they intervene in the matter. Twice they sent me into exile, and once, on the twelfth day of he ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), they very nearly cut off my head.
The Sovereign Kings Sutra says, “Because evil people are respected and favored and good people are subjected to punishment, marauders will appear from other regions, and the people of the country will meet with death and disorder.”
The Great Collection Sutra states: “There may perhaps be various kings of the Kshatriya class who act in a way contrary to the Law, causing anguish to the voice-hearer disciples of the World-Honored One. Perhaps they may curse and revile them or beat and injure them with swords and staves, or deprive them of their robes and begging bowls and the other things they need. Or perhaps they may restrain and persecute those who give alms to the disciples. If there should be those who do such things, then we will see to it that their enemies in foreign lands rise up suddenly of their own accord and march against them, and we will cause uprisings to break out within their states. We will bring about pestilence and famine, unseasonable winds and rains, and contention, wrangling, [and slander]. And we will make certain that those rulers do not last for long, but that their nations are brought to destruction.”
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ReplyDeleteAs these passages from the sutras indicate, if I, Nichiren, were not here in Japan, then one might suppose that the Buddha was a teller of great lies for making such predictions, and that he could not escape falling into the Avichi hell.
On the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei, I stood in the presence of Hei no Saemon and several hundred others and declared, “Nichiren is the pillar of Japan! Doing away with Nichiren is toppling the pillar of Japan!”
The passages of scripture I have quoted indicate that, if the rulers, heeding the slanders of evil monks or the vicious talk of others, should inflict punishment on persons of wisdom, then warfare will immediately break out, great winds will blow, and attackers will appear from foreign lands. In the second month of the ninth year of Bun’ei (1272), fighting did in fact break out between two factions of the ruling Hojo family; in the fourth month of the eleventh year of Bun’ei, there were violent winds; and in the tenth month of the same year, the Mongol forces attacked Japan. Has not all of this come about because of the treatment that has been given to me, Nichiren? This is exactly what I have been predicting from times past. Can anyone be in doubt about the matter?
The errors preached by Kobo, Jikaku, and Chisho have for many long years been spread about the country, and then, on top of them, have come the confusions propagated by the Zen and Nembutsu schools. It is as though, in addition to adverse winds, one should be visited by huge waves and earthquakes as well. With all this, the nation has been brought to the verge of destruction. In the past the grand minister of state usurped the power of government, and after the Jokyu Disturbance the imperial court ceased to exercise its rule and the seat of authority shifted east to Kamakura. But these were no more than internal disturbances; the nation as yet had not faced invasion from abroad.
Moreover, though at that time there were those who slandered the Law, there were also a few people who continued to uphold the correct doctrine of the Tendai school. And in addition, at that time no wise person had appeared who would attempt to remedy the situation. As a result, things were relatively peaceful.
If the lion is sleeping and you do not wake him, he will not roar. If the current is swift but you do not pull against it with your oar, no waves will rise up. If you do not accuse the thief to his face, he will remain unruffled; if you do not add fuel to the fire, it will not blaze up. In the same way, though there may be those who slander the Law, if no one comes forward to expose their error, then the government will continue for the time being on its regular course, and the nation will remain undisturbed.
For example, when the Buddhist teachings were first introduced to Japan, nothing out of the ordinary occurred. But later, when [Mononobe no] Moriya began burning Buddhist statues, seizing priests, and putting the torch to Buddhist halls and pagodas, then fire rained down from heaven, smallpox broke out in the nation, and there were repeated military clashes.
But the situation now is far worse. Today those who slander the Law fill the entire country, and I, Nichiren, attack them, strong in my determination to uphold what is right and just. We battle no less fiercely than the asuras and the god Shakra, or the Buddha and the devil king.
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ReplyDeleteThe Golden Light Sutra states, “There will be times when enemies among the neighboring states will begin to think as follows: ‘We must call out all our four types of troops and destroy that country [where the slanderers of the Law live].’ ”
The same sutra also says: “There will be times when the rulers of neighboring states, observing the situation and mobilizing their four types of troops, will make ready to set out for the country [where the slanderers of the Law live], determined to subdue it. At that time we [the great deities] will instruct all the countless, limitless numbers of yakshas and other deities who are our followers to assume disguises and protect these rulers, causing their nemies to surrender to them without difficulty.”
The Sovereign Kings Sutra states the same thing, as do the Great Collection and Benevolent Kings sutras. According to the statements of these various sutras, if the ruler of a state persecutes those who practice the correct teaching and instead sides with those who practice erroneous teachings, then the heavenly kings Brahma and Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings will enter the bodies of the worthy rulers of neighboring states and will attack his state. For example, King Krita was attacked by King Himatala, and King Mihirakula was overthrown by King Baladitya. Kings Krita and Mihirakula were rulers in India who attempted to eradicate Buddhism. In China, too, all those rulers who tried to destroy Buddhism were attacked by worthy rulers.
But the situation in Japan today is much worse. For here the rulers appear to be supporters of the Buddhist teachings, but they assist the priests who are destroying Buddhism and persecute the practitioner of the correct teaching. As a result, ignorant people all fail to realize what is happening, and even wise persons, if they are no more than moderately wise, have difficulty grasping the situation. Even the lesser deities of heaven, I suspect, do not understand. For this reason, the confusion and depravity in Japan today are even greater than those in India or China in the past.
In the Decline of the Law Sutra the Buddha speaks as follows: “After I have entered nirvana, in the troubled times when the five cardinal sins prevail, the way of the devil will flourish. The devil will appear in the form of Buddhist monks and attempt to confuse and destroy my teachings. . . . Those who do evil will become as numerous as the sands of the ocean, while the good will be extremely few, perhaps no more than one or two persons.”
And the Nirvana Sutra says, “Those who thus are able to take faith in works such as this Nirvana Sutra will be as few as the specks of dirt that can be placed on a fingernail. . . . But those who are not able to take faith in this sutra will be as numerous as the specks of dirt in all the worlds of the ten directions.”
These passages from the scriptures are extremely apt, considering the times we live in, and they are deeply etched in my mind. Nowadays in Japan one hears people everywhere declaring, “I believe in the Lotus Sutra,” and “I, too, believe in the Lotus Sutra.” If we took them at their word, we would have to conclude that there is not a soul who slanders the Law. But the passage from the sutra that I have just quoted says that in the Latter Day the slanderers of the Law will occupy all the lands in the ten directions, while those who uphold the correct teaching will take up no more land than can be placed on top of a fingernail. What the sutra says and what the people of the world today say are as different as fire is from water. People these days say that, in Japan, Nichiren is the only one who slanders the Law. But the sutra says that there will be more slanderers of the Law than the great earth itself can hold.
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ReplyDeleteThe Decline of the Law Sutra says that there will be only one or two good persons, and the Nirvana Sutra says that the believers can fit into the space of a fingernail. If we accept what the sutras say, then in Japan Nichiren is the only good person, the one who fits into the space of a fingernail. Therefore, I hope that people who are seriously concerned about the matter will consider carefully whether they want to accept what the sutras say, or what the world says.
Someone might object that the passage in the Nirvana Sutra speaks about the votaries of the Nirvana Sutra being as few as the specks of dirt that can be placed on a fingernail, while I am talking about the Lotus Sutra. I would reply to this as follows.
The Nirvana Sutra itself says, “[When this sutra was preached . . . the prediction had already been made] in the Lotus Sutra [that the eight thousand voice-hearers would attain Buddhahood].” The Great Teacher Miao-lo says, “The Nirvana Sutra is itself pointing to the Lotus Sutra and saying that it is the ultimate.” The Nirvana Sutra is calling the Lotus Sutra the ultimate. Therefore, when followers of the Nirvana school state that the Nirvana Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra, it is the same as calling a retainer a lord or a servant a master.
To read the Nirvana Sutra means to read the Lotus Sutra. For the Nirvana Sutra is like a worthy who rejoices to see another holding his sovereign in esteem even when he himself is treated with contempt. Thus the Nirvana Sutra would despise and regard as its enemy anyone who tried to demote the Lotus Sutra and praise the Nirvana Sutra instead.
With this example in mind, one must understand the following point. If there are likewise those who read the Flower Garland Sutra, the Meditation Sutra, the Mahavairochana Sutra, or some other sutra, and they do so thinking that the Lotus Sutra is inferior to those sutras, then they are doing violence to the very heart of those sutras. One must also understand the following point. Even though one reads the Lotus Sutra and appears to believe in it, if one thinks that one may also attain the way through any other sutra as well, then one is not really reading the Lotus Sutra.
For example, the Great Teacher Chia-hsiang wrote a work in ten volumes entitled The Treatise on the Profundity of the Lotus Sutra in which he praised the Lotus Sutra. But Miao-lo criticized the work, saying, “There are slanders in it— how can it be regarded as sincere praise?”
Chia-hsiang was in fact an offender against the Lotus Sutra. Thus, when he was defeated by T’ien-t’ai and served him, he no longer lectured on the Lotus Sutra. “If I were to lecture on it,” he said, “I could not avoid falling back into the paths of evil.” And for seven years, he made his own body a bridge [for T’ien-t’ai to walk on].
Similarly, the Great Teacher Tz’u-en wrote a work in ten volumes entitled Praising the Profundity of the Lotus Sutra in which he praised the Lotus Sutra, but the Great Teacher Dengyo criticized it, saying, “Though he praises the Lotus Sutra, he destroys its heart.”
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ReplyDeleteIf we consider these examples carefully, we will realize that, among those who read the Lotus Sutra and sing its praises, there are many who are destined for the hell of incessant suffering. Even men like Chia-hsiang and Tz’uen were actually slanderers of the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra. And if such can be said of them, it applies even more to men like Kobo, Jikaku, and Chisho, who displayed open contempt for the Lotus Sutra.
There are those like the Great Teacher Chia-hsiang, who ceased giving lectures, dispersed the group of disciples that had gathered around him, and even made his body into a bridge for T’ien-t’ai. But in spite of these actions, the offense of his earlier slanders of the Lotus Sutra was not, I expect, so easily wiped out. The crowd of people who despised and abused Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, although they later came to believe in his teachings and became his followers, still carried the burden of their former actions and had to spend a thousand kalpas in the Avichi hell as a result." -- Repaying Debts of Gratitude
An SGI member in reply to the post, SGI is a Destructive Cult:
ReplyDelete"One could say the same for Catholics defending their Pope...or Tibetan Buddhists and the Dali Lama. Seriously, if you added 13 million people to the rolls of a religion, I would be strutting your stuff too. As for book stores...one will not find many Mormon books in a Jewish book store, or Catholic books in Baptist book store, etc. I mean really, your arguments are repetitive and nebulous...and certainly not convincing to anyone on this site. Tsk, tsk...such a hate.One could say the same for Catholics defending their Pope...or Tibetian Buddhists and the Dali Lama. Seriously, if you added 13 million people to the rolls of a religion, I would be strutting your stuff too.As for book stores...one will not find many Mormon books in a Jewish book store, or Catholic books in Baptist book store, etc. I mean really, your arguments are repetitive and nebulous...and certainly not convincing to anyone on this site. Tsk, tsk...such a hater!
My reply: There are 1.5 Billion Muslims "strutting there stuff". It is truth, correct doctrine, and behavior which makes a religion great, not numbers [so teaches Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin].
"The truth of Buddhism has nothing to do with the opinion of
the majority. All that is important is whether a belief is
in accord with the scriptures. And, further, the golden
words of the Buddha have already informed us that in the age
of the Latter Day of the Law those who uphold the Right
Dharma would be few in number. Thus the Nirvana Sutra says
that "those who uphold the Right Dharma are as few as the
grains of earth on a fingernail, and those that slander the
Dharma are as numerous as the earth in of all the ten
directions" .
“If a person separates himself from good friends, refuses to listen to the correct teaching, and instead embraces evil teachings, then as a result he will sink down into the Avichi hell, where the size of his body will become eighty- four thousand yojanas in total length and breadth.”
ReplyDelete“Thus the sutra states, “If this person . . . on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy, or bear grudges against them . . . When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avichi hell.” This passage means that a person who despises, looks down on, hates, envies, or holds a grudge against those who read and embrace the Lotus Sutra will fall into the great citadel of the Avichi hell after he dies. Who could help but fear these golden words of the great sage? And who could doubt the clear-cut pronouncement of the Buddha when he said, “Honestly discarding expedient means, [I will preach only the unsurpassed way].”
“Be that as it may, one should understand that, at present, when it comes to teachers, there is a difference between correct teachers and erroneous teachers, between good teachers and bad teachers. One should shun those who are erroneous or evil, and associate with those who are correct and good. Even if their virtue is known throughout the country and their wisdom is as bright as the sun and moon, one should recognize that teachers who slander the Lotus Sutra are evil teachers and erroneous teachers, and refrain from approaching them. A sutra warns us on this point, “If there are slanderers of the Law, one should not dwell with them. If one draws near them and dwells with them, one will be bound for the Avichi hell.”
“No matter how honest and upright you may be, or how you may strive to be known as a worthy person in the secular or the religious world, if you associate with evil persons, then as a result you will find that in two or three instances out of ten you are following their teachings, and in the end you, too, will become an evil person. Thus the commentary says, ‘Though one may not be evil to begin with, if one associates with and is friendly with evil persons, one is bound in time to become an evil person oneself, and one’s evil reputation will spread throughout the world.’”
"In the end, what we mean by erroneous and evil teachers are those priests in the world today who slander the Lotus Sutra. The Nirvana Sutra says:
“Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. What you should fear are evil friends! . . . Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them.” The Lotus Sutra says, “In that evil age there will be monks with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked.”
ReplyDeleteAs I have pointed out so many times in the past, when teachers such as Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, Bodhidharma, Hui-k’o, Shan-tao, Honen, Kobo of To-ji, Chisho of Onjo-ji, Jikaku of Mount Hiei, or Ryokan of Kanto read the golden words, “Honestly discarding expedient means, [I will preach only the unsurpassed way],” they take them to mean, “Honestly discarding the true teachings, I will preach only the expedient teachings.” When they read the passage that says, “Among the sutras, it [the Lotus Sutra] holds the highest place,” they take it to mean, “Among the sutras, it holds the lowest place.” And when they read, “[Among those sutras] the Lotus is the foremost,” they take it to mean, “The Lotus holds second place,” or “holds third place.” That is why I describe these various priests as misleading and evil teachers.
Those that I call correct and good teachers are persons who take Shakyamuni Buddha’s golden words to mean just what they say, namely, that the other sutras represent expedient means and the Lotus Sutra represents the truth.
In this connection, you should consult the “Entering the Dharma Realm” chapter, the seventy-seventh volume of the Flower Garland Sutra. The Lotus Sutra states, “A good friend is the great cause and condition by which one is guided and led, and which enables one to see the Buddha and to conceive the desire for supreme perfect enlightenment.”
As the Buddha tells us, we should regard as correct teachers and good teachers those who honestly discard the doctrines of the four flavors and three teachings, the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana sutras that were expounded as expedient means, as well as the Nembutsu, True Word, Zen, and Precepts schools and the sutras upon which they rely, and expound Myoho-renge-kyo, “the one great reason for which the Buddhas appear in the world.”
“Moreover, in this evil latter age, evil companions are more numerous than the dust particles that comprise the land, while good friends are fewer than the specks of dirt one can pile on a fingernail.”
“They cling to incomplete doctrines and are attached to receiving alms and being treated with deference; they recognize only false doctrines, distance themselves from good friends, approach with familiarity such slanderers who delight in attachment to the teachings of the lesser vehicle, and do not believe in the great vehicle.”
“They turned their backs upon the teachings of T’ien-t’ai and Dengyo, who had been good friends to them, and instead transferred their allegiance to Shanwuwei, Pu-k’ung, and others, who were evil friends.”
“Therefore, you should take every care to ward off slanderers of the Law in the same way that you would never wish a courtesan even to come near your home. This is the meaning of “Thrust aside evil friends and associate with good companions.”
"The Nirvana Sutra states that, in the Latter Day of the Law, those people who slander the Buddha’s teaching and fall into the hell of incessant suffering as a result will be more numerous than the dust particles that comprise the land, while those who uphold the correct teaching will be fewer than the specks of dirt one can pile on a fingernail. And the Lotus Sutra says that, even though there might be someone capable of lifting up Mount Sumeru and hurling it away, it will be hard indeed to find anyone who can preach the Lotus Sutra just as it teaches in the Latter Day of the Law of Shakyamuni Buddha."
ReplyDelete"The Great Teacher Chia-hsiang wrote the ten-volume Hokke Genron, and that would under ordinary circumstances have condemned him to fall into the hell of incessent suffering. But he set aside his own manner of reading the Lotus Sutra and served the Great Teacher Tientai, and thus was able to escape the pains of hell." (Akimoto Gosho)
ReplyDelete"The passages I have quoted from these four sutras are perfectly clear— what person in ten thousand could possibly doubt their meaning? And yet the blind and the deluded recklessly trust to distorted doctrines and fail to recognize the correct teaching."
"Consumed by their erroneous views, they slander the correct teaching."
"When it comes to the correct teaching, they show no inclination to protect, treasure, and establish it over the ages...their words replete with error."
"One who is able to distinguish right from wrong among all these different opinions may be said to have a correct understanding of the teaching."
"If so, then there must be very few who have a correct understanding of the teaching."
"...as well as those who present what they describe as a separate transmission outside the sutras, disparaging the correct doctrine of the Lotus Sutra."
"Limited though my ability may be, when I observe the situation in the world these days, it seems to me that the great majority of both lay believers and members of the clergy are guilty of slandering the correct teaching."
"The impurity of thought has been such that, as the Former and Middle Days of the Law gradually passed, people transmitted insignificant erroneous teachings while destroying the unfathomable correct teaching."
“This correct and equal sutra is the eye of the Buddhas.”
"But when I investigated the basic doctrines of the school, I found that they are founded on views that in fact are a slander of the correct teaching."
"But this does not mean that they knew what is correct and what is not in the Buddhist teachings, or that they understood the principle of cause and effect."
"Unable to distinguish between what is correct and what is erroneous, all they will do is face monks and lay believers and declare in this fashion, “I can understand what is right, I can see what is right."
ReplyDelete"And yet you say that, without inquiring into what is right and what is wrong... without attempting to determine what is correct and what is erroneous..."
"If you have repented of your former errors and are ready to adhere to the correct doctrine, then without doubt you can swim in the calm and quiet depths [of nirvana], and dwell at ease in the palace of the unconditioned."
"Because the minds of people are warped and twisted, and provisional teachings and slander alone abound, the correct teaching cannot prevail."
“Are persons such as these not slanderers of the correct teaching? One can never be too severe in condemning them, or admonish them too strongly.”
“The meaning of this passage is that, if a person striving to propagate the correct teaching of the Buddha should hear and see others propounding the teachings of the sutras in a mistaken manner and fail to reproach them himself or, lacking the power to do that, fail to appeal to the sovereign and in this way take measures to correct them, then he is betraying the Buddha’s teaching. But if, as the sutras direct, he is not afraid of others but censures these slanderers himself and appeals to the sovereign to take measures against them, then he may be called a disciple of the Buddha and a true priest."
“Being therefore determined to avoid the charge of ‘betraying the Buddha’s teaching,’ although I have incurred the hatred of others, I have dedicated my life to Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra, extending compassion to all living beings and rebuking slanders of the correct teaching. Those who cannot understand my heart have tightened their lips and glared at me with furious eyes. But if you are truly concerned about your future existence, you should think lightly of your own safety and consider the Law above all. Thus the Great Teacher Chang-an states, ‘ “[A royal envoy . . . would rather], even though it costs him his life, in the end conceal none of the words of his ruler” means that one’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One should give one’s life in order to propagate the Law.’"
"The meaning of this passage is that, if a practitioner of Buddhism should fail to chastise evil persons who slander the Law but give himself up entirely to meditation and contemplation, not attempting to distinguish between correct and incorrect doctrines, or provisional and true teachings, but rather pretending to be a model of compassion, then such a person will fall into the evil paths along with the other doers of evil..."
"Even less do they distinguish between correct and incorrect in Buddhism, or good and evil in their teachers."
"Men of this kind steal and usurp the correct teachings of Buddhism and use them to supplement and bolster the erroneous writings."
"Consumed by their erroneous views, they slander the correct teaching.
"The Lotus Sutra alone is correct and good."
"That is why the votaries of the correct teaching do not receive any sign of divine favor but, on the contrary, encounter severe difficulties."
“The Buddha replied: ‘Kashyapa, it is because I was a defender of the correct teaching that I have been able to attain this diamond-like body."
"If one befriends another person but lacks the mercy to correct him, one is in fact his enemy."
ReplyDelete"Neither non-Buddhists nor the enemies of Buddhism can destroy the correct teaching of the Thus Come One, but the Buddha’s disciples definitely can."
"When I look at the situation in Japan, I find that the devil king of the sixth heaven has entered into the bodies of wise persons, transforming correct teachers into erroneous teachers, and good teachers into bad teachers."
"Be that as it may, one should understand that, at present, when it comes to teachers, there is a difference between correct teachers and erroneous teachers, between good teachers and bad teachers."
"Those that I call correct and good teachers are persons who take Shakyamuni Buddha’s golden words to mean just what they say, namely, that the other sutras represent expedient means and the Lotus Sutra represents the truth."
"I ask you to consider with the utmost care whether I deserve to be called a correct teacher or an erroneous teacher."
"In any case, like me, you should condemn the slander of the Law committed by the followers of the other schools and cause them to reject the erroneous and embrace the correct."
"And if, having been born as such, you do not do your best to distinguish between the correct doctrine and the incorrect so that in the future you may attain Buddhahood, then you are certainly not fulfilling your true worth as a human being."
"They have opposed the correct teaching and revered erroneous doctrines and teachers instead."
"Could they have met such horrible fates if they were actually votaries of the correct teaching? How do you read the Meditation on the Buddha’s Ocean-like Characteristics Sutra and other sutras, or Bodhisattva Nagarjuna’s treatise that describes the state of death?"
"If what he says is correct, then a person who upholds the Lotus Sutra just as it teaches must be superior to the king Brahma and more worthy than the lord Shakra."
"The Nirvana Sutra states that, in the Latter Day of the Law, those people who slander the Buddha’s teaching and fall into the hell of incessant suffering as a result will be more numerous than the dust particles that comprise the land, while those who uphold the correct teaching will be fewer than the specks of dirt one can pile on a fingernail."
"If you are disbelieving or slander the correct teaching even in the slightest, you will certainly fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering."
"The Nirvana Sutra, referring to the Lotus Sutra, states: “Even the offense of slandering this correct teaching [will be eradicated] if one repents and professes faith in the correct teaching."
"THE correct teaching of the time can be propagated only by a person of wisdom."
"The monks Shore of Suffering and Superior Intent thought they knew the correct teaching and intended to save the people, but they fell into the hell of incessant suffering along with their disciples and lay believers."
"So the sage Nichiren said to them, “We will decide whose teachings are correct through this prayer for rain."
"Answer: According to the sutra text, the votaries of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law, who are so faithful in upholding the sutra that they are hated by others, are the true priests of Mahayana. They are the teachers of the Law who will propagate the Lotus Sutra and bring people benefit. As for priests who are thought well of by others, who go along with other people’s desires and so come to be revered, one should regard them as the enemies of the Lotus Sutra and as evil influences to the world. A sutra passage likens persons of this type to a hunter who spies sharply about him as he stalks a deer, or to a cat who hides its claws as it creeps up on a mouse. In just such a way, we are told, do they flatter, deceive, and mislead the lay men and women."
"There are two kinds of wisdom, correct and perverse."
"Shan-tao and Honen said that not even one out of one thousand people attains Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra, while Kobo and Jikaku declared that the Lotus Sutra was merely a joke, and Bodhidharma insisted that enlightenment was beyond words. They are like drunkards with old sake. In spite of the Lotus Sutra stating that it is supreme, they maintain that the Great Sun Buddha Sutra is superior to the Lotus Sutra, that Zen is the best teaching, that the Ritsu Sect is the most precious, and that the Pure Land Buddhism is the teaching best suited to us. Are they not drunkards? They are siding with those mad people who say that the stars are brighter than the moon, or that rocks are more precious than gold, or who call the east the west, or the sky the earth. And they are slandering those who say the truth: "The moon is brighter than the stars; gold is more precious than rocks; the east is the east; the west is the west; and the sky is the sky." Even though they, slanderers, are the majority, I cannot accept them. They are just crazy."
ReplyDelete"I feel sorry for all those hapless people who fall into hell misguided by these false doctrines. The Nirvana Sutra says: "In the Latter Age of the Decadent Dharma, those who slander the Lotus Sutra and fall into hell will be more numerous than the particles of dust on earth, while those who believe in it and attain Buddhahood will be fewer than the particles of soil on a fingernail." Are those Japanese the soil on a fingernail? Is Nichiren the dust on earth? Let's think it over.
ReplyDeleteIs it because of the karma in your past lives that you sent me this robe or are you trying to be a particle of soil on a fingernail? It is stated in the Nirvana Sutra: "It is much more difficult to meet a practicer of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Age of the Decadent Dharma than putting a thread hanging from the sky into the eye of a needle standing on ground during a windy day." The Lotus Sutra tells of a tortoise who lives at the bottom of the ocean and surfaces once in 3,000 years, finds a floating piece of sandalwood with a hole in it, and rests in the hole. This tortoise, moreover, is one-eyed and squints so it sees the west as the east, and the east as the west. It is likened to men and women who are born in the Latter Age of the Decadent Dharma; and the hole in the sandalwood is likened to the Lotus Sutra and the "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo."
"The truth of Buddhism has nothing to do with the opinion of the majority. All that is important is whether a belief is in accord with the scriptures. And, further, the golden words of the Buddha have already informed us that in the age of the Latter Day of the Law those who uphold the Right Dharma would be few in number. Thus the Nirvana Sutra says that "those who uphold the Right Dharma are as few as the grains of earth on a fingernail, and those that slander the Dharma are as numerous as the earth in of all the ten directions" .
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