"Drink sake only at home with your wife, and chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law? Strengthen your power of faith more than ever."
What is the point of this post? Encouragement? Satire? Confusion?
ReplyDeleteFor someone who constantly criticises the SGI and has written that "many Soka Gakkai translations do not reflect the teachings of Nichiren" (20 May 2014) you certainly use their translations a lot.
I'm surprised for two reasons.
Firstly if you are quoting from the SGI gosho to support your point you are giving approval to a translation that you yourself have written may "not reflect the teachings of Nichiren"
Second, this quote in particular is the one you used in a previous post on 20 May 2014 as an example that "many Soka Gakkai translations do not reflect the teachings of Nichiren" (20 May 2014)
Why do you continually use SGI translations, especially without referencing them as such, or warning your readers to be aware that this quote may "not reflect the teaching of Nichiren"
And, why have used this SGI quote without any commentary at all in this post when you have already posted before on the superiority of the Inagaki version of this quote?
Do you now believe this SGI translation is superior to the Inagaki one?
Or was it simply satirical to put out a quote you have previously undermined as "not reflect the teachings of Nichiren"?
Regarding many of my opponents assertion that it is hypocritical to use SGI source materials, Nichiren made use of the commentaries of those he considered to be slanderers of the Dharma, for example, the following passage from the Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei in the Opening of the Eyes:
ReplyDelete"The characters Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese. In India, the Lotus Sutra is called Saddharma-pundarika-sutra. The following is the mantra concerning the heart of the Lotus Sutra composed by the Tripitaka Master Shan-wu-wei: namah samanta-buddhanam om a a am ah sarva-buddha-jna-sakshebhyah gagana-sambhavalakshani saddharma-pundarika-sutra jah hum bam hoh vajrarakshaman hum svaha Hail to all the Buddhas! Three- bodied Thus Come Ones! Open the door to, show me, cause me to awaken to, and to enter into the wisdom and insight of all the Buddhas. You who are like space and who have freed yourself from form! Oh, Sutra of the White Lotus of the Correct Law! Cause me to enter into, to be everywhere within, to dwell in, and to rejoice in you. Oh, Adamantine Protector! Oh, empty, aspect-free, and desire-free sutra!
This mantra, which expresses the heart of the Lotus Sutra, was found in the iron tower in southern India. In this mantra, saddharma means “correct Law.” Sad means correct. Correct is the same as myo [wonderful]; myo is the same as correct. Hence the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Law and the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law. And when the two characters for namu are prefixed to Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, we have the formula Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."
The use of other's source materials can be likened to a master judaoka using his opponent's strength against him.
Thank you for reading my posts, You are correct. Inagaki's translation is much superior.
ReplyDelete"In suffering, awake to the nature of suffering; in joy rejoice. Realizing both suffering and joy as they really are [tathata], chant the Namu Myoho renge kyo of the Lotus." -- Inagaki
SGI tranlslations, deriving from the Gosho Zenshu, the modern Japanese translations, can never be superior to translations that derive from the originals [Showa Tehon]. However, Jacqueline Stone is an excellent translator and an excellent writer and her translations from the either the Gosho Zenshu or Showa Tehon, are usually topnotch.
ReplyDeleteSince you resurfaced "Nichiren" Buddhist, perhaps you would like to comment on my thirteen posts refuting your [your's and SGI's] view of the identity of the Original Buddha as Nichiren, a far more egregious error than my oversight here.
ReplyDelete