Actually it is most superficial. It not only fails to lecture on The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra Chapter 16 to which it is entitled, "The Lifespan of the Tathagata" [jumping to Chapter 24 Bodhisattva Wonder Sound], it fails to grasp the profound meaning of the central point of the lecture, "Voluntarily assuming the appropriate karma".
The SGI lecturers maintain that we choose to be born into various circumstances [highlighting unfavorable circumstances] in order to eventually win and demonstrate the greatness of the Mystic Law. They use as an example the Bodhisattva Wonder Sound from Chapter 24 of the Lotus Sutra and they [Ikeda] quote the Ongi Kuden forgery [rather than the Lotus Sutra itself or an authentic writing of the Daishonin]:
"He [Bodhisattva Wonder Sound] manifests thirty-four different forms, illustrating the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds and preaching the Law so as to benefit others."
The Lotus Sutra states:
“Flower Virtue, you see only the body of Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound that is here. But this bodhisattva manifests himself in various different bodies and preaches this sutra for the sake of living beings in various different places. At times he appears as King Brahma, at times as the lord Shakra, at times as the heavenly being Freedom, at times as the heavenly being Great Freedom, at times as a great general of heaven, at times as the heavenly king Vaishravana, at times as a wheel-turning sage king, at times as one of the petty kings, at times as a rich man, at times as a householder, at times as a chief minister, at times as a Brahman, at times as a monk, a nun, a layman believer, or a laywoman believer, at times as the wife of a rich man or a householder, at times as the wife of a chief minister, at times as the wife of a Brahman, at times as a young boy or a young girl, at times as a heavenly being, a dragon, a yaksha, agandharva, an asura, a garuda, a kimnara, a mahoraga, a human or a nonhuman being, and so preaches this sutra. The hell dwellers, hungry spirits, beasts, and numerous others who are in difficult circumstances are thus all able to be saved. And for the sake of those who are in the women’s quarters of the royal palace, he changes himself into a woman’s form and preaches this sutra.
“Flower Virtue, this bodhisattva Wonderful Sound can save and protect the various living beings of the saha world. This bodhisattva Wonderful Sound performs various transformations, manifesting himself in different forms in this saha land and preaching this sutra for the sake of living beings, and yet his transcendental powers, his transformations, and his wisdom suffer no injury or diminution thereby. This bodhisattva employs various types of wisdom to illuminate the saha world, causing each one among all the living beings to acquire the appropriate understanding, and does the same in all the worlds in the ten directionsnumerous as Ganges sands.
“If the form of a voice-hearer is what is needed to bring salvation, he manifests himself in the form of a voice-hearer and proceeds to preach the Law. If the form of a pratyekabuddha will bring salvation, he manifests himself in the form of a pratyekabuddha and preaches the Law. If the form of a bodhisattva will bring salvation, he manifests a bodhisattva form and preaches the Law. If the form of a buddha will bring salvation, he immediately manifests a buddha form and preaches the Law. Thus he manifests himself in various different forms, depending upon what is appropriate for salvation. And if it is appropriate to enter extinction in order to bring salvation, he manifests himself as entering extinction.
“Flower Virtue, the bodhisattva mahasattva Wonderful Sound has acquired the great transcendental powers and the power of wisdom that enable him to do all this!”
At that time the bodhisattva Flower Virtue said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, this bodhisattva Wonderful Sound has planted the roots of goodness very deeply. World-Honored One, what samadhi does this bodhisattva dwell in, that he is able to carry out all these transformations and manifestations to save living beings?”
The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Flower Virtue, “Good man, this samadhi is called manifesting all kinds of bodies. The bodhisattva Wonderful Sound, dwelling in this samadhi, is able in this manner to enrich and benefit immeasurable living beings."
Question: What could be wrong with this, whether Ikeda or the lecturers quote the Ongi Kuden or the Lotus Sutra to make this valuable point?
Answer: This point is true from the perspective of the general rather than the specific, the more profound viewpoint taught by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Lifespan Chapter:
"I [Shakyamuni] either preach my own body or preach the body of another or show my own body or show the body of another or show my own matter or show the matter of another. The various words I preach are all true and not empty. What is the reason? The Tathagata knows and sees the appearance of the Three Worlds in accordance with reality: there is no Birth-and-Death, whether backsliding or emerging; likewise there is neither existence in the world nor extinction; they are not real; they are not void, they are not thus; they are not different. It is not as the Three Worlds see the Three Worlds. In such a matter as this the Tathagata sees clearly and is without error."
Nichiren comments on this matter from the Lifespan Chapter in an authenticated writing:
"The oral tradition says that the Buddha can become grass and trees. This means that the Shakyamuni Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter can manifest himself in grass and trees. The Lotus Sutra speaks of “the Thus Come One’s secret and his transcendental powers.” There is nothing in the entire realm of phenomena that is not the manifestation of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni." (The Enlightenment of Plants)
From the perspective of the specific, the more enlightened perspective, Bodhisattva Wonder Sound [and we] are manifestation of Shakyamuni Buddha. This is what the most profound chapter of the Lotus Sutra teaches and what the authentic Nichiren taught.
Perhaps Greg Martin and Maya Ono would like to debate this matter? While they decide not too, i will carry on.
ReplyDeleteShakyamuni's, Nichiren's, and our essential view is the non-dual reality of life and the cosmos. SGI's view still retains remnants of duality and inequality when referencing the Mystic Law and the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra.
ReplyDeleteI don't wish to be mean but I will wipe the smile off the face of Maya Ono should she ever take me up on my challenge to debate the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren. Same goes for Dave Witkowski, Daniel Hall, or whatever youth they might send to challenge this votary of the Lotus Sutra. Not much smiling from the older rubes like Greg Martin and Ted Morino because the weight of their forty year slander is written all over their face.
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ReplyDeleteIn quoting the passage from the sutra, "They will display the three poisons..." Nichiren Daishonin teaches the loftiest perspective from which to view problems and human frailty.
If Buddhists were perfect, other people could not relate to them, let alone be tempted to try the practice themselves. There would be no way to demonstrate the process of human revolution.
When people start out in practice, most of them regard problems and faults simply as the result of bad karma. But as they continue to practice and purify their lives, they begin to understand that, in another sense, they vowed to be born with these impurities so that as bodhisattvas they could prove the power of the Gohonzon. (Flower and Seeds)
Again Anonymous, that is Nichiren teaching from the perspective of the "general". Without the teaching from the perspective of the "specific", it is incomplete and misleading:
ReplyDelete"Volume thirty-five of the Nirvana Sutra states: “I have explained this in various different sutras. When one Buddha makes his appearance in the world, he brings benefit to many people. But that two wheel-turning kings should exist in a single country, or that two Buddhas should appear in a single world—nowhere has any such thing ever happened.”
Volume nine of Great Perfection of Wisdom says: “The major world systems in the ten directions, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, make up what is called the world of a single Buddha. There are no other Buddhas there. Truly it is the world of one Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha.”
In volume one of On “The Words and Phrases,” we read: “There are not two Buddhas in the world, there are not two rulers in the nation. In the realm of one Buddha, there are not two Venerable Ones.”
And The Treatise on the Upholding of the Stage states: “In one world there are not two Buddhas, in one nation there are not two rulers. Within the realm of a single Buddha’s teachings, there are not two Venerable Ones.” [Examining True Word]
and
"In the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha says, “Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others.” The Buddha Good Virtue of the eastern region, the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana of the center, the Buddhas of the ten directions, the seven Buddhas of the past, the Buddhas of the three existences, Bodhisattva Superior Practices and the other bodhisattvas, Manjushrī, Shāriputra and the others, the great heavenly king Brahmā, the devil king of the sixth heaven, the heavenly king Shakra Devānām Indra, the sun god, the moon god, the morning star god, the seven stars of the Big Dipper, the twenty-eight constellations, the five planets, the seven stars, the countless eighty-four thousand other stars, the asura kings, the heavenly gods, earthly gods, gods of the mountains, gods of the seas, household gods, village gods, and the rulers of all the various countries of the world—not one of these is other than [a provisional manifestation of] Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings! The Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva Hachiman—both these in their original form are Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings.
"Shakyamuni Buddha is like the one moon in the sky, and the various other Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and beings are like the reflections floating on ten thousand different bodies of water. Thus a person who fashions a single image of Shakyamuni Buddha is in effect making images of all the Buddhas of the worlds in the ten directions." [Concerning The Buddha Statue Fashioned by Nichigen-nyo]
The reason that overcoming difficulties for the sake of others is the loftiest perspective is because this is what the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni has been doing since time without beginning. Without the specific, overcoming difficulties is just another self help religion or philosophy, no different than Christianity, Islam, or the teachings of Deppak Chopra.
More...
ReplyDeleteAgain, in its sixth volume it says, “Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others; sometimes I present myself, sometimes others; sometimes I show my own actions, sometimes those of others.” Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds manifests himself in thirty-three different forms, and Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound manifests himself in thirty-four forms. Why then should not Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, manifest himself as Great Bodhisattva Hachiman?
T’ien-t’ai says, “The Thus Come One manifests his form in all of the Ten Worlds, taking on a variety of different appearances.”The Land of the Moon is another name for India, the place where the Buddha made his appearance in the world. The Land of the Sun is another name for Japan. Is there any reason why a sage should not appear here?
The moon moves from the west eastward, a sign of how the Buddhism of India spread in an easterly direction. The sun rises in the east, an auspicious sign of how the Buddhism of Japan is destined to return to the Land of the Moon.
The light of the moon is not very bright, for the Buddha taught [the Lotus Sutra in India] for only eight years of his life. But the light of the sun is brilliant, outshining the moon, an auspicious sign of how the Buddhism of Japan is destined to illuminate the long darkness of [the Latter Day of the Law, which begins with] the fifth five-hundred-year period.
The Buddha took no measures to correct those who slander the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, because while he was in the world there were no such persons. But in the Latter Day of the Law the formidable enemies of the single vehicle are everywhere in sight. Now is the time to benefit the world in the same manner as Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. You who are my disciples, each of you should work diligently at this, work diligently at this!"
[On Reprimanding Hachman]
Meanwhile...
ReplyDelete"Second, we do not intend to take a refutational approach to Christianity. We see no necessity or value in attempting to undermine a religious tradition that is both widely accepted and demonstrably valuable. At the same time, we cannot avoid the historical evidence of its less noble aspects that have given rise to violent propagation and the Inquisition, and its use as a tool for colonization and subjugation.
Finally, we do not take an exclusivist position - that Nichiren Buddhism is the only vehicle capable of carrying its adherents to the pinnacles of truth and the shores of happiness..." -- Greg Martin SGI Study Chief
From the most profound perspective, it is not overcoming difficulties through having manifested in any of the Ten Worlds. It is correcting wrong thought whether in the World of Hell, the World of Heaven, or the World of Bodhisattva.
ReplyDeleteThis is the Latter Day. No matter how many problems we overcome there is no end to difficulties. Another problem will always arise. One unconvinced will always point out, "see you have another difficulty to overcome" A votary will continue to preach the Lotus Sutra through the neverending difficulties, not some inferior religion or philosophy like Ikedaism.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the sentence from Chapter 8 of the Lotus Sutra, "They will display the Three Poisons", even the Buddha eats [displays the World of Hunger] is pained when he has a toothache [the World of Hell], and defecates [the World of Animality]. Keeping in mind the more profound teaching of the Lifespan Chapter, those who save living beings through the Lotus Sutra merely manifest the signs of the Three Poisons as an expedient means but from the perspective of the Mystic Law and the Juryo Chapter, they themselves are Shakyamuni Buddha of the Original Doctrine. It is shortsighted to take a phrase or passage out of the context of the Mystic Law, the Lifespan Chapter, Nichiren's Five Major Works, and the entire body of the authenticated writings.
ReplyDelete