"It is like, for example, a mere commoner who goes about proclaiming that he is a king. There is nothing to stop him from declaring himself to be a king. But no matter how his tongue may delight in making such a declaration, he remains no more than a commoner, humble and despised in station.
Or it is like someone insisting that mere shards and rubble are in fact jewels. Simply declaring that stones and shards are jewels has never once turned stones into real jewels. And you are doing the same thing when you go on repeating the formula “This very body is the Buddha,” mere words that have no reality behind them, a pitiful, a most pitiful performance!" -- Nichiren
Mark this wire is out of context. Had you included the paragraphs before and after it, that would have been clear. Nichiren is making this argument about Zen appropriation of Tendai (and Nichiren) doctrine of attaining buddhahood in one's present form. You undermine your case when you present selective quotes and don't cite the Gosho references.
ReplyDeleteFair enough. Still, the criticism of SGI is valid since they have appropriated and incorporated the teachings of Zen: http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-zennification-of-nichiren-lotus.html
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