Daisaku Ikeda's Relics: "Presented With a Piece of Mentor's Necktie"...
"After the dinner, Mineo-san presented every men attended the dinner with a piece of Sensei’s necktie. This necktie, which either Sensei used before, or being with Sensei before, had a deep significant to me. The moment I received it from Mineo-san hand, I pledge in my heart, I will give my life for the sake the Law, Gakkai and Sensei.
When I returned, I chanted an hour daimoku to thank Sensei for his great care and impartial love for a disciple like me." --
Mentor Stopped Smoking [a satire based on the above real life experience of an SGI Singapore member]
"How happy I was when I found out mentor had stopped smoking. When I went to Japan for the International Headquarters Meeting of Brainwashed Youth, I got the chance to congratulate Mentor. Mentor told me he stopped smoking completely but now he dips [chews tobacco]. Mentor said I was a true disciple and that he had a little present for me. He gave me a gift wrapped box and told me to open it when I got to my room. It was something to remember him for all eternity. After the meeting I rushed back to the room to open Mentor's present. I was so excited. Very carefully I undid the wrapping so I could preserve the wrapping for posterity. The small velvet jewelry box inside was as blue as a late afternoon sky. I opened it in anticipation and there it was, a well chewed wad of Mentor's chaw. How joyful I was, the pungent aroma of the chaw filling the room. When I returned home I carefully placed the well masticated chaw in a transparent glass water cup and presented it to the Gohonzon as a token of my deepest gratitude for Mentor."
Other Relics of the Mentor
Pieces of the Mentors necktie are a favorite with the members but the most highly prized relics are those containing the mentors body fluids, secretions, and excretions. It is a well known fact that Mentor's high salaried senior leaders like David Kasahara, Guy McCloskey, Ian McIlraith, and Danny Nagashima, often receive New Years gifts of Mentor's unwashed underwear. I have heard that Gerry Hall and Bill Aiken are jealous, having only received pieces of Mentor's unwashed socks. Guy McCloskey once gave guidance to the leaders that, his mid six figure salary for being one of SGI's pit bull lawyers, paled in significance to receiving President Ikeda's unwashed underwear. David Kasahara burns small pieces of Mentor's excrement laden underwear as an offering to the Nichikan Gohonzon, calling it, "the finest Sandalwood in Jambudvipa". The disciples and believers of Nichiren just call it "dung"
"It is hard not to write Satire. For who is so tolerant of the unjust SGI, so steeled, that he can restrain himself..."-- Modified from Juvenal
Question:How did base depictions of religious leaders become material for mainstream satire?
ReplyDeleteAnswer:Freedom of speech combined with lack of propriety, good manners and overall confusion over what is right and what is wrong.
And there are those who commemorate the deaths of the satirical cartoonists and the twelve victims of "a terror attack" at Charlie Hedbo (Jan '15) with tributes for their courage to continue to publicize base depictions of the prophet, Mohammed.
It's hard not to notice the devastating effects of complicity .
~Katie
It is wrong to depict Mohammad the barbarous pedophile as a barbarous pedophile? It is wrong to depict Daisaku Ikeda, the great destroyer of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism and his disciples, as fools who lick the spittle of others? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteHi Mark,
DeleteI write only what I witness, and to the best of my ability, I cast the light of Nichiren's teachings on the behavior of leaders, who, then appear to be base, self indulgent, cold and indifferent towards the sufferings and misery in society, and blatantly intolerant of the concerns of members. Nichiren's teachings are my guide for exposing specific errors in specific situations-- including this one!
You used the terms , "lick the spittle" of others above-- this is straight from Buddhist documentation, not a term commonly used by those to whom you are "trying to subdue/shakubuku"-- But, then, in the actual satirical post, the references are leaders cherishing Ikeda's dirty underwear? -- Hard to write satire, huh?
Is that what Nichiren was doing, "writing satire"?
The victims of the terrorist attack at Charlie Hedbo lost their lives over what you just said is "right"--- Did Nichiren teach that it is right to "offer one's life" for the sake of anything -BUT upholding faith in the Lotus Sutra? These satirists continued to make their living this way, despite death threats, etc. Are you advocating this as "devoting one's life to the propagating the True teaching"? If not, then you should denounce it as, wrong!
You may think these ostensibly base, crude attacks on slanderers of the highest rank and most devastating influence are "right", but I do not believe Nichiren or Shakyamuni would agree, for the following reasons:
1) Your derisive language is the norm here in America, even youth have adopted the custom of using vulgar language to communicate their take on political leaders, their parents, their teachers. When you adopt this language, your attitude is understood as "personal right to call it like you see it". In other words, this strategy has "lost its flavor"-- it commands no real attention, it falls on deaf ears and it encourages further degradation of humanity-- which, by the way is what the Buddha sought to protect.
~Katie
cont'd.
"The second time was the twelfth day of the ninth month of the eighth year of the Bun’ei era (1271), at the hour of the monkey (3:00–5:00 p.m.), when I said to Hei no Saemon-no-jō: “Nichiren is the pillar and beam of Japan. Doing away with me is toppling the pillar of Japan! Immediately you will all face ‘the calamity of revolt within one’s own domain,’ or strife among yourselves, and also ‘the calamity of invasion from foreign lands.’ Not only will the people of our nation be put to death by foreign invaders, but many of them will be taken prisoner. All the Nembutsu and Zen temples, such as Kenchō-ji, Jufuku-ji, Gokuraku-ji, Daibutsu-den, and Chōraku-ji, should be burned to the ground, and their priests taken to Yui Beach to have their heads cut off. If this is not done, then Japan is certain to be destroyed!”
Delete"They are like birds and beats."
"Monks and nuns with the hearts of dogs."
"When we observe the priests of our time, we find some who secretly accept offerings for themselves alone. In the Nirvana Sutra they are described as dog-like priests. In their next life they will become ox-headed demons. We also find persons who, though they receive offerings openly, being greedy, never share them with others. In their next existence they will be born as horse-headed demons."
"A name reveals the essence of a thing. The slanderous sage, Priest Two Fires, is the teacher of people high and low throughout Kamakura. One of the two fires was concentrated on his own grounds, reducing Gokuraku-ji [Paradise Temple] Tō-jigoku-ji [Hell Temple]. The other fire leaped over to devour the ruler’s palace.
Furthermore, this double fire not only ravaged the country in this existence, but foretells that the teacher and his disciples throughout Japan will in their next life fall into the hell of incessant suffering, where they will burn in the Avīchi flames. The ignorant priests did not heed the words of a man of great wisdom, and this disaster came about as a result. How pitiful! I have already written to you about this."
"How much more so is this the case with the ordinary people of the day! They behave like dogs who have seen a monkey, or hunters in pursuit of a deer. Throughout the whole of Japan, there is not a single person who says, “Perhaps this man has some reason for his behavior.”
"The people at every stage and every post town are as bestial as dogs or tigers, and you must have felt as though you were undergoing the sufferings of the three evil paths in this life."
"Zen is a false doctrine that appeals to the kind of people in Japan who have been abandoned by their fathers and mothers because of their lack of filial devotion or dismissed from service by their lords because of their outrageous conduct, to young priests who are too lazy to apply themselves to their studies, and to the disreputable nature of courtesans. Even though its followers have all embraced the precepts, they are no more than swarming locusts feeding upon the people of the nation. That is why heaven glares down in anger and the gods of the earth shudder."
cont...
"Those who believe in them are meager in virtue, heavy with defilement, ignorant, poor, solitary, and like birds and beasts [that do not know their own parents]."
Delete"As for the person who slanders the Lotus Sutra, though he may not be serious at heart, if he so much as manifests the outward appearance of animosity, disparages the sutra even in jest, or makes light, not of the sutra itself, but of those who act in its name, then, the sutra says, he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering for countless kalpas of the kind described above."
"Though they possess a human form, they are like animals. They should also be called human-headed beasts."
"The third chief priest, the Great Teacher Jikaku, at first acted like a disciple of the Great Teacher Dengyō. But after he went to China at the age of forty, though he continued to call himself a disciple of Dengyō and went through the motions of carrying on Dengyō’s line, he taught a kind of Buddhism that was wholly unworthy of a true disciple of Dengyō. Only in the matter of the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment established by Dengyō did he conduct himself like a true disciple.
He was like a bat, for a bat resembles a bird yet is not a bird, and resembles a mouse yet is not a mouse. Or he was like an owl or a hakei beast. He ate his father, the Lotus Sutra, and devoured his mother, those who embrace the Lotus Sutra. When he dreamed that he shot down the sun, it must have been a portent of these crimes. And it must have been because of these acts that, after his death, no grave was set aside for him."
"It is the nature of beasts to threaten the weak and fear the strong. Our contemporary scholars of the various schools are just like them."
"On “Great Concentration and Insight” states: “With regard to the two ways of spreading the Buddha’s teachings, the passage from the Nirvana Sutra, ‘carry swords and staves,’ is found in the third volume where it says, ‘Defenders of the correct teaching need not observe the five precepts or practice the rules of proper behavior. [Rather they should carry knives and swords, bows and arrows, halberds and lances.]’... And later on, the sutra tells of King Sen’yo [who put to death those who slandered the correct teaching]. It also mentions how the new physician, [explaining that the medicine from milk prescribed by the old physician was dangerous], forbade its usage, saying, ‘If anyone takes any more of this medicine, he shall have his head cut off.’218 These passages also demonstrate how the method of shakubuku should be applied to persons who go against the Law. All the sutras and treatises deal with one or the other of these two methods.”
cont...
"Elsewhere in the same sutra, the Buddha spoke in these words: “When I recall the past, I remember that I was the king of a great state in this continent of Jambudvīpa. My name was Sen’yo, and I loved and venerated the great vehicle scriptures. My heart was pure and good and had no trace of evil, jealousy, or stinginess. Good men, at that time I cherished the great vehicle teachings in my heart. When I heard the Brahmans slandering these correct and equal sutras, I put them to death on the spot. Good men, as a result of that action, I never thereafter fell into hell.”
DeleteIn another passage it says, “In the past, when the Thus Come One was the ruler of a nation and practiced the way of the bodhisattva, he put to death a number of Brahmans.”
Again it says: “There are three degrees of killings: the lower, middle, and upper degrees. The lower degree constitutes the killing of any humble being, from an ant to any of the various kinds of animals. But the killing of any being that a bodhisattva has chosen to be born as [to help other living beings] is excluded. As a result of a killing of the lower degree, one will fall into the realms of hell, hungry spirits, and animals, and will suffer all the pains appropriate to a killing of the lower degree. Why should this be? Because even animals and other humble beings possess the roots of goodness, insignificant though those roots may be. That is why a person who kills such a being must suffer full retribution for his offense.
“Killing any person from an ordinary mortal to an anāgāmin46 constitutes what is termed the middle degree. As a consequence of such an act p.20of killing, one will fall into the realms of hell, hungry spirits, and animals, and will suffer all the pains appropriate to a killing of the middle degree. The upper degree of killing refers to the killing of a parent, an arhat, a pratyekabuddha, or a bodhisattva who has reached the stage of non-retrogression. For such a crime one will fall into the great Avīchi hell. Good men, if someone were to kill an icchantika, that killing would not fall into any of the three categories just mentioned. Good men, the various Brahmans that I have said were put to death—all of them were in fact icchantikas.”
In the Benevolent Kings Sutra, we read: “The Buddha announced to King Prasenajit, ‘Thus I entrust the protection of my teachings to the ruler of the nation rather than to the monks and nuns. Why do I do so? Because they do not possess the kind of power and authority that the king has.’”
cont....
The Nirvana Sutra states: “Now I entrust the correct teaching, which is unexcelled, to the rulers, the ministers, the high officials, and the four kinds of Buddhists. If anyone should vilify the correct teaching, then the ministers and four kinds of Buddhists should reprimand him and bring him to order.”
DeleteIt also states: “The Buddha replied: ‘[Bodhisattva] Kāshyapa, it is because I was a defender of the correct teaching that I have been able to attain this diamond-like body. . . . Good man, defenders of the correct teaching need not observe the five precepts or practice the rules of proper behavior. Rather they should carry knives and swords, bows and arrows, halberds and lances.’”
Again the Buddha said: “Even though there may be those who observe the five precepts, they do not deserve to be called practitioners of the great vehicle. But even if one does not observe the five precepts, if one defends the correct teaching, then one may be called a practitioner of the great vehicle. Defenders of the correct teaching ought to arm themselves with knives and swords, weapons and staves. Even though they carry swords and staves, I would call them men who observe the precepts.”
The Buddha likewise said: “Good man, in past ages in this very city of Kushinagara, a Buddha appeared whose name was the Thus Come One Joy Increasing. After this Buddha passed away, the correct teaching that he had taught remained in the world for countless millions of years. Finally, only forty more years were left before the Buddhist teaching was due to come to an end.
“At that time there was a monk named Realization of Virtue who observed the precepts. There were many monks at this time who violated the precepts, and when they heard this monk preaching, they all conceived evil designs in their hearts and, arming themselves with swords and staves, approached this teacher of the Law.
“At this time the ruler of the kingdom was named Possessor of Virtue. He received reports of what was happening, and, in order to defend the teaching, he went at once to the place where the monk was preaching the Law and fought with all his might against the evil monks who broke the precepts. As a result, the monk who had been preaching was able to escape grievous injury. But the king received so many wounds from the knives and swords, halberds and lances, that there was not a spot on his body the size of a mustard seed that remained unharmed.
cont....
Delete“At this time the monk Realization of Virtue praised the king, saying: ‘Splendid, splendid! You, O king, are now a true defender of the correct teaching. In ages to come, this body of yours will surely become a boundless vessel of the Law!’
“At that time, the king had already heard the teaching, and he felt great joy in his heart. Thereupon his life came to an end, and he was reborn in the land of the Buddha Akshobhya, where he became the Buddha’s principal disciple. Moreover, all the military leaders, citizens, and associates of the king who had fought beside him or had rejoiced in his effort were filled with an unflagging determination to achieve enlightenment, and when they died, all of them were reborn in the land of the Buddha Akshobhya.
“Later, the monk Realization of Virtue also died, and he too was reborn in the land of the Buddha Akshobhya, where he became second among the Buddha’s voice-hearer disciples. Thus, if the correct teaching is about to come to an end, this is the way one ought to support and defend it.
“Kāshyapa, the king who lived at that time was I myself, and the monk who preached was the Buddha Kāshyapa.47 Kāshyapa, those who defend the correct teaching enjoy this kind of boundless reward. As a consequence, I have been able to obtain the distinguished characteristics that I possess today, to adorn myself with them, and to put on the Dharma body that can never be destroyed.”
Then the Buddha declared to Bodhisattva Kāshyapa: “For this reason, laymen believers and others who wish to defend the Law should arm themselves with swords and staves and protect it in this manner.
“Good man, in the age of impurity and evil after I have passed away, the nation will fall into devastation and disorder, men will plunder and steal from one another, and the common people will be reduced to starvation. Because of hunger, many men at that time will declare their determination to leave their families and become monks. Men such as these may be called shavepates.48 When this crowd of shavepates see anyone who is attempting to protect the correct teaching, they will chase after him and drive him away, or even kill him or do him injury. That is why I now give permission for monks who observe the precepts to associate with and keep company with white-robed laymen who bear swords and staves. Even though they carry swords and staves, I would call them men who observe the precepts. But although they may carry swords and staves, they should never use them to take life.”
The Lotus Sutra says: “If a person fails to have faith but instead slanders this sutra, immediately he will destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world. . . . When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avīchi hell.”
The meaning of these passages from the sutras is perfectly clear. What need is there for me to add any further explanation? If we accept the words of the Lotus Sutra, then we must understand that slandering the Mahayana scriptures is more serious than committing the five cardinal sins countless times. Therefore, one who does so will be confined in the great citadel of the Avīchi hell and cannot hope for release for an immeasurable length of time. According to the Nirvana Sutra, even though you may give alms to a person who has committed the five cardinal sins, you must never give alms to a person who has slandered the Law. One who kills so much as an ant will invariably fall into the three evil paths, but one who helps eradicate slander of the Law will ascend to the state from which there can be no retrogression. Thus the passage tells us that the monk Realization of Virtue was reborn as the Buddha Kāshyapa, and that King Possessor of Virtue was reborn as the Buddha Shakyamuni."
You would no doubt deride Nichiren were he alive today. quoting the ugly Nirvana Sutra as he did. compared to any slander I might have, maybe, or ever will commit, it pales in significance to the slanders of Daisaku Ikeda, Nichikan, their priests and top senior leaders. you are skating on thin ice here Katie and you would be the first personI ever banned from the site.
Deleteagreed katie. maybe a little too much arbitrary opinion. we have a teacher, he is nichiren. are you here to learn about buddhism, or to teach?
DeleteI am sharing my perspective on applying Nichiren's teachings to real time travesties.
DeleteWhen I shared my perspective on " sacrificing one's very life for the *freedom* to publicize hideous, base depictions of the prophet of anyone's religion" I did so based on the teachings of Nichiren regarding the foolish things one will give his/her life for. I was viciously attacked, but I was heard, propagating the teachings of Nichiren.
Maybe there is a lesson there? I wasn't however, intending on *teaching Buddhism* so much as saying it is harder to live by the teachings than it is to believe in them.
~Katie
However, were a votary of the Lotus Sutra to depict Mohammad in an unfavorable light, truly it would be cause to rejoice:
Delete"The Great Collection Sutra says: “When the teachings of the Buddha truly become obscured and lost, then people will all let their beards, hair, and fingernails grow long, and the laws of the world will be forgotten and ignored. At that time, loud noises will sound in the air, and the earth will shake; everything in the world will begin to move as though it were a waterwheel. City walls will split and tumble, and all houses and dwellings will collapse. Roots, branches, leaves, petals, and fruits will lose their medicinal properties. With the exception of the heavens of purity,13 all the regions of the world of desire will become deprived of the seven flavors14 and the three kinds of vitality,15 until not a trace of them remains any more. All the good discourses that lead people to emancipation will at this time disappear. The flowers and fruits that grow in the earth will become few and will lose their flavor and sweetness. The wells, springs, and ponds will all go dry, the land everywhere will turn brackish and will crack open and warp into hillocks and gullies. All the mountains will be swept by fire, and the heavenly beings and dragons will no longer send down rain. The seedlings of the crops will all wither and die, all the living plants will perish, and even the weeds will cease to grow any more. Dust will rain down until all is darkness and the sun and moon no longer shed their light.
“All the four directions will be afflicted by drought, and evil omens will appear again and again. The ten evil acts will increase greatly, particularly greed, anger, and foolishness, and people will think no more of their fathers and mothers than does the roe deer.16 Living beings will decline in numbers, in longevity, physical strength, dignity, and enjoyment. They will become estranged from the delights of the human and heavenly realms, and all will fall into the paths of evil. The wicked rulers and monks who perform these ten evil acts will curse and destroy my correct teaching and make it difficult for those in the human and heavenly realms to stay there. At that time the benevolent deities and heavenly kings, who would ordinarily take pity on living beings, will abandon this impure and evil nation, and all will make their way to other regions.”
The Benevolent Kings Sutra states: “When a nation becomes disordered, it is the spirits that first show signs of rampancy. Because the spirits become rampant, all the people of the nation become disordered. Invaders come to plunder the country, and the common people face annihilation. The ruler, the high ministers, the crown prince, the other princes, and the hundred officials all quarrel with one another over right and wrong. Heaven and earth manifest prodigies and strange occurrences; the twenty-eight constellations, the stars, and the sun and moon appear at irregular times and in irregular positions; and numerous outlaws rise up.”
p.9The same sutra also states: “Now when I use the five types of vision to clearly perceive the three existences, I see that in their past existences all the rulers served five hundred Buddhas, and that is the reason that they were able to become emperors and sovereigns. And that also is the reason that all the various sages and arhats are born in their nations and bring great benefits. But if a time should come when the good fortune of these rulers runs out, then all the sages will abandon them and depart. Once the sages have departed, then the seven disasters are certain to arise.”
cont...
The Medicine Master Sutra states: “If disasters and calamities should befall members of the ruling Kshatriya class and anointed kings,17 such disasters will be as follows: the calamity of disease and pestilence among the populace; the calamity of invasion from foreign lands; the calamity of revolt within one’s own domain; the calamity of irregularities and strange occurrences among the stars and constellations; the calamity of eclipses of the sun and moon; the calamity of unseasonable wind and rain; and the calamity of rain that fails to fall even when the season for it has come and gone.”
DeleteIn the Benevolent Kings Sutra [the Buddha addresses King Prasenajit with these words]: “Great King, the region where my teachings now hold sway consists of one billion Sumeru worlds with one billion suns and moons. Each of these Sumeru worlds comprises four continents. In the southern continent of Jambudvīpa, there are sixteen great states, five hundred middle-sized states, and ten thousand small states. In these states, seven types of fearful disasters may occur. All the rulers of these states agree that these are indeed disasters. What, then, are these disasters?
“When the sun and moon depart from their regular courses, when the seasons come in the wrong order, when a red sun or a black sun appears, when two, three, four, or five suns appear at the same time, when the sun is eclipsed and loses its light, or when one, two, three, four, or five coronas appear around the sun, this is the first disaster.
“When the twenty-eight constellations do not move in their regular courses, when the Metal Star,18 the Broom Star, the Wheel Star, the Demon Star, the Fire Star, the Water Star, the Wind Star, the Ladle Star, the Southern Dipper, the Northern Dipper, the great stars of the Five Garrisons, and all the many stars that govern the ruler, the three high ministers, and the hundred officials—when each of these stars manifests some peculiar behavior, this is the second disaster.
“When huge fires consume the nation, and the people are all burned to death, or when there are outbreaks of demon fire, dragon fire, heavenly fire, mountain god fire, human fire, tree fire, or bandit fire19—when these prodigies appear, this is the third disaster.
cont...
Delete“When huge floods drown the population; when the seasons come out of order and there is rain in winter, snow in summer, thunder and lightning in winter, and ice, frost, and hail in the sixth month;20 when red, black, or green rain falls; when mountains of dirt and stones come raining down, or when it rains dust, sand, or gravel; when the rivers and streams run backward; when mountains are afloat and boulders are washed away—when freakish happenings of this kind occur, this is the fourth disaster.
“When huge winds blow the people to their death, and the lands, the mountains and rivers, and the trees and forests are all at one time wiped out; when great winds come out of season, or when black winds, red winds, green winds, heavenly winds, earthly winds, fire winds, and water p.10winds blow21—when prodigies of this kind occur, this is the fifth disaster.
“When heaven and earth and the whole country are stricken by terrible heat so that the air seems to be on fire, when the hundred plants wither and the five kinds of grain fail to ripen, when the earth is red and scorched and the inhabitants all perish—when prodigies of this kind occur, this is the sixth disaster.
“When enemies rise up on all four sides and invade the nation, when rebels appear in the capital and the outlying regions, when there are fire bandits, water bandits, wind bandits, and demon bandits,23 and the population is subjected to devastation and disorder, and fighting and plundering break out everywhere—when prodigies of this type occur, this is the seventh disaster.”
The Great Collection Sutra says: “Though for countless existences in the past the ruler of a state may have practiced the giving of alms, observed the precepts, and cultivated wisdom, if he sees that my teaching is in danger of perishing and stands idly by without doing anything to protect it, then all the inestimable roots of goodness that he has planted through the practices just mentioned will be entirely wiped out, and his country will become the scene of three inauspicious occurrences. The first is high grain prices, the second is warfare, and the third is epidemics. All the benevolent deities will abandon the country, and although the ruler may issue commands, the people will not obey them. The country will constantly be invaded and vexed by neighboring nations. Violent fires will rage out of control, fierce winds and rains will abound, the waters will swell and overflow, and the inhabitants will be blown about by winds or swept away by floods. The paternal and maternal relatives of the ruler will join in plotting revolt. Before long, the ruler will fall gravely ill, and after his life has come to an end, he will be reborn in the great hell. . . . And the same fate will befall the ruler’s consort, his heir, the high ministers of the state, the lords of cities, the village heads and generals, the magistrates of districts, and the other officials.”
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. Therefore, throughout the empire these days people are inclined to turn away from the Buddhas and the sutras, and no longer endeavor to protect them. Because of this, the benevolent deities and sages abandon the nation and leave their accustomed places. As a result, demons and evil spirits24 bring about disasters and cause calamities.
Let it be known that one sentence on the un-fathomability of karma does not a doctrine make [when there are dozens of references to the five types of vision in the Lotus Sutra and teachings of Nichiren].
Delete2) What is being destroyed, that you are devoting your life to save? True Buddhism -- right? which, by your own admission, has NOT been taught or propagated correctly within the two largest Nichiren Buddhism organizations in the world. Who, amongst your audience, or intended audience knows the gravity of the offenses you site Ikeda, Nikken et al for, committing?-- in terms of the significance of distorting --what? Teachings that have been forged, co-opted, distorted--etc... In this sense, you are fear mongering to in concert your own personal understanding and faith. It seems that you have lost the passion and the compassion to teach-- which was the life's work of both Shakyamuni and Nichiren very clearly depicted as their capacity to connect with *the people* -- evidenced by their understanding of their hearts and minds-- they were not pontificating lecturers who had lost the capacity to relate to the sufferings of all living beings.
ReplyDelete3) When you quote from Nichiren's writings, the Lotus Sutra or sources Nichiren relied upon, you often ascribe their *exact* observations and insights of pertinent historical events to what we are witnessing, although many *specific* details are different. While the principles are universal and unchanging, the people and events are different--. Instead of applying the principles meaningfully to contemporary leaders and their followers, you are identifying what is *specific* to our culture and our lives as no different from the characters, leaders, followers, detractors and destroyers known to Nichiren and Shalyamuni. Justifying an attack on someone's opinion with the exact words used to explain Nichiren's rebukes of someone we will never know. You expose the errors of SGI leaders and anyone whose views are heretical -- treating that person as though you are Nichiren and he/she is "a renegade disciple". Nichiren and Shakyamuni were specific- showing they knew what they knew-- You are co-opting their demeanor, quoting their admonitions -- out of context, when you simply debate or rebuke using their words.
4)The cultural context in which the teachings of Nichiren and Shakyamuni are expounded is more diversified due mainly to the venues for communication--, specifically, the internet. Life to life-- face to face transmission of the teachings is ALL the Buddha and Nichiren employed. It is reasonable to believe they envisioned their disciples employing the same mode of transmission--taking the same care to convey the principles -- which I do believe is possible -- WHEN the audience is conceptualized in terms of its connection to, and awareness of Buddhism. Loose comparisons -- Ikeda and Devadatta-- for example are not meaningful-- WHO has as close a relationship to Ikeda as Shakyamuni had to Devadatta--amongst those who are denouncing and condemning Ikeda??
~Katie
Things are ten million billion times worse regarding True Buddhism and the world today than it was in the Daishonin's day. Anger, avarice and stupidity are endemic. Nichiren is no longer around to correct those who distort and alter his teachings. We have nuclear Weaons which can destroy the entire human race in hours or mintes. You would be better attacking these slanderers than coming here and rebuking me, a votary of the Lotus Sutra and teacher Nichiren.
DeleteI do challenge slanderers who cause misery for people in our society, to the best of my ability--. It cost me my nursing career,. Additionally, I have a *no trespass* order issued by Harvard affiliated Childrens Hospital Boston-- for supporting the family of Justina Pelletier. I was not intimidated in the least, continuing my support in the media -all based on faith , study and daimoku.
DeleteI agree that anger, avarice and stupidity are endemic, all the more reason to continue to strive to express the truth from the higher worlds of bodhisattva and buddhahood. --
I will consider your warning in terms of whether I should participate on this site, where I risk being the first person you ever banned from your site for -- ???
~Katie
For being disrespectful to several of the participants of this blog and asserting and retaining SGI's false narrative about priests [that they are all evil and unworthy of consideration or distinction].
DeleteMark,
DeleteI am new to this site, but I have spent several hours reading posts from your archives. I assumed that challenging the points made by others see and their positions was the norm. I've been challenged here as well-- and did not note your taking issue with the name calling, insults that wee directed at me?? In any case, I have not resorted to personal attacks, I respond to what is written. In any case, without specific information regarding this accusation of my disrespecting "several other participants", I cannot reflect and address the matters.
RE: SGI's false narrative about priests. I was informed of NSA's *new view* of NST priests as *evil* in 1991, after the split, at a district level meeting. The senior leader who conducted the "briefing" declined to answer my questions. I left NSA and joined NST.
My return to SGI in 1993 involved receiving guidance from reformed priest, Mr. Yamamoto - . I was quite moved by his selfless spirit, coming to America on his own. The session lasted well over an hour. Thanks to a YMD, acting as translator, I learned that this priest had left NST after viewing the body of a deceased fellow priest. Mr. Yamamoto described his own agonizing ordeal, being conflicted about the True teaching. He confessed he had even become suicidal. Finally, he sought out Pres. Ikeda, and determined that the spirit to give one's all for the sake of even one member was the Daishonin's spirit- and that the SGI was truly following the correct path.
Suffice it to say, that I've looked at "false narratives" from both sides now-- It was Nichiren's writings that I sought refuge in, and it is only his writings that I fully trust.
I have not said "all priests are evil and unworthy of consideration"--. I expressed gratitude for the priests who exposed forgeries, etc. Whatever distinction any achieve is not a matter for me to decide, nor do preach doctrine to debunk or condone the personal decisions others make with regard to priests- in a general or a specific sense.
I speak only for myself, referencing my practice with quotes from Nichiren's writings that have helped me cross many seas of suffering.
~Katie
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DeleteYeah right Katie sure thing if we tell ourselves a lie many times we start to believe in it
DeleteEnough Noel. Lets reset and gently practice the Lotus Sutra among each other.
Deletesave it for those more deserving, I agree I've had enough I'm ready to bury the hatchet but its not always easy as you know when someone or something gets under your skin, look at Nichiren for example the anger that he had for the enemies of the Lotus Sutra beggars belief. Time for infinite compassion that extends all the way to the upper reaches of NST and SGI or is that going a tab too far
DeleteI think we are demonstrating and showing them infinite compassion by pointing out their faults.
DeleteYes what you say can be verified by scripture in showing them their faults and in doing so we are their best friends which I think also maybe scriptural and hopefully not an arbitrary comment.
DeleteAnd if this is correct the same applies to participants on this blog by criticising one another we are showing our infinite compassion providing that we are correct, if not it would surmount to slander
i think we have to tread a thin line when and whom to berate:
Delete“In past times the world was honest, people were upright, and there were no erroneous teachings or erroneous doctrines. Therefore, one could behave in a proper manner and carry out one’s religious practices peacefully and amicably. There was no need to take up staves and berate others, no occasion to attack erroneous teachings.
But the present age is a defiled one. Because the minds of people are warped and twisted, and provisional teachings and slander alone abound, the correct teaching cannot prevail. In times like these, it is useless to practice the reading, reciting, and copying [of the Lotus Sutra] or to devote oneself to the methods and practices of meditation. One should practice only the shakubuku method of propagation, and if one has the capacity, use one’s influence and authority to destroy slander of the correct teaching, and one’s knowledge of the teachings to refute erroneous doctrines."
Daisaku Ikeda certainly is fair game. Not so sure Shinkei, Noel, Katie, Greg, or I, for example.
DeleteMudpie too.
DeleteAddendum for clarification: "relationship to Ikeda as Shakyamuni had to Devadatta--amongst those who are denouncing and condemning Ikeda??"
ReplyDeleteI am specifically referring to the same language, manner of berating that Shakyamuni employed toward Devadatta--in the context of the close affiliation that existed between these two historical Buddhist teachers.
I am not suggesting that Ikeda is above reproach for any reason, nor that his distortion of the teachings should not be denounced strongly and completely. --
~Katie
All right Katie, how many people have you convinced to convert from SGI and to embrace Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism? If it is not in the dozens, at least, or possibly the hundreds, then I suggest you cease your criticism of my posts, even my posts about mentor's chaw.
ReplyDeleteMark, I have a reputation within SGI USA that is well known -- to the Top National Leaders. I have been outspoken from the beginning of my practice, and only more direct and more explicit in my criticism with each passing year. My closest friend remains in SGI as a Region leader-- she will not include my name on the dl list when sharing any communication within SGI , she claims:"I could lose my position for being associated with you."-- I feel great pity for her, and continue to send her information about SGI-- . The loss of this friend has been painful... and so it goes with a few people here in Boston who avoid me solely because I do not remain silent and they worry about their faith being corrupted-- because this is how I am portrayed by *their* leaders.
DeleteI have been teaching others to chant for years-- never introducing them to SGI. Only 2 people received Gohonzon from me before the split. One returned his (1992), the other, my best friend, gave me her Nichikan no-honzon to burn just recently. There is no one else, I am personally responsible for practicing in SGI or NST-.
Are *numbers* most important? That was one of my earliest criticisms of the NSA narrative. Recently in the "Mentor Madness" post a YMD was boasting about 122 Gohonzon referrals in Chicago- Those are the numbers that keep me up at night.
~Katie
Correction: "received Gohonzon, sponsored by me"
ReplyDelete" 122 Gohonzon (Nichikan) conferrals "
~Katie
yeah, they don't like me either, and for sure they don't care much for mark. good work katie. regarding sgi, most people just slink away without saying much, or find a comfortable niche somewhere in order to maintain their friendships and attachments. its very tough trying to have a correct faith and practice. obstacles will surely arise. nobody's perfect. hang in there.
ReplyDelete