Alan now, after 7 years, claims I sent him a damaged Gohonzon. However, until now he never mentioned that it was damaged. BTW, he had the Nichiren Shoshu priests burn it and now he is with the Soka Gakkai. How confused is he?
Monday, May 29, 2017
Do not be sorry you don't lead an easy life, it is the path to Buddhahood.
One of the problems is that we lack imagination. Buddha's and Nichiren's lives were extremely hard but the SGI and others talk about a relatively easy life devoid of the privations of Buddha and Nichiren. In order to attain Buddhahood, thanks to the workings of the Law and the compassion and mercy of the Buddha, we are assailed with difficulties from day one so we can challenge and overcome them through the power of faith, practice, the power of the Law, and the power of the Buddha. Have you ever been really ill at night, a high fever or severe pain. The night seems to last forever but really it is only eight or ten hours and when the sun comes up, we usually feel much better and regain a sense of hope. Think of travelers to the New World caught in a monster storm that seems to never end. As long as they stay focused, protect the ship and protect their comrades and the captain, eventually the storm abates and calm seas prevail [until the next storm]. The Storms of the Buddha are called the Nine Great Persecutions and the storms of Nichiren are called the Five Great Persecutions. Minor difficulties that we would find oppressive and probably through which we could not even survive, eating snow, putrid rice gruel, grass, roots, and bracken, being spit upon by men, women, and children, having to run for our lives and being attacked by crazed warriors, were too numerous to mention. Do not be sorry you don't lead an easy life, it is the path to Buddhahood.
Soka Gakkai's French Connection
Soka Gakkai's French Connection
Japan Times Weekly
Nov. 4, 1995
A strange thing happened at Fumihiro Joyu's first press conference at the Foreign correspondents' Club of Japan. A sleight-of-hand trick was performed in front of dozens of news cameras, and clearly, many people in the Japanese media were pretending not to notice.
Why did Joyu, the media spokeman of Aura Shinrinkyo, meet the foreign press April 4? Because he knew that the Japanese media would never report the evidence that he was prepared to present.
What Joyu claimed -- and what was recorded on videotape by major networks -- is that Aum's "self-defense" squads, which have been accused of various kidnappings and murders, were trained and organized by former members of the Soka Gakkai using methods developed by SG's own security forces.
Joyu identified 27 Aum self-defense personnel as former Soka Gakkai members, and charged that many of these individuals mysteriously disappeared after the Sakamoto and Kariya kidnappings and before the subway gassing. One member of Aum's self-defense team described his training in strong-arm tactics in Soka Gakkai, and claimed that identical techniques were used in Aum.
These revelations could still have a direct bearing on the puzzling series of violent crimes attributed to Aum. So why haven't they broadcast or reported by the print media?
Because, at the close of the press conference, a foreign male, posing as a Frenchman, claimed to have taken photographs that proved No. 7 Satyam was an operating chemical-weapons plant. The next part of his act was to accuse Joyu of lying. An investigation by the Weekly has shown that the cameraman was not French as he claimed to the Japanese media. The Embassy of Italy confirmed that he is an Italian citizen. A call to his talent agency revealed that he also worked as an advertising model for a major department store's menswear department a year before appearing as a dancer in a recent malt liquor commercial.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police categorically asserted that it was not physically possible for any photographer, much less a foreign one, to have taken the photos as claimed. The building's perimeter was heavily guarded, according to a police spokesman, and access was restricted to investigative officers.
An inquiry with district prosecutors indicated that any violation of restricted areas under police investigation constitutes a criminal offense (as well as grounds for deportation). So as not to further incriminate this individual, the Weekly is not releasing his name. (Several American and European journalists in Tokyo have also complained that they have been professionally slandered by this same person.)
What about the photos? The police are investigating their source. Why did this Italian poseur claim to be a Frenchman? According to European journalists, his past associations -- which provided journalistic legitimacy to his media activities in Tokyo -- were with Paris-based publications. Though his photos have also appeared in some Japanese magazines, his first major French association was with a Paris-based weekly magazine called VSD. What does VSD have to do with Soka Gakkai?
The acronym VSD, (pronounced vah-ess-day), which stands for Vendredi-Saraedi-Dimanche (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), is a racy scandal magazine (with an unusually large volume of stories on Japan) published by a Paris-based media group. In August. it was revealed that the VSD general director, Jean-Pierre Canat, is a high-level official of Soka Gakkai International France, and that the media group's companies have been used by the sect to penetrate French political circles.
The charges, published in the weekly L'Evenement du Jeudi, go much further: They allege that Canat may be linked to a break-in and eavesdropping at the EDJ offices, and that France's counterintelligence service suspects Soka Gakkai of having been engaged in espionage.
In an article titled Ombre Japonaise (Japanese Shadow), EDJ investigative reporter Serge Faubert explained that four auditors are currently reviewing the invoices of VSD to untangle Canat's web of financial dealings. When questioned by Faubert, the VSD president- general director, Francois Siegal, claimed the audit was ordered because Canat had led a high-flying lifestyle and became mired in debt. But it appears that the probe is being driven by France's counterintelligence service. It should be noted that the Aug. 17-23 issue in which Faubert's article appeared, and an earlier one exposing SGI-F, have mysteriously disappeared from the few Japanese libraries that stock French periodicals. The Weekly obtained a copy overseas.
The spying charges against Soka Gakkai International France, which claims 152000 members, were further detailed in a recent issue of the Shukan Bunshun. Quoting the newspaper Le Parisien, it reported that a secret network of Soka Gakkai operatives allegedly infiltrated the Mitsubishi group offices in Paris, which were used as cover for intelligence operations. It did not specify whether the secret agents were corporate employees sent from Japan or local hires, or a combination of both.
According to Le Parisien, the sect also tried to purchase a site next to one of France's most sensitive nuclear-research facilities. According to the Bunshun, the sect's spying had the support of Japan's diplomatic corps, specifically two former ambassadors of Japan to France, Akitane Kiuchi and Yoshihiro Nakayama.
In December 1992, Soka Gakkai-France pressed a libel suit against the newspaper Le Parisien in a Paris court for publishing charges that SGI-F agents had conducted nuclear spying. Nakayama filed a deposition as both an individual and a Japanese government official on behalf of the plaintiff, Soka Gakkai. He attested to its peace-loving principles and record of good works overseas.
Kiuchi, a former political secretary to the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (who was linked to Soka Gakkai donations, in the book Tanaka Kakuei: Godfather of Japan, by Hirotatsu Fujiwara), joined the Foreign Ministry, and served as ambassador to Thailand and Malaysia before his appointment as envoy to France. He filed an affidavit certifying SGI's morals in November 1992, just four months after leaving his ambassadorial post.
Le Parisian won the libel case in lower court; Soka Gakkai, aided by the government officials' affidavits, managed to have the verdict overturned at the district level. In the near future, the case will be heard by France's Supreme Court, which will likely hear new evidence from the counterintelligence probe.
The sect's boldest intiative in France, according to Faubert of EDJ, has been its penetration of the human-rights group France-Libertes, led by Danielle Mitterrand. The Mitterrand affair started in 1988, when Kiuchi served as ambassador to Paris. In that year, an EDJ investigative team was tipped by an architect who complained that she had been cheated out of first prize in an architectural contest sponsored by the Mission of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The architect charged that Jean Pierre Canat had used his position with the VSD to influence the outcome, in revenge for her past criticisms against Soka Gakkai-France.
The subsequent media investigation revealed the sect's widespread use of bilateral cultural fronts to develop links with academic and political circles. The VSD opened the gates to the Bicentennial Mission, but it was just one of many stepping-stones for Soka Gakkai to political influence in Paris.
Since the mid-1970s, Daisaku Ikeda's key contact in France was the art critic and historian Rene Huyghe. As president of the Artistic Council of National Museums. Huyghe had organized several art exchanges -- French painting ex
Florida Attorney Says Psychologist Abused Her "asked her to participate in the “Soka Gakkai International USA Inc.,"
Florida Attorney Says Psychologist Abused Her
(CN) – A South Florida attorney claims in court that she was mentally and physically abused by a psychologist who induced her to become a Buddhist and buy the doctor lavish gifts under the guise it was all part of the therapy.
In a lawsuit filed in Broward County, the plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, says that when she met Dr. Roe Clarke, the psychologist held herself out as “skilled and ethical.”
Doe claims she started her therapy sessions with Clarke in July 2013 for a previously untreated trauma from childhood sexual and physical abuse.
“Defendant diagnosed plaintiff’s condition as generalized anxiety disorder and advised plaintiff to continue weekly psychological counseling sessions and then continue sessions as frequently as four times per week,” the complaint says.
Doe says her treatment sessions included both office visits and lengthy telephone calls to Clarke’s home.
Clarke says in September 2013, Clarke asked her to participate in the “Soka Gakkai International USA Inc.,” an organization of the Japanese Buddhist religion.
Doe says Clarke made her attend Buddhist meetings and events, obligated her to be convert to SGI Buddhism, and to be part of a ceremony where Clarke became her “shakubuku mother,” who had the role of “breaking and subduing” her.
“Therapy included acts intended to break down plaintiff including plaintiff having to get on her knees before Dr. Clarke, crawl and beg for the chance to speak, being pushed and kicked by Dr. Clarke, and having objects thrown at plaintiff, having to pick up papers, and other physical abuse,” the complaint says.
Doe says that Clarke began and ended each session with a long embrace, would asked her to rub her feet, to put her to bed three nights per week, and required her to watch her bathe and shave four times per week under the allegation that she was teaching her “normal female intimacy.”
She goes on to say Clarke also made her sleep over her house several times where she would ask her to strip down her clothes and show her body.
Doe alleges Clarke twice asked her to pay for vacations in Amelia Island, Florida, where she would also conduct therapy sessions, and made her share a bed with her every night.
According to the complaint, Clarke often made Doe wash her “soiled underwear by hand,” sweep pubic hair off the bathroom and go inside the bathroom stall with her.
Doe also says that one occasion Clarke grabbed her and dug her fingernails in her skin as a punishment for not mentioning information during a therapy session.
“Dr. Clarke covered the impropriety of her actions by claiming that she was trying to break down plaintiff’s ego to make her more vulnerable and humble,” the complaint says.
Doe says in December 2013, her husband also started psychotherapy with Clarke.
From that point on, she says, Clarke often made degrading comments about Doe in front of her husband, and insulted her by calling her “stupid, an imbecile, a moron, slow, a dumb blonde, lazy and a liar.”
Doe alleges that Dr. Clarke would often made her pay for medical supplies for her office, for personal appliances, her son’s airfare for a trip to Florida, clothes, jewelry and other personal expenses and even asked her for free legal services.
Over the course of the therapy sessions, Doe says that her emotional state deteriorated but Clarke comforted her and assured her that everything was part of the therapeutic process.
Does says Clarke terminated their therapist/patient relationship in January 2016, making Doe believe that she was the one to blame.
“Dr. Clarke manipulated and controlled plaintiff, preying on her vulnerability and hiding the impropriety of her conduct under the guise of legitimate therapy,” the complaint says.
Doe seeks compensatory damages on claims of professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent supervision.
She is represented by Ronald Weil from Weil Quaranta PA in Miami, Florida.
Clarke did not respond to email and phone requests for comment on the litigation.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Buddhas as we are?
SGI member:
Pensive or melancholy feelings may arise within you as you note the hue of the clouds in the evening sky, or the pale light of the moon as night gives way to dawn. At these moments, and at any and all other times, you should think of your eternal life. Think of it in the late afternoon of a day colored by the blossoms of spring; think of it on the morning of a heavy snow fall. Remember it on an evening as you watch the winds drive tufts of clouds across the sky. An outgoing breath does not wait for the incoming one. You should not at any moment forget the Buddha’s merciful pledge, "I am always thinking of how to save all living beings." Nor should you abandon the Sutra that reads, "There is no being who cannot become a Buddha."
"Shakyamuni Buddha, our father and mother, who is endowed with the three virtues of sovereign, teacher and parent, is the very one who encourages us, the people driven out by all other Buddha, saying, "I alone can save them." The debt of gratitude we owe him is deeper than the ocean, weightier than the earth, vaster than the sky. Though we were to pluck out our two eyes and place them before him as an offering until there were more eyes there than stars in the sky, though we were to strip off our skins and spread them out by the hundreds of thousands of ten thousands until they blanketed the ceiling of heaven, though we were to give him our tears as offerings of water and present him with flowers for the space of a hundred billion kalpas, though we were to offer him our flesh and blood for innumerable kalpas, until our flesh piled up like mountains and our blood overflowed like vast seas, we could never repay a fraction of the debt we owe to this Buddha! (MW vol. 4, The Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei)
We should examine to whom the Daishonin is speaking. Yasoboru was a Nembutsu believer before taking faith in the true Buddhism. The Daishonin probably felt that he had to break Yasoboru's attachment to something [another being] outside himself for his own salvation. Another example is the teaching to Abutsubo in On the Treasure Tower. The Hoon Sho, on the other hand, is one of the Daishonin's most important works. It was entrusted to Niko with Joken, Gijo, Dozen-bo, and all mankind, the recipients of this treatise.
"But now that it has become apparent that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment countless aeons ago, then the Bodhisattvas Nikko and Gakko, who attend the Buddha Yakushi of the eastern region, the Bodhisattvas Kannon and Seishi, who attend the Buddha Amida of the western region, along with the disciples of all the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten direction and the great bodhisattvas who are disciples of the Buddha Dainichi as they are shown in the Dainichi and Kongocho sutras --- all of these beings are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Since the various Buddhas themselves are emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha, it goes without saying that their disciples must be disciples of Shakyamuni. And of course the various deities of the sun, moon and stars, who have dwelt in this world from countless ages in the past, must likewise be disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha."
"We common mortals all have dwelt in the sea of suffering since time without beginning. But now that we have become votaries of the Lotus Sutra, we WILL (certain words capitalized for emphasis) without fail become Buddhas who are enlightened to the entity of body and mind which has existed since the infinite past. We WILL reveal the unchangeable nature innate within us, as well as the mystic wisdom which enables us to realize the mystic truth. We WILL enjoy a state of life as indestructible as a diamond. THEN how can we be in any way different from the Buddha who appeared from the sea? The Lord Shakyamuni, who declared, "I alone can save them," at a time even more distant than gohyaku jintengo, is none other than each of us. This is the teaching of ichinen sanzen expounded in the Lotus Sutra . Our Behavior is a personal demonstration of "I am here always, teaching the Law." Thus we are all entities embodying the supreme teaching of the Lotus Sutra and the august life of Shakyamuni Buddha, though ordinary people never realize this. This is the meaning of the passage in the Juryo chapter, ".....the deluded people cannot see me even when I am nearby." The difference between delusion and enlightenment is like the four different views of the grove of sal trees. Let it be known that the Buddha of ichinen sanzen is anyone in any of the ten worlds who manifests his inherent Buddha nature."
"Present within our lives is the Lord Shalyamuni who obtained the three enlightened properties of life before gohyaku-jintengo, the Original Buddha since time without begining." (MW vol 1, The True Object of Worship, pg 65)
and
"The Lord Shakyamuni who declared 'I alone can save them,' at a time even more distant than gohyaku-jintengo, is none other than each of us." (MW vol 2, I2U Exile, pg 55)
So, since Shakyamuni, Nichiren and each of us are the same, then we must all be the eternal Buddha Shakyamuni. Then how can one deny that Nichiren is also the eternal, original Buddha? (And each of us too).
Reponse:
First of all, the happiest New Years to you and yours. Thank you so much for your question. I have pondered your question all day, chanted about it, and hope that I can answer it to your satisfaction.
Nichiren Daishonin stated: "If you confuse the general with the specific, even in the slightest, you will fail to attain Buddhahood."
The Daishonin states in the Gosho, Dialogue on the Way to Correctly Hold the Sublime Lotus Sutra (Ji Myo Hokke Mondo Sho)
"The Lotus Sutra teaches:
If, in the future, there should be in any world, a good son or good daughter having a pure heart and reverential belief, free from doubt, such a one shall not fall into hell or become a hungry spirit or animal, but shall be born, instead, into the presence of the Buddhas of the universe."
You should definitely understand and embrace this passage, expecting, in the next lifetime, to be born into the presence of the Buddhas.
If you find yourself at the foot of a high cliff and, unable to scale the bank, discover that someone has lowered a rope to pull you up and asks that you seize it, should you hesitate to grasp the rope because you doubt the strength of your rescuer or the security of the rope? If you refuse to take hold of the rope, how can you be lifted from the depths? If you place trust in the words of the rescuer and stretch out your hands to clasp the rope, then you may be pulled from the abyss.
So then, how can you be saved if you doubt the strength of the Buddha who declares: "I alone can save and protect you?" How can you be saved if you question the security of the rope of the Lotus Sutra that teaches: "Only with faith can you enter into Buddhahood?" The Sublime Dharma reveals that, "If you believe in, and devote yourself to this Law you will, without fail, create the destiny to become a Buddha." If you hesitate to chant the Daimoku of the Sublime Dharma, it will be impossible for you to reach the peak of the precipice of enlightenment. Those who refuse to believe this will fall into hell. Thus, the Sutra teaches: "Those who doubt and disbelieve this Sutra will fall into the evil paths."
How could you possibly spend your life in vain, after having received a human life which is so difficult to receive, after having encountered Buddhism which is so rare to encounter?
If all of your relatives depart from your native village, leaving the path to your home abandoned and overgrown, your eagerness to return there will wane. If a loved one cannot be depended upon, and refuses to make a vow together with you for the future, then your longing to see the loved one will naturally diminish.
Then why do people not visit the Pure Land of Eagle Peak, an easy place to reach, and much more wonderful than the mansions of nobility? Why do people not long to see the Buddha’s figure, who tenderly declares, "I am your Father?" This thought causes me such overwhelming grief that my heart aches within my chest and my sleeves are heavy with tears.
Pensive or melancholy feelings may arise within you as you note the hue of the clouds in the evening sky, or the pale light of the moon as night gives way to dawn. At these moments, and at any and all other times, you should think of your eternal life. Think of it in the late afternoon of a day colored by the blossoms of spring; think of it on the morning of a heavy snow fall. Remember it on an evening as you watch the winds drive tufts of clouds across the sky. An outgoing breath does not wait for the incoming one. You should not at any moment forget the Buddha’s merciful pledge, "I am always thinking of how to save all living beings." Nor should you abandon the Sutra that reads, "There is no being who cannot become a Buddha."
Yesterday became today and last year became this year, but can you be certain that you will see this year pass into the next? When we count the years that have passed since birth, we know exactly how long we have been living, but one is assured of not even one day more, nor of even a moment longer. Even with the knowledge that they may die at any moment, many people still are filled with self-conceit and stubbornly adhere to their own narrow ideas, or they foolishly waste themselves striving after fame and profit, neglecting to chant the Daimoku of the Sublime Law. It is truly lamentable that even though this Law allows anyone to realize Buddhahood, such people are unable to enter into the Buddha’s Path. How can the moon-light be reflected off the sleeve of a cold-hearted person?
As a life is nothing more than what exists in a single moment (Ichinen), the Buddha taught that it is a great benefit to believe in the Lotus Sutra and feel the joy of that belief for even a moment. If it were necessary to practice for even two or three moments to realize such joy, it would contradict the Buddha’s vow to allow all beings to enter, equally, the Buddha’s great wisdom, and therefore, it could not be the teaching to bring all beings to immediate enlightenment.
If a person is not in the seat of Eternal Tranquil Light, then any place will be full of agony. What pleasures can be enjoyed by those who are away from the home of true enlightenment?
I pray for you to cherish the Sublime Law, the Law of security in this life time and of wonderful existence in the next. Upholding the Sublime Law is the only real honor of this life time, the only genuine path guiding us into the next. Wholeheartedly chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo yourself and teach it to others. To chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the purpose of this human life and is the only support we can carry with us into the next.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Nichiren
It is a good thing not to doubt one's own power. It is a sublime thing not to doubt the power of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and the Gohonzon.
Now, let us look at the first Gosho quote you posted:
"Present within our lives is the Lord Shakyamuni who obtained the three enlightened properties of life before gohyaku-jintengo, the Original Buddha since time without beginning." (MW vol 1, The True Object of Worship, pg 65)
An alternative translation is as follows:
"...Shakyamuni Buddha, within our minds, is an ancient Buddha without beginning, manifesting Himself in three bodies he attained Buddhahood in the eternal past......(Kanjin Honzon Sho, translated by Kyotsu Hori P.94)
The Daishonin states in the Hoon Sho:
"Yet it was not I, Nichiren who made these important pronouncements. Rather it was in all cases the spirit of Shakyamuni Buddha that had entered into my body. And at having personally experienced this I am beside myself with joy." (MW vol 3, Ibid, pg 171)
In The Supremacy of the Law he states:
"When I was about to be beheaded, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni took my place." (MW vol 3, The Supremacy of the Law, pg 199).
These passages are not inconsistent with the passage you posted. When we practice correctly, the Buddha enters into our mind. The Eternal Shakyamuni entered into the minds of the Great Saints and Sages of Buddhism such as Buddhamitra, Nagarjuna, Kumarujiva, Nan Yueh, Tientai, Chang-an, Miao-le, and Saicho in order to correctly expound the Lotus Sutra. The Daishonin states in the Kanjin Honzon Sho:
"The Causal Practices and the Virtues of the Effect of Buddhahood of Lord Shakya are fully possesed in the Five characters "Myoho renge kyo." When we receive and keep these Five Characters, he spontaneously yields and cedes to us the merit of those causes and effects."(Kempon Hokke Seiten).
The second passage you posted reads:
"The Lord Shakyamuni who declared 'I alone can save them,' at a time even more distant than gohyaku-jintengo, is none other than each of us." (MW vol 2, I2U Exile, pg 55)
Let us contrast this with three passages from three other writings of Nichiren Daishonin
"Shakyamuni Buddha, our father and mother, who is endowed with the three virtues of sovereign, teacher and parent, is the very one who encourages us, the people driven out by all other Buddha, saying, "I alone can save them." The debt of gratitude we owe him is deeper than the ocean, weightier than the earth, vaster than the sky. Though we were to pluck out our two eyes and place them before him as an offering until there were more eyes there than stars in the sky, though we were to strip off our skins and spread them out by the hundreds of thousands of ten thousands until they blanketed the ceiling of heaven, though we were to give him our tears as offerings of water and present him with flowers for the space of a hundred billion kalpas, though we were to offer him our flesh and blood for innumerable kalpas, until our flesh piled up like mountains and our blood overflowed like vast seas, we could never repay a fraction of the debt we owe to this Buddha! (MW vol. 4, The Learned Doctor Shan-wu-wei)
"However, later seeking and entering the deep cave, you see a single hermitage. The voices of the reading and reciting of the Hokekyo echo against blue heaven and the words of discussing the doctrine of the One Vehicle are heard in the midst of the mountains. Informing [them, of your presence and requesting] admittance, you enter the chamber, place your mother's bones before the Master of Teachings Lord Shakya, cast your five limbs to the ground, press your palms together, and opening your two eyes, look up to the Holy Face: joy overflows your body and the pain of your heart suddenly ceases." (On Forgetting Ones Copy Of The Lotus Sutra, NOPPA Translation)
"........, I was banished to Ito in the province of Izu. Eventually, on the second day of the second month of the third year of Kocho(1263), the year with the cyclical sign mizonoto-i, I was pardoned and allowed to return. After that, I became more determined than ever to attain enlightenment and continued to speak out." (Repaying Debts of Gratitude, 1276)
The passage from the Izu exile teaches that we are the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni ourselves. Nevertheless, the Daishonin qualifies this in the Hoon Sho, where he states, "I became more determined than ever to attain enlightenment". This is not the eternal nature of the enlightenment of the Original Buddha Shakya, the teacher of the Daishonin. The other two Gosho passages also give the impression that there is a distinction between the Eternal Shakyamuni and oneself. What are we to make of these seeming contradictions?
We should examine to whom the Daishonin is speaking. Yasoboru was a Nembutsu believer before taking faith in the true Buddhism. The Daishonin probably felt that he had to break Yasoboru's attachment to something [another being] outside himself for his own salvation. Another example is the teaching to Abutsubo in On the Treasure Tower. The Hoon Sho, on the other hand, is one of the Daishonin's most important works. It was entrusted to Niko with Joken, Gijo, Dozen-bo, and all mankind, the recipients of this treatise.
I think it would be wise to keep in mind that the Daishonin's teachings and understanding continued to develop throughout his life. Early on, before Tatsunokuchi and Sado. Nichiren Daishonin more fully embraced the principles of Original Enlightenment, that we are all Buddhas endowed with the Three Properties of the Buddha's life. Later, after Tatsunokuchi and during the Sado exile, he realized that it was only due to the Original Teacher, the Eternal Lord Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment, that we can experience the boundless joy and benefit of the Lotus Sutra. For example, in the Opening of the Eyes we read,
"But now that it has become apparent that Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment countless aeons ago, then the Bodhisattvas Nikko and Gakko, who attend the Buddha Yakushi of the eastern region, the Bodhisattvas Kannon and Seishi, who attend the Buddha Amida of the western region, along with the disciples of all the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten direction and the great bodhisattvas who are disciples of the Buddha Dainichi as they are shown in the Dainichi and Kongocho sutras --- all of these beings are disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Since the various Buddhas themselves are emanations of Shakyamuni Buddha, it goes without saying that their disciples must be disciples of Shakyamuni. And of course the various deities of the sun, moon and stars, who have dwelt in this world from countless ages in the past, must likewise be disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha."
Lastly, let us look carefully at the entire paragraph of the passage that you cite:
"We common mortals all have dwelt in the sea of suffering since time without beginning. But now that we have become votaries of the Lotus Sutra, we WILL (certain words capitalized for emphasis) without fail become Buddhas who are enlightened to the entity of body and mind which has existed since the infinite past. We WILL reveal the unchangeable nature innate within us, as well as the mystic wisdom which enables us to realize the mystic truth. We WILL enjoy a state of life as indestructible as a diamond. THEN how can we be in any way different from the Buddha who appeared from the sea? The Lord Shakyamuni, who declared, "I alone can save them," at a time even more distant than gohyaku jintengo, is none other than each of us. This is the teaching of ichinen sanzen expounded in the Lotus Sutra . Our Behavior is a personal demonstration of "I am here always, teaching the Law." Thus we are all entities embodying the supreme teaching of the Lotus Sutra and the august life of Shakyamuni Buddha, though ordinary people never realize this. This is the meaning of the passage in the Juryo chapter, ".....the deluded people cannot see me even when I am nearby." The difference between delusion and enlightenment is like the four different views of the grove of sal trees. Let it be known that the Buddha of ichinen sanzen is anyone in any of the ten worlds who manifests his inherent Buddha nature."
We see in this long paragraph that the Daishonin teaches that we will attain Buddhahood in the future. He then goes on to delineate who will go on to attain Buddhahood; those who embody the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and the "august life of Shakyamuni Buddha" will go on to attain Buddhahood. This excludes the SGI and NST members who have abandoned the Lotus Sutra and Lord Shakyamuni. He then goes on to restate his teachings of the difference between a Buddha and a common mortal; the common mortal is deluded while a Buddha is enlightened. He concludes this paragraph defining Buddha, " Let it be known that the Buddha of ichinen sanzen is anyone in any of the ten worlds who manifests his inherent Buddha nature."
Taking the paragraph in its entirety we must conclude that those who embrace the Lotus Sutra and embody the life of Shakyamuni Buddha will without fail reach the seat of enlightenment in the future.
Taking the paragraph in its entirety we must conclude that those who embrace the Lotus Sutra and embody the life of Shakyamuni Buddha will without fail reach the seat of enlightenment in the future.
The snippet you cite, can only be understood correctly taken in light of the above paragraph, the entire Izu Gosho, the Five Major Works and the entire body of the Daishonin's teachings (keeping in mind the question of the accuracy of the NSIC translation and remembering that this Gosho falls into the pre-Tatsunokuchi teachings). "A common mortal is a Buddha, and a Buddha a common mortal" when and only when certain criteria are met: Embodying the Lotus Sutra and Lord Shakyamuni and manifesting one's inherent Buddhahood completely (is no longer deluded). To interpret the Daishonin's teachings to mean that we are the Buddha just as we are is irrational, egotistical, and simplistic. If we look at the Fukyo chapter of the Lotus Sutra which the Daishonin embodied, we read, "I dare not slight you, because you are all to become Buddhas." No where, not in one place, does the Lotus Sutra state you are Buddhas just as you are. SGI doctrines are distorted and lead to delusion.
Those like the Soka Gakkai, the Nichitrn Shoshu, and the Nichiren Shu.
SGI has accused us of being fundamentalists and they liken us to Devedatta, the enemy of the Buddha and "lover of rules". The reality is that we, the disciples and believers of Nichiren, neither love rules nor hate them. In all matters both secular and religious we adopt the Middle Way. However, we will never compromise regarding the lies and hypocrisy of those who distort the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin for their own self-serving interests, those like the Soka Gakkai, the Nichiten Shoshu, and the Nichiren Shu.
I suggest a loosely structured organization of equals.
"Although in the end I found it hard to accept the structures of any organisation and ever since the mid 90s my practice has largely been solitary." -- John
The current Nichiren Buddhist organizations are based on ego, power, and the World of Anger. This is similar to most governments. Nichiren, on the other hand, advocated a type of "theocracy". Yet, paradoxically, he taught us to follow any and all with even slightly more wisdom than ourselves. However, there are no Wheel Turning Kings* at present and we are all steeped in the Three Poisons. Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain who possesses more wisdom than we ourselves. Equally, the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren speak of good friends in the Dharma all being equal and a necessary condition for us to attain Buddhahood.
The bottom line is, we can only be certain that Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin have more wisdom than us. Therefore, it is only safe taking them as teachers. It is best to look at all others who practice the Sublime Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra as good friends. This obviates both a restrictive faith and allows for a loosely structured organization of equals.
*An ideal Buddhist ruler capable of spreading and protecting the Buddha's teachings.
I think I am on verge of leaving SGI…Can see the day coming….
by: Anonymous
I have been practicing for last 12 years and have been into the state of delusion now. Have seen the best and worst of it. Its not Buddhism any more. Its Ikedism and I cannot see Mr Ikeda as God…I agree its a parade of cameras and suits. I am working as block leaders and have seen leaders bitching about members, manipulating them and making sure to make their life hell if one does not agree. Have seen throwing out members on one pretext or another. Have heard them saying members happiness is not their concern.
Dont agree with this bullshit. My point is if this is Ikedism teachings, I dont want to be part of that. Where is compassion for the members. Also, none of the Buddhist concepts are taught. Just read about how Toda and Ikeda struggle for the Kosen Rufu…
I am not sure if people do understand the meaning of kosen rufu…I have seen members suffering and leaders avoid them because they have their own problem to cater to…
Also, there is no disclosure of the financial contribution….If one does not contribute, you are discarded….
I think I am on verge of leaving SGI…Can see the day coming….
It will not matter that the foundation of the Ikeda Hall of the Great Vow of Kosen Rufu is laid thirty-six meters underground
Since the faith of Soka Gakkai believers are weak and their minds warped and slanderous, the gods failed to protect their so-called "temple for the ten thousand years and more of the Latter Day of the Law [Sho Hondo]". A similar fate will befall the Ikeda Hall of the Great Vow of Kosen Rufu.
ISLAM…
Originally posted on the Infidel Bloggers Alliance.
ISLAM…
1. Is a mind-control and information-control cult founded by an assassin, torturer, pirate, rapist and pedophile called Mohammed. The mind-control and information-control aspects require that all criticism of Islam be silenced and cult members follow its leaders blindly (called “taqlid”). Without taqlid (blind following), the cult would swiftly be exposed and the franchise would come to an end. One million mullahs would lose their monopoly on “the Truth” and their thought-control jobs. Hence, most of what mullahs do is to control and suppress bad news about Islam.
2. Is Mohammed’s personality cult. It has no foundations other than Mohammed’s murderous rantings (in the Koran and Hadiths). The Koran consists of two conflicting parts – Meccan and Medinan (peaceful and violent respectively). The Medinan material supersedes (or ‘abrogates’) the Meccan stuff. Muslims act Medinan, but they quote gentler Meccan verses to the gullible infidels. Muslims say that Allaah has no partners, yet they have made Mohammed into a golden idol they worship as though he were a god, even to the point of saying he is present everywhere on earth through his “noor” (light).. Everything about Mohammed is beyond criticism under threat of decapitation, torture or fire-bombing.
3. Claims to worship the same God as Christians and Jews, but in fact worships Allah – a demonic channelling of the pagan Arabian moon-god through Mohammed’s toxic narcissistic personality disorder. The Death Cult mixes garbled versions of Christian and Jewish scriptures with pagan practices such as moon and meteorite-worship, and cut-throat blood sacrifice of animals and non-believers. Islam is the only religion that institutionalizes beheading, crucifixion, torture, and genocide.
4. Has no rational, philosophical or theological basis, and the whole belief-system is contradicted by science, philosophy, common sense, human decency, and astonishing internal inconsistency.
5. Cannot withstand rational criticism, scientific examination or forensic inquiry. Islam can only spread and maintain itself by ignorance, illiteracy, war, terrorism, and intimidation. Islam has bloody borders and cannot co-exist peacefully with other belief systems. Winston Churchill said that Islam in a man is as dangerous as hydrophobia (rabies) in a dog. Islam demands obedience and blind following, and forbids itself to be tested.
6. Has a superstitious dread of images of pigs, crosses, Buddhas, Saint George (and his flag), teddy bears, and of course Mo-toons.
7. Regards Islamic women as semihuman. Wife-beating, incest and child abuse (including mufa’khathat or ‘thighing’ – the ritual abuse of infants) are encouraged and almost never punished.
8. Regards all unbelievers (Kaffirs, Kuffar, Kufrs, Kafirs) as ritually unclean subhumans to be killed, subjugated, enslaved, exploited, or parasitized. Kafirs are described by the Arabic word ‘najis’ – literally ‘filth’. That’s why Muslim hatred of Kafirs is intrinsic to their religion. A Kafir doesn’t need to do anything to offend a Muslim; his very existence is already enough of an affront. Every Muslim believes a kafir should know his place.
9. Possesses an ethical system that applies only to Muslims. Allah endorses rape, pillage, extortion, torture and enslavement of non-Muslims. Morality does not extend beyond the global gang (ummah). There is no Golden Rule anywhere in Islam. Muslim ethics are, thus, similar to the ethics of the Mafia. (Murdering a non-Moslem is not a capital offence, but only a misdemeanour.) Because of Sharia law, rape is almost impossible to prove. And an infidel cannot testify against a Muslim.
10. Has followers who are motivated by hatred, greed and lust. There is no love, mercy or compassion. Allah is vindictive, unpredictable, capricious and devious – Allah is The Best of Schemers.
11. Is the only religion NOT founded upon The Golden Rule. Morality is based on Mohammed’s example. If Mohammed did it, then it is approved for all Muslims. Hence the encouragement of rape, pillage, enslavement, subjugation and murder of non-believers and the institutionalised pedophilia (child marriage at any age) prevalent throughout Muslim society- justified by Mohammed’s activities with Ayesha, his child sex-slave.
12. Defines all human relations by paradigm of dominance vs. submission. Muslims have schizoid inferiority/superiority complexes. (A well-balanced Muslim is one with a chip on each shoulder). They respect strength but despise compromise as weakness. Appeasement invites more aggression. The only political system which has been strong enough to subjugate Islam is Stalinism.
13. Establishes and legitimizes polygamy, which ensures alpha-males get extra women, leading to a shortage of women for the betas. For sexual relief, beta-males must either masturbate (a sin that puts a Muslim in hell), or form dog-packs and rape or capture kafir women as booty in a razzia, or else self-immolate in the presence of infidels so they may collect 72 mythical virgins in Allah’s playboy-mansion-in-the-sky. (Islam’s harebrained paradise is sophomoric, absurd and ludicrous. It appeals to youthful warriors under the age of 25!) Young Muslim beta-males are often encouraged by their relatives to become suicide bombers because of their belief that such murdering ‘martyrs’ will be able to intercede with Allah and take 70 of their relatives to paradise with them! Family benefits from suicide-murders!
14. Encourages lying and the deception of infidels (taqiyya). This may take many forms, including outright lies, feigned moderation, and condemnation of terrorist attacks to the Kaffir while rejoicing over the same with fellow Muslims. Muslims often tend to regard themselves as victims of some group of Kafirs so they can harbor grudges against them and against Kafirs in general. Allah is The Best of Schemers.
Individual Muslims may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and must be considered potential killers blindly obeying their leaders who can flip in an instant (SJS -’Sudden Jihad Syndrome’).
15. Forbids befriending kafirs except for purposes of deceit or where conversion of the kafir may be possible.
16. Purports to have a ‘holy book’, the Koran, that is Allah’s final word, and cannot be changed or challenged. To do so is punishable by death. Consequently, the Death Cult can never change or be reformed. The instructions to murder and rape infidels are just as valid now as the day they were written. Rape was traditionally used as a means of ethnic cleansing.
Since Islam cannot be modernised, the Muslims are attempting to Islamise modernity. This requires spreading Islam in the West and simultaneously preventing any criticism of the cult by intimidation and PC legislation to curtail freedom of expression.
17. Regards treaties and agreements with Kaffirs as meaningless, and are made to be broken (Hudna). The word of a Muslim to a Kafir counts for nothing in the eyes of Allah. “Allah leads astray whom he pleases”.
18. Divides the world between Dar-al-Islam (the Islamic Realm) and Dar-al-Harb (the domain of war, the Kufr lands). Muslims living in Dar-al-Harb must work to disrupt their host nations until these can be brought into Dar-al-Islam.
19. Encourages Muslims to parasitize their host nations. In fact, Muslims have no obligation to their host nations. Any free nation is considered “the Enemy” (The Great Satan is USA). Welfare fraud, identity theft, forgery etc. are endemic in Western Muslim populations, and serious crime against Kaffirs is regarded as normal and justified. Extortion rackets against Kafirs are mandated by the Koran (’jizya’ is the Arabic term for ‘protection money’ payable by Jews and Christians to Muslims under threat of death).
20. Is a complete system, including a culture, which Muslims regard as superior to other cultures (despite all evidence to the contrary…where are the operas, the ballets, the oratorios, the inspiring novels and films?) Jihadist attacks on their host nations aren’t just against its religion and economy, but are aimed at its very cultural identity. Muslims are therefore required to destroy the symbols of non-Muslim culture…’Jahiliya’ (sometimes spelled ‘Jahiliyya’)-. In the East, this has included destruction of Hindu temples and Christian churches and replacement with mosques, and destruction of Buddhist artwork, temples, and universities and replacement with heaps of rubble. This process of cultural replacement is now beginning in the West. In addition, the rape of kafir women by Muslim men is a way of proving to host nations that their women are all whores and don’t deserve to be respected. The old “blaming the victim” ploy. The Muslim headscarf is a means of segregating girls from the culture of the host country.
When I point out that the SGI teachings are not the Buddha's teachings, they refuse to believe or heed me.
"Nowadays there are few people who are guilty of the five cardinal sins, but a great many who commit the ten evil acts. Sometimes you may find a person who, concerned about his next existence, is careful not to commit any of the ten evil acts and to act as a good person. But because of some quite natural error of ignorance, the person, though good in word and deed, in his heart believes in an evil teacher. Not only does that person himself put faith in the erroneous doctrines expounded by such a teacher, but he incites the rulers of the nation and the common people to embrace these same doctrines, or he persuades his wife and children, his followers, and members of his household to carry out the same religious practices that he does. Thus he prevents them from forming any ties with persons who would instruct them in the correct teaching, and keeps the common people and those related to him from experiencing a mind that responds with joy to that teaching. As a result, both he himself and others become slanderers of the Law, and those who would appear to be practicing good and putting aside evil in fact quite naturally end by committing deeds that lead to rebirth in the Avīchi hell. Cases of this kind are rife in this Latter Day of the Law.
The Venerable Ānanda was a nephew of King Shuddhodana and the son and prince of King Dronodana. He was a younger brother ofDevadatta and a cousin of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni. He served the Thus Come One for twenty years, attained the mind-perceiving meditation, and understood all the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime. After the Buddha entered extinction, King Ajātashatru became a convert to Buddhism under Ānanda’s direction.
Forty years after the Buddha’s entry into extinction, the Venerable Ānanda was passing through a bamboo grove when he came upon a monk who was reciting a verse of the teaching that went, “Though one be born a human being and live a hundred years, if one has not observed how the waters overflow and dry up, one cannot compare to a person who has lived only one day but has seen these things.”
When Ānanda heard this verse, he said to the monk, “This is not the Buddha’s teaching. You should not be practicing this.”
The monk then asked Ānanda, “What is the Buddha’s teaching?”
Ānanda replied, “‘Though one be born a human being and live a hundred years, if one has not understood the Law of birth and extinction, one cannot compare to a person who has lived only one day but has fully understood that Law.’ This is the Buddha’s teaching. The verse that you were reciting is mistaken in its wording.”
At that time the monk took the verse he had learned from Ānanda to the monk who had taught him originally. But the monk who had been his teacher said, “The verse I taught you is the true teaching of the Buddha. The verse that Ānanda recited is not the Buddha’s teaching. Ānanda is old and senile and says many things that are in error. You should not believe him.”
The monk then discarded Ānanda’s verse and went back to reciting the erroneous one he had recited before. When Ānanda passed through the bamboo grove again and heard him doing so, he realized it was not the verse he had taught the monk and spoke to him about it once more, but the monk refused to heed him.
If errors such as this had already appeared a mere forty years after the Buddha’s passing, how much worse must things be now that over two thousand years have gone by!
The Buddha’s teaching was transmitted from India to China, and then from China to Japan. The scholars, the Tripitaka masters, the teachers who passed it down from one to another hardly relayed one doctrine in ten thousand in a condition that was free from error. And how much worse is the situation now when scholars of Buddhism put biased views above all else, are swayed by arrogance, contend with one another like fire against water, and never reach a conclusion. Even when a scholar appears who happens to relay the teachings as the Buddha proclaimed them, no one will believe or heed him. Hence hardly one person in ten thousand can avoid committing slander against the Law."
SGI members are descendants of the Great Arrogant Brahman
"...and boast that “we ourselves surpass the Buddha!” Persons such as these are descendants of the Great Arrogant Brahman of southern India, in the class of those who “draw blood from the body of the Buddha.”
SGI members are descendants of the Great Arrogant Brahman
SGI members too will fall into the world of hungry spirits.
"Ordinary people in the world can easily understand why those who commit crimes motivated by stinginess or greed or who rob and steal should fall into the world of hungry spirits. But it takes someone of wisdom to understand that, though one may be a good person, free of stinginess, greed, or such faults, if he slanders the Law, or merely associates closely with those who slander the Law and thoughtlessly believes their doctrines, he will fall into the world of hungry spirits. The greatest caution is needed in these matters!" -- Nichiren
Today it is SGI who is guilty of great shamelessness
"Volume nine of The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra” states, “These two types of overbearing arrogance are not without difference in degree between them. One who supposes that ordinary human beings are the same as the Buddha is guilty of great shamelessness.” -- Nichiren [1275]
"...and [they] boast that “we ourselves surpass the Buddha!” Persons such as these are descendants of the Great Arrogant Brahman of southern India, in the class of those who “draw blood from the body of the Buddha.”
SGI members too are descendants of the Great Arrogant Brahman
Follow the Law not charismatics
http://xenu.com-it.net/sette.htm
One must do some digging but one can find some very useful information on the Gakkai. Max Weber, the world famous sociologist, talks about charismatic authority versus constitutional/scriptural authority [authority based on the Law]. Soka Gakkai is based on the former. Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism is based on the latter.
"Soon they [the children] will think Soka, they will speak Soka"
http://www.prevensectes.com/soka7.htm [about SGI children]
"My parents started practicing Nichiren Buddhism when I was five. I have a very clear memory of a time when I sat next to my parents to recite daimoku (l)." testimony Sample a practitioner, newspaper "Heading for Peace" No. 320.16 March 2000).
Introduction
"My parents started practicing Nichiren Buddhism when I was five. I have a very clear memory of a time when I sat next to my parents to recite daimoku (l)." testimony Sample a practitioner, newspaper "Heading for Peace" No. 320.16 March 2000).
Obviously, the Soka Gakkai is very interested in children and their education. According Florence Lacroix (2), this interest in youth would be "strategic", "As in totalitarian regimes, children are an issue, and structures are created to help future followers from the cradle The Soka Gakkai. has set up a whole education network that ranges from kindergarten to university in Japan and overseas in some countries. This logistics aimed, among other things, to ensure its presence in the key area that is education, to develop links with some prestigious foreign educational institutions so that it can infiltrate, and to build an image of respectability, demonstrates the challenge posed by children and young people in the eyes of the Soka Gakkai (...). "
Reading the monthly Soka Gakkai France (FMS) "Third Civilization" says a lot about the subject, and highlights that "particular attention" that is brought to them.
"Children have the ability to change the world"
It is on this theme that has opened up on June 5, 1999, "the general meeting of the children of Ile-de-France" organized by Soka Gakkai, a large demonstration which would have brought together nearly 700 children and their parents, it said in an article in "Third Civilization" (No. 455 of July 99): "Everyone could come with one of his dreams (poem or drawing) Set in an album, they will be sent to President Ikeda.. "
The program includes speeches of responsible women SGF, presenting video interviews of children on peace, and grand spectacle inside the Cirque d'Hiver Bouglione. A Tale "sound and light" whose heroes are two children who must recover "the trunk of dreams" which was stolen them. After many adventures, the trunk is found. Phew! Moral of the tale: "You found the courage that keeps hope and achieve its mission" . And tomorrow, dear spectators toddlers, what other noble mission are you promised?
The article ends as follows: "The meeting ended happily, as it began, with more magic show in the eye children as the biggest and, as a bonus, ice cream and drinks offered by President Ikeda "- Thank you that? .
"Raising children in a way they cherish the Soka Gakkai"
The members of Soka Gakkai a cult in Ikeda. This boundless admiration for President must be instilled from an early age, and role in naturally up to the parents.
It is also for them to create their children strong and lasting links with the organization.
Ikeda, in the n 455 monthly "Third Civilization" (July 1999) clearly sets the tone, urging parents to raise their kids in love ... of the sect: "the important thing is to teach children the spirit of cherish and respect the Soka Gakkai. The ideal is to raise your children so they cherish our organization. With this in mind, children will grow remarkably [sic]. "
"(...) Parents need show by their own attitude to respect the spirit of the Gohonzon and the Soka Gakkai "(...)" It is good for parents to guide their children wisely. It is also important to seek support to lead the department Future (...). "
"Enlighten" whole family
We know proselytism which engage members of Soka Gakkai, whose entourage proselytizing, and therefore the family constitute the target.
# 1: "In a family, it is only when we overcome the small waves conflicts between those who practice and those who have not yet started, establishing a family harmony that can be sustainably reform the society. Kosenrufu is built on the basis of human revolution of each family (Ikeda ) (3) . " Thus, the follower must convert all family members: husband, spouse, siblings, and children, of course, are no exception to the rule: "It is hoped to awaken in them the desire to practice (Ikeda) (4). "
This is a job at all times. Practitioner person must persevere and follow the advice of the Master . "We must (...) she decides to be a sun So there is more darkness in the world, any his family is informed. Just that it becomes a person full of good fortune and can share its benefits with her husband, her children and her grandchildren (5). "
The results, for sure, will soon appear and ensure Ikeda: "With such determination, inevitably, the rest of the family began to practice (6). "
Are your children practicing?
This is the question posed to both practicing parents in the magazine "Third Civilization" (No. 459) in November 1999.
Response of the mother: "It's one of my unrealized goals at the moment, but I persevered."
Father answers: "If they are asked the question, they say Buddhists They have very strong ties with President Ikeda, since childhood They share ideas and Buddhist philosophy, but they have not yet decided... engage. My son, this summer, wanted absolutely convince me to do some sport. I reminded him that it was time that I was trying to convince him to recite Nam Myo Renge Kyo. We have therefore established a pact . I run 500 meters and he recites five minutes of daimoku I therefore still a lot of training to do (laughs). ".
This is how children are melted in the ideology of the sect, soon they will think "Soka", they speak "Soka" , as shown in this other distressing testimony appeared in the "Third Civilization" of July 1999 (No. 455) entitled
This is how children are melted in the ideology of the sect, soon they will think "Soka", they speak "Soka" , as shown in this other distressing testimony appeared in the "Third Civilization" of July 1999 (No. 455) entitled
SGI leader and pundit Ric Dexter: "I had to clean the litter box", "my car needed a windshield wiper", "I stubbed my toe"....
Ric Dexter, SGI leader and pundit on the Dallas News TEXAS FAITH blog, is always ready and eager to answer the softball questions but asked a hardball question, he invariably recuses himself
For example asked, "What will be the lasting legacy of Martin Luther King" and there he is, in all his SGI cult member glory, likening MLK [Mandela or Ghandi] to his mentor Daisaku Ikeda. But asked, "Have Muslims effectively confronted terrorism within their own community?"
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/texas-faith-have-muslims-effectively-confronted-terrorism-within-their-own-community.html/]
and he is conspicuously absent and when confronted, he has all sorts of excuses: "I had to clean the litter box", "my car needed a windshield wiper", "I stubbed my toe", etc.
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/texas-faith-have-muslims-effectively-confronted-terrorism-within-their-own-community.html/]
and he is conspicuously absent and when confronted, he has all sorts of excuses: "I had to clean the litter box", "my car needed a windshield wiper", "I stubbed my toe", etc.
Nichiren's way or the highway
If you are a Nichiren Shu, Soka Gakkai, or Nichiren Shoshu "Nichiren Buddhist" but you don't accept what we are telling you about Nichiren's teachings, you either haven't thoroughly studied his teachings like most SGI members or like Dave Cole, Ryuei, and some SGI members, you have abandoned them for the teachings of Nichikan, Ikeda, Nissatsu, Nichiki, or others.
The votaries of Ikedaism are fools
"...even persons in the lowest category of ordinary mortals will enter the stage of Buddhahood within the space of a single lifetime and achieve perfect enlightenment." Nichiren Page 208, Volume II (Explaining the Causation of the Ten Worlds, written in 1260)
What are you all waiting for? The end of your life? Are you not even as wise as "the lowest category of ordinary mortals"? How long will you have to chant and even if you vocalize the silent U or not, to realize you always have been a Buddha?"
"...even persons in the lowest category of ordinary mortals will enter the stage of Buddhahood within the space of a single lifetime and achieve perfect enlightenment." Nichiren Page 208, Volume II (Explaining the Causation of the Ten Worlds, written in 1260)
Throw off your transient nature and reveal your true identity.
Anyone on this site can be a fool and claim this writing too is not the "authentic writing of Nichiren own hands" but it won't change the truth of its words." -- Tim Janakos SGI leader and Soka University graduate.
1). This writing is neither found in the Rokunai nor Rokugai collection of writings, so of course it is suspect. Even were it authentic, It is from Nichiren's early writings when he still embraced the principles of Tendai's [not to be confused with Tientai] Original Enlightenment doctrine. Also, Nichiren writes, "As for my teachings, regard those before my exile to the province of Sado as equivalent to the Buddha's pre-Lotus Sutra teachings."
2). Please point out to me who in SGI has attained Buddhahood and who in SGI is endowed with the ten honorific attributes of a Buddha
3). You still haven't addressed the issues of the Code of Conduct for SGI "Buddhas" and the need for Buddhas to receive guidance.
4). As for your other post, you state: "Your statement about letting the 'eternal buddha, Shakyamuni' into your heart, sounds a whole hell of a lot like Christianity, with a new mascot." Better a lion then a tapeworm [Ikeda] for a mascot but more to the point, you should take it up with Nichiren:
"Yet it was not I, Nichiren, who made these three important pronouncements. Rather it was in all cases the spirit of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni that had entered into my body. And having personally experienced this, I am beside myself with joy." -- The Selection of the Time, one of Nichiren Daishonin's five major writings
Obviously, you have never experienced such joy or you wouldn't berate Shakyamuni Buddha as a mascot nor confuse the meager joy of letting Daisaku Ikeda [or Jesus] into your heart with the blissful joy of having Shakyamni Buddha enter your body. Shakyamuni Buddha needs no permission to enter into the mind and bodies of a votary of Lotus Sutra. This is proof that neither you nor your fellow SGI members are votaries of the Lotus Sutra. You are votaries of Ikedaism. You are fools.
Daisaku Ikeda employs strategies other than the Lotus Sutra
True peace and nuclear disarmament will only be realized when the right Law, Namu Myoho renge kyo, is established. The means for establishing the right Law has already been revealed by Nichiren Daishonin in his treatise, Rissho Ankoku Ron [Establishing the Right Law for the Peace of the Land]. The way to establish the right Law according to Nichiren is to outlaw inferior religions and philosophies, not to promote precepts [commandments]. Commandments have proven themselves powerless to create peace and nuclear disarmament. Ikeda's proposals amount to commandments. He employs strategies other than the Lotus Sutra. They are doomed to failure.
do not be fooled
IS fighters are the strict adherents of the Q'uran and the true sons of Islam. They are those who perform a bodily reading of the Q'uran.
The following article from TIME, http://time.com/3273873/stop-isis-islam/ is completely false and dangerous. The author, Nihad Awad, is an ISIS operative whose mission it is to deceive the American people and all non-Muslims about the true nature of Islam and the Q'uran. To those sincere, peaceful, good hearted non-Muslims who might let their guard down about the Islamic threat after reading this article, do not be fooled.
What principle does both Shan-wu-wei and SGI turn their backs?
"But the scholars of our time cling to distorted views. Even though they may be wise men who have mastered all the eighty thousand doctrines of Buddhism and committed to memory the twelve divisions of the scriptures, and who strictly observe all the Mahayana and Hinayana precepts, if they turn their backs on this principle, then one should know that they cannot avoid falling into the evil paths."
It was too late for Shan-wu-wei to correct his errors. Will it be too late for you SGI members?
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Who are the conceited and narcistic ones?
The conceited and narcissistic ones
The Lotus Sutra is not an ecumenical scripture. Neither was Nichiren. I could debate this point and win even if I were battered and beaten with nose and ears cut off as the martyr Nikkyo.
The Lotus Sutra is not an ecumenical scripture. Neither was Nichiren. I could debate this point and win even if I were battered and beaten with nose and ears cut off as the martyr Nikkyo.
Also, there is no faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day without Nichiren Daishonin. It is thanks to Nichiren Daishonin that we have faith in the Lotus Sutra and over thirty million people chanting and spreading the Daimoku (granted, not all of whom have the same faith as Nichiren). Many people criticize Nichiren but do they have thirty million followers reciting the Daimoku and Lotus Sutra daily thanks to THEIR bodily reading of the Lotus Sutra?
The votaries of the Lotus Sutra fight: The armies of Mara (Emma); the enemies of the Lotus Sutra known as delusion; ecumenicists who deny the exclusive faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra; those who deny the exalted position of Shakyamuni Buddha; and lastly, the ignorant laymen, priests, and the rulers of our respective countries who persecute the votaries of the Lotus Sutra.
Let us look at the word narcissism:
1). Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See synonyms at conceit.
2). A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.
3). Erotic pleasure derived from contemplation or admiration of one's own body or self, especially as a fixation on or a regression to an infantile stage of development.
4). The attribute of the human psyche characterized by admiration of oneself but within normal limits.
Conceit is a near synonym: 1. A favorable and especially unduly high opinion of one's own abilities or worth.
Here is what Nichiren says about conceit:
The Mongol Envoys
"I CAN hardly express my joy at learning of your safe return from Kamakura. And I have received your news about the beheading of the Mongol envoys. It is indeed a pity that, while the priests of the Nembutsu, True Word, Zen, and Precepts schools, who are the enemies of our country, did not have their heads cut off, the innocent Mongol envoys have been beheaded. Those who are unaware of the particulars of the matter will no doubt think that I say this out of conceit because my prophecy has been fulfilled. Yet during this period of more than twenty years, this is what I have been privately lamenting about day and night to my disciples, and what I have publicly declared time and again."
On Curing Karmic Disease
"The Great Teacher Chi-tsang of Chia-hsiang-ssu temple was among the most outstanding scholars in China. He was the founder of the Three Treatises school, and lived on Mount Hui-chi in Wu. Believing that none could equal him in knowledge, he raised the banner of his pride to its highest. He challenged the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai to discuss the meaning of the passage that states, "Among the sutras I have preached, now preach, and will preach, [this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand]
In the debate Chi-tsang was soundly defeated and thereupon renounced his misguided beliefs. In order to expiate his serious offense of slander of the correct teaching and of those who uphold it, he gathered more than one hundred eminent scholars and begged the Great Teacher T’ient’ai Chih-che to lecture to them. Chi-tsang used his body as a bridge for the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai to climb [onto the preaching platform], supporting T’ien-t’ai’s feet with his head. Moreover, he served T’ien-t’ai for seven years, cutting firewood and drawing water for him. He ceased giving lectures of his own, dispersed his followers, and in order to purge himself of his great conceit, refrained from reciting the Lotus Sutra. After the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai’s death, Chi-tsang had an audience with the emperor of the Sui dynasty to pay his respects. As he was leaving, he clutched His Majesty’s knees and tearfully bade him farewell. Sometime later, Chi-tsang looked into an old mirror and, seeing his reflection, condemned himself for his past errors. All these many acts of penitence were done to eradicate his karmic disease."
On Omens
"The priests of Nembutsu today are exactly like the evil monks mentioned in the above sutra. Moreover, the great conceit of the school’s teachers exceeds that of Devadatta a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times. I will briefly describe the strangeness of the True Word school. Its priests paint a picture of the nine honored ones seated on an eight- petaled lotus in the center of the Womb Realm. Then they climb onto this picture, and stepping on the faces of the Buddhas, conduct their ceremony of anointment. It is as if they were trampling on the faces of their own parents or treading on their emperor’s head. Such priests as these fill the entire country and have become the teachers of both high and low. No wonder the nation faces ruin!" How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood through the Lotus Sutra:
"Question: The Flower Garland school propounds the doctrine of the five teachings and declares all the other sutras to be inferior, and the Flower Garland Sutra, superior. The True Word school puts forth the doctrine of the ten stages of the mind, declaring that all the other sutras, being exoteric teachings, are inferior, while the True Word school, because it represents the esoteric teachings, is superior. The Zen school rejects all the sutras as belonging to the realm of written teachings and asserts “a separate transmission outside the sutras, independent of words or writing.” Because enlightenment, they say, is gained merely by sitting and facing the wall, the Zen school alone is superior. The Pure Land school sets forth two kinds of practices, correct and sundry. The Lotus Sutra and the various other sutras are rejected as belonging to the category of sundry practices, and hence one is urged to “discard, close, ignore, and abandon” them. The three Pure Land sutras, on the other hand, they claim, are adapted to the people’s capacity and are wonderful sutras belonging to the realm of correct practices. Thus each school in its conceit maintains its own biased attachment. But which one represents the true intention of Shakyamuni Buddha?"
The Lotus Sutra teaches:
'Cease, cease! No need to speak.
My dharma is subtle and hard to imagine.
Those of overweening pride,
If they hear it, shall surely neither revere it nor believe in
it." (Lotus Sutra Chapter 2)
and the moment the Buddha was about to reveal the Wonderful Dharma:
"While he was speaking these words, in the assembly bhiksus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas to the number of five thousand straightway rose from their seats and, doing obeisance to the Buddha, withdrew. For what reason? This group had deep and grave roots of sin and overweening pride, imagining themselves to have attained and to have borne witness to what in fact they had not. Having such faults as these, therefore they did not stay. The World-Honored One, silent, did not restrain them.
At that time the Buddha declared to Shariputra: "My assembly has no more branches and leaves, it has only firm fruit. Shariputra, it is just as well that such arrogant ones as these have withdrawn. Now listen well, for I will preach to you." (ibid. Chapter 2).
Dharmajim writes:
“Now, weave together all of these observations. Imagine you are a disciple of the Buddha. Imagine you are a monk who has meticulously followed the vinaya, the complex code, or way of life, for Buddhist monastics. Now imagine that the Buddha announces that this code is a provisional teaching. I can understand why some monks would become offended, especially if they had generated a sense of self and personal achievement around this.
“Or imagine that you had cultivated the ability to enter into rarefied meditative states, the higher dhyanas. This had taken years of dedication and practice. Now the Buddha says that this is a provisional teaching. I can understand why some who had invested so much time and effort into this practice might feel insulted. I can even believe that some of them would get up and leave the assembly.”
The Lotus Sutra Chapter 7 states:
"Bhikshus, when the Thus Come One knows of himself, that the time of his Nirvana has come, that the assembly is pure, that their faith and understanding are solid and firm, that they fully comprehend the Dharma emptiness and have deeply entered into Dhyana Samadhi, he will gather together the host of Bodhisattvas and Sound Hearers and speak this Sutra for them, saying, ‘there are not two vehicles by which extinction is attained. There is only the One Buddha Vehicle by which extinction can be attained.’"
Nobody likes to be chastised or rebuked. There are those in the SGI who have been practicing for thirty or more years and have converted hundreds of people to the Gakkai and there are those in the Nichiren Shoshu who have a lot invested in the Daigohonzon and Nichiren as True Buddha. Then, there are others in the Nichiren Shu who follow Udana-in Nichiki, as a duckling follows it's mother. When we tell them to follow the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren, they turn red, they are afraid, and defensive, or they get up and leave.
Are these not the conceited ones, the narcissistic ones who fail to believe the auspicious words of the Buddha and the sage Nichiren?
The conceited will not debate the issues, thinking themselves too good to debate or too enlightened to even consider a rain challenge which they dismiss out of hand. The narcissistic spew venom from afar for fear of smudging their make-up or dirtying their hands.
"If in some other region
there are beings reverent and with faith beseeching,
again I am in their midst
to proclaim the unsurpassed Dharma,
though you who do not hear this
will say that I am extinct." (Lotus Sutra Chapter 16)
Those that claim that Shakyamuni is not always present preaching the dharma, too, are conceited and narcissistic. Failing to believe that the Buddha only appears to pass on as an expedient, they wallow in delusion.
"I do this lest, by always seeing me,
they should beget hearts unrestrained and self-indulgent,
be dissolute and only fixed upon the five forms of desire
and thereby fall into evil ways."
Those who think of themselves as Buddhas just as they are, merely by virtue of their being alive or merely by virtue of the organization they belong to, are like this, conceited and narcissistic.
Now let me say something about poisoning the well and peeing in the soup. Perhaps there are those who will consider me narcissistic or conceited for what I am about to say:
I am a filter in which the impurities in the Nichiren faith and practice are strained and removed. Citing the Lotus Sutra and the writings of Nichiren, my points are proven. All who proclaim the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha supreme will quickly reach the other shore. Those who deny the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamuni Buddha, are base and shallow.
Nichiren Daishonin states:
"I have made a vow. Even if someone says that he would make me the ruler of Japan on the condition that I give up the Lotus Sutra and rely upon the Amida Sutra for my salvation in the next life, or even if someone threatens me saying that he will execute my parents if I do not say 'Namu Amida-butsu,' and no matter how many great difficulties fall upon me, I will not submit to them until a man of wisdom defeats me by reason. Other difficulties are like dust in the wind. I will never break my vow that I will become the pillar of Japan, I will become the eyes of Japan, and I will become the great vessel of Japan." -- Kaimoku Sho (Opening the Eyes)
I am not the first nor will I be the last to read the Lotus Sutra and the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, realize their truths, and come to the same conclusions as Nichiren. Those who come later and share our beliefs (those who carefully study the Lotus Sutra and the writings of Nichiren Daishonin), I pray will be ever more faithful and wise in defending what the Buddha has entrusted to us. Nichiren says, now is the time to outlaw misleading religions and philosophies, not the time to bask in the pleasure of ten thousand prayers.
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