Thursday, December 31, 2020

Hardening of the arteries everywhere except the brain. How fortunate I am

How unfortunate they who slander the Lotus Sutra and its Supreme Votary, Nichiren.

12 comments:

  1. How long can you live with hardening of the arteries?
    What Is the Prognosis for Hardening of the Arteries? The outcome of atherosclerosis is variable. At one end of the spectrum, many people with the critical limitation of blood flow to vital organs, like the heart and brain, survive for many years."

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  2. Hopefully you have some more time as l thought you were about to die years ago not long after l came on your blog

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  3. So far I'm going strong after 5.5 years and I'm shooting for the eighties. I have my heart, liver, legs and brain, so who knows? Presently, renal transplant is seeing if they can attach a new renal artery to my R iliac artery because of the calcium deposits. Some dialysis patients, should I not be able to get a kidney, can last up to 30 + years. 5 years is the average but I already surpassed that and I'm going rather strong: Working > 30 hours a week; dialysis; 15 hours a week; strictly Buddhism 15 - > 20 hours a week; doctor's appointments in Tulsa several times a month; and enjoying home life and my wife's cooking every day.
    Most of those who only live five years on dialysis die from diabetic complications and I don't have diabetes. Too many people to convert to Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism to die just yet, I imagine. Too many people to awaken to the Master of Teachings, Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine, the Three Bodied Tathagata and his foremost disciple, Nichiren Daishonin. Either way, will encounter my Masters in Eagle Peak before coming back to do it all over again, only better and with benefits such as these (see next comment):

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  4. “Moreover, Ajita, suppose a person for the sake of this sutra visits a monks’ quarters and, sitting or standing, even for a moment listens to it and accepts it. As a result of the benefits so obtained, when he is reborn in his next existence he will enjoy the finest, most superior and wonderful elephants, horses, and carriages, and palanquins decked with rare treasures, and will mount up to the heavenly palaces. Or suppose there is a person who is sitting in the place where the Law is expounded, and when another person appears, the first person urges him to sit down and listen, or offers to share his seat and so persuades him to sit down. The benefits gained by this person will be such that when he is reborn he will be in a place where the lord Shakra is seated, where the heavenly king Brahma is seated, or where a wheel-turning sage king is seated.

    “Ajita, suppose there is a person who speaks to another person, saying, ‘There is a sutra called the Lotus. Let us go together and listen to it.’ And suppose, having been urged, the other person goes and even for an instant listens to the sutra. The benefits of the first person will be such that when he is reborn he will be born in the same place as dharani bodhisattvas. He will have keen faculties and wisdom. For a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand ages he will never be struck dumb. His mouth will not emit a foul odor. His tongue will never be afflicted, nor will his mouth be afflicted. His teeth will not be stained or black, nor will they be yellow or widely spaced, nor will they be missing or fall out or be at an angle or crooked. His lips will not droop down or curl back or be rough or chapped or afflicted with sores or misshapen or twisted or too thick or too big or black or discolored or unsightly in any way. His nose will not be too broad or flat or crooked or too highly arched. His face will not be swarthy, nor will it be long and narrow, or sunken and distorted. He will not have a single unsightly feature. His lips, tongue, and teeth will all be handsomely proportioned. His nose will be long and high, his face round and full, his eyebrows long and set high, his forehead broad, smooth, and well shaped, and he will be endowed with all the features proper to a human being. In each existence he is born into, he will see the Buddha, hear his Law, and have faith in his teachings.

    “Ajita, just observe! The benefits gained merely by encouraging one person to go and listen to the Law are such as this! How much more, then, if one single-mindedly hears, preaches, reads, and recites the sutra and before the great assembly makes distinctions for the sake of people and practices it as the sutra instructs!”

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  5. AND:

    "If someone in the Dharma assembly
    is able to hear this sutra,
    even just one verse,
    and responding with joy, preaches it to others,
    and in this way the teachings are handed along
    till they reach the fiftieth person,
    the blessings gained by this last person
    are such as I will now define.
    Suppose there is a great dispenser of charity
    who bestows goods on immeasurable multitudes,
    doing this for a full eighty years,
    responding to each person’s desires.
    Seeing the signs of decrepitude and old age,
    the white hair and wrinkled faces,
    the missing teeth, the withered forms,
    he thinks, “Their death is not far off;
    I must now teach them
    so they can gain the fruits of the way!”
    Immediately for their sake he employs an expedient means,
    preaching the true doctrine of nirvana:
    “Nothing in this world is lasting or firm
    but all are like bubbles, foam, heat shimmer.
    Therefore all of you must quickly
    learn to hate it and be gone!”
    When the people hear this doctrine,
    all are able to become arhats
    endowed with the six transcendental powers,
    the three insights, and eight emancipations.
    But the fiftieth person
    who hears one verse [of the Lotus Sutra] and responds with joy
    gains blessings that are far greater,
    beyond description by simile or parable.
    And if one who has had the teachings passed along to him
    receives blessings that are immeasurable,
    how much more so one who in the Dharma assembly
    first hears the sutra and responds with joy.
    Suppose someone encourages another person,
    urging him to go and listen to the Lotus,
    saying, “This sutra is profound and wonderful,
    hard to encounter in a thousand, ten thousand kalpas!”
    And suppose, as urged, the person goes to listen,
    even though he listens for just a moment.
    The blessings that the first person gets in reward
    I will now describe in detail:
    Age after age, no afflictions of the mouth,
    no teeth missing, yellow or blackened,
    lips that are not thick, curled, or defective,
    no hateful features,
    a tongue not dry, black, or too short;
    nose high, long, and straight,
    forehead broad, smooth, and well shaped,
    face and eyes all properly aligned and impressive,
    the kind people delight to look at,
    breath free of foul odor,
    a fragrance of blue lotus flowers
    constantly emitted by the mouth.
    Suppose one goes to the monks’ quarters
    expressly to listen to the Lotus Sutra
    and listens with joy for just a moment—
    I will now describe one’s blessings.
    In existences to come among heavenly and human beings
    one will acquire wonderful elephants, horses, carriages,
    palanquins adorned with rare jewels,
    and will mount to the palaces of heaven.
    If in the place where the Law is expounded
    one encourages someone to sit and hear the sutra,
    the blessings one acquires will enable one
    to gain the seat of Shakra, Brahma, and the wheel-turner.
    How much more so if one listens single-mindedly,
    explains and expounds the meaning,
    and practices the sutra as the sutra instructs—
    one’s blessings will know no bounds!" - LS Chapter 18 The Benefits of Responding with Joy

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  6. Good news on your physical, mental and spiritual health which is like the 3 truths revealing the 3 bodied Tathagatta thus come one

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  7. TY. Hope you and your wife too are well. Happiest of New Year. Whats really happening between Australia and China? Poor animals regarding your fires. Just read an article that kangaroos communicate with humans, not unlike dogs.

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  8. My wife is in control of Diabetes 2 and I'm responding well to recent CPAP therapy and just had laser Peripheral iridotomy on both eyes for narow angle glaucoma. These are good prevention treatments for what can have severe consequences down the track if unchecked.

    It's hard to know for sure whats really happening with our relationship with China as its changing all the time like COVID. Heard the other day that China wants to make up!

    Last year it was Hell Fire this year its LA NINA from the Pacific and the monsoons from the Indian Ocean soaking the land and filling the creeks rivers and dams. It is also Cyclone season here that causes massive destruction as you get from the Hurricanes that have been spinning into the east coast from the Atlantic during the warmer months

    There is an exploding Kangaroo populalation on the large land holding that I look after for a corporation. I notice that the Roos stare a lot and you can feel there is communication going on so it doesnt surpise me. There are also Wallabies that are smaller and faster that mostly feed in bushland. There are also wild dogs, Dingo and domestic dog crosses that hunt the herbivors.

    May you and you family also keep safe and stay well in the year to come!

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  9. Good news about yours and your wife's health status. Here in Oklahoma we have eagles, bears, pumas, snapping turtles, box turtles, plenty of small mammals, coyotes, snakes (not as many as Australia and not as deadly), donkeys, horses, cows, pigs, cats, and dogs, especially herders like Australian Shepherds, and many people own wolves. Have you seen the video of the man from Costa Rica who had a an 18 foot, 1500 pound crocodile as a pet?

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  10. Costa Rica is that the place of many missing SGI members..LOL

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