The SGI top senior leaders lead themselves into the realm of hungry spirits

“He sees living beings seared and consumed by birth, aging, sickness, and death, care and suffering, sees them undergo many kinds of pain because of the five desires and the desire for wealth and profit. Again, because of their greed and attachment and striving they undergo numerous pains in their present existence, and later they undergo the pain of being reborn in hell or as beasts or hungry spirits. Even if they are reborn in the heavenly realm or the realm of human beings, they undergo the pain of poverty and want, the pain of parting from loved ones, the pain of encountering those they detest—all these many different kinds of pain." - Lotus Sutra Ch. 3

The Buddha must know what is in our hearts and in the hearts of the top Japanese Senior Leaders

We beg you not to worry.

After the Buddha has passed into extinction,

in an age of fear and evil

we will preach far and wide.

There will be many ignorant people

who will curse and speak ill of us

and will attack us with swords and staves,

but we will endure all these things.

In that evil age there will be monks

with perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked

who will suppose they have attained what they have not attained,

being proud and boastful in heart.

Or there will be forest-dwelling monks

wearing clothing of patched rags and living in retirement,

who will claim they are practicing the true way,

despising and looking down on all humankind.

Greedy for profit and support,

they will preach the Law to white-robed laymen

and will be respected and revered by the world

as though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental powers.

These men with evil in their hearts,

p.233constantly thinking of worldly affairs,

will borrow the name of forest-dwelling monks

and take delight in proclaiming our faults,

saying things like this:

“These monks are greedy

for profit and support

and therefore they preach non-Buddhist doctrines

and fabricate their own scriptures

to delude the people of the world.

Because they hope to gain fame and renown thereby

they make distinctions when preaching this sutra.”

Because in the midst of great assemblies

they constantly try to defame us,

they will address the rulers, high ministers,

Brahmans, and householders,

as well as the other monks,

slandering and speaking evil of us,

saying, “These are men of perverted views

who preach non-Buddhist doctrines!”

But because we revere the Buddha

we will bear all these evils.

Though they treat us with contempt, saying,

“You are all no doubt buddhas!”

all such words of arrogance and contempt

we will endure and accept.

In a muddied kalpa, in an evil age,

there will be many things to fear.

Evil demons will take possession of others

and through them curse, revile, and heap shame on us.

But we, reverently trusting in the Buddha,

will put on the armor of perseverance.

In order to preach this sutra

we will bear these difficult things.

We care nothing for our bodies or lives

but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.

In ages to come we will protect and uphold

what the Buddha has entrusted to us.

p.234This the world-honored one must know.

The evil monks of that muddied age,

failing to understand the Buddha’s expedient means,

how he preaches the Law in accordance with what is appropriate,

will confront us with foul language and angry frowns;

again and again we will be banished

to a place far removed from towers and temples.

All these various evils,

because we keep in mind the Buddha’s orders,

we will endure.

If in the settlements and towns

there are those who seek the Law,

we will go to wherever they are

and preach the Law entrusted to us by the Buddha.

We will be envoys of the world-honored one,

facing the assemblies without fear.

We will preach the Law with skill,

for we desire the Buddha to rest in tranquillity.

In the presence of the world-honored one

and of the buddhas who have gathered from the ten directions

we proclaim this vow.

The Buddha must know what is in our hearts. - Lotus Sutra Ch. 13

Which children appear happy and at ease?

 

Biowarfare Law author censred by You Tube though it turns out he was right (Covid-19 created in laboratory)

Author of US Biowarfare Law: Studies Confirm Coronavirus Weaponized (February 22/2020)

From Buddha Jones Web site... CULTS

__________________________Quote, LisaJones.com____________________________________________________________________________December 5, 2004

Oblivious to the Irony

I don't want to talk about cults -- especially my former cult -- on this site or in e-mail. I keep getting letters, though, so I'll try to address the topic in general terms and hope this will suffice.

Cult members are usually nice people. They mean well. But any group that claims to have all the answers for your life should be rigorously scrutinized.

Your enlightenment, salvation, or worth does not depend on your involvement with a particular group or organization. No matter how "liberating" the teachings of a group may sound, if the group fosters emotional dependence on the group itself (telling you "we're the one true sangha," etc.) run and don't look back.

If a friend or co-worker says "Ever since I joined this group, my life has gotten much better," be cautious. Members of cults have learned to re-frame their lives in terms of the group and its teachings. All life-events (good or bad) are looked at as opportunities to deepen one's involvement with the group, and thereby become "more enlightened." When you hear testimonials from group members, pay attention to how often they praise the group and its leaders, and how they attribute their own happiness and success to involvement with the group.

When people say "I am the organization" a red flag should go up. Cult members are taught to merge their personal identity with the group identity. Any criticism of the group, then, becomes a personal attack.

If it feels like a member of a group is trying to "sell" you on the group, that's exactly what's happening. The price is your freedom of mind and it's too high to pay regardless of how many "benefits" you are promised.

Selling does not mean, however, that a cult member is deliberately trying to con you. Members of cults are not consciously aware of their emotional dependence and have learned to dismiss or ignore critical information about the group. Members usually have to keep selling the group to themselves and to other people as a way of reinforcing or justifying their emotional dependence on the group.

Be extremely cautious around groups that use "lovebombing" -- excessive displays of warmth, kindness and concern -- to get you to "overcome your mistrust" and ignore your qualms about the group. If a friend says "You can trust this group and this guru because you trust me," do your own investigation.

Does the group provide full financial disclosure? Are there dozens of negative news reports about the group? Does the group appear on cult watch lists? Are dissent and debate of policies and beliefs welcome?

When questioned about negative information, cult members will likely offer a defensive rationalization: "There may be some bad things about our group but we're trying to make it better. Don't be swayed by our critics who don't understand our noble mission. They are unfair to us because they are jealous of what we have."

In short: Beware of groups that appeal to emotion or "tolerance" to override your suspicions. "Trust us because we're nice and we mean well," is not a valid resolution to informed concerns about the group.

Cult members aren't stupid. In fact, studies show that they are often intelligent and more likely than other people to be open to new experiences and take personal risks, especially if they are in a period of transition such as starting college, losing a job or ending a marriage.

Cult groups exploit this openness and seeking spirit. Some groups misrepresent themselves -- claiming, for instance, that they are a humble, informal gathering of people who care about world peace when in fact they are a multibillion-dollar religio-political corporation. But the central deception propagated by all cults is the lie that members need the group.

Through "fellowship," "guidance," and "training," cults groom "deployable agents," people who have internalized the message of the cult so deeply that their self-interest and the cult's interests are one and the same. This is why it's so hard to leave a cult after you've been a member for years -- it's hard to sort out what's genuine religious faith, what's cult-serving programming and what's "you."

Cults make it all very simple, black and white. Cults regard people who have left the group as traitors, betrayers, deluded ones or enemies. You're either with us or against us. Cults do not recognize the possibility that a reasonable, healthy person might choose to dissociate from the group based on honest disagreement with the group. On the contrary, anyone who has left the group is regarded with pity, contempt or anger.

It's not wacky rituals or peculiar doctrines that define a cult. Rather it's the whole bundle of messages and peer pressure tactics that foster dependency: Without us and our special interpretation of truth you cannot achieve your potential. Our critics don't know what they're talking about. If you want to be happy, you must surrender yourself to your special mission which you can understand only within the context of the group. When you and the group/leader become one, all your doubts will be resolved and you will be able to accomplish absolutely anything.

I'm fascinated by the processes of cult indoctrination because it happened to me without my being aware of it at the time. I was completely suckered. In retrospect, I can look back and see how, step by step, little by little, my thinking was molded.

I was oblivious to the irony. For example, members of my former cult like to trot out quotes attributed to the Head Guru saying stuff like, "Members of this group are free-thinking individuals who are self-reliant and compassionately wonderful." Then members say, "See! The Head Guru says this about us! This is who we truly are. We must strive to meet his expectations."

Quoting the Head Guru to prove anything or modeling your life to conform to the perceived expectations of said guru is itself screamingly cultish.

©2000-2005 Sticky Press

all rights reserved

tkp67 continues with her nonsense on the importance of capacity

 tkp67, you highlight "capacity" many dozens of times. Nichiren doesn't agree with you:

"Thus we can see that it is a GREAT MISTAKE to assert that the teachings are invariably expounded according to the listeners’ capacities." - The Selection of the Time

"The Great Teacher Dengyō declares: “The Former and Middle Days are almost over, and the Latter Day is near at hand. Now indeed is the time when the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra will prove how perfectly it fits the capacities of all people. How do we know this is true? Because the ‘Peaceful Practices’ chapter of the Lotus Sutra states, ‘In the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish, [accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra].’” And Dengyō further states: “Speaking of the age, [the propagation of the true teaching will begin] in the age when the Middle Day of the Law ends and the Latter Day opens. Regarding the land, it will begin in a land to the east of T’ang and to the west of Katsu.39 As for the people, it will spread among people stained by the five impurities who live in a time of conflict. The sutra says, ‘Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?’ There is good reason for this statement.” - ibid

"It is a commonly accepted assertion among the scholars of our times that the Thus Come One invariably preached his teachings in accordance with the capacities of his listeners. But in fact this is not how the Buddha truly taught. If it were true that the greatest doctrines were always preached for the persons with the most superior capacities and understanding, then why, when the Buddha first achieved enlightenment, did he not preach the Lotus Sutra? Why, during the first five hundred years of the Former Day of the Law, were the teachings of the Mahayana sutras not spread abroad? And if it were true that the finest doctrines are revealed to those who have a particular connection with the Buddha, then why did Shakyamuni Buddha preach the Meditation on the Buddha Sutra for his father, King Shuddhodana, and the Māyā Sutra for his mother, Lady Māyā [rather than the Lotus Sutra]? And if the reverse were true, namely, that secret doctrines should never be revealed to evil people having no connection with the Buddha or to slanderers of Buddhism, then why did the monk Realization of Virtue teach the Nirvana Sutra to all the countless monks who were guilty of breaking the precepts? Or why did Bodhisattva Never Disparaging address the four kinds of believers, who were slanderers of the Law, and propagate to them the teachings of the Lotus Sutra?" opcit Selection of the Time

"When one examines all the various sutras in the clear mirror of the Lotus, it is evident that the three True Word sutras, including the Mahāvairochana, and the three Pure Land sutras are teachings expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity. And yet because the people have made the teachings of Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō their basis, this truth has been obscured in Japan now for more than four hundred years. It is like exchanging a gem for a pebble or trading sandalwood for ordinary lumber. Because Buddhism has gradually been turned upside down, the secular world also has been plunged into corruption and chaos. Buddhism is like the body, and society like the shadow. When the body bends, so does the shadow. How fortunate that all of my disciples who follow the Buddha’s true intention will naturally flow into the ocean of comprehensive wisdom! But the Buddhist scholars of our time put their faith in teachings expounded according to the people’s capacity, and are therefore doomed to sink into the sea of suffering. I will explain in more detail on another occasion." - A Comparison of the Lotus Sutra and Other Sutras

"In particular, the passages in the “Life Span” chapter that speak of those who are “out of their minds” and those who are “not out of their minds” refer in both cases to the stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. The Nirvana Sutra says, “Whether they have faith or do not have faith . . . ,” and “If there are living beings who, in the presence of Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavatī River, have conceived the desire for enlightenment, then when they are born in an evil age such as this, they will be able to accept and uphold a sutra like this and will never slander it.” One should also consider these passages." - On the Four stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice

“...The truer the teaching, the lower the stage [of those it can bring to enlightenment].” Thus, for example, the perfect teaching can save people of lower capacity than can the doctrines of the four flavors and three teachings. Similarly, the Lotus Sutra can save people of lower capacity than can the perfect teaching expounded prior to the Lotus Sutra, and the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra can save more people than can the theoretical teaching—people of any capacity at all. One should carefully ponder the six-character phrase: “the truer the teaching, the lower the stage.” (ibid)

Even in the The Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country that you site, we read.

"...Ordinary teachers who lack an understanding of people’s capacity should teach only the Lotus Sutra to those who are under their instruction."

Perhaps you are an extraordinary teacher? I am a most ordinary teacher, so I teach what the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren have to say without altering a character or a dot.

Either way, please remember that The Teaching, Capacity, Time and Country is an early writing of Nichiren (1260), hardly definitive.

Here is an other writing of Nichiren on the matter of Capacity:

"When one examines all the various sutras in the clear mirror of the Lotus, it is evident that the three True Word sutras, including the Mahāvairochana, and the three Pure Land sutras are teachings expounded in accordance with the people’s capacity. And yet because the people have made the teachings of Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō their basis, this truth has been obscured in Japan now for more than four hundred years. It is like exchanging a gem for a pebble or trading sandalwood for ordinary lumber. Because Buddhism has gradually been turned upside down, the secular world also has been plunged into corruption and chaos. Buddhism is like the body, and society like the shadow. When the body bends, so does the shadow. How fortunate that all of my disciples who follow the Buddha’s true intention will naturally flow into the ocean of comprehensive wisdom! But the Buddhist scholars of our time put their faith in teachings expounded according to the people’s capacity, and are therefore doomed to sink into the sea of suffering. I will explain in more detail on another occasion." - A Comparison of the Lotus Sutra and Other Sutras

There are more than 100 additional citations by Nichiren on capacity that seem to agree with me. Please also notice that there is not one mention of capacity in the Essential Teachings of the Lotus Sutra, Chapter Fifteen to Chapater 28.

Anyway, we should practice as Nichiren instructs regardless of to whom we are expounding the teachings. If we have to correct wrong thought (words and actions) we do so, as did Nichiren. When we plant the seeds of Enlightenment, Namu Myoho renge kyo, we do so regardless of others capacity.

Some Passages from On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings that I try to live by

"Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, though the teaching, the people’s capacity, and the time for propagation are in accord, we must expect all the more hostility. For this is the age when quarrels and disputes prevail, and the pure Law is obscured and lost.1 Moreover, the teacher is but an ordinary practitioner, and his disciples come from among evil people defiled by the three poisons. For this reason, people shun the good teacher and associate with evil teachers.

What is more, once you become a disciple or lay supporter of the votary who practices the true Lotus Sutra in accord with the Buddha’s teachings, you are bound to face the three types of enemies. Therefore, from the very day you listen to [and take faith in] this sutra, you should be fully prepared to face the great persecutions of the three types of enemies that are certain to be more horrible now after the Buddha’s passing. Although my disciples had already heard this, when both great and small persecutions confronted us, some were so astounded and terrified that they even forsook their faith. Did I not warn you in advance? I have been teaching you day and night directly from the sutra, which says, “Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra abound even when the Thus Come One is in the world, how much more will this be so after his passing?”2 You have no reason at all to be frightened when you see or hear that I have been driven from my dwelling place, wounded, and, having incurred the wrath of the rulers, sent into exile in distant provinces twice.

Question: The votaries who practice according to the Buddha’s teachings should “enjoy peace and security in their present existence.”3 Why then are you beset by the three powerful enemies?

Answer: Shakyamuni Buddha faced the nine great persecutions for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. In the distant past, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was likewise attacked with staves, tiles, and stones. Chu Tao-sheng was banished to a mountain in Su-chou, the Tripitaka Master Fa-tao was branded on the face, and the Venerable Āryasimha was beheaded. The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai was opposed by the seven schools of the north and the three schools of the south, and the Great Teacher Dengyō was hated by the six schools [of Nara]. The Buddha and these bodhisattvas and great sages were all votaries of the Lotus Sutra, yet they suffered great persecutions. If you deny that they practiced according to the Buddha’s teachings, then where can you find those who did? This is the age of conflict in which the pure Law has been lost. Moreover, in this evil country, the ruler, his ministers, and even the common people are without exception tainted by evil. They have opposed the correct teaching and revered erroneous doctrines and teachers instead. Therefore, demons have burst into the country, causing the three calamities and seven disasters to strike again and again.

This is indeed an accursed time to live in this land! However, the Buddha has commanded me to be born in this age, and it is impossible for me to go against the decree of the Dharma King. And so, as the sutra dictates, I have launched the battle between the provisional and the true teachings. Donning the armor of endurance and girding myself with the sword of the wonderful teaching, I have raised the banner of the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the entire eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra. Then, drawing the bow of the Buddha’s declaration, “I have not yet revealed the truth,” and notching the arrow of “honestly discarding the provisional teachings,” I have mounted the carriage drawn by the great white ox6 and battered down the gates of the provisional teachings. Attacking first one and then another, I have refuted opponents from the eight and ten schools, such as the Nembutsu, True Word, Zen, and Precepts. Some have fled headlong while others have retreated, and still others have been captured to become my disciples. I continue to repulse their attacks and to defeat them, but legions of enemies exist who oppose the single Dharma King and the handful who follow him. So the battle goes on even today.

“The Lotus Sutra is the teaching of shakubuku, the refutation of the provisional doctrines.” True to the letter of this golden saying, in the end, every last one of the believers of the provisional teachings and schools will be defeated and join the retinue of the Dharma King. The time will come when all people will abandon the various kinds of vehicles and take up the single vehicle of Buddhahood, and the Mystic Law alone will flourish throughout the land. When the people all chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the wind will no longer buffet the branches, and the rain will no longer break the clods of soil. The world will become as it was in the ages of Fu Hsi and Shen Nung. In their present existence the people will be freed from misfortune and disasters and learn the art of living long. Realize that the time will come when the truth will be revealed that both the person and the Law are unaging and eternal. There cannot be the slightest doubt about the sutra’s promise of “peace and security in their present existence.”

Throwing out the character Mu is to throw out a golden Buddha

Only Namu Myoho renge kyo is correct because Namu Myoho renge kyo is the personal name of the Supreme Law. Neither Nam Myoho renge kyo, Namo Miao Fa Lien Hua Ching, Namas Saddharma Pundarika Sutra nor Devotion to the Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Wonderful Dharma is the name of the Supreme Law. 

Even were Nichiren to have written the Daimoku in brail, it is written Namu Myoho renge kyo. Nichiren never wrote Nam Myoho renge kyo, not once in thirty years, not on his Gohonzons nor in his writings.

“And when the two characters for Namu are prefixed to Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, we have the formula Namu-myoho-renge-kyo.” -- The Opening of the Eyes

"The jewels of this jeweled vehicle are the seven precious substances which adorn the great cart. The seven jewels are precisely the seven orifices in one's head, and these seven orifices are precisely the [seven characters] na-mu-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo, the essential Dharma for the Final Dharma Age." -- Recorded Lectures of Niko [Ongi Kikigakai]

Nichiren on discarding even a single character of the Lotus Sutra:

"A single character of the Lotus Sutra is like the great earth, which gives rise to all things. A single character is like the great ocean, which contains the water from all rivers. A single character is like the sun and moon, which illuminate all four continents.

“Now the Latter Day of the Law, is the time when the seven characters of Namu Myoho renge kyo-the heart of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra that Shakyamuni Buddha who had achieved enlightenment in the remote past, along with the bodhisattvas Jogyo, Muhengyo and the others is to propogate-will alone spread throughout the country.”

"In the first five hundred years of the Former Day of the Law following the Buddha’s passing, only Hinayana teachings spread, while in the next five hundred years, provisional Mahayana teachings spread. The thousand years of the Middle Day of the Law saw the rise of the theoretical teaching. In the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law, only the essential teaching spreads, but even so, the theoretical teaching should not be discarded. Nowhere in the entire Lotus Sutra do we find a passage suggesting that we should discard the first fourteen chapters, which comprise the theoretical teaching. When we distinguish between the theoretical and the essential teachings on the basis of the threefold classification of the entire body of the Buddha’s teachings, the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings were to be spread in the Former Day, and the theoretical teaching, in the Middle Day, but the Latter Day is the time to propagate the essential teaching. In the present period the essential teaching is primary, while the theoretical teaching is subordinate. But those who therefore discard the latter, saying it is not the way to enlightenment, and believe only in the former, have not yet understood the doctrine of Nichiren’s true intention. Theirs is a completely distorted view."

"Thus a single word of this Lotus Sutra is as precious as a wish-granting jewel, and a single phrase is the seed of all Buddhas."

"Again, a single character equals innumerable others, for the validity of the sutra was attested to by the Buddhas of the ten directions. The treasures bestowed by a single wish-granting jewel equal those bestowed by two such jewels or by innumerable jewels. Likewise, each character in the Lotus Sutra is like a single wish-granting jewel, and the innumerable characters of the sutra are like innumerable jewels. The character myō was uttered by two tongues: the tongues of Shakyamuni and Many Treasures. The tongues of these two Buddhas are like an eight-petaled lotus flower, one petal overlapping another, on which rests a jewel, the character of myō.

The jewel of the character myō contains all the benefits that the Thus Come One Shakyamuni received by practicing the six pāramitās in his past existences: the benefits he obtained through the practice of almsgiving by offering his body to a starving tigress and by giving his life in exchange for that of a dove;9 the benefits he obtained when he was King Shrutasoma who kept his word, though it meant his death, in order to observe the precepts;10 the benefits he obtained as an ascetic called Forbearance by enduring the tortures inflicted upon him by King Kāli;11 the benefits he obtained as Prince Earnest Donor and as the ascetic Shōjari, and all his other benefits. We, the people of this evil latter age, have not formed even a single good cause, but [by bestowing upon us the jewel of myō] Shakyamuni has granted us the same benefit as if we ourselves had fulfilled all the practices of the six pāramitās. This precisely accords with his statement “Now this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings in it are all my children.” Bound as we common mortals are by earthly desires, we can instantly attain the same virtues as Shakyamuni Buddha, for we receive all the benefits that he accumulated. The sutra reads, “Hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us.” This means that those who believe in and practice the Lotus Sutra are equal to Shakyamuni Buddha."

"Therefore, a single word from one of these kings can destroy the kingdom or insure order within it. The edicts handed down by rulers represent a type of pure and far-reaching voice. Ten thousand words spoken by ten thousand ordinary subjects cannot equal one word spoken by a king."

"Similarly, though we gather together all the various sutras, such as the Flower Garland Sutra, the Āgama sutras, the Correct and Equal sutras, the Wisdom, Nirvana, Mahāvairochana, and Meditation sutras, they could never equal even a single character of the Lotus Sutra."

"Shakyamuni Buddha and the written words of the Lotus Sutra are two different things, but their heart is one. Therefore, when you cast your eyes upon the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should consider that you are beholding the living body of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni."

"The characters of this sutra are all without exception living Buddhas of perfect enlightenment. But because we have the eyes of ordinary people, we see them as characters. For instance, hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita. Though the water is the same, it appears differently according to one’s karmic reward from the past."

The blind cannot see the characters of this sutra. To the eyes of ordinary people, they look like characters. Persons of the two vehicles perceive them as the void. Bodhisattvas look on them as innumerable doctrines. Buddhas recognize each character as a golden Shakyamuni. This is what is meant by the passage that says, “[If one can uphold this sutra], one will be upholding the Buddha’s body.”1 Those who practice with distorted views, however, are destroying this most precious sutra. You should simply be careful that, without differing thoughts, you single-mindedly aspire to the pure land of Eagle Peak. A passage in the Six Pāramitās Sutra2 says to become the master of your mind rather than let your mind master you. I will explain in detail when I see you.

“Now this Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law I have been speaking of represents the true reason why all Buddhas make their advent in the world and teaches the direct way to the attainment of Buddhahood for all living beings. Shakyamuni Buddha entrusted it to his disciples, Many Treasures Buddha testified to its veracity, and the other Buddhas extended their tongues up to the Brahmā heaven, proclaiming, ‘All that you [Shakyamuni] have expounded is the truth!’ Every single character in this sutra represents the true intention of the Buddhas, and every brushstroke of it is a source of aid to those who repeat the cycle of birth and death. There is not a single word in it that is untrue."

"Even if one were to prepare a feast of a hundred flavors, if the single flavor of salt were missing, it would be no feast for a great king. Without salt, even the delicacies of land and sea are tasteless."

“The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, before which I bow my head, in its single case, with its eight scrolls, twenty-eight chapters, and 69,384 characters, is in each and every one of its characters the true Buddha who preaches the Law for the benefit of living beings.”

"Every single character in this sutra represents the true intention of the Buddhas, and every brushstroke of it is a source of aid to those who repeat the cycle of birth and death. There is not a single word in it that is untrue."

"If one discards one word or even one brushstroke of the sutra, the offense is graver than that of one who kills one’s parents ten million times over, or even of one who sheds the blood of all the Buddhas in the ten directions."

I can supply dozens more similar passages.

Were believers to chant together, some chanting Namu Myoho renge kyo and others chanting Nam Myoho renge kyo, how discordant it would be. Some chanting Namu Myoho renge kyo and others chanting Nam Myoho renge kyo is one of the principle causes of Nichiren faith disunity. One may spout all the theoretical reasons in the world why Nam Myoho renge kyo is equally correct but reality and actuality trumps them all.

Throwing out the character Mu is to throw out a golden Buddha from the heart of the Lotus Sutra. Perhaps the SGI should remove the character Mu from their Gohonzons as they have from Nichiren's writings?

Why I do what I do part 2.

To propagate the authentic teachings of Nichiren (what Nichiren actually taught); to warn people about fake Gosho; to awaken people to the difference between Soka Gakkai Buddhism and Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism; to teach the importance of the Eternal Buddha and Gohonzon; to proclaim the Eternal Buddha and Nichiren mentors without peer.

There is no protection practicing Ikedaism.

Osaka (in SGI's sacred Kansai provence), Japan's second largest city, is overwhelmed by fourth wave of pandemic.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-ones-safe-anymore-japans-011041565.html

Someone did a survey of SGI members some years back. Here are the results

He surveyed 145 Ex-SGI member: 100 ex-SGI general members; 25 ex-SGI low level leaders; and 20 ex-SGI senior leaders:

Did you read the World Tribune (organization Newspaper)? 110 responded NO and 35 YES

Did you read the Human Revolution? 22 responded NO and 123 YES

Did you Recite "Gongyo" in Sino-Japanese? 145 responded YES and 0 NO

Did you ever recite Gongyo in English? 145 responded No and 0 Yes

Did you ever read a translation of Gongyo? 126 responded NO and 19 YES

Have you ever read the entire Sutra? 144 responded NO and 1 YES

I am not surprised. Now, of course, their Sutra Book has the English printed under the Sino-Japanese but I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of the current SGI members have not read the English under the Sino-Japanese. Certainly, a majority, even today, has never read the entire Lotus Sutra.

(Nearly) everything Nichiren had to say about Shakyamuni Buddha with commentary

Nichiren's One Original Eternal Buddha Doctrine https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/06/nichirens-one-original-eternal-buddha.html

Nichiren's Comprehensive Teachings on Shakyamuni Buddha in Three Parts: 

Part1... https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on.html

Part2...https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_22.html

Part3...https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/07/nichirens-comprehensive-teachings-on_65.html

Regarding Nichiren Buddhist Blogs

Nichiren Buddhist blogs mirror the failure of the Soka Gakkai. 95% of all who began to chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with the Soka Gakkai have stopped practicing. Likewise of the many dozens of Nichiren blogs that began, there are fewer than 3 or 4 remaining active blogs. Is this because there is little interest in blogs or because the people who started their blogs no longer chant the Daimoku? Either way, this is quite lamentable since there are few places to go to discuss the teachings outside of Dharma Wheel (Nichiren).

Ten articles on Nichiren Buddhism by Dr. Jacqueline Stone

https://www.lotus-happiness.com/10-articles-nichiren-buddhism-jacqueline-stone/

Tolerance

Correcting wrong thought was the practice of Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin. Certainly neither of them were tolerant of wrong thought. However, different from other religions, particularly Christianity and Islam which spread through military conquest, Buddhism has been a religion of dialogue and debate. Tolerance doesn't mean we have to agree with the various faiths. If I found a more rational hopeful faith, I would convert. After 40+ years, only Namu Myoho renge kyo resonates with me.

Why you should exchange your copy of a Nichikan Gohonzon for a copy of a Nichiren Gohonzon

SGI members, see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. They have not delved very deeply in the truth of even their own teachings. Perhaps I can help them.

Nichikan wrote:

"We recite the Hoben Pon (2nd chapter) to smash the provisional sutras, we recite the Juryo Hon (16th Chapter) to smash the Hoben Pon, and we recits the daimoku to smash the Lotus Sutra".

Nichiren wrote:

“Nowhere in all the five thousand or seven thousand volumes of sutras listed in the K’ai-yüan era catalog do we find a single scriptural passage that expresses disapproval of the Lotus Sutra and advises one to discard it or to cast it aside, nor any passage that says it is to be classified among the sundry practices and abandoned. If you disagree, you had better find some reliable passage from the sutras that will support your view, so that you may rescue Shan-tao and Honen from their torments in the hell of incessant suffering."(Coversations Between a Sage and Unenlightened Man).

Yet you do Gongyo and chant the Daimoku every day to this slanderer's Gohonzon. Why would you ever think for a moment that you too could escape the torments of hell?

In the "Toke Sanne Sho [On the Three Robes of Nichiren Shoshu]," Nichikan Shonin cites Nikko Shonin and Nichimoku Shonin as the Treasure of the Priest when revealing the Three Treasures of Nichiren Shoshu, and then states, "I say that all the Masters, the successive direct successors to the bestowal of the Law, are in this way included in the Three Treasures." (Seiten, p. 971)

Nichikan's Six Volume Writings" (Rokkan sho) is composed of the following:

1)."The Threefold Secret Teaching" (Sanju hiden sho): In this writing Nichikan exhorts us us to abandon the Lotus Sutra and only embrace Namu Myoho renge kyo. This is bizarre since Namu myoho renge kyo means devotion to the Lotus Sutra (Myoho renge kyo).

2)."The Meanings Hidden in the Depths" (Montei hichin sho). In this equally bizarre writing he changes the Great Secret Law of the Object of Worship in terms of the person from the Original Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni to Nichiren Daishonin.

3)."Interpretations Based on the Law" (Egi hanmon sho). In this equally strange writing, Nichikan teaches that the Lotus Sutra was preached by Shakyamuni to explain Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism rather than Nichiren Daishonin explaining the Lotus Sutra through his commentaries.

4)."Teachings for the Latter Day" (Mappo soo sho). In this writing, Nichikan attempts to overturn the use of statues as Objects of Worship despite the fact that Nichiren utilized and revered a Statue of Shakyamuni Buddha as an Object of Worship throughout his life, praised both Dozenbo, Toki Jonin, and Shijo Kingo for fashioning statues of Shakyamuni Buddha, and wrote about both "wooden and painted" images.

5)."The Practice of this School" (Toryu gyoji sho). In this slanderous writing, Nichikan says we chant the Daimoku to smash the Juryo Chapter and chant the Juryo Chapter to smash the Hobenpon.

(6) The "Toke Sanne Sho" (The Three Robes of this School) explains the origin and significance of the traditional gray robe, the white surplice and the prayer beads of the Nichiren Shoshu priests. Here, he also goes on to overturn the Three Treasures of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren by asserting that Nichiren is the Treasure of the Buddha and that the heritage of the Law, the succession, is through the bequethal to one sole individual or the successive High Priests of Nichiren Shoshu (the Treasure of the Sangha). On the Juzu, he wrote:

"The Juzu is a means to guide persons of inferior capacity and force them into ascetic practices."

"Juzu require an eye-opening ceremony before use. This can be done at your local temple." (Six Volume Writings," Rokkan-sho, p. 225)

The Ryokkan Sho, far from being an Enlightened writing, is a bizarre writing.

Nichiren Daishonin, on the other hand, writes:

"When the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai applied the simile of ghee to the Lotus Sutra, basing himself on a passage in the Nirvana Sutra, he declared that among all the sutras the Lotus Sutra is worthy to be compared to ghee. The True Word teaching was introduced to China from India two hundred years or more after the time of T’ien-t’ai. How then could T’ien-t’ai possibly have stolen the ghee of the True Word teaching and called it the ghee of the Lotus Sutra? Of all strange events, this would be the strangest!

What evidence is there then for calling persons who lived two hundred years or more before the True Word teaching was even introduced to China thieves? Are we to put faith in these writings of the Great Teacher Kobo? Or are we to put faith in the Nirvana Sutra where the Buddha likens the Lotus Sutra to ghee?

If we are to regard the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai as a thief, then how are we to interpret this passage in the Nirvana Sutra? And if we accept the passage in the Nirvana Sutra as reliable and conclude that the writings of Kobo (Nichikan) are incorrect, then what are we to think of people who put faith in such erroneous teachings? All I can say is that one should compare the writings of the Great Teacher Kobo (Nichikan) and the pronouncements of the Buddha, and then put one’s faith in the one that proves to be correct." (On Prayer).

"But those who follow the teachings of Nichiren honestly discard the mistaken doctrines of the provisional teachings and the incorrect theories of the mistaken teachers, and, with all sincerity, put their faith in the correct teaching and the correct doctrines of the correct teacher. Accordingly they are able to gain the lotus of the entity and to manifest the mystic principle of the entity of the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light. This is because they put their faith in the golden words of the Buddha indicated in the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching and chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."(Entity of the Mystic Law)

Since the SGI fails, on this one vital criteria of putting "their faith in the golden words of the Buddha indicated in the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching", their land is the land of devils and hardships and not the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light. Wherever the teachings of the SGI spread, the people suffer and more tragedies and calamities occur. On the other hand, even one true practicer of the Lotus Sutra in a city or a country will bring good fortune and peace to the people.

Nichikan also wrote:

"The three groups of shomon disciples
accumulated good fortune since sanzen
jintengo [before being guaranteed
enlightenment), and those who received
the seed and reached enlightenment on
hearing the first chapter of the Lotus
Sutra accumulated good fortune since
Gohyaku jintengo. How possibly could
those who first received the seed during
the lifetime of the Buddha all without
exception achieve enlightenment in a
mere two-thousand years? [They
couldn't!] The reason is this: the
effectiveness of Shakyamuni's teachings
begins at Kuon Ganjo, but ends with the
two-thousand years of the Former and
Middle Days of the Law. ... Therefore
the people of the Latter Day of the Law
all innately have yet to possess the seed
and so are of the capacity to receive the
original seed of enlightenment directly."
(Rokkan-sho, p.110)

Who can understand such nonsense? He is like the SGI leaders. He just makes things up out of thin air. What ever pops into his head he writes and calls it the True Teachings. Nichiren says about such men who fail to preach with Sutra in hand, even though they be great bodhisattvas, don't listen to them. Nichikan wasn't even a Bodhisattva. He was a madman and he inscribed the Gohonzon to which SGI members fuse. How could every last member of the SGI fail to become a madman? Here is more proof.

Nichikan writes in his Montei Hichin-Sho ["The Teachings Hidden in the Depths of the Text"]:

"Therefore know this: *"One of Perfect Freedom"* is His true state (honchi). Bodhisattva Jogyo is His transient reflection. And Nichiren is the manifestation of His true state (kenpon).

Nichiren Daishonin never revealed it and he never held back anything. Nichiren Shonin teaches that his true identity is that of Jogyo and hidden in the depths of the Juryohon is that he, as well as we, are Three Bodied Tathagatas, one with the Original Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, our original teacher.

The Juryo (16) and Jinriki Chapters (21) of the Lotus Sutra and the Goshos, the Entity of the Mystic Law (Totaigi Sho), The Opening of the Eyes, The True Object of Worship, and Repaying Debts of Gratitude, explain why the Nichikan Gohonzon is a demon infested condition for the ruin of the individual, the nation, and the world.

'I likewise am the Father of the World,
The One who saves
from the various sufferings and travails" (Lotus Sutra Chapter 16)

"At that time the Buddha spoke to Superior Practices and the others in the great assembly of bodhisattvas, saying: "The supernatural powers of the Buddhas, as you have seen, are immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable. If in the process of entrusting this sutra to others I were to employ these supernatural powers for a immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of asamkhya kalpas to describe the benefits of the sutra, I could never finish doing so. To put it briefly, all the doctrines possessed by the Thus Come One, the storehouse of all the secret essentials of the Thus Come One - all these are proclaimed, revealed, and clearly expounded in this sutra. (Lotus Sutra Chapter 21)

Nichiren comments on this passage:

Answer: In this passage, Shakyamuni Buddha explains that he is entrusting to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, his original disciples, the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, which is the essence of the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni, who attained enlightenment countless kalpas in the past, says elsewhere, "By now the original vows that I made have already been fulfilled. I have converted all living beings and caused them all to enter the Buddha way." Thus, he has already fulfilled his earlier vow. Then, intending to charge his disciples with the task of accomplishing widespread propagation in the fifth five hundred years after his death," he called forth the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and entrusted them with the heart of the sutra, the lotus of the entity of the essential teaching. This passage represents the ultimate purpose for which Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in the world, the secret Law that he attained in the place of meditation. It is this passage that gives proof of the lotus of the entity that, for those of us who live in the Latter Day of the Law, assures the attainment of Buddhahood in both the present and future."

Accordingly, at the present time in the Latter Day of the Law, other than the envoy of the Thus Come One, there can be no one who understands and produces this passage as proof of the lotus of the entity. Truly it is a passage of secret meaning. Truly it is a matter of great concern. Truly it is to be honored and admired. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo!" (Entity of the Mystic Law)

"Answer: 'One: Japan and so on to the whole of Jambudvipa should uniformly take the Master of teachings Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine as the Object of Worship." (Repaying Debts of Gratitude)

Now, when the Eternal Buddha was revealed in the essential section of the Lotus Sutra, this world of endurance (Saha-world) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding, and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of construction, continuance, destruction and emptiness. Sakyamuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this pure land, has never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future. He exists forever throughout the past present and future. All those who receive His guidance are one with this Eternal Buddha. (Opening of the Eyes)

In the same chapter, another passage reads: ‘The duration of My Life, which I obtained through the practice of the way of bodhisattvas, has not yet expired. It is twice as long as the length of time stated above: 500 dust-particle kalpa.’ This reveals the bodhisattva realm within our minds. The bodhisattvas described in the fifteenth chapter, ‘Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground,’ who have sprung out of the great earth, as numerous as the number of dust-particles of 1,000 worlds, are followers of the Original Buddha Sakyamuni who resides within our minds." (The True Object of Worship)

Nichikan asked us to abandon Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra. This is the purport of his Object of Worship. The Nichikan Gohonzon is neither based on the Lotus Sutra (Myoho renge kyo) nor on Shakyamuni Buddha of the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. It is not based on the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. Chanting to this Gohonzon is as if you were to take and revere the offering of a sumptuous meal from the murderer of your parents or praising the one who has kidnapped your child. You along with the offender (Nichikan) will both fall into the Lower Realms and the Sutra's promise of peace and security in this life and a fortunate birth in the next will allude you.

Further Proof of my assertion is the fact that SGI would take up this Gohonzon as their banner of propagation in the first place; the bizarre worldview of the SGI where Daisaku Ikeda is revered and praised at the expense of the Sutra, the Buddha, and Nichiren Daishonin; the misfortune that invariably befalls its leaders; and the lack of insight of the general members.

At the very least, the Nichikan No-honzon is the “banner of propagation of the Soka Gakkai.” Why would anyone who disassociates from the Soka Gakkai embrace the Soka Gakkai banner of propagation? It is as if the US founding fathers would have continued to hold high the flag of England.

The Gohonzon is a Representation of the Buddha of the Lifespan Chapter of the Lotus Sutra

"During the entire fifty years of Shakyamuni’s teaching, only in the last eight years did he preach the twenty- eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Again, of all these chapters, only in the eight chapters did he reveal and transfer the object of devotion to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. During the two millennia of the Former and Middle Days of the Law, statues were made showing Mahakashyapa and Ananda flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of Hinayana, and Manjushri and Universal Worthy flanking the Shakyamuni Buddha of the provisional Mahayana, the Nirvana Sutra, and the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra.

Even though statues and paintings were made of these Shakyamuni Buddhas during the two millennia, no image or statue was made of the Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter. Only in the Latter Day of the Law will the representation of that Buddha appear." -- The True Object of Worship