Just now
Dear Mr. Moon:
May i be so bold as to critique your latest tome on Locating and Implicating Bronze Age Cosmology in Nichiren and the Japanese Way? Either way, here i go...
You wrote in your very first two paragraphs:
" [I ill pre!ace ith my edited reply to a scholar" amongthe Academia" ho perused the !olloing monograph#$I am deeply mo%ed by your comments# At best" I am a%ague and ambi%alent Nichiren apologist# Hoe%er" the innerpressure o! Nichirenism" on my psyche" propelled me"ine&plicably" into a long contemplati%e li!e o! research" !orhich I remain 'uite grate!ul# I too( )ensei I(eda as mymentor and !ather *gure hen I had none" but the goal is"clearly" to supersede# +he enigmas surrounding religionappear insoluble to me# Nichiren" despite his militancy" is nota bad place to start the inard ,ourney" by %irtue o! thehollo-centered" Bronze Age cosmology therein. issuing !roma moderated discourse that I attempted in /art 0 o! mygoogle blog1 2/risms in the Lotus2. ithout thought to orldlybene*t nor )3I" or N+" prerogati%es# I came to belie%e" on Jung2s promptings" that the de!ault position !or Westernspirituality is embedded in the Christian 4language-game"4perhaps" echoed in the 5elai Lama2s admonition to us" 43obac( to your churches#4 )ince I ha%e no church" nor school"my %irtual recourse lies in a pedagogy similar to that o! Joseph Campbell 6ithout his *re in the belly7####I hope too8er some solutions-or dissolutions" as the case may be- tothose ho cannot e&tricate themsel%es !rom the grip o!Nichiren ithout emotion or rancor#"
SGI commemorative holidays:
January 26 - SGI Day (1975)
February 11 - Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda's Birthday (1900)
March 16 - Kosen-rufu Day (1958)
April 20 - Day of Seikyo Shimbun's Founding (1951)
May 3 - Soka Gakkai Day (1951/1960)
May 3 - Soka Gakkai Mother's Day (1988)
May 5 - Soka Gakkai Successors' Day (1976)
June 6 - First Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's Birthday (1871)
July 3 - Mentor and Disciple Day (1945/1957)
July 17 - Mr. Ikeda released from prison (1957)
August 14 - Mr. Ikeda's first meetiing with Mr. Toda (1947)
August 24 - Mr. Ikeda took faith in Nichiren Buddhism (1947)
September 8 - Declaration Against Nuclear Weapons by President Toda (1957)
October 2 - World Peace Day (1960)
November 18 - Soka Gakkai Founding Day (1930)
December 2 - Date of Starting the Novel, the Human Revolution (1964)
PLEASE NOTE, not one commemorative day for the Daishonin's or Shakyamuni Buddha's birth, death, enlightenment, or persecutions. Jeez, Daisaku was in jail for what, 12 hours?
Don't you see why I criticize the Soka Gakkai for calling yourselves "Nichiren Buddhists"?
Regarding Toda's "enlightenment" in prison...
Regarding Toda's Lecture on the Sutra Part 2, Likening Buddha to life was completely mistaken in light of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren.
All that lives is destined to die. Life is marked by transience, suffering, impurity, and selfishness. The Original Buddha is eternal, joyful, pure, and selfless. The Buddha transcends life [and death]. Ikeda’s transgressions are far worse because of the principle of intent. He knows all too well the true and eternal principles of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin but persists in transmitting SGI’s [and Taisekaji's] distorted teachings. How many more untoward events in heaven and on earth will we have to experience because of Daisaku Ikeda’s transgressions? If Daisaku Ikeda and SGI continue to destroy and distort the teachings and fool the people, many more and severe sufferings will beset the people
President Toda also taught in his Lecture on the Sutra: “With this silent prayer, we express our sincere thanks to the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin, the founder of Head temple Taisekiji. Hossui-shabyo: Hossui is the Law or Buddhism metaphorically compared to clean water. Shabyo means “transfer. Now suppose here are two glasses, one of which is filled with water. The water is transferred from one glass into the other. The quality of the water remains unchanged through this transfer even though the shapes of the glasses may differ. Simililarly, the Hossui of Nichiren Daishonin was handed down from Nikko Shonin to Third High Priest Nichimoku Shonin. However, its geneuine purity was not changed in the least. This solemn tradition has been strictly maintained by the successive high priests of Nichiren Shoshu. YUIGA YOGA: This means that the life of Nikko Shonin equals that of Nichiren Daishonin. A Gohonzon called the “Tobi” (Flying) Mandala” is enshrined at Butsugenji Temple in Sendai City in Northeast Japan. It was inscribed co-operatively by the Daishonin and his immediate successor Nikko Shonin. This fact evidences what yuiga yoga signifies.” –Josei Toda as quoted in: From “Lectures on the Sutra” Third Edition, 1968 Seikyo Press.
Please note that no where in the Lotus Sutra or the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, can we find the concepts or words, YUIGA YOGA but in Tendai/Shingon/Tibetan esotericism, this is a core principle. Central to Lamanism, an offshoot of Shingon, are the Four Treasures and the most important Treasure is the Treasure of the Guru. The other Three Treasures are subsumed within the Treasure of the Guru. This is known as Guru Yoga. The same goes for the SGI, whether it is implicit or implied. When SGI members or leaders chant Namu Myoho renge kyo, they are revering their Sensei. While they chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with their voices, they chant Namu Sensei in their hearts. Makiguchi and Toda read the Lotus Sutra according to the distorted teachings of the Taisekaji priests who adopted the two related Zen and Shingon concepts respectively: The Transfer of the Water of the Law; and Yuiga Yoga or the Oneness of living Master and Disciple. The SGI has adopted these distorted Zen and Shingon viewpoints, in contrast to the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren Daishonin which state, “This Sutra”. More proof of SGI’s transgressions are Daisaku Ikeda’s teachings that mirror those of his deluded Sensei, Josei Toda. Ikeda once taught, “The basis of Nichiren Shoshu is the Lifeblood recieved only by a single person. To faithfully follow the High Priest of the bequethal of the Lifeblood is the correct way for priests and laybelievers. If one is mistaken about this single point, then everything will become insane.” And now he declares, “Following the Three Presidents of the Soka Gakkai is the basis of the Lifeblood of faith”
Regarding SGI following the Lotus Sutra, have you seen or heard of sGI's Manual of Forced Conversion (Bible of Shakubuku), edited by Daisaku Ikeda?
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2020/08/some-passages-from-sgi-bible-of.html
Regarding your exposition on sunyata, I have little to say except, sunyata sans Middle Way, is truly nothingness.
Regarding Phenomena and Noumena:
The best example of phenomena and noumena is John Doe person. Phenomena is how we perceive John Doe and Noumena is how John Doe really is. Phenomena is the relative John Doe and Noumena is the absolute John Doe. Only Buddhas and votaries of the Lotus Sutra can perfectly perceive the relative and absolute reality of things. Nichiren teaches:
"Within the minds of all human beings, there exist the three categories of illusions of thought and desire, of illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and of illusions about the true nature of existence, as well as karma created by the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins—all of which are like a dark night. The Flower Garland and the other various sutras are like stars in this dark night, while the Lotus Sutra is like the moon. For those who have faith in the Lotus Sutra, but whose faith is not deep, it is as though a half moon were lighting the darkness. But for those who have profound faith, it is as though a full moon were illuminating the night." - The Essence of the Medicine King Chapter of the Lotus Sutra
and in his most important writing, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, he writes:
"Question: Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, is the Buddha who has completely destroyed the three categories of illusion*. He is the sovereign of all rulers, bodhisattvas, persons of the two vehicles, human and heavenly beings, and others in the ten directions. Whenever the Buddha moves, Brahmā attends him on the left and Shakra on the right. The four kinds of Buddhists and the eight kinds of nonhuman beings follow behind, while the vajra-bearing gods march in the vanguard. With his eighty thousand teachings he leads all living beings to emancipation. How could a Buddha such as this dwell in the hearts of us ordinary people?
Nichiren goes on, a bit further to explain:
"Now, the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra says that Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, attained Buddhahood numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, and that the cause that made this possible was the practice he had carried out at that time. Since then he has manifested emanation bodies throughout the worlds of the ten directions and preached all the sacred teachings of his lifetime to teach and convert people as numerous as the dust particles of the land. When we compare the number of disciples in the essential teaching with that of disciples in the theoretical teaching, the former is like the ocean, and the latter, like a drop of water, or the one, like a great mountain, and the other, like a speck of dust. What is more, a bodhisattva of the essential teaching is far superior to any bodhisattva of the theoretical teaching, including Manjushrī, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, or any of the others who gathered from the worlds in the ten directions. The difference between them is even greater than that between Shakra and a monkey. Are you saying that besides these bodhisattvas, the persons of the two vehicles who obtained their enlightenment by destroying their illusions, Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, the four wheel-turning kings, and the immense flames of the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering—all beings and all things in the ten directions are inherent in the Ten Worlds and in the three thousand realms of our own lives.."
* Three categories of illusions: (1) illusions of thought and desire (the former are distorted perceptions of the truth, while the latter refer to base inclinations such as greed and anger); (2) illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, which arise when bodhisattvas try to master innumerable teachings in order to save others; and (3) illusions about the true nature of existence.
Lastly, are you aware of Nichiren's criticism of the Japanese people, that the Japenese people are the most evil people in all of Jambudvipa?
The most glaring modern day example, from the perspective of an MD, are their sins (lies) regarding Fukushima, its effects on their own people, let alone in the entire world. Do you know who was the CEO of TEPCO at the time of the disaster?
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/11/everything-sgi-and-tepco.html
I send you this, not to destroy your faith but to open your eyes, for your Bodhi.
Sincerely,
Mark
May i be so bold as to critique your latest tome on Locating and Implicating Bronze Age Cosmology in Nichiren and the Japanese Way? Either way, here i go...
You wrote in your very first two paragraphs:
" [I ill pre!ace ith my edited reply to a scholar" amongthe Academia" ho perused the !olloing monograph#$I am deeply mo%ed by your comments# At best" I am a%ague and ambi%alent Nichiren apologist# Hoe%er" the innerpressure o! Nichirenism" on my psyche" propelled me"ine&plicably" into a long contemplati%e li!e o! research" !orhich I remain 'uite grate!ul# I too( )ensei I(eda as mymentor and !ather *gure hen I had none" but the goal is"clearly" to supersede# +he enigmas surrounding religionappear insoluble to me# Nichiren" despite his militancy" is nota bad place to start the inard ,ourney" by %irtue o! thehollo-centered" Bronze Age cosmology therein. issuing !roma moderated discourse that I attempted in /art 0 o! mygoogle blog1 2/risms in the Lotus2. ithout thought to orldlybene*t nor )3I" or N+" prerogati%es# I came to belie%e" on Jung2s promptings" that the de!ault position !or Westernspirituality is embedded in the Christian 4language-game"4perhaps" echoed in the 5elai Lama2s admonition to us" 43obac( to your churches#4 )ince I ha%e no church" nor school"my %irtual recourse lies in a pedagogy similar to that o! Joseph Campbell 6ithout his *re in the belly7####I hope too8er some solutions-or dissolutions" as the case may be- tothose ho cannot e&tricate themsel%es !rom the grip o!Nichiren ithout emotion or rancor#"
SGI commemorative holidays:
January 26 - SGI Day (1975)
February 11 - Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda's Birthday (1900)
March 16 - Kosen-rufu Day (1958)
April 20 - Day of Seikyo Shimbun's Founding (1951)
May 3 - Soka Gakkai Day (1951/1960)
May 3 - Soka Gakkai Mother's Day (1988)
May 5 - Soka Gakkai Successors' Day (1976)
June 6 - First Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi's Birthday (1871)
July 3 - Mentor and Disciple Day (1945/1957)
July 17 - Mr. Ikeda released from prison (1957)
August 14 - Mr. Ikeda's first meetiing with Mr. Toda (1947)
August 24 - Mr. Ikeda took faith in Nichiren Buddhism (1947)
September 8 - Declaration Against Nuclear Weapons by President Toda (1957)
October 2 - World Peace Day (1960)
November 18 - Soka Gakkai Founding Day (1930)
December 2 - Date of Starting the Novel, the Human Revolution (1964)
PLEASE NOTE, not one commemorative day for the Daishonin's or Shakyamuni Buddha's birth, death, enlightenment, or persecutions. Jeez, Daisaku was in jail for what, 12 hours?
Don't you see why I criticize the Soka Gakkai for calling yourselves "Nichiren Buddhists"?
Regarding Toda's "enlightenment" in prison...
Regarding Toda's Lecture on the Sutra Part 2, Likening Buddha to life was completely mistaken in light of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren.
All that lives is destined to die. Life is marked by transience, suffering, impurity, and selfishness. The Original Buddha is eternal, joyful, pure, and selfless. The Buddha transcends life [and death]. Ikeda’s transgressions are far worse because of the principle of intent. He knows all too well the true and eternal principles of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin but persists in transmitting SGI’s [and Taisekaji's] distorted teachings. How many more untoward events in heaven and on earth will we have to experience because of Daisaku Ikeda’s transgressions? If Daisaku Ikeda and SGI continue to destroy and distort the teachings and fool the people, many more and severe sufferings will beset the people
President Toda also taught in his Lecture on the Sutra: “With this silent prayer, we express our sincere thanks to the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin, the founder of Head temple Taisekiji. Hossui-shabyo: Hossui is the Law or Buddhism metaphorically compared to clean water. Shabyo means “transfer. Now suppose here are two glasses, one of which is filled with water. The water is transferred from one glass into the other. The quality of the water remains unchanged through this transfer even though the shapes of the glasses may differ. Simililarly, the Hossui of Nichiren Daishonin was handed down from Nikko Shonin to Third High Priest Nichimoku Shonin. However, its geneuine purity was not changed in the least. This solemn tradition has been strictly maintained by the successive high priests of Nichiren Shoshu. YUIGA YOGA: This means that the life of Nikko Shonin equals that of Nichiren Daishonin. A Gohonzon called the “Tobi” (Flying) Mandala” is enshrined at Butsugenji Temple in Sendai City in Northeast Japan. It was inscribed co-operatively by the Daishonin and his immediate successor Nikko Shonin. This fact evidences what yuiga yoga signifies.” –Josei Toda as quoted in: From “Lectures on the Sutra” Third Edition, 1968 Seikyo Press.
Please note that no where in the Lotus Sutra or the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, can we find the concepts or words, YUIGA YOGA but in Tendai/Shingon/Tibetan esotericism, this is a core principle. Central to Lamanism, an offshoot of Shingon, are the Four Treasures and the most important Treasure is the Treasure of the Guru. The other Three Treasures are subsumed within the Treasure of the Guru. This is known as Guru Yoga. The same goes for the SGI, whether it is implicit or implied. When SGI members or leaders chant Namu Myoho renge kyo, they are revering their Sensei. While they chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with their voices, they chant Namu Sensei in their hearts. Makiguchi and Toda read the Lotus Sutra according to the distorted teachings of the Taisekaji priests who adopted the two related Zen and Shingon concepts respectively: The Transfer of the Water of the Law; and Yuiga Yoga or the Oneness of living Master and Disciple. The SGI has adopted these distorted Zen and Shingon viewpoints, in contrast to the Lotus Sutra and writings of Nichiren Daishonin which state, “This Sutra”. More proof of SGI’s transgressions are Daisaku Ikeda’s teachings that mirror those of his deluded Sensei, Josei Toda. Ikeda once taught, “The basis of Nichiren Shoshu is the Lifeblood recieved only by a single person. To faithfully follow the High Priest of the bequethal of the Lifeblood is the correct way for priests and laybelievers. If one is mistaken about this single point, then everything will become insane.” And now he declares, “Following the Three Presidents of the Soka Gakkai is the basis of the Lifeblood of faith”
Regarding SGI following the Lotus Sutra, have you seen or heard of sGI's Manual of Forced Conversion (Bible of Shakubuku), edited by Daisaku Ikeda?
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2020/08/some-passages-from-sgi-bible-of.html
Regarding your exposition on sunyata, I have little to say except, sunyata sans Middle Way, is truly nothingness.
Regarding Phenomena and Noumena:
The best example of phenomena and noumena is John Doe person. Phenomena is how we perceive John Doe and Noumena is how John Doe really is. Phenomena is the relative John Doe and Noumena is the absolute John Doe. Only Buddhas and votaries of the Lotus Sutra can perfectly perceive the relative and absolute reality of things. Nichiren teaches:
"Within the minds of all human beings, there exist the three categories of illusions of thought and desire, of illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and of illusions about the true nature of existence, as well as karma created by the ten evil acts or the five cardinal sins—all of which are like a dark night. The Flower Garland and the other various sutras are like stars in this dark night, while the Lotus Sutra is like the moon. For those who have faith in the Lotus Sutra, but whose faith is not deep, it is as though a half moon were lighting the darkness. But for those who have profound faith, it is as though a full moon were illuminating the night." - The Essence of the Medicine King Chapter of the Lotus Sutra
and in his most important writing, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind, he writes:
"Question: Shakyamuni, the lord of teachings, is the Buddha who has completely destroyed the three categories of illusion*. He is the sovereign of all rulers, bodhisattvas, persons of the two vehicles, human and heavenly beings, and others in the ten directions. Whenever the Buddha moves, Brahmā attends him on the left and Shakra on the right. The four kinds of Buddhists and the eight kinds of nonhuman beings follow behind, while the vajra-bearing gods march in the vanguard. With his eighty thousand teachings he leads all living beings to emancipation. How could a Buddha such as this dwell in the hearts of us ordinary people?
Nichiren goes on, a bit further to explain:
"Now, the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra says that Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, attained Buddhahood numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, and that the cause that made this possible was the practice he had carried out at that time. Since then he has manifested emanation bodies throughout the worlds of the ten directions and preached all the sacred teachings of his lifetime to teach and convert people as numerous as the dust particles of the land. When we compare the number of disciples in the essential teaching with that of disciples in the theoretical teaching, the former is like the ocean, and the latter, like a drop of water, or the one, like a great mountain, and the other, like a speck of dust. What is more, a bodhisattva of the essential teaching is far superior to any bodhisattva of the theoretical teaching, including Manjushrī, Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, or any of the others who gathered from the worlds in the ten directions. The difference between them is even greater than that between Shakra and a monkey. Are you saying that besides these bodhisattvas, the persons of the two vehicles who obtained their enlightenment by destroying their illusions, Brahmā, Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, the four wheel-turning kings, and the immense flames of the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering—all beings and all things in the ten directions are inherent in the Ten Worlds and in the three thousand realms of our own lives.."
* Three categories of illusions: (1) illusions of thought and desire (the former are distorted perceptions of the truth, while the latter refer to base inclinations such as greed and anger); (2) illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, which arise when bodhisattvas try to master innumerable teachings in order to save others; and (3) illusions about the true nature of existence.
Lastly, are you aware of Nichiren's criticism of the Japanese people, that the Japenese people are the most evil people in all of Jambudvipa?
The most glaring modern day example, from the perspective of an MD, are their sins (lies) regarding Fukushima, its effects on their own people, let alone in the entire world. Do you know who was the CEO of TEPCO at the time of the disaster?
https://markrogow.blogspot.com/2018/11/everything-sgi-and-tepco.html
I send you this, not to destroy your faith but to open your eyes, for your Bodhi.
Sincerely,
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment