"But let us consider. Who is it who is cursed and spoken ill of by the populace? Who is the priest who is attacked with swords and staves? Who is the priest who, because of the Lotus Sutra, is accused in petitions submitted to the courtiers and warriors? Who is the priest who is “again and again banished,” as the Lotus Sutra predicted? Who else in Japan besides Nichiren has fulfilled these predictions?"
And who else but I in the entire United States is spoken ill of, exiled, and banished in the virtual world in more places for asserting the superiority of the Lotus Sutra? Who else upholds Nichiren's Four Dictums, admonishing the provisional Buddhists and not for one year, two years, five years but for almost 25 years? Who else corrects SGI's and Nichiren Shoshu's bizarre doctrines for the sake of the purity of the Law? Who else in the United states has experienced first hand for the sake of this Sutra and support of the Eternal Buddha and Nichiren? Hatred and Jealousy towards this Sutra and the Sutra's votaries abound even when the Buddha was in the world and how much worse will it be after his passing.
Were only the daimoku important and not the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra then why did Nichireen write hundreds of pages on the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra and The Identity of the Eternal Buddha? Nichiren teaches:
"If it is not the proper Object of Worship (Gohonzon), even though there be no falsehood [even if the practitioner is sincere] it will not form the seed [of Buddhahood]. The Daimoku of the Hommon [Doctrine of the Original, found in the Lotus Sutra] is the seed of Buddhahood. This is because the Eternal Shakyamuni of the Honmon has put his Causal Practices (his myriad practices that lead to enlightenment) and his Virtues of the Effect (the merits of the effect, which is Buddhahood) into the seven characters of Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo." (The True Object of Worship)
"Were only the daimoku important and not the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra then why did Nichireen write hundreds of pages on the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra and The Identity of the Eternal Buddha?"
ReplyDeleteDunno where you got this idea... the daimoku is the essence of the Lotus Sutra. Perfect. Complete. Buddhist scholars recognize the doctrinal writings as refutations of slanderous schools and assertions of the One Buddha. No one need be a buddhist scholar to obtain infinite benefit from the essential practice, chanting daimoku. Give a bunch of non-scholarly folks a bunch of medieval Buddhist writings and watch them act like sages! LOL!
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ReplyDeleteAnd who else but I in the entire United States is spoken ill of, exiled, and banished in the virtual world in more places for asserting the superiority of the Lotus Sutra? Who else upholds Nichiren's Four Dictums, admonishing the provisional Buddhists and not for one year, two years, five years but for almost 25 years? Who else corrects SGI's and Nichiren Shoshu's bizarre doctrines for the sake of the purity of the Law? Who else in the United states has experienced first hand for the sake of this Sutra and support of the Eternal Buddha and Nichiren? Hatred and Jealousy towards this Sutra and the Sutra's votaries abound even when the Buddha was in the world and how much worse will it be after his passing. "
I along with others I know well have experienced severe hardships, losses, illnesses, etc, while consistently practicing these teachings, but none would go beyond those they know personally to even discuss doctrines, etc. have seen you take nasty aim at people here who could counter claim that your animosity towards them proves they are correctly upholding the teachings. what really matters? that one ceaselessly chants the daimoku through it all and holds fast to the truth, that no one person is above the Law, or superior to anyone chanting the daimoku, be they novice or veteran.
The Sutra, Nichiren's writings and the manifest effect is the final determinant. While you lambast me, i am filled with joy and even more determination to say what has to be said.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should re-read what I wrote?
ReplyDelete" I along with others I know well have experienced severe hardships, losses, illnesses, etc, while consistently practicing these teachings, but none would go beyond those they know personally to even discuss doctrines, etc. have seen you take nasty aim at people here who could counter claim that your animosity towards them proves they are correctly upholding the teachings. what really matters? that one ceaselessly chants the daimoku through it all and holds fast to the truth, that no one person is above the Law, or superior to anyone chanting the daimoku, be they novice or veteran."
There is no lambasting here, sir-- just pointing out that there are indeed others who experience a true sense of connection to upholding Nichiren's teachings, without "lambasting other believers" as is your practice on the internet.
I only lambast those who have abandoned Shakyamuni Buddha and as a matter of course practice the 14 slanders, one such as yourself. It is not that I am respectworthy, but because the power of the Lotus Sutra is supreme. As Nichiren stated: "If I praise myself, people will think that I am boastful, but if I humble myself, they will despise the sutra."
ReplyDeleteDoes this not also apply to Nichiren's disciples and believers?
I would contend that your new accusation that I have “ abandoned Shakyamuni Buddha”— along with the “ others” you “ lambast” , is behavior that casts you in a dubious light. I could just say you have hit a new low. Does anyone believe your preposterous aspersions?
ReplyDeleteA wise believer once told me, take Nichiren.s writings to heart and chant daimoku to purify your own thoughts, to gain wisdom to live with dignity and compassion for all people, as the Buddha Himself exemplified. The Buddha and the Lotus Sutra are one and the same. When you use whatever sources you have to degrade/ lambaste/ other believers , it is you who has abandoned Shakyamuni Buddha, sir.
" The Law is worthy of respect... likewise, those who recite/chant the Law are respect worthy" . That is, I believe, how Nichiren described the foundation for saying " Believers in the Mystic Law should be the very last to abuse one another".
ReplyDeleteNot those who abandon the other vital principles. Worshipping Ikeda while chanting the Daimoku, believing in an intermediary such as Ikeda or the High Priest. Not those who fabricate Gosho and call them the writings of Nichiren. They might as well be jesuits and some may be.
ReplyDeleteIf you defend the Soka Gakkai, you and the Nichiren shoshu, you have abandoned Shakyamuni Buddha.
ReplyDeleteYour pronouncement is quite obscene. But then, you maintain that you have some (totally unsubstantiated) authority to spew such vulgar statements.
ReplyDeleteI defend the teaching that supports refraining from abusive language: name calling, false accusations, and the like--BY those who chant the daimoku as well as directing defamatory comments towards others who chant the daimoku. BOTH behaviors degrade the Lotus Sutra.
The hearts of the people are like those of birds and beasts; they recognize neither sovereign, teacher, nor parent. Even less do they distinguish between correct and incorrect in Buddhism, or good and evil in their teachers."
ReplyDeleteAll of these schools are misled concerning the true object of devotion. They are like the people who lived in the age before the Three Sovereigns of ancient China and did not know who their own fathers were. In that respect, the people of that time were no different from birds and beasts.
The people of these schools who are ignorant of the teachings of the “Life Span” chapter are similarly like beasts. They do not understand to whom they are obligated....
The third chief priest, the Great Teacher Jikaku, at first acted like a disciple of the Great Teacher Dengyō. But after he went to China at the age of forty, though he continued to call himself a disciple of Dengyō and went through the motions of carrying on Dengyō’s line, he taught a kind of Buddhism that was wholly unworthy of a true disciple of Dengyō. Only in the matter of the precepts of perfect and immediate enlightenment established by Dengyō did he conduct himself like a true disciple."
He was like a bat, for a bat resembles a bird yet is not a bird, and resembles a mouse yet is not a mouse. Or he was like an owl or a hakei beast. He ate his father, the Lotus Sutra, and devoured his mother, those who embrace the Lotus Sutra. When he dreamed that he shot down the sun, it must have been a portent of these crimes. And it must have been because of these acts that, after his death, no grave was set aside for him."
Now in this latter, evil age, great evil arises less from secular wrongdoing than in connection with the doctrines of the religious world. When people today, who are unaware of this, endeavor to cultivate roots of good, events that lead to the ruin of the world occur all the more. Although superficially it may seem to be an act of good to provide support to the priests of the Tendai, True Word, and other schools of the present age, in reality it is a great evil surpassing even the five cardinal sins and the ten evil acts.
For this reason, in order that peace reign in the age, if a wise man existed in the world with wisdom like that of the World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment, and if he met with a worthy ruler like King Sen’yo; and if together they devoted themselves to putting an end to these acts of good and committed the great evil of censuring, banishing, cutting off alms to, OR EVEN BEHEADING those persons of the eight schools who are thought to be men of wisdom, then the age may be pacified TO SOME EXTENT.
ReplyDeleteIt is the nature of beasts to threaten the weak and fear the strong. Our contemporary scholars of the various schools are just like them. They despise a wise man without power, but fear evil rulers. They are no more than fawning retainers. Only by defeating a powerful enemy can one prove one’s real strength. When an evil ruler in consort with priests of erroneous teachings tries to destroy the correct teaching and do away with a man of wisdom, those with the heart of a lion king are sure to attain Buddhahood. Like Nichiren, for example. I say this not out of arrogance, but because I am deeply committed to the correct teaching. An arrogant person will always be overcome with fear when meeting a strong enemy, as was the haughty asura who shrank in size and hid himself in a lotus blossom in Heat-Free Lake when reproached by Shakra. Even a word or a phrase of the correct teaching will enable one to gain the way, if it suits the time and the capacity of the people. But though one studies a thousand sutras and ten thousand treatises, one will not attain Buddhahood if these teachings are unsuitable for the time and the people’s capacity.
How much more so is this the case with the ordinary people of the day! They behave like dogs who have seen a monkey, or hunters in pursuit of a deer. Throughout the whole of Japan, there is not a single person who says, “Perhaps this man has some reason for his behavior.”
...the “wise men” of our day, who are in fact no wiser than cattle or horses, may venture to attack my doctrines. But in truth they are like scavenger dogs barking at the lion king, or foolish monkeys laughing at the god Shakra.
When these men see the votaries of the Lotus Sutra, they hate and envy them, treat them with contempt and scorn, and speak evil of them to others as if they were inferior to dogs or foxes. In their opinion, they alone have truly understood the Lotus Sutra.
The Buddha stated that, in the latter age, monks and nuns with the hearts of dogs would be as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.3 By this he meant that the priests and nuns of that day would be attached to fame and fortune. Because they wear robes and surplices, they look like ordinary priests and nuns. But in their hearts they wield a sword of distorted views, hastening here and there among their patrons and filling them with countless lies so as to keep them away from other priests or nuns. Thus they strive to keep their patrons to themselves and prevent other priests or nuns from coming near them, like a dog who goes to a house to be fed, but growls and springs to attack the moment another dog approaches. Each and every one of these priests and nuns is certain to fall into the evil paths...
When we observe the priests of our time, we find some who secretly accept offerings for themselves alone. In the Nirvana Sutra they are described as dog-like priests. In their next life they will become ox-headed demons.7 We also find persons who, though they receive offerings openly, being greedy, never share them with others. In their next existence they will be born as horse-headed demons.
The people at every stage and every post town are as bestial as dogs or tigers, and you must have felt as though you were undergoing the sufferings of the three evil paths in this life.
He said that the minds of these voice-hearers were inferior to those of dogs or foxes. These four great voice-hearers adamantly upheld the two hundred and fifty precepts, and their observance of the three thousand rules of conduct was as perfect as the full moon on the fifteenth night. Nevertheless, until they embraced the Lotus Sutra, they were bitterly criticized by the Buddha. How much more would this be so in the case of the priests today who are inferior to them!- Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form...
"Similarly, the Nirvana Sutra says: “In that age there will be evil monks... These evil men will read and recite this sutra, but they will ignore and put aside the profound and vital principles that the Thus Come One has expounded in it.”
ReplyDeleteand you will continue sew confusion and divisiveness with alacrity- mistaken about what you claim "you have attained".
ReplyDelete