Marty has his say 2 and I respond

Marty quotes me: "Someone asked why I promote myself as an authorityFirst of all I don't promote myself as an authority. Nichiren is the authority of the Lotus Sutra. He teaches that one should preach with Sutra in hand In the Opening of the Eyes:..."

Then, pray tell why do you carry on like this:

"Mark: These men and women are not fellow believers and neither are you and Katie. No matter how much you announce that we believe in the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren, your words and actions belie your assertions. You hate the real Nichiren, you accept his discourses that resonate with you and reject the rest."

Mark: For your sake and the sake of those who read my blog.

Marty: I resonate with Nichiren. Perfectly capable of reading both the Gosho and Lotus Sutra.

Mark: It is not enough to merely read the Lotus Sutra and Gosho. It is a bodily reading, as performed by Nichiren that takes one to the other shore.

Marty: I embrace the One Vehicle.

Mark: What else do you embrace? Do you also embrace SGI mentor-disciple which is not the One Vehicle? Do you embrace the the Patriarchal Transmission of the High Priests which also is not the One Vehicle? I believe you embrace interfaith. That too is not the One Vehicle teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren writes, citing the 3rd Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Simile and Parable, "Concerning one who disbelieves the Lotus Sutra, because the sutra states, “When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avīchi hell.”

Mere disblief in the Lotus Sutra and one falls into the the Avichi Hell. How could interfaith be the teaching of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren? There is no compassion in "I'm OK your Ok." Again I repeat, the practice of the Lotus Sutra, is "Rouse them to accept." This is compassion, compassion is blocking other's path to the Avichi hell.

Lastly, as Nichiren teaches, many claim to read, recite, and embrace the Lotus Sutra, but their words and actions belie their claim.

Marty: Gratitude and praise for the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha and Nichiren are the foundation of my faith. So, whatever you think you know, I'd say that remembering you are not the authority is in order.

Mark: Slandering me is gratitude and praise of the Lotus Sutra? You certainly have a strange way of demonstrating gratitude and praise of the Lotus Sutra. My remonstrations are in order to block others from falling into the Lower Four Paths. SGI members have fallen into the Four Lower paths, particularly the path of Anger:

“SGI is the only correct body of believers upholding the Daishonin’s teachings.”, “Only Soka Gakkai can be considered fully correct in its doctrines.”, “SGI is the only united body of true believers”... “If it wasn’t for us you ungrateful pig.” - Frank Miglione Here are some others:

"He is a misogynist", 'He seethes with hatred," "You are a hater", "foaming-at-the- mouth, exclusivist, seemingly hate-filled", "You are a serious hatemonger and it is shameful that you would ever consider yourself a "Buddhist.", "I'm not sure if he is a hater." "I will respond to hate-speech, the posting of burning Gohonzons. the generalizations, racism, and distortions by Mark Rogow.", "You are embittered and hate filled", "You are a hateful Buddhist.", "If you need a straight male priest to tell you what to do, that's fine, be ok with it and end the slander of that which you hate (in your own heart). There is no corruption outside of you, only in your heart.", "What a sad life condition", "This isn't "free speech", "moderators, this is hate speech.", "You are filled with hate.". "The most dangerous thing to a bigot is to know the object of his hate and fear.", "With your ever present hate, you slander the good SGI members", "Your hate rants are tiresome", "You are a racist", "You are a fascist", "He calls for violence against the SGI", "bitter", psychotic", "He must be "drinking", "smoking","cowardly", "ignorant", "doing drugs", how evil they are is beyond words. I hope to meet some of you some day. I will make you sorry you were ever born.", "fool", "foolish", "deluded", "devil", "evil", "hateful lying xxx", "counterfeit Buddhist", "conceited", "egotistical", "xenophobic", "pathetic fascist, asshole", "perpetrator of medicare fraud", "offensive", "no knowledge", "no wisdom", "lacking faith", "nutty", "Bodhisattva Fukyu." (I have left out the more than dozen curses and threats heaped upon me)

Several of the above are by SGI members Pat Matthews, Phillip Brett, Don Gropp, and CL, comments on the Fraught With Peril, The Lotus Sutra Revealing the Eternal Buddha blog. Others are from various other SGI and Nichiren Shoshu members on Fraught with Peril, this blog, around the internet, and in person. I haven't yet included your's and Katie's Ad Hominem attacks. My behavior, my arguments, on the other hand, are most often based on the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren. Go and correct your comrades. Admonishing a votary of the Lotus Sutra and disciple of Nichiren, even if he or she  is a bad cause and you will have a bad effect.

"If for the space of a kalpa

one should constantly harbor a mind destitute of good

and with angry looks should revile the Buddha,

one will be committing an offense of immeasurable gravity.

But if toward those who read, recite, and embrace

this Lotus Sutra

one should even for a moment direct evil words,

one’s offense will be far greater." - Lotus Sutra Chapter 10, The Teacher of the Law

And Nichiren teaches:

Therefore, I entreat the people of this country: Do not look down upon my disciples! If you inquire into their past, you will find that they are great p.789bodhisattvas who have given alms to Buddhas over a period of eight hundred thousand million kalpas, and who have carried out practices under Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavatī and Ganges rivers. And if we speak of the future, they will be endowed with the benefit of the fiftieth person, surpassing that of one who gave alms to innumerable living beings for a period of eighty years. They are like an infant emperor wrapped in swaddling clothes, or a great dragon who has just been born. Do not despise them! Do not look on them with contempt! - The Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice

Marty: I'll take your word that you are or were a practicing physician.

Mark: You certainly are quite the condescending fellow.

Marty: We all have met many doctors who have cringeworthy people skills, but nurses are reliably compassionate. Maybe because nurses do the work of actually taking care of the sick and suffering. Bless them!

Mark: Bull baiting (Ad Hominem) is your forte. There are doctors AND nurses who have been found to be mass serial killers, others gruff and thoughtless. This is Mappo. However, I am a Bodhisattva of the Earth who has actually taken the Hippocratic Oath to heart.

Marty: Not that you care, but people disappear from your blog because time is a precious commodity.

Mark: Could you please site the people who have disappeared from my blog? Correct, I don't care who "disappears from my blog" because I have had more that 2.5 million views here and on The Lotus Sutra Reveals the Eternal Buddha blog. Anyone who reads my blog but once is edified, whether you believe it or not.

Marty: Circuitous arguments and brazen insults abound here.

Mark: Please cite the circuitous arguments, Regarding brazen insults, as anyone can see above, principally by SGI and NST leaders and members.

Marty: What you are calling "the forceful practices" bears no resemblance to Nichiren's example. Time spent reading your sermons and your made for TV made up dialogues is time wasted.

Mark: From one who has rarely if ever employed the forceful practices, except toward me, you have no idea the efficacy or benefit of employing the forceful practices. Besides, you are repeating yourself. If it is time wasted reading my blog, you certainly are wasting a lot of your time.