"Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age. The four great bodhisattvas will protect anyone who embraces the five characters as faithfully as T’ai-kung Wang and the Duke of Chou supported King Wen, and as devotedly as the Four White-Haired Elders served Emperor Hui."
Some people state that this one paragraph proves that anyone who embraces the five characters should be respected while they ignore Nichiren's statements excoriating many of his own disciples who also chant Namu Myoho renge kyo. The reason is, a mechanical chanting of the Daimoku while ignoring or going against the other important principles and doctrines of Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhism does not a Bodhisattva of the Earth make. Some important examples are having a different Three Treasures than Nichiren and a lack of gratitude to the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and Nichiren while heaping all praise on Daisaku Ikeda. Other important principles that many who chant the Daimoku fail to embrace are: The exclusive faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra; mixing practices (SGI and Nichiren Shoshu); hatred and jealousy of other believers (SGI members against Nichiren Shoshu and Nichiren Shu believers, Nichiren Shoshu believers against Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shu members, for example; changing Nichiren's Four Dictums (Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shu); and promoting forged writings (especially the Soka Gakkai and the Nichiren Shoshu).
ReplyDelete"Some people state that this one paragraph proves that anyone who embraces the five characters should be respected while they ignore Nichiren's statements excoriating many of his own disciples who also chant Namu Myoho renge kyo. "
I believe this statement : "Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age. The four great bodhisattvas will protect anyone who embraces the five characters as faithfully as T’ai-kung Wang and the Duke of Chou supported King Wen, and as devotedly as the Four White-Haired Elders served Emperor Hui."
is the essence of, or the most profound aspect of the essential phrase/teaching/practice.
To be clear, I seek Nichiren as my one and only teacher and take to heart his words as meaningful to my own life and practice. Truth is, you don't have any "disciples"- none of us have any disciples! But, taking Nichiren's letters to his disciples to heart, I have seen and felt his compassion and thoughtfulness in terms of addressing them from his personal knowledge and understanding of them and their circumstances. By the same token, in terms of being a "parent" to others, as in being both strict and showing unconditional love, which has been described as "fatherly and motherly" attributes described in the Lotus Sutra, the common thread running between both is "loving one's children". Therefore, even admonishments should not belittle or demean. First and foremost, Nichiren had established a deeply caring relationship with his disciples and they did not question that he had their best interest at heart. Rather than merely criticize you for failing to establish and maintain the relationships we can all read about in Nichiren's writings, I will simply restate that none of us is a "master" and certainly not capable of "being Nichiren" in the sense that we can broadly proclaim "others" are in need of being "excoriated" by us. I choose not to be a member of any organized religious sect of Nichiren Buddhism, and only within the context of a genuine mutual respectful caring relationship would I share what I believe is an admonishment from Nichiren about any aspect of the way the teachings are presented or understood by members of those sects. It is not that I would keep silent about any of Nichiren's teachings, but I will not ascend to a pulpit and preach his writings to an audience I neither know or have a life to life connection with. As it stands you and Greg have shown that your comfort level for hearing criticism is tiny and you have no qualm about judging, shunning, etc. I call that out as something you should reflect on whilst claiming, as you constantly do, that you are just "following Nichiren".
That said, I hope you will refrain in the future from claiming to know how another understands or interprets Nichiren's writings. Just because the truth is, you do not have this knowledge and laying claim to it negates the dignity of the lives of other believers.
~Katie Higgins
PART !
Delete"How great is the difference between the blessings received when a sage chants the daimoku and the blessings received when we chant it" to reply, one is in no way superior to the other. the gold that a fool possesses is no different from the gold that a wise man possesses; a fire made by a fool is the same as a fire made by a wise man. HOWEVER, there is a difference if one chants the daimoku while acting against the intent of this sutra".
"In the same way, the renegade disciples say, “Though the priest Nichiren is our teacher, he is too forceful. We will spread the Lotus Sutra in a more peaceful way.” In so asserting, they are being as ridiculous as fireflies laughing at the sun and moon, an anthill belittling Mount Hua, wells and brooks despising the river and the ocean, or a magpie mocking a phoenix. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo." -Letter from Sado
Soka Gakkai leaders and Nichiren Shoshu priests and believers are slanderers and renegade disciples: Practice of interfaith; mixing of practices, ie: Yuiga Yoga or Guru Yoga as advocated by Josei Toda and put into practice by Daisaku Ikeda (SGI mentor/disciple) ; a Zen derived Patriarchal Transmission practiced in Nichiren Shoshu and SGI (Three Presidents doctrine) instead of a transmission through Namu Myoho renge kyo, Gohonzon, and Lotus Sutra; Reliance on the Presidents and the High Priests instead of absolute reliance on the Law; doctrines most often derived from Goshos NOT in Nichiren's hand (both SGI and NST; depreciating the 28 Chapter Lotus Sutra, its Prologue and Epilogue Sutras, claiming that Daisaku Ikeda's Human Revolution novels are "The Lotus Sutra of the modern age"; depreciating Shakyamuni Buddha, thus having a different Three Treasures than Nichiren (both Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu); and SGI slandering the Nichiren Shoshu and the Nichiren Shoshu slandering the SGI, despite both being Fuji schools having virtually the same doctrines AND Both SGI and NST slandering the "Orthodox" sects, for example, the Nichiren Shu and the Kempon Hokke.
Proof of my assertion that there are slanderers and renegade disciples who chant Namu Myoho renge kyo:
"The Jikaku and Chishō factions war with each other incessantly; the latter-day followers of Kōbō in the head temple on Mount Kōya and those of Shōgaku-bō in Dembō-in [on Mount Negoro], Mount Hiei and Onjō-ji temple, wrangle back and forth like asura demons, fight like so many monkeys and dogs."
“They entirely look up to groups of icchantikas and rely on them as leaders and, reverencing slanderers against the Dharma, make them national teachers (ie: Ikeda). Taking up the Classic Filial Piety of Confucius, they beat their parents’ heads and, while CHANTING the LOTUS SUTRA of Lord Shakya with their mouths, THEY GO AGAINST the MASTER OF TEACHINGS.”
Nichiren, quoting Dengyo states, “Although they praise the Hokkekyo, on the contrary, they kill the heart of the Hokke.”
"Many such examples of slander are also found among Nichiren’s disciples and lay believers." - Nichiren
PART 2
Delete“They entirely look up to groups of icchantikas and rely on them as leaders and, reverencing slanderers against the Dharma, make them national teachers. Taking up the Classic Filial Piety of Confucius, they beat their parents’ heads and, while chanting the Lotus Sutra of Lord Shakya with their mouths, they go against the Master of teachings.”
and
"For persons of the Tendai Lotus school to chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo themselves and yet give their approval when others repeat the Nembutsu would be strange enough. Yet not only do they fail to remonstrate with them, but they criticize one who does confront the Nembutsu school, which is strange indeed!"
and
"Now you should make a great vow and pray for your next life. If you are disbelieving or slander the correct teaching even in the slightest, you will certainly fall into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. Suppose there is a ship that sails on the open sea. Though the ship is stoutly built, if it is flooded by a leak, those on the ship are sure to drown together. Though the embankment between rice fields is firm, if there is an ant hole in it, then surely, in the long run, it will not remain full of water. Bail the seawater of slander and disbelief out of the ship of your life, and solidify the embankments of your faith. If a believer’s offense is slight, overlook it, and lead that person to obtain benefits. If it is serious, encourage him to strengthen his faith so that he can expiate the sin."
and
"In the same way, the renegade disciples say, “Though the priest Nichiren is our teacher, he is too forceful. We will spread the Lotus Sutra in a more peaceful way.” In so asserting, they are being as ridiculous as fireflies laughing at the sun and moon, an anthill belittling Mount Hua, wells and brooks despising the river and the ocean, or a magpie mocking a phoenix. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo."
and
"Daigaku and Uemon no Tayū had their prayers answered because they followed my advice. Hakiri seems to believe my teachings, but he ignored my suggestions about his lawsuit, and so I have been concerned about its progress. Some good seems to have come of it, perhaps because I warned him that he would lose unless he followed my advice. But because he did not listen to the extent I had hoped, the outcome has been less fruitful than he expected.
If lay believers and their teacher pray with differing minds, their prayers will be as futile as trying to kindle a fire on water. Even if they pray with one mind, their prayers will go unanswered if they have long made the error of attacking greater teachings with lesser ones. Eventually, both lay believers and their teacher will be ruined."
PART 3
Deleteand
“If there are those who possess differing ideas concerning the three treasures, then truly you should know that these people can no longer hope to take refuge in, or rely upon, the three pure treasures. They will never gain benefit from any of the precepts, and in the end, they will fail to obtain the fruits of the voice-hearer, the cause-awakened one, or the bodhisattva.”
and
"In that age there will be evil monks who will steal this sutra and divide it into many parts, losing the color, scent, and flavor of the correct teaching that it contains. 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 and replace them with ornate rhetoric and meaningless talk. They will tear off the first part of the sutra and stick it on at the end, tear off the end and put it at the beginning, put the end and the beginning in the middle and the middle at the beginning or the end. You must understand that these evil monks are the companions of the devil.”
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that without a correct faith how one may develop a resistance to Nichiren's exemplary practice.
"Among my disciples, those who think themselves well versed in Buddhism are the ones who make errors. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo is the heart of the Lotus Sutra. It is like the soul of a person. To revere another teaching as its equal is to be like a consort who is married to two emperors, or who secretly commits adultery with a minister or a humble subject. It can only be a cause for disaster
and
"Now I, Nichiren, understand these things because of what I myself have undergone. But even if there are those among my disciples who understand them, they fear the accusations of the times; believing that their lives, which are as frail as dew, are in fact to be relied upon, they backslide, keep their beliefs hidden in their hearts, or behave in other such ways."
and
"But if any of Nichiren’s disciples disrupt the unity of many in body but one in mind, they would be like warriors who destroy their own castle from within."
PART 4
Deleteand
"However, there is a difference if one chants the daimoku while acting against the intent of this sutra."
and
"Take these teachings to heart, and always remember that believers in the Lotus Sutra should absolutely be the last to abuse one another. All those who keep faith in the Lotus Sutra are most certainly Buddhas, and one who slanders a Buddha commits a grave offense."
and
"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.
This doctrine concerning the theoretical and essential teachings is not my own [but was expounded by the Buddha]. Those who would distort it can only be possessed by the heavenly devil, or Pāpīyas, and will topple others along with themselves into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering. How foolish they are! Teach this doctrine to others clearly as I have taught you these many years. Those who call themselves my disciples and practice the Lotus Sutra should all practice as I do. If they do, Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, Shakyamuni’s emanations throughout the ten directions, and the ten demon daughters will protect them. Yet, for all that, [some people associated with Ōta Jōmyō distort the teaching]. I cannot fathom what could be in their minds."
I hope Dr. Rogow, Katie Higgings and Greg, are doing well. There is discussion here. It is good
ReplyDeleteThank you for the well wishes.
DeleteLove, compassion, empathy to family and people who want to see all sides, is a blessing. Anger without cause and negative emotion, are part of the realm of animality. If we can learn to try to understand, and chant for real peace. There is hope.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%.
DeleteYou may believe what you will. Then you will have to throw out the teachings that delineate the exceptions, the teachings that prove that the Soka Gakkai, Nichiren Shoshu, and Nichiren Shu are slanderers. Such teachings as found in the other Five Major Works.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who embraces the daimoku is a believer / but we all are prone to slander in the degenerate age ! Even you Mark . ~Katie
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible waste!
ReplyDeleteThe @slander police looking for perpetrators instead of in the mirror as the Buddha and Nichiren intended .
Discussion amongst comrades in faith and loved ones —all good.
Accusations and shunning ?
What a waste !
~Katie
such a non-Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhist comment. Have you heard of the Fourteen Slanders, have you read the 300+ references to slander and what to do about it. Among the most compassionate acts according to Nichiren, is repudiating slander:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/search?languageNavi=English&bookTypeNavi=WND1&resultFlgNavi=1&searchFrom=search&searchInputNavi=slander&searchSubmit=Navi&findtext=&languageNavSp=English&bookTypeNavSp=WND1&resultFlgNavSp=1&searchFrom=search&searchInputNavSp=&findtext=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/search?languageNavi=English&bookTypeNavi=WND2&resultFlgNavi=1&searchFrom=search&searchInputNavi=slander&searchSubmit=Navi&findtext=&languageNavSp=English&bookTypeNavSp=WND2&resultFlgNavSp=1&searchFrom=search&searchInputNavSp=&findtext=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=&select1=
There is even a Gosho, What it Means To Slander the Law. I suggest you read it because YOU are the biggest slanderer on the Eagle Peak blog.
disregarding the perfect teaching is slander and the entirety of marks decade long attack on literally anyone who points out that he is in fact the slanderer in chief on this blog . lmao
ReplyDeleteSo many slanderers, so little motivation to do the life purifying tasks of relating to them while recognizing your own potential for slander !
ReplyDeleteSince you cannot see your own non-Buddhist attitudes and behaviors, always elevating yourself to "slander police" status, I conclude it is you who very consistently post "non Nichiren Lotus Sutra Buddhist " content here.
~Katie