For a thorough refutation of the Nembutsu [Pure Land Sect] please see comment section of the following post.
http://markrogow.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-true-identity-of-shakyamuni-buddha.html?showComment=1436711896069#c6910543519026387305
Friday, June 1, 2018
The [Original] Kempon Hokke faith
1) ADHERENCE TO THE SUTRA AND THE HISTORICAL NICHIREN SHÔNIN’S TEACHING
Consider the unique, fair-minded attitude of Nichijû who at the end of life instructed his disciples: “‘If anything, even though recorded in Nichijû’s record, goes against the fundamental intention of the works of the Great Saint, one ought not take it as a basis’; by no means should it go against the Sutra, the Works [of Nichiren Shônin] and the Commentaries which are the fundamental intention of the Great Teachers [Tendai, Dengyô]” (“Nichiun ki”, p. 58, cited in the Kempon Hokke Seiten, p. 639).
In effect, Nichijû, unlike other leaders of various groups, humbled himself before the Sutra and the Patriarch and allowed whatever he said to be corrected in the light of further study. This is the perfect embodiment of the faith that “relies on the Dharma and does not rely on people”, as Nichiren Shônin repeatedly explained based following the injunction of the Great Parinirvana Sutra (Daihatsunehangyô) (Chapter of the Tathagata Nature” (T.12.401b))
Other sects have no real mandate for self-reform and correction; the Kempon Hokke, on the other hand, has such an admonition deriving from its founder: “We adhere directly to the Sutra and Nichiren Shônin”; “We return directly to the doctrine of Nichiren Shônin.” Naturally this does not mean that this ideal has always been carried out in practice, for even in the Kempon Hokke there are those who urge blind adherence to whatever was set before them rather than an objective reading of the Sutra and the words of the historical Nichiren Shônin. Nevertheless, the ideal is there, a constant challenge to us to restore the ancient faith of the Sutra and Nichiren Shônin. Other sects either exalt their supposed secret doctrines, or rely on their possession of historical sites related to the Saint but ignore his clear words, even when their own best scholars know what these words are and what they mean. It is almost as if many sects claiming to derive from Nichiren Shônin are embarrassed by their own eponymous patriarch. Still others actually follow the elaborate and preconceived ideas of their founders for interpreting Nichiren Shônin, somethimes going beyond what Nichiren Shônin said.
2) THE HOMMON IS SUPERIOR TO THE SHAKUMON
The Jûmonryû believed that the Hommon (the second half of the Hokekyô where the Eternal Life of the Buddha Shakyamuni is revealed) is superior to the Shakumon (the first half where the Attainment of Buddhahood by the Two Vehicles and the abstract or ideal Reality of All Dharmas (Data, Phenomena) is shown; over the years I came to believe that this was, indeed, the position of the historical Nichiren Shônin: he strongly asserted this to his favorite disciple (who was probably a relative by blood or marriage) Toki Tsunenobu (1216-1291): (Shôwa Teihon Nichiren Shônin ibun (Abbreviated STN), v. 2, pp. 1518, 1519, 1522 (extant autograph) (When Rev. Kubota sent me the first volume of the works of the famous martyr Jôrakuin Nikkyô I was very pleased to see that he had used the same proof texts to assert the superiority of the Hommon!)
3) THE SPIRIT OF SHAKUBUKU AND SELF-SACRIFICE
The old priests of the Jûmonryû were activists more than theorists and when under the pressure of the anti-Nichiren policies of the hegemons of the late sixteenth century (Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu) the priests of the various Nichiren groups gave in and followed the government’s orders to accept official offerings (offerings of non-believers) and to refrain from assertive propagation by criticizing other sects (shakubuku), some of the Jûmonryû priests, most notably Jorakuin Nikkyô Shônin (1551-1620) and the priests and laity of Noda (1635), refused to compromise and suffered for their faith, thus further fulfilling the prophecy of the Sutra often cited by Nichiren Shônin:
“After the Extinction of the Buddha,
In the midst of the frightful evil era,
We shall widely preach it.
Though there shall be people without wisdom,
Bad mouthing and cursing and so on,
As well as those inflicting swords and cudgels,
We shall endure them all.”
_______________________
“Evil demons shall enter their bodies,
And shall curse and demean us”
___________________________
“And we shall repeatedly be expelled
Far away from the stupas and temples.”
___________________________
“We shall not cherish bodily life
But only spare the Supreme Way.”
(From my translation© of the Hokekyô)
From 1609 the true Jûmonryû suffered as an underground sect known by various names such as the Hommon shôgi shu or “Congregation (or Sangha) of the Orthodox Doctrine of the Hommon”, holding the Old Orthodox Doctrine of Nichijû (Nichijû koshôgi) which I sometimes translate as the “Right Old Doctrine.” They refused to give alms to or receive them from other sects; their priests were outlawed and finally died out in the 1780’s. A few of the lay confraternities that followed the old way still survive but I suspect have largely forgotten the real reason for their existence. The underground groups such as the “Confraternity of the Daimoku Inner Realization” (Naishô Daimoku Kô) continued the strict faith as best they could. Sometimes they were driven to extremes such as divorcing non-believing spouses by the harsh conditions of Tokugawa society but in general their simple, strict faith was on the mark. (I wish to say that I am very grateful to Rev. Kubota for having introduced me to their story in his work “Nichijû to deshitachi — Kempon Hokke junkyô shi” (Nichijû and His Disciples — the History of the Kempon Hokke Martyrs): it was this book that convinced me that parts of the Jûmonryû kept alive the faith of the historical Nichiren Shônin).
On a personal note, you might say that I am close to the old strict believers in some ways. I wish to uphold their ideals going back to Nichijû who himself merely wished to return to Nichiren Shônin’s own position; in effect, I am a pragmatic, Sutra-oriented reformer and restorationist.
4) HONEST SELF-CRITICISM AND SELF-REFORM
One of the highest virtues promoted by Nichiren Shônin is honesty and Nichijû Shôshi has provided us with the mandate for self-criticism: it must be admitted that those Jûmonryû priests, like who remained “above ground” in the official Tokugawa temple system were off the mark on the issue of government donations and submission to the authorities. However, their famous writers were fairly good theoretically in grasping Nichiren Shônin’s “metaphysics.” It should also be stated even among these theorists down to modern times there have been some significant variations in emphasis and disagreements on specific points. However, we can say that the Jûmonryû tradition was clearly headed in the right direction even though it was not infallible. As was noted above, it is the self-corrective aspect with the Sutra and the historical Nichiren Shônin as the touchstones of orthodoxy that distinguishes this tradition. We can give some examples of this honest self-criticism and self correction:
During the Tokugawa period the officially-recognized Jûmonryû omitted the martyr Jôrakuin Nikkyô’s name from the list of Myômanji abbots and it was not restored until the Meiji period at the insistence of Rev. Honda Nisshô (Hasegawa, “Jûmon kyôgaku dentô shi”, p. 66). They also drove out the priest Nemmyô of Zenryûji when he challenged and defeated the Itchi-ha priest Ryôgi Nichidatsu (1674-1747) in 1725; over a century later the famous Jûmonryû scholar Eishôin Nichikan (1806-1869), reflecting on Nemmyô angrily accused the authorities of the Jûmonryû (Myômanji and so on) of cowardice and said they would burn in hell (Hasegawa, “Jûmon kyôgaku dentô shi”, p. 114-116).
In light of Nichiren Shônin’s exaltation of honesty and integrity and the Jûmonryû mandate of self-criticism , let us be blunt: our sect has often had a rather sad history in recent times yet Rev. Honda and others were able to in some extent to revive the Jûmonryû tradition and after reluctantly accepting a government-mandated union with the Nichirenshû in the 1940’s due to the war, Rev. Nakagawa Nisshi was able to declare the independence of the Kempon Hokke Sect again. However, we must admit that it is now in a decline in many places held back only by people such as Rev. Kubota. We must pray that it can revive in Japan but It is now our task to restore and transmit its highest ideals to the West.
5) FAITH IN THE DHARMA AND NOT IN TEMPLES OR OBJECTS
We need not be fearful or ashamed of the state of Myômanji or any other particular temple: the main point of the Kempon Hokke, firmly rooted in faith, lies in the Buddha, Dharma, and the Sangha, not buildings or supposedly efficacious magical objects. That is why we make little of priestly successions and possession of certain temples, even those with an historical connection to Nichiren Shônin: the succession is through the scrolls of the Sutra (kyôgan sôjô), not through some supposed line of priests directly from Nichiren Shônin or through owning a particular temple. Here, too, we see the fulfillment of the Buddha’s admonition, cited above, to “rely on the Dharma,not on people.”
6) THE SMALL GROUP SHALL BELIEVE IN AND DEFEND THE DHARMA
We should not be embarrassed by the relatively small number of believers in the Kempon Hokke, either here or in Japan, for the Great Parinirvana Sutra (Daihatsunehangyô) predicts that those who believe in the True Dharma will be like the earth on a fingernail while those who do not believe will be like the dirt from the worlds of the ten directions (Fascicle 33, “The Chapter of the Bodhisattva Kashyapa”, (T.12..563a)). Those who keep the Truth will be a small minority while those who delude the world and do evil against those defenders of the Truth will be legion.
What we Kempon Hokke beleivers must do is establish in the West the old faith, true to its inner ideals but adjusted to our time and circumstances and corrected, insofar as necessary, to agree with the Sutra text and Nichiren Shônin’s genuine works which have now been thoroughly studied by modern historians. (A really systematic historical and literary study of Nichiren Shônin’s works began only in the Edo Period (1603-1867) and it was only with the investigation of his autographs in the Meiji period (1868-1912) that a good idea of his whole canon could be begin and pave the way for historical and literary studies that have eliminated many forgeries attributed to him). It is only now in the second half of the twentieth century that we have ability to determine with reasonable accuracy what the historical Nichiren Shônin’s teachings were, free of later additions and distortions. Thus it is in this era that more perfectly than ever before we can realize Nichijû’s goal of restoring the historical Nichiren Shônin’s authentic faith.
I hope that the Kempon Hokke believers now left in America will join in this effort; I hope and pray that even if the Kempon Hokke Sect in Japan should fail, there will be enough knowledge of the old and true way of Nichiren Shônin and of the inspiring example of those Jûmonryû teachers and martyrs of long ago that the true faith will live on here, a light in the growing darkness of the Latter Dharma.
With gasshô,
H. Graham Lamont
Like Simple Simon says?
SGI leader: No. HAI
SGI member: How high?
SGI leader: Can you give an experience at the next Area meeting?:
SGI member: Ok. How about the time I went to Atlantic City and lost all my money. I had to beg the toll man to let me through the Lincoln tunnel. I chanted to myself and he let me go through. Then I went home and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and spaghetti, ketchup, and canned peas for two weeks.
SGI leader: Did you learn anything from the experience?
SGI member: Yes, to always leave toll money in the car and stock up on food before I go to Atlantic city. I also thought about what Sensei would do in my situation.
SGI leader: You did?
SGI member: He would call his chauffer to bring him another bag of Zaimu.
SGI leader: You certainly have done a lot of human revolution.
SGI member: Like Zapata?
SGI leader: No. Like Sennichi Yamamoto.
SGI member: Who dat?
SGI leader: That is Sensei's fictionalized name in his book, The Human Revolution.
SGI member: Oh yeah, I forgot. We read about him last year, the year before that, the year before that, and the year before that. There were no battles or anything except with that old priest Ogasawara. Sennichi roughed him up pretty good.
SGI leader: Of course there are no battles except with the Dantos, the Kempon Hokke, and the Nichiren Shu. This is a battle with yourself, a battle to follow Sensei no matter what, like he followed his mentor, President Toda.
SGI member: Like Simon Bolivar says?
SGI leader: More like Simple Simon says: President Ikeda says do this, President Ikeda says do that, President Ikeda says do this, and President Ikeda says do that, and you do it. But if your heart and mind says do this or do that, don't do it.
SGI Member: You mean if President Ikeda says, Nichiren is the True Buddha, and President Ikeda says, only recite the Hoben-pon and Jiga-ge sections of the Lotus Sutra, and President Ikeda says, only believe in the Nichikan Gohonzon, and President Ikeda says, touch your nose, and President Ikeda says touch your left shoulder, you do it. But if you feel like chanting the entire 16th Chapter, or if you feel compelled to revere Shakyamuni as the Eternal Original Buddha, or if your tushy itches, you don't scratch it because President Ikeda didn't say to touch your tushy.
SGI leader: That is overcoming your negativity and your ego. That is human revolution!
SGI member: Now I understand. Sennichi threw that old priest, Ogassawara, into the pond because President Toda said to throw him in. I bet President Ikeda would tell us to throw Rev. Nagasaki of the New York temple into the Hudson river.
SGI leader: That would be too good for him. But first you have to clean President Ikeda's toilet in the President's room.
SGI member: But no one has been up to that room in 12 years.
SGI leader: President Ikeda says to keep his toilet clean because you never know when he might show up.
SGI member: Hai!
SGI leader: Heil
Why must SGI and NST members vainly give credence to heretical doctrines?
"So it is that some of them put their faith in heretical teachings, or pay honor to those who slander the Law. It distresses me that they should be so confused about right and wrong, and at the same time I feel pity that, having embraced Buddhism, they have chosen the wrong kind. With the power of faith that is in there hearts, why must they vainly give credence to heretical doctrines?"
"The Lotus Sutra is the truest of true words, and the truest of truths." - Nichiren
"In your letter you write that your husband chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo day and night. You say that when the time drew near he chanted twice in a loud voice. And that his complexion was whiter than it had been in life, and that he didn’t lose his looks.
The Lotus Sutra reads, “[This reality consists of] the appearance... and their consistency from beginning to end.” The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom reads, “Those with a dark complexion at the moment of death will fall into hell.” The Protection Sutra reads, “There are fifteen types of signs that appear at one’s death showing that one will fall into hell. There are eight types of signs showing that one will be reborn in the realm of hungry spirits. There are five types of signs showing that one will be reborn in the realm of animals.” The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight reads, “The body turning dark represents the darkness of hell.”
Looking back, I have been studying the Buddha’s teachings since I was a boy. And I found myself thinking, “The life of a human being is fleeting. The exhaled breath never waits for the inhaled one. Even dew before the wind is hardly a sufficient metaphor. It is the way of the world that whether one is wise or foolish, old or young, one never knows what will happen to one from one moment to the next. Therefore I should first of all learn about death, and then about other things.”
So I gathered and considered the sacred teachings of Shakyamuni’s entire lifetime, as well as the writings and commentaries of scholars and teachers. Then I applied them as a bright mirror to the moment of people’s deaths and what followed after death, and found not the slightest discrepancy.
I saw that this person had fallen into hell, or that that person had been reborn in the world of human or heavenly beings. On the other hand, people in society were hiding the truth about the last moments of their teachers or their parents, saying only that they had been reborn in the Pure Land in the west. How pitiful that when their teacher has fallen into the evil paths of existence and is facing numerous unbearable sufferings, the disciples who remain in this world are praising his death, only making his sufferings in hell worse. They may be compared to one who clamps shut the mouth of a person guilty of a serious offense when he is being questioned, or to one who leaves another’s boil unopened so that it festers.
Be that as it may, you say in this letter that his complexion was whiter than it had been in life and that he didn’t lose his looks.
T’ien-t’ai says, “Pure white represents the realm of heavenly beings.”4 Great Perfection of Wisdom says, “Those whose faces are pink and white, and whose features retain their proper shape, are reborn in the realm of heavenly beings.”5 The record regarding the death of theGreat Teacher T’ien-t’ai reads, “His countenance was fair.” The record about the death of the Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang reads, “His countenance was fair.” A standard that identifies the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s entire lifetime is the teaching that “those who have performed evil deeds will remain in the six paths of existence, and those who have performed good deeds will be reborn in the four noble worlds.”
Judging from these passages of proof from the texts and this actual proof, I would say that your husband has surely been reborn in the realm of heavenly beings.
You also say in your letter that at the moment of death he chanted the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra twice. The seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra reads, “After I have passed into extinction, [one] should accept and uphold this sutra. Such a person assuredly and without doubt will attain the Buddha way.” There is not a single insignificant matter among all the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s entire lifetime. All are the golden words of Shakyamuni Buddha, who is our father, the great sage, and the lord of teachings; all are the truth; all are true words. They may be categorized as Hinayana or Mahayana, exoteric or esoteric, provisional Mahayana or true Mahayana. When we compare the teachings of the Buddha with the teachings of the two deities and three ascetics, Taoists, and other non-Buddhists, these latter are false words and the Buddha’s teachings true words.
But among these true words, there are lies, true words, words of excessive flourishes, and abusive words. Among these, the Lotus Sutra is the truest of true words, and the truest of truths."
Grave SGI/Nichiren Shoshu dishonest false translation
"Now I, Nichiren, have inherited the seven characters Nam-myoho-renge-kyo within the treasure tower and in this era of the Latter Day of the Law I work to disseminate them throughout Japan." -- SGI/NST dishonest translation.
"Now I, Nichiren, have inherited the seven characters Namu-myoho-renge-kyo within the treasure tower and in this era of the Latter Day of the Law I work to disseminate them throughout Japan." -- translation
Question and answer
Question: How is it possible to attain the Buddha’s original objective, which was to enable all beings to attain the Buddha way through the SGI teachings of mentor and disciple or through the Nichiren Shoshu teachings of High Priest?
Answer: It is not.
Lipstick on a pig
NICHIKAN INSCRIPTIONED TOKUBETSU "LARGE" SGI GOHONZON laced with 22K Gold
Why did Ikeda choose one of the ugliest Gohonzons ever inscripted?
Faith is enough
"Once one has succeeded in attaining Buddhahood one will then be able to understand well enough. As for other people, they should have faith, knowing that they can not yet understand.” - Nichiren
Nichiren on evaluating the attainments of others
"This man encountered great troubles twice, once when he was alive and again at the time of his death. The troubles he met when he was alive were the kind that customarily go with practice of the Buddhist teaching, adornments to the activities and achievements of a sage or worthy man. But the humiliations he suffered in his manner of death and thereafter were the type of disgrace invited by an evil or a foolish man, one who slanders the correct Law. He was like the Great Arrogant Brahman or Shuri."
"Person" not priest
"Nichiren states, "person" [not priest] who knows the heart of the Lotus Sutra is capable of performing the Eye Opening Ceremony. One who chants Namu Myoho renge kyo with the same faith as Nichiren Daishonin knows the heart of the Lotus Sutra and may perform the Eye Opening Ceremony." -- Shinkei Shonin Marcheso Who may perform the Eye Opening Ceremony?
Nichiren is the correct teacher of the Lotus Sutra
"Each of the proponents of the various schools I have mentioned above declares that he beyond all others has grasped the meaning of and is practicing the Lotus Sutra. But none of them have been exiled to the province of Izu as I was in the Kōchō era, or exiled to the island of Sado as I was in the Bun’ei era, or been led to the place of decapitation at Tatsunokuchi or faced the countless other difficulties that I have. If the sutra passages [that predict such difficulties] are true, then you should realize that I am the correct teacher, the good teacher, and that the scholars of the other schools are all erroneous teachers and evil teachers."
Chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with utmost devotion and you will see what I mean.
The Master of Teachings Lord Shakya of the Original Doctrine is the original teacher of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout the universe. His foremost disciple is Nichiren Daishonin. Yet, the teacher of even Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin is the Law of Namu Myoho renge kyo. The Lotus Sutra meditation, Namu Myoho renge kyo, is different than all other meditations or contemplations. It is based on faith in the Lotus Sutra or Myoho renge kyo [receiving and keeping or hearing and recollecting the Lotus Sutra]. In order to strengthen faith, to clearly observe the mind and become Buddha, we employ two principle techniques, willpower consciousness and prayer. Chant Namu Myoho renge kyo with utmost devotion and you will see what I mean.
How lucky we are to be born in the United States and not Japan
"Within the nation there are two types of slanderers of the Law, those in the outer branches of government, and those within the central government. Those in the outer branches are the slanderers of the Law in the sixty-six provinces that make up Japan. Those in the central government are the slanderers within the ninefold bastions of the ruler’s city. If one does not take measures to control and outlaw these two types of slanderers in the inner and outer branches of government, then the gods who protect the nation’s ancestral shrines and the altars of the soil and grain will cease to do so, and the nation will face inevitable ruin. Why? Because the ancestral shrines are where the gods of the nation are worshiped, the altars of the soil honor the earth gods, and the altars of grain honor the gods of the five kinds of grain.
Now these two types of gods, the gods of the nation and those of the soil and grain, are starved for the flavor of the Law and they have abandoned the nation. Hence the nation has day by day fallen into a more ruinous state of decay.
Therefore On “Great Concentration and Insight” says: “The earth is so broad that one cannot pay proper respect to it all. Hence one marks off a certain area to create an altar of the soil. ‘Grain’ is the general term by which the five kinds of grain are known; it refers to the gods of the five kinds of grain. Thus in the place where the Son of Heaven dwells, the ancestral shrines are placed on the left, and the altars of the soil and grain on the right, and offerings are made to them in accordance with the four seasons and the five agents. Hence to bring ruin to the nation is to destroy the altars of the soil and grain.”
And therefore the great teacher of the Mountain school says: “In the nation when there are voices slandering the Law, the people will be reduced in number. But when in the family honor is paid diligently to the teachings, the seven disasters will most certainly be banished.”
Thanks to Shinzo Abe, Taro Aso, Natsuo Yamaguchi, and Daisaku Ikeda, Japan has fallen into "a more ruinous state of [radiocative] decay
Thanks to Shinzo Abe, Taro Aso, Natsuo Yamaguchi, and Daisaku Ikeda, Japan has fallen into "a more ruinous state of [radiocative] decay
Nichiren demolishes Soka Gakkai's Original Enlightenment Doctrine..."Entered" not "welled up from"
"As for these three important things, it is not that Nichiren said it. It was the spirit of the Tathagata Shakyamuni that entered my body and filled it with a joy far greater than what it deserved. This is the important teaching of the Lotus Sutra called 'one thought is three thousand realms.' The scripture says, 'All existence has such a form ...' What does this mean? Because 'appearance', the first of the Ten Suchnesses, is the most important, the Buddha appeared in the world. The beginning of Nichiren's believing in the Lotus Sutra is like one drop of one atom in the country of Japan. If two people, three people, ten people, and millions and billions of people recite the Lotus Sutra, then it would become the Mt. Sumeru of Subtle Enlightenment or a great ocean of Nirvana. One should not look for any other way for becoming a Buddha." -- Senji Sho (An Essay on the Selection of the Proper Time)
Nichiren on those who do do not know the existence of the Eternal Buddha who is their father
Nichiren Daishonin teaches in his most important work, A Treatise Revealing the Spiritual Contemplation and the Object of Worship for the First Time in the Fifth 500-year Period after the Death of Sakyamuni Buddha ["by Nichiren a Buddhist Monk in Japan"]:
"Compared to this Eternal Buddha and His teaching preached in the essential section, those preached in the theoretical section, the pre-Lotus Sutra sutras, the Sutra of Infinite Meaning, and the Nirvana Sutra, namely all the sutras preached prior to, at the same time as, and after the Lotus Sutra, are easy to believe in and understand. It is because they are provisional teachings adjusted to meet the faith and comprehension of the unenlightened, while what is preached in the essential section transcends them all and is difficult to believe in and comprehend because it adheres to the true intent of Sakyamuni Buddha....
Compared to the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the second half of the preceeding chapter, and the first half of the following chapter, that which comprises the main discourse according to this division, all other teachings may be called Hinayana teachings, false teachings, teachings that do not lead to Buddhahood, or teachings in which the truth is not revealed Those who listen to these "expedient" teachings have little virtue and much illusion; they are immature in thinking, poor in heart, and solitary; like birds and beasts, they do not know the existence of the Eternal Buddha who is their father."
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