Chanting Growers Group

[Babbabud]

PB your daily postings are such a bright beacon to wake up to each day. I was just thinking how cool it is that you live on the right coast and post before I get up very early each morning. First thing I read are your post. The encouragement you hand out here is very valuable.
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Desiderata]

PB, if just one person gains some courage, insight, or wisdom, then your efforts are good at the very least. You have only done good my friend!

Respect,

Desi!

 

[Weird]

PB

I will only share what I feel in my heart, take that for what it is worth

i do not feel that the truth cannot be "branded" nor should it be nor does the law seem to take kindly to those that do

I also believe that the energy of selfless giving will never go unrequited, and to me seeking or desiring a reward for giving makes giving no longer selfless

personally, the desire to be Buddha has no appeal to me at all and would seem a trap to keep those wish to be Buddha from being Buddha. In my mind the law of truth is the law of truth and i don't see how selfless giving is selfless when you do it to be Buddha.

this is where my faith component comes in, I do not need to flower, i am content being the selfless gardener, content to feed the garden with all my heart and all my soul and unwaivering faith that a will greater than mine will direct the giving where it is most needed as it is needed the most and that includes giving me what I need

even though all this may be a character defect this is one of the traits that runs strong in my heart, brought me here and makes me who I am

I do not think there is any reasoning that will change how I feel that power among us is power over us and is not unity or equality

equality peace and harmony requires love for all not power over all

any time i smell personal power i remember what fucked up everything in the first place, the applied personal agenda and desires of the corrupt individual(s) through the use of power (economic, educational, chemical, political, psychological, etc and so forth)

I feel certain in my heart that the truth is not afraid of being found or being sought even from off angles and improper avenues since it is US and not the TRUTH that hides itself from us

so this type of pressure and subsequent withdrawal of the truth does not seem to be congruent to the benefit of truth, the law of the truth or the organization who claims they hold the right to represent it

I am simply a lurker and a newcomer to the concepts but i would love an answer because my cynical side says:

it seems like a simple concept for anyone to grasp that if one can be a teacher (spreader of the law), they must learn to chant and since the chant fulfills the law and the truth will be revealed when the law is fulfilled and thus the law revealed how does any one organization that does anything but unite chanters do anything but bias the truth by restricting it ? were is the allure to join an organization that seems to divide but not unite the body of chanting Buddhists?

how does an organization claim to own the body of the truth opposed to looking to harmonize those that recognize it and share it with those who dont?

truth is its own entity and its flow is greater than us and my feeling is that any attempt to manipulate it for good or bad is devastating in results especially when people recognize the power of knowing it

or do i just not understand what is happening here?

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

 

[pb4ugo]

Gosho Passage for today Saturday September 4rd, 2010

Gosho Passage for today Saturday September 4rd, 2010

Thank you all for your encouragement. I am humbled by your sincerity.

To be courageous in Buddhism is to speak our truthful mind. Let them be angry! what an appropriate Passage! I only read it tonight. How wondrous. How mystic!

Daily Wisdom
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, September 4, 2010:

"Question: Why do you alone spew forth such evil words about other people? Answer: I, Nichiren, am not condemning others. I am only pointing out the questionable places in their doctrines. If they want to get angry at me, then let them!"

Passage from: "Letter to Shomitsu-bo"
Written to Shomitsu-bo in 1277

Background segments from WND p. 869

...In this letter, the Daishonin emphasizes the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra, an important point for Shomitsu-bo, who was living at a temple where the original Tendai reverence for the Lotus Sutra had been distorted by True Word influence. The Daishonin first cites the erroneous views of the True Word priests of India, China, and Japan with respect to the Lotus Sutra. In particular, he attacks Shan-wu-wei’s assertion that the Mahavairochana Sutra and the Lotus Sutra are equal in terms of principle, but that the Mahavairochana Sutra is superior in terms of practice. “Equal in principle” here refers to the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

But the Daishonin points out that this principle does not in any way derive from the Mahavairochana Sutra; it was established by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai on the basis of the Lotus Sutra. Shan- wu-wei ordered this doctrine written into the True Word teachings. As for the Mahavairochana Sutra being “superior in terms of practice” : by this Shan-wu-wei meant that the Mahavairochana Sutra mentions mudras and mantras, while the Lotus Sutra does not. The Daishonin asserts, however, that mudras and mantras are mere insignificant details when compared to the Lotus Sutra’s two unprecedented revelations that even persons of the two vehicles can attain Buddhahood, and that Shakyamuni Buddha originally attained enlightenment in the far distant past.

My Understanding of the Passage:

This passage is precisely, the point why we must not succumb to pressures from others to shut our voices down. when someone shed light on truthful words specifically when it is in regards to the correct teaching, those who cannot refute it with their words condemn the truth and become emotional directed at the person(s) who speak the truth.
Nichiren in this letter outlines each and every error in the teachings of inferior teachers who embrace inferior doctrines who became so "popular" over the years that no one had questioned their teachings and integrity of their correctness in the light of the Lotus Sutra.

It is obvious from this letter that we can gather that the essence of the Lotus Sutra being Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which Nichiren was propagating with his disciples is the culmination and the very practice for the Later Day of the Law, and Nichiren in every letter, emphasises this to be the source of his lifelong commitment to convey this very point from all angles. Nichiren was concern that people first recognize the correct teaching and practice of faith by constantly referring to other correct teachers in compering with wrong teachers. His concern for the oneness of his disciples with him as a correct mentor (teacher) exhibits in his conviction of HIS faith in the Lotus Sutra hence the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which he inscribed to other believers by saying: "if you are of the SAME MIND as Nichiren, you must be a Buddhisattve of the earth"

It is so mystic that this passage came a day after my decision to retreat to pressures and STOP speaking the truth. I am in no way suggesting that I am as courageous as Nichiren but everyone of us can fill the same shoes of being courageous just like Nichiren when it comes to our conviction of the supremacy of the Gohonzon and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Before we can shakubuku others we must shakubuku ourselves first.! This perpetuate courage I concur.

pb
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Link to the page:
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 867


Segments...

Question: Why do you alone spew forth such evil words about other people? Answer: I, Nichiren, am not condemning others. I am only pointing out the questionable places in their doctrines. If they want to get angry at me, then let them!

Long ago, the non-Buddhist doctrines spread throughout the five regions of India and prevailed there for eight hundred or a thousand years, so that everyone, from the wheel-turning kings on down to the common people, bowed their heads in reverence. And yet all its ninety-five schools were from first to last refuted by the Buddha. [In China,] the fallacious doctrines of the priests of the Summary of the Mahayana school flourished for more than a hundred years, but were later defeated;15 and the mistaken opinions of the Buddhist leaders of the north and the south, after being accepted for more than three hundred years, were likewise refuted. In Japan, the doctrines of the six schools of Nara were overturned after thriving for more than two hundred and sixty years. In fact, the Great Teacher Dengyo refutes them in some of his writings.16

In Japan, there are five schools that belong to Mahayana Buddhism, namely, the Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, Flower Garland, True Word, and Tendai schools. There are three Hinayana schools, the Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, and Precepts schools. Next, though the True Word, Flower Garland, Three Treatises, and Dharma Characteristics schools derive from Mahayana Buddhism, if one examines them closely, one will find that in fact they all belong to the Hinayana.
A school may be defined as something that encompasses all of the three types of learning, namely, precepts, meditation, and wisdom. Leaving aside meditation and wisdom, we should note that, by means of the precepts they uphold, the various schools can be clearly divided into those of Mahayana and of Hinayana. Neither the To-ji branch of the True Word school nor the Dharma Characteristics, Three Treatises, or Flower Garland school has its own ordination platform for administering the precepts, and therefore they must use the platform at Todai-ji temple.17 This means that they are binding themselves to the precepts put forth by the Precepts school, a Hinayana school, which are no better than donkey’s milk or stinking excrement. In terms of the precepts that they observe, therefore, all these schools are to be classified as Hinayana.

The Great Teacher Dengyo received instruction in the teachings of the two schools of T’ien-t’ai and True Word in China and brought them back to Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei. But in urging the establishment of an ordination platform for administering the precepts, Dengyo referred to the perfect meditation, perfect wisdom, and perfect precepts of the perfect and immediate enlightenment of the T’ient’ai, or Tendai, school. So it appears that he did not think it proper to use the term “True Word school” alongside the name “Tendai school.” In the memorial that he submitted to the imperial court, he refers to the concentration and insight and the Vairochana discipline practices of the Tendai Lotus school.18 And the oath concerning the precepts that Dengyo handed down to his disciple Jikaku in fact speaks of “the concentration and insight and the Vairochana discipline practices of the Tendai Lotus school,” with the term “True Word school” clearly omitted.

The Tendai Lotus school is known as the Buddha-founded school, having been established by Shakyamuni Buddha himself. The True Word school was the invention of ordinary persons, and its scholars and teachers of later times were the ones who began to use the term school to describe themselves. However, they ascribed the founding of their school to the Thus Come One Mahavairochana and Bodhisattva Maitreya. Nevertheless, only the single school devoted to the Lotus Sutra conforms to the true intent of Shakyamuni Buddha.

The Hinayana teachings are divided into two schools, eighteen schools, or even twenty schools,19 but in essence they all expound a single principle, namely, the impermanence of all phenomena.

The Dharma Characteristics school teaches that all phenomena arise from the mind alone and have actual existence. There are countless different schools belonging to the Mahayana teachings, but insofar as they subscribe to this view— that the mind alone produces all phenomena, and that phenomena have actual existence— then they may be regarded as constituting a single school. The Three Treatises school teaches that all phenomena arise from the mind alone and are without real existence. Again, there are countless different Mahayana schools, but insofar as they subscribe to this view— that the mind alone produces all phenomena, and that phenomena have no real existence— then they may be regarded as constituting a single school. So all these schools stress one or the other of two partial truths of the Mahayana: that phenomena have actual existence, and that they are non-substantial in nature.20

As for the Flower Garland and True Word schools, if we were to speak generously of them, we could say that they

represent the doctrine of the Middle Way that is independent of nonsubstantiality and temporary existence,21 while if we were to speak strictly of them, we would have to say that they are on a level with the two abovementioned Mahayana views of phenomena. In terms of their content, the Mahavairochana Sutra cannot compare even with the Flower Garland or Wisdom sutras.

But because so many distinguished persons still put their faith in the Mahavairochana Sutra, the situation is rather like that of a king who bestows his love on a woman of humble station. The Mahavairochana Sutra is like a woman of humble station because its principles do not go beyond the doctrine of the Middle Way that is independent of non-substantiality and temporary existence. And the scholars and teachers who have upheld the Mahavairochana Sutra are comparable to a king because they command respect and influence among the people.

Since we are now living in the latter age when people are shallow in wisdom and puffed up with pride, it is unlikely that anyone will heed the points I have made in the discussion above. But when a sage or worthy appears, then the full truth of the matter will no doubt become clear. Because I care about you, I have written this letter as a guide. I hope you will study it when you have time.

The points I have touched on here are very important matters of doctrine. When paying respect to Bodhisattva Space Treasury,22 you should make a regular practice of reading this aloud.
Sent to Shomitsu-bo.


Nichiren

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Isn't it amazing that we are all here together? Let's continue!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

it seems like a simple concept for anyone to grasp that if one can be a teacher or spread the law, they must learn to chant and since the chant fulfills the law and the truth will be revealed when the law is fulfilled and thus the law revealed how does any one organization that does anything but unite chanters do anything but bias the truth by restricting it ? were is the allure to join an organization that seems to divide but not unite the body of chanting Buddhists?

how does an organization claim to own the body of the truth opposed to looking to harmonize those that recognize it and share it with those who dont?

truth is its own entity and its flow is greater than us and my feeling is that any attempt to manipulate it for good or bad is devastating in results especially when people recognize the power of known it

or do i just not understand what is happening here?

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO

Dude, you nailed it. That's why I post so much of what Daisaku Ikeda says, because if you're paying attention to what he's saying and not the interpretation of others to what he is saying, he is constantly warning about people having wrong attitudes, and the need of people of strong faith to stand up and persevere in righting those wrong attitudes. What we do here is actually in compete keeping with the spirit of what he expresses should be.

We speak up. We are not faint-hearted. We have conviction.

And open minds. Our minds are open because we chant abundant Daimoku and stress faith first. What doesn't make sense or represents subjective bias is quickly exposed.

So Wierd, it's pretty obvious you and Forest are ready to receive your own Gohonzons. I hope you get to an SGI meeting and get that handled soon, and then figure the rest out from there. You two need Gohonzons in your homes for you to chant to. The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind was the purpose of Nichiren's advent. Once you chant to your own Gohonzon, you'll never regret that you got it for the rest of your life.

You are both already well along the journey. I hope you take that next step!

Much love and deepest respect,

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

YOU may now be faced with a situation in which, because of various problems and obstacles, you are unable to advance as you wish. However, your present painstaking efforts definitely ensure that you will experience great development in the future.

EVEN though people may polish their face, they tend to neglect to polish their lives. While they quietly wash off a stain from their face, they remain unconcerned about stains in their lives.

THROUGH the power of faith, and based on the Buddhist principle that “earthly desires are enlightenment”, we can transform all our problems and sufferings into happiness and joy. Also by “substituting faith for wisdom”, our faith functions as the ultimate source of wisdom. The stronger our faith, the richer the wisdom that comes to govern our actions. This is how true people of faith strive to live.

A Buddhist must have a spirit as indomitable as a wall of solid rock. Weakness is malign and injurious to our cause. We must have a spirit as strong as steel and the heart of a lion. Indomitable faith and unflagging courage give us the capacity to embrace others with limitless warmth and compassion. True kindness to others must always be backed by inner strength.

SOCIETY is moving forward day by day, and it is a constant challenge to keep up with the pace of change. Apathy is the path to defeat. The bureaucratic mentality that tends to take root in organizations is the source of all evils.

D. Ikeda

(closing paragraphs of THE RECEIPT OF NEW FIEFS / WND946)

Your case is similar to his. You were forsaken by your brothers, resented by your fellow samurai, persecuted by the scions of the clan, and hated by people throughout Japan. Yet, on the twelfth day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271), between the hours of the rat and the ox (11:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M.),4 when I had incurred the wrath of the government authorities, you accompanied me from Kamakura to Echi in Sagami Province, holding fast to my horse’s reins. Since you thus proved yourself to be the foremost ally of the Lotus Sutra in all of Jambudvipa, no doubt the heavenly gods Brahma and Shakra have found it difficult to forsake you.

The same is true of your attaining Buddhahood. No matter what grave offenses you might have committed, because you did not turn against the Lotus Sutra, but showed your devotion by accompanying me, you will surely become a Buddha. Yours is like the case of King Possessor of Virtue, who gave his life to save the monk Realization of Virtue and became Shakyamuni Buddha. Faith in the Lotus Sutra acts as a prayer [to attain Buddhahood]. Strengthen your resolve to seek the way all the more and achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime.

No more gratifying thing has ever happened to any member of your lord’s clan, whether priest or layman. When I say this, it may seem as if it is a desire of the present existence, but for ordinary people, that too is only natural, and moreover, a way exists to become a Buddha even without eradicating desires. Explaining the heart of the Lotus Sutra, the Universal Worthy Sutra says, “Without either cutting off earthly desires or separating themselves from the five desires . . .” And the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight reads, “Earthly desires are enlightenment; the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana.” Explaining how the Lotus Sutra surpasses all the rest of the Buddha’s lifetime of teachings, Bodhisattva Nagarjuna’s Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says, “[The Lotus Sutra is] like a great physician who can change poison into medicine.” This passage means that while a lesser physician cures illness with medicine, a great physician cures grave illness with virulent poison.

Nichiren

 

[Babbabud]

Woooohooooo
Nam myoho renge kyo like the roar of the lion !!

 

[pb4ugo]

Daily Wisdom
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, September 5, 2010:

"These passages from the sutras speak of powerful enemies of the correct teaching. Such enemies are to be found not so much among evil rulers and evil ministers, among non-Buddhists and devil kings, or among monks who disobey the precepts. Rather they are those great slanderers of the Law who are to be found among the eminent monks who appear to be upholders of the precepts and men of wisdom."

Passage from: "The Selection of Times"
Written to Yui in 1275

Background segments from WND p. 585-587

This treatise, counted among Nichiren Daishonin’s five major writings, was written at Minobu in the first year of Kenji (1275) and was entrusted to a believer named Yui who lived in Nishiyama of Suruga Province. As with a number of his other important works, it is written in the form of a dialogue between the Daishonin and a hypothetical questioner...

...The Selection of the Time. “Time” in the title, The Selection of the Time, refers to the Latter Day of the Law, when the “pure Law” of Shakyamuni’s teaching was to become obscured and lost and the “great pure Law” of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was to be spread. Nichiren Daishonin set forth elsewhere five guides or criteria for the propagation of Buddhism: namely, a correct understanding of (1) the teaching, (2) the people’s capacity, (3) the time, (4) the country, and (5) the sequence of propagation. The Selection of the Time places the greatest emphasis upon the factor of the time.

In this writing, the Daishonin refers to the five five-hundred-year periods described in the Great Collection Sutra to outline the events of Buddhism over the first twenty-five hundred years following Shakyamuni’s passing. (1) In the first five hundred years of the Former Day of the Law, Mahakashyapa, Ananda, and others propagated the Hinayana teachings in India. (2) The second five hundred years of the Former Day saw the advent of Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, and others, who propagated the provisional Mahayana teachings. (3) In the first five hundred years of the Middle Day of the Law, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai appeared in China and propagated the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra. (4) The second five hundred years of the Middle Day saw the Great Teacher Dengyo propagate the theoretical teaching in Japan and establish the ordination platform for administering Mahayana precepts. (5) The first five hundred years of the Latter Day is the time when, according to the Great Collection Sutra, “the pure Law will become obscured and lost.”

Nichiren Daishonin proclaims that during this period the great pure Law will be spread far and wide throughout the entire world. Nichiren Daishonin then states that one who spreads the teachings of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law is the votary of the Lotus Sutra who possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent.The Daishonin describes the Law that will spread in the Latter Day as follows: “Unbelievable as it may seem, there clearly appears in the text of the Lotus Sutra a correct Law that is supremely profound and secret, one that, though expounded in full by the Buddha, in the time since his passing has never yet been propagated by Mahakashyapa, Ananda, Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Asanga, or Vasubandhu, nor even by T’ien-t’ai or Dengyo” (p. 560)...



My Understanding of the Passage:

Time, Time, Time. The Selection of the Time. Which time? Our time the Latter Day of the Law. How many prominent Buddhists do we have today who appear to be wise and respected around the world today who lead the people astray and teach the Lotus Sutra but destroy its heart? This is so vivid! One man - Nichiren - stood up without begrudging his life 7 centuries ago to expose the erroneous and reveal the truth. Who could believed him then? where he was living, like a wretched beggar looking like an outcast barely surviving Nichiren stated: "My body is fundamentally of an animal, but my mind shines like the moon or gold"

Who could believe his words then? exposing the prominent monks of his days. The powerful enemy of the true teaching is not to be found among the head of states like Chavez, Castro, or Kim Jung of North Korea and such. It is among the prominent practitioners of the true teaching of today which is gaining momentum to fulfil the words of Nichiren. Stop and think, on what we should rely upon not on whom we should rely upon after the 3rd president is gone, it is to rely upon none other than The Gohonzon and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo basing our conviction of our faith and the words of Nichiren written in his writings.

pb
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link to the page:
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 584


Segments...

...Therefore, I say to you, my disciples, try practicing as the Lotus Sutra teaches, exerting yourselves without begrudging your lives! Test the truth of Buddhism now! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Question: In the Lotus Sutra we find this passage “We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.”175 And the Nirvana Sutra says: “For example, it is like a royal envoy skilled in discussion and clever with expedient means who, when sent on a mission to another land, would rather, even though it costs him his life, in the end conceal none of the words of his ruler. Wise persons too do this. In the midst of ordinary people and without begrudging their lives, those who are wise should without fail proclaim the Thus Come One’s prize teaching from the correct and equal sutras of the great vehicle, that is, all living beings possess the Buddha nature.” But under what circumstances should one be prepared to sacrifice one’s life and safety? I would like you to explain the matter to me in detail.

Answer: When I first embarked upon the Buddhist practice, I supposed that the statement “We care nothing for our bodies or lives” meant receiving the imperial command and traveling to China the way men like Dengyo, Kobo, Jikaku, and Chisho did, or that it meant setting out from China as the Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang did, traveling all the way to India, dying six times in the attempt and striving again with each rebirth. Or I thought that it meant throwing away one’s life the way the boy Snow Mountains did in order to learn the second half of a verse, or burning one’s arms as an offering for seventy-two thousand years the way Bodhisattva Medicine King did. But if we go by the passage of scripture that you have quoted, these are not the kind of thing that is meant.

As to this passage in the sutra, “We care nothing for our bodies or lives,” the sutra earlier describes the three types of enemies who will vilify and attack one with swords and staves, and in all likelihood deprive one of life and body. And to understand the passage in the Nirvana Sutra that speaks of carrying out one’s duty “even though it costs him his life,” we should look at the passage later on in the same sutra that says, “There are icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief. They pretend to be arhats, living in deserted places and speaking slanderously of the correct and equal sutras of the great vehicle. When ordinary people see them, they all suppose that they are true arhats and speak of them as great bodhisattvas.”


Speaking of the third of the three types of enemies, the Lotus Sutra says, “Or there will be forest-dwelling monks wearing clothing of patched rags and living in retirement . . . they will be respected and revered by the world as though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental powers.”176 And the Parinirvana Sutra says, “There are also icchantikas who resemble arhats but who commit evil deeds.”

These passages from the sutras speak of powerful enemies of the correct teaching. Such enemies are to be found not so much among evil rulers and evil ministers, among non-Buddhists and devil kings, or among monks who disobey the precepts. Rather they are those great slanderers of the Law who are to be found among the eminent monks who appear to be upholders of the precepts and men of wisdom.

The Great Teacher Miao-lo, speaking of such men, says, “The third [group] is the most formidable of all. This is because the second and third ones are increasingly harder to recognize for what they really are.”177 The fifth volume of the Lotus Sutra says, “This Lotus Sutra is the secret storehouse of the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones. Among the sutras, it holds the highest place.”178 In this passage we should note the words “it holds the highest place.” The phrase comprises four characters in the original. If we are to believe this passage, then we must say that the votary of the Lotus Sutra is one who proclaims the Lotus Sutra to stand supreme above all the other sutras.

Let us suppose now that there are many people who are held in great respect by the ruler, and that these people claim that there are sutras superior to the Lotus Sutra, disputing with the votary of the Lotus Sutra on this point. They enjoy the trust and support of the ruler and his ministers, while the votary of the Lotus Sutra is a person of low station and humble learning; therefore, the whole nation joins in heaping abuse on him. If at that time he conducts himself in the manner of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging or the Scholar Bhadraruchi and continues to assert the superiority of the Lotus Sutra, he will almost certainly lose his life. To practice with such resolve in the face of this threat is the most important thing of all.

Now I, Nichiren, am confronting just such a situation. Though I am a humble man, I have proclaimed that the great teachers Kobo and Jikaku, the Tripitaka masters Shan-wu-wei, Chinkangchih, and Pu-k’ung, and others of their kind are potent enemies of the Lotus Sutra, and that, if the words of the sutra are to be trusted, they have without doubt fallen into the hell of incessant suffering.

To proclaim such a thing as this is a very grave step. It would be easier to walk naked into a raging fire, easier to take up Mount Sumeru in one’s hands and toss it away, easier to hoist a great stone on one’s back and walk across the ocean, than to do what I have done. To establish the correct teaching in this country of Japan is indeed a difficult thing.


If Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, of the pure land of Eagle Peak, Many Treasures Buddha of the World of Treasure Purity, the Buddhas of the ten directions who are Shakyamuni’s emanations, the bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds who sprang up out of the earth, Brahma and Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four heavenly kings do not, conspicuously or inconspicuously, give me their protection and lend me aid, then they will never know a single day or a single hour of peace and safety!

 

[Weird]

Dude, you nailed it. That's why I post so much of what Daisaku Ikeda says, because if you're paying attention to what he's saying and not the interpretation of others to what he is saying, he is constantly warning about people having wrong attitudes, and the need of people of strong faith to stand up and persevere in righting those wrong attitudes. What we do here is actually in compete keeping with the spirit of what he expresses should be.

We speak up. We are not faint-hearted. We have conviction.

And open minds. Our minds are open because we chant abundant Daimoku and stress faith first. What doesn't make sense or represents subjective bias is quickly exposed.

So Wierd, it's pretty obvious you and Forest are ready to receive your own Gohonzons. I hope you get to an SGI meeting and get that handled soon, and then figure the rest out from there. You two need Gohonzons in your homes for you to chant to. The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind was the purpose of Nichiren's advent. Once you chant to your own Gohonzon, you'll never regret that you got it for the rest of your life.

You are both already well along the journey. I hope you take that next step!

Much love and deepest respect,

Thomas

Here I must also speak upon which is in my heart

the object and devotion of my faith lies within my heart not my mind

If I read his intention correctly Nichiren Daishonin hoped to offer a universal object of devotion that has no given face of any one race or creed

I feel that beyond face or body there is a greater unity, one of spirit and I feel that in my heart it is a language universal to those who have no words no hearing no mind, i really feel that the enlightenment in just the chant, the lowest most basic precept of the law that grows as it flows through our mind is held there in spirit

without the beat of the heart there is no life and this is the language eternal I chant to in a beat that was placed there before my birth one that is deep in my core and will remain but I will chant here with you in front to my heart and from my heart for all of you in truth and unity because the truth will be revealed as we let our hearts and minds open to it

perhaps in our harmonious selfless giving the truth will harmoniously be revealed

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Here I must also speak upon which is in my heart

the object and devotion of my faith lies within my heart not my mind

If I read his intention correctly Nichiren Daishonin hoped to offer a universal object of devotion that has no given face of any one race or creed

I feel that beyond face or body there is a greater unity, one of spirit and I feel that in my heart it is a language universal to those who have no words no hearing no mind, i really feel that the enlightenment in just the chant, the lowest most basic precept of the law that grows as it flows through our mind is held there in spirit

without the beat of the heart there is no life and this is the language eternal I chant to in a beat that was placed there before my birth one that is deep in my core and will remain but I will chant here with you in front to my heart and from my heart for all of you in truth and unity because the truth will be revealed as we let our hearts and minds open to it

perhaps in our harmonious selfless giving the truth will harmoniously be revealed

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

And Brother, because I respect you so much, I risk offending you by telling you the truth. The biggest issue here is that if one understands and embraces Nichiren as their teacher, it is his instruction that we embrace the Object of Devotion. I suggest it only for your best interest and only with good intentions.

Do as you like and see fit.

Objectively I suggest it out of concern that those that have not received theirs eventually go away. Of course that is not to say that they still aren't chanting every day! But in my personal experience of almost four decades of practice, for whatever reason, anyone that said they just wanted to chant without getting a Gohonzon eventually quit.

And that's just my honest observation.

Keep chanting everyone!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

 

[ImaginaryFriend]

In Wierd's words I hear many things that resonate with me.

My take on external devotion is something like this:

My little ego and all that comes from it is not me, but the small-minded protector of this particular body in this particular time and space.
In so far as I cannot see beyond it, I mistake the functionary for the King.
Some people can look at the ego and say: "Ah, you are a funny little thing. Where's the real deal around here?"
Others have more trouble looking beyond our well polished little secretary, and can't begin to imagine what is behind the polished doors behind.
External devotion of whatever kind is a tool that can help us get beyond our little selves, and get to whatever else is to be gotten to, by breaking our attention from the ego and putting it on something else. And maybe, once we stop paying attention to the ego, that what we should be watching will present itself.

And yet I am wary of the danger in looking for truth through a tool. Insofar as an external devotion is external, it is in the realm of manipulation of pollution.

Behind all differences, there is a sameness.

When I chant, that sameness resonates in my body.

So I continue to chant.

But maybe, if I had an external devotion of the right character, I might be better able to live such that every action increased the well-being of others.

Because sometimes, I'm still a shit head.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

And that goes for you too, Fish and DG!!!

 

[Babbabud]

Mugi Wasshin baby !!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Because sometimes, I'm still a shit head.

But that's the point. We all are. Sometimes more than others! I think this is the reason that after all of these years I know of no one that has been able to sustain themselves. THE DEVIL OF THE SIXTH HEAVEN IS TOO POWERFUL!!! If you practice with faith, you are going to be challenged and to rely strictly on a self realized high life condition is very risky because it's SO FRAGILE! And our fundamental darkness is the reason that this is so.

Nichiren said that to embrace this Gohonzon was fundamental to attaining enlightenment in our present form. Just so you are well informed in making your personal assessments, perhaps it's a good idea to read what he had to say:

http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=354

Much love and deepest respect,

T

 

[Weird]

And Brother, because I respect you so much, I risk offending you by telling you the truth. The biggest issue here is that if one understands and embraces Nichiren as their teacher, it is his instruction that we embrace the Object of Devotion. I suggest it only for your best interest and only with good intentions.

Do as you like and see fit.

Objectively I suggest it out of concern that those that have not received theirs eventually go away. Of course that is not to say that they still aren't chanting every day! But in my personal experience of almost four decades of practice, for whatever reason, anyone that said they just wanted to chant without getting a Gohonzon eventually quit.

And that's just my honest observation.

Keep chanting everyone!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

Thomas,

I so sincerely apologize if you think in my explanation that you felt the truth would offend or that I was offering a catchall for all those who come here to learn of the truth.

Your offerings are sincere and generous and I greatly welcome them.

Please understand that the call of truth upon my heart that lead me here has its own dictates and body of faith, and I have been very vague because I do not want the particulars of my path to obfuscate those of anyone else.

I welcome chanting with all of you and even in front of a gohonzon but not in my house or as an object, for me, in reverence and reconciliation of those before me and those who I have so chosen to hold sacred I must maintain true to all

thankfully the truth remains the same regardless of the relative perspective and I can rejoice in celebrating the continued search for truth with you and thank you from the bottom of my heart because I understand the scope of the gift you offer

conversely you understand I cannot seek truth without being true to myself and the beliefs that brought me here but the fact that they led us here, and that we rejoice in sharing harmoniously with each other regardless of the path that brought us here makes me truly believe that a greater truth may yet to be revealed in its due season

of firm faith that being the Bodhisattva with unwaivering faith will guide me now as it did before I welcome your teachings in this thread as I have enjoyed them and thank you for your dedication to the true calling in your heart and please know that I know it is sacred to you and that sharing it is an honor and in this is why I enjoy the dynamics presented here because in selfless giving to a lower common denominator, the simple chant of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo can have all the powers of the teachings and all the magnetism as you continue to reveal them and allow our hearts to hear the call

in deepest respect regard and love

Michael

 

[TrichyTrichy]

great post W.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Forest20]

The story of Forest... August ,2004 I became very ill. I started hearing voices telling me what to do what to say etc...I do not recall much of the start of this. Just I was crying uncontrollably ever single night till, one day I got in my car without any shoes or ID on me..I drove for three to six hours driving around my city.. My first stop that I recall was stopping at a church and siting out front..The voices stopped for a while then started up again..I then drove around listen to the radio thinking this was going to help...I woke up and around me where three police officer cars I was parked in a thrift store parking lot around three in the morning past out. I had someones mail in my car and thrash in my trunk...The police stayed with me till my parents arrived...I thought that was the end of that then while I was sleeping I started have the voice fill my head.. I woke up to paramedics in my room..I had lost fair amount of blood through my nose. My pillows was completely soaked top to bottom with my own blood...I was in the hospital for two weeks I could not speak...The only thing I could do was shake my head yes or no that was it. I saw many people come in and out... Priest, Doctors, Rabbi you name it was in my room...I took every test they could think of...the doctors had no idea what could have causes this...during test my urine sample came back with Cannabis..So the doctors conclude that I was Bi-polar with audio Schizophrenia due to marijuana...They gave me pills( Of course)to control my mood and everything I was a walking zombie...The day they release me to my home...no more then three hours I heard the voices again....At that point I started to run out my house...My parents stopped me three blocks down the road the i was taken to a mental health center( NUT HOUSE!). I was there for a week ...The doctors gave me more pills that helped for a while till I got out.. I believed that was the end of the story, but then three days later after being home..The police officers arrived at my house and retain me(5150) custody(Arrest) for what happen when I woke up at the thrift store...The person that I took their mail filed charges against me...So off to jail I went...I was in jail without any of my medicine...Slowly I began to hear the voices come back...Not good I had medicine to help me, but the officers just told me to wait till the doctors saw me... I then transfer to H block (suicide block)... I felt like I was In hell locked in a broom closet...I was crying out then slowly I heard more voices but It was not the same as before It was very low so I had to really listen..Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is what I heard it started of like a whisper then louder and louder..I began to just repeat what I heard...I suddenly stopped hearing the voices...From that point on I have not stopped chanting...

I know a few might not believe or understand this but chanting is more then "Me" or "You" it's all of "US"

 

[Forest20]

..... I forgot to finish above...stoner It has been six years and I still chant and grow as much as I can...But October 2009 I began a different battle...The battle of the "bulk"..I began to stay true to this battle and have lost...."125 LBS" to this day and going............So I can say from experience...that Chanting and staying focus on your goal..."Deeply" that it may help a lot.....

 

[Weird]

Forest20,

I am sure it took a lot of courage to share that testimony and I just wanted to thank you.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo