"Stainsey, the rooooskies are back!"

[Harry Bailey]

Internecine imperialism on the rise again, in a 'new' cold war.

There must have been widespread bemusement last night as newspapers
dramatically announced that Russia had invaded Georgia. In fact, it's
a little bit more complicated than that, since Russian troops were
already in South Ossetia as part of a fragile 'peacekeeping'
coalition. The Russian government is (dishonestly) arguing that its
actions are merely the extension of its peacekeeping remit, even as it
strikes beyond South Ossetia's borders. The headlines subtly changed,
at any rate, to omit talk of an invasion. Even with that change, there
seems to be an odd reluctance to acknowledge the weirdest fact about
this: Georgia seems to have 'invaded' South Ossetia in a deliberate
act of provocation, and - according to Reuters - are now attacking
Ossetian separatists with jets and troops. One can only imagine that
the pro-US Georgian leadership, which has ambitions to join NATO, had
some sort of assent from Washington before acting in this way. After
all, if it truly intends to withdraw 1,000 of its troops from Iraq to
attack the South Ossetian independence movement, I would expect they
had to ask Bush nicely first. (Incidentally, if successful, Georgia's
accession to NATO would commit other NATO countries to defend
Georgia's borders, even as independence movements in South Ossetia,
Abkhazia - both of which have declared themselves separate from
Georgia - and Ajaria take off). This doesn't mean that Russia aren't
behaving aggressively themselves - they have been bolstering their
power in South Ossetia for years, supporting the secessionists and so
on - it just means that Georgia is the client of a bigger power than
South Ossetia.

The big picture here is a battle between Washington and Moscow over
political control of the oil and gas rich Central Asian territories.
The Clinton-IMF reform process led to the creation of a bloc of pro-
Western states across Central Asia, while the status of South Ossetia
as an autonomous territory was defended by a joint Georgian-Russian
peacekeeping force. Bush used the opportunity supplied by 9/11 to plot
military bases across the region, thus encircling Russia's southern
flank with a new iron curtain and giving the US crucial military
leverage against potentially hostile (probably Islamist) popular
movements. One of the embarrassments this strategy produced was Craig
Murray's revelations about Washington-ally Islam Karimov's practises
of torture and the fact that 'intelligence' gained from such methods
were circulated and swallowed by Western intelligence agencies. This
was compounded by the bigger embarrassment of Karimov kicking the
Americans out of the country and cutting a deal with Putin. In respect
of Georgia, the Bush administration has supported the "rose
revolution" of the pro-US Mikhail Saakashvili against a decrepit and
nepotistic Soviet era leader, Eduard Shevardnadze. The National
Endowment for Democracy was heavily involved in the opposition
campaign, and the State Department halved aid to the country before
the elections in order to apply financial pressure to the leadership.

But like the other colour-coded 'revolutions', this one represented a
superficial change in personnel with a new global orientation toward
Washington, not a substantial change in the society. In fact, the
spontaneous popular spread of the revolt deeply worried the
Saakashvili team, which ordered its supporters to go home (see Neal
Ascherson's account). Saakashvili's government was soon notorious for
busting up peaceful demonstrations with the use of heavily armed
security forces as the economic crisis deepened, the national debt
soared, and the authoritarianism and corruption that characterised the
old regime persisted. His popularity dropped from an astonishing 94%
in the autumn of 2003 to 23% two years later. Washington has
repeatedly bailed out the floundering "rose" leadership with aid
grants, purportedly rewarding it for 'democratic' reforms. In 2006
alone, the former Soviet states received $565 million in aid
programmes courtesy of the US Senate, to protect them from
"authoritarian Russia". The US is eager to stymy the pro-independence
trends in Georgia, as these will redound to the benefit of the Putin-
Medvedev government. It is, as Stephen Cohen has argued, part of a US-
driven "new Cold War" against Russia.

The current president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, is the billionaire
former chair of Gazprom's board of directors. An oligarch made
powerful in part by IMF policy, he is now, alongside Putin, leading a
nationalist government determined to re-assert Russia's hegemony in
the region. Gazprom is the Russian state gas monopoly which became a
key protagonist in a battle with Ukraine which stimulated the "new
Cold War" rhetoric in Western newspapers in 2005. Essentially, to
punish Ukraine for it's 'Orange revolution' and for seeking
integration with the EU, the Russian government threatened to jack up
the prices unless the Ukrainian government sold part of their pipeline
network to Gazprom. In 2006, Gazprom was once again at the centre of a
geopolitical crisis as it threatened to double prices to Georgia, just
as it was finishing a pipeline to carry gas directly to the break-away
South Ossetia. Every time Gazprom has acted in this way, hypocritical
reports in Europe and America have howled about Russian arrogance. But
Russia is not doing anything astonishing here: its control of gas and
oil is one of its few strengths, and it is using it just as the
Pentagon relies on US military strength to make up for its
shortcomings in other areas. Russia's other strength has been its
nuclear arsenal. As Chomsky has pointed out, the Bush administration's
sabotage of efforts to reduce and dispose of Russia's arsenal as part
of multilateral efforts has been extremely dangerous:

"In February 2004, Russia carried out its largest military exercises
in two decades, prominently exhibiting advanced WMD. Russian generals
and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that they were responding
to Washington's plans "to make nuclear weapons an instrument of
solving military tasks," including its development of new low-yield
nuclear weapons, "an extremely dangerous tendency that is undermining
global and regional stability,... lowering the threshold for actual
use." Strategic analyst Bruce Blair writes that Russia is well aware
that the new "bunker busters" are designed to target the "high-level
nuclear command bunkers" that control its nuclear arsenal. Ivanov and
Russian generals report that in response to US escalation they are
deploying "the most advanced state-of-the-art missile in the world,"
perhaps next to impossible to destroy, something that "would be very
alarming to the Pentagon," says former Assistant Defense Secretary
Phil Coyle. US analysts suspect that Russia may also be duplicating US
development of a hypersonic cruise vehicle that can re-enter the
atmosphere from space and launch devastating attacks without warning,
part of US plans to reduce reliance on overseas bases or negotiated
access to air routes.

US analysts estimate that Russian military expenditures have tripled
during the Bush-Putin years, in large measure a predicted reaction to
the Bush administration's militancy and aggressiveness. Putin and
Ivanov cited the Bush doctrine of "preemptive strike"-- the
"revolutionary" new doctrine of the National Security Strategy -- but
also "added a key detail, saying that military force can be used if
there is an attempt to limit Russia's access to regions that are
essential to its survival," thus adapting for Russia the Clinton
doctrine that the US is entitled to resort to "unilateral use of
military power" to ensure "uninhibited access to key markets, energy
supplies, and strategic resources." The world "is a much more insecure
place" now that Russia has decided to follow the US lead, said Fiona
Hill of the Brookings Institution, adding that other countries
presumably "will follow suit." "

Since the US government has preferred to 'neutralise' Russia's nuclear
advantage in the region by building up a 'missile defense' system
around the latter's perimeter, Russia is working aggressively to
escalate its weapons systems (which are dwarved by the American
equivalents), intimidate rivals, and build up local support - forging
new relations with Turkmenistan, for example, with a new pipeline to
import gas from the country, thus increasing its hold on supplies of
the substance to Europe.

This particular conflagration may not last long - Russian investors
are unhappy about it, and the state-owned oil and gas companies are
losing value rapidly. However, that depends on how much the Russian
ruling class feels is at stake in this battle. Washington could easily
escalate the situation, and a new Brzezinski-advised Obama
administration would certainly focus far more intently on shoring up
US power in Central Asia than continuing to fight the lost battle in
Iraq. And the US ruling class, in pursuing its "new Cold War", has
introduced an infernal logic of mutual escalation, so that even if
this crisis simmers down, a new one is bound to emerge soon. The much-
vaunted new world order is increasingly resembling the old one, but
with more nuclear weapons and less stability.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7550804.stm
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL8117957
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080808/FOREIGN/845373368/1041&profile=1041
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6190858.stm
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n05/asch01_.html
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/georgia1207/1.htm#_Toc185396746
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5233&l=1
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060710/cohen
http://www.chomsky.info/books/hegemony03.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7711013

[Harry Bailey]

In case there are still some who believe this is all merely a
regional, local Russian-Georgian skirmish, a hair-mussing war-room
pie fight, not only has the Bush Administration authorized the
Georgian attack on South Ossetia, it is actively
collaborating in the attack:

"There are 2,000 Georgian troops in Iraq, and now they are urgently
needed in their home country.
And the US has agreed to take them there."

http://www.eurotrib.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2008/8/9/164938/8032

[kelpzoidzl]

Good essay. The environemntal reality, is a reflection of people's
lifes state,

I will share the (real) buddhist perspective:
"If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure,
but if their minds are pure, so is their land."

Here is one of the most famous Japanese buddhist
treatises.

"On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land"

Written On the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month, 1253 --Nichiren

ONCE there was a traveler who spoke these words in sorrow to his host:

In recent years, there have been unusual disturbances in the heavens,
strange occurrences on earth, famine and pestilence, all affecting
every corner of the empire and spreading throughout the land. Oxen and
horses lie dead in the streets, and the bones of the stricken crowd
the highways. Over half the population has already been carried off by
death, and there is hardly a single person who does not grieve.

All the while some put their whole faith in the “sharp sword”1 of the
Buddha Amida and intone the name of this lord of the Western Land;
others believe that hearing the name of the Buddha Medicine Master
will “heal all ills”2 and recite the sutra that describes this Thus
Come One of the Eastern Region. Some, putting their trust in the
passage in the Lotus Sutra that says, “His illness will be wiped out
and he will know neither old age nor death,”3 pay homage to the
wonderful words of that sutra; others, relying upon the sutra passage
that reads, “The seven disasters will instantly vanish, and the seven
blessings will instantly appear,”4 conduct ceremonies at which a
hundred priests expound the sutra at a hundred preaching platforms.5
There are those who follow the esoteric teachings of the True Word
school and conduct rituals in which they fill five jars with water,6
and others who devote themselves entirely to seated meditation and try
to perceive the emptiness of all phenomena as clearly as the moon.7
Some write out the names of the seven guardian spirits8 and paste them
on a thousand gates, others paint pictures of the five mighty
bodhisattvas9 and hang them over ten thousand thresholds, and still
others pray to the heavenly gods and earthly deities in ceremonies
conducted at the four corners of the capital and on the four
boundaries of the nation. Taking pity on the plight of the common
people, the rulers carry out government on the national and local
levels in a benevolent manner.

But despite all these efforts, they merely exhaust themselves in vain.
Famine and epidemics rage more fiercely than ever, beggars are
everywhere in sight, and scenes of death fill our eyes. Corpses pile
up in mounds like observation platforms, and dead bodies lie side by
side like planks on a bridge.

If we look about, we find that the sun and moon continue to move in
their accustomed orbits, and the five planets10 follow the proper
course. The three treasures of Buddhism continue to exist, and the
period of a hun
dred reigns has not yet expired.11 Then why is it that the world has
already fallen into decline and that the laws of the state have come
to an end? What is wrong? What error has been committed??

The host then spoke: I have been brooding alone upon this matter,
indignant in my heart, but now that you have come, we can lament
together. Let us discuss the question at length.

When a man leaves family life and enters the Buddhist way, it is
because he hopes to attain Buddhahood through the teachings of the
Buddha. But attempts now to move the gods fail to have any effect, and
appeals to the power of the Buddhas produce no results. When I observe
carefully the state of the world today, I see people who give way to
doubt because of the lack of understanding [on the part of eminent
priests]. They look up at the heavens and mouth their resentment, or
gaze down at the earth and sink deep into despair.

I have pondered the matter carefully with what limited resources I
possess, and have looked a little at the scriptures for an answer. The
people of today all turn their backs upon what is right; to a person,
they give their allegiance to evil. This is the reason that the
benevolent deities have abandoned the nation and departed together,
that sages leave and do not return. And in their stead devils and
demons come, and disasters and calamities occur. I cannot keep silent
on this matter. I cannot suppress my fears.

The guest said: These disasters that befall the empire, these
calamities of the nation—I am not the only one pained by them; the
whole populace is weighed down with sorrow. Now I have been privileged
to enter the orchid room12 and listen to these enlightening words of
yours. You speak of the gods and sages taking leave, and of disasters
and calamities arising in sequence—upon what sutras do you base your
views? Could you describe for me the passages of proof ?

The host said: There are numerous passages that could be cited and a
wide variety of proofs. For example, in the Golden Light Sutra we
read: “[The four heavenly kings said to the Buddha], ‘Though this
sutra exists in the nation, its ruler has never allowed it to be
propagated. In his heart he turns away from it, and he takes no
pleasure in hearing its teachings. He neither makes offerings to it,
honors it, nor praises it. Nor is he willing to honor or make
offerings to the four kinds of Buddhists who embrace the sutra. In the
end, he makes it impossible for us and the other countless heavenly
beings who are our followers to hear this profound and wonderful
teaching. He deprives us of the sweet dew of its words and cuts us off
from the flow of the correct teaching, so that our majesty and
strength are drained away. Thus the number of beings who occupy the
evil paths increases, and the number who dwell in the human and
heavenly realms decreases. People fall into the river of the
sufferings of birth and death and turn their backs on the road to
nirvana.

“ ‘World-Honored One, we, the four heavenly kings, as well as our
various followers and the yakshas and other beings, observing this
state of affairs, have decided to abandon this nation, for we have no
heart to protect it. And it is not we alone who cast aside this ruler.
All the great benevolent deities who guard and watch over the
countless different regions of the country will also invariably reject
him. And once we and the others abandon and desert this nation, then
many different types of disasters will occur in the country, and the
ruler will fall from power. Not a single person in the entire
population will possess a heart of goodness; there will be nothing but
binding and enslaving, killing and injuring, anger and contention.
People will slander each other or fawn upon one another, and the laws
will be twisted until even the innocent are made to suffer. Pestilence
will become rampant, comets will appear again and again, two suns will
come forth side by side, and eclipses will occur with unaccustomed
frequency. Black arcs and white arcs will span the sky as harbingers
of ill fortune, stars will fall, the earth will shake, and noises will
issue from the wells. Torrential rains and violent winds will come out
of season, famine will constantly occur, and grains and fruits will
not ripen. Marauders from many other regions will invade and plunder
the nation, the people will suffer all manner of pain and affliction,
and no place will exist where one may live in safety.’ ”

The Great Collection Sutra says: “When the teachings of the Buddha
truly become obscured and lost, then people will all let their beards,
hair, and fingernails grow long, and the laws of the world will be
forgotten and ignored. At that time, loud noises will sound in the
air, and the earth will shake; everything in the world will begin to
move as though it were a waterwheel. City walls will split and tumble,
and all houses and dwellings will collapse. Roots, branches, leaves,
petals, and fruits will lose their medicinal properties. With the
exception of the heavens of purity,13 all the regions of the world of
desire will become deprived of the seven flavors14 and the three kinds
of vitality,15 until not a trace of them remains any more. All the
good discourses that lead people to emancipation will at this time
disappear. The flowers and fruits that grow in the earth will become
few and will lose their flavor and sweetness. The wells, springs, and
ponds will all go dry, the land everywhere will turn brackish and will
crack open and warp into hillocks and gullies. All the mountains will
be swept by fire, and the heavenly beings and dragons will no longer
send down rain. The seedlings of the crops will all wither and die,
all the living plants will perish, and even the weeds will cease to
grow any more. Dust will rain down until all is darkness and the sun
and moon no longer shed their light.

“All the four directions will be afflicted by drought, and evil omens
will appear again and again. The ten evil acts will increase greatly,
particularly greed, anger, and foolishness, and people will think no
more of their fathers and mothers than does the roe deer.16 Living
beings will decline in numbers, in longevity, physical strength,
dignity, and enjoyment. They will become estranged from the delights
of the human and heavenly realms, and all will fall into the paths of
evil. The wicked rulers and monks who perform these ten evil acts will
curse and destroy my correct teaching and make it difficult for those
in the human and heavenly realms to stay there. At that time the
benevolent deities and heavenly kings, who would ordinarily take pity
on living beings, will abandon this impure and evil nation, and all
will make their way to other regions.”

The Benevolent Kings Sutra states: “When a nation becomes disordered,
it is the spirits that first show signs of rampancy. Because the
spirits become rampant, all the people of the nation become
disordered. Invaders come to plunder the country, and the common
people face annihilation. The ruler, the high ministers, the crown
prince, the other princes, and the hundred officials all quarrel with
one another over right and wrong. Heaven and earth manifest prodigies
and strange occurrences; the twenty-eight constellations, the stars,
and the sun and moon appear at irregular times and in irregular
positions; and numerous outlaws rise up.”The same sutra also states:
“Now when I use the five types of vision to clearly perceive the three
existences, I see that in their past existences all the rulers served
five hundred Buddhas, and that is the reason that they were able to
become emperors and sovereigns. And that also is the reason that all
the various sages and arhats are born in their nations and bring great
benefits. But if a time should come when the good fortune of these
rulers runs out, then all the sages will abandon them and depart. Once
the sages have departed, then the seven disasters are certain to
arise.”

The Medicine Master Sutra states: “If disasters and calamities should
befall members of the ruling Kshatriya class and anointed kings,17
such disasters will be as follows: the calamity of disease and
pestilence among the populace; the calamity of invasion from foreign
lands; the calamity of revolt within one’s own domain; the calamity of
irregularities and strange occurrences among the stars and
constellations; the calamity of eclipses of the sun and moon; the
calamity of unseasonable wind and rain; and the calamity of rain that
fails to fall even when the season for it has come and gone.”

In the Benevolent Kings Sutra [the Buddha addresses King Prasenajit
with these words]: “Great King, the region where my teachings now hold
sway consists of one billion Sumeru worlds with one billion suns and
moons. Each of these Sumeru worlds comprises four continents. In the
southern continent of Jambudvipa, there are sixteen great states, five
hundred middle-sized states, and ten thousand small states. In these
states, seven types of fearful disasters may occur. All the rulers of
these states agree that these are indeed disasters. What, then, are
these disasters?

“When the sun and moon depart from their regular courses, when the
seasons come in the wrong order, when a red sun or a black sun
appears, when two, three, four, or five suns appear at the same time,
when the sun is eclipsed and loses its light, or when one, two, three,
four, or five coronas appear around the sun, this is the first
disaster.

“When the twenty-eight constellations do not move in their regular
courses, when the Metal Star,18 the Broom Star, the Wheel Star, the
Demon Star, the Fire Star, the Water Star, the Wind Star, the Ladle
Star, the Southern Dipper, the Northern Dipper, the great stars of the
Five Garrisons, and all the many stars that govern the ruler, the
three high ministers, and the hundred officials—when each of these
stars manifests some peculiar behavior, this is the second disaster.

“When huge fires consume the nation, and the people are all burned to
death, or when there are outbreaks of demon fire, dragon fire,
heavenly fire, mountain god fire, human fire, tree fire, or bandit
fire19—when these prodigies appear, this is the third disaster.

“When huge floods drown the population; when the seasons come out of
order and there is rain in winter, snow in summer, thunder and
lightning in winter, and ice, frost, and hail in the sixth month;20
when red, black, or green rain falls; when mountains of dirt and
stones come raining down, or when it rains dust, sand, or gravel; when
the rivers and streams run backward; when mountains are afloat and
boulders are washed away—when freakish happenings of this kind occur,
this is the fourth disaster.

“When huge winds blow the people to their death, and the lands, the
mountains and rivers, and the trees and forests are all at one time
wiped out; when great winds come out of season, or when black winds,
red winds, green winds, heavenly winds, earthly winds, fire winds, and
water winds blow21—when prodigies of this kind occur, this is the
fifth disaster.

“When heaven and earth and the whole country are stricken by terrible
heat so that the air seems to be on fire, when the hundred plants
wither and the five kinds of grain22 fail to ripen, when the earth is
red and scorched and the inhabitants all perish—when prodigies of this
kind occur, this is the sixth disaster.

“When enemies rise up on all four sides and invade the nation, when
rebels appear in the capital and the outlying regions, when there are
fire bandits, water bandits, wind bandits, and demon bandits,23 and
the population is subjected to devastation and disorder, and fighting
and plundering break out everywhere—when prodigies of this type occur,
this is the seventh disaster.”

The Great Collection Sutra says: “Though for countless existences in
the past the ruler of a state may have practiced the giving of alms,
observed the precepts, and cultivated wisdom, if he sees that my
teaching is in danger of perishing and stands idly by without doing
anything to protect it, then all the inestimable roots of goodness
that he has planted through the practices just mentioned will be
entirely wiped out, and his country will become the scene of three
inauspicious occurrences. The first is high grain prices, the second
is warfare, and the third is epidemics. All the benevolent deities
will abandon the country, and although the ruler may issue commands,
the people will not obey them. The country will constantly be invaded
and vexed by neighboring nations. Violent fires will rage out of
control, fierce winds and rains will abound, the waters will swell and
overflow, and the inhabitants will be blown about by winds or swept
away by floods. The paternal and maternal relatives of the ruler will
join in plotting revolt. Before long, the
ruler will fall gravely ill, and after his life has come to an end, he
will be reborn in the great hell. . . . And the same fate will befall
the ruler’s consort, his heir, the high ministers of the state, the
lords of cities, the village heads and generals, the magistrates of
districts, and the other officials.”

The passages I have quoted from these four sutras are perfectly clear—
what person in ten thousand could possibly doubt their meaning? And
yet the blind and the deluded recklessly trust to distorted doctrines
and fail to recognize the correct teaching. Therefore, throughout the
empire these days people are inclined to turn away from the Buddhas
and the sutras, and no longer endeavor to protect them. Because of
this, the benevolent deities and sages abandon the nation and leave
their accustomed places. As a result, demons and evil spirits24 bring
about disasters and cause calamities.

The guest thereupon flushed with anger and said: Emperor Ming of the
Later Han dynasty, having comprehended the significance of his dream
of a golden man, welcomed the teachings [of Buddhism] brought by white
horses.25 Prince Jogu, having put down the rebellion of Moriya [an
opponent of Buddhism],26 proceeded to construct temples and pagodas.
Since that time, from the ruler on down to the common people, all have
worshiped the Buddha images and devoted their attention to the
scriptures. As a result, in the monasteries of Mount Hiei and the
southern capital at Nara, at the temples of Onjo-ji and To-ji,
throughout the land bounded by the four seas, in the five provinces of
the capital area and along the seven marches, Buddha images and
Buddhist scriptures have been ranged like stars in the sky, and halls
of worship have spread like clouds. Those who belong to the lineage of
Shariputra meditate on the moon atop Eagle Peak, while those who
adhere to the traditions of Haklenayashas transmit the teachings of
Mount Kukkutapada.27 How, then, can anyone say that the teachings of
the Buddha’s lifetime are despised, or that the three treasures of
Buddhism have ceased to exist? If there is evidence to support such a
contention, I would like to hear all the facts.

The host, anxious to clarify his words, replied: To be sure, Buddhist
halls stand rooftop to rooftop, and sutra storehouses are ranged eave
to eave. Priests are as numerous as bamboo plants and rushes, monks as
common as rice and hemp seedlings. The temples and priests have been
honored from centuries past, and every day respect is paid them anew.
But the monks and priests today are fawning and devious, and they
confuse the people and lead them astray. The ruler and his subjects
lack understanding and fail to distinguish between what is correct and
what is erroneous.

The Benevolent Kings Sutra, for example, says: “Evil monks, hoping to
gain fame and profit, in many cases appear before the ruler, the crown
prince, or the other princes, and take it upon themselves to preach
doctrines that lead to the violation of the Buddhist Law and the
destruction of the nation. The ruler, failing to perceive the truth of
the situation, listens to and puts faith in such doctrines, and
proceeds to create regulations that are perverse in nature and that do
not accord with the rules of Buddhist discipline. In this way he
brings about the destruction of Buddhism and of the nation.”

The Nirvana Sutra states: “Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad
elephants. What you should fear are evil friends! . . . Even if you
are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil
paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to
fall into them.”

The Lotus Sutra says: “In that evil age there will be monks with
perverse wisdom and hearts that are fawning and crooked who will
suppose they have attained what they have not attained, being proud
and boastful in heart. Or there will be forest-dwelling monks wearing
clothing of patched rags and living in retirement, who will claim they
are practicing the true way, despising and looking down on all
humankind. Greedy for profit and support, they will preach the Law to
white-robed laymen and will be respected and revered by the world as
though they were arhats who possess the six transcendental
powers. . . . Because in the midst of the great assembly they
constantly try to defame us, they will address the rulers, high
ministers, Brahmans, and householders, as well as the other monks,
slandering and speaking evil of us, saying, ‘These are men of
perverted views who preach non- Buddhist doctrines!’ . . . In a
muddied kalpa, in an evil age there will be many things to fear. Evil
demons will take possession of others and through them curse, revile,
and heap shame on us. . . . The evil monks of that muddied age,
failing to understand the Buddha’s expedient means, how he preaches
the Law in accordance with what is appropriate, will confront us with
foul language and angry frowns; again and again we will be
banished.”28

The Nirvana Sutra says: “After I have passed away and countless
hundreds of years have gone by, the sages of the four stages29 too
will have all passed away. After the Former Day of the Law has ended
and the Middle Day of the Law has begun, there will be monks who will
give the appearance of abiding by the rules of monastic discipline.
But they will scarcely ever read or recite the sutras, and instead
will crave all kinds of food and drink to nourish their bodies. Though
they wear the clothes of a monk, they will go about searching for alms
like so many huntsmen who, narrowing their eyes, stalk softly. They
will be like a cat on the prowl for mice. And they will constantly
reiterate these words, ‘I have attained arhatship!’ Outwardly they
will seem to be wise and good, but within they will harbor greed and
jealousy. [And when they are asked to preach the teachings, they will
say nothing,] like Brahmans who have taken a vow of silence. They are
not true monks—they merely have the appearance of monks. Consumed by
their erroneous views, they slander the correct teaching.”

When we look at the world in the light of these passages of scripture,
we see that the situation is just as they describe it. If we do not
admonish the evil priests, how can we hope to do good?

The guest, growing more indignant than ever, said: A wise monarch, by
acting in accord with heaven and earth, perfects his rule; a sage, by
distinguishing between right and wrong, brings order to the world. The
monks and priests of the world today enjoy the confidence of the
entire empire. If they were in fact evil monks, then the wise ruler
would put no trust in them. If they were not true sages, then worthies
and learned persons would not look up to them. But now, since worthies
and sages do in fact honor and respect them, they must be nothing less
than paragons of their kind. Why then do you pour out these wild
accusations and dare to slander them? To whom are you referring when
you speak of “evil monks”? I would like an explanation.

The host said: In the time of the Retired Emperor Gotoba there was a
priest named Honen who wrote a work entitled The Nembutsu Chosen above
All. He contradicted the sacred teachings of the Buddha’s entire
lifetime and brought confusion to people in every direction. Nembutsu
Chosen
above All states: “Regarding the passage in which the Meditation
Master Taoch’o distinguished between the Sacred Way teachings and the
Pure Land teachings and urged people to abandon the former and
immediately embrace the latter, first of all, there are two kinds of
Sacred Way teachings, [the Mahayana and the Hinayana]. . . . Judging
from this, we may assume that the esoteric Mahayana teachings and the
true Mahayana teachings are both included in the Sacred Way. If that
is so, then the eight present-day schools—the True Word, Zen, Tendai,
Flower Garland, Three Treatises, Dharma Characteristics, Treatise on
the Ten Stages Sutra, and Summary of the Mahayana—all are included in
the Sacred Way that is to be abandoned.

“The Dharma Teacher T’an-luan in his Commentary on ‘The Treatise on
Rebirth in the Pure Land’ states, ‘I note that Bodhisattva Nagarjuna’s
Commentary on the Ten Stages Sutra says, “There are two ways by which
a bodhisattva may reach the state of avaivartika, or non-
retrogression. One is the difficult- to-practice way, the other is the
easytopractice way.” ’

“The difficult-to-practice way is the same as the Sacred Way
teachings, and the easy-to-practice way is the Pure Land teachings.
Students of the Pure Land school should first of all understand this
point. Though they may be people who have previously studied the
Sacred Way teachings, if they wish to become followers of the Pure
Land teachings, they must discard the Sacred Way and give their
allegiance to the Pure Land teachings.”

Honen also says: “Regarding the passage in which the Reverend Shan-
tao distinguished between correct and sundry practices and urged
people to abandon the sundry and embrace the correct: Concerning the
first of the sundry practices, that of reading and reciting sutras,
with the exception of the recitation of the Meditation on the Buddha
Infinite Life Sutra and the other sutras that preach rebirth in the
Pure Land, the embracing, reading, and recitation of all other sutras,
whether Mahayana or Hinayana, exoteric or esoteric, is to be regarded
as a sundry practice. . . . Concerning the third of the sundry
practices, that of worshiping, with the exception of worshiping the
Buddha Amida, the worshiping or honoring of any other Buddha or
bodhisattva, or deity of this world is to be regarded as a sundry
practice. . . . In the light of his statement, I declare that one
should abandon such sundry practices and concentrate upon the practice
of the Pure Land teachings. What reason would we have to abandon the
correct practices of the Pure Land teachings, which insure that out of
a hundred persons all one hundred will be reborn in the Pure Land, and
cling instead to the various sundry practices and procedures, which
could not save even one person in a thousand? Followers of the way
should ponder this carefully.”

Honen further states: “In The Chenyüan Era Catalog of the Buddhist
Canon we find it recorded that, from the 600 volumes of the Great
Wisdom Sutra to the Eternity of the Law Sutra, the exoteric and
esoteric sutras of Mahayana, or the great vehicle, total 637works in ,
883 volumes. The phrase [from the Meditation Sutra] ‘reading and
reciting the great vehicle’ should be applied to all these works. You
should understand that, when the Buddha was preaching according to the
capacity of his various listeners, he for a time taught the two
methods of concentrated meditation and unconcentrated meditation.30
But later, when he revealed his own enlightenment, he ceased to teach
these two methods. The only teaching that, once revealed, shall never
cease to be taught is the single doctrine of the Nembutsu.”

Honen also states: “Regarding the passage that says that the
practitioner of the Nembutsu must possess three kinds of mind,31 it is
found in the Meditation Sutra. In his commentary on that sutra [Shan-
tao says]: ‘Someone may ask, “If there are those who differ in
understanding and practice from the followers of the Nembutsu, persons
of distorted and mistaken belief, [how should we confront them]?” I
will now make certain that their perverse and differing views will not
cause trouble. These persons of evil views with different
understanding and different practices are compared to a band of
robbers who call back the traveler who has already gone one or two
steps along his journey.’ In my opinion, when this commentary speaks
of different understanding, different practices, varying doctrines,
and varying beliefs, they are referring to the teachings of the Sacred
Way.”

Finally, in a concluding passage, Honen says: “If one wishes to escape
quickly from the sufferings of birth and death, one should confront
these two superior teachings and then proceed to put aside the
teachings of the Sacred Way and choose those of the Pure Land. And if
one wishes to follow the teachings of the Pure Land, one should
confront the correct and sundry practices and then proceed to abandon
all of the sundry and devote one’s entire attention to the correct.”

When we examine these passages, we see that Honen quotes the erroneous
explanations of T’an-luan, Taoch’o, and Shan-tao, and establishes the
categories of the Sacred Way and the Pure Land teachings, and of the
difficulttopractice and the easytopractice ways. He then takes all the
637 works in 2,883 volumes that comprise the Mahayana teachings of the
Buddha’s lifetime, including those of the Lotus Sutra and the True
Word sutras, along with all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and the
deities of this world, and assigns them all to the categories of the
Sacred Way teachings, the difficulttopractice way, and the sundry
practices, and urges people to “discard, close, ignore, and abandon”
them. With these four injunctions, he leads all people astray. On top
of that, he groups together all the sage monks of the three countries
[of India, China, and Japan] as well as the students of Buddhism of
the ten directions, and calls them a “band of robbers,” causing the
people to insult them.

In doing so, he turns his back on the passage in the three Pure Land
sutras, the sutras of his own school, which contains Amida’s vow to
save the people “excepting only those who commit the five cardinal
sins and those who slander the correct teaching.”32 More
fundamentally, he shows that he fails to understand the warning
contained in the second volume of the Lotus Sutra, the heart and core
of the entire body of teachings the Buddha expounded in the five
periods of his preaching life, which reads, “If a person fails to have
faith but instead slanders this sutra . . . When his life comes to an
end he will enter the Avichi hell.”33

Now we have come to this latter age, when people are no longer sages.
Each enters his own dark road, and all alike forget the direct way.
How pitiful that no one cures them of their blindness! How painful to
see them taking up these false beliefs in vain! As a result, everyone
from the ruler of the nation on down to the common people believes
that there are no true sutras outside the three Pure Land sutras, and
no Buddhas other than the Buddha Amida with his two attendants.34

Once there were men like Dengyo, Gishin, Jikaku, and Chisho who
journeyed ten thousand miles across the waves to China to acquire the
sacred teachings, and there visited the mountains and rivers to pay
reverence to Buddhist statues [and carry them back]. In some cases
they built holy temples on the peaks of high mountains in which to
preserve those scriptures and statues; in other cases they constructed
sacred halls in the bottoms of deep valleys where such objects could
be worshiped and honored. As a result, the Buddhas Shakyamuni and
Medicine Master35 shone side by side, casting their influence upon
present and future ages, while the bodhisattvas Space Treasury and
Earth Repository brought benefit to the living and the dead. The
rulers of the nation contributed districts or villages so that the
lamps might continue to burn bright before the images, while the
stewards of the great estates gave their fields and gardens as an
offering.

But because of this book by Honen, this Nembutsu Chosen above All, the
lord of teachings, Shakyamuni, is forgotten, and all honor is paid to
Amida, the Buddha of the Western Land. The transmission of the Law
[from Shakyamuni Buddha] is ignored,36 and Medicine Master, the Thus
Come One of the Eastern Region, is neglected. Attention is paid only
to the three Pure Land sutras in four volumes, and all the other
wonderful scriptures that Shakyamuni expounded throughout the five
periods of his preaching life are cast aside. If temples are not
dedicated to Amida, then people no longer have any desire to support
them or pay honor to the Buddhas enshrined there; if priests are not
practitioners of the Nembutsu, then people quickly forget all about
giving those priests alms. As a result, the halls of the Buddha have
fallen into ruin, scarcely a wisp of smoke rising above their moss-
covered roof tiles; and the priests’ quarters have become empty and
dilapidated, the dew deep on the grasses in their courtyards. And in
spite of such conditions, no one gives a thought to protecting the Law
or to restoring the temples. Hence the sage priests who once presided
over the temples leave and do not return, and the benevolent deities
who guarded the nation depart and no longer appear. This has all come
about because of this Nembutsu Chosen above All by Honen. How pitiful
to think that, in the space of a few decades, hundreds, thousands,
tens of thousands of people have been deluded by these devilish
teachings and in so many cases confused as to the true teachings of
Buddhism. If people favor what is only incidental and forget what is
primary, can the benevolent deities be anything but angry? If people
cast aside what is perfect and take up what is biased, can the world
escape the plots of demons? Rather than offering up ten thousand
prayers for remedy, it would be better simply to outlaw this one evil.

This time the guest was truly enraged and said: In the ages since our
original teacher, the Buddha Shakyamuni, preached the three Pure Land
sutras, the Dharma Teacher T’an-luan had originally studied the four
treatises,37 but abandoned them and put all his faith in the Pure Land
teachings. Similarly, the Meditation Master Tao-ch’o ceased to spread
the varied practices of the Nirvana Sutra and devoted all his
attention to propagating the practice that leads one to the Western
Pure Land. The Reverend Shan-tao discarded the sundry practices and
established the single practice of the Nembutsu, and the Supervisor of
Priests Eshin collected essential passages from various sutras to form
his work, making the single practice of the Nembutsu the essence of
his teaching. Such was the manner in which these men honored and
respected the Buddha Amida, and uncountable numbers of people as a
result were able to gain rebirth in the Pure Land.

Of particular note was the Sage Honen, who as a child entered the
monastery on Mount Hiei. By the time he was seventeen, he had worked
his way through all sixty volumes of Tendai literature,38 and had
investigated all the eight schools and mastered their essentials. In
addition, he had read through the entire body of sutras and treatises
seven times, and exhausted all the works of exegesis and biography.
His wisdom shone like the sun and moon, and his virtue exceeded that
of the earlier teachers.

In spite of all this, he was in doubt as to the proper path to
emancipation and could not make out the true meaning of nirvana.
Therefore, he read and examined all the texts he could, pondered
deeply and considered every possibility, and in the end put aside all
the sutras and concentrated on the single practice of the Nembutsu. In
addition, he received confirmation of his decision when Shan-tao
miraculously appeared to him in a dream,39 and he proceeded to spread
his doctrines among friends and strangers in all four corners of the
land. Thereafter, he was hailed as a reincarnation of Bodhisattva
Great Power, or was revered as Shan-tao reborn. In every quarter,
people of eminent and lowly birth alike bowed their heads in respect,
and men and women from all over Japan sought him.

Since that time, the springs and autumns have succeeded each other,
and the years have piled upon years. And yet you insist upon putting
aside the venerable teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha [contained in the
Pure Land sutras] and willfully speak evil of the passage describing
the oath of the Buddha Amida. Why do you try to blame the sacred age
of Honen for the disasters of recent years, going out of your way to
slander the former teachers of Pure Land doctrines and to heap abuse
on the Sage Honen? You are, as the saying goes, deliberately blowing
back the fur and hunting for flaws in the leather, deliberately
piercing the skin in hopes of drawing blood. From ancient times to the
present, the world has never seen such a speaker of evil. You had
better learn a little caution and restraint. When you pile up such
grave offenses, how can you hope to escape punishment? I am afraid
even to sit here in your company. I must take up my staff and be on my
way!

The host, smiling, restrained his guest and said: Insects that live on
smartweed forget how bitter it tastes; those who stay long in privies
forget how foul the smell is. Here you listen to my good words and
think them wicked, point to a slanderer of the Law and call him a
sage, mistrust a correct teacher and take him for an evil priest. Your
confusion is great indeed, and your offense anything but light. Listen
to my explanation of how this confusion arose, and let us discuss the
matter in detail.

Shakyamuni Buddha expounded the five periods of doctrines, established
the order in which they were preached, and divided them into the
provisional and the true teachings. But T’an-luan, Tao-ch’o, and Shan-
tao embraced the provisional teachings and forgot about the true ones,
went by what had been taught in the earlier period of the Buddha’s
life and discarded what was taught later. They were not the kind of
men who delve into the deep places of Buddhist doctrine.

Honen in particular, though he followed the practices advocated by
these earlier men, was ignorant as to their source. How do we know
this? Because he lumped together all the 637 Mahayana scriptures in
2,883volumes and along with them all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and
the deities of this world, and urged people to “discard, close,
ignore, and abandon” them, with these four injunctions corrupting the
hearts of all people. Thus he poured out perverted words of his own
invention and took absolutely no cognizance of the explanations put
forth in the Buddhist scriptures. His is the worst
kind of baseless talk, a clear case of defamation. There are no words
to describe it, no way to censure it that is not too mild. And yet
people all put faith in this baseless talk of his, and without
exception pay honor to his Nembutsu Chosen above All. As a
consequence, they revere the three sutras of the Pure Land and cast
all the other sutras aside; they look up to one Buddha alone, Amida of
the Land of Perfect Bliss, and forget about the other Buddhas. A man
such as Honen is in truth the archenemy of the Buddhas and the
scriptures, and the foe of sage priests and ordinary men and women
alike. And now his distorted teachings have spread throughout the
eight regions of the country, permeating the ten directions.

You became quite horrified when I blamed an earlier period40 for the
disasters that have occurred in recent years. Perhaps I should cite a
few examples from the past to show you that you are mistaken in your
feelings.

The second volume of Great Concentration and Insight quotes a passage
from Records of the Historian that says, “In the closing years of the
Chou dynasty, there were persons who let their hair hang down, went
about naked to the waist, and did not observe the rites and
regulations.” The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight,” in
the second volume, explains this passage by quoting from Tso’s
Commentary on “Spring and Autumn Annals” as follows: “When King P’ing
of the Chou first moved his capital to the east, he saw men by the Yi
River who let their hair hang down and performed sacrifices in the
fields. Someone who had great understanding said, ‘In less than a
hundred years the dynasty will fall, for the rites are already
neglected.’ ” From this it is evident that the portent appears first,
and later the disaster itself comes about.

[The Great Concentration and Insight passage goes on to say:] “Juan
Chi41 was a man of extraordinary talent, but he let his hair grow like
a mass of brambles and left his belt undone. Later, the sons of the
aristocracy all imitated him, until those who behaved in a churlish
and insulting manner were thought to be acting quite naturally, and
those who were restrained and proper in their behavior were ridiculed
as mere peasants. This was a sign that the Ssu-ma family [the rulers
of the Western Chin dynasty] would meet with their downfall.”

Similarly, The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law by
the Great Teacher Jikaku states that, in the first year of the Hui-
ch’ang era (841), Emperor Wu-tsung of the T’ang dynasty commanded the
priest Chingshuang of Chang-ching-ssu temple to transmit the Nembutsu
teachings of the Buddha Amida in the various temples. Ching-shuang
spent three days in each temple, going about from one temple to
another without ever ceasing.

In the second year of the same era, soldiers from the land of the
Uighurs42 invaded the borders of the T’ang empire. In the third year
of the same era, the regional commander in the area north of the
Yellow River suddenly raised a revolt. Later, the kingdom of Tibet
once more refused to obey orders from China, and the Uighurs
repeatedly seized Chinese territory. On the whole, the conflicts and
uprisings were like those that prevailed at the time when the Ch’in
dynasty and the military leader Hsiang Yü were overthrown, and the
towns and villages were devastated by fire and other disasters. What
was even worse, Emperor Wu-tsung carried out a vast campaign to wipe
out Buddhist teachings and destroyed a great many temples and pagodas.
He was never able to put down the uprisings and died in agony shortly
after. (This is the essence of Jikaku’s original passage.)

In view of these events, we should consider the fact that Honen
belonged to the time of the Retired Emperor Gotoba, around the Kennin
era (1201–1204). And what happened to the retired emperor is evident
before our very eyes.43 Thus T’ang China provided an earlier example
of the fall of an emperor, and our own country offers similar proof.
You should neither doubt this nor consider it strange. The only thing
to do now is to abandon the evil ways and take up those that are good,
to cut off this affliction at the source, to cut it off at the root.

The guest, looking somewhat mollified, said: Though I have not yet
probed deeply into the matter, I believe I understand to some degree
what you are saying. Nevertheless, throughout the area from Kyoto, the
capital, to Kamakura, the headquarters of the shogun, there are
numerous eminent Buddhist leaders and key figures in the clergy. And
yet none of them has so far appealed to the shogun concerning this
affair, or submitted a memorial to the throne. You, on the other hand,
a person of humble position, think nothing of spewing out offensive
accusations. Your assertion goes too far and your behavior is
unreasonable.

The host said: Though I may be a person of little ability, I have
reverently given myself to the study of the Mahayana. A blue fly, if
it clings to the tail of a thoroughbred horse, can travel ten thousand
miles, and the green ivy that twines around the tall pine can grow to
a thousand feet. I was born as the son of the one Buddha, Shakyamuni,
and I serve the king of scriptures, the Lotus Sutra. How could I
observe the decline of the Buddhist Law and not be filled with
emotions of pity and distress?

Moreover, the Nirvana Sutra states: “If even a good monk sees someone
destroying the teaching and disregards him, failing to reproach him,
to oust him, or to punish him for his offense, then you should realize
that that monk is betraying the Buddha’s teaching. But if he ousts the
destroyer of the Law, reproaches him, or punishes him, then he is my
disciple and a true voice-hearer.”

Although I may not be a “good monk,” I certainly do not want to be
accused of “betraying the Buddha’s teaching.” Therefore, in order to
avoid such charges, I have cited a few general principles and given a
rough explanation of the matter.

Earlier, in the Gennin era (1224– ), petitions to the throne were
submitted time and again by the two temples of Enryaku-ji and Kofuku-
ji. And as a result, an imperial command and a letter of instruction
from the shogunate were handed down, ordering that the woodblocks used
in printing Honen’s Nembutsu Chosen above All be confiscated and
brought to the Great Lecture Hall of Enryaku-ji. There they were
burned in order to repay the debt owed to the Buddhas of the three
existences. In addition, orders were given that the menials at Kanjin-
in Shrine should dig up and destroy Honen’s grave. Then, Honen’s
disciples Ryukan, Shoko, Jokaku, Sassho, and others were condemned by
the imperial court to exile in distant regions and were never
pardoned.

In view of these facts, how can you say that no one has submitted a
complaint to the authorities concerning these matters?

The guest, continuing to speak in a mild manner, replied: One could
hardly say that Honen is the only one who disparages sutras and speaks
ill of other priests [since you do the same thing yourself ]. However,
it is true that he takes the 637Mahayana scriptures in 2 ,883 volumes,
along with all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and the deities of this
world, and urges people to “discard, close, ignore, and abandon” them.
There is no doubt that these four in junctions are his very words; the
meaning of the passage is quite clear. But you keep harping on this
one little “flaw in the jewel” and severely slandering him for it. I
do not know whether he spoke out of delusion or out of enlightenment.
Between you and Honen, I cannot tell which is wise and which is
foolish, or determine whose assertions are right and whose are wrong.

However, you assert that all the recent disasters are to be traced to
Nembutsu Chosen above All, speaking quite volubly on that point and
elaborating on the meaning of your assertion. Now surely the peace of
the world and the stability of the nation are sought by both ruler and
subject and desired by all the inhabitants of the country. The nation
achieves prosperity through the Buddhist Law, and the Law is proven
worthy of reverence by the people who embrace it. If the nation is
destroyed and the people are wiped out, then who will continue to pay
reverence to the Buddhas? Who will continue to have faith in the Law?
Therefore, one must first of all pray for the safety of the nation and
then work to establish the Buddhist Law.44 Now if you know of any
means whereby disasters can be prevented and troubles brought to an
end, I would like to hear about it.

The host said: There is no doubt that I am the foolish one—I would
never dare claim to be wise. However, I would just like to quote some
passages from the scriptures and offer some brief thoughts. Concerning
the means for insuring order in the nation, there are numerous
passages in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts, and it would be
difficult to cite them all here. Since taking up the study of
Buddhism, however, I have frequently given thought to this matter, and
it seems to me that restraining those who slander the Law and
respecting the followers of the correct way will assure stability
within the nation and peace in the world at large.

In the Nirvana Sutra, we read: “The Buddha said, ‘With the exception
of one type of person, you may offer alms to all kinds of persons, and
everyone will praise you.’

“Chunda said, ‘What do you mean when you speak of “one type of per-
son”?’

“The Buddha replied, ‘I mean the type described in this sutra as
violators of the precepts.’

“Chunda spoke again, saying, ‘I am afraid I still do not understand.
May I ask you to explain further?’

“The Buddha addressed Chunda, saying, ‘By violators of the precepts, I
mean the icchantika. In the case of all other types of persons, you
may offer alms, everyone will praise you, and you will achieve great
rewards.’

“Chunda spoke once more, asking, ‘What is the meaning of the term
icchantika?’

“The Buddha said: ‘Chunda, suppose there should be monks or nuns, lay
men or women who speak careless and evil words and slander the correct
teaching, and that they should go on committing these grave acts
without ever showing any inclination to reform or any sign of
repentance in their hearts. Persons of this kind I would say are
following the path of the icchantika.

“ ‘Again there may be those who commit the four grave offenses45 or
are guilty of the five cardinal sins, and who, though aware that they
are guilty of serious faults, from the beginning have no trace of fear
or contrition in their hearts or, if they do, give no outward sign of
it. When it comes to the correct teaching, they show no inclination to
protect, treasure, and establish it over the ages, but rather speak of
it with malice and contempt, their words replete with error. People of
this kind too I would say are following the path of the icchantika.
With the exception of this one group of people called icchantika,
however, you may offer alms to all others, and everyone will praise
you.’ ”

Elsewhere in the same sutra, the Buddha spoke in these words: “When I
recall the past, I remember that I was the king of a great state in
this continent of Jambudvipa. My name was Sen’yo, and I loved and
venerated the great vehicle scriptures. My heart was pure and good and
had no trace of evil, jealousy, or stinginess. Good men, at that time
I cherished the great vehicle teachings in my heart. When I heard the
Brahmans slandering these correct and equal sutras, I put them to
death on the spot. Good men, as a result of that action, I never
thereafter fell into hell.”

In another passage it says, “In the past, when the Thus Come One was
the ruler of a nation and practiced the way of the bodhisattva, he put
to death a number of Brahmans.”

Again it says: “There are three degrees of killings: the lower,
middle, and upper degrees. The lower degree constitutes the killing of
any humble being, from an ant to any of the various kinds of animals.
But the killing of any being that a bodhisattva has chosen to be born
as [to help other living beings] is excluded. As a result of a killing
of the lower degree, one will fall into the realms of hell, hungry
spirits, and animals, and will suffer all the pains appropriate to a
killing of the lower degree. Why should this be? Because even animals
and other humble beings possess the roots of goodness, insignificant
though those roots may be. That is why a person who kills such a being
must suffer full retribution for his offense.

“Killing any person from an ordinary mortal to an anagamin46
constitutes what is termed the middle degree. As a consequence of such
an act of killing, one will fall into the realms of hell, hungry
spirits, and animals, and will suffer all the pains appropriate to a
killing of the middle degree. The upper degree of killing refers to
the killing of a parent, an arhat, a pratyekabuddha, or a bodhisattva
who has reached the stage of non-retrogression. For such a crime one
will fall into the great Avichi hell. Good men, if someone were to
kill an icchantika, that killing would not fall into any of the three
categories just mentioned. Good men, the various Brahmans that I have
said were put to death—all of them were in fact icchantikas.”

In the Benevolent Kings Sutra, we read: “The Buddha announced to King
Prasenajit, ‘Thus I entrust the protection of my teachings to the
ruler of the nation rather than to the monks and nuns. Why do I do so?
Because they do not possess the kind of power and authority that the
king has.’ ”

The Nirvana Sutra states: “Now I entrust the correct teaching, which
is unexcelled, to the rulers, the ministers, the high officials, and
the four kinds of Buddhists. If anyone should vilify the correct
teaching, then the ministers and four kinds of Buddhists should
reprimand him and bring him to order.”

It also states: “The Buddha replied: ‘[Bodhisattva] Kashyapa, it is
because I was a defender of the correct teaching that I have been able
to attain this diamond-like body. . . . Good man, defenders of the
correct teaching need not observe the five precepts or practice the
rules of proper behavior. Rather they should carry knives and swords,
bows and arrows, halberds and lances.’ ”

Again the Buddha said: “Even though there may be those who observe the
five precepts, they do not deserve to be called practitioners of the
great vehicle. But even if one does not observe the five precepts, if
one defends the correct teaching, then one may be called a
practitioner of the great vehicle. Defenders of the correct teaching
ought to arm themselves with knives and swords, weapons and staves.
Even though they carry swords and staves, I would call them men who
observe the precepts.”

The Buddha likewise said: “Good man, in past ages in this very city of
Kushinagara, a Buddha appeared whose name was the Thus Come One Joy
Increasing. After this Buddha passed away, the correct teaching that
he had taught remained in the world for countless millions of years.
Finally, only forty more years were left before the Buddhist teaching
was due to come to an end.

“At that time there was a monk named Realization of Virtue who
observed the precepts. There were many monks at this time who violated
the precepts, and when they heard this monk preaching, they all
conceived evil designs in their hearts and, arming themselves with
swords and staves, approached this teacher of the Law.

“At this time the ruler of the kingdom was named Possessor of Virtue.
He received reports of what was happening, and, in order to defend the
teaching, he went at once to the place where the monk was preaching
the Law and fought with all his might against the evil monks who broke
the precepts. As a result, the monk who had been preaching was able to
escape grievous injury. But the king received so many wounds from the
knives and swords, halberds and lances, that there was not a spot on
his body the size of a mustard seed that remained unharmed.

“At this time the monk Realization of Virtue praised the king, saying:
‘Splendid, splendid! You, O king, are now a true defender of the
correct teaching. In ages to come, this body of yours will surely
become a boundless vessel of the Law!’

“At that time, the king had already heard the teaching, and he felt
great joy in his heart. Thereupon his life came to an end, and he was
reborn in the land of the Buddha Akshobhya, where he became the
Buddha’s principal disciple. Moreover, all the military leaders,
citizens, and associates of the king who had fought beside him or had
rejoiced in his effort were filled with an unflagging determination to
achieve enlightenment, and when they died, all of them were reborn in
the land of the Buddha Akshobhya.

“Later, the monk Realization of Virtue also died, and he too was
reborn in the land of the Buddha Akshobhya, where he became second
among the Buddha’s voice-hearer disciples. Thus, if the correct
teaching is about to come to an end, this is the way one ought to
support and defend it.

“Kashyapa, the king who lived at that time was I myself, and the monk
who preached was the Buddha Kashyapa.47 Kashyapa, those who defend the
correct teaching enjoy this kind of boundless reward. As a
consequence, I have been able to obtain the distinguished
characteristics that I possess today, to adorn myself with them, and
to put on the Dharma body that can never be destroyed.”

Then the Buddha declared to Bodhisattva Kashyapa: “For this reason,
laymen believers and others who wish to defend the Law should arm
themselves with swords and staves and protect it in this manner.

“Good man, in the age of impurity and evil after I have passed away,
the nation will fall into devastation and disorder, men will plunder
and steal from one another, and the common people will be reduced to
starvation. Because of hunger, many men at that time will declare
their determination to leave their families and become monks. Men such
as these may be called shavepates.48 When this crowd of shavepates see
anyone who is attempting to protect the correct teaching, they will
chase after him and drive him away, or even kill him or do him injury.
That is why I now give permission for monks who observe the precepts
to associate with and keep company with white-robed laymen who bear
swords and staves. Even though they carry swords and staves, I would
call them men who observe the precepts. But although they may carry
swords and staves, they should never use them to take life.”

The Lotus Sutra says: “If a person fails to have faith but instead
slanders this sutra, immediately he will destroy all the seeds for
becoming a Buddha in this world. . . . When his life comes to an end
he will enter the Avichi hell.”

The meaning of these passages from the sutras is perfectly clear. What
need is there for me to add any further explanation? If we accept the
words of the Lotus Sutra, then we must understand that slandering the
Mahayana scriptures is more serious than committing the five cardinal
sins countless times. Therefore, one who does so will be confined in
the great citadel of the Avichi hell and cannot hope for release for
an immeasurable length of time. According to the Nirvana Sutra, even
though you may give alms to a person who has committed the five
cardinal sins, you must never give alms to a person who has slandered
the Law. One who kills so much as an ant will invariably fall into the
three evil paths, but one who helps eradicate slander of the Law will
ascend to the state from which there can be no retrogression. Thus the
passage tells us that the monk Realization of Virtue was reborn as the
Buddha Kashyapa, and that King Possessor of Virtue was reborn as the
Buddha Shakyamuni.

The Lotus and the Nirvana sutras represent the very heart of the
doctrines that Shakyamuni preached during the five periods of his
teaching life. Their warnings must be viewed with the utmost gravity.
Who would fail to heed them? And yet those people who forget about the
correct way and slander the Law put more trust than ever in Honen’s
Nembutsu Chosen above All and grow blinder than ever in their
foolishness.

Thus some of them, remembering how their master looked in life,
fashion wooden sculptures and paintings of him, while others, putting
faith in his perverse teachings, carve woodblocks with which to print
his ugly words. These writings they scatter about throughout the area
bounded by the seas, carrying them beyond the cities and into the
countryside until, wherever honor is paid, it is to the practices of
this school, and wherever alms are given, it is to the priests of this
school.

As a result, we see people cutting off the fingers of the images of
Shakyamuni and refashioning them to form the gesture of Amida, or
converting the temples formerly dedicated to Medicine Master, the Thus
Come One of the Eastern Region, and replacing his statues with those
of Amida, the Thus Come One of the Western Land. Or we find the
ceremony of copying the Lotus Sutra, which had been carried out for
over four hundred years on Mount Hiei, being suspended and the copying
of the three Pure Land sutras substituted in its place, or the annual
lectures49 on the doctrines of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai being
replaced by lectures on the teachings of Shan-tao. Indeed, the
slanderous people and their associates are too numerous to count. Are
they not destroyers of the Buddha?? Are they not destroyers of the
Law? Are they not destroyers of the Buddhist Order? And all their
distorted teachings derive from Nembutsu Chosen above All.

Alas, how pitiful that people should turn their backs on the true
words of prohibition spoken by the Thus Come One [Shakyamuni]! How
tragic that they should heed the gross and deluded words of this
ignorant priest! If we hope to bring order and tranquillity to the
world without further delay, we must put an end to these slanders of
the Law that fill the country.

The guest said: If we are to put an end to these people who slander
the Law and do away with those who violate the prohibitions of the
Buddha, then are we to condemn them to death as described in the sutra
passages you have just cited? If we do that, then we ourselves will be
guilty of inflicting injury and death upon others, and will suffer the
consequences, will we not?

In the Great Collection Sutra, the Buddha says: “If a person shaves
his head and puts on clerical robes, then, whether that person
observes the precepts or violates them, both heavenly and human beings
should give him alms. In doing so, they are giving alms and support to
me, for that person is my son. But if men beat that person, they are
beating my son, and if they curse and insult him, they are reviling
me.”

If we stop to consider, we must realize that, regardless of whether
one is good or bad, right or wrong, if he is a priest, then he
deserves to have alms and nourishment extended to him. For how could
one beat and insult the son and still not cause grief and sorrow to
the father? The Brahmans of the Bamboo Staff school who killed the
Venerable Maudgalyayana have for a long time been sunk in the depths
of the hell of incessant suffering. Because Devadatta murdered the nun
Utpalavarna, he has for a long time gasped in the flames of the Avichi
hell. Examples from earlier ages make the matter perfectly clear, and
later ages fear this offense most of all. You speak of punishing those
who slander the Law, but to do so would violate the Buddha’s
prohibitions. I can hardly believe that such a course would be right.
How can you justify that?

The host said: You have clearly seen the sutra passages that I have
cited, and yet you can ask a question like that! Are they beyond the
power of your mind to comprehend? Or do you fail to understand the
reasoning behind them? I certainly have no intention of censuring the
sons of the Buddha. My only hatred is for the act of slandering the
Law. According to the Buddhist teachings, prior to Shakyamuni
slanderous monks would have incurred the death penalty. But since the
time of Shakyamuni, the One Who Can Endure, the giving of alms to
slanderous monks is forbidden in the sutra teachings. Now if all the
four kinds of Buddhists within the four seas and the ten thousand
lands would only cease giving alms to wicked priests and instead all
come over to the side of the good, then how could any more troubles
rise to plague us, or disasters come to confront us?

With this the guest moved off his mat in a gesture of respect,
straightened the collar of his robe, and said: The Buddhist teachings
vary greatly, and it is difficult to investigate each doctrine in
full. I have had many doubts and perplexities, and have been unable to
distinguish right from wrong.

Nevertheless, this work by the Sage Honen, Nembutsu Chosen above All,
does in fact exist. And it lumps together all the various Buddhas,
sutras, bodhisattvas, and deities, and says that one should “discard,
close, ignore, and abandon” them. The meaning of the text is perfectly
clear. And as a result of this, the sages have departed from the
nation, the benevolent deities have left their dwelling places, hunger
and thirst fill the world, and disease and pestilence spread widely.

Now, by citing passages from a wide variety of scriptures, you have
clearly demonstrated the rights and wrongs of the matter. Therefore, I
have completely forsaken my earlier mistaken convictions, and my ears
and eyes have been opened on point after point.

There can be no doubt that all people, from the ruler on down to the
general populace, rejoice in and desire the stability of the nation
and the peace of the world. If we can quickly put an end to the alms
that are given to these icchantikas and insure that continuing support
is instead given to the host of true priests and nuns, if we can still
these “white waves”50 that trouble the ocean of the Buddha and cut
down these “green groves” that overgrow the mountain of the Law, then
the world may become as peaceful as it was in the golden ages of Fu
Hsi and Shen Nung, and the nation may flourish as it did under the
sage rulers Yao and Shun.51 After that, there will be time to dip into
the waters of the Law and to decide which are shallow doctrines and
which are deep, and to pay honor to the pillars and beams that support
the house of the Buddha.

The host exclaimed with delight: The dove has changed into a hawk, the
sparrow into a clam.52 How gratifying! You have associated with a
friend in the orchid room and have become as straight as mugwort
growing among hemp.53 If you will truly give consideration to the
troubles I have been describing and put entire faith in these words of
mine, then the winds will blow gently, the waves will be calm, and in
no time at all we will enjoy bountiful harvests.

But a person’s heart may change with the times, and the nature of a
thing may alter with its surroundings. Just as the moon on the water
will be tossed about by the waves, or the soldiers in the vanguard
will be cowed by the swords of the enemy, so, although at this moment
you may say you believe in my words, I fear that later you will forget
them completely.

Now if we wish first of all to bring security to the nation and to
pray for our present and future lives, then we must hasten to examine
and consider the situation and take measures as soon as possible to
remedy it.

Why do I say this? Because, of the seven types of disasters described
in the Medicine Master Sutra, five have already occurred. Only two
have yet to appear, the calamity of invasion from foreign lands and
the calamity of revolt within one’s own domain. And of the three
calamities mentioned in the Great Collection Sutra, two have already
made their appearance. Only one remains, the disaster of warfare.

The different types of disaster and calamity enumerated in the Golden
Light Sutra have arisen one after the other. Only that described as
marauders from other regions invading and plundering the nation has
yet to materialize. This is the only trouble that has not yet come.
And of the seven disasters listed in the Benevolent Kings Sutra, six
are now upon us in full force. Only one has not yet appeared, the
calamity that occurs “when enemies rise up on all four sides and
invade the nation.”

Moreover, as the Benevolent Kings Sutra says: “When a nation becomes
disordered, it is the spirits that first show signs of rampancy.
Because the spirits become rampant, all the people of the nation
become disordered.”

Now if we examine the present situation carefully in the light of this
passage, we will see that the various spirits have for some time been
rampant, and many of the people have perished. If the first predicted
misfortune in the sutra has already occurred, as is obvious, then how
can we doubt that the later disasters will follow? If, in punishment
for the evil doctrines that are upheld, the troubles that have yet to
appear should fall upon us one after the other, then it will be too
late to act, will it not?

Emperors and kings have their foundation in the state and bring peace
and order to the age; ministers and commoners hold possession of their
fields and gardens and supply the needs of the world. But if marauders
come from other regions to invade the nation, or if revolt breaks out
within the domain and people’s lands are seized and plundered, how can
there be anything but terror and confusion? If the nation is destroyed
and people’s homes are wiped out, then where can one flee for safety?
If you care anything about your personal security, you should first of
all pray for order and tranquillity throughout the four quarters of
the land, should you not?

It seems to me that when people are in this world they all fear what
their lot may be in the life to come. So it is that they put their
faith in distorted doctrines and pay honor to slanderous teachings. 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
should have chosen the wrong kind. With the power of faith that is in
their hearts, why must they recklessly give credence to distorted
doctrines? If they do not shake off these delusions that they cling to
but continue to harbor erroneous views, then they will quickly leave
this world of the living and surely fall into the hell of incessant
suffering.

Thus the Great Collection Sutra says: “Though for countless existences
in the past the ruler of a state may have practiced the giving of
alms, observed the precepts, and cultivated wisdom, if he sees that my
teaching is in danger of perishing and stands idly by without doing
anything to protect it, then all the inestimable roots of goodness
that he has planted through the practices just mentioned will be
entirely wiped out . . . Before long, the ruler will fall gravely ill,
and after his life has come to an end, he will be reborn in the great
hell. . . . And the same fate will befall the ruler’s consort, his
heir, the high ministers of the state, the lords of cities, the
village heads and generals, the magistrates of districts, and the
other officials.”

The Benevolent Kings Sutra states: “If persons destroy the teachings
of the Buddha, they will have no filial sons, no harmony with their
six kinds of relatives,54 and no aid from the heavenly deities and
dragons. Disease and evil demons will come day after day to torment
them, disasters will descend on them incessantly, and misfortunes will
dog them wherever they go. And when they die, they will fall into the
realms of hell, hungry spirits, and animals. Even if they should be
reborn as human beings, they will be destined to become soldiers or
slaves. Retribution will follow as an echo follows a sound, or a
shadow follows a form. Someone writing at night may put out the lamp,
but the words he has written will still remain. It is the same with
the effect of the deeds we perform in the threefold world.”

The second volume of the Lotus Sutra says, “If a person fails to have
faith but instead slanders this sutra . . . When his life comes to an
end he will enter the Avichi hell.” And in the “Never Disparaging”
chapter in the seventh volume, it says, “For a thousand kalpas they
underwent great suffering in the Avichi hell.”

In the Nirvana Sutra, we read: “If a person separates himself from
good friends, refuses to listen to the correct teaching, and instead
embraces evil teachings, then as a result he will sink down into the
Avichi hell, where the size of his body will become eighty- four
thousand yojanas in total length and breadth.”55

When we examine this wide variety of sutras, we find that they all
stress how grave a matter it is to slander the correct teaching. How
pitiful that people should all go out of the gate of the correct
teaching and enter so deep into the prison of these distorted
doctrines! How stupid that they should fall one after another into the
snares of these evil doctrines and remain for so long entangled in
this net of slanderous teachings! They lose their way in these mists
and miasmas, and sink down amid the raging flames of hell. How could
one not grieve? How could one not suffer?

Therefore, you must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your
heart and embrace the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine [of
the Lotus Sutra]. If you do so, then the threefold world will become
the Buddha land, and how could a Buddha land ever decline? The regions
in the ten directions will all become treasure realms, and how could a
treasure realm ever suffer harm? If you live in a country that knows
no decline or diminution, in a land that suffers no harm or
disruption, then your body will find peace and security, and your mind
will be calm and untroubled. You must believe my words; heed what I
say!

The guest said: Since it concerns both this life and the lives to
come, who could fail to be cautious in a matter such as this? Who
could fail to agree with you? Now when I examine the passages you have
cited from the sutras and see exactly what the Buddha has said, I
realize that slandering the Law is a very grave fault indeed, that
violating the Law is in truth a terrible offense. I have put all my
faith in one Buddha alone, Amida, and rejected all the other Buddhas.
I have honored the three Pure Land sutras and set aside the other
sutras. But this was not due to any distorted ideas of my own
conception. I was simply obeying the words of the eminent men of the
past. And the same is true of all the other persons in the ten
directions.

But now I realize that to do so means to exhaust oneself in futile
efforts in this life and to fall into the Avichi hell in the life to
come. The texts you have cited are perfectly clear on this point, and
their arguments are detailed—they leave no room for doubt. From now
on, with your kind instruction to guide me, I wish to continue
dispelling the ignorance from my mind. I hope we may set about as
quickly as possible taking measures to deal with these slanders
against the Law and to bring peace to the world without delay, thus
insuring that we may live in safety in this life and enjoy good
fortune in the life to come. But it is not enough that I alone should
accept and have faith in your words—we must see to it that others as
well are warned of their errors.
Background
On the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month, 1253, Nichiren Daishonin
established the teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo at Seicho-ji temple in
his native province of Awa, and later he returned to Kamakura, the
seat of the military government, to begin propagation. In examining
the records, we find that in those days the era names were changed
frequently. The year 1253 was in the Kencho era. Three years later, in
1256, the era name was changed to Kogen, and the next year, to Shoka.
Then, two years later, in , it was changed to Shogen, the following
year to Bunno, and the year after that to Kocho. In the five years
from 1256 to 1261 , the era name changed five times. An era name was
usually changed only on the accession of a new emperor, or when some
natural disaster of severe proportions occurred; the frequency of
these changes attests to the magnitude of the disasters that struck
Japan during this period.

Soon after the Daishonin’s arrival, Kamakura and the country as a
whole faced a series of disasters and conflicts that served to
emphasize his conviction that the Latter Day of the Law had indeed
been entered upon. On the sixth day of the eighth month of 1256
torrential rainstorms caused floods and landslides, destroying crops
and devastating much of Kamakura. In the ninth month of the same year,
an epidemic swept through the city, taking many lives. During the
fifth, eighth, and eleventh months of 1257, violent earthquakes rocked
the city, and the sixth and seventh months witnessed a disastrous
drought. Most frightful of all was an earthquake of unprecedented
scale that occurred on the twenty-third day of the eighth month. The
year 1258 witnessed no lessening of natural calamities. The eighth
month saw storms destroy crops throughout the nation, and floods in
Kamakura drowned numerous people. In the tenth month of the same year,
Kamakura was visited by heavy rains and severe floods. In the first
month of 1258, fires consumed Jufuku-ji temple, and in 1259, epidemics
and famine were rampant, and a violent rainstorm decimated crops.

[kelpzoidzl]

(cont'd)

Nichiren Daishonin sought answers to the cause of these disasters in
the scriptural writings of Buddhism. In an effort to clarify it, he
went to Jisso-ji temple at Iwamoto in Suruga Province, and he stayed
there from 1258through the middle of 1260. As a major temple of the
Tendai school in eastern Japan, Jisso-ji housed many important sutras
in its scripture library. The Daishonin pored over them all.

As a result, Nichiren Daishonin found evidence for his theory in such
sutras as the Benevolent Kings, Medicine Master, Great Collection, and
Golden Light. He quotes passages from these sutras in the present
text, On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,
chronologically the first of his five major works.

The work was originally written in classical Chinese and submitted to
Hojo Tokiyori through the offices of high- ranking government official
Yadoya Mitsunori on the sixteenth day of the seventh month in the
first year of Bunno (1260). Tokiyori was then living in retirement,
but was still the most influential member of the ruling Hojo clan. The
work occasioned no immediate reaction, and no official response was
made to the Daishonin. But the members of the government were incensed
at the rational but unrelenting attack that the work made on the Pure
Land teachings of Honen and his followers. Government officials who
were Pure Land followers apparently encouraged an attack made on the
Daishonin’s dwelling at Matsubagayatsu in Kamakura on the twenty-
seventh day of the eighth month. The Daishonin narrowly escaped and
made his way to the province of Shimosa to stay at the home of a
follower. He returned to Kamakura early in the following year, 1261.
He remained continually under the threat of persecution and was
summarily banished to Izu on the twelfth day of the fifth month of the
same year.

The work consists of a dialogue between a host and a visitor. The host
represents Nichiren Daishonin, and the visitor, it is thought,
represents Hojo Tokiyori. At the outset, the host lays the blame for
the disasters that have befallen the country on the belief in an
erroneous religion, the Pure Land teachings of Honen. Presented are
numerous scriptural references to disasters that will befall a nation
that follows false teachings. The Daishonin puts particular emphasis
on a passage in the Medicine Master Sutra that describes seven types
of disasters that will strike such a nation. Of these calamities, he
points out, five have already occurred, and two, the “calamity of

invasion from foreign lands” and the “calamity of revolt within one’s

own domain,” have yet to occur. The Daishonin cautions that these will
come about if the doctrines of the Lotus Sutra are not followed.
Later, the prophecies of internal strife and foreign invasion were
fulfilled when Hojo Tokisuke revolted against his younger half
brother, Regent Hojo Tokimune, in 1272, and when the Mongols attacked
Japan twice, in 1274 and 1281. In terms of its view of the
relationship between the people’s religious beliefs and the
realization of a peaceful society, On Establishing the Correct
Teaching holds an important position in Nichiren Daishonin’s writings.
The Daishonin lived at a time of authoritarian government, and he
probably felt that through an appeal to the most powerful members of
the government he could help bring about a reformation of society.
That his appeal was ignored only spurred his unremitting effort to
propagate his teaching for the peace and happiness of society, a task
he would pursue to the end of his life.
Notes
1. Reference is to a passage in Shantao’s Praising the Meditation to
Behold the Buddha, in which he says that calling on the name of Amida
Buddha serves as a sword to cut off earthly desires, karma, and
suffering
2. One of the twelve vows of the Buddha Medicine Master, which appear
in the Medicine Master Sutra. As a bodhisattva he made these vows to
cure all illnesses and lead all people to enlightenment.

3. Lotus Sutra, chap. 23. This is a reference to a practice of the
Tendai school.

4. Benevolent Kings Sutra. This is another reference to the Tendai
school, which held a ritual of prayer based on this passage.

5. According to the Benevolent Kings Sutra, a type of ceremony
originally held by the god Shakra to defeat the evil king Born from
the Crown of the Head.

6. Ritual in which priests of the True Word school placed five jars,
colored white, blue, red, yellow, and black, on a platform and put
into them, respectively, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, pearls, and
crystal. In addition, they placed in these jars the five grains, five
herbs, and five types of incense, and then filled them with water and
set flowers in them. The ritual of filling the jars in this manner was
believed to drive away disasters.

7. Reference is to the practice of the Zen school.

8. The names of the seven guardian spirits appear in the Mysterious
Spells for Eliminating the Illnesses of the Five Components Sutra.

9. The five mighty bodhisattvas enumerated in the Benevolent Kings
Sutra. According to this sutra, if a ruler embraces the correct
teaching of Buddhism, these five powerful bodhisattvas will protect
him and the people of his country.

10. Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn.

11. This refers to an oracle said to have been received from Great
Bodhisattva Hachiman in the reign of the fifty-first sovereign,
Emperor Heizei (r. 806–809). In it Hachiman vowed to protect the
nation until the reign of the hundredth sovereign. On Establishing the
Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land was written in the reign of
the ninetieth sovereign, Emperor Kameyama (r. 1259–1274).

12. The orchid room indicates the dwelling of a virtuous person.

13. The heavens of purity refer to the five highest heavens in the
world of form, the second division of the threefold world, located
above the world of desire.

14. Sweet, pungent, sour, bitter, salty, astringent, and faint
flavors.

15. The power of earth that nourishes grains and fruits, the power of
living beings that raise the people and vitalize human society, and
the power of the Buddhist Law that brings about peace and happiness.

16. In the Great Collection Sutra, the roe deer is described as a
small deer so timid that it flees immediately whenever danger
approaches, without giving a thought to the welfare of its parents or
others.

17. Anointed kings refer to the rulers of major kingdoms. In ancient
India, when the ruler of a powerful kingdom ascended the throne, the
rulers of smaller kingdoms and their ministers poured water on his
head.

18. The Metal Star is Venus. The Broom Star, the Fire Star, and the
Water Star refer to comets, Mars, and Mercury, respectively. Most of
the other stars mentioned make up parts of the twenty-eight celestial
houses.

19. Demon fire refers to fires of unknown origin attributed to the
anger of demons. Dragon fire means fires ascribed to the wrath of
dragons, who were thought to be able to change water into fire at
will. Heavenly fire is said to be caused by the wrath of heaven, and
mountain god fire— possibly a reference to volcanic eruptions— by the
wrath of mountain gods. Human fire refers to fires caused by human
error or negligence. Tree fire probably indicates forest fires, and
bandit fire means fires set by invaders.

20. According to the Japanese lunar calendar, the sixth month
corresponds to the last month of summer.

21. Black, red, and green winds refer to winds that stir up and convey
clouds of sand, while heavenly and earthly winds correspond to
tornados or cyclones. Fire winds indicate hot air in the dry season,
and water winds refer to rainstorms.

22. Wheat, rice, beans, and two types of millet. Also a generic term
for all grains, which is the meaning here.

23. Bandits who do evil amid the confusion of disasters caused by
fire, water, and wind, respectively. Demon bandits are said to be
abductors.

24. The original word for evil spirits is gedo, which literally means
“outside of the way” and usually indicates heretics and nonBuddhists.
Here the word means something or someone that brings about disasters.
Hence the expression “evil spirits.”

25. This refers to the tradition that Emperor Ming (28–75) dreamed of
a golden man levitating above the garden. He awakened and asked his
ministers about the dream. One of them said that he had once heard of
the birth of a sage in the western region (India) during the reign of
King Chao of the Chou dynasty, and that this sage had been called the
Buddha. The emperor sent eighteen envoys to the western region in
order to obtain the Buddha’s teachings. And at the request of these
envoys, two Indian Buddhist monks came to China in C.E. 67with
Buddhist scriptures and images on the backs of white horses.

26. In 587, while still a youth, Jogu, or Prince Shotoku, is said to
have joined with Soga no Umako in attacking and killing Mononobe no
Moriya, a powerful minister who opposed Buddhism and the Soga clan.

27. “Those who belong to the lineage of Shariputra” refers to those
who attach greater importance to practicing meditation than to abiding
by the teachings. “Those who adhere to the traditions of
Haklenayashas” refers to those who hold doctrinal study to be more
important than the practice of meditation. Haklenayashas was the
twenty-third of Shakyamuni’s twenty- four successors. Kukkutapada is
present-day Kurkihar, located about thirty kilometers northeast of
Buddhagaya. Mahakashyapa is said to have transmitted the teachings to
Ananda and to have died on this mountain.

28. Lotus Sutra, chap. 13. This is often called the “twenty-line verse
of the ‘Encouraging Devotion’ chapter,” which enumerates the types of
persecutions that will be met in propagating the Lotus Sutra in the
fearful latter age. These persecutions were later summarized as the
three powerful enemies by Miao-lo of China.

29. The sages of the four stages refer to the Buddhist teachers who
embrace and propagate the correct teaching and benefit the people.
Often this expression refers to the sages of Hinayana, who are
classified into four ranks according to their level of understanding,
but generally it indicates those successors of the Buddha who
propagate his teachings and lead people to salvation.

30. “Concentrated meditation and unconcentrated meditation” refers to
the sixteen types of meditation that are described as practices
leading people to rebirth in the Pure Land. In the first thirteen
types of meditation, one concentrates one’s mind on the splendor of
the Pure Land and the features of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. These
are regarded as “concentrated meditation.” The other three types of
meditation can be carried out even if one’s mind is not focused.
Therefore, they are called “unconcentrated meditation.”

31. The three kinds of mind refer to the three requisites for reaching
the Pure Land: a sincere mind, a mind of deep faith, and a mind
resolved to attain the Pure Land.

32. This refers to the eighteenth of the forty-eight vows, described
in the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, that Bodhisattva Dharma Treasury,
the name of Amida Buddha before his enlightenment, made to bring all
people to the Pure Land, except those mentioned here.

33. Lotus Sutra, chap. 3.

34. The two attendants are the bodhisattvas Perceiver of the World’s
Sounds and Great Power.

35. Shakyamuni and Medicine Master were Buddhas whose images were
enshrined in the head temple of the Tendai school on Mount Hiei. The
images of the bodhisattvas Space Treasury and Earth Repository were
also enshrined on Mount Hiei. Space Treasury is a bodhisattva said to
possess immeasurable wisdom and blessings. Earth Repository is a
bodhisattva entrusted by Shakyamuni Buddha with the mission of saving
people.

36. At the ceremony of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha transferred
his teachings to the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching led by
Medicine King and entrusted them with the mission of propagating them
in the Middle Day of the Law. It is said that Bodhisattva Medicine
King was later born as the Great Teacher T’ient’ai in China and the
Great Teacher Dengyo in Japan. On the basis of the parable of the
skilled physician in the “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra, T’ien-
t’ai and Dengyo used the Buddha Medicine Master, the lord of the Pure
Emerald World in the eastern part of the universe, as an object of
devotion for their school. In this sense, to neglect the Buddha
Medicine Master and revere the Buddha Amida is to ignore Shakyamuni
Buddha’s transmission.

37. The four treatises refer to Nagarjuna’s Treatise on the Middle Way
and Treatise on the Twelve Gates, and The Treatise on the Great
Perfection of Wisdom also attributed to Nagarjuna, as well as The One-
Hundred- Verse Treatise attributed to Aryadeva.

38. T’ien-t’ai’s three major works: Great Concentration and Insight,
The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, and The Profound Meaning of
the Lotus Sutra, consisting of thirty volumes, and Miao-lo’s three
commentaries on them, which also consist of thirty volumes.

39. According to Honen’s biography, in a dream he received permission
from Shan-tao to spread the practice of calling on the name of Amida
and was entrusted with the Pure Land teachings.

40. “An earlier period” refers to the period in which Honen propagated
the Pure Land teaching.

41. Juan Chi (210–263) was one of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo
Grove, a group of scholars who, in the troubled political times at the
end of the Wei dynasty, are said to have gathered in a bamboo grove to
drink, play music, write poems, and discuss philosophy, particularly
the Taoist philosophy of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Juan Chi is also
known as a noted poet.

42. Uighurs: A Turkish people of Central Asia who prospered from the
eighth through the mid-ninth century.

43. In 1221, the Retired Emperor Gotoba played a leading role in a
struggle for power between the imperial court in Kyoto and the Hojo
clan in Kamakura, an incident known as the Jokyu Disturbance. The
imperial forces were defeated, and he and two other retired emperors
were sent into exile.

44. This statement by the guest, who represents the highest political
authority in the land, reflects his position as a ruler who puts
matters of government first. In contrast, the Daishonin teaches that
the refutation of misleading teachings and the propagation of the
correct teaching are the surest way to establish the true security of
the nation.

45. The four grave offenses are those particularly grave among the ten
evil offenses: killing, stealing, committing adultery, and lying.

46. An anagamin, or “non-returner,” is one who has reached the third
of the four stages that voice-hearers can attain. The fourth and
highest stage is that of arhat.

47. Kashyapa was one of the seven ancient Buddhas or Buddhas of the
past. Of these seven, the Buddha Kashyapa was the sixth to appear, and
Shakyamuni Buddha was the seventh.

48. Shavepate refers here to someone who has received tonsure and
become a monk for self-serving reasons, such as to gain personal
security or financial comfort, and is negligent in the practice and
study of Buddhism.

49. Lectures held on the anniversary of T’ien-t’ai’s death on the
twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of each year.

50. A Chinese term referring to rebels and outlaws. Here “white waves”
indicates Honen and other priests of the Pure Land school, as well as
the followers of other misleading schools. The “ocean of the Buddha”
signifies Shakyamuni’s teachings. The phrases “green groves” and
“mountain of the Law” likewise refer to Honen and his followers and
Shakyamuni’s teachings, respectively.

51. Fu Hsi, Shen Nung, Yao, and Shun are legendary sage rulers of
ancient China.

52. Expressions taken from early Chinese literature that indicate
dramatic change.

53. “A friend in the orchid room” indicates a person of virtue. The
implication is that the company of a virtuous person works as a good
influence, just as one is imbued with fragrance on entering a room
filled with orchids. It is said that mugwort supported by hemp plants
grows upright.

54. The six kinds of relatives refer to a father, a mother, an elder
brother, a younger brother, a wife, and a son or daughter.

55. According to the Nirvana Sutra, the place called the Avichi hell,
or the hell of incessant suffering, measures eighty-four thousand
yojanas in total length and breadth. It is said that when a person
falls into this hell he or she alone is sufficient to fill it up
completely. The great size of the body symbolizes the magnitude of the
pain one suffers in this hell.

"The Postscript to On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace
of the Land

I COMPILED the above work in the first year of the Bunno era (1260),
with the cyclical sign kanoe-saru. That is, I began the work during
the Shoka era (1257–1259) and completed it in the first year of Bunno.

In the first year of the Shoka era, cyclical sign hinoto-mi, on the
twenty- third day of the eighth month, at the time when the hour of
the dog gives way to the hour of the boar (around :00 P.M.), there was
a severe earthquake. Observing this event, I conceived the work.
Later, in the first year of Bunno, cyclical sign kanoe-saru, on the
sixteenth day of the seventh month, I presented it to His Lordship,
the lay priest of Saimyo-ji,1 who is now deceased, by way of the lay
priest Yadoya.2 Still later, in the first year of the Bun’ei era
(1264), cyclical sign kinoe-ne, on the fifth day of the seventh month,
when a great comet appeared, I became even more certain of the origins
of these disasters. Then, on the eighteenth day of the intercalary
first month of the fifth year of Bun’ei, cyclical sign tsuchinoe-
tatsu, nine years after the first year of Bunno [when I submitted On
Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land ], an
official letter came from the great kingdom of the Mongols that lies
to the west, threatening to attack our country. Again, in the sixth
year of the same era (1269), a second letter arrived. Thus the
prediction that I made in my memorial [On Establishing the Correct
Teaching] has already proved to be true. In view of this, we may
suppose that the predictions I made will continue to come true in the
future as well.

This work of mine has now been substantiated by fact. But this is not
solely due to Nichiren’s power. Rather it has come about as a response
to the true words of the Lotus Sutra.

I copied this work on the eighth day of the twelfth month in the sixth
year of Bun’ei (1269), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-mi.

Nichiren"

[Don Stockbauer]

On Aug 9, 8:55 pm, kelpzoidzl <kelpzoi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Aug 9, 3:12 pm, Harry Bailey <unhomedivis...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > In case there are still some who believe this is all merely a
> > regional, local Russian-Georgian skirmish, a hair-mussing war-room
> > pie fight, not only has the Bush Administration authorized the
> > Georgian attack on South Ossetia, it is actively
> > collaborating in the attack:
>
> > "There are 2,000 Georgian troops in Iraq, and now they are urgently
> > needed in their home country.
> > And the US has agreed to take them there."
>
> >http://www.eurotrib.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2008/8/9/164938/8032
>
> Good essay.  The environemntal reality,  is a reflection of people's
> lifes state,
>
> I will share the (real) buddhist perspective:

IF RUSSIA ATTACKS TURKEY FROM THE REAR, WILL GREECE HELP????????

YOUR BUDDY,

DON

[Harry Bailey]

General Jack D Saakashvili: Mandrake, I don't hate women, I just deny
them my essence. That's what enabled me to mount an all-out strike on
Tskhinvali and catch all them fluoridated Rooskies with their pants
down. Does your Master bushy feller deny you his essence?
Secretary Condoleeza Mandrake: He used to, Jack, but now he's gone all
quiet, grave, and melancholy, and is a bit annoyed you won't let go of
your essence. And I am too. What are you doing with that gun, Jack?
General Jack D Saakashvili: If I give you my essence, Condy, will you
get Putin and everyone to talk to me again?
---------------------------------------

Putin's Winning Hand:

Once the Atlantic Alliance is shattered, America's lifeline to the
world is kaput

By Mike Whitney

There are no military installations in the city of Tskhinvali. In
fact, there are no military targets at all. It is an industrial center
consisting of lumber mills, manufacturing plants and residential
areas. It is also the home to 30,000 South Ossetians. When Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered the city to be bombed by
warplanes and shelled by heavy artillery last Thursday, he knew that
he would be killing hundreds of civilians in their homes and
neighborhoods. But he ordered the bombing anyway.

There was no "Battle of Tskhinvali"; that's another fiction. A battle
implies that there is an opposing force that is resisting or fighting
back. That's not the case here. The Georgian army entered the city
unopposed; after all, how can unarmed civilians stop armed units. Most
of the townspeople had already fled across the border into Russia or
hid in their basements while the tanks and armored vehicles rumbled
bye firing at anything that moved.

What took place in South Ossetia last Thursday, was not an invasion or
a siege; it was a massacre. The people had no way to defend themselves
against a fully-equiped modern army. It was a war crime.

In less than 24 hours, the Russian army was deployed to the war zone
where it chased the Georgian army away without a fight. Journalist
Michael Binyon put it like this, "The attack was short, sharp and
deadly---enough to send the Georgians fleeing in humiliating panic."
Indeed, the Georgians left in such haste that many of their weapons
were left behind. It was a complete rout; another black-eye for the US
and Israeli advisers who trained the clatter of thugs they call the
Georgian army. Soon vendors on the streets of Tskhinvali will be
hawking weapons that were left behind with a mocking sign: "Georgia
Army M-16; Never used, dropped once."

By the time the army was driven out, the downtown area was in engulfed
in flames and the bodies of those who had been killed by sniper-fire
were strewn along the streets and sidewalks. Many of people who stayed
behind were simply too old or infirm to leave. Instead, they huddled
in their basements waiting for the shelling to stop. It was a
bloodbath. The city's only hospital was deliberately targeted and
destroyed; another war crime. By day's end, over 2,000 people were
killed in an operation that was clearly engineered with the assistance
of the Bush White House. Bush regards Saakashvilli as his main client
in the region; they are friends. He is America's cat's paw in the
Caucasus. Saakashvilli's assignment is to try to get Putin to
overreact militarily and demonstrate to European allies that Russia
still poses a threat to their national security. Fortunately, many
Europeans see through the ruse and know that the trouble originates in
Washington.

For the most part, Americans are still in the dark about what really
happened last weekend. There's a great video circulating on the
Internet by a Russian citizen that has been living in USA for the last
10 years. He sums up the role of the US media with great precision. He
says, "The western media--especially CNN--is feeding you complete
horseshit. Russia did not invade Georgia first." The youtube can be
seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c26Q-qxDEA

The coverage of the western media has been abysmal. Nearly every
article and TV news segment begins with accusations of Russian
aggression concealing the fact that the Georgian Army bombarded and
invaded the capital of South Ossetia one full day before the first
Russian even tank crossed the border. By the time the Russians
arrived, the city was already in a shambles and thousands were dead.

These facts are not in dispute by those who followed the developments
as they took place. Now the media is revising the facts to manage
public perceptions, just as they did with the fictional WMD in Iraq.
Many people think that the media learned its lesson after they were
exposed for using bogus information in the lead up to the war in Iraq.
But that is not true. The corporate media--especially FOX News, CNN
and PBS (the smug, liberal-sounding channel)---continue to operate
like the propaganda arm of the Pentagon. Its disgraceful.

In a 2006 referendum, 99% of South Ossetians said they supported
independence from Georgia. The voter turnout was 95% and the balloting
was monitored by 34 international observers from the west. No one has
challenged the results. The province has been under the protection of
Russian and Georgian peacekeepers since 1992 and has been a de facto
independent state ever since. If Putin applied the same standard as
Bush did in Kosovo, he would unilaterally declare South Ossetia
independent from Georgia and then thumb his nose at the UN. (Sauce for
the goose, is sauce for the gander) But Putin and newly-elected
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have taken a conciliatory attitude
towards the international community and tried to resolve the issue
through diplomatic channels. So far, they have conducted themselves
with restraint and avoided any confrontation.

Still, Russia's operation in South Ossetia has ignited a firestorm in
the US political establishment and Democrats and Republicans alike are
demanding that Russia be "taught a lesson". Condoleeza Rice flew to
Tbilisi on Friday and ordered Russian combat troops to withdraw from
Georgia immediately. Saakashvili topped off Rice's comments by saying
that the Russian troops were "cold-blooded killers" and "barbarians".
So much for reconciliation.

Saakashvili's hyperbolic rhetoric was followed by a surprise
announcement from Poland that they had approved Bush's plans for
deploying the Missile Defense Shield in Eastern Europe. The system is
supposed to defend Europe from the possibility of attacks from so-
called "rogue states" like Iran, but the Kremlin knows that it is
intended to neutralize their nuclear arsenal. Political analyst
William Engdahl explains the importance of the proposed system in his
recent article, "Missile Defense: Washington and Poland just moved the
World closer to War":

"The signing now insures an escalation of tensions between Russia and
NATO and a new Cold War arms race in full force. It is important for
readers to understand...the ability of one of two opposing sides to
put anti-missile missiles to within 90 miles of the territory of the
other in even a primitive first-generation anti-missile missile array
gives that side virtual victory in a nuclear balance of power and
forces the other to consider unconditional surrender or to pre-
emptively react by launching its nuclear strike before 2012."

The new "shield" will be integrated into the larger US nuclear weapons
system placing the world's most lethal weapons just a few hundred
miles from Russia's capital. It is a clear threat to Russia's national
security and it must be opposed at all cost. It is no different than
nuclear weapons in Cuba. The timing of the announcement is
particularly troubling as it only adds to the tensions between the two
superpowers.

President Medvedev made this statement after hearing of Poland's
decision: "This decision clearly demonstrates everything we have said
recently. The deployment of new anti-missile forces in Europe is aimed
at the Russian Federation."

It was President Ronald Reagan, the darling of the neoconservatives,
who decided to remove short-range nuclear weapons from the European
theater. Now, ironically, it is his ideological heir, George W. Bush,
who is on track to restart the Cold War by putting a high-tech nuclear
system on Russia's perimeter. The younger Bush has already broken his
father's commitment to Mikail Gorbachev to never expand NATO beyond
Germany. Presently, Bush is pushing to gain NATO membership for two
former-Soviet states; Ukraine and Georgia. If they are approved, then
any future dispute with Russia will pit the United States and Europe
against Moscow. It's no wonder Putin is trying to derail the process.

The Bush administration has been planning for a confrontation with
Russia for more than a year. In fact, Raw Story reported on operations
that were conducted by the military on July 14, 2008 which were
probably a dress rehearsal for the current conflict. According to Raw
Story:

"US troops on Monday (July 14) began military exercises near the
Russian border in ex-Soviet Ukraine and were poised to launch them in
Georgia, amid tense relations between Moscow and Washington. A
ceremony inaugurating the Sea Breeze-2008 NATO exercise was held off
Ukraine's Black Sea coast against anti-NATO protests and a hostile
reaction from officials in Russia. Sea Breeze-2008...includes forces
from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France,
Georgia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Macedonia and Turkey...'The US-
Georgia joint exercises will be held at the Vaziani military base'
less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Russian border with a
total of 1,650 servicemen taking part."

So, it appears the Bush administration, working in conjunction with
the Pentagon, did have contingency plans for dealing with a flare-up
with Georgia. The real question is whether or not they planned to
initiate those hostilities to advance their own regional agenda? No
one knows for sure.

Now that Georgia's American-trained army has been humiliated in front
of the world, Bush is trying desperately to save face by demanding
that Russia allow the US Air force to deliver humanitarian aid via
C-17 military aircraft to the tens of thousands of Georgians who were
displaced in the fighting. It is worth noting that, as yet, Bush has
never delivered as much as a bag of rice to the 2 million Iraqi
refugees living in Jordan and Syria due to his war in Iraq. Bush's
magnanimity is not only suspect, it also creates real problems for
Putin who will have to decide whether the offer is sincere or just a
ploy to open up the ports and airfields so that more weaponry and
ordnance can be delivered. As Barry Grey suggests in his article "Bush
Dispatches US Military forces to Georgia" the humanitarian operation
could be a scam:

"This is a formula for an injection of US military and naval forces
into Georgia of indeterminate scope and duration. It will certainly
involve the presence of hundreds if not thousands of uniformed US
military personnel on the ground, and a substantial number of warships
in the region. The US is introducing this military force into a
situation that remains highly unstable and combustible, raising the
possibility of a direct military clash between the United States and
Russia."

Grey is right, but what choice does Putin have? His task is to avoid a
military confrontation with the United States while demonstrating to
his Europeon partners that their future lies with Russia not America.
That's the real goal. To achieve that, he needs to expose Bush as
reckless, petulant, and incapable of being a responsible steward of
the global system. Maybe Putin will have to back-down at some point
and swallow his pride; it makes no difference. What matters, is the
endgame; showing that Russia is strong and dependable and will provide
its European allies with oil and natural gas in a businesslike manner.
That's the winning hand. Meanwhile, the United States will be forced
to take a long-overdue look in the mirror and revisit its strategy for
perennial war. Unfortunately, once the Atlantic Alliance is shattered;
America's lifeline to the world is kaput.

[Harry Bailey]

Secretary Condoleeza Muffley: Hello? Hello, Vladimir? Listen, I can't
hear too well, as President Georgie is playing his favorite heavy
metal band on the Oval office stereo, so you'll have to speak up. Oh,
that's much better. Yes. Fine, I can hear you now, Vladimir. Clear and
plain and coming through fine. I'm coming through fine too, eh? Good,
then. Well then as you say we're both coming through fine. Good. Well
it's good that you're fine and I'm fine. I agree with you. It's great
to be fine. Now then Vladimir. You know how we've always talked about
the possibility of something going wrong in the former Soviet
Republics? Well now what happened is, one of our extra friendly
special clients, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, he had a sort
of, well he went a little funny in the head. You know. Just a
little... funny. And uh, he went and did a silly thing. Well, I'll
tell you what he did, he ordered his army ... to attack all the
Russian citizens in South Ossetia, and well, it seems that has now
happened. It appears there's a lot of casualties in Tskhinvali, at
least 2,000, and 30,000 refugees heading over into North Ossetia. Well
let me finish, Vladimir. Let me finish, Vladimir. Yes, I know it's
equivalent to a Russian 9/11. Well, listen, how do you think I feel
about it? Can you imagine how I feel about it, Vladimir? Why do you
think I'm calling you? Just to say hello? Of course I like to speak to
you. Of course I like to say hello. Not now, but any time, Vladimir.
I'm just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened. It's
a friendly call. Of course it's a friendly call. Listen, if it wasn't
friendly, ... you probably wouldn't have even got it. I'm sorry too,
Vladimir. I'm very sorry. Alright! You're sorrier than I am! But I am
sorry as well. I am as sorry as you are, Vladimir. Don't say that you
are more sorry than I am, because I am capable of being just as sorry
as you are. So we're both sorry, alright? Alright. Yes he's right
here.
-----------------

This chap below is very angry. His fuming rage is such that his burst
blood vessels should comfortably replenish the blood banks of all the
Overlook's elevators:

------------------------

My Army Went To Iraq And All I Got Was This Lousy Airlift:

The Bush Doctrine Meets Reality. Reality Wins.

By David Michael Green

The thing about Katrina was that you could see the results right away,
so that even famously ignorant and deluded Americans finally began the
process of understanding their president.

The thing about Iraq is that it’s taken a bit longer.

True, some of it began to be painfully obvious, even relatively early
on. For example, when an absurdly arrogant president, whose preening
was matched only by his gross incompetence, stood on the deck of the
USS Abraham Lincoln to declare victory in a war which essentially
hadn’t even begun yet. It wasn’t long before people began to notice
that the mission wasn’t exactly, er, accomplished.

But even today, five years later, we are only beginning to take stock
of the consequences of neocon hubris. For anyone paying sufficient
attention to make the connections, we got a whopping dose of that
reality this week as Maximum Leader Putin did his Vlad the Impaler
trick on the tiny neighboring republic of Georgia.

Surely this will be seen by almost everyone as a wholly separate
affair from the Iraq invasion. And, indeed, idiotic neocon
commentators – the same people, mind you, who brought us the Iraq
debacle – are already haplessly foaming at the mouth about Russian
aggression in the Caucuses, demonstrating as always, but now more
emphatically than ever, how irony and hypocrisy coexist so comfortably
in the (puffed out) regressive chest.

In fact, Iraq and the Georgia war are joined at the hip in too many
ways to recount, and must be understood as just such. Altogether, we
are now beginning to see the consequences of the Bush Doctrine of
foreign policy in all its full glory. And if you liked Katrina, you’re
really gonna dig this.

It was, to start with, remarkably jaw-dropping to see the buffoon-in-
chief fulminating this week about Russia’s transgressions in violating
the prime directive of modern international law and politics: Thou
shalt not invade another sovereign state’s territory. Um, excuse me?
Are you freaking joking? Do you mean like, Iraq, for instance? Only
George W. Bush could be so practiced in the art of deception so as to
say this with a straight face. It’s not clear that he any longer even
knows when he’s lying these days, so routine has it become.

In fact, the two incidents are nearly identical in concept, with the
minor exception that Putin’s war was slightly more justified by the
semi-reckless quasi-provocations of Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili, who was likely egged on by the Bush loonies and other
neocons, including one of John McCain’s top advisors. Iraq, alas, was
even more of a false pretext. The country had no weapons of mass
destruction (and so what if they did, anyhow? – dozens of countries
possess these), Bush knew they didn’t, knew that the case for war was
“thin”, knew that Saddam had not attacked nor threatened us, and
therefore just plain lied the US into the war.

Your average American is going to have a hard time seeing the Iraq war
as morally equivalent to the one in Georgia (let alone even less
justified), but that is simply because he or she is American. The rest
of the world has no such problem, and never has. An invasion of a
sovereign state is an invasion of a sovereign state, pure and simple.
It was just that when Hitler invaded Poland and France, when the
Soviets invaded Afghanistan, when Saddam invaded Iran (with US
encouragement and assistance) and Kuwait, when Bush invaded Iraq, and
when Putin invaded Georgia. Of course aggressors are going to make up
some bullshit about terrorism or WMD or democracy! My god, what would
we expect them to say? Everyone understands that you can’t say you’re
going in for oil or money or real estate anymore. Especially when you
are in fact going in for oil or money or real estate.

What the Georgia invasion has demonstrated is how much moral authority
has been sacrificed on the altar of neocon lies and state-sponsored
violence in Iraq. Today, when such soft power might have the capacity
to make a difference in leading a global response to Russian
aggression, Bush would be lucky to have zero credits in his account.
In fact, there’s about as much in there as there is in the national
treasury, now rapidly approaching $10 trillion in the red (a doubling,
by the way, during the Bush years, of all the debt accrued by all 42
of his predecessors – combined – over more than two centuries). All
that is over and kaput, at least until America gets a new president
and, hopefully, as well, the kind graces of an international society
that has every right to be outraged at our violent petulance.

Even if we get that lucky, what has been lost in the normative sense
is far larger than just American respect and soft power influence. For
the decade or two following the end of the Cold War, people might have
been excused for believing that a new phase in the evolution of the
international political system had been realized, one in which, while
plenty of injustices would remain, at least the worst excesses of
great power aggression seemed a vestige of twentieth century practice
and eighteenth century mentality. That fantasy has now been put
violently to rest, as the two greatest powers on the planet have
returned to playing the great game with a vengeance, preying on lesser
powers in pursuit of resources, strategic positioning or just plain
national pride.

Now America learns that there is a cost to playing the game of
international politics unilaterally, and with contempt for other
countries. That cost is that they will return the favor. When you want
help as your military bogs down in some insane quagmire, you find that
they tend to remember when you yourself simply blew off the Security
Council because you couldn’t get the votes. When you’re seeking to
uphold a general principle such as nonaggression, you shouldn’t be
surprised that they remember you calling them all “cheese-eating
surrender monkeys” when they were busy trying to block your
aggression.

But it’s not just soft power that has been squandered either.
Theoretically, the US and its allies could be checking Russian
aggression and its breach of the peace and of international law right
now by deploying forces to defend one of America’s (or at least
Bush’s) most devoted allies, and a rare outpost of something
approximating democracy in that part of the world. Theoretically,
American forces could be defending George W. Bush Boulevard in
downtown Tblisi from the invading northern armies right now.
Theoretically. In the cold, hard reality of the real world, no such
forces exist. Now we find out that those who argued that putting
160,000 American soldiers in a completely unnecessary war in Iraq,
while already fighting a tenacious enemy in Afghanistan would, among
other grave concerns, potentially diminish American and world security
should a real emergency come along, weren’t just making it up. In
fact, it’s very likely that this disastrous scenario goes considerably
deeper than that. Bush didn’t just create a power vacuum that would be
there in the event some sort of spontaneous emergency might
simultaneously occur. Very likely, the American military impotence
which emerged from his grand blunder in Mesopotamia may well have
actually invited just such an episode.

It’s hard to imagine that it didn’t occur to Putin, presiding over a
renascent Russia, that he could run wild wherever he wanted while the
world’s only superpower was tied down in a useless war, and its public
exhausted with the prospect of taking on any other such projects. It’s
equally hard to imagine that Putin was quaking in his boots when the
pathetic excuse for an American Secretary of State tried to lecture
him by announcing that “This is not 1968 and the invasion of
Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital,
overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.” My
guess is that he thought to himself, “Da. Things have indeed changed,
Condoleeza Phukupalot. You Yankees have foolishly squandered your
military power in Iraq and now I can do whatever I want with total
impunity.” Yo, Condi – have you heard? The road to Tbilisi runs right
through Baghdad.

Certainly the Georgians appreciate this. They had more troops in Iraq
supporting Bush’s Folly than any country besides the US and the UK.
The administration at least had the good graces to airlift these
forces back to somewhere where there was a real war going on, over
real security issues, where their presence would really matter. But
pity the poor Georgians, nevertheless, who bet on the wrong horse.
They could have learned a lot by talking to the Kurds and Shiites of
Iraq, who rose up on the instructions of the last Bush in the White
House, only to be slaughtered by Saddam while American forces
literally stood by watching, under command from the White House not to
save those chess pieces, er, I mean, lives.

And, quite possibly, Georgia is just the beginning. Russia is now
feeling its oats, just as the toxic combination of nationalist pride
and rage at perceived prior humiliation goes coursing through its
veins. What do you suppose they’re thinking in Ukraine or Kazakhstan
or the Baltic states right now? I don’t know, but I’d bet it’s not
dissimilar to what the Poles were thinking when Hitler swallowed up
Czechoslovakia. There is no disincentive now on the table to prevent
the Russians from reannexing their ‘near abroad’, and there will be no
American rescue if they do, just as there wasn’t for Poland.

In this respect, it was only slightly less laughable and slightly less
ironic to hear neocon par excellence and Iraq war architect Robert
Kagan on the radio this week arguing for punishing the Russians by
tossing them out of the meaningless G-8 talk shop and the similarly
nearly worthless cooperative institutions set-up for Russian relations
with NATO and the EU. Wow, Bobby, that will really peel them back,
won’t it? That’s right, Bro – ya gotta sting ‘em hard, man! How about
a ban on caviar next, eh? Let’s hit ‘em where it really hurts!

If you ever needed a sign of how far the US has fallen under neocon
stewardship, this is it. Kagan was one of the principals in the now
(very) defunct Project for a New American Century, an organization
whose name tells you just about everything you ever needed to know
about these clowns. Why they didn’t just go with Project for Imperial
Sickness and Subjugation, I’ll never know, but maybe the resulting
acronym would have been too obnoxious even for these walking
personifications of Yankee arrogance. Anyhow, PNAC was an attempt to
demonstrate just how bullying America could be, by advocating for the
invasion of Iraq, going all the way back to the Clinton era. Once they
finally found a president who would actually do the deed, it then
became a successful attempt at demonstrating how stupid the country
could be, as well.

Of course, people like this absolutely never admit to being wrong,
even (especially?) when they are at their most egregiously erroneous,
and it probably doesn’t help that the American media continues to
feature them on broadcasts as experts of some sort, as if they have
any clue whatsoever of what they’re talking about. But the truth is
that the Georgia episode demonstrates nothing more clearly than just
how seriously these hypernationalists have actually damaged American
military power and world security. These are the same sort of people,
mind you, who derided the conservative ‘realists’ of the previous
century for their timidity in merely containing the Russian bear,
rather than launching World War III in order to roll back Soviet
territorial gains in Eastern Europe and beyond. The kind of folks who
thought they were hot shit because they got Reagan to ‘liberate’
Grenada, that vast and strategically crucial chunk of the Soviet
empire. The kind of people who don’t have to bother doing their
homework because they just govern from the gut, allowing them to look
into someone’s eyes and see right down to his soul.

Now look what they’ve wrought. Iraq is an open wound that shows little
sign of healing anytime soon. It was supposed to be a kick-ass little
blowout that would easily secure a slew of bases in the region,
buckets of oil, Bush’s domestic agenda (along the lines of selling off
Social Security, etc.), and put the fear of a real god into the hearts
of heathen Iranians, Syrians and Palestinians, as well as perhaps your
odd Cuban or Venezuelan to boot. Instead, Colin Powell has described
the US Army as “broken”, and that was years ago. It’s certainly that,
plus stuck, plus completely maxed-out, short of a draft, which neither
Bush nor McCain would dare attempt. American soft power – the ability
to lead, to persuade, to appeal to higher moral convictions of others
– is now similarly in the toilet. And thus it is that the neocons of
the world have traded a disaster in Iraq for the inability to even do
that which they once derided as inappropriately minimalist in the past
– protect allies from Russian imperialism.

Of course, that’s only the beginning of the stupidity. How is it, by
the by, that Russia went from being a former superpower on the way
toward becoming a third world country – so severely flattened that the
very life span of its citizens had decreased by some ten years or so –
to now racing back toward becoming a global great power again, and a
very pissed off one at that? Well, one good explanation would
certainly have to do with how the US reacted as the country was
imploding in the 1990s. Rather than reaching out with Marshall Plan
type assistance, we sent an army of right-wing economists instead, who
advised privatizing everything in sight. Which they largely did, and
largely to disastrous consequences. One of Putin’s achievements has
been to regain the primacy of the state, and bring the hammer down on
the latter-day robber barons who were formerly carting it off, piece
by petro piece. In doing so, he has restored a measure of Russian
dignity following the humiliation of the triumphalist US fire-sale
treatment, and along with that comes no small degree of national pride
at humbling exploitive and supremely arrogant Americans.

These sentiments were only further exacerbated by the expansion of
NATO deep into the traditional Russian sphere of influence, and the
unilateral American scrapping of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in
order to pursue the military-industrial complex’s greatest boondoggle
ever, a missile ‘defense’ system, now being deployed in Eastern
Europe. Lastly, as if antagonizing a potential enemy wasn’t stupid
enough, the bright candles in charge of American foreign policy have
done so while completely failing to significantly wean the country off
of our petroleum addiction, all while driving up prices dramatically.
Hey, guess who’s got a whole ocean of oil at their disposal? Guess
which country is growing rich and powerful because of that? Guess who
is able to throw its political weight around based on this economic
power?

If you were wondering a week ago how the buffoons in charge of
American foreign policy could possibly screw it up any worse than they
already had, now you know. If you were pondering whether the results
of America’s invasion of Iraq could conceivably get more disastrous
than they have been for the last five and a half years, look no
further.

For the neocon fantasy has now not only wrecked Iraq and wrecked
America and wrecked US relations with longtime allies and destroyed
the reputation of America abroad. It has also torn a gaping hole in
the power and significance of international law and the hopeful notion
that wars of territorial acquisition were a thing of the past. And it
opened the door for the Russians to do precisely the same thing,
further exacerbating those tendencies. The post-Cold War moment of
hopefulness regarding a more peaceful world has now been crushed, and
it wasn’t the supposed black hats who originally kicked down that
door. It was us nice, peace-loving, god-fearing, law-abiding folks
here in good old ‘Murica who did it.

With apologies to Churchill (who owes an apology or two of his own),
it may be said of our time, and of the those in charge of running the
world’s only superpower, that never have so many been so damaged by
the insanely stupid actions of so few.
----------
David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra
University in New York. He is delighted to receive readers' reactions
to his articles ( d...@regressiveantidote.net ), but regrets that time
constraints do not always allow him to respond. More of his work can
be found at his website, www.regressiveantidote.net .

[dumb_n00b]

Well, I'm glad we elected John McCain, boys, that damn boy Obama only
remembers the cold war through the bars of his crib, amirite? We need
a strong leader, one who knows what Cold War II's all about! And now
President Putin of Germany's on the hotline and he wants to talk to
our man Jack, bad. Let's put him through!

Hello, hello Vlad? How are you? I am fine, Vlad, I am fine. So how are
things in Germany, Vlad? Is everything fine in Germany? How is
Oktoberfest? Yes, Vlad, I know it's January, I knew that, Vlad. Now,
you know how we've always discussed the possibility of us nuking
Germany, Vlad. Yes, Vlad, using a nucular weapon on Germany. Why,
Vlad? Well, I'll tell you why. We nuked Japan in World War II and we
never got around to nuking Germany. I mean I know the gooks had their
share of atrocities, Vlad, but it was your country that had the
Holocaust, Vlad, you have to admit that, and you also have to agree
that we've never properly nuked you for it. The Holocaust, Vlad, the
Holocaust. People are angry, Vlad. We should really nuke you and get
this over with. You have a lot of people, Vlad, and I promise you that
you'll never even miss them. And it'll all be over in time for
Oktoberfest. Yes, Vlad, think of it as a little present from me to
you, Vlad, nucular winter in time for Oktoberfest. How's that for a
treat, Vlad? Alright, Vlad, auf wiedersehen! Haagen-Dasz! Kampf ohne
Kernwaffen hat keinen Klang, amirite Vlad? Alright, Vlad, bye-bye now.
Bye-bye.

[kelpzoidzl]

Politics alone, will never solve these things

This book is exceptional

http://tinyurl.com/586wel

More on the same topics:

http://tinyurl.com/5nkplo

[Harry Bailey]

The mainstream media wastes no time in invoking Strangelovian
analogies either:

---------------------------------------------
Dr Strangelove, or: how I learned to start worrying and fear the bomb

Kubrick's masterful satire tempers the horror of nuclear war with
laughs. But does it still succeed in teaching restraint?

The Guardian, August 21, 2008 9:45 AM

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/08/dr_strangelove_or_how_i_learne.html

Seeing the nuclear world through rose-tinted glasses? ... Peter
Sellers in Dr Strangelove. Photograph: Kobal

The glory of Team GB has distracted us from a rather less happy aspect
of international politics: a new threat of nuclear war. Just after
Russia's subjugation of the Georgians in South Ossetia, General
Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the Russian armed forces' deputy chief of staff,
reacted furiously over the weekend to Poland's decision to host a US
missile base.

Poland is "exposing itself to a strike - 100 per cent," he said,
before adding that Russian policy espoused the use of nuclear weapons
"against the allies of countries
having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them". Should we ask
the Russians for an undertaking to leave Poland alone? What happens if
no such undertaking is received?

Condoleezza Rice, who had come to Georgia in an attempt to restrain
the Russians, was caricatured in one paper arriving astride a nuclear
bomb, dropped from the sky, whooping and waving a cowboy hat.
Meanwhile, in a candidate debate about faith back in the US, Senator
John McCain was asked if evil exists, and if so, if he would ignore
it, negotiate with it, contain it or defeat it. "Defeat it!" said Sen.
McCain boldly - an obvious option, but in the context of raised
military stakes, he was described as having had a "Strangelove
moment".

Nuclear catastrophe is almost always discussed in relation to Stanley
Kubrick's 1964 film, Dr Strangelove, or: How I Learned To Stop
Worrying and Love The Bomb, perhaps because it is one of the very few
films which tackles the unthinkable of unthinkables, but does so in a
bizarre and satirical manner which, paradoxically, softens the blow.
It mixes nuclear horror with knowing high-political gossip and farce
and in so doing converts this horror into a kind of inoculation which
prevents us dying with shock and fear at the thought of a nuclear
exchange. In fact, it has left generations upon generations of
moviegoers with the unspoken assumption that, yes, nuclear war would
be horrible, but, you know, the Washington-Moscow hotline system
really does work and a detonation could only happen if the hollering
redneck flying the B-52 bomber somehow managed to climb out into the
bomb bay in his cowboy hat and steer the weapon down to the ground
like a bucking bronco. Very unlikely, surely? Even the famous final
montage of mushroom clouds to the backing of "We'll Meet Again" - a
devastating and very Kubrickian coup de cinéma - is alienating,
unreal. I wonder if the Strangelove satire did indeed have the
unintended effect of teaching liberals and conservatives, if not to
love the bomb exactly, then to stop worrying.

Dr Strangelove isn't the one who has the "Strangelove moment". The
guilty party is an American base chief, unsubtly named Brigadier
General Jack D Ripper, played by Sterling Hayden, who authorises a
nuclear strike against the Russians because communist subversion is
poisoning our "precious bodily fluids", an attack which can't be
recalled, and which triggers the Russians' new retaliatory "doomsday
device". Peter Sellers plays three characters, one of which is
Fremdliebe, the German nuclear physicist in a wheelchair, brought over
(like Wernher von Braun) to the States, and who has discreetly changed
his name to "Strangelove". He never directly advocates nuclear war,
but in the film's final bizarre moments enthuses about a post-
apocalyptic plan to breed a new super-race in a mineshaft, far from
the radioactivity, a vision so inspiring it cures his paralysis. Like
many of the characters, he is a broad caricature, with twitching Nazi-
salute reflex.

It is brilliant, and superbly made. Strangelove's miraculous walk at
the end is an inspired coda, and I would be prepared to bet comes
specifically from the pen of co-writer Terry Southern. Playing the
sonorous President on the hotline, Peter Sellers has some fantastic
one-half-of-the-phone-conversation comedy ("The bomb, Dmitri, the
bomb ...") But with its comic clowning around, especially from George
C Scott as the gung-ho general, I have always felt the movie flinches
from the true horror of its subject, and crucially declines to imagine
the aftermath. For some reason, the moment that rings truest for me is
the least showy: when the stiff-upper-lipped British RAF officer, the
third character played by Sellers, is told that the nuclear war has
started, and says quietly: "Oh hell ..." and there is real fear in his
eyes.

Strangelove delivers about a tenth of the payload of a deadly,
tactlessly serious film like Peter Watkins's The War Game from 1965,
or Mick Jackson's 1984 TV movie Threads, written by Barry Hines, which
take us through the post-nuclear horror in pitiless detail.

When politicians or generals threaten or appear to threaten nuclear
war, they are not having a satirical "Strangelove moment", they are
having an all-too-serious "War Game" moment or a "Threads" moment.
Maybe it's time to adjust our political vocabulary.
------------------
From

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/08/dr_strangelove_or_how_i_learne.html

Some of the comments are also worth perusing.