Toxic Zen Story #13: Nuremberg Zen: Zen-War Priest D.T. Suzuki, and
his Apologies After the War.
| 'The sword is generally associated with
| killing, and most of us wonder how it can come
| into connection with Zen, which is a school of
| Buddhism teaching the gospel of love and mercy.
| The fact is that the art of swordsmanship
| distinguishes between the sword that kills and
| the sword that gives life. The one that is used
| by a technician cannot go any further than
| killing, for he never appeals to the sword unless
| he intends to kill. The case is altogether
| different with the one who is compelled to lift
| the sword. For it is really not he but the sword
| itself that does the killing. He had no desire to
| do harm to anybody, but the enemy appears and
| makes himself a victim. It is as though the sword
| performs automatically its function of justice,
| which is the function of mercy... When the sword
| is expected to play this sort of role in human
| life, it is no more a weapon of self-defense or
| an instrument of killing, and the swordsman turns
| into an artist of the first grade, engaged in
| producing a work of genuine originality.' - D.T.
| Suzuki
____ Preface: Zen Founder _________________________________
Zen is the snake that bites its own tail. If you embrace the void and
acausality, you will find yourself later in the midst of catastrophic
emptiness saying "how'd that happen?".
Under Prajnatara (Perfect Wisdom Shining Star) of India, there was a
disciple named Bodhidharma (Buddha Law). Under these grandiose names,
they studied the Buddha's teachings, after Buddhism had traveled East
to China. The Buddha foretold that Buddhism would fall into a Hellish
path in India, after the Buddha's highest teachings had moved on.
Bodhidharma was a native of Conjeeveram, near Madras in India. He
traveled from India and arrived at Ching-Ling (now Nanking), or
perhaps at Guangzhou (Canton), perhaps both. There, Bodhidharma met
with the Emperor's emissary (some say Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty,
see footnote), where they discussed the Sutras.
As Bodhidharma (also called Da Mo, or Ta Mo in China, and Daruma in
Japan) believed in dhyana or meditation upon the nothingness at the
heart of life, and as the Lotus Sutra had been translated into
Chinese by Kumarajiva who traveled from India a century earlier and
had served the Liang Dynasty well, the lesser and distorted teaching
of dhyana/ch'an/zen was rejected by practitioners of the highest
teaching, and Bodhidharma was banished from Imperial territory.
As an icchantika, or incorrigible disbeliever in the Lotus Sutra, he
could not be allowed to spread his teachings in the Emperor's domain
(they wished to live happily, you see). But by banishing him, they
did not act as bodhisattvas, to thoroughly correct his errors and not
let him slip away to corrupt others, and thusly fall into the hell of
incessant sufferings (Aviichi Hell) for countless lifetimes. Out of
this single uncompassionate act, much of the suffering of the world
has come.
After he was banished, Bodhidharma went to the Shaolin Monastery at
Loyang, West of Kaifeng in the Henan (Honan) Province of Western
China, where the Huang He (Yangtze or Yellow River) tumbles out of the
break between Zhongtiao Shan (2367m) on the North and Quanbao Shan
(2094m) on the South, to flood the rest of China. At the Shaolin
Monastery, he widely disseminated his distorted views of Buddhism,
corrupting first the Shaolin Monks and ultimately the rest of the
world.
Bodhidharma's school was known as Dhyana (from the Mahayana source),
or as Ch'an in China, and eventually as Zen in Japan. It comes to
flower in many different forms, in many different places down through
the ages.
Bodhidharma's very existence is denied by the Zen community,
rendering the life of their founder as itself a void. This allows no
one to be responsible, and the Zen community to walk away from the
train wreck. So let's assume that the history is true, and hold
Bodhidharma and Zen accountable, just this once. There was surely a
founder who brought Dhyana from India, however many names he is
called.
Footnotes on Wu-Ti:
Concerning Emperor Wu: from "The Selection of the Time - Nichiren,
disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha", Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.
544:
. 'Those concerned about their next life would
. do better to be common people in this, the Latter
. Day of the Law, than be mighty rulers during the
. two thousand years of the Former and Middle Days
. of the Law. Why won't people believe this? Rather
. than be the chief priest of the Tendai school, it
. is better to be a leper who chants Nam-myoho-
. renge-kyo! As Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty said
. in his vow, "I would rather be Devadatta and sink
. into the hell of incessant suffering than be the
. non-Buddhist sage Udraka Ramaputra."'
This reference is to a document in which Emperor Wu (464--549), the
first ruler of the Liang dynasty, pledged not to follow the way of
Taoism. It actually says that he would rather sink into the evil paths
for a long period of time for going against Buddhism (yet nevertheless
forming a bond with it) than be reborn in heaven by embracing the non-
Buddhist teachings. This story appears in The Annotations on "Great
Concentration and Insight." Udraka Ramaputra was a hermit and master
of yogic meditation, the second teacher under whom Shakyamuni
practiced. He is said to have been reborn in the highest of the four
realms in the world of formlessness.
From the Encyclopedia Britannica:
. Wu-Ti: Born 464 , China. Died 549 , China
.
. Pinyin Wudi (posthumous name, or shih), personal
. name (hsing-ming) Hsiao Yen , temple name (miao-
. hao) (nan-liang) Kao-tsu founder and first emperor
. of the Southern Liang dynasty (502-557), which
. briefly held sway over South China. A great patron
. of Buddhism , he helped establish that religion in
. the south of China.
.
. Wu-ti was a relative of the emperor of the
. Southern Ch'i dynasty (479-502), one of the
. numerous dynasties that existed in South China in
. the turbulent period between the Han (206 BC-AD
. 220) and T'ang (618-907) dynasties. He led a
. successful revolt against the Southern Ch'i after
. his elder brother was put to death by the emperor.
. He proclaimed himself first emperor of the Liang
. dynasty in 502, and his reign proved to be longer
. and more stable than that of any other southern
. emperor in this period.
.
. A devout believer, Wu-ti diligently promoted
. Buddhism, preparing the first Chinese Tripitaka,
. or collection of all Buddhist scripts. In 527 and
. again in 529 he renounced the world and entered a
. monastery. He was persuaded to reassume office
. only with great difficulty. In 549 the capital was
. captured by a "barbarian" general, and Wu-ti died
. of starvation in a monastery.
____ Preface: Types of Zen _______________________________
There is a hierarchy of Zen, in power and toxicity. The lesser forms
of Zen pave the way in societies and cultures for the more powerful
forms. Once a society or culture is corrupted, in even the tiniest
way, by any form of Zen, the tendency will be to move inevitably
towards greater corruption by the more powerful and toxic variants. In
this way, Zen undermines everything that can be undermined in the
world, leaving only that which is incorruptible (the correct practice
of the Lotus Sutra). The hierarchy of Zen is as follows, in general
terms:
Physical Zen: All of the martial arts are based on Zen, starting
. with Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Karate, Aikido, JiuJitsu,
. Judo, Kendo, Bushido, Ninjitsu, etc. Tai Chi came from
. Shaolin Qigong, which also led to Acupuncture,
. Acupressure and Falun Gong. As the chaos in society
. grows, people need to feel they can protect themselves and
. their loved ones, and in this way they are corrupted further.
Christian Zen, Jewish Zen, Hindu Zen, Islamic Zen: These are
. basically mixtures, wherein the monotheist believer in a
. deity, feels they can practice Zen meditation without a
. problem, since it is not theistic. While this reasoning is true,
. it ignores the absolutely overwhelming corruption produced
. by Zen, which will ultimately undermine their belief system
. and every facet of their life, by bringing all of the negatives
. in the Zen adherent's's daily life and environment to the
. forefront, with increasing amplification and psychotic
. effect.
Nuremberg Zen: The widespread belief by a population, that
. the purpose of the Buddha's advent in the world was to
. teach Zen: that Zen is Buddhism. This is, of course, an
. absolutely distorted view of the Buddha's life and teachings.
. Shakyamuni made it transparently clear, at the very end of
. his life in the Nirvana Sutra, wherein he states that the Lotus
. Sutra is his highest teaching in the past, present and future,
. and is the purpose of his advent on this Earth, and that his
. followers should honestly discard provisional teachings
. (teachings other than the Lotus Sutra).
.
. Nuremberg Zen was promulgated first by D.T. Suzuki's
. work with Paul Carus, then by Eugen Herrigel's Zen in the
. Art of Archery (and the many who copies: Zen in the Art
. of Marketing, Sales, Bakery, etc.) and finally by Alan Watts,
. the Norman Vincent Peale of Zen. Nuremberg Zen creates
. the environment of chaos and widespread misery that are
. the preconditions for the spread of more toxic forms of
. Zen.
Stanford Zen: This is the Lay organization of Zen. It was
. developed in conjunction with the activities of Frederic
. Spiegelberg, a Lutheran who taught theology at the
. University of Dresden, and fleeing the effects of Nuremberg
. Zen in Germany, came to teach at Stanford, and founded
. the American Academy of Asian Studies with Alan Watts
. and others, which became the California Institute of Integral
. Studies, after it spawned Esalen with Richard Price and
. Michael Murphy. Esalen was the proving ground for the
. Large Group Awareness Therapy organizations, of which
. Werner Erhard's EST was most prominent. EST morphed
. into a business school executive training seminar
. organization called the Landmark Forum, or Landmark
. Education, which has now become the de facto Lay
. organization for Zen, projecting itself onto Wall Street and
. the Fortune 500.
Green Dragon Zen: In this category I place Soto, which is the
. parent of the Green Dragon Society, Rinzai, Fuke, Northern
. and Southern Chinese Ch'an sects, Vietnamese and Korean
. sects, and all the variant sects which practice the most toxic
. forms of Zen: those which actually use the Lotus Sutra as a
. means to promulgate their distorted views of Buddhism.
. This is the greatest slander of the Lotus Sutra which is
. possible. I lump them all under the Green Dragon banner
. (I'm sure they do not appreciate this, but that is not a
. concern), because Green Dragon has had a tradition of
. secret propagation, and penetration of new areas with the
. most aggressive intent to build a lasting foothold in every
. society it touches. All of the other sects in any locale, will
. orient themselves to the Green Dragon.
Nuremberg Zen, Physical Zen and the monotheist Zen mixtures will all
eventually pave the way for Stanford Zen and the Green Dragon, if they
are not themselves undercut by the king of sutras, the Lotus Sutra.
(Zen believers cannot resist the allure of greater power. When they
try the Lotus Sutra and find that it fills the void inside, they will
find they like it.)
Finally, there is the enabling group for all of the worst religious
and social movements in history:
Fellowship of Evil Friends: This loosely collected group of
. Occultists,Theology professors and educators, is at the
. branching point for most of corrupt religious movements
. of the world. This grandfather of this group is the occultist
. Meister Eckart, and it includes: Dietrich Eckart (Thule
. Society), Paul Carus (Open Court Publishing), Frederic
. Spiegelberg (Stanford, AAAS), Michael Murphy (Esalen),
. and a host of powerful media people, pundits, gurus and
. self-help authors. They are all quite happy to connect you
. up with some form of evil, but step back from
. commitment themselves, always stopping at the door, as
. you foolishly, trustingly pass through. In this way they
. catalyze the evil transformation, but survive its effects to
. spread further evil, later on.
____ Preface: Powers of Zen ______________________________
Variations upon Zen which have evolved into new strains and then major
branches of Zen, have increased their toxic power by piling slander
upon slander over hundreds of years. The greatest slanders are
attached to the most powerfully evil forms of Zen, which are those
that have attacked the Lotus Sutra directly or the votaries (devotees)
of the Lotus Sutra, the Sangha, directly. One can think of this with
the mathematical analogy of a powers of a variable, that Zen becomes
exponentially more powerful and evil as slanders are piled upon
slanders ...
[Zen] Bodhidharma discards the Lotus Sutra, seeking wisdom that is
from transmissions outside the sutras, transmitted from person to
person (ishin denshin). The families of Chinese Zen under
Bodhidharma's influence include: Dhyana, Ch'an, Western Ch'an, Qigong,
Tai-Chi, Acupuncture, and the Chinese and Korean Martial Arts up to
1200 CE.
[Zen Squared] Dogen uses the Lotus Sutra as a means to teach and
propagate Zen. The families of Japanese Zen under Dogen's influence
are: Soto Zen, Rinzai Zen, Green Dragon Zen, Bushido and the Japanese
Martial Arts up to 1500 CE.
[Zen Cubed] Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa Shogunate use various
Samurai and Daimyo tactics, which are based on Zen, to subjugate and
crush Nichiren Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra in the 1500s and 1600s. The
families of Japanese Zen under the Tokugawa influence are: Soto Zen,
Rinzai Zen, Green Dragon Zen, Bushido and the Japanese Martial Arts up
to 1867 CE.
[Zen Squared Squared] After the Meiji regime's overthrow of the
Tokugawa Shogunate, the militarization and buildup of Japanese society
into an armed camp, forces all of Buddhism under Shinto, and Zen
becomes Imperial Way Zen. This ultimately leads to the crushing of the
Lay organization of Nikko's School of Nichiren Buddhism, the Soka
Kyoiku Gakkai and the imprisonment of their leaders during the war,
and the death of their President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. The families
of Imperial Way Zen are: Soto Zen, Rinzai Zen, Green Dragon Zen,
Bushido and the Japanese Martial Arts up to 1945 CE.
[Zen to the 5th] American Lay Zen from George Leonard's [Esalen]
influence: the Large Group Awareness Therapy or Training sessions,
Werner Erhard's EST, Landmark Forum, Landmark Education Seminars.
____ Preface: Zen Offends the Law ________________________
There is a principle which is central to the Buddhism of the Lotus
Sutra: Oneness of Person and Law, known as Nimpo-ikka in Japanese.
It is eternally true that the Law and the Buddha are fused, to make
life as we know it.
Since, according to Nichiren in the Ongi Kuden (The Oral Teachings, or
class notes from his lectures on the Lotus Sutra, taken by Nikko), one
meaning of "Myoho" is that delusion and enlightenment are fused (this
is also explained in the essential teachings of the Lotus Sutra, in
the Juryo or Life Span chapter) ...
This means that even for deluded mortals, there is always a condition
of oneness of person and Law.
The implication of this, is that wherever there is a slander of the
Law, then nearby and coincident with it, there is a slander of
humanity, by the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect.
Hence, wherever Zen is propagated widely, there will be in each and
every instance, Toxic Zen Stories to tell.
What follows is one of these ...
____ Introduction ________________________________________
Dogen (1200-1253): The founder of the Japanese Soto school of Zen.
Dogen would quote the Lotus Sutra, but did not consider it any
differently from other sutras of the Buddha, this in spite of the
Buddha's own admonition to consider it higher than the previous
(Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings and before) and following sutras
(Nirvana Sutra and later). Hence, only provisional truth and partial
enlightenment could be had from it by him. The kind of enlightenment
that leads to compassionless domination of others ... as mere, empty
extensions of one's own Solipsistic body.
Dogen was popular with the government, because his teachings removed
the compassion from Samurai and Daimyo, rendering them fierce and
merciless warriors, who would shun no tactic to win, no matter how
vile.
____ Toxic Zen Story ______________________________
Fresh on the heels of the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War
the year before, in 1906 D.T. Suzuki wrote an article "The Zen Sect of
Buddhism", where he claimed credit for Zen, for Bushido's military
prowess in the field:
| 'The Lebensanschauung of Bushido is no more
| nor less than that of Zen. The calmness and even
| joyfulness of heart at the moment of death which
| is conspicuously observable in the Japanese, the
| intrepidity which is generally shown by the
| Japanese soldiers in the face of an overwhelming
| enemy; and the fairness of play to an opponent,
| so strongly taught by Bushido -- all these come
| from the spirit of the Zen training, and not from
| any such blind, fatalistic conception as is
| sometimes thought to be a trait peculiar to
| Orientals.'
As usual, no one shuns association with victory. Later, in the midst
of the Chinese campaign, Suzuki describes the connection between Zen
and Bushido in "Zen Buddhism and Its Influence on Japanese
Culture" (1938):
| 'Zen discipline is simple, direct, self-
| reliant, self-denying; its ascetic tendency goes
| well with the fighting spirit. The fighter is to
| be always single-minded with one object in view,
| to fight, looking neither backward nor sideways.
| To go straight forward in order to crush the
| enemy is all that is necessary for him.'
|.
| 'Zen has no special doctrine or philosophy, no
| set of concepts or intellectual formulas, except
| that it tries to release one from the bondage of
| birth and death, by means of certain intuitive
| modes of understanding peculiar to itself It is,
| therefore, extremely flexible in adapting itself
| to almost any philosophy and moral doctrine as
| long as its intuitive teaching is not interfered
| with. It may be found wedded to anarchism or
| fascism, communism or democracy, atheism or
| idealism, or any political or economic dogmatism.
| It is, however, generally animated with a certain
| revolutionary spirit, and when things come to a
| deadlock-as they do when we are overloaded with
| conventionalism, formalism, and other cognate
| isms - Zen asserts itself and proves to be a
| destructive force.'
They clearly found that to be true in Nanking. Particularly in regards
to the beheading practice and bayonet practice against unarmed and
bound civilian prisoners, with Zen chaplains giving coaching on the
proper attitude and technique. Presumably based upon some of Suzuki's
work. This is documented in the tourist photos taken by soldiers which
are preserved in the photo volume "The Rape of Nanking : an undeniable
history in photographs" by James Yin and Shi Young.
Again from Suzuki in the same essay:
| 'There is a document that was very much talked
| about in connection with the Japanese military
| operations in China in the 1930s. It is known as
| the Hagakure, which literally means "Hidden under
| the Leaves," for it is one of the virtues of the
| samurai not to display himself, not to blow his
| horn, but to keep himself away from the public
| eye and be doing good for his fellow beings. To
| the compilation of this book, which consists of
| various notes, anecdotes, moral sayings, etc., a
| Zen monk had his part to contribute. The work
| started in the middle part of the seventeenth
| century under Nabeshima Naoshige, the feudal lord
| of Saga in the island of Kyushu.. The book
| emphasizes very much the samurai's readiness to
| give his life away at any moment, for it states
| that no great work has ever been accomplished
| without going mad-that is, when expressed in
| modern terms, without breaking through the
| ordinary level of consciousness and letting loose
| the hidden powers lying further below. These
| powers may be devilish sometimes, but there is no
| doubt that they are superhuman and work wonders.
| When the unconscious is tapped, it rises above
| individual limitations. Death now loses its sting
| altogether, and this is where the samurai
| training joins hands with Zen.'
Actually, the devilish function of Zen is ever-present (the Mind of
Bodhidharma), but only at critical points is its devilish nature fully
manifested.
| 'The problem of death is a great problem with
| every one of us; it is, however, more pressing
| for the samurai, for the soldier, whose life is
| exclusively devoted to fighting, and fighting
| means death to fighters of either side.... It was
| therefore natural for every sober-minded samurai
| to approach Zen with the idea of mastering
| death.'
|.
| 'The spirit of the samurai deeply breathing
| Zen into itself propagated its philosophy even
| among the masses. The latter, even when they are
| not particularly trained in the way of the
| warrior, have imbibed his spirit and are ready to
| sacrifice their lives for any cause they think
| worthy. This has repeatedly been proved in the
| wars Japan has so far had to go through.'
|.
| 'The sword has thus a double office to
| perform: to destroy anything that opposes the
| will of its owner and to sacrifice all the
| impulses that arise from the instinct of self-
| preservation. The one relates itself to the
| spirit of patriotism or sometimes militarism,
| while the other has a religious connotation of
| loyalty and self-sacrifice. In the case of the
| former, very frequently the sword may mean
| destruction pure and simple, and then it is the
| symbol of force, sometimes devilish force. It
| must, therefore, be controlled and consecrated by
| the second function. Its conscientious owner is
| always mindful of this truth. For then
| destruction is turned against the evil spirit.
| The sword comes to be identified with the
| annihilation of things that lie in the way of
| peace, justice, progress, and humanity.'
What an incredibly deluded person Suzuki is. How can anyone listen to
this person for more than five seconds without being disgusted?
| 'The purpose of maintaining soldiers and
| encouraging the military arts is not to conquer
| other countries or deprive them of their rights
| or freedom.... The construction of big warships
| and casting of giant cannon is not to trample on
| the wealth and profit of others for personal
| gain. Rather, it is done only to prevent the
| history of one's country from being disturbed by
| injustice and outrageousness. Conducting commerce
| and working to increase production is not for the
| purpose of building up material wealth in order
| to subdue other nations. Rather, it is done only
| in order to develop more and more human knowledge
| and bring about the perfection of morality.
| Therefore, if there is a lawless country which
| comes and obstructs our commerce, or tramples on
| our rights, this is something that would truly
| interrupt the progress of all humanity. In the
| name of religion our country could not submit to
| this. Thus, we would have no choice but to take
| up arms, not for the purpose of slaying the
| enemy, nor for the purpose of pillaging cities,
| let alone for the purpose of acquiring wealth.
| Instead, we would simply punish the people of the
| country representing injustice in order that
| justice might prevail.'
There we go, divine punishment was the purpose in Nanking and other
places. Not raping, pillaging and senseless murder of non-combatants.
That was just an enjoyable by-product.
The paucity of his position is evident in the copious souvenir
pictures taken by the smiling soldiers clutching their tourist cameras
in Nanking, which are preserved in the photo volume "The Rape of
Nanking : an undeniable history in photographs" by James Yin and Shi
Young. This is a hard book to look at, with many pictures of
beheadings in action, and horribly murdered children and women. You
can find it in many libraries.
PICTURES TAKEN BY GLEEFUL MURDERERS DON'T LIE !!!!
| 'The sword is generally associated with
| killing, and most of us wonder how it can come
| into connection with Zen, which is a school of
| Buddhism teaching the gospel of love and mercy.
| The fact is that the art of swordsmanship
| distinguishes between the sword that kills and
| the sword that gives life. The one that is used
| by a technician cannot go any further than
| killing, for he never appeals to the sword unless
| he intends to kill. The case is altogether
| different with the one who is compelled to lift
| the sword. For it is really not he but the sword
| itself that does the killing. He had no desire to
| do harm to anybody, but the enemy appears and
| makes himself a victim. It is as though the sword
| performs automatically its function of justice,
| which is the function of mercy... When the sword
| is expected to play this sort of role in human
| life, it is no more a weapon of self-defense or
| an instrument of killing, and the swordsman turns
| into an artist of the first grade, engaged in
| producing a work of genuine originality.'
It wasn't me !!! The sword possessed me !!! It just went chop, and
there was his head !!!
| 'Mushin (wu-hsin) or munen (wu-nien) is one of
| the most important ideas in Zen. It corresponds
| to the state of innocence enjoyed by the first
| inhabitants of the Garden of Eden, or even to the
| mind of God when he was about to utter his fiat,
| "Let there be light." Eno (Hui-neng), the sixth
| patriarch of Zen, emphasizes munen (or mushin) as
| the most essential element in the study of Zen.
| When it is attained, a man becomes a Zen-man, and
| ... also a perfect swordsman.'
Perfect and innocent. How convenient for him. How inconvenient for the
victims of his "satori", his spiritual fulfillment at their expense.
I'm sure they understand, they are just an excised wart on the
Buddha's body that holds the sword, after all.
And in September 1941, at a Kyoto University lecture a few months
before Pearl Harbor, a note of ... perhaps ... caution from
Suzuki? ... Having spent a lot of time in Illinois corrupting America,
working for the industrialist Edward Hegeler (Toxic Zen Story #14), he
should know:
| 'Japan must evaluate more calmly and
| accurately the awesome reality of America's
| industrial productivity. Present-day wars will no
| longer be determined as in the past by military
| strategy and tactics, courage and fearlessness
| alone. This is because of the large role now
| played by production capacity and mechanical
| power.'
I guess being on the receiving end was not part of the Zen Bushido
way. Time to go back to the monastery and be a forest-dwelling monk
again. Where is that sand-garden, that meditation wall?
___________________________________________________
Seeing Japan's oncoming defeat, Suzuki begins to prepare his
turnaround and apologism, (and to prepare for his postwar career).
IT WAS ALL SHINTO'S FAULT !!! And anyway, everyone went along with it,
no one said this was wrong ....
Writing in Japanese Spirituality (Nihonteki Reisei), originally
published in 1944, Suzuki ponders:
| 'It is strange how Buddhists neither
| penetrated the fundamental meaning of Buddhism
| nor included a global vision in their mission.
| Instead, they diligently practiced the art of
| self-preservation through their narrow-minded
| focus on "pacifying and preserving the state."
| Receiving the protection of the politically
| powerful figures of the day, Buddhism combined
| with the state, thinking that its ultimate goal
| was to subsist within this island nation of
| Japan.'
|.
| 'As militarism became fashionable in recent
| years, Buddhism put itself in step with it,
| constantly endeavouring not to offend the
| powerful figures of the day. Out of this was born
| such things as totalitarianism, references to
| [Shinto] mythology, "imperial-way Buddhism," and
| so forth. As a result, Buddhists forgot to
| include either a global vision or concern for the
| masses within the duties they performed. In
| addition, they neglected to awake within the
| Japanese religious consciousness the
| philosophical and religious elements, and the
| spiritual awakening, that are an intrinsic part
| of Buddhism.'
I have noticed that not only Suzuki says that all Buddhists went along
with the war. Other recent authors have also given the same repugnant
lie.
The truth is, many Buddhists went to prison rather than go along with
Imperial State Zen and Shintoist militarism. (Just not Zen Buddhists.)
Many were broken in prison and were released.
Exactly two Buddhists, and only two, Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi and his follower Josei Toda went to prison and did not
break. And they were not priests or monks, they were teachers. The
Nichiren Shoshu priesthood that could have lent support to them
abandoned them, as they did one of their own priests that was
imprisoned. Priests and monks know how to survive the death of their
conscience, and how to carefully abandon their fundamental beliefs and
religious convictions, and step over the dead body of the Buddha.
Makiguchi died in prison near the end of the war and Toda was released
after the first atomic bomb was dropped. They were arrested for, among
other things, stating that the Emperor was not divine. And for holding
hundreds of Buddhist meetings in defiance of restrictions on their
activities.
This fact was ignored in a recent work on this subject by a Zen priest
who stated that Buddhism went unanimously along with the state, and he
had the intellectual dishonesty to bury Makiguchi and Toda's
imprisonment and eternal defiance in a footnote in the back of the
book. That one grave lie makes that work a travesty, and an injustice.
And utterly unworthy of respect.
More from Suzuki's Japanese Spirituality:
| 'Although it may be said that Buddhism became
| "more Japanese" as a result of the above, the
| price was a retrogression in terms of Japanese
| spirituality itself. That is to say, the
| opportunity was lost to develop a world vision
| within Japanese spirituality that was
| sufficiently extensive or comprehensive.'
A lost opportunity was it? I would state categorically that the "world
vision" of Japanese Imperial State Zen was more than "sufficiently
extensive" and "comprehensive", as observed by a humanity suffering
under the weight of it's "satori".
_____________________________________________________
Just after the war, it's a whole new world of possibilities for
Suzuki, who somehow escaped a richly deserved war crimes trial as one
of the main spiritual guides for Japan's atrocities. Along with the
other Zen patriarchs and monastery abbots who supplied cover for
"Tojo's Willing Executioners".
In 1946, writing for the magazine Zengaku Kenkyu entitled "Renewal of
the Zen World" (Zenkai Sashin), now Suzuki discovers that something
is missing from the enlightenment of Zen ... maybe ... compassion?
| 'With satori alone, it is impossible [for Zen
| priests] to shoulder their responsibilities as
| leaders of society. Not only is it impossible,
| but it is conceited of them to imagine they could
| do so. ... In satori there is a world of satori.
| However, by itself satori is unable to judge the
| right and wrong of war. With regard to disputes
| in the ordinary world, it is necessary to employ
| intellectual discrimination.... Furthermore)
| satori by itself cannot determine whether
| something like communism's economic system is
| good or bad.'
Yeah !! And it's because of how Zen grew up, in a bad neighborhood,
Zen just didn't have the right opportunities to grow and develop in an
undistorted way ...
| 'In any event, today's Zen priests lack
| "intellectuality" (J. chisei) I wish to foster in
| Zen priests the power to increasingly think about
| things independently. A satori which lacks this
| element should be taken to the middle of the
| Pacific Ocean and sent straight to the bottom! If
| there are those who say this can't be done, those
| persons should confess and repent all of the
| ignorant and uncritical words they and others
| spoke during the war in their temples and other
| public places.'
Suzuki, like any faithful Zen adherent's, is effectively unrepentant
when walking away from the holocaust he has orchestrated. He deftly
accomplishes this by stating that no one spoke up to remind Japan that
war and atrocities are a bad idea ... in the Spiritualizing of Japan
(Nihon no Reiseika, 1947), he writes:
| 'This is not to say that we were blameless. We
| have to accept a great deal of blame and
| responsibility... Both before and after the
| Manchurian Incident all of us applauded what had
| transpired as representing the growth of the
| empire. I think there were none amongst us who
| opposed it. If some were opposed, I think they
| were extremely few in number. At that time
| everyone was saying we had to be aggressively
| imperialistic. They said Japan had to go out into
| the world both industrially and economically
| because the country was too small to provide a
| living for its people. There simply wasn't enough
| food; people would starve.'
This is an outright, ass-covering lie. He did eat, and people did
oppose the evils perpetrated by Japan in the Pacific War.
And one person survived, unbroken, to prove that opposition to
Imperial State Zen and Shinto was the correct way for followers of the
Buddha's highest teaching, the Lotus Sutra. (Highest, as opposed to
teachings that should clearly be discarded, according to the Buddha's
own golden words.)
And now, finally, Suzuki digs his deepest hole, throws himself in and
buries his integrity forever:
| 'I have heard that the Manchurian Incident was
| fabricated through various tricks. I think there
| were probably some people who had reservations
| about what was going on, but instead of saying
| anything they simply accepted it. To tell the
| truth, people like myself were just not very
| interested in such things.'
This is an unbelievable statement. How empty is the void in his heart,
and his conscience.
| 'Through the great sacrifice of the Japanese
| people and nation, it can be said that the
| various peoples of the countries of the Orient
| had the opportunity to awaken both economically
| and politically... This was just the beginning,
| and I believe that after ten, twenty, or more
| years the various peoples of the Orient may well
| have formed independent countries and contributed
| to the improvement of the world's culture in
| tandem with the various peoples of Europe and
| America.'
So, all that bloodshed Suzuki supported was just 'grist for the mill'
of progress. What an astonishing and utter injustice, that statement
is in it's totality.
To wrap it all up in a horrific picture, in "An Auto-Biographical
Account," included in the commemorative anthology "A Zen Life. D. T.
Suzuki Remembered", he writes:
| 'The Pacific War was a ridiculous war for the
| Japanese to have initiated; it was probably
| completely without justification. Even so, seen
| in terms of the phases of history, it may have
| been inevitable. It is undeniable that while
| British interest in the East has existed for a
| long time, interest in the Orient on the part of
| Americans heightened as a consequence of their
| coming to Japan after the war, meeting the
| Japanese people, and coming into contact with
| various Japanese things.'
And I would say, with no other evidence necessary than his own
wretched words, that if the toxic and distorted Zen views of D.T.
Suzuki are one of the "Japanese things" that you come in contact with,
that you will require a total purification of body and mind to keep
that distortion in your life, from ruining your life.
____ Epilog _______________________________________
The Buddha's highest teachings were the purpose of the Buddha's advent
on this earth.
The Buddha did not appear on this earth to drain people's compassion
with discussions of the emptiness and meaninglessness of life which is
just a void.
The Buddha did not appear on this earth to teach people to live in
such a narrow and momentary way, that there would be no context for
self-examination and conscience.
The Buddha did not appear on this earth to possess people's minds with
such illogic as to befuddle their ability to choose correctly between
what is good and what is evil.
The Buddha did not appear on this earth to teach people how to commit
atrocities and genocide, in the exploration of their "infinite
possibilities", or "new states of being".
The Buddha did not appear on this earth to teach people how to maim
and kill with their hands efficiently, quietly, loudly, with increased
terror inflicted, or to maximize their subjugation to control the
public sentiments for political ends.
These are all profoundly evil distortions of the Buddha's true
teachings, which introduce infinities in the variables holding good
and evil, removing all shades of gray in the propositional calculus of
value.
Simply stated, the Buddha made his advent on this earth with the
purpose of teaching the compassionate way of the bodhisattva, which is
at the heart of the true entity of all phenomena, which is the eternal
Buddha at one with the eternal Law. Which is how to navigate the sea
of sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death. He originally set
out on his path, because of his observation of the sufferings of
common people and wanting to understand the source of those sufferings
(enlightened wisdom) and how to transform those sufferings into
unshakable happiness (enlightened action).
When you embrace the void, your initial intent to bring tranquility
and enlightenment to your life doesn't matter ... the result is always
the same: chaos and misery, and utter ruination and emptiness to you,
your family, and your country.
But things don't have to be that way ...
___________________________________________________
Nichiren Daishonin writes (Encouragement to a Sick Person, WND p. 78):
. "During the Former and Middle Days of the Law, the
. five impurities began to appear, and in the Latter
. Day, they are rampant. They give rise to the great
. waves of a gale, which not only beat against the
. shore, but strike each other. The impurity of
. thought has been such that, as the Former and
. Middle Days of the Law gradually passed, people
. transmitted insignificant erroneous teachings
. while destroying the unfathomable correct
. teaching. It therefore appears that more people
. have fallen into the evil paths because of errors
. with respect to Buddhism than because of secular
. misdeeds."
Because Bodhidharma discarded the Buddha's highest teaching (the Lotus
Sutra), and due to his lazy nature turned to shortcuts to
enlightenment, he came to the distorted view that life is acausal and
empty, that the true entity is the void.
This erroneous view really comes from a misunderstanding of the Sutra
of Immeasurable Meanings, where the True Entity is described by
negation (the only way it can be): "... neither square, nor round,
neither short, nor long, ..."
The description of the True Entity is logically voidal, but the True
Entity itself is not. Bodhidharma was simply confused, due to the
slander of negligence (laziness), and false confidence. The truth of
life is that at the heart of the True Entity is the compassion of a
bodhisattva for others.
Non-substantiality does not mean empty. Life has value. Humans are
respectworthy. There is a purpose to everything. And every cause has
an effect, so we are responsible for our thoughts, words and deeds.
Zen is acausal. Zen is the greatest poison, which compares to the even
greater medicine of the Lotus Sutra.
Suffice it to say: the purpose of Zen in the world is to corrupt and
undermine everything that is not based upon the truth and the true
teaching. All religions, disciplines, institutions and organizations
which are undermined by Zen will eventually fall after glaring
revelation of their worst defects, sooner rather than later.
If there is some good in your family, locality, society and culture,
or country that you would like to retain, then cease the Zen, and
begin to apply the medicine of the Lotus Sutra to heal the Zen wound
in your life.
"Zen is the work of devilish minds." - Nichiren
-Chas.
. a prescription for the poisoned ones:
.
. The only antidote for the toxic effects of Zen in your life ...
.
. be that from Zen meditation, or the variant forms: physical
. Zen in the martial arts, Qigong, Acupuncture, Falun Gong,
. Copenhagen Convention of Quantum Mechanics, EST,
. Landmark Education, Nazism, Bushido, the Jesuits,
. Al Qaeda, or merely from having the distorted view that life
. is acausal, and that the true entity of all phenomena
. is the void ...
.
. with the effects of the loss of loved ones, detachment,
. isolation or various forms of emptiness in your life ...
.
. is the Lotus Sutra: chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
. at least 3 times, twice a day, for the rest of your life,
. in at least a whisper ...
.
. and if you can, chant abundantly in a resonant voice !!!
.
. Nichiren Daishonin's Gosho and the
. SGI Dictionary of Buddhism are located at:
.
http://www.sgilibrary.org/writings.php
http://www.sgilibrary.org/dict.html
.
. The full 28 Chapters of the Lotus Sutra (and many other
. wonderful things) are online at the SGI website:
.
http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Buddhism/LotusSutra/
.
. To find an SGI Community Center:
.
http://sgi-usa.org/thesgiusa/findus/
__________________________________
LS Chap. 2
If when I encounter living beings
I were in all cases to teach them the Buddha way,
those without wisdom would become confused
and in their bewilderment would fail to accept my teachings.
I know that such living beings have never in the past cultivated good
roots
but have stubbornly clung to the five desires,
and their folly and craving have given rise to affliction.
Their desires are the cause
whereby they fall into the three evil paths,
revolving wheel-like through the six realms of existence
and undergoing every sort of suffering and pain.
This anthology:
http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=%22disappointing+zen%22+(%22...
