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Ricky's defeat

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Mark Rogow

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Jul 16, 2017, 6:18:21 PM7/16/17

So so sorry 😐 you off topic Gohonzon Burners are!

Try believing in The Gohonzon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and Chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

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Jul 16, 2017, 7:59:31 PM7/16/17

I can see this in you and your org Chas,you need some serious self reflection by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo to Nichirens Gohonzon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and then you will understand the power of it

If we have the correct practice teaching and faith we can really go forward. Mark and Katie have Nichiren's Gohonzon but deny Nichiren's words that you clearly present in your Gosho quotes.

Their condition of not being able to hear Nichiren from his Gosho is expressed in Marks quote directed at me....how ironic

"The meaning of these passages from the sutra (Gosho) is right before our eyes, obvious as the sun suspended in the blue sky or a mole on a white face. And yet the blind ones, those with perverse eyes, the one-eyed, those who believe no one but their own teachers, and those who cling to biased views cannot see it."

JazzIs TvRicky

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Jul 16, 2017, 9:29:02 PM7/16/17

Noel you are an example of Changing Poison into Medicine👀🙏🏽👍🏽

JazzIs TvRicky

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Jul 16, 2017, 9:30:53 PM7/16/17

It seems to me you the Statue Worshippers have lost your minds and are losing your grips on others!

Katie Higgins

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Jul 16, 2017, 10:56:07 PM7/16/17

On Sunday, July 16, 2017 at 6:18:21 PM UTC-4, JazzIs TvRicky wrote:
> So so sorry 😐 you off topic Gohonzon Burners are!
>
>
> Try believing in The Gohonzon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and Chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The "topic" of this post is your defeat on dharma wheel, Ricky !

We await the "cleaned-up" edit of the mess you made over there !

~Katie

JazzIs TvRicky

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Jul 16, 2017, 11:14:22 PM7/16/17

Await no longer 'Gohonzon Burners' It's there for all to learn from!

I am 'A Teacher of The Law'

Hail Nichiren!

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Jul 17, 2017, 12:04:52 PM7/17/17

I found the Gosho and the particular passage that I used in the past to refute Noel's claim that " meditation " was the way to " perceive the True Entity"- which " enlightened Noel claimed to have done ( last year on Eagle Peak"- this Gosho also addresses Ricky's claim that reciting the Lotus Sutra (Gongyo) is incorrect and problematic -

" The Doctrine of Three Thoudand Realms in a Single Moment Life"
#178-WND VOL 2-p. 88-9

" ....if they are not willing to see, hear, read, recite, copy , embrace and offer alms to the Lotus Sutra, then you should know that such persons are not yet practicing the bodhisattva way in a fitting manner. But if there are those who will listen to this Sutra, then they are capable of practicing the bodhisattva way in s fitting manner. " Nichiren -

Just so happens Nichiren is quoting ( above) from the " Teacher of the Law" chapter of the Lotus Sutra!

Nichiren continues:
" If the Sutra mean that one could attain Buddhahood through contemplation of the mind alone .."

Might this mean " chanting the daimoku "believing one is already Buddha ?

Contd. ".....then why would it speak of 'seeing, hearing, reading , reciting '?

Nichiren concludes "THIS SUTRA MAKES "HEARING" the sole basis of practice."

Hearing , reciting the daimoku produces merit -- but to attain Buddhahood one must recite ,HEAR, internalize , the Lotus Sutra .

Mind contemplation is the way daimoku is taught by SGI & repeatedly here , by Ricky -
When combined with discarding Gongyo and defaming practitioners of Nichiren's teachings it is a grave offense --

~ Katie

Chas.

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Jul 18, 2017, 1:32:49 AM7/18/17

Why statues are not to be chanted to -

On Friday, May 27, 2016 at 6:08:49 PM UTC-7, Mark Rogow wrote:
> Since SGI is wrong about the identity and nature of the Eternal Buddha why would you believe it is correct about anything else?
>
> The entire thrust of the Rissho Ankoku Ron is that the Treasure of the Buddha is Shakyamuni and the Treasure of the Law is Myoho renge kyo (Lotus Sutra).
>

Make a quote, please.

Taking just the first few horrible translations of the Gosho that you quote to "prove" your fictitious points...

> Nichiren says in "Reply to Lady Nichinyo": "I for the first time reveal, as a banner of the spread of the Hokkekyo the Great Mandala which even Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, and so on, and Tendai, Myoraku, and so on did not reveal. This is not at all something which I, Nichiren made myself. It is the Object of Worship which is from the print block of the Great Muni, the World Honored One within the Stupa of Taho and the Separate-Body Buddhas."
>
> Clearly, the Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon as taught to him by the Great Muni.
>

Your text is a profound forgery and utter uglification of the true text of the Gosho, written to Nichinyo.

From "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon", WND I, pp. 831-832:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/101#para-1

. How wondrous it is that, around two hundred years and more
. into the Latter Day of the Law, I was the first to reveal
. as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra this great
. mandala that even those such as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu,
. T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo were unable to express. This mandala
. is in no way my invention. It is the object of devotion
. that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One,
. seated in the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha, and
. the Buddhas who were Shakyamuni’s emanations as perfectly
. as a print matches its woodblock. Thus the five characters
. of the Lotus Sutra’s title are suspended in the center,
. while the four heavenly kings are seated at the four
. corners of the treasure tower. Shakyamuni, Many Treasures,
. and the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are
. side by side at the top. Seated below them are the
. bodhisattvas, including Universal Worthy and Manjushrī, and
. the voice-hearers, including Shāriputra and Maudgalyāyana.
. [Beside them are] the gods of the sun and moon, the devil
. king of the sixth heaven, the dragon king, and an asura. In
. addition, the wisdom kings Immovable and Craving-Filled
. take up their stations to the south and north. The evil and
. treacherous Devadatta and the ignorant dragon king’s
. daughter form a group. Not only the Mother of Demon
. Children and the ten demon daughters, who are evil demons
. that sap the lives of people throughout the major world
. system, but also the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva
. Hachiman, and the seven reigns of the heavenly gods and
. five reigns of the earthly gods, who are the guardian
. deities of Japan—all the various great and small gods, that
. is, the main gods, are ranged in rows. How then could the
. remaining subordinate gods be left out? The “Treasure
. Tower” chapter states, “[Shakyamuni Buddha used his
. transcendental powers to] lift all the members of the great
. assembly up into the air.”
.
. Without exception, all these Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great
. sages, and, in general, all the various beings of the two
. worlds and the eight groups who appear in the
. “Introduction” chapter of the Lotus Sutra dwell in this
. Gohonzon. Illuminated by the light of the five characters
. of the Mystic Law, they display the dignified attributes
. that they inherently possess. This is the object of devotion.
.
. This is what is meant when the sutra says “the true aspect
. of all phenomena.” Miao-lo stated: “The true aspect
. invariably manifests in all phenomena, and all phenomena
. invariably manifest in the ten factors. The ten factors
. invariably manifest in the Ten Worlds, and the Ten Worlds
. invariably manifest in life and its environment.” It is
. also stated that the profound principle of the true aspect
. is the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo. The Great
. Teacher Dengyō said, “A single moment of life comprising
. the three thousand realms is itself the Buddha of limitless
. joy; this Buddha has forsaken august appearances.”
. Therefore, this Gohonzon shall be called the great mandala
. never before known; it did not appear until more than 2,220
. years after the Buddha’s passing.

Your priests have corrupted this beautiful description and will suffer the ages in Avichi hel for it, and now you, too, for climbing on the bandwagon with them. They wanted to worship Shakyamuni as a god, because they think so little of themselves. They wanted to worship stupas, like the Hinayana believers of the Pali canon. This was the original error that led to statue worship, abandoning the teachings and taking up with images of men as your object of worship.

> "Thus it was revealed that Shakyamuni had long been the Buddha since the eternal past, and it became clear that various Buddhas in other worlds were all manifestations of Shakyamuni Buddha..[ ] now, however, as Shakyamuni was proved to be the Eternal Buddha, those Buddhas in the Flower Garland Sutra, or Buddhas in the Hodo, Hannya, or Great Sun Buddha sutras all became subordinates of Shakyamuni Buddha." (Kaimoku Sho, p. 174, translated by Kyotsu Hori, 1987)
>
> Same quote in the MW's:
>
> "When Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he had gained enlightenment in the far distant past and had since then been constantly in the world, it became apparent that all the other Buddhas were emanations of Shakyamuni....but now it became apparent that Vairocana Buddha of the Kegon Sutra and various Buddhas of the Hodo, Hannya and Dainichi sutras are in fact all followers of Shakyamuni Buddha." (MW V.2, p.149)
>

Here is the actual quote from "The Opening of the Eyes", WND I, p. 256:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/30#para-187

. When Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he had gained
. enlightenment in the far distant past, it became apparent
. that all the other Buddhas were emanations of Shakyamuni.
. When the Buddha preached the earlier sutras and the first
. half, or theoretical teaching, of the Lotus Sutra, the
. other Buddhas were pictured as standing on an equal footing
. with Shakyamuni, after completing their respective
. practices and disciplines. Therefore, the people who take
. one or another of these Buddhas as their object of devotion
. customarily look down on Shakyamuni Buddha. But now it
. becomes apparent that Vairochana Buddha, who is described
. in the Flower Garland Sutra as being seated on a lotus
. pedestal, and the various Buddhas who appear in the sutras
. of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods, such as
. the Mahāvairochana Sutra, are all in fact followers of
. Shakyamuni Buddha.

There is simply no end to the distortions you can vomit forth, perjured for you evil purpose: to support your Hindu/Shinto practice of worshiping Shakyamuni as a god, which he would himself decry. Shakyamuni was added to the Hindu pantheon of gods to the end of enfolding and crushing the life out of the corrupted practice of Buddhism after it had passed into the East.

Your Middle Day of the Law practice of worshiping statues is NOT for the era Nichiren Daishonin, it is the hollow and ghostly practice of the dead. The practice of the Latter Day of the Law is to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon, not the image of any person, Shakyamuni or Nichiren Daishonin.

As I made clear earlier from this passage of the "Immeasurable Meanings Sutra", pp. 12-13, which is preached during the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra and is concurrent with it and not previous to the Lotus Sutra, and which is in no way provisional or to be discarded in any way. In fact the Lotus Sutra and the Gosho reference the true aspect, and without this definition, THEY WOULD BE INCOMPLETE!

Here's the quote that destroys all your statue worshiping, I have highlighted the key phrase so that you cannot miss it (although I fear your mind cannot read it):

. “When bodhisattvas have in this manner observed the
. beginning and end of these four aspects and have understood
. them in their entirety, then they will clearly perceive
. that all phenomena, never abiding from one instant to
. the next, are constantly being born anew and passing into
. extinction, and then they will immediately perceive the
. true aspect of birth, abiding, change, and extinction.
.
. “Once they have gained this perception, then they must turn
. to the capacities, natures, and desires of living beings.
. Because such natures and desires are immeasurable in
. variety, the ways of preaching the Law are immeasurable;
. and because the ways of preaching the Law are immeasurable,
. its meanings are likewise immeasurable. THESE IMMEASURABLE
. MEANINGS ARE BORN FROM A SINGLE LAW, AND THIS LAW IS
. WITHOUT ASPECT. WHAT IS WITHOUT ASPECT IS DEVOID OF ASPECT
. AND DOES NOT TAKE ON ASPECT. NOT TAKING ON ASPECT, BEING
. WITHOUT ASPECT, IT IS CALLED THE TRUE ASPECT.
.
. “When bodhisattvas mahasattva rest and abide in this
. understanding of the true aspect of all phenomena, then the
. pity and compassion that they put forth will be based on
. clear understanding and not groundless, and they will be
. truly capable of rescuing living beings from the sufferings
. that they undergo. And once they have rescued them from
. suffering, they will preach the Law for them and enable
. living beings to enjoy ease and delight.

Santai or the Three Truths can only be found in the Lotus Sutra, this is one of the glories of the Lotus Sutra. "The truth of non-substantiality, the truth of temporary existence, and the truth of the Middle Way." from the SGI Dictionary:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/T/183

The images of human beings are the images of their Temporary Existence alone, their impermanence.

I am impermanent and will vanish from the world, this is my destiny from birth: to be born is to die, that is the guarantee of the four sufferings. Birth, aging, sickness and death.

And yet, like an electron that has a particle and a wave function, I am also Non-Substantial and that was true before my birth, during my aging, sickness and after my death. In fact I am dying now, cells that were crucial to my function ar born and then die all the time. I am also like a wave.

In all those phases of my life I am in the Middle Way, the unification of the Three Truths.

Images of living beings are images of impermanence alone, and like "the Tripitaka teaching and the connecting teaching do not reveal the truth of the Middle Way and therefore lack the three truths," (from the definition of Santai) ... they do not possess the "true aspect."

The highest object of worship, the Gohonzon possesses the "true aspect" in the fact that it is an arrangement of characters and does not look like you or me or anyone you know. This is how it can reflect ALL THE LIVING BEINGS, not just here, but everywhere that life has or will develop in the ten directions and the three existences of past, present and future.

All living being possess the true aspect and they are all Buddhas, like the characters of an enormous version of the Lotus Sutra. However, not even the images of the Lord of Teachings, Shakyamuni or the Lord of Practice, Nichiren Daishonin reflect anything other than impermanence.

Only the Gohonzon reflects the true aspect. It is the highest object of worship and all others are pitiful in their aspect, by comparison: why would anyone chant the daimoku, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to any other object of worship?

How dishonorable!

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

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Jul 18, 2017, 6:37:17 AM7/18/17

More benefit from your dedicated practice, Chas - how much effort do you put into posting the same "already refuted " crap?

You must be bodhisattva never bust a grape 🍇

~Katie

Chas.

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Jul 18, 2017, 9:50:33 PM7/18/17

On Friday, June 24, 2016 at 5:21:58 PM UTC-7, Mark Rogow wrote:
> The most perverse sect at the time of Nichiren was Tendai [Mikkyo] which mixed Lotus Sutra Buddhism and Shingon. Today, we have a similar problem but NST and SGI ...

[snip]

You are projecting. It is you and your Shinto-ized version of Hinduistic statue-worshiping distortion of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism that is clearly a corruption. Nichiren Daishonin declared the Gohonzon as the supreme object of worship throughout Jambudvipa, not your pictures and statues. They do not possess the true aspect.

From "The True Aspect of All Phenomena", WND I, p. 383-385:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-3

... NO ONE BUT NICHIREN has ever revealed teachings like these.
... Though T’ien-t’ai, Miao-lo, and Dengyō knew about them in
... their hearts, they never put them into words. They went
... about their lives keeping this knowledge to themselves. And
... there was good reason for this. The Buddha had not
... entrusted them with the task, the time had not yet come,
... and they had not been the Buddha’s disciples from the
... distant past. Only Superior Practices, Boundless Practices,
... and the other foremost leaders and guiding teachers among
... the Bodhisattvas of the Earth cannot only appear during the
... first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law and
... spread the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the essence
... of all phenomena, BUT ALSO GIVE CONCRETE FORM TO THE
... CEREMONY OF THE TWO BUDDHAS SEATED SIDE BY SIDE IN THE
... TREASURE TOWER. The reason is that what they are to spread
... and give concrete form to is none other than the teaching
... of the actual three thousand realms in a single moment of
... life in the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching.
...

1. "No one but Nichiren" has revealed these teachings, not even Shakyamuni, Lord of Teachings, who is negatively included with all others in the phrase "no one".

It was no one else's mission, but Nichiren Daishonin to reveal the highest truth hidden at the heart of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren Daishonin explains this in various other places as due to the time, however, it is also due to who Nichiren Daishonin is.

Nichiren Daishonin is the man for that moment, who turns that wheel that makes the new era of the Latter Day of the Law or Mappo, by revealing the truth that no one else can reveal.

This is the man Iain calls a "latter commentator", and who I call Daishonin or True Buddha. Nichiren Daishonin is the revealer, not the commentator, oddly, that role is left to Shakyamuni who predicted Nichiren Daishonin's revelation of the heart of the Lotus Sutra: the heart of the highest teaching.

The heart of the highest teaching that he reveals is not indicated directly in any quote in the Lotus Sutra, such that you can actually logically prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that what Nichiren Daishonin reveals is the truth.

The truth of the Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra, as in all far lesser religious truths, is not logically deduced or induced, but is based on faith alone: however, in both the Western and Eastern worlds, Reason includes both Logic AND Faith.

Hence, faith-based logic is reasonable, unless you are without faith, then that logic is not reasonable and makes no sense whatsoever.

Faith in this case implies practice, you have to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to come to believe in it and experience the result to gain faith.

2. However, before you can have faith in the power of the daimoku, you had to have faith in Nichiren Daishonin, who reveals that highest truth, you would have to have faith in the mentor, that he is revealing to you, the disciple, the absolute truth and nothing else. Otherwise, your practice of the Lotus Sutra would be Tendai, and simple recitation of its chapters to your statues.

Not having faith in Nichiren Daishonin, since you had never heard of him, you had to have faith in the mentor that introduced you, or taught you to chant, or led the first district meeting you went to, or ... whoever the bodhisattva was: that person had faith in the daimoku, the Gohonzon and hence, that Nichiren Daishonin was in fact, completely right! The disciple first receives faith in the veracity of Nichiren Daishonin (or an echo of it) from their mentor.

3. "Only Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, and the other foremost leaders and guiding teachers among the Bodhisattvas of the Earth ..." "... also give concrete form to the ceremony of the two Buddhas seated side by side in the treasure tower." That concrete form is the Gohonzon, the highest object of worship.

Shakyamuni not only cannot reveal the highest teaching ... also, he cannot enscribe the Gohonzon.

Why? Because it is not his mission given by the eternal Buddha. That was given to the very first of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, Nichiren Daishonin, as the embodiment of Superior Practices, or Jogyo.

This means you either trust what Nichiren Daishonin says and choose the Gohonzon as your highest object of worship to chant the daimoku to, or distrust Nichiren Daishonin and chant the daimoku to your statues. You will however, have to choose which path to take, with hell to pay upon your mistaken choice.

... THEREFORE, THE TWO BUDDHAS, SHAKYAMUNI AND MANY TREASURES,
... ARE BUDDHAS WHO ARE FUNCTIONS [OF MYOHO-RENGE-KYO]. IT IS
... MYOHO-RENGE-KYO THAT IS THE TRUE BUDDHA. This is what is
... described in the sutra as “the Thus Come One’s secret and
... his transcendental powers.” THE “THUS COME ONE’S SECRET”
... REFERS TO THE ENTITY OF THE BUDDHA’S THREE BODIES, AND IT
... REFERS TO THE TRUE BUDDHA. “His transcendental powers”
... refers to the functions of the three bodies, and it refers
... to provisional Buddhas. A COMMON MORTAL IS AN ENTITY OF THE
... THREE BODIES, AND A TRUE BUDDHA. A Buddha is a function of
... the three bodies, and a provisional Buddha. In that case,
... though it is thought that Shakyamuni Buddha possesses the
... three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent for the
... sake of all of us living beings, that is not so. ON THE
... CONTRARY, IT IS COMMON MORTALS WHO ENDOW HIM WITH THE THREE
... VIRTUES.
...

4. "Therefore, the two Buddhas, Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, are Buddhas who are functions [of Myoho-renge-kyo]. It is Myoho-renge-kyo that is the true Buddha."

Shakyamuni (and Taho) are functions of the eternal Buddha, Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which we invoke in the daimoku.

Is that crystal clear? If you chant the daimoku, you have to have faith that Nichiren Daishonin is correct, otherwise Myoho-Renge-Kyo would not be the eternal Buddha: and if you accept that, then Shakyamuni would not be a function of Myoho-Renge-Kyo.

You cannot have it both ways, you must give up the supremacy of Shakyamuni and stop chanting to images of him, since you cannot chant the highest teaching hidden in the Lotus Sutra that was revealed by Nichiren Daishonin unless you agree with him on this completely central point. Stop chanting to functions, and chant to the Gohonzon.

5. These three phrases (a through c, below) refer to the common mortal, or true Buddha, which Nichiren Daishonin is, and also you and I as well as every common mortal. Common mortals in the Mappo era, after Nichiren Daishonin revealed the truth, are also Bodhisattvas of the Earth, according to Josei Toda.

Here's the proof of Nichiren Daishonin's point.

a. '“Thus Come One’s secret” refers to the entity of the Buddha’s three bodies, and it refers to the true Buddha.'

b. "A common mortal is an entity of the three bodies, and a true Buddha."

c. "On the contrary, it is common mortals who endow him [Shakyamuni] with the three virtues."

6. These two phrases (d and e) refer to provisional Buddhas like Shakyamuni, who are functions of the three bodies of the true Buddha.

d. '“His transcendental powers” refers to the functions of the three bodies, and it refers to provisional Buddhas.'

e. 'A Buddha is a function of the three bodies, and a provisional Buddha. In that case, though it is thought that Shakyamuni Buddha possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent for the sake of all of us living beings, that is not so.'

... The “Thus Come One” is explained clearly in T’ien-t’ai’s
... commentary as follows: “The Thus Come One is a general
... designation for the Buddhas of the ten directions and the
... three existences, for the two Buddhas, the three Buddhas,
... the true Buddha, and provisional Buddhas.” THE “TRUE
... BUDDHA” HERE MEANS COMMON MORTALS, WHEREAS “PROVISIONAL
... BUDDHAS” MEANS BUDDHAS. However, because of the difference
... between ordinary people and Buddhas that stems from the
... disparity between delusion and enlightenment, ordinary
... people are unaware that they are endowed with both the
... entity and the functions of the three bodies.
...

'The “true Buddha” here means common mortals, whereas “provisional Buddhas” means Buddhas.'

That is another direct quote making this very point again. Clear and straightforward and unmistakable.

The common mortal is the true Buddha, whereas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures in all their eternal glory as inscribed on the Gohonzon, are functions of the entity that is any common mortal enveloped in his or her delusion.

That means that if a statue worshiper really wanted to enshrine a more proper image to chant to, it would be the picture of a drunk or a hooker on the street: better that, than just a FUNCTION of that true Buddha, that very human being.

This is why we don't chant to images, since images cannot have the true aspect, only the Gohonzon has the true aspect, which means without having aspect (from the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, without which the Lotus Sutra would lack the clear understanding of true aspect, and would therefore be less complete.)

... “All phenomena” in the sutra refers to the Ten Worlds, and
... the “true aspect,” to what they actually are. THE “TRUE
... ASPECT” IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MYOHO-RENGE-KYO; hence all
... phenomena are Myoho-renge-kyo. Hell’s displaying the form
... of hell is its true aspect. When hell changes into the
... realm of hungry spirits, that is no longer the true form of
... hell. A Buddha displays the form of a Buddha, and a common
... mortal, that of a common mortal. The entities of all
... phenomena are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo. That is the
... meaning of “the true aspect of all phenomena.” T’ien-t’ai
... states that the profound principle of the true aspect is
... the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo. This
... interpretation identifies the phrase “true aspect” with the
... theoretical teaching and “the originally inherent
... Myoho-renge-kyo” with the essential teaching. You should
... ponder this interpretation deep in your heart.
...

'The “true aspect” is another name for Myoho-renge-kyo; hence all phenomena are Myoho-renge-kyo.'

This is the fruit of the clear understanding of that description of true aspect.

If the true aspect was an image of Shakyamuni, then it could not be Myoho-Renge-Kyo, because Myoho-Renge-Kyo is without aspect, you cannot view it from any point and see an aspect.

Also, then all entities and phenomena could not be the true entity of Myoho-Renge-Kyo, without having the aspect of Shakyamuni, were Shakyamuni's image the true aspect.

All phenomena are the true aspect AND Myoho-Renge-Kyo, precisely because the true aspect means without having the aspect of any specific or particular entity.

This also, BTW explains that passage with all of the negations from the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Prologue/1#para-23

'his body neither existing nor not existing,
neither caused nor conditioned, neither self nor other,
neither square nor round, neither short nor long,
neither appearing nor disappearing, neither born nor extinguished,
neither created nor arising, neither acted nor made,
neither sitting nor lying down, neither walking nor standing,
neither moving nor turning, neither idle nor still,
neither advancing nor retreating, neither in safety nor danger,
neither right nor wrong, neither gaining nor losing,
neither that nor this, neither departing nor coming,
neither blue nor yellow, neither red nor white,
neither crimson nor purple nor any other sort of color'

This is all straightforward and clear from the reading of the supreme teaching and the Gosho.

... Although not worthy of the honor, I, Nichiren, was
... nevertheless the first to spread the Mystic Law entrusted
... to Bodhisattva Superior Practices for propagation in the
... Latter Day of the Law. I was also the first, though only
... Bodhisattva Superior Practices is so empowered, to inscribe
... [the object of devotion as] the embodiment of Shakyamuni
... Buddha from the remote past as revealed in the “Life Span”
... chapter of the essential teaching, of Many Treasures Buddha
... who appeared when the “Treasure Tower” chapter of the
... theoretical teaching was preached, and of the Bodhisattvas
... of the Earth who arrived with the “Emerging from the Earth”
... chapter. Though people may hate me, they cannot possibly
... alter the fact of my enlightenment.
...

Nichiren Daishonin enscribed all of those onto the Gohonzon. Not onto an image of Shakyamuni. Shakyamuni could not reveal the daimoku at the heart of the Lotus Sutra, not inscribe the Gohonzon, according to Nichiren Daishonin, who did both.

... Therefore, to have exiled me, Nichiren, to this remote
... island is, I believe, an offense that can never be
... expiated, even with the passing of countless kalpas. A
... passage from the “Simile and Parable” chapter reads, “If I
... were to describe the punishments [that fall on persons who
... slander this sutra], I could exhaust a kalpa and never come
... to the end.” On the other hand, not even the wisdom of the
... Buddha can fathom the blessings that one will obtain by
... giving alms to Nichiren and by becoming his disciple and
... lay supporter. The sutra reads, “[The benefits he gains
... thereby will be such that] even the Buddha wisdom could
... never finish calculating their extent.”
...

Hence, slanderers, who deny the very intent of this sutra, which is its heart, commit"

"an offense that can never be expiated, even with the passing of countless kalpas."

However, there is hope even for them, because:

'The sutra reads, “[The benefits he gains thereby will be such that] even the Buddha wisdom could never finish calculating their extent.”'

... Nichiren alone took the lead in carrying out the task of
... the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. He may even be one of them.
... If Nichiren is to be counted among the Bodhisattvas of the
... Earth, then so must his disciples and lay supporters. The
... sutra states: “If one [of these good men or good women in
... the time after I have passed into extinction] is able to
... secretly expound the Lotus Sutra to one person, even one
... phrase of it, then you should know that he or she is the
... envoy of the Thus Come One. He has been dispatched by the
... Thus Come One and carries out the Thus Come One’s work.”
... Who else but us can this possibly refer to?

___________________________________________________________

On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 9:47:28 AM UTC-7, ilovedr...@gmail.com wrote:
> Chas, you forgot to take note:
>
> Let's look into "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon", and see what Nichiren teaches us.
>
> "This mandala is in no way my invention. It is the object of devotion that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, the World Honored One, seated in the treasure tower of Many treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas who were Shakyamuni's emanations as perfectly as a print matches its print block."
>

Your argument is a non sequitor and is sign of your fallacious reasoning and mental corruption. I never claimed that Nichiren Daishonin invented the Gohonzon, which is a depiction of the ceremony in the air at the moment that the Law is passed from the mentor (Shakyamuni) to the disciples (Bodhisattvas of the Earth, chiefly Jogyo Superior Practices, who is Nichiren Daishonin).

Nichiren Daishonin is the common mortal, who is the true Buddha, as are you and myself. Shakyamuni is a function of our true Buddhahood, this is what Nichiren Daishonin says. Take it or leave it. If you leave it, you cannot believe in the daimoku, which Nichiren Daishonin revealed and that you have to take on faith. He sadi it, I didn't, why do you want to thwart what he says so clearly with all this flak? Just accept it.

According to the Ongi Kuden and thus Nichiren Daishonin, the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings: the Lotus Sutra in the Parable of the Phantom City chapter identifies the eternal Buddha (the Buddha of Limitless Joy, AKA the Buddha of Beginningless Time) as the grandfather of Shakyamuni, who as one of the sixteen princes, was the son of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One, son of "the grandfather".

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/ott/PART-1/7#para-15

... The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: In
... this passage we learn about the Buddha of the original
... state [that is, the Buddha of limitless joy]. “Grandfather”
... is another name for the Dharma-realm. The first three of
... the ten factors listed in the “Expedient Means” chapter,
... the factors of appearance, nature, and entity, are referred
... to as “grandfather.” Outside of these three factors, there
... is no wheel-turning sage king.
...
... The word “wheel-turning” refers to the phases of birth,
... abiding, change, and extinction. The words “sage king”
... refer to the element of the mind. These three factors,
... appearance, nature, and entity, are the father and mother
... of all the Buddhas of the three existences of past,
... present, and future.
...
... Now, when Nichiren and his followers chant
... Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they are acting as father and mother
... of the Buddhas of the three existences, as their
... grandfather, the wheel-turning sage king.

That passage refers to this one, the one and only reference to "the grandfather", where the son and father of Shakyamuni, Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, attains enlightenment when "the Law of the buddhas finally appeared before him" :

The Parable of the Phantom City, LS-7, pp 156-157:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/7#para-35

... “Now, monks, the buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence
... passed ten small kalpas before the Law of the buddhas
... finally appeared before him and he attained supreme perfect
... p.157enlightenment. Before this buddha left the
... householder’s life, he had sixteen sons, the first of whom
... was named Wisdom Accumulated. These sons each had various
... kinds of rare objects and toys of one kind or another, but
... when they heard that their father had attained supreme
... perfect enlightenment, they all threw aside their rare
... objects and went to where the buddha was. Their mothers,
... weeping, followed after them.
...
... “Their grandfather, who was a wheel-turning sage king,
... along with a hundred chief ministers, as well as a hundred,
... thousand, ten thousand, million of his subjects, all
... together surrounded the sons and followed them to the place
... of enlightenment, all wishing to draw close to the thus
... come one Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, to offer alms,
... pay honor, venerate, and praise him. When they arrived,
... they bowed before his feet, touching their heads to the
... ground.

Aside from that, who knows, I don't. As far as I can tell, the eternal Buddha has no person otherwise identified in the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni attained enlightenment after his father.

At any rate, who was first hardly matters, unless you want to worship a statue of the first enlightened one.

I am satisfied that the Buddha leading our regiment of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth is Nichiren Daishonin, AKA Jogyo Superior Practices. He is the mentor whose Gosho I have made my mentor. I practice as he says and only that way. I worship no person and images of no person.

I worship the Gohonzon of the True Aspect of all Phenomena, which, BTW is a topic none of you have touched on, although I have elucidated it fully for your edification.

> "It is also stated that the profound principle of the true aspect is the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo.[Lotus sutra Chap.2] The Great Teacher Dengyo said, "A single moment of life comprising the three thousand realms is itself the Buddha of limitless joy. this Buddha has forsaken august appearances." [The Treatise on the Secret and Sacred Teachings]
>
>

Are you listening to yourself? The Buddha of Limitless Joy is without aspect, just as I quoted.

Not a statue of Shakyamuni. Get it?

> Do you need page#'s-- not sure which text you have.
>
> IF Nichiren were the Original Buddha, teacher of Shakyamuni, WHY wouldn't he claim credit for the SOURCE of the Gohonzon as "his own invention"?
>
> OR REVEAL the identity you claim is is TRUE identity?
>

Didn't claim that. Putting words in my mouth is lying. Don't do that.

All common mortals are the true Buddha, led by Nichiren Daishonin. Nichiren Daishonin is the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, AKA Jogyo.

> With your own presumptions,You, Chas are identifying Nichiren as a cunning, duplicitous teacher-- when it is your Sensei who has earned that title a million times over!!
>

This is a pile of crap and wierd supposition, avoid it Katie.

> And that is the crux of the matter. You lost your true mind before you posted your first comment on this site---such is the fate of those who "follow evil teachers".
>
[snip the rest.]
_________________________________________________________

On Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 8:56:22 AM UTC-7, Katie Higgins wrote:

> How fortunate that we can possess and chant to an *authentic* Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren's own hand...
>

These Gohonzon were received from the hands of an entire line of priests that betrayed Nichiren Daishonin and turned to Shinto-ized Hinduistic cult worship of images that Shakyamuni himself would have spurned, and ancient practices that were before Nichiren Daishonin turned the wheel to create the new era: of the Latter Day of the Law.

Receiving distortions of Nichiren's Buddhism and then Nichiren's stolen Gohonzon from evil priests worshiping in ancient and now-dead practices will incur instead a serious admonition from the Daishonin.

Cause and effect rules the world. You cannot steal Gohonzon and then expect benefit from distortions of the founder's practice.

-Chas.
_________________________________________________________

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 12:09:25 AM UTC-7, Chas. wrote:

>On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 8:22:09 AM UTC-4, Katie Higgins wrote:
> Here's a refresher for you, Chas-- Nichiren's description of the Eternal Buddha and his attitude towards him--
>
> The passages are from "The Opening Of The Eyes"-
>
> "But the Buddha, our great teacher, has advanced beyond even transmigration with change and advance, let alone transmigration with differences and limitations. He has wiped out even the very root of fundamental darkness, let lone the illusions of thought and desire that are as minor as branches and leaves."
>
> "The Buddha, from the time of his enlightenment at the age of thirty until his passing at the age of eighty, expounded his sacred teachings for a period of fifty years. Each word, each phrase he spoke is true, not a sentence, not a verse is false. The words of the sages and worthy preserved in the scriptures and teachings of Confucianism and Brahmanism, as we have noted, are free of error, and the words match the spirit in which they were spoken. But how much more true is this in the case of the Buddha, who had spoken not a false word for countless kalpasI In comparison to the non-Buddhist scriptures and teachings, the doctrines that he expounded in a period of fifty or so years represent the great vehicle, the true words of the great man, Everything that he preached, from the dawn of his enlightenment until the evening that he entered into nirvana , is none other than the truth."
>

Interesting that you missed the next paragraphs and the meaning of this passage, which applies directly to you all.

It has to do with how the supreme teachings are attacked by “appropriating Buddhism” or “plagiarizing Buddhism”, by efforts to "twist what is lofty and force it into a mean context; they destroy what is exalted and drag it down among the base, striving to put the two on an equal level."

Here is the passage that describes what you and your traitorous priests do, by merging Hinduism and Shinto statue worshiping with Nichiren's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra ("The Opening of the Eyes (I)", WND I, pp. 223-225)
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/30#para-13

... However, when we examine the eighty thousand teachings of
... Buddhism expounded during a period of fifty or so years and
... recorded in scriptures, we find that they fall into various
... categories such as HINAYANA AND MAHAYANA, PROVISIONAL AND
... TRUE SUTRAS, EXOTERIC AND ESOTERIC TEACHINGS, DETAILED AND
... ROUGH DISCOURSES, TRUE WORDS AND FALSE WORDS, CORRECT AND
... INCORRECT VIEWS. BUT AMONG THESE, THE LOTUS SUTRA ALONE
... REPRESENTS THE CORRECT TEACHINGS OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA, THE
... LORD OF TEACHINGS, THE TRUTHFUL WORDS OF THE BUDDHAS OF THE
... THREE EXISTENCES AND THE TEN DIRECTIONS. The World-Honored
... One of Great Enlightenment designated a specific period of
... the preceding forty years and more, and defined the various
... sutras preached during that period, numerous as the sands
... of the Ganges, as the sutras in which he had “not yet
... revealed the truth.” He designated the Lotus Sutra preached
... during the eight years as the sutra in which he “now must
... reveal the truth.” Thus Many Treasures Buddha came forth
... from beneath the earth to testify that “all that you have
... expounded [in the Lotus Sutra] is the truth,” and the
... Buddhas who are emanations of Shakyamuni gathered together
... and extended their long tongues up to the Brahmā heaven in
... testimony. These words are perfectly clear, perfectly
... understandable, brighter than the sun on a clear day, or
... like the full moon at midnight. Look up to them and believe
... them, and when you turn away, cherish them in your heart!
...
... The Lotus Sutra contains two important teachings. The
... Dharma Analysis Treasury, Establishment of Truth, Precepts,
... Dharma Characteristics, and Three Treatises schools have
... never heard even so much as the name of these teachings.
... THE FLOWER GARLAND AND TRUE WORD SCHOOLS, ON THE OTHER
... HAND, HAVE SURREPTITIOUSLY STOLEN THESE DOCTRINES AND MADE
... THEM THE HEART OF THEIR OWN TEACHINGS. The doctrine of
... three thousand realms in a single moment of life is found
... in only one place, hidden in the depths of the “Life Span”
... chapter of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
... Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu were aware of it but did not bring
... it forth into the light. T’ien-t’ai Chih-che alone embraced
... it and kept it ever in mind.
...
... The doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of
... life begins with the concept of the mutual possession of
... the Ten Worlds. But the Dharma Characteristics and Three
... Treatises schools speak only of eight worlds and know
... nothing of the entirety of the Ten Worlds, much less of the
... concept of their mutual possession. The Dharma Analysis
... Treasury, Establishment of Truth, and Precepts schools
... derive their teachings from the Āgama sutras. They are
... aware only of the six worlds and know nothing of the other
... four worlds. They declare that in all the ten directions
... there is only one Buddha, and do not even preach that there
... is any other Buddha in any of the ten directions. OF THE
... PRINCIPLE THAT “ALL SENTIENT BEINGS ALIKE POSSESS THE
... BUDDHA NATURE,” THEY OF COURSE SAY NOTHING AT ALL. They
... refuse to acknowledge that even a single person possesses
... the Buddha nature. IN SPITE OF THIS, ONE WILL SOMETIMES
... HEAR MEMBERS OF THE PRECEPTS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUTH
... SCHOOLS DECLARING THAT THERE ARE BUDDHAS IN THE TEN
... DIRECTIONS, OR THAT ALL LIVING BEINGS POSSESS THE BUDDHA
... NATURE. This is because the teachers of these schools who
... appeared after the passing away of the Buddha had stolen
... these Mahayana doctrines and incorporated them into the
... teachings of their own schools.
...

Buddhas in the ten directions. Do you know who they are? The world of living beings.

THEY ARE COMMON MORTALS, WHO ARE NONE OTHER THAN THE TRUE BUDDHA.

How could you possibly miss this point?

... To illustrate, in the period before the appearance of
... Buddhism, the proponents of the non-Buddhist teachings in
... India were not so bound up in their own views. But after
... the appearance of the Buddha, when they had listened to and
... observed the Buddhist teachings, they became aware of the
... shortcomings of their own doctrines. THEY THEN CONCEIVED
... THE CLEVER IDEA OF APPROPRIATING BUDDHIST TEACHINGS AND
... INCORPORATING THEM INTO THEIR OWN DOCTRINES, AND AS A
... RESULT THEY FELL INTO EVEN DEEPER ERROR THAN BEFORE. THESE
... ARE EXAMPLES OF THE ERRORS KNOWN AS “APPROPRIATING
... BUDDHISM” OR “PLAGIARIZING BUDDHISM.”
...

And this appropriation into Hinduism (the non-Buddhist schools of India), continues with the statue worshipers of Nichiren Shu, and now Nichiren Shoshu, since Alex is an active part of your Sangha.

... The same thing occurred in the case of non-Buddhist
... scriptures in China. Before Buddhism was brought to China,
... Confucianism and Taoism were rather naive and childish
... affairs. But in the Later Han, Buddhism was introduced to
... China and challenged the native doctrines. In time, as
... Buddhism became more popular, THERE WERE CERTAIN BUDDHIST
... PRIESTS WHO, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN THE PRECEPTS, WERE
... FORCED TO RETURN TO SECULAR LIFE, OR WHO ELECTED TO JOIN
... FORCES WITH THE NATIVE CREEDS. THROUGH SUCH MEN, BUDDHIST
... DOCTRINES WERE STOLEN AND INCORPORATED INTO THE CONFUCIAN
... AND TAOIST TEACHINGS.
...

This is much like the Nichiren Shu and now, Nichiren Shoshu and Iain's Sangha.

... In volume five of Great Concentration and Insight we read:
... “These days there are many devilish monks who break the
... precepts and return to lay life. Fearing that they will be
... punished for their action, they then go over to the side of
... the Taoists. Hoping to gain fame and profit, they speak
... extravagantly of the merits of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu,
... usurping Buddhist concepts and reading them into their
... erroneous scriptures. THEY TWIST WHAT IS LOFTY AND FORCE IT
... INTO A MEAN CONTEXT; THEY DESTROY WHAT IS EXALTED AND DRAG
... IT DOWN AMONG THE BASE, STRIVING TO PUT THE TWO ON AN EQUAL
... LEVEL.”

"They twist what is lofty and force it into a mean context; they destroy what is exalted and drag it down among the base, striving to put the two on an equal level."

That's what you guys are all about.

>
> Do you notice, Chas--- how Nichiren upheld the Lotus Sutra? Do you notice that he doesn't call himself, "Buddha"?
>

Absolutely Nichiren Daishonin does, over and over.

He refers to himself as a "common mortal".

The term "Daishonin" or "true Buddha" means "common mortal." Shakyamuni is a provisional Buddha, or a function of the true Buddha, which is a common mortal.

That's why the Gohonzon works so perfectly for everyone. It raises the enlightened aspect of not only the provisional Buddha function of Shakyamuni, but all the other provisional Buddhas and other functions in your life, when you add the "pure and far-reaching voice" invoking the daimoku of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.

Do I need to include those passages again? I will until you can grasp their truth, which you repeatedly are missing.

[snip the rest.]

-Chas.
_________________________________________________________

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 10:41:22 PM UTC-7, Katie Higgins wrote:

Yo! Chas - maybe the reason Nichiren does not refer to himself or his staunch followers as "Buddha" is because they are not " Buddha"-

Maybe you have noticed that only in the disputed Gosho, "The True Aspect of All Phrnomena" and the proven forgery , the Ogni Kuden , will you find such nonsensical references re: common mortals are Budfhas -- yaddy yaddy ---

[snip]
_________________________________________________________

On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 12:50:26 AM UTC-7, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:

But Chas, this is exactly your behaviour which can be clearly seen by reveiwing your postings. The evidence for such is actual in relation to you (readers can chevk this for themselves by using the forum index):

"THEY TWIST WHAT IS LOFTY AND FORCE IT
... INTO A MEAN CONTEXT; THEY DESTROY WHAT IS EXALTED AND DRAG
... IT DOWN AMONG THE BASE, STRIVING TO PUT THE TWO ON AN EQUAL
... LEVEL.”

[snip]
_________________________________________________________

On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 10:18:43 AM UTC-7, Katie Higgins wrote:

iainx, I think you are pointing out a very fundamental aspect of the attitudes and beliefs that Chas exemplifies here; the same *ends* justifies the *means* attitude that produced forgeries, fake doctrines -- in the name of *widespread propagation*.

What is Chas actually propagating? if not; Make it easy, make it about materialism, make it into a *business* --- He has no more qualm about lying and manipulation than the originators of the transfer documents, the ogni kudon , the dai-no-honzon!! They all believed the *ends* justified the *means*--

[snip]
_________________________________________________________

On Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 10:59:38 PM UTC-7, Chas. wrote:

How you congratulate and reinforce each other's different delusions! What a deadly embrace.

Katie (and Mark Rogow) discard the parts of Nichiren Daishonin's life work that they disagree with: those parts that point to the erroneous nature of their practice of worshiping Shakyamuni as a GOD.

Bowing down to images of another human being, they are like impoverished and starving children looking through the window outside of the supermarket, who will never get to eat the nutritious food inside, but will perpetually place all their devotion and desire on that food.

Little do they know there is food in their pockets already: as common mortals they have always been and will always be true Buddhas possessing the three bodies of the Buddha received from their parents, and entities of the Mystic Law, the Buddha of limitless joy.

Iain is worshiping the Law itself and has divorced that Law from the true Buddha, who is a common mortal. He is like a man in prison on a hunger strike, who has the keys to his cell in his pocket: as a common mortal he has always been and will always be the true Buddha of Beginningless Time and the Buddha of Absolute Freedom.

Although they appear to believe differently: Katie and Mark thinking the eternal Buddha is someone other than themselves who they must worship, and Iain thinking that the Buddha is the Law and no one he would follow in particular, they actually agree. They all think the Buddha is outside.

How tragic and pitiful.

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

unread,

Jul 19, 2017, 12:26:07 AM7/19/17

Well you repost comments that give readers the opportunity to see how " you perceive " the actual statements made by people you judge and label.

No real effort involved in this process you have honed over two decades -- no progress appears from your end -/ a dead end SGIKEDA practice , or so you demonstrate .

~ Katie

Chas.

unread,

Jul 19, 2017, 2:11:24 AM7/19/17

Iain makes a new buddhism, starting by attacking and replacing the SGI and President Ikeda +

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 2:42:29 PM UTC-8, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:
||| Does the emphasis modern SGI teaching places on the
||| mentor-disciple relationship help or hinder practice
||| of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's Buddhism?
|||
||| To address this question it is first necessary to define
||| what the SGI means by 'mentor'. The term is used in
||| 6 main ways by SGI:
|||
||| 1) The Law as mentor
||| 2) The Buddha as mentor
||| 3) One or other of the "3 Presidents"
||| 4) Mr Ikeda as mentor
||| 5) A generalised umbrella term that is used to refer to
||| any of 1-5 without being specific 6) A general concept that
||| wraps 1-5 into a 'oneness'
|||

You forgot countless. President Ikeda once called the Gohonzon the true mentor, he has mentioned being mentored by children he talks to, and by Zhou Enlai of China (and many others), and has said the SGI is filled with great mentors and that they should mentor each other.

||| Using this term in so many different senses invites
||| confusion.
|||

The true state of affairs in life is as confusing as hell. So, what?

Mentoring and being mentored in Nichiren Buddhism is good. If I shakubuku someone and they decide to come to a meeting, even if they don't decide to take up the practice and receive the Gohonzon right away, this is still an absolute good. They will without doubt attain enlightenment sooner than they would if they only heard me say Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo when I first invited them (I never, ever, forget to say Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.)

In all three cases the result is guaranteed, so why do I bother trying to get people to come to meetings (acting as their parent and mentor)? The answer is that there is an untold amount of human misery that can happen along the path towards enlightenment and I am a determined enemy of human misery: to diminish and end it, forthwith.

When I was yet unborn but residing in my mother's womb after September 1950, the martyred Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was still the President of the Soka Gakkai. Before my birth in June 1951, Josei Toda became the President of the Soka Gakkai. When I was nine, Daisaku Ikeda became the President of the Soka Gakkai. I claim all three as mentors.

Mr. Toda said, "Abolish human misery," and I have vowed to do so.

||| In terms of the Law and the Buddha, it is unnecessary,
||| since the acts of teaching, learning, embracing and
||| following are already implicit and explicit. In terms of
||| Nichiren's teaching 'Namu' underscores those actions.
|||
||| It can be helpful to describe the relationship between
||| human mentors and their disciples and a shared mission to
||| accomplish something. The question is should this linear
||| and usually personal relationship be conflated with faith
||| and practice of the Law or relationship with the Buddha?
|||
||| What happens, for instance, if the 'mentor' in the sense
||| of the 3 presidents or Mr Ikeda are at variance with the
||| Law or the Buddha? And if one has conflated them, will one
||| be able to spot if there is a variance?
|||
||| Associating these different usages things together, as is
||| done in 5) and 6), makes it hard to think about them
||| separately.
|||
||| Specifically, if one has got used to thinking about 1-5
||| as a 'oneness', if there is variance, then cognitive
||| dissonance with result. If one has accepted the proposition
||| that it is RIGHT to think of these things as a 'oneness'
||| then the likely response to any dissonance, will be to
||| excuse, overlook or dismiss the incongruity. And that's a
||| problem when it comes to practicing the Law.
|||

So picky. The principle mentor and disciple is about practicing the Lotus Sutra, not theorizing about it. In the Ceremony in the Air, the Buddha preaches the Law and the Bodhisattvas of the Earth arise and vow to receive the Law, protect it and spread it widely. This is an organized action and they had a leader name Jogyo, Superior Practices. They were not theorizing, like Shakyamuni's followers who were monks (and yourself), they were taking action (like President Ikeda and the SGI.)

||| Nichiren's stance is clear, he resisted bringing the Law,
||| The Buddha, The Sutra and spiritual teachers together in
||| this way and in the following passage we can see why.
|||

Baloney, not clear at all. You are simply avoiding doing the hard work of Kosen Rufu, by sitting and meditating about theory and chanting to pagodas.

||| "How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain
||| Buddhahood Through The Lotus Sutra"
|||
|||
||| WND Volume 1 page 872-873
|||
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/110#para-4
|||
||| "A sutra says: 'Rely on the Law and not upon persons.
||| Rely on the meaning of the teaching and not on the words.
||| Rely on wisdom and not on discriminative thinking. Rely on
||| sutras that are complete and final and not on those that
||| are not complete and final.'
|||
||| The meaning of this passage is that one should not rely
||| upon the words of the bodhisattvas and teachers, but should
||| heed what was established by the Buddha. It further means
||| that one should not rely upon the teachings of the True
||| Word, Zen, and Nembutsu schools, which are based upon the
||| sutras of the Flower Garland, Āgama, Correct and Equal, and
||| Wisdom periods, but should uphold the sutras that are
||| complete and final. And by relying upon 'sutras that are
||| complete and final,' it means upholding the Lotus Sutra."
|||
||| By keeping teachers (or mentors) and bodhisattvas
||| separate, he maintains the supremacy of the Law and The
||| Buddha as the spiritual authority. And by making
||| distinctions between the Sutras, he does the same.
|||

You are conflating "True Word, Zen, and Nembutsu schools" with the SGI and upholding the Lotus Sutra with yourself? You are clearly creating a new Sangha of Iain Buddhism now, by replacing the SGI and President Ikeda with yourself.

Also, the "A sutra" quoted by Nichiren Daishonin is the Nirvana Sutra, which we all know is final, but incomplete, although it is the Buddha's last word and testament. Literalists like yourself would note the inconsistency. Disciples who follow their mentors, like myself, will try to understand and follow the Buddha's last will and testament. That is mentor and disciple, too.

||| Clearly, it was important to him to ensure that his
||| followers understood this but why?
|||
||| Nichiren's writings are full of instances where he argues
||| that 'teachers' can and do lead their disciples astray,
||| specifically away from a correct faith in the Lotus Sutra.
||| He was also went to great lengths to avoid doing that
||| himself, which is why some people refer to Nichiren as a
||| 'scriptural' Buddhist.
|||
||| We can see this approach in the two translations of the
||| following passage:
|||
||| Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Vol , Page 543.
|||
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/66
|||
||| "Your process of questioning is backwards. If I had cited
||| passages from the commentaries of men such as T’ien-t’ai
||| and the others and you had then asked whether there were
||| passages from the sutras and treatises to support them,
||| that I could understand. But since I have already cited
||| sutra passages that clearly prove the argument, it is
||| hardly necessary to ask if there are similar passages in
||| the commentaries. If by chance you found that the sutras
||| and the commentaries disagreed, would you then discard the
||| sutras and follow the commentaries?"
|||
||| Writings of Nichiren Shonin, Doctrine 1, University of
||| Hawaii Press, page 195
|||
||| "Your question is out of order. You may ask for
||| scriptural proofs to back up statements in later
||| commentaries, but you may not look for proofs in later
||| commentaries when the statements in sutras are clear. Are
||| you going to side with commentaries against sutras in cases
||| where you find then contradictory?"
|||

I'm sorry, you can't dismiss Nichiren Daishonin (as a "later commentator" to be ignored) to avoid his admonitions against slander of the Law and towards refuting slander of the Law (which you have), and then quote him to support your attack on his true followers in the SGI.

You yourself said that the Lotus Sutra is the only mentor you will follow, so to be consistent with your denial of Nichiren Daishonin as mentor, please quit quoting him to undermine those true disciples of Nichiren Daishonin that actually follow him closely and carry out his intent by their actions, in the SGI.

You are either with Nichiren Daishonin or you are in Avichi Hell:

From the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 138,

... Point Seventeen, on the words "Abandoning restraint, they
... give themselves up to the five desires / and fall into the
... evil paths of existence."
...

... The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says:

... "Abandoning restraint" is a term designating slander of
... the Law. Those who do so are without doubt destined to
... fall into the Avichi hell.
...
... But now Nichiren and his followers, who chant
... Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, are exempted from the fate referred
... to in this passage of the sutra.

After summarily dismissing Nichiren Daishonin (have you every called him "Daishonin" in this forum? I think not) and then having the temerity to quote the dismissed Bodhisattva Superior Practices, you then have the utter gall to go on and interpret what he says and re-interpret the Lotus Sutra for yourself.

||| Here Nichiren is setting a priority between reliance on
||| the Sutra and the commentaries.
|||
||| It is not automatically bad to take heed of what teachers
||| or mentors have to say, they may have genuinely useful
||| insights.
|||
||| The issue is about keeping a separation between them and
||| setting the correct hierarchy so that one can evaluate
||| those insights against the benchmark of the Law, Buddha
||| and (Lotus) Sutra, whist maintaining the priority order
||| that maintains the supremacy of Law, Buddha and Sutra.
|||
||| In terms of any modern Nichiren sect that claims to
||| practice his teachings, one might add Nichiren's teaching
||| to the end of that pecking order.
|||
||| So we can see by this that the teaching of "the way
||| mentor disciple" as currently used by the SGI is at best
||| unclear and invites confusion in the practice of the Lotus
||| Sutra and at worst is open to abuse.
|||
||| Further more it is at odds with Nichiren's approach.
||| Where he deliberately separated these concepts to avoid
||| risk, the SGI brings then together and invites it.
|||
||| One particular problem is the emphasis with which the
||| mentor is given by some practitioners, which has potential
||| to obstruct their faith and hinder their practice. This
||| results from the general focus that is currently accorded
||| to thus teaching by SGI.
|||
||| It results in strange statements about having a
||| 'supercharged practice' as a result of embracing the mentor
||| or achieving radical life transformation as a result of
||| having 'made a relationship with Sensei (or 'my mentor').
||| As if pure faith in Namu myoho renge kyo and the Gohonzon
||| wasn't enough!
|||

People who have experienced what you have not, try and express their experiences in human terms that you can understand. That is mentoring. Just having faith in the Lotus Sutra and undermining the Sangha that encouraged your practice of that faith, is not a small evil, Iain.

||| Given that Nichiren Buddhism is fundamentally about
||| correct faith in the correct object of worship, this trend
||| should be worrying to any organisation that is concerned
||| with teaching thus Buddhism.
|||
||| There are indications that the focus on the mentor is
||| displacing Namu myoho renge kyo and the Gohonzon and
||| becoming a thing in itself that is considered as the means
||| for salvation.
|||
||| I'm sure some will object, pointing out that SGI continue
||| to chant the Daimoku to the Gohonzon and to teach about
||| Nichiren, the Daimoku and the Gohonzon. This is all true
||| however it's a red herring. It's not that the SGI does
||| these things, it's a question of how and to what degree.
|||
||| Put simply, anything that has the potential to damage
||| correct understanding and correct faith or to divert from a
||| central correct focus on the power of Namu myoho renge kyo
||| and the Gohonzon, should be put aside.
|||
||| We have seen how conflating different things by using the
||| same term to refer to them is not correct in terms of
||| Nichiren's teaching.
|||
||| If one goes further and then states "if one forgets the
||| way of mentor-disciple, one cannot attain enlightenment" as
||| Mr Ikeda does in his 2009 lecture on the Heritage of the
||| Ultimate Law of Life and Death, one can clearly see the
||| danger that Nichiren was warning his disciples about.
|||
||| To assert such a thing is not only irresponsible but it
||| is unsupportable on the basis of the Lotus Sutra and
||| Nichiren's teaching. The Sutra clearly teaches that if one
||| makes a relationship with the Sutra, even if one rejects it
||| or slanders it, one will attain enlightenment. Nichiren
||| teaches the same thing. So how can Mr Ikeda assert such a
||| thing and who do we take as right?
|||

What President Ikeda says is simply a reflection of his experience doing Kosen Rufu and by doing countless shakubuku and leading activities and seeing what has worked and what has not. You have none of that experience, Iain. Those who divide and undermine the Sangha, EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT BE RIGHT IN SOME SMALL PRINCIPLE, are doing a great evil to the greater Kosen Rufu movement.

Note that the Three Presidents all suffered under the yoke of an absolutely corrupt priesthood, and remained supportive, handing over vast amounts of money and follwing their rituals loyally. It was the ingratitude and jealousy of the NST priesthood that caused THEM to excommunicate US. That was the reward the SGI received from them. We didn't leave them, they kicked us out. We followed Nikko Shonin's admonitions to the bitter end as loyal disciples of the Fuji School. And like a tongue pushed to the side as the rotten tooth of Nichiren Shoshu is extracted from the mouth of the Fuji School, we will remain healthy in spite of their corruption. Their will be peripeteia, a reversal of fortune, for the Fuji School.

||| The answer should be clear based on Nichiren's statements
||| above. Mr Ikeda's teaching is to be disregarded. And yet
||| for many SGI members who have accepted the teaching of
||| mentor-disciple and accepted the notion that it is
||| legitimate to bring different things together to form a
||| oneness, will most probably either miss this variance with
||| the Sutra or find a way explain it away. It is likely that
||| if they have taken Daiseku Ikeda as their mentor that they
||| will favour him and accepted his teaching rather than
||| reject it on the basis of the Sutra.
|||
||| One nutshell, they are likely to reject Nichiren, reverse
||| the priority and assert his supremacy over that of the Law,
||| Buddha, The Sutra and Nichiren. And if they do that, they
||| will have damaged their faith.
|||
||| So, does the teaching of mentor disciple help or hinder
||| practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism? My answer to that is a
||| resounding no.
|||
||| The purpose of a teacher of the Law is to facilitate
||| their students to a correct faith and practice that becomes
||| self motivated and self sustaining and to get out of their
||| way when it does. In a sense it is the most humble role
||| that if done well is as effective as it is invisible.
|||
||| When the student establish a faith and practice that
||| results in the Law pulsing strongly through their lives as
||| it did with the Atsuhara believers the teacher knows they
||| have done what they came to do, it is time to quietly
||| celebrate one's achievement, laud the students achievement
||| and let go.
|||
||| Now that really is a mentor...

I take it that you are the "great teacher" showing President Ikeda and the SGI (and the "later commentator" Nichiren Daishonin) how to do this properly?

I will repeat what I said to you in another post.

I note that your preaching to your new Sangha is an attempt to mentor and collect disciples to your new Buddhism, Iain.

You have identified both Nichiren Daishonin as "later commentators" that you can ignore at your whim, by virtue of your vast wisdom and interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, replacing them both and putting forth your new Iain Buddhism.

There are three treasures, not two.

The Sangha is third of those, and a Sangha must have a
leader to survive.

Hence, not following the Sangha's leader means abandoning
the Sangha and forgoing one of the legs of that three
legged platform for your life.

Even though you misrepresented yourself as a member of
the SGI for two months after you abandoned it, you must
at least comprehend that.

Replacing the Buddha with oneself and stealing the
Buddha's Sangha are the acts of Devadatta, Iain. It all
starts out with lies and ends in misery.

Here's the initial revealing of the misrepresentation,
complete with putting the blame on others for your
actions:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren/eVElZxnOADY/fJGOdGdhDAAJ

On Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 8:59:06 AM UTC-8, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:
||| Oh and on a related note, I parted company with SGI on
||| the last day of 2015 and have been remiss in thanking you
||| for enabling me to understand how far it had drifted from
||| the organisation I joined (and would still join if it
||| taught the sane things and facilitated the sane pure
||| faith). I owe you a great debt of gratitude. :D

Note that the disciples are collecting already at the
bottom of that list of posts.

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 9:13:22 PM UTC-8, kahlei...@gmail.com wrote:
||| *applause* Iain your posts continue to give me life and
||| are a source of encouragement. Thank you. Daily life is
||| busy so at the moment i do not have time to post or even
||| read. But i do have a question I would like to get answered
||| from the gosho steeped people of this forum so will post
||| later.
||| Happy Thursday.

Here's the first failed attempt to form a Sangha outside
ARBN, which failed utterly [with Julian's responses],
which is why you continue to attempt to make this
forum your new Sangha:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren/RULYUjCHykc/eHiAld6SEAAJ

On Friday, January 1, 2016 at 1:32:11 PM UTC-8, Julian wrote:
> On 01/01/2016 18:19, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:
> ||| Thanks Chas, I know it wasn't directed at me and I've
> ||| guessed there's a history between David and you, lool I've
> ||| seen some of the exchanges here and on Narchive! Still, I
> ||| found it surprising and I restate that I don't think you do
> ||| that, at least I hope you wouldn't!!!
> |||
> ||| Odd that you're having posts blocked, I haven't had
> ||| that at all but hey. So what do you reckon? Shall we move
> ||| out of the wild west and into a moderated forum? What's
> ||| your vote? Alex? David? Mark? Anyone else?
> |||
> ||| If we want to do that, I'd want to set some ground
> ||| rules we could agree on and that keep the forum lively,
> ||| free yet not prone to excesses of objectionable posting.
> ||| Provided that's agreed and stated up front, very happy to
> ||| moderate a group on that basis...
> |||
> ||| What say you guys? :)
>
> I'm not interested in moderated fora unless I, alone, am
> the moderator.
> Even then it would be too tiresome to keep my interest
> beyond a day
> or so.

On Saturday, January 2, 2016 at 4:29:53 AM UTC-8, Julian wrote:
> On 01/01/2016 22:36, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:
> ||| OK, thanks Julian, that's a pity. Not even if it's a
> ||| loosely moderated forum and moderated openly to jointly
> ||| agreed criteria? If you change your mind, let me know. I
> ||| hope you're doing well by the way. Happy New Year to you :)
> |||
>
> In my experience, invariably, the moderators go insane
> corrupted by even so little power.

I have nothing to add there.

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

unread,

Jul 19, 2017, 7:57:22 AM7/19/17

Chas -/ really ?

Maybe you are trying to get your message across using puppets?

Direct communication seems too hard for your- and oh how much easier to play with the copy paste feature that animates your coveted archives !!

Don't suppose you care that you are not addressing concise points or even making a pretense of respectfully engaging in a sincere attempt at communicating?

~ Katie

JazzIs TvRicky

unread,

Jul 19, 2017, 7:46:12 PM7/19/17

https://dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=23047

A Guide to Nichiren's Teachings

The purpose of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism

Read this carefully as a Study Guide

Sincerely Richard H Brown A Votary of The Gohonzon of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Chas.

unread,

Jul 20, 2017, 12:32:02 AM7/20/17

Iain learns about Mentor and Disciple on the eve of his departure from the SGI +

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 2:42:29 PM UTC-8, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:

[Written 7 days after Iain's belated announcement
that he had left the SGI on January 1st.]

> Does the emphasis modern SGI teaching places on the
> mentor-disciple relationship help or hinder practice of the
> Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's Buddhism?
>
> To address this question it is first necessary to define
> what the SGI means by 'mentor'. The term is used in 6 main
> ways by SGI:
>
> 1) The Law as mentor
> 2) The Buddha as mentor
> 3) One or other of the "3 Presidents"
> 4) Mr Ikeda as mentor
> 5) A generalised umbrella term that is used to refer to
> any of 1-5 without being specific 6) A general concept that
> wraps 1-5 into a 'oneness'
>

You forgot countless. President Ikeda once called the Gohonzon the true mentor, he has mentioned being mentored by children he talks to, and by Zhou Enlai of China (and many others), and has said the SGI is filled with great mentors and that they should mentor each other.

> Using this term in so many different senses invites
> confusion.
>

The true state of affairs in life is as confusing as hell. So, what?

.
. Skip all this ...
.
.

We begin with Iain's first (and I'm sure not the last) failed attempt (foiled by Julian) to create a new Sangha, one day after he secretly left the SGI:

unread,

Jul 28, 2017, 11:35:56 AM7/28/17

Your presumption is that your meager skills at translation can be put up against Professor Burton Watson, the greatest translator of ancient Japanese and Chinese into common English.

That presumption is so laughable as to be clearly in the realm of the insane, like Jon-Jon Ayres' and Ricky's fantasy mass movements.
____________________________________________

Katie Higgins, Mark Rogow, Iain, Noel and Ricky all need to fear slander of the Law, as Nichiren Daishonin and his followers do +

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren/5DLc_yCbSgA/gowoHAHtFQAJ
On Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 11:18:32 AM UTC-8, iainx...@gmail.com wrote:
||| Here's one for you Chas..."BOO!"...
|||
||| I know I shouldn't do that to people wracked with
||| phobias (irrational fears), who are scared of their own
||| shadow (not to mention, hell, yakuza, martial arts,
||| alternative healing arts, most movies, porn stars,
||| anything that could possibly touched toxic Zen, recycling
||| - probably - see the toxic Zen point) but I can't resist.
|||
||| There is a great way to overcome those phobias apart
||| from some good professional intervention. I know of a
||| really good practice that reliably brings forth the
||| qualities of wisdom, courage and compassion...not to
||| mention abundant life-force.
|||
||| Let me know if you're interested. It's not hard to
||| learn, can be bit difficult to carry on, like anything -
||| gym, diet, etc. etc.
|||
||| But do watch out for the cowboys, they'll have you
||| thinking you need to buy it and that you have to do extra
||| things for it to work AND they don't teach it right - well
||| they have to keep adding things to convince you theirs is
||| unique and change the formula to keep you hooked and keep
||| it profitable.
|||
||| It's - like soap powder really, you end up with less
||| active ingredient, mixed with with lots of useless crap
||| and you end up paying through the nose - advertising and
||| marketing costs.
|||
||| In some cases those additives are harmful, just like the
||| bakers additives in years gone by or the modern
||| equivalents that have made it into diets worldwide
||| especially in USA and UK...
|||
||| But you don't need those branded spiritual "products",
||| the original is simple, cheap and much more effective,
||| ditch the personal trainer, get a better results and save
||| yourself lots of money and harm.
|||
||| What about spiritual humanism, helping suffering people?
||| Oh well if you want to join an organisation that's
||| focussed on that well there are lots of aid agencies but
||| be careful, charities and "humanitarian" orgs. in
||| particular have a reputation for using this as a cover.
|||
||| You want to check out their finances in particular and
||| their mission statement. There should be independent
||| scrutiny and evidence on how effective they are at
||| achieving their goals and maximising use of their
||| donations. They should have good governance and financial
||| transparency and control.
|||
||| For example, a few have been found to be diverting funds
||| away from their primary goals and the people they're
||| supposed to be helping. In such orgs, a high percentage is
||| spent on administration costs, chief executive and senior
||| leaders salaries, plush offices, unnecessary technology
||| advertising, unnecessary real estate acquisition, vanity
||| projects, consultant costs, political lobbying,
||| entertaining etc.
|||
||| That leaves little to actually help the people they are
||| supposed to be helping or achieve the mission they are
||| supposed to be focused on.
|||
||| Three religious organisations provide a comparison to
||| SGI and a prompt for further research. SGI is by no means
||| the only player in this spiritual arena that espouses the
||| warm and fluffy values that it pushes forward. It was
||| distinct in its faith, belief in Gohonzon and Daimoku but
||| it seems not the quite understand what it teaches it
||| believes anymore or at least keeps changing it. Current
||| flavour of the month is 'mentor-disciple'
|||
||| Arguably there are other organisations that are much
||| more effective and from whom SGI may have borrowed.
|||
|||
||| The Quakers seem to have a good rep.
|||
||| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers
|||
||| Originally from the UK, they seem to keep it small in an
||| organisational sense but are very good at putting their
||| beliefs into action, they've been doing it well for
||| centuries. The SGI deems to have borrowed quite a lot of
||| their approach, turned it into rhetoric but hasn't modeled
||| their organisation along Quaker lines and their sense of
||| equality of faith either.
|||
||| There's Tzu Chi, seems very good at actually helping
||| people in crisis and responding to disasters.
|||
||| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzu_Chi
|||
||| Started in the 60's from a sewing circle of 6 people.
||| Also Lotus Sutra based but non Nichiren. Some
||| controversies.
|||
||| In the Nichiren line there's Rissho Kosei Kai. They
||| chant Daimoku but it's a different focus.
|||
||| Established before Mr Toda's Nichiren Shoshu Soka
||| Gakkai, it's entirely possible that RKK may have provided
||| NSSG (SGI) with some of the templates that the latter then
||| adopted for its organisational activities/structure. The
||| similarities are stiking. Equally, RKK may have learned
||| from NSSG (SGI). It's likely the two nay have learned
||| from each other but RKK seems to have attracted less
||| critical press, be generally well-regarded and better at
||| delivering practical help.
|||
||| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risshō_Kōsei_Kai
|||
||| Is very good on interfaith, seems quite good on
||| campaigning to end poverty and hunger, some controversies
||| but generally seems to be effective and we'll thought of.
||| Has a similar discussion meeting type thing going on. Not
||| sure about financial transparency though. Might be worth
||| futher checking out.

A phobia is a psychological condition that you are uncredited to diagnose, that being an unreasonable fear of something that can only be feared by an irrational person.

You think you are making light of me (and WHO would care about THAT), but in fact you are making light of Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra.

Iain, you should fear slander of the Law more than fearing attack or disapproval from the authorities, or from your peer group, or from the risk of death itself. Nichiren speaks volumes on this one topic, and in fact he never fails to warn his followers and whomever he is writing to, with regards to fearing slander of the Law. I will highlight the key points in UPPERCASE, so that you won't miss them, this time.

This on evil friends and mad elephants, from "On the Protection of the Nation", WND II

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/181#para-347
... Therefore the Nirvana Sutra states: “Bodhisattvas and
... mahāsattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. WHAT YOU SHOULD
... FEAR ARE EVIL FRIENDS! WHY? BECAUSE A MAD ELEPHANT CAN ONLY
... DESTROY YOUR BODY; IT CANNOT DESTROY YOUR MIND. BUT AN EVIL
... FRIEND CAN DESTROY BOTH BODY AND MIND. A MAD ELEPHANT CAN
... DESTROY ONLY A SINGLE BODY, BUT AN EVIL FRIEND CAN DESTROY
... COUNTLESS GOOD BODIES AND COUNTLESS GOOD MINDS. A MAD
... ELEPHANT MERELY DESTROYS AN IMPURE, STINKING BODY, BUT AN
... EVIL FRIEND CAN DESTROY BOTH PURE BODY AND PURE MIND. A MAD
... ELEPHANT CAN DESTROY THE PHYSICAL BODY, BUT AN EVIL FRIEND
... DESTROYS THE DHARMA BODY. 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. A MAD ELEPHANT IS MERELY AN ENEMY OF YOUR
... BODY, BUT AN EVIL FRIEND IS AN ENEMY OF THE GOOD LAW.
... THEREFORE, BODHISATTVAS, YOU SHOULD AT ALL TIMES KEEP FAR
... AWAY FROM EVIL FRIENDS.”

And also this on the same topic, from "Reply to Hoshina Gōrō Tarō", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/15#para-16

... Yet it should be known that, while the non-Buddhist
... practitioners possessed such impressive powers, they could
... not escape the flames of the Avīchi hell, not to mention
... those with only trivial powers of transformation. Even
... less can slanderers of the great vehicle avoid this fate.
... The priests of the True Word school are evil friends to
... all living beings. Avoid them; fear them. The Buddha
... states: “Have no fear of mad elephants. WHAT YOU SHOULD
... FEAR ARE EVIL FRIENDS! Why? Because a mad elephant can
... only destroy your body; it cannot destroy your mind. But
... an evil friend can destroy both body and mind. A mad
... elephant can destroy only a single body, but an evil
... friend can destroy countless bodies and countless minds. A
... mad elephant merely destroys an impure, stinking body, but
... an evil friend can destroy both pure body and pure mind. A
... mad elephant can destroy the physical body, but an evil
... friend destroys the Dharma body. 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. A mad elephant is merely an
... enemy of your body, but an evil friend is an enemy of the
... good Law.” THEREFORE, EVEN MORE THAN VENOMOUS SERPENTS
... OR MALEVOLENT DEMONS, ONE SHOULD FEAR THE EVIL FRIENDS WHO
... FOLLOW KŌBŌ, SHAN-TAO, AND HŌNEN. THIS IS JUST A BRIEF
... CLARIFICATION OF THE ERROR OF HOLDING DISTORTED VIEWS.

And then also this, from "What It Means to Slander the Law", WND II

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/188#para-84

... Answer: The various sutras say that one should shun the
... company of women, but I would point to the passage in the
... Nirvana Sutra, which the Buddha preached in the grove of
... sal trees just before his death: “Bodhisattvas! Though you
... can perceive the countless faults and ailings that attach
... to and beset your bodies, because you have made up your
... minds to accept and abide by the Nirvana Sutra, it will
... guide and protect you and will not cause you to be
... lacking. Bodhisattvas, have no fear of mad elephants. WHAT
... YOU SHOULD FEAR ARE EVIL FRIENDS! WHY? BECAUSE A MAD
... ELEPHANT CAN ONLY DESTROY YOUR BODY; IT CANNOT DESTROY
... YOUR MIND. BUT AN EVIL FRIEND CAN DESTROY BOTH BODY AND
... MIND. A MAD ELEPHANT CAN DESTROY ONLY A SINGLE BODY, BUT
... AN EVIL FRIEND CAN DESTROY COUNTLESS GOOD BODIES AND
... COUNTLESS GOOD MINDS. . . . 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 meaning of this passage is that, if one cares about
... the next life, ONE SHOULD FEAR ALL KINDS OF CAUSES THAT
... LEAD TO REBIRTH IN THE EVIL PATHS. BUT EVEN MORE THAN SUCH
... CAUSES, ONE SHOULD FEAR EVIL FRIENDS OR TEACHERS.

In this passage Nichiren Daishonin goes into much detail describing precisely how the evil friending process works with deception and flattery, etc. Seems reminiscent of someone in this forum, yes?

From "On Reciting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra", WND II

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/186#para-42
... Therefore the “Encouraging Devotion” chapter reads: “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 . . .” This passage
... means that, in that muddied and evil age, monks will fail
... to understand that the teachings they put their faith in
... are no more than an expedient means preached by the Buddha
... in accordance with what is appropriate. Thus when persons
... appear who clearly distinguish between the provisional
... teachings and the true teaching, these monks will revile
... them and attempt to refute their arguments. This is all
... because evil demons have taken possession of them, although
... they are not aware that this has happened.
...
... THEREFORE, WHAT THE UNINFORMED PEOPLE OF THIS LATTER AGE
... SHOULD MOST FEAR ARE NOT SWORDS AND STAVES OR TIGERS AND
... WOLVES, OR PERSONS WHO COMMIT THE TEN EVIL ACTS OR THE FIVE
... CARDINAL SINS, BUT RATHER THOSE MONKS WHO ARE EQUIPPED WITH
... THREE ROBES AND ONE BEGGING BOWL, THOSE BENIGHTED
... PRACTITIONERS OF ZEN, AND THE LAY BELIEVERS WHO ESTEEM
... MONKS WHO FOLLOW THE PROVISIONAL TEACHINGS AND HATE THOSE
... WHO PRACTICE THE TRUE TEACHING.
...
... For this reason, the twenty-second volume of the Nirvana
... Sutra states: “Have no fear of mad elephants. WHAT YOU
... SHOULD FEAR ARE EVIL FRIENDS! WHY? BECAUSE A MAD ELEPHANT
... CAN ONLY DESTROY YOUR BODY; IT CANNOT DESTROY YOUR MIND.
... BUT AN EVIL FRIEND CAN DESTROY BOTH BODY AND MIND. . . .
... 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.”
...
... Regarding the meaning of this sutra passage, the Great
... Teacher Chang-an says: “MAD ELEPHANTS MERELY INFLICT HARM
... ON OTHERS; THEY DO NOT AROUSE EVIL IN PEOPLE’S MINDS. BUT
... EVIL FRIENDS EMPLOY ENTICING WORDS, DECEPTION AND FLATTERY,
... CLEVER SPEECH AND AN AFFABLE MANNER, AND IN THIS WAY CAUSE
... OTHERS TO DO EVIL. AND IN LEADING THEM TO DO EVIL, THEY
... ARE DESTROYING THE GOOD MINDS THAT ARE IN THEM. TO DESTROY
... GOOD MINDS IS TO KILL PEOPLE, THAT IS, TO CAUSE THEM TO
... FALL INTO HELL.”
...
... THIS PASSAGE OF COMMENTARY MEANS THAT EVIL FRIENDS WILL
... EMPLOY ENTICING WORDS, DECEPTION AND FLATTERY AND SPEAK IN
... A CLEVER MANNER, THEREBY GAINING CONTROL OVER THE MINDS OF
... IGNORANT AND UNINFORMED PEOPLE AND DESTROYING THE GOOD
... MINDS THAT ARE IN THEM. AND THE PASSAGE FROM THE NIRVANA
... SUTRA IS MEANT TO WARN US THAT PERSONS WHO SLANDER THE LAW
... AND ARE ICCHANTIKAS ARE MORE TO BE FEARED THAN THOSE WHO
... COMMIT THE TEN EVIL ACTS OR THE FIVE CARDINAL SINS. THE
... TERM “ICCHANTIKA” REFERS TO THOSE WHO SPEAK EVIL OF THE
... LOTUS AND NIRVANA SUTRAS.

In the Letter to Niike, WND I, Nichiren Daishonin warns us that simply associating with slanderers: "those with impure hearts" (beyond the point of shakubuku) is complicity.

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/145#para-8
... Neither Buddhas nor gods would ever accept contributions
... from those who slander the correct teaching. Then how can
... we human beings accept them? The deity of Kasuga Shrine
... proclaimed through an oracle that he would accept nothing
... from those with impure hearts, though he should have to
... eat the flames of burning copper; that he would refuse to
... set foot in their homes, though he should have to sit on
... red-hot copper. He would rather come down to a miserable
... hut with weeds choking the passageway, or to a poor
... thatched house. He declared that he would never visit
... persons lacking in faith, even if they hung sacred
... festoons for a thousand days to welcome him, but that he
... would go to a house where the people have a mind of
... faith, even though they might be in mourning for a
... parent. Lamenting that slanderers have overrun this
... country, the benevolent gods have abandoned it and
... ascended to heaven. “THOSE WITH IMPURE HEARTS” MEANS
... THOSE WHO REFUSE TO EMBRACE THE LOTUS SUTRA, AS IS STATED
... IN THE FIFTH VOLUME OF THE SUTRA. If the gods themselves
... regard alms from slanderers as more abominable than the
... flames of burning copper, how could we human beings
... possibly accept them? If someone were to kill our parents
... and then try to offer us some gift, could we possibly
... accept it? NOT EVEN WISE PERSONS OR SAGES CAN AVOID THE
... HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING IF THEY ACCEPT OFFERINGS FROM
... SLANDERERS. NOR SHOULD YOU ASSOCIATE WITH SLANDERERS, FOR
... IF YOU DO, YOU WILL SHARE THE SAME GUILT AS THEY. THIS
... YOU SHOULD FEAR ABOVE ALL.
...
... Shakyamuni Buddha is the father, sovereign, and teacher
... of all the other Buddhas and all the gods, of the whole
... assembly of human and heavenly beings, and of all living
... beings. How could the heavenly gods and benevolent
... deities rejoice if the Buddha were killed? Today all the
... people of our country have proved to be enemies of
... Shakyamuni Buddha, but more than laymen or laywomen, it
... is the priests with perverse wisdom and hearts who are
... the Buddha’s worst enemies. There are two kinds of
... wisdom, correct and perverse. NO MATTER HOW WISE A PERSON
... MAY APPEAR, IF HIS ASSERTIONS ARE WARPED YOU SHOULD NOT
... LISTEN TO HIM. NOR SHOULD YOU FOLLOW PRIESTS MERELY
... BECAUSE THEY ARE VENERABLE OR OF HIGH RANK. But if a
... person has the wisdom to know the true meaning of the
... Lotus Sutra, no matter how lowly he may appear, pay
... respect to him and make offerings to him as though he
... were a living Thus Come One . Thus it is written in the
... sutra. That is why the Great Teacher Dengyō says that
... the men and women who believe in this sutra, even if they
... lack knowledge or violate the precepts, should be seated
... above priests who observe all two hundred and fifty
... precepts of the Hinayana teachings, and never be seated
... in a humble position, and that this is all the more true
... of the priests of this Mahayana sutra.

And complicity in slander is a complex and wide-reaching phenomenon: for individuals, for families and for countries. Hence the importance of the Kosen Rufu movement and the profound punishment that comes from undermining it. From the "Letter to Akimoto", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-25

... In practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, there are
... three principles that must be understood. The first is
... that regarding slanderers. The monk Superior Intent, the
... monk Shore of Suffering, the Scholar Vimalamitra, and the
... Great Arrogant Brahman are examples. These men dressed
... their bodies in the three robes, lifted a single begging
... bowl up before their eyes, and meticulously observed the
... two hundred and fifty precepts, and yet they were in fact
... enemies of the Mahayana and in the end fell into the great
... citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... In recent times in Japan there have been men like Kōbō,
... Jikaku, and Chishō who observed the precepts just as those
... earlier monks did and who did not differ from them in
... wisdom. But because they asserted that the True Word
... teaching of the Mahāvairochana Sutra ranked first and the
... Lotus Sutra ranked second or third, if my view of the
... matter should by any chance be correct, they are now in
... the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... IT IS A FEARFUL THING TO UTTER SUCH WORDS, AND STILL MORE
... DOES ONE HESITATE TO PUT THEM INTO WRITING. BUT WHEN THE
... BUDDHA HIMSELF HAS DECLARED THAT THE LOTUS SUTRA IS
... FOREMOST, IF ONE LEARNS OF A PERSON WHO RANKS IT SECOND OR
... THIRD AND, OUT OF FEAR OF OTHER PEOPLE OR OF GOVERNMENT
... AUTHORITIES, FAILS TO SPEAK OUT, THEN “ONE IS IN FACT HIS
... ENEMY,” THAT IS, ONE IS ACTING AS A FEARFUL ENEMY TO ALL
... LIVING BEINGS. THIS IS STATED IN BOTH THE SUTRAS AND THE
... COMMENTARIES, AND SO I SPEAK OUT.
...
... TO SPEAK OUT WITHOUT FEARING OTHERS AND WITHOUT FLINCHING
... BEFORE SOCIETY—THIS IS WHAT THE SUTRA MEANS WHEN IT SAYS,
... “WE CARE NOTHING FOR OUR BODIES OR LIVES BUT ARE ANXIOUS
... ONLY FOR THE UNSURPASSED WAY.”
...
... It is not that one does not recall the calumny, the staves
... and stones that were suffered by Bodhisattva Never
... Disparaging. It is not that one is unafraid of the world.
... It is just that the censure of the Lotus Sutra is even
... more severe. It is like the case of Sukenari and
... Tokimune, who acted as they did even though they found
... themselves in the camp of the shogun, because they longed
... to avenge themselves upon their enemy and were
... ashamed at the thought of failing to do so.
...
... THE ABOVE IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL
... SLANDERERS.
...
... AS FOR THE FAMILIES OF SLANDERERS, THE FAMILY MEMBERS MAY
... PASS THEIR ENTIRE LIVES WITHOUT SLANDERING THE LOTUS
... SUTRA. BUT EVEN THOUGH THEY PRACTICE IT EVERY HOUR OF THE
... DAY AND NIGHT, THE FACT THAT THEY WERE BORN INTO THE
... FAMILY OF A SLANDERER MEANS THAT THEY WILL INVARIABLY BE
... REBORN IN THE HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING. For example,
... those persons who were born into the family of the monk
... Superior Intent or the monk Shore of Suffering and became
... their disciples or lay supporters all fell, against their
... will, into the hell of incessant suffering. Or it is like
... the family members of Yoshimori. Setting aside those who
... gave their lives in battle, even the children still in
... their mothers’ wombs, torn from their mothers’ bellies,
... were killed before birth.
...
... NOW I, NICHIREN, HAVE MENTIONED THE THREE GREAT TEACHERS
... KŌBŌ, JIKAKU, AND CHISHŌ, WHO BOLDLY STATE IN THEIR
... WRITINGS THAT THE LOTUS SUTRA REPRESENTS THE REGION OF
... DARKNESS, THAT IT IS A FALSE AND DELUDED DOCTRINE. IF WHAT
... THE LOTUS SUTRA ITSELF SAYS IS CORRECT, THEN WHAT DO YOU
... SUPPOSE WILL BECOME OF THE PRIESTS AT MOUNT HIEI, TŌ-JI,
... ONJŌ-JI, THE SEVEN MAJOR TEMPLES OF NARA—AT ALL THE 11,037
... TEMPLES THROUGHOUT JAPAN? IF THE EXAMPLES CITED EARLIER
... ARE ANY INDICATION, THEY WILL WITHOUT A DOUBT FALL INTO
... THE GREAT CITADEL OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING.
...
... SUCH IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO THE FAMILIES OF
... SLANDERERS.
...
... NEXT, WE COME TO THE COUNTRY OF SLANDERERS. THOSE PERSONS
... WHO HAPPEN TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE THERE ARE SLANDERERS
... OF THE LAW WILL ALL—EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY—BE
... CONDEMNED TO THE GREAT CITADEL OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT
... SUFFERING. JUST AS ALL THE VARIOUS WATERS GATHER IN THE
... GREAT OCEAN, SO ALL KINDS OF MISFORTUNE GATHER ABOUT SUCH
... A COUNTRY. THEY WILL ABOUND IN THE WAY THAT GRASS AND
... TREES ABOUND ON A MOUNTAIN.
...
... When the three calamities pile up month after month and
... the seven disasters appear day after day, then hunger and
... thirst will prevail and the country will be changed into a
... realm of hungry spirits. When plague and disease sweep
... over the land, the country will become a realm of hell.
... When warfare breaks out, it will be transformed into a
... realm of asuras. And when parents, brothers, and sisters,
... ignoring the fact that they are kin, begin taking each
... other for a husband or wife, the country will become a
... realm of animals. Under such circumstances, one does not
... have to wait until death to fall into the three evil
... paths. While one is still alive, the country in which one
... lives will be changed into these four evil realms.
...
... SUCH IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO A COUNTRY WHERE
... SLANDERERS LIVE.
...
... The people in such a country will be like those who lived
... in the Latter Day of the Law of the Buddha Great
... Adornment, or in the defiled age of the Buddha Lion Sound
... King. Or if what the Repaying Debts of Gratitude Sutra
... tells us is true, people will eat the flesh of their own
... deceased parents or brothers or sisters or of any other
... dead person, and they will eat live creatures as well.
...
... JAPAN AT PRESENT IS JUST SUCH A COUNTRY. THE ENTIRE NATION
... IS FULL OF PEOPLE WHO EAT HUMAN FLESH SUCH AS THE TEACHERS
... OF THE TRUE WORD SCHOOL, PRIESTS OF THE ZEN SCHOOL, AND
... OBSERVERS OF THE PRECEPTS. AND THIS HAS COME ABOUT WHOLLY
... AS A RESULT OF THE FALSE DOCTRINES OF THE TRUE WORD SCHOOL.
...
... Ryūzō-bō is merely one of the countless eaters of human
... beings whose case has happened to come to light. In a
... spirit similar to his, people procure human flesh and mix
... it with boar or deer meat, or cut it up and blend it with
... fish or fowl, pound it or pickle it, and then sell
... it. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE EATEN
... IT. ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE THE COUNTRY HAS BEEN
... CAST ASIDE BY THE HEAVENLY GODS AND ABANDONED BY THE
... BENEVOLENT DEITIES WHO WATCH OVER AND PROTECT IT. IN THE
... END, THIS COUNTRY WILL BE ATTACKED BY OTHER NATIONS, ITS
... INHABITANTS WILL FALL TO FIGHTING AMONG THEMSELVES, AND IT
... WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO A VERITABLE HELL OF INCESSANT
... SUFFERING.
...
... BECAUSE I, NICHIREN, HAVE FOR SOME TIME BEEN ABLE TO SEE
... THE GREAT ERROR OF ITS WAYS, BECAUSE I WISH TO AVOID THE
... OFFENSE OF COMPLICITY IN SLANDER, BECAUSE I FEAR THE
... ACCUSATIONS OF THE BUDDHA, AND BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND MY
... OBLIGATIONS AND WISH TO REPAY THE DEBT OF GRATITUDE I OWE
... MY COUNTRY, I HAVE ANNOUNCED AND MADE KNOWN ALL OF THIS TO
... THE RULER OF THE COUNTRY AND TO ALL ITS INHABITANTS.

Even the buddhist gods fear slandering the Law. This is why they flee countries where slander of the Law prevails widely, unabated by refutation and shakubuku. This causes their protection to dwindle for an entire country.

From "Letter to Niike", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/145#para-12
... Now that I am spreading the Lotus Sutra as the Buddha’s
... envoy, however, everyone from the ruler on down to the
... common people has become a slanderer of the correct
... teaching. So far Hachiman has done everything possible to
... prevent hostility toward the Lotus Sutra from developing
... among the people of this country, as reluctant to abandon
... them as parents would be to abandon an only child, even
... if it were unfilial. BUT NOW IN FEAR OF BREAKING THE
... PLEDGE HE MADE AT EAGLE PEAK, HE HAS BURNED DOWN HIS
... SHRINE AND ASCENDED TO HEAVEN. EVEN SO, SHOULD THERE BE A
... VOTARY OF THE LOTUS SUTRA WHO WOULD GIVE HIS BODY AND
... LIFE FOR IT, HACHIMAN WOULD DWELL UPON HIS HEAD. But
... since both the Sun Goddess and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman
... have gone, how could the other gods remain in their
... shrines? Even if they did not wish to leave, how could
... they stay another day if I reproached them for not
... keeping the promise they made at Eagle Peak? A person may
... be a thief, but as long as no one knows, he can live
... wherever he wishes. But when denounced as a thief by
... someone who knows him, he is forced to leave his dwelling
... against his will. In the same way, because I know of
... their vow, the gods are compelled to abandon their
... shrines. Contrary to popular belief, this country has
... become inhabited by evil demons. How pitiful!

What are the major constituents of slander of the Law in a practical sense? They mostly come down to plagiarizing and appropriating Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra into their corrupted teachings and practices (hence Zen, the martial arts, etc.: what Iain calls my phobias)

The Opening of the Eyes (I)

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/30#para-18

... They refuse to acknowledge that even a single person
... possesses the Buddha nature. In spite of this, one will
... sometimes hear members of the Precepts and Establishment
... of Truth schools declaring that there are Buddhas in the
... ten directions, or that all living beings possess the
... Buddha nature. This is because the teachers of these
... schools who appeared after the passing away of the Buddha
... had STOLEN THESE MAHAYANA DOCTRINES AND INCORPORATED THEM
... INTO THE TEACHINGS OF THEIR OWN SCHOOLS.
...
... TO ILLUSTRATE, IN THE PERIOD BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF
... BUDDHISM, THE PROPONENTS OF THE NON-BUDDHIST TEACHINGS IN
... INDIA WERE NOT SO BOUND UP IN THEIR OWN VIEWS. BUT AFTER
... THE APPEARANCE OF THE BUDDHA, WHEN THEY HAD LISTENED TO
... AND OBSERVED THE BUDDHIST TEACHINGS, THEY BECAME AWARE OF
... THE SHORTCOMINGS OF THEIR OWN DOCTRINES. THEY THEN
... CONCEIVED THE CLEVER IDEA OF APPROPRIATING BUDDHIST
... TEACHINGS AND INCORPORATING THEM INTO THEIR OWN DOCTRINES,
... AND AS A RESULT THEY FELL INTO EVEN DEEPER ERROR THAN
... BEFORE. THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF THE ERRORS KNOWN AS
... “APPROPRIATING BUDDHISM” OR “PLAGIARIZING BUDDHISM.”

After observing the history of plagiarizing and appropriating and distorting and piling slander upon slander for dozens of generations, Nichiren Daishonin came up with what Nikko Shonin called the "Four Dictims". From "Letter to Akimoto", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-15
... BUT I, NICHIREN, ONE MAN ALONE, DECLARE THAT THE
... RECITATION OF THE NAME OF AMIDA BUDDHA IS AN ACTION THAT
... LEADS TO REBIRTH IN THE HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING, THAT
... THE ZEN SCHOOL IS THE INVENTION OF THE HEAVENLY DEVIL,
... THAT THE TRUE WORD SCHOOL IS AN EVIL DOCTRINE THAT WILL
... DESTROY THE COUNTRY, AND THAT THE PRECEPTS SCHOOL AND THE
... OBSERVERS OF THE PRECEPTS ARE TRAITORS TO THE NATION.
...
... Because I do so, from the sovereign on down to the common
... people, all people fear me more than they would an enemy
... of their parents, an enemy from a past existence, a
... plotter of treason, a night raider, or a bandit. They
... rage, they curse, they strike at me. Those who slander me
... are given grants of land, while those who praise me are
... driven from their areas or fined, and the people who
... desire to kill me are singled out for rewards. And on top
... of all this, I have twice incurred the wrath of the
... authorities.

However, as it was in the case of T'ien-T'ai and Miao-lo, some new slanders have emerged since Nichiren Daishonin's lifetime. They also must be refuted. From "On Repaying Debts of Gratitude", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/88#para-79
... In the T’ien-t’ai school, however, there appeared a priest
... known as the Great Teacher Miao-lo. Though he lived more
... than two hundred years after the time of the Great Teacher
... T’ien-t’ai, because he was extremely wise and had a clear
... understanding of the teachings of T’ien-t’ai, he perceived
... that the meaning of T’ien-t’ai’s commentaries was that the
... Lotus Sutra is superior to the Profound Secrets Sutra and
... the Dharma Characteristics school, which were both
... introduced to China after T’ien-t’ai’s time, and to the
... Flower Garland school and the True Word school with its
... Mahāvairochana Sutra, both of which were first established
... in China.
...
... Up until then, either because T’ien-t’ai’s followers
... lacked the wisdom to see what was wrong, or because they
... feared others or were in awe of the ruler’s power, no one
... had spoken out. It was clear that a correct understanding
... of the teachings of T’ien-t’ai was about to be lost, and
... that the erroneous doctrines that were rife surpassed even
... those that had prevailed in northern and southern China in
... the period before the Ch’en and Sui dynasties. THEREFORE,
... MIAO-LO WROTE COMMENTARIES ON T’IEN-T’AI’S WORKS IN THIRTY
... VOLUMES, THE WRITINGS KNOWN AS THE ANNOTATIONS ON “GREAT
... CONCENTRATION AND INSIGHT,” THE ANNOTATIONS ON “THE
... PROFOUND MEANING OF THE LOTUS SUTRA,” AND THE ANNOTATIONS
... ON “THE WORDS AND PHRASES OF THE LOTUS SUTRA.” NOT ONLY
... DID THESE THIRTY VOLUMES OF COMMENTARY SERVE TO ELIMINATE
... PASSAGES OF REPETITION IN T’IEN-T’AI’S WORKS AND TO
... ELUCIDATE POINTS THAT WERE UNCLEAR, BUT AT THE SAME
... TIME, IN ONE STROKE, THEY REFUTED THE DHARMA
... CHARACTERISTICS, FLOWER GARLAND, AND TRUE WORD SCHOOLS,
... WHICH HAD ESCAPED T’IEN-T’AI’S CENSURES BECAUSE THEY DID
... NOT EXIST IN CHINA DURING HIS LIFETIME.

Sadly, it is quite difficult to call out the latter day followers so far removed from the initial crime of plagiarizing and appropriating the Lotus Sutra into their corrupted teachings. A good example of this is Dogen, who fancied the Lotus Sutra so much that he incorporated pieces into his writings. He is the father of Soto Zen (seated meditation), which is what most Zen believers practice, and he died not long after the Daimoku was first chanted on April 28, 1253.

Nichiren says that in spite of the extreme difficulty of calling out the profoundly ignorant followers of evil, that you must do so anyway. From "On Repaying Debts of Gratitude", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/88#para-31

... Question: Do you really proclaim that Ch’eng-kuan of the
... Flower Garland school, Chia-hsiang of the Three Treatises
... school, Tz’u-en of the Dharma Characteristics school, and
... Shan-wu-wei and the others of the True Word school on down
... to Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō are the enemies of the Buddha?
...
... Answer: This is a very important question, a matter of the
... gravest concern to the Buddha’s teachings. Yet, on
... examining the text of the sutra, I find that, if someone
... should declare that there is a sutra superior to the Lotus
... Sutra, then regardless of who that person may be, he or
... she cannot escape the charge of slandering the Law.
... Therefore, if we go by what the sutra says, then persons
... such as this must be regarded as enemies of the Buddha.
... And if, out of fear, I fail to point out this fact, then
... the distinctions of relative merit made among the various
... sutras will all have been made in vain.
...
... IF, OUT OF AWE OF THESE GREAT TEACHERS OF THE PAST, I
... SHOULD SIMPLY POINT AT THEIR LATTER-DAY FOLLOWERS AND CALL
... THEM ENEMIES OF THE BUDDHA, THEN THESE LATTER-DAY
... FOLLOWERS OF THE VARIOUS SCHOOLS WOULD SAY: “THE ASSERTION
... THAT THE MAHĀVAIROCHANA SUTRA IS SUPERIOR TO THE LOTUS
... SUTRA IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE OURSELVES INVENTED ON OUR
... OWN. IT IS THE DOCTRINE TAUGHT BY THE PATRIARCHS OF OUR
... SCHOOL. THOUGH WE MAY BE NO MATCH FOR THEM IN OBSERVING
... THE PRECEPTS, IN WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING, OR IN STATUS,
... WHEN IT COMES TO THE DOCTRINES THAT THEY TAUGHT, WE NEVER
... DIVERGE FROM THEM IN THE SLIGHTEST.” AND IN THAT CASE, ONE
... WOULD HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THEY ARE GUILTY OF NO FAULT.
...
... NEVERTHELESS, IF I KNOW THAT THIS ASSERTION IS FALSE AND
... YET, OUT OF FEAR OF OTHERS, I FAIL TO SAY SO, THEN I WILL
... BE IGNORING THE STERN WARNING OF THE BUDDHA, WHO SAID,
... “[IT IS LIKE A ROYAL ENVOY WHO] WOULD RATHER, EVEN THOUGH
... IT COSTS HIM HIS LIFE, IN THE END CONCEAL NONE OF THE
... WORDS OF HIS RULER.”

What constitutes slander is in contrast, that which glorifies the Lotus Sutra even more: the ability of the Lotus Sutra to save ALL the people. From "Rebuking Slander of the Law", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/48#para-42
... ALL THE PEOPLE THROUGHOUT JAPAN HAVE BEEN LED ASTRAY BY
... THE WILD ASSERTIONS OF HŌNEN, WHO TELLS THEM TO “DISCARD,
... CLOSE, IGNORE, AND ABANDON” [THE LOTUS SUTRA], OR OF THE
... ZEN SCHOOL, WHICH DECLARES ITS TEACHING TO BE “A SEPARATE
... TRANSMISSION OUTSIDE THE SUTRAS,” SO THAT THERE IS NOT A
... SINGLE ONE WHO IS NOT DESTINED TO FALL INTO THE GREAT
... CITADEL OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING. So believing,
... over the past more than twenty years I have never ceased
... to cry out in a loud voice against these errors, fearing
... neither the ruler of the nation nor the common people. I
... am in no way inferior to the outspoken ministers Kuan
... Lung-feng and Pi Kan of old. I am like the thousand-armed
... Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, the bodhisattva of great
... compassion, who strives to rescue at once all the beings
... confined to the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... WHEN SEVERAL CHILDREN ARE CAUGHT IN A FIRE, THOUGH THE
... PARENTS WISH TO SAVE THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME, HAVING
... ONLY TWO ARMS, THEY MUST DECIDE WHICH CHILD TO SAVE FIRST
... AND WHICH TO LEAVE UNTIL AFTER. THE LOTUS SUTRA IS A
... PARENT WITH A THOUSAND ARMS, TEN THOUSAND ARMS, OR A
... MILLION ARMS. THE SUTRAS PREACHED BEFORE THE LOTUS SUTRA
... HAVE ONLY ONE OR TWO ARMS, AS IT WERE. BUT THE LOTUS
... SUTRA, THROUGH WHICH THE BUDDHA HAS “CONVERTED ALL LIVING
... BEINGS AND CAUSED THEM ALL TO ENTER THE BUDDHA WAY,” IS
... A BODHISATTVA WITH INNUMERABLE ARMS.

Challenging Iain's depictions of these "phobias", Nichiren Daishonin warns his followers to be truly fearful of slander of the Law, outlining the punishments that go on and on ...

From "Reply to Hoshina Gōrō Tarō", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/15#para-14
... The Great Teacher Miao-lo states, “I call upon those with
... eyes to examine this thoroughly.” Is one not without
... eyes who regards the Lotus Sutra as inferior to the
... Flower Garland Sutra? The Nirvana Sutra reads, “If there
... are persons who slander the correct teaching of the
... Buddha, their tongues should be cut off.” Ah, how pitiful
... that those slandering tongues will utter no words in
... world after world, and that the eyes clouded by false
... views will fall out in lifetime after lifetime, seeing
... nothing! Moreover, 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 Avīchi
... hell.” IF THIS STATEMENT IS VALID, KŌBŌ WILL SURELY FALL
... INTO THE GREAT CITADEL OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING
... WHERE HE WILL UNDERGO AGONY FOR IMMEASURABLE MILLIONS OF
... KALPAS. YOU SHOULD ALSO RECOGNIZE THE FATE OF SHAN-TAO
... AND HŌNEN THROUGH HIS EXAMPLE. WHO AMONG THOSE ENDOWED
... WITH WISDOM WILL DIP INTO THE STREAM OF SUCH SLANDEROUS
... TEACHINGS AND BE CONSUMED TOGETHER WITH THESE MEN IN THE
... FLAMES OF THE AVĪCHI HELL? TRULY, THE PRACTITIONERS OF
... BUDDHISM SHOULD FEAR THIS. THESE ARE ALL PERSONS OF
... PROFOUNDLY DISTORTED VIEWS. IN THIS CONNECTION, WE FIND,
... AMONG THE TRUE AND GOLDEN WORDS OF THE THUS COME ONE:
... “[THIS DEVIL KING PĀPĪYAS WILL IN TIME TRY] TO DESTROY
... THE CORRECT TEACHING OF MINE. HE WILL BE LIKE A HUNTER
... WHO WRAPS HIS BODY IN A PRIESTLY ROBE. HE WILL CHANGE HIS
... FORM INTO THAT OF A STREAM-WINNER, A ONCE-RETURNER, A
... NON-RETURNER, AN ARHAT, A PRATYEKABUDDHA, OR A BUDDHA,
... AND WILL TRY TO DESTROY THE CORRECT TEACHING OF MINE.”

And those punishments apply to those slandering the Law and also those attacking the Sangha that faithfully propagates the Law correctly. From "Embracing the Lotus Sutra", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/8#para-41

... TO IGNORE THE SUPREMACY OF THE LOTUS SUTRA AND ASSERT THAT
... OTHER SUTRAS STAND ON A PAR WITH IT IS TO COMMIT THE WORST
... POSSIBLE SLANDER OF THE LAW, A MAJOR OFFENSE OF THE UTMOST
... GRAVITY. NO ANALOGY COULD SUFFICE TO ILLUSTRATE IT. THE
... BUDDHAS, FOR ALL THEIR POWERS OF MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION,
... COULD NEVER FINISH DESCRIBING ITS CONSEQUENCES, AND THE
... BODHISATTVAS, WITH ALL THE WISDOM AT THEIR COMMAND, COULD
... NOT FATHOM ITS IMMENSITY. THUS, THE “SIMILE AND PARABLE”
... CHAPTER OF THE LOTUS SUTRA SAYS, “IF I WERE TO DESCRIBE
... THE PUNISHMENTS [THAT FALL ON PERSONS WHO SLANDER THIS
... SUTRA], I COULD EXHAUST A KALPA AND NEVER COME TO THE
... END.” THIS PASSAGE MEANS THAT NOT EVEN A WHOLE KALPA WOULD
... BE TIME ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN THE FULL GRAVITY OF THE OFFENSE
... OF A PERSON WHO ACTS EVEN ONCE AGAINST THE LOTUS SUTRA.
...
... For this reason, a person who commits this offense will
... never be able to hear the preaching of the Buddhas of the
... three existences, and will be cut off from the doctrines
... of the Thus Come Ones, who are as numerous as the sands of
... the Ganges. Such a person will move from darkness into
... greater darkness. How could he escape the pains and
... sufferings of the great citadel of the Avīchi hell? Could
... a thoughtful person fail to dread the prospect of lengthy
... kalpas of misery?
...
... THUS THE SUTRA STATES, “IF THIS PERSON . . . ON SEEING
... THOSE WHO READ, RECITE, COPY, AND UPHOLD THIS SUTRA,
... SHOULD DESPISE, HATE, ENVY, OR BEAR GRUDGES AGAINST THEM .
... . . WHEN HIS LIFE COMES TO AN END HE WILL ENTER THE AVĪCHI
... HELL.” THIS PASSAGE MEANS THAT A PERSON WHO DESPISES,
... LOOKS DOWN ON, HATES, ENVIES, OR HOLDS A GRUDGE AGAINST
... THOSE WHO READ AND EMBRACE THE LOTUS SUTRA WILL FALL INTO
... THE GREAT CITADEL OF THE AVĪCHI HELL AFTER HE DIES. WHO
... COULD HELP BUT FEAR THESE GOLDEN WORDS OF THE GREAT SAGE?
... AND WHO COULD DOUBT THE CLEAR-CUT PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE
... BUDDHA WHEN HE SAID, “HONESTLY DISCARDING EXPEDIENT MEANS,
... [I WILL PREACH ONLY THE UNSURPASSED WAY]”?

In "On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land", WND I, Nichiren Daishonin, speaking as the host, strictly explains the matter of punishment to the guest, who is questioning why the punishments are so severe. You should listen to the hosts words, Iain, as if he were speaking directly to you. He declares his only hatred is for the act of slandering the Law.

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/2#para-101

... 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 Maudgalyāyana have for a long time been sunk in
... the depths of the hell of incessant suffering. Because
... Devadatta murdered the nun Utpalavarnā, he has for a long
... time gasped in the flames of the Avīchi 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?

Written 27 years after first chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, Nichiren Daishonin writes about four kinds of punishment: general and individual, conspicuous and inconspicuous. He indicates that responding to the challenges posed by those facing these kinds of punishments takes the courage of the Lion King. From "On Persecutions Befalling the Sage", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/138#para-5
... In the past, and in the present Latter Day of the Law, the
... rulers, high ministers, and people who despise the
... votaries of the Lotus Sutra seem to be free from
... punishment at first, but eventually they are all doomed to
... fall. The same is true in the case of Nichiren. There
... seemed at first to be no signs of protection for me. The
... gods who vowed to protect the Lotus Sutra, however—Brahmā,
... Shakra, the gods of the sun and moon, and the four
... heavenly kings—by now have realized in terror that if they
... leave their oath to the Buddha unfulfilled, as they have
... done for these twenty-seven years, they will fall into the
... great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
... Consequently each of them is now striving to carry out his
... vow. The deaths of Ōta Chikamasa, Nagasaki Jirō Hyōe-no-jō
... Tokitsuna, and Daishin-bō, who was thrown from his
... horses, can be seen as punishment for their treachery
... against the Lotus Sutra. THERE ARE FOUR KINDS OF
... PUNISHMENT: GENERAL AND INDIVIDUAL, CONSPICUOUS AND
... INCONSPICUOUS. THE EPIDEMICS AND FAMINES THAT HAVE
... ATTACKED JAPAN, AS WELL AS THE STRIFE WITHIN THE RULING
... CLAN AND THE FOREIGN INVASION, ARE GENERAL PUNISHMENT.
... EPIDEMICS ARE A FORM OF INCONSPICUOUS PUNISHMENT. THE
... DEATHS OF ŌTA AND THE OTHERS ARE BOTH CONSPICUOUS AND
... INDIVIDUAL.
...
... EACH OF YOU SHOULD SUMMON UP THE COURAGE OF A LION KING
... AND NEVER SUCCUMB TO THREATS FROM ANYONE. THE LION KING
... FEARS NO OTHER BEAST, NOR DO ITS CUBS. SLANDERERS ARE LIKE
... BARKING FOXES, BUT NICHIREN’S FOLLOWERS ARE LIKE ROARING
... LIONS. The lay priest of Saimyō-ji, now deceased, and the
... present ruler permitted my return from my exiles when
... they found that I was innocent of the accusations against
... me. The present ruler shall no longer take action on any
... charge without confirming its truth. You may rest assured
... that nothing, not even a person possessed by a powerful
... demon, can harm Nichiren, because Brahmā, Shakra, the gods
... of the sun and moon, the four heavenly kings, the Sun
... Goddess, and Hachiman are safeguarding him. Strengthen
... your faith day by day and month after month. Should you
... slacken in your resolve even a bit, devils will take
... advantage.
...
... WE COMMON MORTALS ARE SO FOOLISH THAT WE DO NOT FEAR
... EITHER THE WARNINGS IN THE SUTRAS AND TREATISES, OR THOSE
... THINGS THAT SEEM SOMEWHAT REMOVED FROM US. When Hei no
... Saemon and Akitajō-no-suke, in their anger, wreak havoc
... upon us, you must demonstrate a firm resolve. Men are now
... being sent to Tsukushi [to fight the Mongols]; consider
... yourselves in the same position as those who are on their
... way or are already at the fortifications. So far our
... believers have not experienced sorrows of that sort. The
... warriors in Tsukushi, however, now face a dreadful fate,
... and if they are killed in battle, they are doomed to fall
... into hell. Although at present we are encountering the
... severe trials of persecution, in our next life we will
... become Buddhas. OUR PRESENT TRIBULATIONS ARE LIKE
... MOXIBUSTION; AT THE TIME, IT IS PAINFUL, BUT BECAUSE IT
... HAS BENEFICIAL AFTEREFFECTS, THE PAIN IS NOT REALLY PAIN.

In this passage from "Letter from Sado", WND I, Nichiren Daishonin writes about the confusion regarding Buddhism in his time, and in ours there is not less confusion. Then he explains why the heart of the lion is needed to fight for the true teaching, and against the false and corrupt teachings that have powerful and aggressive followers, such as Zen.

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/32#para-4

... Buddhism should be spread by the method of either shōju or
... shakubuku, depending on the age. These are analogous to
... the two worldly ways of the literary and the military. The
... great sages of old practiced the Buddhist teachings as
... befitted the times. The boy Snow Mountains and Prince
... Sattva offered their bodies when urged that by doing so
... they would hear the teaching in return, and that
... giving one’s life constitutes bodhisattva practice. But
... should one sacrifice one’s life at a time when it is not
... required? In an age when there is no paper, one should use
... one’s own skin. In an age when there are no writing
... brushes, one should use one’s own bones. In an age when
... people honor the observers of the precepts and the
... practitioners of the correct teaching while they denounce
... those who break or ignore the precepts, one should
... strictly follow the precepts. In an age when Confucianism
... or Taoism is used to suppress Shakyamuni’s teachings, one
... should risk one’s life to remonstrate with the emperor, as
... did the Dharma teachers Tao-an and Hui-yüan and the
... Tripitaka Master Fa-tao. In an age when people confuse
... Hinayana and Mahayana teachings, provisional and true
... teachings, or exoteric and esoteric doctrines, as though
... unable to distinguish gems from tiles and stones or cow’s
... milk from donkey’s milk, one should strictly
... differentiate between them, following the example of the
... great teachers T’ien-t’ai and Dengyō.
...
... IT IS THE NATURE OF BEASTS TO THREATEN THE WEAK AND FEAR
... THE STRONG. OUR CONTEMPORARY SCHOLARS OF THE VARIOUS
... SCHOOLS ARE JUST LIKE THEM. THEY DESPISE A WISE MAN
... WITHOUT POWER, BUT FEAR EVIL RULERS. THEY ARE NO MORE THAN
... FAWNING RETAINERS. ONLY BY DEFEATING A POWERFUL ENEMY CAN
... ONE PROVE ONE’S REAL STRENGTH. WHEN AN EVIL RULER IN
... CONSORT WITH PRIESTS OF ERRONEOUS TEACHINGS TRIES TO
... DESTROY THE CORRECT TEACHING AND DO AWAY WITH A MAN OF
... WISDOM, THOSE WITH THE HEART OF A LION KING ARE SURE TO
... ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD. LIKE NICHIREN, FOR EXAMPLE. I SAY THIS
... NOT OUT OF ARROGANCE, BUT BECAUSE I AM DEEPLY COMMITTED TO
... THE CORRECT TEACHING. AN ARROGANT PERSON WILL ALWAYS BE
... OVERCOME WITH FEAR WHEN MEETING A STRONG ENEMY, AS WAS THE
... HAUGHTY ASURA WHO SHRANK IN SIZE AND HID HIMSELF IN A
... LOTUS BLOSSOM IN HEAT-FREE LAKE WHEN REPROACHED BY SHAKRA.
... Even a word or a phrase of the correct teaching will
... enable one to gain the way, if it suits the time and the
... capacity of the people. But though one studies a thousand
... sutras and ten thousand treatises, one will not attain
... Buddhahood if these teachings are unsuitable for the time
... and the people’s capacity.

In the Gosho letter "Wu-lung and I-lung", WND I below, Nichiren Daishonin deals with an example of a situation where slander of the Law is incurred at the death of a father with ceremonies based on teachings other than the Lotus Sutra. The Daishonin explains that the father's eternal life will be based on the meretorious practice of the daughter and the slanderous ceremonies will not have the deleterious effect that they might otherwise have had.

However, Nichiren Daishonin DOES NOT counsel her to join in with those slanderers and practicers of evil. In fact, it is her attitude of concern over the issue of slander of the Law that he praises. Be like her, Iain.

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/162#para-2

... In your letter you mention the anniversary of the passing
... of your compassionate father, the lay priest Matsuno
... Rokurō Saemon. You say, “Since he left many sons behind,
... memorial services for him will be conducted in as many
... different ways. I fear, however, that such ceremonies will
... be slanderous unless strictly based on the Lotus Sutra.”
... Shakyamuni Buddha’s golden teaching states, “The
... World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now
... must reveal the truth.” The Buddha Many Treasures gave
... testimony, declaring, “The Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful
... Law . . . all that you [Shakyamuni] have expounded is the
... truth!” And the Buddhas of the ten directions gave
... credence to the sutra’s verity by extending their tongues
... to the Brahmā heaven.
...
... ...
...
... I-lung said, “It was my hand that wrote the titles. How
... could you have been saved? Moreover, I did not write them
... with sincerity. How could it possibly have helped you?”
... His father replied: “HOW IGNORANT YOU ARE! YOUR HAND IS MY
... HAND, AND YOUR BODY IS MY BODY. THE CHARACTERS YOU WRITE
... ARE THE CHARACTERS I WRITE. ALTHOUGH YOU HAD NO FAITH IN
... YOUR HEART, YOU NEVERTHELESS WROTE THE TITLES WITH YOUR
... HAND. THEREFORE, I HAVE ALREADY BEEN SAVED. THINK OF A
... CHILD WHO SETS FIRE TO SOMETHING AND, WITHOUT THE LEAST
... INTENTION OF DOING SO, CAUSES IT TO BE BURNED. THE SAME
... HOLDS TRUE WITH THE LOTUS SUTRA. IF ONE PROFESSES FAITH IN
... IT, ONE WILL SURELY BECOME A BUDDHA, EVEN THOUGH ONE MAY
... NOT EXPECT IT IN THE LEAST. NOW THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THIS
... PRINCIPLE, NEVER SLANDER THE LOTUS SUTRA. Since we are
... among the laity, however, we are in a better position to
... repent of our past slanderous words, no matter how grave
... they may have been.”
...
... I-lung reported all this to the ruler. The ruler said, “My
... wish has been answered with splendid results.” From then
... on, I-lung basked increasingly in the royal favor, and the
... entire populace of the country came to revere the Lotus
... Sutra.
...
... The late Gorō and the late lay priest Matsuno were,
... respectively, your son and father. YOU ARE THE LAY
... PRIEST’S DAUGHTER. I BELIEVE, THEREFORE, THAT HE MUST AT
... THIS VERY MOMENT BE IN THE INNER COURT OF THE TUSHITA
... HEAVEN. HŌKI-BŌ WILL READ AND EXPLAIN THIS LETTER TO
... YOU. Since I wrote in haste, it was impossible to furnish
... details.

Iain, you can complain all you want about your relationship with the ruler who has given you the message to deliver (see the below passage.) In the end you will either deliver the full content of Nichiren's unaltered message from the Lotus Sutra, or remain a traitor to the Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra.

What you are preaching now in your brand new Iain school, the practice of effectively "just chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and focus on the Lotus Sutra" is not what Nichiren teaches, no matter how you twist his words (and you are one hell of a good twister of words, Iain.)

Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra both teach the way of shakubuku. Shakubuku is NOT the propagation of slander and distortions of the Lotus Sutra, which is what it would be to be propagating the Daimoku and the Lotus Sutra without its protection from corruption, distortion, appropriating and plagiarism of the Lotus Sutra. That protection from slander of the Law is shakubuku and that practice must be propagated along with the Lotus Sutra and its Daimoku, otherwise slander of the Law will invariably result.

From "On Repaying Debts of Gratitude"

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/88#para-33

... If, out of awe of these great teachers of the past, I
... should simply point at their latter-day followers and call
... them enemies of the Buddha, then these latter-day
... followers of the various schools would say: “The assertion
... that the Mahāvairochana Sutra is superior to the Lotus
... Sutra is not something that we ourselves invented on our
... own. It is the doctrine taught by the patriarchs of our
... school. Though we may be no match for them in observing
... the precepts, in wisdom and understanding, or in status,
... when it comes to the doctrines that they taught, we never
... diverge from them in the slightest.” And in that case, one
... would have to admit that they are guilty of no fault.
...
... NEVERTHELESS, IF I KNOW THAT THIS ASSERTION IS FALSE AND
... YET, OUT OF FEAR OF OTHERS, I FAIL TO SAY SO, THEN I WILL
... BE IGNORING THE STERN WARNING OF THE BUDDHA, WHO SAID,
... “[IT IS LIKE A ROYAL ENVOY WHO] WOULD RATHER, EVEN THOUGH
... IT COSTS HIM HIS LIFE, IN THE END CONCEAL NONE OF THE
... WORDS OF HIS RULER.”
...
... WHAT AM I TO DO? IF I SPEAK UP, I FACE FEARFUL OPPOSITION
... FROM THE WORLD AT LARGE. BUT IF I AM SILENT, I CAN HARDLY
... ESCAPE THE CONDEMNATION OF FAILING TO HEED THE BUDDHA’S
... STERN WARNING. FORWARD OR BACKWARD, MY WAY IS BLOCKED.
...
... YET PERHAPS IT IS ONLY TO BE EXPECTED. FOR, AS THE LOTUS
... SUTRA STATES, “SINCE HATRED AND JEALOUSY TOWARD THIS SUTRA
... ABOUND EVEN WHEN THE THUS COME ONE IS IN THE WORLD, HOW
... MUCH MORE WILL THIS BE SO AFTER HIS PASSING?” AGAIN
... ELSEWHERE, “IT WILL FACE MUCH HOSTILITY IN THE WORLD AND
... BE DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE.”

Leaving the Lotus Sutra unprotected by refusing to refute slander of the Law IS slander of the Law. And it is cowardice, as well. To attain supreme perfect enlightenment, you must be a heroic protector of the Lotus Sutra, like Nichiren Daishonin. That means being fearful of slander and then dealing with it, when it presents itself in a challenge to your buddhahood.

From "Condolences on a Deceased Husband", WND II

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/299#para-49
... Unless I had some astute plan in mind, it seemed best to
... remain silent and not to speak out. And yet in the classics
... of non-Buddhist literature it is said that if a worthy man
... knows that the world faces destruction and fails to speak
... out, then he is a mere toady, a sycophant, a person with no
... sense of obligation. Therefore the worthy men Kuan
... Lung-feng and Pi Kan spoke out fearlessly on matters that
... concerned the safety of the nation, even though it meant
... that Kuan Lung-feng’s head was cut off and Pi Kan’s breast
... torn open.
...
... TURNING TO BUDDHIST LITERATURE, WE FIND THAT THE BUDDHA HAS
... WARNED THAT, IF A PERSON SEES AN ENEMY OF THE LOTUS SUTRA
... BUT FAILS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST HIM BECAUSE OF FEAR OF THE
... WORLD, THEN HE IS A FOE OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA. NO MATTER HOW
... WISE OR GOOD HE MAY BE, HE WILL ASSUREDLY FALL INTO THE
... HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING. SUCH A PERSON IS LIKE A SON
... WHO SEES SOMEONE ABOUT TO KILL HIS PARENTS BUT FAILS TO
... WARN THEM, OR A MINISTER WHO SEES SOMEONE BRINGING RUIN ON
... HIS SOVEREIGN BUT, FEARFUL OF THE WORLD, DOES NOT SPEAK OUT
... IN REPRIMAND. SUCH BEHAVIOR THE BUDDHA PROHIBITS.
...
... For this reason, Bodhisattva Āryadeva, who was an envoy of
... the Buddha, was killed by a follower of the non-Buddhist
... teachings; the Venerable Āryasimha had his head cut off by
... King Dammira; the Chinese priest Chu Tao-sheng was driven
... into exile in a mountain in Su-chou; and the priest Fa-tao
... was branded on the face. All these men met with such fates
... because they honored the Buddhist teachings and did not
... quail before the authority of the ruler.

And likewise in "Letter to Akimoto", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-64

... THE BUDDHA HAS CONSTANTLY WARNED US, SAYING THAT, NO
... MATTER HOW GREAT AN OBSERVER OF THE PRECEPTS ONE MAY BE,
... NO MATTER HOW LOFTY IN WISDOM AND WELL VERSED IN THE LOTUS
... SUTRA AND THE OTHER SCRIPTURES, IF ONE SEES AN ENEMY OF
... THE LOTUS SUTRA BUT FAILS TO REBUKE AND DENOUNCE HIM OR
... REPORT HIM TO THE RULER OF THE NATION, INSTEAD KEEPING
... SILENT OUT OF FEAR OF OTHERS, THEN ONE WILL INVARIABLY
... FALL INTO THE GREAT CITADEL OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT
... SUFFERING. SUPPOSE, BY WAY OF ANALOGY, THAT ONE COMMITS NO
... TREASONABLE ACT ONESELF, BUT KNOWS OF SOMEONE WHO IS
... PLOTTING TREASON. IF ONE FAILS TO INFORM THE RULER, THEN
... ONE IS GUILTY OF THE SAME CRIME AS THE PERSON WHO IS
... PLOTTING TREASON.
...
... THE GREAT TEACHER NAN-YÜEH HAS STATED, “IF ONE SEES A FOE
... OF THE LOTUS SUTRA AND YET FAILS TO CENSURE HIM, ONE
... BECOMES A SLANDERER OF THE LAW AND WILL FALL INTO THE
... HELL OF INCESSANT SUFFERING.” EVEN A MAN OF GREAT
... WISDOM, IF HE SEES SUCH A PERSON AND FAILS TO SPEAK OUT,
... WILL FALL INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE HELL OF INCESSANT
... SUFFERING, AND AS LONG AS THAT HELL SHALL ENDURE, HE WILL
... NEVER ESCAPE.
...
... I, Nichiren, FEARING THESE ADMONITIONS OF THE BUDDHA,
... accordingly accused all those throughout the nation who
... were deserving of it, and more than once I was condemned
... to exile or to death. Believing that my past offenses had
... now been eradicated, and that I was blameless of any
... fault, I left Kamakura to take up residence on this
... mountain, and since then seven years have passed.

Cowards cannot attain the supreme perfect enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. And being a heroic protector of the Lotus Sutra will not likely make you stylish, popular or sexy. From "Letter to Hōren", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/62#para-115

... Question: At what times should one offer one’s body, and
... at what times should one observe the precepts?
...
... Answer: A person of wisdom is one who, understanding the
... time, spreads the teachings of the Lotus Sutra
... accordingly; this is his most important task. If a
... person’s throat is dry, what he needs is water; he has no
... use for bows and arrows, weapons and sticks. If a person
... is naked, he wants a suit of clothes but has no need for
... water. From one or two examples you can guess the
... principle that applies in general.
...
... Suppose there is a great demon who is working to spread
... the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. In such a case one
... should offer one’s own body as alms to the demon; there is
... no need to offer any other food or clothing.
...
... OR SUPPOSE THERE IS AN EVIL RULER WHO IS BENT UPON
... DESTROYING THE TEACHINGS OF THE LOTUS SUTRA. IN SUCH A
... CASE, EVEN AT THE COST OF ONE’S LIFE ONE MUST NOT OBEY
... HIM. AND IF THERE SHOULD BE EMINENT PRIESTS WHO KEEP THE
... PRECEPTS AND PRACTICE RELIGIOUS AUSTERITIES, AND WHO
... APPEAR TO BE SPREADING THE TEACHINGS OF THE LOTUS SUTRA
... BUT ARE, IN FACT, SUBVERTING THEM, YOU SHOULD PERCEIVE THE
... TRUTH OF THE MATTER AND REPRIMAND THEM.
...
... The Lotus Sutra says, “We care nothing for our bodies or
... lives but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.” And
... the Nirvana Sutra states, “It is like a royal envoy who .
... . . would rather, even though it costs him his life, in
... the end conceal none of the words of his ruler.” The Great
... Teacher Chang-an commented on this: “‘[A royal envoy . . .
... would rather], even though it costs him his life, in the
... end conceal none of the words of his ruler’ means that
... one’s body is insignificant while the Law is supreme. One
... should give one’s life in order to propagate the
... Law.”
...
... JUDGING FROM OUTWARD APPEARANCES, AT PRESENT I, NICHIREN,
... AM THE MOST PERVERSE MAN IN ALL OF JAPAN. AMONG A HUNDRED,
... A THOUSAND, TEN THOUSAND, OR A MILLION PEOPLE OF THE FOUR
... CATEGORIES OF BELIEVERS IN THE SIXTY-SIX PROVINCES AND TWO
... OUTLYING ISLANDS OF OUR COUNTRY, I AM DETESTED BY THE
... ENTIRE POPULACE OF BOTH HIGH AND LOW STATION. IN THE SEVEN
... HUNDRED OR MORE YEARS SINCE THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA
... WERE FIRST INTRODUCED TO JAPAN, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN
... ANYONE WHO WAS HATED TO SUCH A DEGREE BECAUSE OF THE LOTUS
... SUTRA. I HAVE NEVER HEARD THAT SUCH PERSONS EXISTED IN
... INDIA OR CHINA, NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT THEY COULD HAVE
... EXISTED. THUS, I AM THE MOST PERVERSE MAN IN THE ENTIRE
... LAND OF JAMBUDVĪPA.
...
... Because of this, even my own kindred dare not visit me, to
... say nothing of those who are not related to me. They fear
... the authority of the government officials and regard with
... apprehension the sneers of the populace. Persons who have
... been helped by me, not only in religious matters but in
... secular affairs as well, fearful of the eyes of others and
... hoping thereby to put an end to talk, make a show of
... condemning me, though I do not think they do so in their
... hearts.

As I wrote this, I had a brush with death on Friday going to work at 6:20 AM. I acquired some cosmetic injuries and a couple of broken bones, but thankfully it was no where near what it could have been. I saw this coming from some ways off, but the lessening of karmic retribution from Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is truly the most wonderful thing. I sleep in the palm of the Buddha.

It is so important to keep chanting and fighting until the moment of your death. From "On Practicing the Buddha’s Teachings", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/42#para-20
... LIFE FLASHES BY IN BUT A MOMENT. NO MATTER HOW MANY
... TERRIBLE ENEMIES YOU MAY ENCOUNTER, BANISH ALL FEARS AND
... NEVER THINK OF BACKSLIDING. EVEN IF SOMEONE WERE TO CUT
... OFF OUR HEADS WITH A SAW, IMPALE OUR BODIES WITH LANCES,
... OR SHACKLE OUR FEET AND BORE THEM THROUGH WITH A GIMLET,
... AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE, WE MUST KEEP CHANTING
... NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. THEN, IF WE
... CHANT UNTIL THE VERY MOMENT OF DEATH, SHAKYAMUNI, MANY
... TREASURES, AND THE BUDDHAS OF THE TEN DIRECTIONS WILL COME
... TO US INSTANTLY, EXACTLY AS THEY PROMISED DURING THE
... CEREMONY AT EAGLE PEAK. Taking our hands and bearing us on
... their shoulders, they will carry us to Eagle Peak. The two
... sages, the two heavenly kings, and the ten demon
... daughters will guard us, while all the heavenly gods and
... benevolent deities will raise a canopy over our heads and
... unfurl banners on high. They will escort us under their
... protection to the treasure land of Tranquil Light. How can
... such joy possibly be described!

I trust the Gohonzon absolutely and without limit. I will act in faith with the courage of a lion, no matter what occurs. From "Reply to Kyō’ō", WND I

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/45#para-2
... Since I heard from you about Kyō’ō, I have been praying to
... the gods of the sun and moon for her every moment of the
... day. ALWAYS CHERISH THE GOHONZON THAT I GAVE YOU SOME TIME
... AGO FOR HER PROTECTION. THE GOHONZON WAS NEVER KNOWN, LET
... ALONE INSCRIBED, BY ANYONE IN THE FORMER OR MIDDLE DAY OF
... THE LAW. THE LION KING IS SAID TO ADVANCE THREE STEPS,
... THEN GATHER HIMSELF TO SPRING, UNLEASHING THE SAME POWER
... WHETHER HE TRAPS A TINY ANT OR ATTACKS A FIERCE ANIMAL. IN
... INSCRIBING THIS GOHONZON FOR HER PROTECTION, NICHIREN WAS
... LIKE THE LION KING. THIS IS WHAT THE SUTRA MEANS BY “THE
... POWER [OF THE BUDDHAS] THAT HAS THE LION’S FEROCITY.”
... BELIEVE IN THIS MANDALA WITH ALL YOUR HEART.
... NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS LIKE THE ROAR OF A LION. WHAT
... SICKNESS CAN THEREFORE BE AN OBSTACLE?
...
... It is written that those who embrace the daimoku of the
... Lotus Sutra will be protected by the Mother of Demon
... Children and by the ten demon daughters. Such persons will
... enjoy the happiness of the wisdom king Craving-Filled and
... the good fortune of the heavenly king Vaishravana.
... Wherever your daughter may frolic or play, no harm will
... come to her; she will move about without fear like the
... lion king. Among the ten demon daughters, the protection
... of Kuntī is the most profound. BUT YOUR FAITH ALONE WILL
... DETERMINE ALL THESE THINGS. A SWORD IS USELESS IN THE
... HANDS OF A COWARD. THE MIGHTY SWORD OF THE LOTUS SUTRA
... MUST BE WIELDED BY ONE COURAGEOUS IN FAITH. THEN ONE WILL
... BE AS STRONG AS A DEMON ARMED WITH AN IRON STAFF. I,
... NICHIREN, HAVE INSCRIBED MY LIFE IN SUMI INK, SO BELIEVE
... IN THE GOHONZON WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART. THE BUDDHA’S WILL
... IS THE LOTUS SUTRA, BUT THE SOUL OF NICHIREN IS NOTHING
... OTHER THAN NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. MIAO-LO STATES IN HIS
... COMMENTARY THAT THE HEART OF THIS SUTRA IS THE REVELATION
... OF THE BUDDHA’S ORIGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT AND HIS
... IMMEASURABLE LIFE SPAN.

Those fears of Nichiren Daishonin and Shakymuni Buddha, which are shared gratefully by myself and others are real. It is irrational to ignore them. You can disagree if you want, Iain, but you should be real careful of just who you make light of.

-Chas.

unread,

Jul 30, 2017, 2:07:58 AM7/30/17

On Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 11:07:09 AM UTC-7, Katie Higgins wrote:
> Only in one Gosho - disputed and ongi kuden - fake.

[snip your bilge about missing the point, which you are evading with that flak.]

1. You made your typical and rather stupid evasion over the point that "the actual name of the entity" is NOT Shakyamuni, NOR Nichiren Daishonin, NOR Daisaku Ikeda, NOT the name of any impermanent being who has ever or will ever live. "The actual name of the entity" is "Myoho-Renge." That quote is from "The Entity of the Mystic Law."

Are you now declaring one of Nichiren Daishonin's most important Gosho letters to be faked, too.

Answer that question honestly, and not by sleazy innuendo as you have been doing. Go on the record.

2. THIS GOSHO, which you have also smeared with that same innuendo is making a different point entirely, that Nichiren Daishonin claims to be Jogyo, leader of the Bodhissattvas of the earth. Are you attacking that Gosho and that claim, too?

From "Receiving of the Three Great Secret Laws", WND II, p. 987:

... These Three Great Secret Laws were unquestionably received
... by me, Nichiren, some two thousand and more years ago, when
... I was the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth; they
... were passed on to me by oral transmission from the lord of
... teachings, the World-Honored One of Great Enlightenment.
... And these actions that I now take embody what I received in
... transmission on Eagle Peak, without the slightest deviation
... or alteration in form, the three great matters of the Law
... of the “Life Span” chapter.

Stop slopping up your attacks on the Gosho by being imprecise. Get yourself ON THE RECORD on these attacks and make it clear which of Nichiren Daishonin's Goshos you think are disputed and faked, and stop smearing the rest of them with your broad and frankly confused brush.

Here are clearly MORE THAN ON Gosho quotes backing up my claim about common mortals being the true Buddha, and attaining enlightenment when you chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo the first time.

All living beings are Buddhas, endowed with the three Bodies of the Buddha received from their parents.
_________________________________________________

From "On the Treasure Tower," WND I, pp. 299-300:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/31#para-3
.. YOU, YOURSELF, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY
.. ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES. You should
.. chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with this conviction. Then the
.. place where you chant daimoku will become the dwelling
.. place of the treasure tower.

He says it plainly right there: "You, yourself, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES." Nichiren Daishonin is not just being a cheerleader for Abutsu-bo here, he really means it.
_________________________________________________

From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 131:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-202
.. THE BUDDHA NATURE THAT ALL THESE BEINGS POSSESS IS CALLED
.. BY THE NAME MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. THEREFORE, IF YOU RECITE THESE
.. WORDS OF THE DAIMOKU ONCE, THEN THE BUDDHA NATURE OF ALL
.. LIVING BEINGS WILL BE SUMMONED AND GATHER AROUND YOU. AT
.. THAT TIME THE THREE BODIES OF THE DHARMA NATURE WITHIN
.. YOU—THE DHARMA BODY, THE REWARD BODY, AND THE MANIFESTED
.. BODY—WILL BE DRAWN FORTH AND BECOME MANIFEST. THIS IS
.. CALLED ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD. To illustrate, when a caged
.. bird sings, the many birds flying in the sky all gather
.. around it at once; seeing this, the bird in the cage
.. strives to get out.”

And there he says it again, very clearly, no interpretation required. "... if you recite the words of the daimoku once ... This is called attaining Buddhahood."
_________________________________________________

From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas of the Three Existences regarding the Classification of the Teachings and Which Are to Be Abandoned and Which Upheld," WND II, pp. 847-848:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-105
.. THE SENTIENT BEINGS AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE TEN WORLDS
.. ARE THE BUDDHA OF THE DHARMA BODY, ONE WHO POSSESSES THE
.. VIRTUE OF THE THREE BODIES IN A SINGLE ENTITY. Once one has
.. understood this, one will fully realize that all phenomena
.. are the Buddhist Law. This is known as the stage of hearing
.. the name and words of the truth. FROM THE STAGE OF HEARING
.. THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH ONE PROCEEDS DIRECTLY TO
.. THE ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM. Thus
.. in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment
.. there are no successive stages of practice.

Note the phrase: "From the stage of HEARING THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH one proceeds directly to the ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM."

From hearing the daimoku -> directly to attaining Buddhahood.

Then he says: "Thus in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment THERE ARE NO SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF PRACTICE."

Thus, there are no extra practices needed to attain Buddhahood.

Enlightenment or Buddhahood is attained by hearing or chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo for the very first time. In that moment you are a participant in the ceremony in the air.
_________________________________________________

From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 429:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-89

.. Therefore, we understand that, once the “Life Span”
.. chapter of the essential teaching had been revealed, ALL
.. THOSE IN THE ASSEMBLY ON EAGLE PEAK BECAME ENLIGHTENED TO
.. THE LOTUS OF THE ENTITY. Those of the two vehicles, the
.. icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief, and
.. the determinate groups, as well as women and evil men,
.. ALL GAINED AN AWAKENING TO THE LOTUS OF THE ETERNAL BUDDHA.

All living beings are Buddhas, and they all attain Buddhahood/enlightenment in the ceremony in the air, which you participate in, upon any contact with the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra.
_________________________________________________

From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 133:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-217

.. “It is the same way with the practitioners of the Lotus
.. Sutra. THOUGH THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF
.. BUDDHISM AND MAY NOT KNOW THAT THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM
.. DELUSION, IF ONLY THEY HAVE FAITH, THEN WITHOUT A DOUBT
.. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO FREE THEMSELVES simultaneously from
.. the illnesses of the three categories of illusion—illusions
.. of thought and desire, illusions innumerable as particles
.. of dust and sand, and illusions about the true nature of
.. existence. THEY WILL REACH THE LANDS OF ACTUAL REWARD AND
.. TRANQUIL LIGHT, AND CAUSE THE THREE BODIES OF A THUS COME
.. ONE THAT THEY INHERENTLY POSSESS TO SHINE.

In Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo IS EQUAL TO FAITH, chanting it and even hearing it is attaining enlightenment and manifesting your inherent Buddhahood.
_________________________________________________

From "The Teaching, Practice, and Proof," WND I, p. 470:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/57#para-20
.. People may well wonder what this revelation means. Explain
.. that it teaches that COMMON PEOPLE LIKE OURSELVES, who have
.. been submerged in the sufferings of birth and death since
.. time without beginning and who never so much as dreamed of
.. reaching the shore of enlightenment, BECOME THE THUS COME
.. ONES WHO ARE ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE
.. THREE BODIES.

And that means through the revelation (hearing the daimoku, chanting it) of the Lotus Sutra itself, we common people become the Thus Come Ones (plural,) not through some Bodhisattva path. We perform as Bodhisattvas, BECAUSE WE HAVE ATTAINED BUDDHAHOOD THROUGH CHANTING NAM_MYOHO_RENGE_KYO TO THE GOHONZON.
_________________________________________________

From "The One Essential Phrase," WND I, p. 922:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/121#para-1
.. SINCE THE LOTUS SUTRA DEFINES OUR BODY AS THE DHARMA BODY
.. OF A THUS COME ONE, OUR MIND AS THE REWARD BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, AND OUR ACTIONS AS THE MANIFESTED BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, ALL WHO UPHOLD AND BELIEVE IN EVEN A SINGLE
.. PHRASE OR VERSE OF THIS SUTRA WILL BE ENDOWED WITH THE
.. BENEFITS OF THESE THREE BODIES. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is only
.. one phrase or verse, but it is no ordinary phrase, for it
.. is the essence of the entire sutra. YOU ASKED WHETHER ONE
.. CAN ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD ONLY BY CHANTING NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO,
.. AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL. THIS IS THE
.. HEART OF THE ENTIRE SUTRA AND THE SUBSTANCE OF ITS EIGHT
.. VOLUMES.

Just by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, we can attain Buddhahood. He doesn't say how long we have to chant, because it happens immediately.
_________________________________________________

From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 420:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-29
.. IN ESSENCE, THE ENTITY OF MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS THE PHYSICAL
.. BODY THAT THE DISCIPLES AND FOLLOWERS OF NICHIREN WHO
.. BELIEVE IN THE LOTUS SUTRA RECEIVED FROM THEIR FATHERS AND
.. MOTHERS AT BIRTH. Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD
.. EXPEDIENT MEANS, PUT FAITH IN THE LOTUS SUTRA ALONE, AND
.. CHANT NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, WILL TRANSFORM THE THREE PATHS
.. OF EARTHLY DESIRES, KARMA, AND SUFFERING INTO THE THREE
.. VIRTUES OF THE DHARMA BODY, WISDOM, AND EMANCIPATION. The
.. threefold contemplation and the three truths will
.. immediately become manifest in their minds, and the place
.. where they live will become the Land of Eternally Tranquil
.. Light. The Buddha who is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo, of
.. the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching, who is
.. both inhabiting subject and inhabited realm, life and
.. environment, body and mind, entity and function, THE BUDDHA
.. ETERNALLY ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES—HE IS TO BE FOUND
.. IN THE DISCIPLES AND LAY BELIEVERS OF NICHIREN.

Notice the qualifying phrase:

"Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD EXPEDIENT MEANS, put faith in the Lotus Sutra alone, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, will transform the three paths of earthly desires, karma, and suffering into the three virtues of the Dharma body, wisdom, and emancipation."

You have to "honestly discard expediant means" to gain the benefits of the three bodies: you can't worship statues, practice the four dictums (Zen, Nembutsu, Tantric/True Word, Shakyamuni's provisional precepts), join with Shinto, or chant to pirated printouts of Gohonzon stolen by traitorous, thieving, murderous priests of Nichiren Shu, who betrayed Nichiren Daishonin by distorting his Buddhism into a statue-worshiping Shinto cult forcing Shakyamuni into the role of God Almighty, which he would have rejected as utterly narcissistic. That slander of complicity cancels your benefits of the three bodies.
_________________________________________________

From "The Doctrine of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life," WND II, p. 87:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/180#para-43
.. THIS MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS A TERM DESIGNATING THE ESSENTIAL
.. NATURE OF OUR MINDS, OR, MORE GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE
.. ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE MINDS OF ALL LIVING BEINGS, THE
.. EIGHT-PETALED WHITE LOTUS BLOSSOM. THE WORDS OF THE BUDDHA
.. HIMSELF TEACH US THIS. From time without beginning until
.. the present, these bodies of ours have transmigrated
.. through the realm of birth and death, in a state of
.. delusion as to the essential nature of the mind that is
.. within these bodies. BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE
.. LOTUS SUTRA AND CHANT THE DAIMOKU THAT REPRESENTS THE THUS
.. COME ONE OF ORIGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT, WHO POSSESSES THE THREE
.. BODIES IN A SINGLE BODY, THE THUS COME ONE BECOMES
.. MANIFEST. In our present existence we achieve the inner
.. realization and attainment of Buddhahood that is known as
.. the attainment of Buddhahood in our present form.

Once again, he states it clearly and without any amount of chanting or time passage: our Buddhahood "becomes manifest" at the point when we "have encountered the Lotus Sutra and chanted the daimoku."
_________________________________________________

It's so simple, why can't you and Jackie Stone just get this through your thick skulls?

You are calling Nichiren Daishonin a Tendai distorter preaching "original enlightenment," and you should cease and desist!

-Chas.

Noel

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Jul 30, 2017, 6:39:53 AM7/30/17

Its all good except for the slur against printed out Gohonzons part. KATIE is creating good causes by by being the reason for you to quote so many great versus from Nichiren's goshos that helps to strengthen our faith by reading them over and over again so we don't forget

Katie Higgins

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Jul 30, 2017, 9:24:04 AM7/30/17

Your are interpreting, Chas-- you are expressing arbitrary views. Nichiren is clear in at least a thousand passages that Shakyamuni is the eternal Buddha. There is reintegration of Nichiren's actual identity in Nikko's own writings and recently I posted Nichikan's own writings from 7 volumes of High Priests' COMPLETE writings that contradict what the Shoshu/Gakkai "claims Nichikan said".

You ae belligerently attacking me based on another aspect of your heretical doctrine, as you try to sleaze into claiming Nichiren is the original Buddha and you (common mortal) are the "true Buddha".

You are so far afield in your assertions that one can only assume you entirely missed the very basics of Nichiren's doctrine. I don't think there is a reasonable excuse for you harping about "the true entity" as separate and superseding the Lotus Sutra and Shakyamini, Yours is a case of "wrong-headedness" the SGI/NST are "children gone mad" -- These matters will all be clarified and they will be presented as Nichiren taught--

As for your hostile stance towards scholars, like Jackie Stone, this is the only position the SGIkeds cult CAN take, because she nailed the treacherous path followed by the Tasekeji hobos and laid bare the methods and origins of the corruption you have been indoctrinated with!

You cannot speak with authority on teachings that you have received from priests and a grandiose mentor-- none of you reads the original writings; none of you shows the slightest curiosity about the actual writings Nichiren recorded on his personal copy of the threefold Lotus Sutra, but instead hold up as "authority" orally recorded teachings that showed up a few hundred years after Nichiren's passing. You completely dismiss Nichiren's own aversion for "oral and secret transmissions" and you count on the ignorance of followers to maintain your intrepid authority.

You have no understanding of Tendai doctrine, but spew your hideous accusations as though you do. Elsewhere you claimed to be following "Nikko's admonitions" when you actually admitted you don't study the Tendai doctrine that you now claim to understand! Now you're an expert! You follow 'writings' that are not authentic, that actually contradict those that are!

You are stumbling over the debris in your lineage -- apparently with no concern for how duped you are regarding the most crucial aspects of Nichiren's doctrine.

~Katie

Katie Higgins

unread,

unread,

Aug 3, 2017, 11:50:17 AM8/3/17

Chas bases his "theories" on the FAKE Ongi Kuden, appearing some 200 years after Nichiren's passing, a contrived document that does is to authenticated by Nichiren's signature or seal:

>>"The only entity or thing that I have seen in the Gosho, the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings or the Lotus Sutra, that is described as "the teacher of all [of] [the] Buddhas""<<

AND Chas completely dismisses the Chu-Hokkekyo, Nichiren's personal copy of the threefold Lotus Sutra that is extant in original form, in Nichiren's own hand, written in Classical Chinese.

How does Chas explain his preference for the propaganda produced by his sect ?

~Katie

Chas.

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Aug 3, 2017, 12:10:39 PM8/3/17

On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 8:41:47 AM UTC-7, Katie Higgins wrote:
> On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 9:49:53 AM UTC-4, Noel wrote:
> > On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 10:49:10 AM UTC+10, Katie Higgins wrote:
> > > I did not compile the list of disputed Gosho . Why don't you know how to access this "available to the public" info ?
> > >
> > > Because SGI is not permitting open dialogue and long overdue investigation of ALL matters relating to challenges to SGIs legitimacy .
> > >
> > > You are exposing the basic tenets of your cult - control information and suppress dissent !
> > >
> > > ~Katie
> >
> > It's only fair that you answer what Chas has requested of you on this serious matter concerning the legitimacy of Nichirens teachings that you so often drag through the mire
> >
> > If you can't give evidence to which Gosho's are fake, then perhaps those that you trust in such as Mark Shinkei Jacqueline and assorted scholars etc can prove their allegations by starting with these important writings and then go on to all the other Goshos not mentioned here in this list that is also considered as being faked.This is your big chance and for those that you look up to prove themselves right, don't miss out on this opportunity
> >
> >
> > "The five major writings that are common to all Nichiren Buddhism are:
> >
> > On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land (Rissho Ankoku Ron) — written between 1258-1260. [65]
> >
> >
> > The Opening of the Eyes (Kaimoku-sho) — written in 1272.
> >
> >
> > The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind (Kanjin-no Honzon-sho) — written in 1273.
> >
> >
> > The Selection of the Time (Senji-sho) — written in 1275.
> >
> >
> > On Repaying Debts of Gratitude (Ho'on-sho) — written in 1276.
> >
> >
> >
> > Nichiren Shōshū and its offshoot lay groups revere ten major writings. In addition to the five listed above, they also revere:
> >
> >
> > On Chanting the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra (Sho-hokke Daimoku-sho) — Written in 1260.
> >
> >
> > On Taking the Essence of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Shuyo-sho) — written in 1274.
> >
> >
> > On the Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-sho) — written in 1277.
> >
> >
> > Letter to Shimoyama (Shimoyama Gosho-soku) — written in 1277.
> >
> >
> > Questions and Answers on the Object of Devotion (Honzon Mondo-sho) — written in 1278."
>
> Missing my point, Noel-- jumping on to a train that derails time and again with irrelevant disputing from you "self-appointed" experts who cannot even read the original language in the Major Writings.
>
> The fact that disputes over translations point to "engineering" and even fabricating documents by the largest Nichiren sects is at issue. Reading the work of scholars and having resources like Shinkei are crucial to unpacking the lies you have swallowed. All you want to do is defend the "lies" and attack individuals who UNLIJE you, are concerned mostly with the truth.
>
> Those I am in contact with are having no trouble researching on their own with guidance I share from Shinkei. For example, the Chu-hokkekyo , a "Japanese Cultural Treasure"-- extant in original form, the annotations of Nichiren's personal copy of the Threefold Lotus sutra, in Nichiren's own hand-- in Classical Chinese. The moderator of Dharma Wheel made use of information shared by Shinkei to access info on this precious gift from Nichiren-- and found,-- YES!!, the statement that "one must do Gongyo to attain Buddhahood" exists in Nichiren's own hand. Rev. Ricky was defeated by one statement from "scripture".
> Defeated on dharma wheel and pretty much ignored, he comes here to the sound of Noel's applause and displays the height of his insanity by not realizing he was defeated in his MAJOR thesis debate.
>
> Others on dharma Wheel, and amongst those I am in contact with , have gone further -- to investigate the Chu-hokkekyo. ALL immediately ask: Why was an "orally RECORDED transmission, the Ongi Kuden, which appeared some 200 years after Nichiren's passing, ACCEPTED and propagated, while the document in Nichiren's own hand, referencing the Lotus Sutra specifically was dismissed?"
>
> You guys spend all your time defending your laziness; showing actual proof of the consequences of following evil doctrines!
>
> So, NO-- I won't engage in your bashing games--Why? Because those with a pure seeking mind of faith , who care first and foremost about what Nichiren actually WROTE, are already on the right track aboard a train that is not full of egomaniacs !
>
> ~Katie

Your arguments, as usual, make absolutely no sense. The Sutras, including the Lotus Sutra, are orally recorded transmissions. Writing something down and dictating something and having it written down and then checking it are exactly the same. In the case of the sutras, Shakyamuni was not there 30 years after his death to check the work of Ananda, but other aged participants were.

Nichiren Daishonin was alive to check over Nikko's written down transcript, and since he gave these lectures many times over the years, to re-check and use the notes to drive the lectures. Which is why he had Nikko Shonin write them down in the first place.

Later these things get copied down to propagate them, and then the originals go astray (sometimes by Nichiren Shu treasonous banditry, to support the very arguments you thieves and traitors make now.)

However, to eradicate your copious slander of the Gosho in the broad sense, by effectively declaring all of it null and void, I ask you once again to abandon you cowardly attacks on Nichiren Daishonin's work and go on the record to come up with a specific list of faked Goshos. Otherwise your cowardly attacks will be branded as such in future, on their face.

-Chas.

Chas.

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Aug 3, 2017, 12:21:11 PM8/3/17

And as far as notes in the margins of the writings of others are concerned, what he says there (1) may be his writing, maybe not, requires more authentication, (2) it is not however, a "Gosho letter", since it is at best a note to himself, and he never wrote that down and sent it out, you cannot consider it Gosho, more like "honorable notes to self," and (3) what he did say in the Gosho contradicts it, see the below quotes regarding the "attainment of Buddhahood without a moment's delay," which is to be distinguished from the inconspicuous benefit of high life condition, whose growth like a tree requires maintenance of steady practice of shakubuku:

________ The Slander of Gradualism _______________

Gradualism, in Buddhism, is the idea that one starts as a Bodhisattva and gradually gains wisdom to become a Buddha. This view is a slander of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law and it arises from confusing inconspicuous benefit with enlightenment.

Here is Nichiren Daishonin's explanation of the differences in the teachings, and which view the Lotus Sutra takes.

From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas", WND II, p. 858-859:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-180

... It is essential that one give close study to the three
... teachings that run through all Buddhism. THESE THREE ARE
... THE SUDDEN TEACHING, THE GRADUAL TEACHING, AND THE PERFECT
... TEACHING. These are the unity of the three truths set forth
... in the sacred teachings of the Buddha's lifetime.
...
... THE FIRST TWO TEACHINGS, SUDDEN AND GRADUAL, WERE EXPOUNDED
... BY THE BUDDHA IN THE FIRST FORTY-TWO YEARS OF HIS PREACHING
... LIFE; the perfect teaching was expounded in the last eight
... years. Together they represent the teachings of a period of
... fifty years. Outside of these, there are no other
... doctrines. How then can you fail to understand them
... correctly?
...
... When one is still at the stage of an ordinary living being,
... these three teachings are referred to as the three truths.
... When one has attained the goal of Buddhahood, they are
... called the three bodies. These are different names for the
... same thing. The process of expounding and bringing them to
... light is known as the sacred teachings of the Buddha's
... lifetime. WHEN ONE OPENS UP AND MERGES THESE SO THAT ONE
>> CAN PERCEIVE THAT THE THREE TRUTHS CONSTITUTE A SINGLE
>> ENTITY, THIS IS TO ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD. THIS IS CALLED
>> OPENING UP AND MERGING, AND THIS IS THE TEACHING THAT
>> PERTAINS TO THE BUDDHA'S ENLIGHTENMENT.
...
... In the doctrinal systems expounded in the other schools,
... these three truths that constitute a unity are treated as
... separate and expounded under eight headings. Each of
... these eight forms the basis for a particular school; thus
... they are all lacking in the principle of full and perfect
... unity and hence have no truth by which one may attain
... Buddhahood.
...
... IN THESE OTHER SCHOOLS, THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF TRULY
... ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD—THEREFORE ONE DISLIKES THEM. BUT WHAT
... ONE DISLIKES ABOUT THEM IS THE FACT THAT THEIR DOCTRINES
... ARE INSUFFICIENT.
...
... WHEN ONE TURNS TO THE PERFECT TEACHING, however, and sees
... that all phenomena are perfectly fused together, full and
... perfect like the moon on the fifteenth night of the month,
... free of all insufficiency, and when one understands them to
>> the fullest, THEN THERE IS NO MORE JUDGING THEM AS GOOD OR
>> BAD, NO MORE CHOOSING ON THE BASIS OF WHAT IS TIMELY, NO
>> MORE NEED TO SEEK OUT A QUIET SETTING, NO MORE QUESTION OF
>> WHICH PERSONS ARE ELIGIBLE. When one understands that all
... phenomena whatsoever are manifestations of the Buddhist
... Law, then one has fully comprehended the nature of the
... things of the phenomenal realm. Then even if one follows a
... path that is not the way, one will still be fulfilling
... the Buddha way.
...
>> HEAVEN, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AND WIND ARE THE FIVE WISDOM
>> THUS COME ONES. THEY RESIDE WITHIN THE BODY AND MIND OF ALL
>> LIVING BEINGS AND ARE NEVER SEPARATED FROM THEM EVEN FOR AN
>> INSTANT. THEREFORE WORLDLY AFFAIRS AND AFFAIRS RELATING TO
>> ENLIGHTENMENT BLEND TOGETHER IN HARMONY WITHIN THE MIND OF
>> THE INDIVIDUAL; OUTSIDE OF THE MIND, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
>> OTHER THING THAT EXISTS. THEREFORE, WHEN ONE HEARS THIS
>> TRUTH, ONE CAN AT THAT POINT IMMEDIATELY ATTAIN THE GOAL OF
>> BUDDHAHOOD WITHOUT A MOMENT'S DELAY, FOR IT IS A PRINCIPLE
>> OF THE UTMOST PROFUNDITY.

To confuse inconspicuous benefit with enlightenment is a slander of the Lotus Sutra, and will cause one to fall into the evil paths.

Inconspicuous benefit grows slowly as one practices, like a great tree.

Being the true Buddha is the heritage of the Law, received from your parents at birth in the form of the three bodies of the Buddha, establishing your true identity as Myoho-Renge, the Entity of the Mystic Law.

You have always been and will always be the true Buddha: to be a living being is to be the true Buddha.

You possess the Buddha nature, but it has no nascent form or "off switch," once exposed to the Lotus Sutra, which has happened universally in this time, you manifest Buddhahood. Like a flower tracks the sun.

Even the followers of Bin Laden, and now ISIS, have watched Danny Pearl chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo three times before being beheaded in his death video, along with many millions of curious Islamists.

"Therefore, when one hears this truth, one can at that point immediately attain the goal of Buddhahood without a moment's delay, for it is a principle of the utmost profundity." - Nichiren Daishonin

What is this heard truth that the Daishonin speaks of? It is none other than Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and you manifest your Buddhahood and attain enlightenment simply by hearing it, speaking it and telling others of it.

As practice continues, the inconspicuous benefits of that practice accrue (such as life condition that becomes part of your permanent armor as a Bodhisattva), and with those benefits the danger that one might see oneself and other longtime practitioners or leaders as something special and apart, when in fact neither is true: there are no distinctions between Nichiren Daishonin and his followers: the common mortals of the Latter Day of the Law. Taking up the gradual benefit of life condition as an excuse to feel special and apart from others is the way of Zen.

The Gradual Teaching is the province of Northern Zen Practice, which has influenced funeral Buddhism and Shinto since China. Northern Zen died out after passing along it's slander to temple Buddhisms, monks and priests.

Southern Zen with its doctrine of sudden enlightenment called "Satori", became more popular (nobody wanted to take kalpas to attain enlightenment.) Hence, the Zen koans, sand gardens, smooth rock piles and other devices, like sword matches, or beheading helpless Chinese captives in a single smooth stroke leaving the head attached by a thin strip of skin, to gain a false enlightenment Satori! moment.

Here is the originator of "Gradualism" (a disciple of Kumarajiva) in the Lotus Sutra line, who ended up considering the Nirvana Sutra to be the highest teaching (Hui-kuan):
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/72#para-0

Here is the originator of Northern "Gradual" Zen (Shen-hsiu):
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/N/96#para-0

Here is the originator of Southern "Satori" Zen (Hui-Neng):
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/H/75

Nichiren Daishonin is absolutely opposed to gradualism, which is now the way of Zen, punctuated with Satori! moments.

Gradualism is also a foundational element of the phenomenon that is called "funeral Buddhism" across Asia and the Far East, in Shinto, Nembutsu, Shingon/Tantric, Zen, Tendai, Nichiren Shu and Nichiren Shoshu temples: they are all the same in this regard.

Funeral Buddhism is the way that most people practice who are connected to a Buddhist temple, in their home region, or their family's home region. They pay the temple priests for prayers at all of the critical junctures of their life. Marriages and funerals are very expensive and key transitional points where the priests pad their bottom line.

A work acquaintance of mine, a Japanese researcher/programmer of astonishing ability, related to me how his family had to pay $30,000 to the Nembutsu priest, just to find out what the name of their deceased father now had in the Western Region where Amida rules and the dead have gone, so that the future prayers (accompanied by future payments) of that same priest could make their way to him and give him happiness in the next life.

[In contrast. the SGI finds a way to make these moments very inexpensive at the local Buddhist Center, the Activity Center or the Culture Center, through volunteerism by the SGI community. Sensei's message to the families of the deceased outlines how we are continuously born again with our families, and how our prayers and daimoku can make their lives better. This is simply Kenzoku: the shared or common karma of groups, and it is fundamental to how families stay connected across the kalpas.]

Without the view of Gradualism, funeral Buddhism could not exist. The priest supposedly has greater wisdom than you, is enlightened to a higher stage than you, and so his prayers are stronger and more tightly connected than yours, his secret wisdom and his view of your life and his counsel are more focused, and so you should pay him more money, more regularly.

Since the priest is taking care of your deceased ancestors and praying for the good fortune of your extended family, switching temples or religions is simply unimaginable: it means abandoning your whole beloved family and allowing them to fall into hell.

Nichiren Daishonin allows that you can avoid all of this and lead your ancestors and descendents into great happiness simply by practicing the Daishonin's Buddhism: (1) by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and doing regular Gongyo, (2) by protecting your practice and that of others by studying the Gosho and Buddhism and not slandering the Law, (3) and by joining in Kosen Rufu activities to make the world a better place. It's all in your hands, the hands of the eternal Buddha whose actual name is Myoho-Renge.

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

unread,

Aug 3, 2017, 12:47:50 PM8/3/17

>>"And as far as notes in the margins of the writings of others are concerned, what he says there (1) may be his writing, maybe not, requires more authentication,
<<"

FYI Chas-- the Chu-hokkekyo is extant in original form -- why don't you know that?

>>" (2) it is not however, a "Gosho letter", since it is at best a note to himself, and he never wrote that down and sent it out, you cannot consider it Gosho, more like "honorable notes to self," and "<<

Another important fact you discount Chas :Nichiren mentions the Chu-hokkekyo in hs last will and testament-- ALSO extant in original form-- He directed it be at the site of his tomb and regularly read by the priests assigned to guard his resting place. Does that sound like Nichiren considered his personally annotated coy of the threefold Lotus sutra as "honorable notes to self"??

>>"(3) what he did say in the Gosho contradicts it, see the below quotes regarding the "attainment of Buddhahood without a moment's delay," which is to be distinguished from the inconspicuous benefit of high life condition, whose growth like a tree requires maintenance of steady practice of shakubuku--"<<

Well, here again, you discount that YOU don't know what is written in the annotations ,Nichiren himself-- signified with specific mention on his last will and testament. but go on to CLAIM it is contradicted by the Gosho -- no doubt one of your cherry picked engineered translations--

Please do not waste your time demanding I prove to YOU what you are too lazy to investigate on your own? Guess your "practice of faith" just makes you more complacent and arrogant? Sure looks that way!!

The ongi kuden never did pass muster according to Nichiren's OWN standards-- AGAIN, your ignorance on that score speaks volumes.

~Katie

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Aug 3, 2017, 10:37:24 PM8/3/17

On Friday, August 4, 2017 at 11:44:03 AM UTC+10, Mark Rogow wrote:
> “If anyone preaches doctrines other than these, then even though he may be a Buddha, he is not to be trusted. Thus one puts one’s faith in the Buddha who appears in the Lotus Sutra. Hence this is what I mean when I speak of basing one’s faith on a Buddha." -- Nichiren

Even though I have some major differences with Chas I'll quote Chas who quotes Nichiren who quotes Shakyamuni of whom you Mark are diametrically opposed

Chas.

unread,

Aug 4, 2017, 2:20:09 AM8/4/17

On Thursday, August 3, 2017 at 6:44:03 PM UTC-7, Mark Rogow wrote:
> “If anyone preaches doctrines other than these, then even though he may be a Buddha, he is not to be trusted. Thus one puts one’s faith in the Buddha who appears in the Lotus Sutra. Hence this is what I mean when I speak of basing one’s faith on a Buddha." -- Nichiren

Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is the heart of the Lotus Sutra and chanting it, or even hearing it, one attains enlightenment, PRECISELY BECAUSE one is already a Buddha, having received the three bodies of the Buddha from one's parents at birth.

________ Slanders of the True Aspect _____________
________ of All Phenomena ________________________

As a Shinto statue-worshiping follower of Nichiren Shu puts his case, by a distorted translation of the Gosho:

|| Since SGI is wrong about the identity and nature of the
|| Eternal Buddha why would you believe it is correct about
|| anything else?
||
|| The entire thrust of the Rissho Ankoku Ron is that the Treasure
|| of the Buddha is Shakyamuni and the Treasure of the Law is
|| Myoho renge kyo (Lotus Sutra).

Sampling just the first few horrible translations of the Gosho that he quotes to "prove" his fictitious points...

|| Nichiren says in "Reply to Lady Nichinyo":
||
|||| "I for the first time reveal, as a banner of the
|||| spread of the Hokkekyo the Great Mandala which even
|||| Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, and so on, and Tendai,
|||| Myoraku, and so on did not reveal. This is not
|||| at all something which I, Nichiren made myself.
|||| It is the Object of Worship which is from the print
|||| block of the Great Muni, the World Honored One
|||| within the Stupa of Taho and the Separate-Body
|||| Buddhas."
||
|| Clearly, the Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon as taught
|| to him by the Great Muni.

That Nichiren Shu quoted text is a profound forgery and utter uglification of the true text of the Gosho, written to Nichinyo and describing the mandala that he inscribes with his life in sumi ink, here:

From "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon", WND I, pp. 831-832:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/101#para-1

... How wondrous it is that, around two hundred years and more
... into the Latter Day of the Law, I was the first to reveal
... as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra this great
... mandala that even those such as Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu,
... T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo were unable to express. This mandala
... is in no way my invention. It is the object of devotion
... that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One,
... seated in the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha, and
... the Buddhas who were Shakyamuni's emanations as perfectly
... as a print matches its woodblock. Thus the five characters
... of the Lotus Sutra's title are suspended in the center,
... while the four heavenly kings are seated at the four
... corners of the treasure tower. Shakyamuni, Many Treasures,
... and the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are
... side by side at the top. Seated below them are the
... bodhisattvas, including Universal Worthy and Manjushrī, and
... the voice-hearers, including Shāriputra and Maudgalyāyana.
... [Beside them are] the gods of the sun and moon, the devil
... king of the sixth heaven, the dragon king, and an asura. In
... addition, the wisdom kings Immovable and Craving-Filled
... take up their stations to the south and north. The evil and
... treacherous Devadatta and the ignorant dragon king's
... daughter form a group. Not only the Mother of Demon
... Children and the ten demon daughters, who are evil demons
... that sap the lives of people throughout the major world
... system, but also the Sun Goddess, Great Bodhisattva
... Hachiman, and the seven reigns of the heavenly gods and
... five reigns of the earthly gods, who are the guardian
... deities of Japan—all the various great and small gods, that
... is, the main gods, are ranged in rows. How then could the
... remaining subordinate gods be left out? The "Treasure
... Tower" chapter states, "[Shakyamuni Buddha used his
... transcendental powers to] lift all the members of the great
... assembly up into the air."
...
... Without exception, all these Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great
... sages, and, in general, all the various beings of the two
... worlds and the eight groups who appear in the
... "Introduction" chapter of the Lotus Sutra dwell in this
... Gohonzon. Illuminated by the light of the five characters
... of the Mystic Law, they display the dignified attributes
... that they inherently possess. This is the object of devotion.
...
... This is what is meant when the sutra says "the true aspect
... of all phenomena." Miao-lo stated: "The true aspect
... invariably manifests in all phenomena, and all phenomena
... invariably manifest in the ten factors. The ten factors
... invariably manifest in the Ten Worlds, and the Ten Worlds
... invariably manifest in life and its environment." It is
... also stated that the profound principle of the true aspect
... is the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo. The Great
... Teacher Dengyō said, "A single moment of life comprising
... the three thousand realms is itself the Buddha of limitless
... joy; this Buddha has forsaken august appearances."
... Therefore, this Gohonzon shall be called the great mandala
... never before known; it did not appear until more than 2,220
... years after the Buddha's passing.

The Nichiren Shu priests who have corrupted this beautiful writing of Nichrien Daishonin will suffer ages in Avichi hell for it, assuredly. They wanted to worship Shakyamuni as a god, because they think so little of themselves and others. They wanted to lose themselves in stupa worship, like the Hinayana followers of the Pali canon.

Worshiping stupa carvings at places like King Ashoka's Great Stupa at Amaravati (now residing in the British Museum) was the original error that led to statue worship, and then abandoning the true teachings and taking up with images of human beings as their object of worship, or worse yet, the imagined images of deities and the Buddhist gods (stolen from Hinduism) in Shinto, which are merely functions of our life as the common mortal who is the true Buddha.

It is simply just a recycled and crappy version of Pantheistic Hindu god worship, but as a distortion of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, it comes with a drastically worse result.

Then he quotes yet another horribly-translated travesty in two corrupted versions:

|||| "Thus it was revealed that Shakyamuni had long been the
|||| Buddha since the eternal past, and it became clear that
|||| various Buddhas in other worlds were all manifestations of
|||| Shakyamuni Buddha..[ ] now, however, as Shakyamuni was
|||| proved to be the Eternal Buddha, those Buddhas in the
|||| Flower Garland Sutra, or Buddhas in the Hodo, Hannya, or
|||| Great Sun Buddha sutras all became subordinates of
|||| Shakyamuni Buddha." (Kaimoku Sho, p. 174, translated by
|||| Kyotsu Hori, 1987)
||
|| Same quote in the MW's:
||
|||| "When Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he had gained
|||| enlightenment in the far distant past and had since then
|||| been constantly in the world, it became apparent that all
|||| the other Buddhas were emanations of Shakyamuni....but now
|||| it became apparent that Vairocana Buddha of the Kegon Sutra
|||| and various Buddhas of the Hodo, Hannya and Dainichi sutras
|||| are in fact all followers of Shakyamuni Buddha." (MW V.2,
|||| p.149)

Here is the uncorrupted quote from "The Opening of the Eyes", WND I, p. 256:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/30#para-187

... When Shakyamuni Buddha revealed that he had gained
... enlightenment in the far distant past, it became apparent
... that all the other Buddhas were emanations of Shakyamuni.
... When the Buddha preached the earlier sutras and the first
... half, or theoretical teaching, of the Lotus Sutra, the
... other Buddhas were pictured as standing on an equal footing
... with Shakyamuni, after completing their respective
... practices and disciplines. Therefore, the people who take
... one or another of these Buddhas as their object of devotion
... customarily look down on Shakyamuni Buddha. But now it
... becomes apparent that Vairochana Buddha, who is described
... in the Flower Garland Sutra as being seated on a lotus
... pedestal, and the various Buddhas who appear in the sutras
... of the Correct and Equal and the Wisdom periods, such as
... the Mahāvairochana Sutra, are all in fact followers of
... Shakyamuni Buddha.

Supporting the Hindu/Shinto practice of worshiping Shakyamuni as a god is foul thing that Shakyamuni would himself would be the first to decry.

In India after Buddhism had passed into the East, Shakyamuni was added to the Hindu pantheon of gods to the end of enfolding and crushing the life out of the corrupted and diminished practice of Indian Buddhism: to put a coda to it. These distorted practices are born from that purpose. Just before Nichiren Daishonin's time, that corrupted Buddhism was finally wiped out on the Indian subcontinent by Islam, except in Sri Lanka where the Southern Pali Canon distortions persisted.

The Middle Day of the Law's outdated practice of worshiping statues and erecting towers is NOT for the era of Nichiren Daishonin, it is the hollow and ghostly practice of the dead. Nichiren Daishonin's practice of the Latter Day of the Law is to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon, and not to the images of any person, Shakyamuni, Nichiren Daishonin or anyone else.

This is made perfectly clear from this passage of the "Immeasurable Meanings Sutra", pp. 12-13. (The Nichiren Shu followers challenge this sutra as provisional, but in fact it is preached during the Lotus Sutra, not once, but twice, and is thus concurrent with the Lotus Sutra, not preached before, or preached after the Lotus Sutra):

The Lotus Sutra: 1 - Introduction, p. 37:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/1#para-15

The Lotus Sutra: 1 - Introduction, p. 47:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/1#para-279

In the quote that destroys all of the statue worshiping, I have highlighted the key phrase so that it cannot be missed.

Without that teaching the true aspect of all phenomena would be difficult to come to grips with.

From the "Immeasurable Meanings Sutra", pp. 12-13:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Prologue/2#para-8

... "When bodhisattvas have in this manner observed the
... beginning and end of these four aspects and have understood
... them in their entirety, then they will clearly perceive
... that all phenomena, never abiding from one instant to
... the next, are constantly being born anew and passing into
... extinction, and then they will immediately perceive the
... true aspect of birth, abiding, change, and extinction.
...
... "Once they have gained this perception, then they must turn
... to the capacities, natures, and desires of living beings.
... Because such natures and desires are immeasurable in
... variety, the ways of preaching the Law are immeasurable;
... and because the ways of preaching the Law are immeasurable,
>> its meanings are likewise immeasurable. THESE IMMEASURABLE
>> MEANINGS ARE BORN FROM A SINGLE LAW, AND THIS LAW IS
>> WITHOUT ASPECT. WHAT IS WITHOUT ASPECT IS DEVOID OF ASPECT
>> AND DOES NOT TAKE ON ASPECT. NOT TAKING ON ASPECT, BEING
>> WITHOUT ASPECT, IT IS CALLED THE TRUE ASPECT.
...
... "When bodhisattvas mahasattva rest and abide in this
... understanding of the true aspect of all phenomena, then the
... pity and compassion that they put forth will be based on
... clear understanding and not groundless, and they will be
... truly capable of rescuing living beings from the sufferings
... that they undergo. And once they have rescued them from
... suffering, they will preach the Law for them and enable
... living beings to enjoy ease and delight.

In fact, the description of the true aspect of all phenomena as being "devoid of aspect" is what explains the famous passage on negations, quoted by Mr. Toda in The Human Revolution from the first chapter of the "Immeasurable Meanings Sutra", Lotus Sutra, p. 7:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Prologue/1#para-21

... his body neither existing nor not existing,
... neither caused nor conditioned, neither self nor other,
... neither square nor round, neither short nor long,
... neither appearing nor disappearing, neither born nor extinguished,
... neither created nor arising, neither acted nor made,
... neither sitting nor lying down, neither walking nor standing,
... neither moving nor turning, neither idle nor still,
... neither advancing nor retreating, neither in safety nor danger,
... neither right nor wrong, neither gaining nor losing,
... neither that nor this, neither departing nor coming,
... neither blue nor yellow, neither red nor white,
... neither crimson nor purple nor any other sort of color,

Santai or the Three Truths can only be found in the Lotus Sutra, this is one of the glories of the Lotus Sutra. "The truth of non-substantiality, the truth of temporary existence, and the truth of the Middle Way." from the SGI Dictionary:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/T/183

The statues or images of human beings capture the aspect of their temporary existence alone, their impermanence.

I have 'temporary existence', am not permanent and thus will vanish from the world, this is my destiny from birth: to be born is to die, that is the guarantee of the four sufferings: birth, aging, sickness and death.

The electron is a fine physical metaphor for this aspect of the Lotus Sutra.

Like an electron that has both a particle and a wave function, I am also 'non-substantial' and that was true before my birth, during my aging, sickness and after my death. In fact I am dying now, particular cells that were crucial to my function are born and then die all the time. I am ALSO like a wave.

In all those phases of my eternal life I am in the 'Middle Way', the unification of the Three Truths.

Images of living beings are images of their 'temporary existence' alone, and like "the Tripitaka teaching and the connecting teaching do not reveal the truth of the Middle Way and therefore lack the three truths," (from the definition of Santai) ... they do not possess the 'true aspect.'

Both Nam-myoho-Renge-Kyo and the "supreme object of devotion for Jambudvipa", the Gohonzon possesses the "true aspect" in the fact that the first is a sound like no other and the second is an arrangement of characters and does not look like you or me or anyone you know. This is how it can reflect ALL THE LIVING BEINGS, not just here, but everywhere that life has or will develop in the ten directions and the three existences of past, present and future, and every other place and time.

All living beings possess the true aspect and they are all Buddhas, like the characters of an enormous version of the Lotus Sutra. However, not even the images of the Lord of Teachings, Shakyamuni, nor of the Buddha of the Latter Day, Nichiren Daishonin reflect anything other than their impermanent aspect.

Only the Gohonzon reflects the true aspect. It is the supreme object of devotion and all others are pitiful in their aspect, by comparison: why would anyone chant the daimoku, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to any other object of devotion?

From "The True Aspect of All Phenomena", WND I, p. 384:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-5

... The "Thus Come One" is explained clearly in T'ien-t'ai's
... commentary as follows: "The Thus Come One is a general
... designation for the Buddhas of the ten directions and the
... three existences, for the two Buddhas, the three Buddhas,
>> the true Buddha, and provisional Buddhas." THE "TRUE
>> BUDDHA" HERE MEANS COMMON MORTALS, WHEREAS "PROVISIONAL
>> BUDDHAS" MEANS BUDDHAS. However, because of the difference
... between ordinary people and Buddhas that stems from the
... disparity between delusion and enlightenment, ordinary
... people are unaware that they are endowed with both the
... entity and the functions of the three bodies.

This one statement of Nichiren Daishonin is key:

'The "true Buddha" here means common mortals, whereas "provisional Buddhas" means Buddhas.'

This is a strikingly different connotation of the term "provisional Buddhas" from that listed in the SGI Dictionary:

"provisional Buddha ［迹仏］ (Jpn shakubutsu): Also, transient Buddha. A Buddha who does not reveal his true identity, but assumes a transient status or role in order to save the people. The term is used in contrast with "true Buddha," a Buddha who has revealed his true identity."

In the above Gosho quote Nichiren Daishonin is using the term "provisional Buddha" to mean ALL Buddhas, both BEFORE AND AFTER they reveal their true identity, and that '"true Buddha" in that passage means common mortals'.

He is making a profound and unmistakable distinction here between (1) those who manifest the enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra in their life condition conspicuously and then preach the Law and lead the people in the path of the Lotus Sutra and (2) the common mortals who follow them: that the provisional Buddhas manifesting Myoho-Renge are here for the common people who are the 'true Buddhas.'

The common mortal is the true Buddha, whereas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures in all their manifested glory as inscribed on the Gohonzon, are functions of the entity that is any common mortal enveloped in his or her delusion. Provisional Buddhas then would include Nichiren Daishonin and Sensei, who are here for we deluded mortals struggling on the path of the Lotus Sutra.

That means that if a statue worshiper really wanted to enshrine a more proper image to chant to, it would be the picture of a drunk or a hooker on the street: better that, than just a provisional Buddha who is merely a FUNCTION of that true Buddha, that very human being. Best, no image or visage of any living being to idolize.

This is why we don't chant to images, since images cannot have the true aspect, only the Gohonzon has the true aspect, which means "being without aspect" (from the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, without which the Lotus Sutra would lack the clear understanding of true aspect, and would therefore be less complete.)

From "The True Aspect of All Phenomena", WND I, p. 384:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-6

... "All phenomena" in the sutra refers to the Ten Worlds, and
>> the "true aspect," to what they actually are. THE "TRUE
>> ASPECT" IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MYOHO-RENGE-KYO; HENCE ALL
>> PHENOMENA ARE MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. Hell's displaying the form
... of hell is its true aspect. When hell changes into the
... realm of hungry spirits, that is no longer the true form of
... hell. A Buddha displays the form of a Buddha, and a common
... mortal, that of a common mortal. The entities of all
... phenomena are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo. That is the
... meaning of "the true aspect of all phenomena." T'ien-t'ai
... states that the profound principle of the true aspect is
... the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo. This
... interpretation identifies the phrase "true aspect" with the
... theoretical teaching and "the originally inherent
... Myoho-renge-kyo" with the essential teaching. You should
... ponder this interpretation deep in your heart.
...

The Daishonin says: 'The "true aspect" is another name for Myoho-renge-kyo; hence all phenomena are Myoho-renge-kyo.'

This is the fruit of the clear understanding of that description of true aspect.

If the true aspect was an image of Shakyamuni, then it could not be Myoho-Renge-Kyo, because Myoho-Renge-Kyo is without aspect: you cannot view it from any point and see an aspect of a person, and from every aspect, or viewpoint, you only can perceive the three thousand worlds in a momentary existence of life.

Thus, all entities and phenomena could not be the true entity of Myoho-Renge-Kyo, without having the aspect of Shakyamuni, were Shakyamuni's visage the true aspect.

All phenomena are the true aspect AND Myoho-Renge-Kyo, precisely because the true aspect means being without the aspect of any specific or particular living entity.

________ Slanders of the eternal Buddha __________

Once again, that quote from ARBN:

||| "A Nichiren Buddhist priest that I recently met in Japan
||| said that there were around 50 Nikko sects and SGI and
||| Nichiren Shoshu are only 2 of them and there around 500
||| Nichiren Shu sects. I reckon he'd be right by the amount
||| of temples I visited. Some of the Nichiren Shu and Nikko
||| temples had Nichiren placed directly in front of the
||| Gohonzon. The deity's in the temple grounds and inside
||| their temples of the Pure land, Shingon, Shinto and Zen are
||| the same as the deity's we have in our Gohonzons but in 3D
||| up to about 20m in Height ..."

It is unimaginable that people could read the Gosho quote down below and still not understand what Nichiren Daishonin states clearly: the original Buddha is named Myoho-Renge, and not named Shakyamuni, Nichiren Daishonin, anyone or anything else.

The treachery of the Five Senior Priests who founded Nichiren Shu and converted Nichiren Daishonin's practice of Buddhism into a syncretic Shinto statue-worshiping deist faith has now led to this treasonous view by a denizen of ARBN:

||| I have considered the recipients of Nichiren's writings to
||| be a key factor, or rather, an important element regarding
||| the *meaning* conveyed. Nichiren wrote about the Gohonzon
||| to disciples and lay followers whom he had taught for
||| almost two decades; all of whom grasped the doctrines
||| Nichiren himself established for propagating
||| Myoho-renge-kyo in this latter age.
|||
||| Do you, Chas, accept and believe the preceding 18 years of
||| Nichiren's teachings , written to these disciples and lay
||| followers? In those writings I find and provide passages
||| here, to establish that Nichiren himself taught the primacy
||| of the daimoku as " a complete explanation" of the Lotus
||| Sutra, and Shakyamuni as the true, eternal Buddha. Since
||| you have dismissed the basic understanding ALL recipients
||| of Nichiren's writings most certainly had, how can you make
||| any determinations about the *meaning* expressed in the
||| Gosho?

First, let's hear what Nichiren Daishonin says on the subject.

From "The Entity of the Mystic Law", p. 420:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-30

... Question: The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai has explained that

... the term Myoho-renge is used in two different senses, one
... meaning the entity of Myoho-renge and the other being
... figurative in meaning. What are these two kinds of renge,
... or lotus?
...
... Answer: The figurative renge, or lotus, is explained in
... detail in the three metaphors of the lotus blossom
... enfolding the seed, the lotus blossom opening to reveal the
... seed inside, and the lotus blossom falling and the
... seed ripening, so one should refer to them. The lotus that
... is the entity of Myoho-renge is explained in the seventh
... volume of The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra as

>> follows: "RENGE, OR LOTUS, IS NOT A SYMBOL; IT IS THE

>> ACTUAL NAME OF THE ENTITY. For example, at the beginning
... of the kalpa of continuance, the various things in the
... world had no names. The sage observed the principles that
... govern them and on that basis made up names for them." He

... also writes: "Now the name renge is not intended as a

... symbol for anything. It is the teaching expounded in the
... Lotus Sutra. The teaching expounded in the Lotus Sutra is
... pure and undefiled and explains the subtleties of cause
... and effect. Therefore, it is called renge, or lotus. This
... name designates the true entity that the meditation based
... on the Lotus Sutra reveals, and is not a metaphor or
... figurative term."

Note the line, Myoho-Renge is "the actual name of the entity," the Entity of the Mystic Law.

"The entity" of the Mystic Law, BTW, is the original Buddha, the Buddha of Limitless Joy, the Buddha of Beginningless Time, the eternal Buddha, the Buddha of the original state, or the true Buddha: these are all the same.

However, "the entity" is clearly not named Shakyamuni Buddha NOR Nichiren Daishonin, in spite of their profound roles in manifesting the enlightenement of the Lotus Sutra, preaching the Lotus Sutra and leading the Kosen Rufu endeavour to spread it widely.

Myoho-Renge is the entity of eternal enlightenment, not named after someone who practiced Brahmanism (Shakyamuni) or Amida Buddhism (Nichiren Daishonin) earlier in their life. These are real people, who emerge from the impurities of the Saha World and attain enlightenment through the Lotus Sutra alone, and no other practice (in fact, in spite of other grievous slanders of the Law.)

We all manifest Myoho-Renge when we chant the daimoku: when we give voice to the eternal truth of the Law. However, all common mortals are two, but not two, both deluded and enlightened: we are the true Buddha.

Myoho-Renge is always pure and true, never off the mark from beginning to end. This is why we don't worship human beings or statues manifesting their visage or the aspect of their impermanence: we would not want to repeat their errors.

One of the errors that neither Shakyamuni nor Nichiren Daishonin are known for is the error of the kind of preening arrogance that would be in any way comfortable with being worshiped like a Hindu god, and certainly not as God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth in some traditionally deifying sense.

Shakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin must suffer greatly at the slanders of sincere followers misled by the corrupted priests of Nichiren Shu and the Nikko sects as described at the top quote regarding statue worship of them: being hoisted up and placed in front of the Gohonzon.

According to the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings: the Lotus Sutra in the Parable of the Phantom City chapter identifies the eternal Buddha (the Buddha of Limitless Joy, AKA the Buddha of Beginningless Time) as the grandfather of Shakyamuni, who as one of the sixteen princes, was the son of Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One, who was the son of "the grandfather".

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/ott/PART-1/7#para-15

>> The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: IN
>> THIS PASSAGE WE LEARN ABOUT THE BUDDHA OF THE ORIGINAL
>> STATE [THAT IS, THE BUDDHA OF LIMITLESS JOY]. "GRANDFATHER"
>> IS ANOTHER NAME FOR THE DHARMA-REALM. The first three of
... the ten factors listed in the "Expedient Means" chapter,

... the factors of appearance, nature, and entity, are referred
... to as "grandfather." Outside of these three factors, there

... is no wheel-turning sage king.
...
... The word "wheel-turning" refers to the phases of birth,
... abiding, change, and extinction. The words "sage king"
... refer to the element of the mind. These three factors,
... appearance, nature, and entity, are the father and mother
... of all the Buddhas of the three existences of past,
... present, and future.
...
... Now, when Nichiren and his followers chant
... Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they are acting as father and mother
... of the Buddhas of the three existences, as their
... grandfather, the wheel-turning sage king.

The followers of the 5 Senior Priests of Nichiren Shu consider the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings to ALSO BE FAKED (because its view of Buddhism would disallow statue worship and funeral Buddhism), but once again, the Gosho in many places AND THE CORE OF THE LOTUS SUTRA ITSELF, confirms this view.

That passage refers to this one, the one and only reference to "the grandfather", where his son, who is the father of 16th son Shakyamuni, Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, attains enlightenment when "the Law of the buddhas finally appeared before him". This from the mouth of Shakyamuni Buddha, himself:

The Parable of the Phantom City, LS-7, pp 156-157:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/7#para-35

... "Now, monks, THE BUDDHA GREAT UNIVERSAL WISDOM EXCELLENCE
... PASSED TEN SMALL KALPAS BEFORE THE LAW OF THE BUDDHAS
... FINALLY APPEARED BEFORE HIM AND HE ATTAINED SUPREME
... PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT. Before this buddha left the

... householder's life, he had sixteen sons, the first of whom
... was named Wisdom Accumulated. These sons each had various
... kinds of rare objects and toys of one kind or another, but
... when they heard that their father had attained supreme
... perfect enlightenment, they all threw aside their rare
... objects and went to where the buddha was. Their mothers,
... weeping, followed after them.
...
... "Their grandfather, who was a wheel-turning sage king,
... along with a hundred chief ministers, as well as a

... hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million of his subjects,
... all together surrounded the sons and followed them to the
... place of enlightenment, all wishing to draw close to the
... thus come one Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, to offer
... alms, pay honor, venerate, and praise him. When they
... arrived, they bowed before his feet, touching their heads
... to the ground.

Since the "grandfather" was the father of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence, who was the father of the 16th son who later became Shakyamuni Buddha, and because the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence attained enlightenment prior to Shakyamuni, this is evidence from the one and only earliest timeline from the Lotus Sutra, that Shakyamuni Buddha was NOT the name of the Buddha of the original state.

In fact, anyone attaining enlightenment on any timeline for the first time cannot be named as the Buddha of the original state, who is enlightened from beginningless time, which is off the end of every timeline and not actually part of any history.

The "grandfather" is anonymous in the Lotus Sutra. The "grandfather" has no time associated with his enlightenment, or assignment of any progenitor and Nichiren Daishonin assigns him as primogenitor in that passage from the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, as the first: the "Buddha of the original state."

Aside from that, who knows, I don't. As far as I can tell, the eternal Buddha has no other person identified as such in the Lotus Sutra. Shakyamuni attained enlightenment after his father Great Universal Wisdom Excellence and unnamed grandfather with no date for his attainment of the enlightenment.

At any rate, who was first hardly matters, unless you want to worship a statue or image of the first enlightened one. I certainly don't want to worship or pray to any statues of anyone.

I am satisfied that the Buddha leading the army of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth is Nichiren Daishonin, also known as Jogyo Superior Practices. He is the mentor whose Gosho I have made my mentor, because our general, Ikeda Sensei asked me too. I practice as Nichiren Daishonin says and only that way. I worship no person and images of any person.

Continuing, another challenge from a follower of the Nichiren Shu icchantikas/issendai:

||| You, Chas, claim to be practicing Nichiren's teachings- do
||| you not? Then please explain why you cannot believe
||| thousands of passages written in Nichiren's own hand, such
||| as:
|||
||| "Now, when the Eternal Buddha has revealed in the essential
||| section of the Lotus Sutra, this world of endurance
||| (Saha-world) became the Eternal Pure Land, indestructible
||| even by the three calamities of conflagration, flooding,
||| and strong winds, which are said to destroy the world. It
||| transcends the four periods of cosmic change: the kalpa of
||| construction, continuance, destruction and emptiness.
||| Sakaymuni Buddha, the Lord-preacher of this pure and, has
||| never died in the past, nor will He be born in the future.
||| He exists forever throughout the past present and future.
||| All those who receive His GUIDANCE are one with the Eternal
||| Buddha." - Nichiren, "The True Object of Worship".
|||
||| Now, you are interpreting the Lotus Sutra- in an effort to
||| support your SGIkeda's claim that Nichiren, not Shakyamuni
||| is the True, Original Buddha!! By doing this you are also
||| dismissing Nichiren's own statements referencing his
||| identity as the Buddha's envoy, the only one who can
||| understand the "entity of the Lotus"--So, YOU, Chas claim
||| to be --what? the envoy of the Buddha you have demoted?? Or
||| are you just a parrot for SGIkeda's lies??
|||
||| To summarize, I practice Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism. I
||| regard Nichiren as the ONE teacher for this latter age. I
||| believe the words Nichiren has used to describe himself,
||| Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra--Since, you, Chas do
||| not produce evidence for your assertions from Nichiren's
||| own hand, you are not qualified to call yourself a follower
||| of Nichiren-- in fact, you have clearly shown yourself to
||| be a follower of Ikeda, whose errors have been exposed here
||| and elsewhere , whilst your Top leaders refuse to engage in
||| public debate to settle the matters you continue to parrot
||| here!!

This is yet another bad translation of the Gosho, by corrupted statue-worshiping priests of Nichiren Shu. Note the absence of the term "Eternal Buddha" in the correct translation below, that phrase having been doctored by Nichiren Shu slandering priests in their corrupted translation.

Shakyamuni was of course manifesting Myoho-Renge, his true self and at the highest condition of human existence when he was preaching the Juryo chapter.

But his name was Shakyamuni, not Myoho-Renge, which is "the actual name of the entity" according to Nichiren Daishonin.

From "The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing -Nichiren, the shramana of Japan", WND I, p. 366 ... once again, noting the total absence of calling Shakyamuni the "eternal Buddha":
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39#para-70

... First, at his place of enlightenment, Shakyamuni Buddha
... [preached the Flower Garland Sutra in which he] revealed
... the Lotus Treasury World. In the following fifty years,
... until he entered nirvana in the grove of sal trees,
... Shakyamuni preached about the lands of the various Buddhas,
... such as the Lotus Treasury World and the Land of Secret
... Solemnity [in the Secret Solemnity Sutra], revealed the
... three kinds of lands when he three times purified countless
... lands [in the theoretical teaching of the Lotus Sutra], and
... revealed the four kinds of lands according to the four
... different views [in the Nirvana Sutra]. These lands—the
... Land of Transition, the Land of Actual Reward, and the Land
... of Tranquil Light; the Land of Peace and Sustenance, the
... Pure Emerald World, the Land of Secret Solemnity, and the
... lands of all the other Buddhas—are transient lands that
... change in the course of the kalpas of formation,
... [continuance, decline, and disintegration]. The Buddhas of
... these lands had been magically conjured by Shakyamuni
... Buddha, and when the lord of teachings entered nirvana, all
... these Buddhas likewise entered extinction. In the same way,
... their lands also vanished.
...
... The sahā world Shakyamuni Buddha revealed in the "Life
... Span" chapter is the eternal pure land, impervious to the
... three calamities and to the cycle of the four kalpas. The
... Buddha neither has entered into extinction in the past nor
... will be born in the future. And the same is true of his
... disciples. This means that their lives are perfectly
... endowed with the three thousand worlds, that is, with the
... three realms of existence. The Buddha did not reveal this
... truth in the theoretical teaching, or the first fourteen
... chapters, of the Lotus Sutra because the time was not right
... and the people's capacity was not yet developed.
...
... Shakyamuni Buddha did not transmit the five characters of
... Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the essential teaching of
... the Lotus Sutra, even to the bodhisattvas Manjushrī and
... Medicine King, let alone to any lesser disciples. He
... summoned from beneath the earth the great bodhisattvas as
... numerous as the dust particles of a thousand worlds and, as
... he preached the eight chapters, transferred it solely to
... them.

Finally, a piece of logic related to time itself, and that logic is irrefutable.

Beginningless time is before any finite point in the past on the timeline, such as when Shakyamuni attained enlightenment. From the Lotus Sutra, chapter 16, starting with the critical phrase "Ga hon gyo bosatsu do":
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/16#para-14

... originally I practiced the bodhisattva way,
... and the life span that I acquired then has
... yet to come to an end but will last twice
... the number of years that have already passed.

A finite time in the past, which is half the time of a future point, can not possibly be the locus known as "beginningless time", which is off the timeline. The eternal Buddha's enlightened life crosses before, during and after every point on the timeline, which is why the adjective "eternal" is applied.

Shakyamuni, in his complete honesty, declared that he attained enlightenment under another Buddha and implicitly therefore that Shakyamuni is not the name of the eternal Buddha, as the Nichiren Shu and it's plausibly deniable legion of SGI attackers erroneously believe. You cannot deny what the Lotus Sutra says, Shakyamuni is not the name of the eternal Buddha, anymore than anyone's impermanent name is. That name is Myoho-Renge.

________ Slanders of the common mortal ___________
________ as the true Buddha ______________________

Let's revisit that ARBN quote from the follower of the Nichiren Shu traitorous founders, the Five Senior Priests who converted Nichiren Daishonin's practice of Buddhism into a syncretic Shinto statue-worshiping of Shakyamuni as God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth:

||| I have considered the recipients of Nichiren's writings to
||| be a key factor, or rather, an important element regarding
||| the *meaning* conveyed. Nichiren wrote about the Gohonzon
||| to disciples and lay followers whom he had taught for
||| almost two decades; all of whom grasped the doctrines
||| Nichiren himself established for propagating
||| Myoho-renge-kyo in this latter age.
|||
||| Do you, Chas, accept and believe the preceding 18 years of
||| Nichiren's teachings , written to these disciples and lay
||| followers? In those writings I find and provide passages
||| here, to establish that Nichiren himself taught the primacy
||| of the daimoku as " a complete explanation" of the Lotus
||| Sutra, and Shakyamuni as the true, eternal Buddha. Since
||| you have dismissed the basic understanding ALL recipients
||| of Nichiren's writings most certainly had, how can you make
||| any determinations about the *meaning* expressed in the
||| Gosho?

There are many pillars upholding the difference of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra from all other Buddhisms, which are then clearly distortions of the Buddha's teachings and intent.

It's also abundantly true that all of Nichiren Daishonin's pillars stand together in perfect logical harmony, without the tiniest weak point in the structure. All of the deviant variants of Buddhism are like horrid collapsing lopsided structures in comparison. They are tents and hastily erected shacks that do not survive even the slight breeze. Let's start with the notion of manifesting Buddhahood in an instant:

From "Wu-lung and I-lung", WND I, p. 1099 (most relevant part highlighted):

http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/162#para-1

... Myoho-renge-kyo is likened to the lotus. The great māndāra
... flower in heaven and the cherry blossom in the human world
... are both celebrated flowers, but the Buddha chose neither
... to compare to the Lotus Sutra. Of all the flowers, he
... selected the lotus blossom to symbolize the Lotus Sutra.
... There is a reason for this. Some plants first flower and
... then produce fruit, while in others fruit comes forth
... before flowers. Some bear only one flower but much fruit,
... others send forth many flowers but only one fruit, and
>> still others produce fruit without flowering. THUS THERE
>> ARE ALL MANNER OF PLANTS, BUT THE LOTUS IS THE ONLY ONE
>> THAT BEARS FLOWERS AND FRUIT SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE BENEFIT OF
>> ALL THE OTHER SUTRAS IS UNCERTAIN, BECAUSE THEY TEACH THAT
>> ONE MUST FIRST MAKE GOOD CAUSES AND ONLY THEN CAN ONE
>> BECOME A BUDDHA AT SOME LATER TIME. WITH REGARD TO THE
>> LOTUS SUTRA, WHEN ONE'S HAND TAKES IT UP, THAT HAND
>> IMMEDIATELY ATTAINS BUDDHAHOOD, AND WHEN ONE'S MOUTH CHANTS
>> IT, THAT MOUTH IS ITSELF A BUDDHA, AS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE
>> MOON IS REFLECTED IN THE WATER THE MOMENT IT APPEARS FROM
>> BEHIND THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS, OR AS A SOUND AND ITS ECHO
>> ARISE SIMULTANEOUSLY. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT THE SUTRA
>> STATES, "IF THERE ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE LAW, THEN NOT A
>> ONE WILL FAIL TO ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD." THIS PASSAGE MEANS
>> THAT, IF THERE ARE A HUNDRED OR A THOUSAND PEOPLE WHO
>> UPHOLD THIS SUTRA, WITHOUT A SINGLE EXCEPTION ALL ONE
>> HUNDRED OR ONE THOUSAND OF THEM WILL BECOME BUDDHAS.

The piece to focus on here is:

"The benefit of all the other sutras is uncertain, because they teach that one must first make good causes and only then can one become a Buddha at some later time. With regard to the Lotus Sutra, when one's hand takes it up, that hand immediately attains Buddhahood, and when one's mouth chants it, that mouth is itself a Buddha"

The only conceivable way that one can attain Buddhahood simultaneously with chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, is if one is already a Buddha, and one only needs to chant the daimoku to manifest that pre-existing and inherited Buddhahood.

As argued clearly in the previous 2nd section on slanders of the true aspect of all phenomena, (1.) the common mortal is the true Buddha and provisional Buddhas are a function of the true Buddha (common mortal), and (2.) all phenomena are the true aspect AND Myoho-Renge-Kyo, precisely because the true aspect means without having the aspect of any specific or particular entity, but is inclusive of all entities.

The view that the provisional Buddhas who appear to save we common mortals are THE Buddha, and that we ARE NOT, is a slander of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law and it arises from confusing inconspicuous benefit with enlightenment.

Here is Nichiren Daishonin's explanation of the differences in the teachings, and which view the Lotus Sutra takes.

From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas", WND II, p. 859:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-185

What in heaven's name is so difficult to understand about the common mortal being the true Buddha? It has nothing at all to do with the "original enlightenment" of corrupted Tendai traitors, who just want to sit on their ass and do nothing.

SGI members accept that the enlightenment they attain upon chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon means that they have to walk that talk: the characteristics of a Buddha are the characteristics of a Bodhisattva bent on doing Kosen Rufu. Law -> Wisdom -> Action, and the action of shakubuku speaks the loudest: shakubuku manifests your Buddhahood most clearly.

All living beings are Buddhas, endowed with the three Bodies of the Buddha received from their parents.

From "On the Treasure Tower," WND I, pp. 299-300:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/31#para-3
.. YOU, YOURSELF, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY
.. ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES. You should
.. chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with this conviction. Then the
.. place where you chant daimoku will become the dwelling
.. place of the treasure tower.

He says it plainly right there: "You, yourself, ARE A THUS COME ONE WHO IS ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES." Nichiren Daishonin is not just being a cheerleader for Abutsu-bo here, he really means it.

From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 131:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-202
.. THE BUDDHA NATURE THAT ALL THESE BEINGS POSSESS IS CALLED
.. BY THE NAME MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. THEREFORE, IF YOU RECITE THESE
.. WORDS OF THE DAIMOKU ONCE, THEN THE BUDDHA NATURE OF ALL
.. LIVING BEINGS WILL BE SUMMONED AND GATHER AROUND YOU. AT
.. THAT TIME THE THREE BODIES OF THE DHARMA NATURE WITHIN
.. YOU—THE DHARMA BODY, THE REWARD BODY, AND THE MANIFESTED
.. BODY—WILL BE DRAWN FORTH AND BECOME MANIFEST. THIS IS
.. CALLED ATTAINING BUDDHAHOOD. To illustrate, when a caged
.. bird sings, the many birds flying in the sky all gather
.. around it at once; seeing this, the bird in the cage
.. strives to get out.”

And there he says it again, very clearly, no interpretation required. "... if you recite the words of the daimoku once ... This is called attaining Buddhahood."

From "The Unanimous Declaration by the Buddhas of the Three Existences regarding the Classification of the Teachings and Which Are to Be Abandoned and Which Upheld," WND II, pp. 847-848:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/315#para-105
.. THE SENTIENT BEINGS AND THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE TEN WORLDS
.. ARE THE BUDDHA OF THE DHARMA BODY, ONE WHO POSSESSES THE
.. VIRTUE OF THE THREE BODIES IN A SINGLE ENTITY. Once one has
.. understood this, one will fully realize that all phenomena
.. are the Buddhist Law. This is known as the stage of hearing
.. the name and words of the truth. FROM THE STAGE OF HEARING
.. THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH ONE PROCEEDS DIRECTLY TO
.. THE ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM. Thus
.. in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment
.. there are no successive stages of practice.

Note the phrase: "From the stage of HEARING THE NAME AND WORDS OF THE TRUTH one proceeds directly to the ATTAINMENT OF BUDDHAHOOD IN ONE’S PRESENT FORM."

From hearing the daimoku -> directly to attaining Buddhahood.

Then he says: "Thus in the teaching of perfect and immediate enlightenment THERE ARE NO SUCCESSIVE STAGES OF PRACTICE."

Thus, there are no extra practices needed to attain Buddhahood.

Enlightenment or Buddhahood is attained by hearing or chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo for the very first time. In that moment you are a participant in the ceremony in the air.

From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 429:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-89

.. Therefore, we understand that, once the “Life Span”
.. chapter of the essential teaching had been revealed, ALL
.. THOSE IN THE ASSEMBLY ON EAGLE PEAK BECAME ENLIGHTENED TO
.. THE LOTUS OF THE ENTITY. Those of the two vehicles, the
.. icchantikas, or persons of incorrigible disbelief, and
.. the determinate groups, as well as women and evil men,
.. ALL GAINED AN AWAKENING TO THE LOTUS OF THE ETERNAL BUDDHA.

All living beings are Buddhas, and they all attain Buddhahood/enlightenment in the ceremony in the air, which you participate in, upon any contact with the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra.

From "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man," WND I, p. 133:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/13#para-217

.. “It is the same way with the practitioners of the Lotus
.. Sutra. THOUGH THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES OF
.. BUDDHISM AND MAY NOT KNOW THAT THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM
.. DELUSION, IF ONLY THEY HAVE FAITH, THEN WITHOUT A DOUBT
.. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO FREE THEMSELVES simultaneously from
.. the illnesses of the three categories of illusion—illusions
.. of thought and desire, illusions innumerable as particles
.. of dust and sand, and illusions about the true nature of
.. existence. THEY WILL REACH THE LANDS OF ACTUAL REWARD AND
.. TRANQUIL LIGHT, AND CAUSE THE THREE BODIES OF A THUS COME
.. ONE THAT THEY INHERENTLY POSSESS TO SHINE.

In Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo IS EQUAL TO FAITH, chanting it and even hearing it is attaining enlightenment and manifesting your inherent Buddhahood.

From "The Teaching, Practice, and Proof," WND I, p. 470:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/57#para-20
.. People may well wonder what this revelation means. Explain
.. that it teaches that COMMON PEOPLE LIKE OURSELVES, who have
.. been submerged in the sufferings of birth and death since
.. time without beginning and who never so much as dreamed of
.. reaching the shore of enlightenment, BECOME THE THUS COME
.. ONES WHO ARE ORIGINALLY ENLIGHTENED AND ENDOWED WITH THE
.. THREE BODIES.

And that means through the revelation (hearing the daimoku, chanting it) of the Lotus Sutra itself, we common people become the Thus Come Ones (plural,) not through some Bodhisattva path. We perform as Bodhisattvas, BECAUSE WE HAVE ATTAINED BUDDHAHOOD THROUGH CHANTING NAM_MYOHO_RENGE_KYO TO THE GOHONZON.

From "The One Essential Phrase," WND I, p. 922:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/121#para-1
.. SINCE THE LOTUS SUTRA DEFINES OUR BODY AS THE DHARMA BODY
.. OF A THUS COME ONE, OUR MIND AS THE REWARD BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, AND OUR ACTIONS AS THE MANIFESTED BODY OF A THUS
.. COME ONE, ALL WHO UPHOLD AND BELIEVE IN EVEN A SINGLE
.. PHRASE OR VERSE OF THIS SUTRA WILL BE ENDOWED WITH THE
.. BENEFITS OF THESE THREE BODIES. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is only
.. one phrase or verse, but it is no ordinary phrase, for it
.. is the essence of the entire sutra. YOU ASKED WHETHER ONE
.. CAN ATTAIN BUDDHAHOOD ONLY BY CHANTING NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO,
.. AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL. THIS IS THE
.. HEART OF THE ENTIRE SUTRA AND THE SUBSTANCE OF ITS EIGHT
.. VOLUMES.

Just by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, we can attain Buddhahood. He doesn't say how long we have to chant, because it happens immediately.

From "The Entity of the Mystic Law," WND I, p. 420:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/47#para-29
.. IN ESSENCE, THE ENTITY OF MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS THE PHYSICAL
.. BODY THAT THE DISCIPLES AND FOLLOWERS OF NICHIREN WHO
.. BELIEVE IN THE LOTUS SUTRA RECEIVED FROM THEIR FATHERS AND
.. MOTHERS AT BIRTH. Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD
.. EXPEDIENT MEANS, PUT FAITH IN THE LOTUS SUTRA ALONE, AND
.. CHANT NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, WILL TRANSFORM THE THREE PATHS
.. OF EARTHLY DESIRES, KARMA, AND SUFFERING INTO THE THREE
.. VIRTUES OF THE DHARMA BODY, WISDOM, AND EMANCIPATION. The
.. threefold contemplation and the three truths will
.. immediately become manifest in their minds, and the place
.. where they live will become the Land of Eternally Tranquil
.. Light. The Buddha who is the entity of Myoho-renge-kyo, of
.. the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching, who is
.. both inhabiting subject and inhabited realm, life and
.. environment, body and mind, entity and function, THE BUDDHA
.. ETERNALLY ENDOWED WITH THE THREE BODIES—HE IS TO BE FOUND
.. IN THE DISCIPLES AND LAY BELIEVERS OF NICHIREN.

Notice the qualifying phrase:

"Such persons, WHO HONESTLY DISCARD EXPEDIENT MEANS, put faith in the Lotus Sutra alone, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, will transform the three paths of earthly desires, karma, and suffering into the three virtues of the Dharma body, wisdom, and emancipation."

You have to "honestly discard expediant means" to gain the benefits of the three bodies: you can't worship statues, practice the four dictums (Zen, Nembutsu, Tantric/True Word, Shakyamuni's provisional precepts), join with Shinto, or chant to pirated printouts of Gohonzon stolen by traitorous, thieving, murderous priests of Nichiren Shu, who betrayed Nichiren Daishonin by distorting his Buddhism into a statue-worshiping Shinto cult forcing Shakyamuni into the role of God Almighty, which he would have rejected as utterly narcissistic. That slander of complicity cancels your benefits of the three bodies.

From "The Doctrine of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life," WND II, p. 87:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/180#para-43
.. THIS MYOHO-RENGE-KYO IS A TERM DESIGNATING THE ESSENTIAL
.. NATURE OF OUR MINDS, OR, MORE GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE
.. ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE MINDS OF ALL LIVING BEINGS, THE
.. EIGHT-PETALED WHITE LOTUS BLOSSOM. THE WORDS OF THE BUDDHA
.. HIMSELF TEACH US THIS. From time without beginning until
.. the present, these bodies of ours have transmigrated
.. through the realm of birth and death, in a state of
.. delusion as to the essential nature of the mind that is
.. within these bodies. BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE
.. LOTUS SUTRA AND CHANT THE DAIMOKU THAT REPRESENTS THE THUS
.. COME ONE OF ORIGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT, WHO POSSESSES THE THREE
.. BODIES IN A SINGLE BODY, THE THUS COME ONE BECOMES
.. MANIFEST. In our present existence we achieve the inner
.. realization and attainment of Buddhahood that is known as
.. the attainment of Buddhahood in our present form.

Once again, he states it clearly and without any amount of chanting or time passage: our Buddhahood "becomes manifest" at the point when we "have encountered the Lotus Sutra and chanted the daimoku."

You have always been and will always be the true Buddha: to be a living being is to be the true Buddha. More detail on this in the 7th section below on Gradualism.

________ Slanders of the Gohonzon ________________

In an exchange with a follower of the errant 5 Senior Priests of Nichiren Shu on ARBN:

||||.. "You make yourself an enemy of the Lotus Sutra by
||||.. slandering the true aspect via your worship of statues. "
||||
|||| BREAKING NEWS-- I don't worship statues !!
||||
|||| I have one statue, 6 inches in height of Shakyamuni Buddha
|||| below my Nichiren Gohonzon.
||||
|||| Nichiren kept a statue of Shakyamuni and he instructed at
|||| least tree of his disciples on consecrating their statues
|||| of Shakyamuni which they had fashioned themselves!! Three
|||| Goshos describe the meaning of having an image of
|||| Shakyamuni-- and all have been references and presented as
|||| responses to accusations like this one posted by Chas,
|||| months ago.
||||
|||| Chas, you either cannot read, or simply prefers to blast
|||| your own warped notions as though they were facts. Saw a
|||| lot of that during the presidential campaign --
..
.. It's in front of your Butsudan. From the viewpoint of the
.. Gohonzon, you are making it [at least] an equal.

This is all straightforward and clear from the reading of the supreme teaching and the Gosho.

From "The True Aspect of All Phenomena", WND I, p. 384:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-7

>> Although not worthy of the honor, I, NICHIREN, WAS
>> NEVERTHELESS THE FIRST TO SPREAD THE MYSTIC LAW ENTRUSTED
>> TO BODHISATTVA SUPERIOR PRACTICES FOR PROPAGATION IN THE
>> LATTER DAY OF THE LAW. I WAS ALSO THE FIRST, THOUGH ONLY
>> BODHISATTVA SUPERIOR PRACTICES IS SO EMPOWERED, TO INSCRIBE
>> [THE OBJECT OF DEVOTION as] the embodiment of Shakyamuni
... Buddha from the remote past as revealed in the "Life Span"
... chapter of the essential teaching, of Many Treasures Buddha
... who appeared when the "Treasure Tower" chapter of the
... theoretical teaching was preached, and of the Bodhisattvas
... of the Earth who arrived with the "Emerging from the Earth"
... chapter. Though people may hate me, they cannot possibly
... alter the fact of my enlightenment.

Nichiren Daishonin enscribed all of those onto the Gohonzon. NOT onto an image of Shakyamuni. Shakyamuni could not reveal the daimoku at the heart of the Lotus Sutra, not inscribe the Gohonzon, according to Nichiren Daishonin, who did both.

Continuing in that passage:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-8

... Therefore, to have exiled me, Nichiren, to this remote
>> island is, I believe, AN OFFENSE THAT CAN NEVER BE
>> EXPIATED, EVEN WITH THE PASSING OF COUNTLESS KALPAS. A
>> PASSAGE FROM THE "SIMILE AND PARABLE" CHAPTER READS, "IF I
>> WERE TO DESCRIBE THE PUNISHMENTS [THAT FALL ON PERSONS WHO
>> SLANDER THIS SUTRA], I COULD EXHAUST A KALPA AND NEVER COME
>> TO THE END." On the other hand, not even the wisdom of the
... Buddha can fathom the blessings that one will obtain by
... giving alms to Nichiren and by becoming his disciple and
>> lay supporter. THE SUTRA READS, "[THE BENEFITS HE GAINS
>> THEREBY WILL BE SUCH THAT] EVEN THE BUDDHA WISDOM COULD
>> NEVER FINISH CALCULATING THEIR EXTENT."

Hence, slanderers, who deny the very intent of this sutra, which is its heart, commit:

"an offense that can never be expiated, even with the passing of countless kalpas."

However, there is hope EVEN FOR THEM, because:

'The sutra reads, "[The benefits he gains thereby will be such that] even the Buddha wisdom could never finish calculating their extent."'

Continuing in that passage:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-9

>> NICHIREN ALONE TOOK THE LEAD IN CARRYING OUT THE TASK OF
>> THE BODHISATTVAS OF THE EARTH. HE MAY EVEN BE ONE OF THEM.
>> IF NICHIREN IS TO BE COUNTED AMONG THE BODHISATTVAS OF THE
>> EARTH, THEN SO MUST HIS DISCIPLES AND LAY SUPPORTERS. The
... sutra states: "If one [of these good men or good women in
>> the time after I have passed into extinction] IS ABLE TO
>> SECRETLY EXPOUND THE LOTUS SUTRA TO ONE PERSON, EVEN ONE
>> PHRASE OF IT, THEN YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT HE OR SHE IS THE
>> ENVOY OF THE THUS COME ONE. HE HAS BEEN DISPATCHED BY THE
>> THUS COME ONE AND CARRIES OUT THE THUS COME ONE'S WORK."
... Who else but us can this possibly refer to?

In Nichiren's role as "taking the lead" of the task of Kosen Rufu, he established the Gohonzon as THE supreme object of devotion:

And at the end of the "The True Aspect of All Phenomena", WND I, p. 386:
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40#para-16

... In this letter, I have written my most important teachings.
... Grasp their meaning firmly, and make them a part of your
>> life. Believe in the Gohonzon, THE SUPREME OBJECT OF
>> DEVOTION IN ALL OF JAMBUDVĪPA. Be sure to strengthen your
... faith, and receive the protection of Shakyamuni, Many
... Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions. Exert
... yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without
... practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not
... only persevere yourself; you must also teach others. Both
... practice and study arise from faith. Teach others to the
... best of your ability, even if it is only a single sentence
... or phrase. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
...
...................................... With my deep respect,
...
................................................... Nichiren
...
...
........... The seventeenth day of the fifth month

So, placing ANY OTHER object of devotion in front of, beside, on the same altar with, or frankly, anywhere in the room or building housing the Gohonzon, which is the "supreme object of devotion in all of Jambudvipa", would be slandering the Gohonzon by conflating the two as equal, or even near equal in worthiness of your devotion, or even within the same realm of equality.

And in my view, placed anywhere "in all of Jambudvipa" along with the Gohonzon is a slander of the Gohonzon. That is simply taking the Daishonin at his word.

Continuing the exchange with the very same follower of the errant 5 Senior Priests of Nichiren Shu on ARBN, out comes the ultimate result of the slanderous view taken above in the earlier exchange:

||| So it was about 18 years between nichuren's establishing
||| Namu-myoho-renge-kyo as the ESSENTIAL practice of the Lotus
||| sutra for this latter age AND the first Honzon masala
||| inscribed by nichiren for a priest who was imprisoned for
||| not recanting his faith in Nichiren's teachings. The first
||| Gohonzon was inscribed on the eve of Nichiren's exile to
||| Sado--right?
|||
||| If you read and study the letters Nichiren wrote from
||| 1271-1282 you will not find a single teaching that claims
||| ONLY with Gohonzon can one attain Buddhahood. What you
||| would also find is that Nichiren was selective bestowing
||| Gohonzon-- it seems that right from the start Nichiren
||| emphasized FAITH alone as the main criteria for bestowing
||| Gohonzon. Now, if you check out what Nichiren taught those
||| who received Gohonzon directly from him, you would also
||| find that he focuses exclusively on the single mind of
||| faith in the Lotus Sutra, the essential phrase and
||| essential practice and that HE is acting as Shakyamuni's
||| disciple, propagating the correct teaching for us in this
||| latter age.
|||
||| Speaking only for myself, I believe that generally
||| speaking, YES, the Gohonzon represents the supreme OBJECt
||| of worship, but SPECIFICALLY it is FAITH in
||| Myoho-renge-kyo, dedicating one's life with single minded
||| focus on the Lotus Sutra itself that is the practice for
||| attaining Buddhahood. --

If that were simply true, then the 20 years that Nichiren Daishonin spent after April 28, 1253, when he first chanted the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, in seeking and trying to inscribe the Gohonzon, bestow it upon his followers and finally declaring it as the "supreme object of devotion in all of Jambudvipa" in this Gosho letter in 1273 ... these efforts of those years were superfluities, an unneeded expenditure of the time and effort of the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth in the mission of Kosen Rufu. That would make Nichiren Daishonin an extraordinary and unmatched wastrel of the precious resources and continuing efforts of Kosen Rufu. Can anyone believing this incredible lie actually consider themselves a follower of Nichiren Daishonin?

And finally this from the same follower of the errant 5 Senior Priests of Nichiren Shu on ARBN:

||| Clearing out 3 Nichikan no-honzons in one very respectful
||| ceremony-- burning them as offerings to Devadatta... was an
||| experience as profoundly joyful as my first encounter with
||| daimoku in August 1988.
|||
||| Whatever Nichikan did-- he is no longer infecting my home
||| or polluting my faith--. RIP Nichikan!! (probably not)
|||
||| I enshrined a Nichiren Prayer Gohonzon--, again, a
||| profoundly joy filled experience!
|||
||| I don't think Chas or anyone can appreciate the difference
||| in authentic v. counterfeit Gohonzons unless you
||| experience it , up close and first hand--

From Immanuel Kant, "Critique of Practical Reason", Book 1, Chapter 1, paragraph 14:
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5683/pg5683.txt

... Thus, practical laws refer to the will only, without
... considering what is attained by its causality, and we may
... disregard this latter (as belonging to the world of sense)
... in order to have them quite pure.

Emmanuel Kant wrote of the "Categorical Imperative" in his "Critique of Practical Reason" There are many practical outcomes of the Categorical Imperative (that treating a perfect Law as a utility is categorically unethical, etc.), but one is this:

Categorical: Ends do not justify means. Means and ends must be justified separately.

Let's imagine a scenario, where a person in a town had a perfect Gohonzon and practiced to it, and they were unavailable by any means.

Let's also assume that not having such a perfect Gohonzon denied persons of the experience of attaining perfect enlightenment in this life and there may be not another chance in kalpas of existence across countless lives to attain this perfect enlightenment (e.g. one-eyed turtle.)

1. Could a person consider the act of stealing that perfect Gohonzon and practicing to it, which might entail the violence and murder that is attendant upon burglary, to attain enlightenment of the Lotus Sutra, to the Mystic Law of cause and effect?

If ends justified means, they could steal or murder to obtain an authentic Nichiren Daishonin Gohonzon and get great benefits from it.

However, causality demands that ends do not justify means and YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GAIN BENEFIT FROM STEALING GOHONZON, WHICH IMPLIES THE RISK OF POTENTIALLY COMMITTING VIOLENCE AND MURDER.

2. Since theft of a perfect Gohonzon is not in any way a cause for enlightenment, and since slandering the Law is worse than the secular violations of the criminal code (theft, murder), then Nichiren Daishonin's admonition against receiving from or giving to the icchantika ... includes receiving your authentic Nichiren Daishonin Gohonzon from a slandering priest of Nichiren Shu, founded by the 5 senior traitorous priests that turned Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism into Shinto worship of Shakyamuni as a Hindu god.

By their treason, the Nichiren Shu copies of Nichiren Daishonin's Gohonzon are actually stolen, which included the slander of murdering of the Buddhas in the ten directions (many quotes by Nichiren Daishonin thus.)

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GAIN BENEFIT FROM RECEIVING STOLEN GOHONZON FROM A PRIEST DISTORTING NICHIREN DAISHONIN"S BUDDHISM AND STEALING HIS FOLLOWERS INTO A NEW SHINTO SECT OF WORSHIPING SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA AS A HINDU GOD.

3. Then receiving that Gohonzon 2nd hand or 3rd hand, or 500th hand from the internet is the very self-same slander of the Law, the intervening handoffs do not wash away the stain. NO MATTER HOW MANY HANDS THE STOLEN GOHONZON PASSES THROUGH, THE PROFOUND SLANDER OF THIEVING AND DISTORTING RETAINS THE SAME POTENCY.

-Chas.

Noel

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Aug 4, 2017, 4:46:18 AM8/4/17

What about the Ancient, Promodial Buddha and 3 bodied Tathagatta Thus Come One Nam[u] Myoho Renge Kyo which is the fusion of the person Nichiren and the Law that is present in Gohonzon and becomes manifest in those that chant Nam[u]Myo Renge Kyo

The entity of the Law is the Gohonzon...sacred matter

Katie Higgins

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Aug 4, 2017, 5:05:34 AM8/4/17

Partial list of authentic Gosho. More to come later.
The 'teacher of the law' or 'the first noel" can translate the list. 😂😂

131) 鼠入鹿事　(132) さじき女房御返事　(133) 下山御消息①最澄の正式表記(133) 下山御消息②ルビ付け(133) 下山御消息③隣国の聖人(134) 四条金吾殿御返事末代の凡夫　雑感(9) 真蹟、写本？「下山御消息」教主釈尊より大事なる行者から(135) 兵衛志殿御返事①百年の功も一言にやぶれ候は法の理なり(135) 兵衛志殿御返事②賢者はよろこび愚者は退(135) 兵衛志殿御返事③此彼須弥山に針と糸(135) 兵衛志殿御返事④十二品殊に重の中の重きなり(136) 霖雨御書　(137) 兵衛志殿御返事一遍題目(138) 破信堕悪御書（断簡121）悪人(139) 現世無間御書他国よりの責め、無間地獄を心見る(140) 日女御前御返事法華経の命を継ぐ(141) 兵衛志殿御返事下痢、金吾の薬で治る(142) 妙法尼御前御返事①免う本うれんくゑきやう(142) 妙法尼御前御返事③須弥山金色、仏種、煩悩菩提・生死即涅槃・即身成仏(143) 兵衛志殿御返事　(144) 兵衛志殿御返事やセやまい(145)兵衛志殿御返事①身延山中の寒さ(145)兵衛志殿御返事②身延山中に40人60人(146) 南条殿御返事断簡一人として仏にならざるはなし(147) 常楽我浄御書（断166）常楽我浄(148) 真蹟断片四書ノ二（断37）①守護,安徳天皇(148) 断263②　(149) 上野殿御返事①日興の日付注記(149) 上野殿御返事②宝と財,不軽菩薩(149) 上野殿御返事③藍よりも青く、水よりも冷たき氷(150) 種々物御消息身延の苛酷な有様(151) 孝子御書兄弟の御仲不和にわたらせ給べからず(152) 窪尼御前御返事　(153) 王日殿御返事一字変じて米となる(154) 松野殿御返事飢饉に人を食らう(155) 松野殿女房御返事　(156) 陰徳陽報御書不孝御書(157) 陰徳陽報御書陰徳あれば陽報あり(158) 上野殿御返事同書の貼り合わせ(159) 盂蘭盆御書①7月15日(159) 盂蘭盆御書②目連尊者と浄名居士(159) 盂蘭盆御書③目連が色心仏になりしかば父母の身も又仏になりぬ(159) 盂蘭盆御書④無戒の僧、仰ぐ釈迦仏、信ずる法華経(159) 盂蘭盆御書⑤我身は藤の如く、法華経の松にかかり妙覚の山に登る(160) 乗明上人御返事　(161) 光日尼御返事　(162) 太田入道殿御返事　(163) 大学三郎殿御書　(164) 断簡197　(165) 大尼御前御返事　　雑感(11) 本仏大聖人から、人間日蓮へ　(166) 断156（帰伏正法御書）　(167) 窪尼御前御返事ほととぎすの一音有り難し(167) 窪尼御前御返事②虚御教書(168) 両人御中御書譲り状　雑感(12) 第４巻畢る　(169) 千日尼御返事（阿仏房書）①　(169) 千日尼御返事（阿仏房書）②若有聞法者無一不成仏(169) 千日尼御返事（阿仏房書）③精霊、霊鷲山宝塔の内に(169) 千日尼御返事（阿仏房書）④男は柱、女桁。男は足、女は身。(169) 千日尼子返事（阿仏房書）⑤死んで仏に成る(169) 千日尼御返事（阿仏房書）⑥法華経の道場と墓　雑感(12) 千日尼御返事について　(171) 上野尼御母前御返事後加文改竄か？(172) 上野尼御前御返事　(173) 富城殿女房尼御前御書伊予、越後、下野の人間関係(174) 富城殿御返事不断法華経

~Katie

Alan (Dennis G)

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Aug 4, 2017, 5:19:19 AM8/4/17

There's some cracking titles if you use Google Translate! Made me smile anyway. :-)

Katie Higgins

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Aug 4, 2017, 5:21:05 AM8/4/17

Do post your translations , Alan -/ good to know someone has some idea where to start !

~ Katie

Chas.

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Aug 4, 2017, 12:27:13 PM8/4/17

This is not what I want, or you should produce, since it throws doubt on all other Gosho letters, although I suspect that is your true intent.

Go on record for which ones you say are faked Gosho letters.

And in English, please, don't be opaque. Nichiren Daishonin was not opaque.

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

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Aug 4, 2017, 9:15:57 PM8/4/17

Get off your lazy duff and produce for yourself -/ issuing orders here is laughable SGIKEDA-bot foolishness .

Here's some direction for your own study :

作佛

Basic Meaning: to become a buddha

Senses:

Lit. to 'make a buddha,' which means to achieve final enlightenment. Same as 成佛. 〔二障義 HBJ 1.805c; 瑜伽論 T 1579.30.744b27 〕 (Skt. anuttarāṃ samyak-sambodhim abhisaṃbudhya, anuttarāṃ samyak-saṃbodhim abhisaṃbuddhasya, bodhi-prāpta,jino bhaviṣyati, tathāgato’rhan samyak-saṃbuddhaḥ) [Charles Muller; source(s): Hirakawa]

Dictionary References

Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 332

Bulgyo sajeon 467a29

Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 386b

Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 246a/272

Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 564

Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 5-P21

Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 438d

Fo Guang Dictionary 2777

Ding Fubao

Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 0121

Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)2757c

Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 602-2

Maybe you won't have so much time to spam up this forum IF you actually put some effort into understanding how ignorant you are .

~ Katie

Chas.

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Aug 5, 2017, 12:45:23 AM8/5/17

So, now it's clear. You do not have a list of Gosho letters that you consider "faked."

Like Senator Joseph McCarthy, you wave an empty list of "disputed Goshos" to silence and shut down any opposition.

You are "Tailgunner" Joe, in a dress.

Your true purpose is to discredit and dishonor ALL of Nichiren Daishonin's life work, to knock him down and erect statues of Shakyamuni as Almighty God everywhere for us all to bow down to in our insignificance.

-Chas.

Katie Higgins

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Aug 5, 2017, 9:25:25 AM8/5/17

A list was provided to initiate your own investigation -- maybe not suited to your need to be spoon fed ?

The issues around forged , altered and fake documents may be over your swelled head. But your stupid rhetoric does not support your propensity for clinging to the "persons" you follow. You aren't demonstrating that you have the capability required for determining that what you have swallowed is true.

Insulting and attacking me is only evidence of all you are lacking basic human skills after decades of dedication to erroneous teachings --

~ Katie

Chas.

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Aug 5, 2017, 1:55:10 PM8/5/17