Dear Future: Happy New Year 2021!

[Brad Klee]

New Buddhist Times, Dec. 31, 2020 (USA Time). Headline:

Nichiren Diashonin, not first, not last--Until the final extinction
or not, expect more generations of Lotus scholars.

Lotus fields emerge every summer, with thousands of strong
flower tops opening over their aquatic homes. According to
the latest exciting research from Chinese scientists writing
in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, the field
of east-meats-west Lotus field study is flourishing with the
test case of /Nelumbo nucifera/, a horticultural darling:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6696627/

Due to international religious differences, the sister species
/Nelumbo lutea/ is relatively neglected, but an interest to
study nonetheless, and we should ultimately plan to compare
conclusions, despite or because of Biden's promise to
become "Tough on China".

China is not the only Asian country to take special notice of
the genus Nelumbo. The Japanese, of course, are also interested
to find out more about the titular species of the "Lotus Sutra" (it
should be noted that some sects of Japanese Buddhism may
be taking the "Lotus Sutra" a little too seriously). What do we
know so far? Early experimental studies were able to quantify
two growth processes, see for example:

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/rikusui1931/57/3/57_3_235/_article/-char/en

Each year during the summer, when the lotus field turns on, it
does so with exponential growth and die-off, reaching peak
growth by midsummer. This process is rated with a time-varying
relative growth rate, as in Fig. 3.a. of Nohara's 1996 article. In
section 4-1. Nohara gives statistics indicating integral growth
of the congregation's occupational area can increase at a radial
rate of 5-10 meters / year.

In a previous article, we discussed a view that Conway's Game of
Life would not be well suited to modelling the growth of a Lotus
field. Instead of Conway's preference, we can choose another local
growth rule, Wolfram's Code 746:

https://www.wolframscience.com/nks/p334--the-phenomenon-of-continuity/
(In some sense this is an outgrowth of the earlier Ulam-Warburton
CA system, see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulam%E2%80%93Warburton_automaton)

Then we can borrow code from Wolfram himself:

https://demonstrations.wolfram.com/AlmostCircularCellularAutomaton/

and adapt the following:

In[12]:= CA[t_] := CellularAutomaton[
{746, {2, {{2, 2, 2}, {2, 1, 2}, {2, 2, 2}}}, {1, 1}},
{Table[1, {2}, {5}], 0}, {t}]

In[22]:= dat = Max[Flatten[Position[#, 1]]] & /@ CA[500];

In[23]:= Coefficient[Fit[dat, {1, x}, x], x]

Out[23]= 0.366297

which shows, empirically, that Code 746 could describe the growth
of a stolon network for one particular individual, at a constant rate
of about 1/3 pixel per timestep.

As we mentioned in Yesterday's edition of New Buddhist Times,
asexual or clonal reproduction only partially accounts for Lotus
propagation on a generational time scale. (Students: Don't forget
to compare genus Nelumbo with Ficus religiosa, Populus tremuloides
and Fragaria ~ strawberries, Yuuuum!). Even more recently, Japanese
authors have investigated Clonal Structures of Lotus Populations
(we also say "congregations" in place of "populations"):

http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?journalid=211&doi=10.11648/j.plant.20150301.12

> Little is known about how many clones exist in a population
> and how large an area does a single clone occupy.

Now using DNA sequencing, questions such as this should be
easier to answer than ever. By correlating DNA samples to
location data and aerial photography, in the near future we will
possibly create visual decompositions of wild lotus fields where
distinct clones are made evident by graphical annotations.
Even that accomplishment, is just a drop in the lake, so to speak.

The last issue is what sort of differential equations does the
yearly lotus bloom obey? Are the SIR equations good enough?
How do population functions for flower beetles correlate to
lotus population curves? And __Most Importantly__ are any
of the pollinating flower beetles members of the troupe,
"SCARABAEIDAE SINISTRAL" ? ? ? ?

In the land of the rising sun, twenty-twenty is already done.
Now to twenty-twenty-one, will we get any friends and fun?

signing off,

--Brad

PS. Recent surveillance videos of the New Yorker astronomer,
Neil deGrasse Tyson show that the flower beetles are still out
there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihvx3ExZD-k
Start at t=31:20, beetle at 32:10, what beetle is this? is it a
"SCARABAEIDAE SINISTRAL" ? ? ? ?

[Chas.]

Brad Klee Still Spreading His Filth Onto The World

On Thursday, December 31, 2020 at 2:07:07 PM UTC-8, brad...@gmail.com wrote:
> New Buddhist Times, Dec. 31, 2020 (USA Time). Headline:
>
> Nichiren Diashonin, not first, not last--Until the final extinction
> or not, expect more generations of Lotus scholars.

[snip your disgusting slanders of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra]
__________________________________________________________

Brad Klee, meet Nichiren Daishonin regarding Taoism +

On Saturday, December 26, 2020 at 5:55:45 PM UTC-8, brad...@gmail.com wrote:

[snip the Taoist plagiarisms]

My view of Taoism is that of Nichiren Daishonin: before the dark ages, Taoist priests in China appropriated Buddhist texts and forged them into Taoist teachings, which are plagiarized. This does not, however, improve them, on the contrary that slander of the Law makes them a great evil:

From "The Opening of the Eyes," WND I, pp. 224-225:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/30#para-19

... 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." [Note 29:
... "Appropriating Buddhism" refers to the incorporating of the
... Hinayana teachings by non-Buddhists into their own
... doctrine, claiming it as their own teaching. "Plagiarizing
... Buddhism" refers to the plagiarizing of Buddhist teachings
... by non-Buddhists who set forth Mahayana teachings as the
... doctrine of their own school. They are described in Great
... Concentration and Insight.]
...
... 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.
...
... 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."
...
... On "Great Concentration and Insight" comments on this
... passage as follows: "THOUGH THEY ARE MONKS, THEY DESTROY
... THE TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM. SOME BREAK THE PRECEPTS AND
... RETURN TO LAY LIFE, AS WEI YÜAN-SUNG DID. THEN, AS LAYMEN,
... THEY WORK TO DESTROY THE TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM. MEN OF THIS
... KIND STEAL AND USURP THE CORRECT TEACHINGS OF BUDDHISM AND
... USE THEM TO SUPPLEMENT AND BOLSTER THE ERRONEOUS WRITINGS.
... THE PASSAGE ON 'TWISTING WHAT IS LOFTY . . .' MEANS THAT,
... ADOPTING THE OUTLOOK OF THE TAOISTS, THEY TRY TO PLACE
... BUDDHISM AND TAOISM ON THE SAME LEVEL, TO MAKE EQUALS OF
... THE CORRECT AND THE ERRONEOUS, THOUGH REASON TELLS US THAT
... THIS COULD NEVER BE. HAVING ONCE BEEN FOLLOWERS OF BUDDHIST
... TEACHINGS, THEY STEAL WHAT IS CORRECT AND USE IT TO BOLSTER
... WHAT IS INCORRECT. THEY TWIST THE LOFTY EIGHTY THOUSAND
... TEACHINGS OF THE TWELVE DIVISIONS OF THE BUDDHIST CANON AND
... FORCE THEM INTO THE MEAN CONTEXT OF LAO TZU'S TWO CHAPTERS
... AND FIVE THOUSAND WORDS, USING THEM TO INTERPRET THE BASE
... AND MISTAKEN TEACHINGS OF THAT TEXT. THIS IS WHAT IS MEANT
... BY 'DESTROYING WHAT IS EXALTED AND DRAGGING IT DOWN AMONG
... THE BASE.'" These comments should be carefully noted, for
... they explain the meaning of the foregoing description of
... events.

From "The Hero of the World," WND I, pp.837-838:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/102#para-12

... In China in the seventh year of Yung-p'ing (c.e. 64), the
... second emperor of the Later Han dynasty, Emperor Ming,
... dreamed of a man of gold. [Note 17: This refers to the
... tradition that Emperor Ming (28–75) dreamed of a golden man
... levitating above the garden. He awakened and asked his
... ministers about the dream. One of them said that he had
... once heard of the birth of a sage in the western region
... during the reign of King Chao of the Chou dynasty and that
... this sage had been called the Buddha. The emperor sent
... eighteen envoys to the western region in order to obtain
... the Buddha's teachings. And at the request of these envoys,
... two Indian Buddhist monks came to China in c.e. 67 with
... Buddhist scriptures and images on the backs of white
... horses.] He thereupon dispatched eighteen emissaries,
... including the scholars Ts'ai Yin and Wang Tsun, to India to
... seek Buddhism. AS A RESULT, IN THE TENTH YEAR OF
... YUNG-P'ING, CYCLICAL SIGN HINOTO-U, TWO SAGES OF CENTRAL
... INDIA, KĀSHYAPA MĀTANGA AND CHU FA-LAN, WERE BROUGHT TO
... CHINA AND ACCORDED THE HIGHEST ESTEEM. THOUSANDS OF
... ADHERENTS OF CONFUCIANISM AND TAOISM, SCHOOLS THAT HAD UP
... UNTIL THEN PRESIDED OVER ALL IMPERIAL RITES, RESENTED THIS
... AND LODGED A COMPLAINT WITH THE EMPEROR. THE EMPEROR
... DECREED THAT AN OPEN DEBATE BE HELD ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF
... THE FIRST MONTH IN THE FOURTEENTH YEAR OF YUNG-P'ING.
... OVERJOYED, THE TAOISTS ERECTED AN ALTAR FOR A HUNDRED
... CHINESE DEITIES AS THEIR OBJECTS OF DEVOTION. THE TWO SAGES
... FROM INDIA HAD AS THEIR OBJECTS OF DEVOTION THE BUDDHA'S
... ASHES, A PAINTING OF SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA, AND FIVE SUTRAS.
... [Note 18: Sutras translated into Chinese by Chu Fa-lan and
... Kāshyapa Mātanga, including the Sutra of Forty-two Sections.]
...
... AS WAS CUSTOMARY IN THEIR RITUALS PERFORMED BEFORE THE
... EMPEROR, THE TAOISTS BROUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES OF THEIR
... SCHOOL, AS WELL AS THE THREE RECORDS, THE FIVE CANONS, AND
... THE WRITINGS OF THE TWO SAGES [NOTE 19: TWO OF THE FIVE
... EMPERORS, T'ANG YAO AND YÜ SHUN.] AND THE THREE KINGS,
... PILED SOME OF THEM WITH FIREWOOD, AND SET THEM ABLAZE. IN
... SIMILAR RITES IN THE PAST THESE BOOKS HAD ALWAYS WITHSTOOD
... THE FLAMES, BUT THIS TIME THEY WERE REDUCED TO ASHES.
... OTHERS, WHICH WERE PLACED IN WATER, HAD PREVIOUSLY FLOATED
... ON THE SURFACE, BUT NOW SANK TO THE BOTTOM. THE TAOISTS
... CALLED OUT FOR DEMONS TO APPEAR, BUT TO NO AVAIL.
... UNBEARABLY HUMILIATED, CH'U SHAN-HSIN, FEI SHU-TS'AI, AND
... OTHERS DIED OF SHAME. WHEN THE TWO INDIAN SAGES PREACHED
... BUDDHISM, THE BUDDHA'S ASHES ASCENDED TO HEAVEN AND THERE
... RADIATED A LIGHT SO BRILLIANT THAT IT ECLIPSED THE SUN. THE
... BUDDHA IN THE PAINTING EMITTED A LIGHT FROM BETWEEN HIS
... EYEBROWS. MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED TAOISTS, INCLUDING LÜ
... HUI-T'UNG, [Note 20: Lü Hui-t'ung was a Taoist in the Later
... Han dynasty. According to The Record of the Lineage of the
... Buddha and the Patriarchs, he and other Taoists converted
... to Buddhism when they were defeated in debate in the
... presence of Emperor Ming in 71.] FINALLY CAPITULATED AND
... ENTERED THE BUDDHIST PRIESTHOOD. WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF THIS
... CONFRONTATION THEY BUILT TEN TEMPLES OF BUDDHISM.

From "Letter to Hōren," WND I, p.514:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/62#para-76

... THE SITUATION WAS SIMILAR IN CHINA. AFTER MĀTANGA HAD
... INTRODUCED BUDDHISM TO CHINA, HE HELD A DEBATE WITH THE
... TAOISTS. WHEN THE TAOISTS WERE DEFEATED IN DEBATE, THEN FOR
... THE FIRST TIME THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO PUT THEIR FAITH IN
... BUDDHISM, THOUGH THERE WERE MANY MORE WHO DID NOT.

Here, Nichiren Daishonin describes how there is a time and capacity for any given set of teachings. When that time has passed and the capacity of the people has advanced beyond the need for those teachings, then practices of those teachings become less that useless, they cause misfortune and misery. Now in the Latter Day of the Law, only Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra can prevail over the impurity of the Saha world to remove the misery of the people and bring them real benefits that are durable and persistent.

From "On Repaying Debts of Gratitude," WND I, p. 714:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/88#para-169

... The stupa built by Nirgrantha Jnātaputra over a period of
... several years conferred great benefit upon living beings,
... but when Bodhisattva Ashvaghosha bowed to it, it suddenly
... collapsed. [Note 67: This story appears in A History of the
... Buddha's Successors. King Kanishka happened to pass by the
... stupa adorned with seven kinds of treasures that Nirgrantha
... Jnātaputra, one of the six non-Buddhist teachers and the
... founder of Jainism, had built. He mistook it for a Buddhist
... stupa and worshiped it, whereupon it collapsed. The
... Daishonin says that Ashvaghosha was the one who caused the
... stupa to collapse, probably because King Kanishka was
... converted to Buddhism by Ashvaghosha.] The Brahman Demon
... Eloquence taught from behind a curtain and for a number of
... years succeeded in fooling others, but Bodhisattva
... Ashvaghosha berated him and exposed his falsehoods. [Note
... 68: This story appears in Record of the Western Regions. In
... India there was a conceited Brahman named Demon Eloquence
... who amused himself with paradoxical theories and worshiped
... demons. He lived in a forest secluded from people. Because
... he conducted debates from behind a curtain, nobody had seen
... his true form. One day Ashvaghosha, together with the
... ruler, went to confront him in debate and argued him into
... silence. Then Ashvaghosha lifted the curtain, exposing his
... demonic appearance.] The non-Buddhist teacher Ulūka turned
... himself into a stone and remained in that form for eight
... hundred years, but when Bodhisattva Dignāga berated him, he
... turned into water. The Taoist priests for several hundred
... years deceived the people of China, but when they were
... rebuked by the Buddhist monks Kāshyapa Mātanga and Chu
... Fa-lan, they burned their own scriptures that purported to
... teach the way of the immortals.

Taoism is really just more Shinto god-worshiping, and false deification of kings and Emperors to justify oligarchy.

Brad Klee, you must stop promoting these evils in a newsgroup dedicated to Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.

-Chas.
___________________________________________________________

Brad Klee distorts Buddhism for fun

On Sunday, December 27, 2020 at 12:09:19 PM UTC-8, brad...@gmail.com wrote:
> Dear Chas,
>
> Although your quotes from Nichiren regarding the admixture
> of Taoism and Buddhism are interesting from a historical
> perspective, I don't think you should accept them as scientific
> fact. Use a little skepticism. Don't believe everything you read.
> Opinions are a penny a piece.

1. What you call an "opinion" is history, related by the honest sages of the Lotus Sutra tradition, in particular Nichiren Daishonin, founder of Nichiren Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra. If you call him a liar, then why are you spouting distorting rhetoric in his newsgroup? Why not spout your filth somewhere else?

2. Apparently, you consider appropriating someone else's work and plagiarizing it into your own filth, as simply standard practice and acceptable. That is one secular crime, however, the Lotus Sutra is the supreme teaching, supreme over all other teachings preached before or after the Lotus Sutra was preached. Now your appropriation of the Lotus Sutra and plagiarizing it into your own filth becomes a crime against the true nature of life itself, a slander of the one true Law.

[snip the rest of your evil slanders]

-Chas.
___________________________________________________________