"Two monks, brothers, brahmans by birth, of fine language and fine speech, came to the Buddha and said Lord, here monks of miscellaneous origin are corrupting the Buddha's words by repeating them in their own dialects, let us put them into Vedic. The Lord Buddha rebuked them: “Deluded men, how can you say this? This will not lead to the conversion of the unconverted And he delivered a sermon and commanded the monks You are not to put the Buddha's words into Vedic Who does so would commit a sin I authorize you, monks, to learn the Buddha's words each in his own dialect " Cullavagga V.33; Vinaya Pitaka II. 139. 1ff.
This is very different than what appears in the Human Revolution
for the American Soka Gakkai. Read and decide for yourself
what the message is........
Source: Toda Josei Zenshu (The Complete Writings of
Josei Toda), Vol. 4 Publisher: Wakosha Publishing Co.
Publication Date: December 10, 1965 Pages: 599, 600
Around the middle of November, the light of the morning sun flowed through the three foot window. Having concluded his morning observance, Gan (Toda),
Feeling refreshed, faced the sun and chanted o-daimoku while focusing his heart upon Taisekiji's Gohonzon. The amount of his daimoku had reached 1,800,000.
From around March of that spring, he had begun tallying the number of his daimoku. He took delight at the increase in number. On that day, with the advance of
The number of daimoku, his heart had come to feel perfectly tranquil, and an indescribable joy welled forth. He felt an indescribable peace, like a gentle spring breeze wafting over a field. It was neither dream nor dilirium. He was with an innumerable multitude, neither in the sky nor on the ground, and was he not, along with everyone else, performing obeisance (gassho) to the Gohonzon?
This may have lasted several seconds or it may have lasted several minutes. He had no way of knowing the length of time. However, it was nothing other than the awareness that he was in the world described in the Jujiyujutsu (The Followers'Welling Up from the Earth) Chapter of the Lotus Sutra. That sutra passage reads, "Hearing Shakyamuni's voice as he made his assertions, these bodhisattvas of every variety welled up from below. Each of these bodhisattvas was at the head of a multitude, and each of them led followers as numerous as the sands of sixty thousand Ganges Rivers... Upon completing their pilgrimage, they respectfully faced the two World-Honored Ones..." Gan was a person amongst this tremendous multitude. He had attended the gathering of the Lotus Sutra in the eternal past. The Daishonin states in "Sandaihiho sho" ("The Three Great Secret Laws"), "As the supreme leader of the vast number of bodhisattvas who welled up from the earth, Nichiren without a doubt received the oral bequeathal of the Three Great Secret Laws from the founder, the enlightened World-Honored One, more than two thousand years ago." These words welled up in his breast as though they had been deeply engraved there. The very instant he was about to exclaim that these words were not a lie and that he was now in that very found himself sitting on his chair.
BAGHDAD - The killings of three U.S. soldiers in separate attacks in Baghdad pushed the American death toll for April up to 47, making it the deadliest month since September.
One soldier died when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. The other died of wounds sustained when he was attacked by small-arms fire, the military said Wednesday. Both incidents occurred Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad.
A third soldier died in a roadside bombing Tuesday night in the east of the capital, the military said.
The statement did not give a more specific location. But the eastern half of Baghdad includes embattled Sadr City and other neighborhoods that have been the focus of intense combat between Shiite militants and U.S.-Iraqi troops for more than a month.
4,059 since 2003
In all, at least 4,059 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The latest fighting erupted at the end of March after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a crackdown against Shiite militias in the southern port city of Basra. But it quickly spread to Baghdad’s Sadr City, a sprawling slum with about 2.5 million people that is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The militiamen have used the district as a base to fire barrages of missiles and mortar rounds at the U.S.-protected Green Zone which houses much of the Iraqi government and Western diplomatic missions, including the U.S. and British embassies.
They also have fought running street battles in which hundreds have died. The U.S. military says those killed have been mainly gunmen. But police and medical authorities in Sadr City say innocent civilians have frequently gotten caught up in the fighting.
Such street battles — in tight confines and amid frightened civilians — are increasingly becoming a hallmark of the drive into Sadr City and recall the type of head-on clashes last seen in large numbers during last year’s U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad and surrounding areas.
Girls' school destroyed
The Sadr City violence continued overnight with the destruction of a school in the district. AP Television News footage showed that parts of the two-floor Baghdad Girls’ School had pancaked as the result of an explosion. Desks were hanging down from the slanting classrooms where the outer walls were blown out by the blast.
Local officials said the school was the target of an airstrike on Tuesday evening.
An official at the local hospital, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the information, said two people were killed and 16 wounded overnight in Sadr City. He said this brought the death toll in the district since Tuesday to 31, with 107 wounded.
The U.S. military had no comment about the school but said an Abrams tank fired at gunmen shooting at U.S. troops in Sadr City, killing all three. In another part of Sadr City, an unmanned drone fired a missile at a group of men planting a roadside bomb and killed one, the military said.
In another development, the office of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, said he received a telephone call from President Bush on Tuesday afternoon.
The SIIC is one of the main members of al-Maliki’s U.S.-supported government and a rival of al-Sadr’s movement.
An SIIC statement said that two exchanged views about the current situation in Iraq. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Undercover reporter Urethra Franklin has learned that Mark Rogow, and Graham H. Lamont, have been pissing and moaning .
Chap 16 says they should:
If one takes seriously the sanction not to seek the Lotus Sutra, and by association Buddha, outside of oneself, and if it does permeate the universe, then shouldn't a sincere practitioner be able to "see it" expressed everywhere, even if not confined to a particular form like a scroll or a sound like chanting words in a language or any language for that matter. Some feel that Nichiren gave the Lotus Sutra its most direct or intoxicating expression, but can something one believes be limited to any particular manifestation of form? Can such a sincere person not hear the Lotus Sutra in the silent meditation, or in the visualization of the Ceremony in Space without a Japanese Mandala using our own imagination, reaching beyond space and time, the possibilities seem just endless limited by my abilities to explain my thoughts. Isn't sharing the insight of the Lotus Sutra, and helping others to find this principle, and if so, must those dedicated to doing so not "find it" themselves however it may express itself in a particular culture?
TCB
Maltz
ENTREES
All entrees come with some form of mantra invocation. Please specify whether you prefer nam- or namu- in your (O)daimoku.
Seared Butsuryu
Gongyo-free devotion marinated in okozui and "sacred formula." Showered with sparks struck from flint. Xylophone on the side.
Shoshu Roll
Narrow strips of exclusivist orthodoxy accompanied by extremely rare ushitora gongyo. Wrapped in priestly robes, sprinkled with sho-hondo dust.
American Independent Platter
Spit-roasted dissent, piled high with questions. Flavored with a subtle hint of bitters.
Shoshin-kai
Tender, early sprouts of reform, cut down and hung out to dry. With whine vinaigrette.
The Minobu
Amulets smothered in mysticism, served on a mandala from our gift shop.
Gakkai Special
A mix of everything, changing daily. Please ask server for details.
Baked Kempon Hokke
Small portion of something. No one ever orders this. We're not sure what it is.
*
DESSERT
Fujufuse
Half the calories and none of the fat of regular ice cream. Made from the milk of strictly practicing cows. Sorry, cannot be served to slanderers or nonbelievers.
Assorted Salty, Stinky Fish Candy
Like a lot of things, this represents Japanese culture more than the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism. But don't let that stop you from incorporating it into your practice. Yum.
Chocolate Maltz
By Christian Oaks
"...in my original prayer I made a vow that: I should not have a prejudice in favor of any sect; I should adopt whichever sect shows the evidence of being the teaching of the Buddha and is reasonable; I should be guided solely by the sutras, not by the commentators of India, translators and minister-masters in China; regarding the doctrines of Buddhism, I should not be afraid of even being punished by a king, not to talk of persecutions by the people below him; I should not follow instructions against the Buddha's teachings even if they are given by my parents, teacher and elder brother; and I should speak up honestly as expounded in sutras regardless whether or not people believe in me." (Refutation to Ryokan-bo)
TCB
MALTZ
I strolled on over to the Kempon site,
Mark Rogow post some things about me,
He thinks those things are going to hurt me, or something?
Actually I have no idea what he thinks anymore.
I am not even sure if he does.
First of all, I cannot control what other people think.
I am not responsible for what other people think.
I will not go to war over misconceptions and rumors.
I left America to go to Japan to find out exactly what Nichiren Buddhism is all about.
To separate the fat from the bone, to separate the ritual from the path.
Far from that goal, it is clear to me know that each and every person has their own idea what the path is and is not.
When I read the Lotus Sutra, I see Buddha is still alive today.
I see the Buddha, to me and for me there is no path other than the Law of the Lotus Sutra.
No sect, no group, no guru, no special this or that will provide anyone with the tools for becoming a Buddha, other than the Lotus Sutra itself.
Was Nichiren’s message anything different?
Truth in Buddhism is not determined by human judgment but by the Buddha’s words alone, as recorded in the true scriptures.
The Lotus Sutra was not established by a human teacher, but by the Buddha himself.
Only a Buddha and another Buddha understand what Buddha is, therefore we have to discard anyone and everything that they say when they try and explain Buddhahood.
They are fools trying to convert other fools.
In Lamont’s efforts to spin and twist Nichiren, he wants to be the issue.
This is Mappo, and it is easy to do.
It’s easy to put on an Elvis jumpsuit and want to be Elvis,
It’s easy to shave your head, or speak Japanese and want to be Nichiren,
But Nichiren was only a man.
A man of skin, blood, urine, bones, dung, birth and death.
A human being.
I am not Nichiren nor Buddha, just a human trying to sort out Buddhist Law from Human Law.
In Buddha’s day and in Nichiren’s day, normal everyday humans trying to uphold to law did so at the risk of their own life.
I don’t think waking up in the morning, and logging on to the Internet and slandering and spreading rumors is the same as upholding the law with one’s life.
Does attaching oneself to a sect of cult make one go crazy, or do crazy people attach themselves to sects and cults?
Mark Rogow writes his masters and writes them the SGI is attacking him?
Attacking? Where and when? Steve Polito went so far to tell me Nichiren entered his life, and only he upholds the law,
And everyone slanders him because he protects the law.
No, Steve, please don’t like you because you are quite reprehensible.
Those people that want to say bad things about me, make up rumors and lies, spread gossip will only suffer because of what they are doing.
But I don’t think they are attacking me.
My family was kidnapped by a sect in Japan and taken to Izu.
People in Kempon did conspire to have my wife expelled from her university, and that might be called an overt attack, I don’t know.
I just have considered the people involved total idiots.
To Mark Rogow: I don’t reject Rev. Kubota or Lamont, the new so-called priest, or anyone in the Kempon.
I reject the idea of following a person.
I have not lied to anyone, and yet I am being called a liar, even by those that know the truth. Are memories really that selective and short?
There would not be a Kempon Hokke in America if Stephanie and I had not brought their teachings here.
And now we are cast aside like junk.
I am sure Rev. Honda would not cast us away.
Kempon Hokke kicked him out of the Sect.
Even though I left, he wold still consider me a good friend.
Nichiju treasures me.
Lamont and Rogow just don't understand Buddha's heart.
In 2000 my wife and I had lunch with Senchu Murano a believer that has translated the Lotus Sutra into several languages.
There was another believer from another foreign country there, and in front of me and my wife, they asked him,
“Why is Bruce the most hated person in Nichiren’s Buddhism? “
My son who was 9 yrs old at the time, broke out laughing.
Senchu Murano, put down his bowl of soup, and looked at the believer and said, “it is very simple, he broke the piñata and now everyone can pick up all the candy and toys, but it is not enough, they wanted to be the one to break the piñata. I have always wished he and his wife would have been a Nichiren Shu member.”
Even the guy who runs the Nichiren Coffeehouse would throw me out of one group after another, but then tell people, I saved his life.
With a somewhat broken heart,
because of the weak nature of the human being,
Bruce Maltz
In the "Kanjin honzon sho" (On the Object of Worship in Contemplation), Nichiren Daishonin states "Now the Saha World of the Original Time is the Ever-abiding Pure land apart from the Three Calamities and outside of the Four Kalpas. The Buddha has not already been extinguished in the past and will not be born in the future. Those who are converted are of the same essence. This is identical to the complete possession of the three thousand (realms) of one's own mind, the three types world" (translated by Lamont).
I wonder just how Lamont reads this essential part of this writing by Nichiren? Does he reject the "Kanjin honzon sho" as a forgery? Was Nichiren sent by Buddha to discredit Lamont?
Lamont hates Hongaku monism and thinks Hongaku monism is not the view of Jumonryu (followers of Nichiju). I agree with him on the point that "Hongaku shiso" is wrong. Lamont misunderstands the term "Hongaku", only by immediately thinking it means "Hongaku shiso". This is the most critical and fundamental error in his view.
The term "Hongaku" only means the "Original Enlightenment”. This, as everyone can see very easily, is what is preached in the Honmom (Original Doctrine), especially in Chapter 16 'Measure of life'. On the other hand, in the Shakumon (Manifestation Doctrine) it preaches "Shigaku" (Attainment of enlightenment). Therefore, the subject of "Hongaku and Shigaki” is parallel to the subject of "Honmon and Shakumon".
In the Shakuman, we have Buddha and Human Beings, Honmom is based on monism and preaches the ultimate equality of worldly beings and Buddha.
Actually, there was no argument here, it was only Lamont's confusion and misunderstanding always wanting to fight with the "evil one".
Maltz
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Maltz
The best cover all time is one of the best rock 'n roll songs of all time:
Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower."
Worst -- William Shatner, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Can't even carry a tune and sounds like Captian Kirk reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Maltz
One of the letters that Nichiren Shonin wrote says,
"I have realized that I am the rebirth of Jogyo Bodhisattva"
(Show; teihon Nichiren, p. 1720). "
There are many questions concerning the authenticity of many of the letters attributed to Nichiren.
Especially when the letter does not meet the teaching of a specific Nichiren Sect.
Some say Nichiren is the Buddha.
Some say many things.
The passage quoted above is from a letter that exists in Nichiren's own hand.
Maltz
During WW11, right wing Japanese militarists loyal to Nichiren’s teachings, occupied China and established the puppet state “Manchukuo.” This was to be a staging ground for the larger cataclysmic global war. It was here that Lt. General Shiro Ishii of the notorious Unit 731, developed a leading edge in Biological Warfare. Using captured POW’s as test subjects, Ishii and his team were responsible for some of the most abhorrent human experiments ever recorded. A key figure during this period was Kanji Ishihara. A right wing military strategist, Ishihara predicted that the final war would be fought with future “weapons from the laboratory.” However, Allied victory in WW11 ensured that Japanese militarism ground to a halt, and potential developments of sophisticated weapons were outlawed. Nichiren’s cataclysmic doctrine, however, was not forgotten.(TESLA DOOM WEAPONS by David Gyuatt)
Maltz
From the Biography of Nippo:
"It says in the Jogyo Shoden-sho (written in 1282)
'Nippo wanted to carve a statue of Nichiren. He prayed to Shichimen Daimyojin. Was it a response (kannou) to his prayers? He found a log floating in the river. He used it to engrave the Kaidan-in Honzon. Next, he made statues of Nichiren. Altogether, three statues. One of the statues is just 3 su-n (9 centimeters) tall.' The Daishou (=Buddha, i.e., Nichiren) inscribed the Kaidan-in Honzon (=DaiGohonzon) and Nippo engraved it. This is the present plank Honzon. That is, it is the Gohonzon that was in the Grand Hall at Minobu. Because of Nippo's long and masterful expertise as an artisan, he made one statue of the Daishou 3 su-n (9 cm.) tall....The plank Honzon and statues are now at Fuji.... When Nikko left Minobu, Nippo left with him."
Nippo Den/Biography of Nippo, Fuji Seiten, pgs. 731-732
Maltz
The newspaper report said that Rev. Honda, of the Kempon Hokke (who had been kicked out by the Kempon Hokke and then asked to come back) clearly had his opponents defeated because he could cite the Hokkekyo and Nichiren's writings as proof of his arguments. The Taisekiji priests could not cite any such texts. All the Fuji opponent did was merely assert the Taisekiji viewpoint, without being able to cite any supporting texts at all. It was an embarrassing defeat for Taisekiji, but the Taisekiji side hoisted a pre arranged banner, which said, in large letters, "We win. We defeat the other side". (This is like a SGI manoeuver, long before the existence of Soka Gakkai!) This provoked a general disturbance, and one Taisekiji supporter tried to assault the the old Honda Nissho. This brought the police to the scene, hence the newspaper story was printed. The reporter, who had observed the entire "debate", praised the obvious scholarship of Honda Nissho and he commented on the lamentable lack of preparation on the Fuji side. The hoisting of the banner was a sign of real ignorance and arrogance. The fist fight, started by the Fuji supporters, was especially reprehensible.
Maltz
(kuon ganjo久远元初or kuon ganshi,久远元始)
Although these terms have had some success as a propagation tool, to pass off crazy ideas you can not find them in any authentic text that exists in Nichiren own hand. For those of you that know me, I went to the wall trying to learn about the authenticity of the different sects, and the Fuji School kept using the "Hyakurokka-sho [the One Hundred and Six Articles]" in their reason that Nichiren is the Buddha, and for the DaiGohonzon. Outside of Taisekiji, these writings are not recognized by scholars or other sects, simply because the only versions of these writings exist in the temples of Taisekiji, not elsewhere at all. Also, these writings post-date the lifetime of Nichiren and his immediate disciples. No originals exist, and no copies from the days of Nikko and others exist at all. All of the quotes from the "Hyakurokka-Sho" are simply fantasy. Bear in mind that "truth" is not so important to these old conservative Japanese clergy...it is the "upholding of tradition". In this light, Taisekiji has validated itself because it has been around for 700 years and that is just ridiculous.
The religion of Nichiren Shoshu is really the religion of Nichikan. He rewrote the entire doctrine, and he codified the idea of "Nichiren as True Buddha". As for the Taisekiji ideas of "master/disciple" relationship, the "blood transmission", etc. It's all pure Zen, which deeply influenced the later Taisekiji priests. Even the terminology of "I grasped the Lotus Sutra through serving my master by cutting firewood, gathering greens and drawing water" is from the Zen poems, so popular among the samurai of the day. Of course, the original phrase is from the Lotus sutra, wherein Shakyamuni says that he learned the Law from Devadatta in a previous existence by serving him (Devadatta was called Asita in that incarnation), "gathering herbs, drawing water" for a thousand years. But this phrase simply shows the karmic relationship between Shakyamuni and Devadatta.
What happens if you "discard" the underlying continuity to the Eternal Buddha? When you recite, "Ji ga toku burrai" in the Lotus Sutra, the "ga" (or "I") is Shakyamuni Buddha, in his eternal form. Nichiren Shoshu says that this "ga" (I) is Nichiren himself. You have to decide if the original text warrants such a "jump" in interpretation. Since Nichiren himself never makes such a claim, do you want to put all your trust in the notions of the later priests of Taisekiji? Nikko never said such a thing .
Do you really want to trust the idea of the truth of the Lotus Sutra being transmitted from one human being to another, in the guise of high priest of Taisekiji or SGI leader? No need to study the Lotus Sutra if you like the idea of human succession and having Ikeda as your savior and mentor....just remain a Catholic. In essence, the transcendent truth of Buddhism has been turned into Catholic Buddhism by Taisekiji and and the Soka Gakkai.
Maltz
A week ago, I received an email from a Shoshu believer, and said they had been reading some old posts and wanted to ask me about the "Jogyo Shoden-sho' because her Temple is using it as a tool to support their case that the DaiGohzonon is authentic. She was deathly afraid to have her name appear here, and asked me to answer her question, and at first I said no, but here it is.
Way back when running the Kempon Hokke, with the help of Kemon Priests I learned that this is also called the "Matsunodono Gosho". This Gosho is also a down-right no good dirty rotten forgery [hahaha]. Although this so-called letter is included in the Fuji Seiten they themselves, in the Fuji School, state in the Fuji Seiten that this Gosho should not be trusted because it is a forgery for it differs to the historical fact, need to hear more.. thought so.
One reason they themselves admit that it is a forgery is because it says 'Nippo wanted to carve a statue of Nichiren. and He (Nippo)Prayed to Shichimen Daimyojiu. Was it a response to his prayers that He found a log floating in .."
If they insist that it is true, then they must admit that they allow people in the Fuji Faith to pray to Shichimen Daimyojin (a goddess dragon with seven faces) which they came to think washeresy in the later ages, and now make fun of today, especially those in Nichiren Shu.. To be fair, you can look it up and learn that faith in Shichimen Daimyojin arose during the ages considerably after the death of Nichiren.
And another reason is that this Gosho goes on to say: “To have faith in only Nippo means to have faith in Nichiren".
If they admit this, then of course they sould have to rank Nippo above Nikko, that is super inconvenient for them. The course of events was that they forged this Gosho in order to show that Ita-Mandara was not forged by Nichi-u but was carved by Nippo, in opposition to the claims (Taisekiji-Ouwaka-Kempon-Show, etc.) by Nichi-jo. head priest of Kitayama Hommonji. However, they were so attached to making a lie about Nippo at that time that they forged a letter and said it came from Nichiren which embarrasses themselves later, but this is not to well known, and hidden from most Shoshu Fuji believers.
Maltz
My thoughts about what I felt were the most important and pivotal actions in Nichiren's life that has influenced his effects that have confused his intent, and made it easy for parasites and evil men to confuse other people.
To really look at Nichiren, you cannot be a member of any of his sects, because then you are influenced, or have a leaning disposition towards one way of thinking. I have already talked in other posts about how Nichiren as a young priest studied many Buddhist Sutra's in confusion, to figure out why there were so many sects. We all learned that. In is revelation, he saw the "Eternal Sakyamuni was the Buddha that transferred his merits to the Bodhisattva of the Earth".
He became convinced that in the Lotus Sutra, it says that if people cannot understand the concept of Ichinin Sanzen, then Buddha would hang the 5 jewels around their body, and took it as his duty to have people chant the words, Myo Ho Renge Kyo, and he added Nam Mu, the formula Na Mu Myoho Renge Kyo.
At the moment, when Nichiren saw himself as Jogyo, the leader of the Bodhisattvas. Right there and then, he should have torn off his priest rob, and started his mission. Being a priest had nothing to do with being Jogyo. There is nothing in the Lotus Sutra that said he had to be a priest. Now, people confuse the two.
They confuse religion and Nichiren, they confuse Nichiren being a priest and his role as Jogyo. They think Nichiren was a Priest so they need a Priest. In reality, and in truth, Nichiren was spreading the law of the Lotus Sutra, not a Religion, not a Priesthood. And now, people do not have the common sense, or intelligence to separate the two.
If Nichiren had been a sushi chef, and saw the truth in the Lotus Sutra, would everyone want to be a sushi chef? Would the Soka Gakkai be the Sushi Gakkai? Would one of the practices be to eat raw fish in the morning and evening?
After Elvis Presley died, everyone wanted to put on a jumpsuit and be Elvis, and even now you can find Elvis imitators. They try to imitate Elvis, they sing his songs, they try to improve his songs, they sing modern songs his style, they try new things, they mix his style with other styles, and women in the audience who have never seen Elvis like the imitators and are like parasites eating off the life of Elvis, taking women, handing them scarves, making lots of money. Those of us that knew Elvis, or saw Elvis, have no desire to see the impersonators. There is only one Elvis.
All the priests in all the Nichiren sects are Nichiren impersonators. Why would anyone want to be a priest, unless they want power over people? I visited Minobu in 2000 and they were having a ceremony, and priests were asking $1,000 to pray for people, so I set up a booth and had my friend write in Japanese that I would pray with anyone for free so they could save their money. I was asked to leave after 20 minutes, but later went to see the former High Priest, we ate, the rest is confidential. All Priests are Buddha impersonators, this is Mappo, all Buddhist practice has no power, there are no priests, and there are no sects.
Again, My words may sound harsh, but that is just the way I write.
Maltz