Robin Beck

Ecumenism?

Some say that all Buddhist practices, if fully applied, lead to ultimate understanding. I both agree and disagree. The problem is that excessive ecumenism can twist the Buddha's intent. I shall give my take on why I believe Buddhist practices are not all equal. I divide the teachings into three:

The Beginning: Refuge, Morality, Ethics, Vows, Pledges.

The Middle: Calming, Concentration, Mindfulness, Brahma-Vihara, Form Absorptions.

The End: Wisdom, Perfections, Formless Absorptions, Emptiness, Insight, Nirvana, the Deathless. In Mahayana, this can be further be broken down or subdivided into Wisdom, Flower Garland, and Lotus levels.

That is my take right now. The literal Pure Land teaching does not lead to Nirvana in this life, so it is limited to the "Beginning" and the "Middle". The "End" or the completion is postponed until after death, when one is reborn in Jodo. IMCO, that was a big part of Nichiren's objection.

My take is that some forms of Rinzai Zen & Soto Zen do include all three. Nichiren evidently never said a word about Esai or Dogen. There are also, IIRC, hongaku {innate awakening} strains of Pure Land. Nichiren also evidently never said a word about Shinran or Ippen.

Nichiren was publicly critical of:

1. What he saw as Antinomian strains of Pure Land & Zen. He centered on Honen & Nonin. The former seems to have rejected Buddha Nature, while the latter rejected the need to cultivate it. One POV is excessively dualistic, the other excessively non-dual.

2. All of the Temples and Clerics who accepted Hojo Clan Patronage. The best known were Nen'a Ryochu, Rankei Doryu, & Ninsho Ryokan.

At any rate, I think that any practice can potentially lead to Nirvana or "Awakening to the Deathless" in this life. But, for example, the Form Absorptions, alone, do not -- and were never intended to. The same applies to metta cultivation.
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Rikkyo Kaishu
The First Recitation of the Odaimoku
To see a short film (RealPlayer, narration only in Japanese) about the first recitation of the Odaimoku at Seichoji Temple, on Asahigamori atop Mount Kiyosumi, video by Kujoji Templei n Akita, click below:

Click here

Rikkyo Kaishu Daimoku

Posted by rbeck at April 29, 2006 06:01 PM