Chanting Growers Group

[EasyMyohoDisco]

I feel compelled to speak here. It's a difficult subject to breach and I would ignore it but I feel I have to in Buddhist thread where truth seems paramount.

the fractures and the rise to polarize Buddhism under a name and the seeming conflict is a complete turn off

I don't want to be critical but I feel, out of respect and honor for those that really believe it that you need to know how it feels for a prospect such as myself

The call to be part of and the ensuing knowledge of the differential that even exists between Buddhist organizations should not be one of the first things I learn about

that type of actions comes off as an ulterior motive and if I had not live a complete lifetime knowingly giving out of respect for the sanctity of life I would mistake it myself as untempered commitment to self (that is it could easily be seen by many that the motive is for the sole benefit of the person getting you to enlist.enroll)

I understand the expedient need for people to have an opportunity for enlightenment in this lifetime and the desire to share with them what you have found.

but it seems almost obvious that these organizations are vying for power through membership and then that leads me to think about what are the motives.

I feels to me that the the simple prospect of membership is for chanters and this is because it mean spiritual power in numbers

now all this may be a misinterpretation but thats the type of things that I am led to believe just because of the inferences

i came here because I was called and invited, I came here to share in a very open honest spiritual vibe

my belief is that it is a a false hope that anything but the compassionate selfless chanting of nam myoho renge kyo can enlighten one instantly or really call to another persons heart

the mystical law only works when it is based on absolute truth

nichiren said DO NOT LOOK OUTSIDE for the law

i feel he meant outside yourself and your heart and I believe nichiren said this because this is where the gohnozon does indeed lie and this is where he wrote it from

I somehow feel the true buddha would find a way to make the conflicting energies harmonize

if the complete knowledge of the spontaneous law of cause and effect are so well known to anyone simply say but one chant and start the domino effect of truth that should harmonize us all and if there is not ONE among you that can do so I suggest we all simply chant for truth in the name of truth and according to the will of the truth because regardless of the law of cause and effect is entirely reliant on the eternal truth regardless of how we decide to spend our energies while living this life

why do you so seek the enlightenment of others? because it makes YOU a great buddha or THEM a great buddha?

I never required payment for selflessly giving and thats why enlightenment was such a gift because it was not expected or required

do you think i did not understand cause and effect? or was it that I did not understand how cause and effect worked in YOU.

the synergy between others, the one where we instill truth and see it come back, thats what enlightenment meant to me

that the gift i had was in others and visa versa

I almost feel as if I conscribe to any one branch of Buddhism I am furthering the divide and damning myself to delusion

now I am very sorry for this message and I apologize but I think that if this is a chanting growers group where people are observing the laws of cause and effect and trying to learn how applying nichiren buddhism would benefit perhaps we need to cultivate selfless giving and understanding and not the politics

i will remove this message and leave the thread if this is offensive to anyone

I know that the people who share and contribute are true and good people and good buddhists it just that having to gather under different banners for the same cause seems counterintuitive to nichirens doctrine

I could relate to your argument regarding the split between the Nichiren Shoshu Temple and the SGI, but I assure you that you would understand if you could read this thread entire thread especially the last two years. The understanding is that you don't have to give money, serve priests, do anything that doesn't feel right with the SGI and that is why I have never had so many Gay, Lesbian, Transexual, musicians, artists, accountants, photographers, waiters, good people, honest people, open people, friendly people, diverse (race, religion, creeds) people come into my life and this is because the SGI welcomes everyone even people who use medical marijuana.

You know that our Buddhism - Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is also connected with Ghandi, Ikeda and King? Dean Carter from Morehouse University who personally knew Martin Luther King, Jr. has welcome the Soka Gakkai into his life and as a christian minister has toured around America bring with him the Ghandi, King, Ikeda Exhibit exemplifies the greatness of Mr. Ikeda. President Ikeda is very old and is still doing his best to support Americans like us to have the open infrastructure to support our Buddhist practice. The Temple does not and has begun to admonish Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The SGI does not tolerate that sort of Arrogance and as you study the history of our Buddhism after Nichiren's time you will quickly learn that only one of the "Priests" (the other monks that joined Nichiren) that practiced with Nichiren while he was alive was the only one to not divert from the practice that Nichiren established! I met a guy last summer who practiced with the Nichiren Shu Temple back in Japan and this guy was the most arrogant and cocky person I ever met. Even still, I have tried to help him come to a meeting to help him understand my happiness and instead he chose to influence an SGI member to do coke with him and they both recently flunked out of Law School. When I knew the SGI member was doing coke I tried to help him understand that his practice could help him regulate his addiction and tried my best to chant for his happiness, but this kid was so heart broken that his girlfriend left him, he flunked out of law school and coke was his only friend, he returned his Gohonzon and had to go back East so he could move back in with his parents. An utter disaster! This was really attributed to the negative influence of the kid from the Nichiren Shu temple that kept telling our mutual friend "MyohoDisco can't read Japanese, he is making up his own religion, Nichiren is just a Bodhisattva, ShakymuniButsu is the real Buddha, yadda yadda". This discouraging influence and the reliance they created with their habit caused them to destroy so much good fortune and I saw with my eyes and with my very life that they were slowly destroying themselves and the kiss of death was when our friend David (the former SGI member) returned his Gohonzon.

David came from a Taoist family and living in the USA, I haven't really encountered many Taoists. I know my boy David is still suffering and because of that I chant for him. I'm chanting for you too Weird. I feel that sooner or later we're gonna meet up and figure out "step 2", but we need to get to step 1 first! Step 1 is in this thread and I think it is for those who chant to obtain a Gohonzon so they could chant at home and test the power of this Buddhism for themselves. We recite two chapters from the Lotus Sutra "Hoben and Juryo" Chapters twice a day and this could take anywhere from 5-15 minutes to hours depending on your schedule and mood and everything else that may affect you. By chanting at home, like many of do, you will really experience what you're reading and will see that the Temple issue really isn't an issue for you and me because we came almost 20 years after the split and we really don't have any barriers of entry! The only barrier is our own fundamental darkness.

You are right, you cannot seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. You may never attain enlightenment if you make other things a higher priority in your life that your practice is what I have learned. By relying on our Buddhanature and exercising the Strategy of the Lotus Sutra, I have not quit or given up in 5 years. As we keep posting on this thread, I'll continue to vow to do the same and will also continue to pave the way for others around us to continue to advance in this regard.

I hope I answered you appropriately and apologize for taking over 48 hours to get back to you on this! I read it a few times and I've also read about the karma with your father and grandfather. I know you have begun to change that karma and I will support you anyway I can.

Thank you for sharing your heart with me, I'm very much obliged for your kind gestures of sincerity.

Wishing you and yours all the best,
MyohoDisco

 

[pb4ugo]

Gosho Passage for today Sunday September 12th, 2010

Gosho Passage for today Sunday September 12th, 2010

Daiy Wisdom
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, September 12, 2010:

"A brilliant orb as bright as the moon burst forth from the direction of Enoshima, shooting across the sky from southeast to northwest. It was shortly before dawn and still too dark to see anyone's face, but the radiant object clearly illuminated everyone like bright moonlight. The executioner fell on his face, his eyes blinded. The soldiers were filled with panic. Some ran off into the distance, some jumped down from their horses and huddled on the ground, while others crouched in their saddles. I called out, "Here, why do you shrink from this vile prisoner? Come closer! Come closer!" But no one would approach me."


Passage from: "The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra"
Written to the lay nun Konichi in 1276


Background segments from the WND p. 779

This work is an autobiographical account covering the events of an important period in Nichiren Daishonin’s life— from the time shortly before the Tatsunokuchi Persecution through his two-and-a-half-year exile on Sado Island to his eventual retirement to Mount Minobu. In the course of his struggles over this period of nine years, the Daishonin fulfilled the predictions in the Lotus Sutra concerning its votary and established himself in both word and deed as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law...

...Nichiren points that the attempt on his life is the immediate cause for him to reveal himself as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. In the passage that follows, the Daishonin speaks of his life on Sado. He expresses joy in the knowledge that he was the only one who fulfilled the prophecy in the Lotus Sutra concerning the votary who is exiled more than once.

My understanding of the passage:

The failed execution of Nichiren marks the time by which Nichiren has discarded his identity as an ordinary person and reveaed his true identity as the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law who fulfilled the purpose of the Lotus Sutra's intent hidden in its depth - the one vehicle of attaining supreme enlightenment for all people being the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

In one of Nichiren's major works, The Opening of the Eyes, Nichiren stated: “On the twelfth day of the ninth month of last year, between the hours of the rat and the ox (11:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M.), this person named Nichiren was beheaded. It is his soul that has come to this island of Sado” (p. 269). Here Nichiren is implying that, though the ordinary person called Nichiren "died" at Tatsunokuchi, Nichiren, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, reached Sado Island safely in order to fulfill his mission.

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Link to the page:
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 767


Segment...

...Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra in all of Japan, and am entirely without guilt. I have expounded the doctrine to save all the people of Japan from falling into the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering for slandering the Lotus Sutra. Moreover, if the forces of the great Mongol empire attack this country, can even the Sun Goddess and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman remain safe and unharmed? When Shakyamuni Buddha expounded the Lotus Sutra, Many Treasures Buddha and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions gathered, shining like so many suns and moons, stars and mirrors. In the presence of the countless heavenly gods as well as the benevolent deities and sages of India, China, and Japan, Shakyamuni Buddha urged each one to submit a written pledge to protect the votary of the Lotus Sutra at all times.

Each and every one of you gods made this pledge. I should not have to remind you. Why do you not appear at once to fulfill your solemn oath?” Finally I called out: “If I am executed tonight and go to the pure land of Eagle Peak, I will dare to report to Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, that the Sun Goddess and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman are the deities who have broken their oath to him. If you feel this will go hard with you, you had better do something about it right away!” Then I remounted my horse.

Out on Yui Beach as the party passed the shrine there, I spoke again. “Stop a minute, gentlemen. I have a message for someone living near here,” I said. I sent a boy called Kumao to Nakatsukasa Saburo Saemon-no-jo [Shijo Kingo], who rushed to meet me. I told him, “Tonight, I will be beheaded. This is something I have wished for many years. In this saha world, I have been born as a pheasant only to be caught by hawks, born a mouse only to be eaten by cats, and born human


only to be killed attempting to defend my wife and children from enemies.

Such things have befallen me more times than the dust particles of the land. But until now, I have never given up my life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra. In this life, I was born to become a humble priest, unable to adequately discharge my filial duty to my parents or fully repay the debt of gratitude I owe to my country. Now is the time when I will offer my head to the Lotus Sutra and share the blessings therefrom with my deceased parents, and with my disciples and lay supporters, just as I have promised you.” Then the four men, Saemon-no-jo and his brothers, holding on to my horse’s reins, went with me to Tatsunokuchi at Koshigoe.

Finally we came to a place that I knew must be the site of my execution. Indeed, the soldiers stopped and began to mill around in excitement. Saemonnojo, in tears, said, “These are your last moments!” I replied, “You don’t understand! What greater joy could there be? Don’t you remember what you have promised?” I had no sooner said this when a brilliant orb as bright as the moon burst forth from the direction of Enoshima, shooting across the sky from southeast to northwest. It was shortly before dawn and still too dark to see anyone’s face, but the radiant object clearly illuminated everyone like bright moonlight. The executioner fell on his face, his eyes blinded. The soldiers were filled with panic. Some ran off into the distance, some jumped down from their horses and huddled on the ground, while others crouched in their saddles. I called out, “Here, why do you shrink from this vile prisoner?? Come closer! Come closer!” But no one would approach me. “What if the dawn should come? You must hurry up and execute me— once the day breaks, it will be too ugly a job.” I urged them on, but they made no response...

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Forest20]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[kushkommander]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!

 

[TrichyTrichy]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

My friend met a Temple member today at Starbucks and they are both coming over for a chanting meeting tonight. I'm thrilled that I've been chanting to help others chanting and not chanting and my friend is bringing me someone to encourage and this is very exciting. Even more exciting is four other friends called that want to chant and my father is coming along also. This is just people calling me and coming over to chant on a Sunday afternoon, I'm so happy and grateful to make this report. I've saved all my posts and have over 2000+ as a journal documenting my journey from fields of green to world peace, from suffering bugs, blight, powdery mildew to living at ease and in happiness, from fearful paranoid living to open honest living, from living on the illegal side to being an upstanding world citizen.

The journey continues as the world goes round and round! What an exciting prospect to consider what tomorrow may hold when today is still not complete and there is much to be said and done!

I humbly await more progress reports from all the chanting growers! Who joined me this morning from 8am - 10am? Anyone? Enjoy the rest of this great day!

Be well!

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda Monday, September 13, 2010:

The functions of both the "devil" and the "Buddha" exist within our lives. Ultimately, our battle is with ourselves. Whether in our Buddhist practice or in activities in society, or whether in historical, political or economic developments, everything essentially boils down to a struggle between positive and negative forces.


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

She came, she loved the meeting and was so happy with the chanting and way she felt after the meeting. She was so excited in seeing people of her race on the world tribune participating in the US Central Territory Rock the Era Festival. She said to all of us that everyone was so welcoming and she is coming back tomorrow for my toso.

This is what I was talking about, the temple doesn't do shakubuku. She was so happy and I became even happier and we're now friends. I really liked her very much and she is so happy that now she could practice freely and is so glad that she met us. My friend today was going to starbucks and started "daydreaming" on the way and ended up going to another starbucks where she met this fascinating new friend. They started chatting and my friend mention she's an SGI member and the other says I'm from the temple hello. This friendly lady who is 60 years young is actually in litigation for her house and living out of a hotel in the local area til she finds another house, but has had many hardships over the past few years and confessed to me her practice has stagnated and she hasn't chanted with other younger people in a while and. My friend called me on her way home from starbucks shocked because the coincidence was so overwhelming and she answered her own question and said that she has to chant then call this lady and invite her to a toso that a nice woman asked me to host for her tonight. So I had a meeting planned by a friend at my house anyway and I invited a friend too so we had 7 people here chanting for an hour with a half hour of conversation before and after. I exchanged numbers with my new friend and she's looking forward to chanting some more!

The Gohonzon proves the world is our oyster, I was just writing about the distinction between the SGI and Nichiren Shoshu sect earlier this week, then I get the biggest benefit besides getting my friends to start chanting - someone from the Temple come into my home and appreciate my Gohonzon and our practice. She said we're so open, we look happy, we are friendly - Awesome compliments, I felt she was genuine. This is how we're doing kosen-rufu over here, one life at a time!

Don't be greedy with any bit of understanding you may have about this practice. if you think you could help someone tell them all you know! I have learned this golden principle from this thread and how it continues to work in my life! Today was my first area planning meeting and I'm thrilled to be developing a plan for shakubuku campaigns in our area.

I tip my hat to the Gohonzon and to all of you chanting with me! Thank you.

 

[pb4ugo]

Gosho Passage for today Monday, September 13th, 2010

Gosho Passage for today Monday, September 13th, 2010

Daily Wisdom
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, September 13, 2010:

"Now Nichiren's lifelong prayer and desire will be achieved in an instant. And this fits the Buddha's prediction regarding the fifth five hundred years, just as one half of a tally matches the other."

passage from: "Reply to the Followers"
Written to followers in Kamakura on March 21, 1278


Backgrounds from WND p. 901

This letter was addressed to the Daishonin’s followers living in Kamakura. It appears that preparations were under way in Kamakura for a public debate to determine which was correct, the teaching of the Daishonin or the teachings of the True Word, Zen, and other schools. A report about this was conveyed with great haste to the Daishonin. This letter is his reply.

My understanding of the passage:

What has been Nichiren's prayer all along from day one? It is none other than to prove the validity of what is hidden in the Lotus Sutra that is to reveal the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be propagated and to reveal his true identity to be the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law who appeared in the fifth five hundred years after Shakyamuni's passing as stated in the Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren's conviction of his life long prayer and desire to establish the correct teaching can be proved and achieved in an instant. This was Nichiren's unyielding desire to do so in order to save Japan and the entire world from annihilation and destruction. Nichiren's teaching can be proven and decided only if the misleading teaching of today are brought together to confront Nichiren so to determine right from wrong.

Therefore, Nichiren's and his disciples who embrace the correct teaching become the teachers of the country of Japan and ultimately, everyone in the world would revere Nichiren's teaching so to lead the entire world toward peace and security.

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Link to the page:
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 901


YOUR messenger, who left on the nineteenth day of the third month, arrived here with your letter at the hour of the dog (7:00–9:00 P.M.) on the twenty-first. Now Nichiren’s lifelong prayer and desire will be achieved in an instant. And this fits the Buddha’s prediction regarding the fifth five hundred years,1 just as one half of a tally matches the other. In the end, if the slanderous proponents of the True Word, Zen, and other schools are summoned and brought together to confront me, and right and wrong are decided, the people of Japan will all become my disciples and lay supporters.

Of my disciples, the priests will become teachers to the emperors and retired emperors, while the lay believers will be ranked as the ministers of the left and right. And moreover, everyone in the entire land of Jambudvipa will come to revere this teaching. What happiness! What happiness!

Nichiren

The twenty-first day of the third month in the first year of Koan (1278)

Reply to the followers

 

[TrichyTrichy]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

Today is gonna be another great day! The weather isn't so great, but everything else is!

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, September 13, 2010:

The functions of both the "devil" and the "Buddha" exist within our lives. Ultimately, our battle is with ourselves. Whether in our Buddhist practice or in activities in society, or whether in historical, political or economic developments, everything essentially boils down to a struggle between positive and negative forces.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, September 13, 2010:

Exerting yourself by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each day amounts to what might be called a spiritual workout. It purifies and cleanses your life, gets your motors running and puts you on the right course for the day. It gets your body and mind working smoothly and puts you in rhythm, in sync, with the universe.

 

[Lapides]

Today is gonna be another great day! The weather isn't so great, but everything else is!

It certainly is! And the weather here is FABULOUS!

Just stopping through to say hi to all my friends here. I'll update my situation soon.

Love all of you!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

Wooop looks like its going to be a great day then !!
Great to see you posting up Lap I know we are going to hear good news from your camp soon
Easy always throwing down the awesome real life post ... thanks buddy !!
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

I had another great victory and our group encouraged the temple member very much again today. I'm super tired and am going to bed early! Nightynight

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Nothing can match the strength of those whose lives have been shaped and forged
through challenging and overcoming hardships. Such people fear nothing. The
purpose of our Buddhist practice is to develop such strength and fortitude. To
cultivate such an invincible core is in itself a victory. It is also the
greatest benefit. Those who can succeed in this endeavor will savor unsurpassed
happiness; they can manifest the supreme state of Buddhahood.

from SGI-USA
"For Today & Tomorrow"


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[pb4ugo]

Gosho Passage for today Tuesday September, 14th, 2010

Gosho Passage for today Tuesday September, 14th, 2010

Daily Wisdom
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, September 14, 2010:

"The government's persecution of me has clearly demonstrated my faith in the Lotus Sutra. There is no doubt that the moon wanes and waxes and that the tide ebbs and flows. In my case, too, since punishment has already occurred, benefit must be forthcoming. What is there to lament?"

Passage from: "Letter from Echi"
Written to Toki Jonin on September 14, 1271

Background from the WND p. 194

Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter on the fourteenth day of the ninth month of the eighth year of Bun’ei (1271) and addressed it to Toki Jonin, immediately following the Tatsunokuchi Persecution. When this letter was written, the Daishonin was staying at the residence of Homma Rokuro Saemon-no-jo in Echi, Sagami Province. The Daishonin had been sentenced to exile on Sado Island under the supervision of Hojo Nobutoki, the constable of Sado. Nevertheless, on the twelfth day, an attempt



My understanding of the passage:

In the Letter, "The Hero of the World" Nichiren wrote:
"Since childhood, I, Nichiren, have never prayed for the secular things of this life but have single-mindedly sought to become a Buddha."


It is obvious and clear from the above, that the purpose of our Buddhist practice is none other than to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime in our present form. Nichiren quote from the Lotus Sutra that in the future there will be those monks and teachers who are "fawning and crooked who will suppose they have attained what they have not attained, being proud and boastful in heart." This is bound to happen always when the true teaching is being propagated. it happened even at the time of Shakyamuni, how can we not expect it to happen now today in the Latter Day of the Law? Observe carefully, what are the meaning of the above compared to the secular passages we read uttered by supposedly great teacher(s) of our days.

In the letter, "The Fourteen Slanders" Nichiren wrote:
"Though the flowers of the mango tree are many, there are few that turn into fruit. In like manner, there are many people who set their hearts on enlightenment, but only a few who continue their practice and in fact attain the true way." It is difficult to attain the way in the Latter day of the Law as difficult as a "one-eyed turtle" searching for a floating sandalwood in the ocean. Think about it!

pb
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link to the page:
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 194


THE government’s persecution of me has clearly demonstrated my faith in the Lotus Sutra. There is no doubt that the moon wanes and waxes, and that the tide ebbs and flows. In my case, too, since punishment has already occurred, benefit must be forthcoming. What is there to lament?
At the hour of the cock (5:00–7:00 P.M.) on the twelfth day, I incurred the wrath of the government authorities. Placed in the custody of the lord of Musashi,1 I left Kamakura at the hour of the ox (1:00–3:00 A.M.) on the thirteenth day for exile in the province of Sado. At present, I am in a place called Echi, which is the domain of Homma,2 under the supervision of a person called Uma Taro, a deputy of Homma Rokuro Saemon-no-jo of Echi. I will probably be staying here for four or five days.


Your grief is understandable, but because I have been certain from the beginning that this would occur, I myself do not grieve. Rather, I regret that I have yet to be beheaded. Had I been decapitated on account of the Lotus Sutra in a past existence, I would not have been born as such a lowly person in this life. By undergoing repeated persecution, just as is noted in the sutra when it says, “again and again we will be banished,”3 I can erase the grave offenses of my past and for the first time attain Buddhahood. I therefore engage in these difficult practices of my own accord.

Nichiren

The fourteenth day of the ninth month

Reply to Toki