Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[easyDaimoku]

BABBABUD SHAKUBUKU'ED ME!

BABBABUD SHAKUBUKU'ED ME!

01-17-2006, 01:15 PM #2084 Babbabud
Bodhisattva of the Earth

Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: N. Cal
Posts: 7,657


The act of sitting down and cleaning and preparing MJ for use is part of my ritual. I use this time to slow down my thoughts and and settle myself from my day. This often leads to the butsudan and time in front of my gohonzon chanting nam myoho renge kyo!
It all seems so natural
Thanks for the great read this morning PTD !! Hope you have a great vacation and enjoy your time off with your loved ones

nam myoho renge kyo
__________________
Babba's 2008 Outdoor Grow!

Babba's 2009 outdoor Grow!

(Medical Patient In Compliance)

Nam myoho renge kyo !! Mugi wasshin
your bud
babba

Peace
be here now!!
(01-17-2006, 01:15 PM https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=3819&page=139 )

Folks I'm so glad I began my practice on the original thread thanks to homies like the participants of this thread and Babba, Mrs. Babba, PasstheDoobie, SoCal, Desi, tons of people, Alwaystotheleft, so many people over the years. Amazing experiences throughout and it just keeps getting better each time doesn't it.

Newer readers and new members should also considering chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! and looking to find the closest SGI center in your area. The SGI is a world-wide lay organization (no priests or temples) that has Community Centers and locations throughout the world. For more information check out: www.sgi.org and/or just keep reading this thread and the original thread.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The prime point is outlined in your most recent post as well:


Quote:

"Thus the Buddha of the Lotus that is the entity of the Law (chapter eleven, point six), who is eternally endowed with the three bodies, is Nichiren and his disciples and lay supporters. That is because they embrace the title of honor, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(Chapter Sixteen: The Life Span of the Thus Come One - Point Four, concerning Chapter Sixteen, The Life Span of the Thus Come One Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.)

You nailed it! We, ourselves, are entities of the Mystic Law! Each unique and at the same time absolutely and completely equal. Your wisdom made me smile young man! It will be the deepest of joys to be chanting Daimoku with you! Hey BOG and BUD and BONZ and CHRIS! Let's make it a party!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

I followed your link to page 139 and found this...

I followed your link to page 139 and found this...

Brother kmarpa, based on the above, I will be as chilled as I can be, and this response is in no way meant to offend.

I am going to post some dictionary definitions so everyone is on the same page on what you have asked:

maha (Skt, Pali)
[摩訶] (Jpn.: maka)

Great, superior, large, numerous, or major. It is often a component of Sanskrit Buddhist terms and proper nouns, such as mahayana (great vehicle, or great teaching), mahasattva (great being, an honorific title for a bodhisattva), mahaprajna (great wisdom), mahaparinirvana (great complete nirvana), and Mahakashyapa (Great Kashyapa).

mudra
[印契] (Jpn.: ingei; Skt.: mudra)

Signs and gestures made with hands and fingers that symbolize the enlightenment and vows of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Mudras are commonly employed in Esoteric Buddhism, which regards them as a way of achieving union with Mahavairochana Buddha.

Esoteric Buddhism
[密教] (Jpn.: mikkyo)

Also, esoteric teachings. Those Buddhist teachings that are conveyed secretly or implicitly and are held to be beyond the understanding of ordinary persons. They are defined in contrast to the exoteric teachings, or those teachings that are explicitly revealed and accessible to all. According to the True Word (Jpn Shingon) school, the esoteric teachings are those teachings that Mahavairochana Buddha preached secretly to Vajrasattva, who compiled them and sealed them in an iron tower in southern India. The school holds that they contain the enlightenment of Mahavairochana Buddha, which is said to be beyond ordinary understanding.

The line of transmission of Esoteric Buddhism is held to be from Vajrasattva to Nagarjuna, and then down through Nagabodhi, Chin-kang-chih (Skt Vajrabodhi), Pu-k'ung (Amoghavajra), Hui-kuo, and finally to Kobo, the founder of the True Word school in Japan. The school also lists eight patriarchs who upheld Esoteric Buddhism: Nagarjuna and Nagabodhi who spread it in India; Chin-kang-chih, Pu-k'ung, and Shan-wu-wei (Shubhakarasimha) who introduced and established it in China; I-hsing and Hui-kuo who propagated it in China; and Kobo who brought it to Japan. Esoteric Buddhism in India was a form of Tantrism that incorporates indigenous magical and ritualistic elements such as symbolic gestures (mudras) and spells (mantras), as well as diagrams (mandalas) and the worship of numerous deities.

Shan-wu-wei, Chin-kang-chih, and Pu-k'ung introduced Esoteric Buddhism to China. Kobo (774-835), who went to China and studied under Hui-kuo, a disciple of Pu-k'ung, brought these teachings to Japan. He systematized them as the Japanese True Word school. According to this school, the esoteric teachings are the three mysteries-the mind, mouth, and body-of Mahavairochana Buddha. Mahavairochana is believed to be omnipresent, constantly expounding the Law for his own enjoyment. Through the fusion of the common mortal's three categories of action-mind, mouth, and body-with Mahavairochana's three mysteries, people can understand the Buddha's teachings. Kobo taught that, by forming mudras with one's hands, chanting mantras with one's mouth, and concentrating one's mind on mandalas as objects of devotion, one could become identical with Mahavairochana Buddha. That is, Kobo said that the practice of the three mysteries enabled one to attain Buddhahood in one's present form. Thus his teachings are referred to as esoteric.

Shakyamuni Buddha, on the other hand, who appeared in this world as a human being, expounded his teachings in accordance with the people's capacity. The True Word school claims that, because these teachings were expounded explicitly within the reach of the people's understanding, they are to be called exoteric and are inferior to the teachings of the transcendent Mahavairochana Buddha. Esoteric teachings were also endorsed by the Tendai school. Tendai Esotericism was developed by Jikaku, the third chief priest of the Tendai school, Chisho, the fifth chief priest, and others. Unlike Kobo's True Word school, Tendai Esotericism holds that Shakyamuni and Mahavairochana are two aspects of the same Buddha. Tendai Esotericism views the three vehicles as exoteric teachings, and the one vehicle as the esoteric teaching. It classifies such sutras as the Lotus and the Flower Garland as one-vehicle, and therefore esoteric, sutras. Because they do not mention mudras and mantras, which constitute esoteric practice, however, those sutras are called esoteric teachings in theory, while the Mahavairochana and Diamond Crown sutras are called esoteric teachings in both theory and practice. Tendai Esotericism claims that, while the Lotus and Mahavairochana sutras are equal in terms of principle, the Mahavairochana Sutra is superior in terms of practice.

Tantric Buddhism
[タントラ仏教] (Jpn.: Tantora-bukkyo)

Also, Vajrayana, Mantrayana, or Esoteric Buddhism. A stream of Buddhist thought and practice that became formalized in India and flourished from the seventh to the eleventh century. Tantric Esotericism became a part of the broader Mahayana movement and represents an infusion of popular magic, mysticism, and ritual into the Indian schools of Buddhism. The Sanskrit word tantra means loom or warp of cloth, essential part, or doctrine. Tantra also refers to a class of Hindu or Buddhist scriptures on esoteric practices that developed rather late in the history of the literatures of those religions. They emphasize benefits that accrue from the recitation of mantras (magical formulas), the formation of mudras (hand gestures), the performance of rituals, the use of mandalas (ritual diagrams), and other practices. Tantric thought became a formalized stream within Mahayana Buddhism around the seventh century and spread to Central Asia, China, and Tibet. Tantric tradition is an important element of Tibetan Buddhism.

Bu-ston, a Tibetan scholar of the fourteenth century, classified Indian Buddhist tantras into four general categories: Kriya-tantra, dealing with ritual acts; Charya-tantra, which combines ritual acts with meditation; Yoga-tantra, dealing chiefly with meditation; and Anuttarayoga-tantra, or supreme yoga tantras. The fourth form, Anuttarayoga-tantra, which was not introduced to China and Japan, is the strongest in sexual symbolism, identifying prajna, or wisdom, as a female principle; upaya, or expedient means, as a male principle; and enlightenment as a union of these two. Some of its practitioners interpreted this symbolism literally and sought enlightenment in the sexual union of man and woman.

The earliest esoteric Buddhist tantras, such as the Sanskrit texts of the Mahavairochana Sutra and the Diamond Crown Sutra, were produced in India in the seventh century. In China, Esoteric Buddhism was introduced and established by the Indian monks Shan-wu-wei (Skt Shubhakarasimha, 637-735), Chin-kang-chih (Vajrabodhi, 671-741), Pu-k'ung (Amoghavajra, 705-774), and others. Its teachings were systematized to enable the attainment of Buddhahood in one's present body.

The Sanskrit Buddhist tantras were translated into Chinese and spread as esoteric sutras and teachings featuring mudras, mantras, and mandalas.

In Japan, Kobo (774-835; also known as Kukai) formulated his own systematization of these teachings, founding the True Word (Shingon) school based upon them. Esoteric Buddhism was also accepted and developed by the Tendai school in Japan.

Tibetan Buddhism
[チベット仏教] (Jpn.: Chibetto-bukkyo)

A distinctive form of Buddhism that developed in Tibet around the seventh century and later in Mongolia and other regions. It is a tradition that derives from Indian Mahayana Buddhism, especially the doctrine of non-sub-stantiality (Skt shunyata) of the Madhyamika school, and incorporates the doctrine of the Yogachara (Consciousness-Only) school as well as the esoteric rituals of Vajrayana (Tantric, or Esoteric, Buddhism). Tibetan Buddhism is also monastic, having adopted the vinaya, or monastic rules, of early Buddhism. It has traditionally involved a large number of monks and nuns. Tibetan Buddhism is sometimes (incorrectly) referred to as Lamaism, due to its system of "reincarnating" lamas. The title lama means a venerable teacher. Some lamas of certain Tibetan monasteries are believed to be successively reincarnated, each head lama being considered a reincarnation of the last in the lineage. In these traditions, sets of instructions are handed down that lead to the identification of a child believed to be the reincarnation of a previous lama. When signs point to a certain child (always a boy), he is tested, and upon passing the tests, is recognized as the reincarnated lama. He then receives monastic training and education and takes on full responsibilities as a lama at a specified age.

Buddhism evolved in Tibet in the early seventh century during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (581-649). A series of religious kings contributed to its adoption and eventual institution as a state religion. Songtsen Gampo took as his wives a Nepalese princess and a Chinese princess, both of whom were devout Buddhists. They influenced the king to take faith in Buddhism and build the first Buddhist temples in Tibet. Songtsen Gampo also sent Thonmi Sambhota to study Buddhism in India. When he returned, he developed a Tibetan writing system based upon the Indian scripts he had studied (Tibet until that time had no set writing system). With this Tibetan script, translation of Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Tibetan began.

Later King Thisong Detsen (742-797) further established Buddhism in Tibet against strong opposition from practitioners of the native religion called Bon. He invited Shantarakshita, a noted Indian monk of the Madhyamika school, to come to Tibet to teach Buddhism. On Shan-tarakshita's advice, the king also invited the Indian Tantric master Padmasambhava. Padmasambhava is credited with "converting" the Bon deities to Buddhism (incorporating them into the Buddhist teachings) and quelling Bon opposition. Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava together established Tibet's first monastery at Samye in 779. The Nyingma, one of today's four major Tibetan Buddhist schools, claims to preserve the teachings of Padmasambhava. King Thisong Detsen also sponsored a religious debate between Kamalashila, an Indian monk, and Mo-ho-yen, a Chinese priest of the Zen (Ch'an) school, held at the Samye monastery in 794. The king decided in favor of the Indian teacher and thus officially adopted the teachings of Indian Buddhism, or more specifically, the Mahayana teachings founded on Nagarjuna's philosophy of the Madhyamika school and the bodhisattva ideal. He rejected the introspective doctrines of Zen that claimed to ensure sudden enlightenment through meditation.

King Thitsug Detsen (806-841), a grandson of King Thisong Detsen, built temples and monasteries and contributed greatly to the translation of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan as well as to Buddhist art and culture. According to one account, in 841 Bon followers had him assassinated, and his brother, Langdarma, succeeded him. The new king opposed Buddhism. He destroyed temples and monasteries, oppressed Buddhist monks, and abolished Buddhism as an institution; it was not restored until two centuries later. According to another account, the death of King Langdarma led to a power struggle that resulted in the division of the nation and a collapse of the Buddhist Order. In either case, after a period of political and religious turmoil, the ruler of western Tibet invited Atisha, an Indian Buddhist teacher of the Madhyamika school, to the region in 1042 to help restore Buddhism.

Atisha propagated Buddhist teachings, reformed Tantric practices that had involved overt sexual activity, and brought about a revival of Buddhism. Atisha's teachings were inherited by his disciple Domton, who founded the Kadam school of Tibetan Buddhism. (Later this school was absorbed by the Gelug school, also known as the Yellow Hat school, which was founded in the late fourteenth century by Tsongkapa, a Buddhist reformer.) In the same century, Marpa returned to Tibet from his journey to India to study Buddhism and, with his disciple Milarepa, founded the Kagyu school. By the fourteenth century, Buddhism was well established in Tibet, and most of the available Indian scriptures had been translated into Tibetan. A number of lost Sanskrit scriptures have been preserved until today through their Tibetan translations.

Tibetan Buddhism also spread outside of Tibet, most notably in Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. In the mid-thirteenth century, Sakya Pandita, an eminent scholar of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, journeyed to Mongolia with his nephew and student, Phagpa. Deeply impressed by them, Mongol officials converted to Buddhism. Later Phagpa was appointed imperial teacher and became an adviser to Kublai Khan, the ruler of the Mongol Empire. He was also appointed the temporal ruler of Tibet. In 1578 the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan hosted the renowned Sonam Gyatso, the leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and conferred upon him the honorific title "Dalai Lama." Dalai is a Mongolian word for ocean. The title was also applied to his two predecessors.

With the aid of the Mongols, the Gelug school and its lineage of Dalai Lamas became the most prominent and powerful in Tibet. The Dalai Lama came to be regarded as the country's spiritual leader and temporal ruler, and each was believed to be a successive incarnation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, Perceiver of the World's Sounds. Since the popular uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959 and the resulting exile of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (b. 1935), and his followers, interest in Tibetan Buddhism has grown in the West. The Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug are the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug being the most prominent.


aspiration for enlightenment
[菩提心] (Skt.: bodhi-chitta; Jpn.: bodaishin; Pali.: bodhi-chitta)

Also, desire for bodhi or aspiration for the way. "Aspiration for enlightenment" is the mind or spirit to seek bodhi, or enlightenment, or to pursue the Buddha wisdom. Bodhi of the Sanskrit word bodhi-chitta means enlightenment, and chitta means thought, intention, aim, wish, longing, or mind. Bodhi-chitta is also called anuttara-samyak-sambodhi-chitta, which means the aspiration for supreme perfect enlightenment. In Mahayana Buddhism, to arouse aspiration for enlightenment is regarded as the basis and starting point of Buddhist practice. Bodhisattvas arouse the aspiration for enlightenment and pronounce the four universal vows: to save all living beings, to eradicate all earthly desires, to master all the Buddhist teachings, and to attain the supreme enlightenment.

From source: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism


From the get-go everyone reading this should understand that there are many schools of Buddhism. Obviously kmarpa is practicing one very different than the practice that I do. I am not personally familiar with kmarpa's school. If kmarpa's school studies the Lotus Sutra (that's CAPITAL L and CAPITAL S) as translated by Kumarajiva, there can be no doubt that the Buddha professes the Lotus Sutra to be his highest teaching, all previous sutras as preparatory to the Lotus Sutra, and the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle.

I bring this up only because what the Lotus Sutra reveals is that the one vehicle is the Mystic Law of Myoho-renge-kyo and that this is the corrrect teaching (practice) for the time period of of the Latter Day of the Law, which happens to be now--the time we are all living.

Our school would take the opinion, I believe, that "chitta" (thought, intention, aim, wish, longing, or mind) IS the action of being a bodhisattva. In our school we take actions that allow others to embrace this Law for themselves, regardless of their mental capacities or even depth of understanding that they are indeed seeking enlightenment whenever they chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

The Buddha nature becomes manifest through this action of chanting regardless of a persons capacity to comprehend the depth of what they are doing, and yet manifests actual benefit based on their desires and the power of the Buddha nature of their own lives that has been called forth. So our "action bodhicitta" is the process of developing our Buddha nature through the bodhisattva activity in our daily life involving faith, practice and study so that we are able "to save all living beings, to eradicate all earthly desires, to master all the Buddhist teachings, and to attain the supreme enlightenment." We accomplish this simply by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and encouraging as many others as possible to do the same.

Our only principle form of meditation are the thoughts we have when we chant. Our tangible experiences in our daily lives are influenced in a powerful and profound way that let's there be no doubt about the source of our experience as coming from this chanting. Our Buddha nature becomes activated and we remember the truths of our existence in our original state or are mercifully reminded by the functions that occur in our daily life to make us aware when we get off-track. Our school says enlightenment to the truth is remembered, not learned; we are aspiring to return to our original state. One has a Buddha nature that can be immediately manifest already; it is not something that is acquired.

I said all that because we don't have to meditate for hours a day although many people do chant hours a day. It's up to the individual. Just like smoking pot, or any other activity. You make those choices. However, if what you are seeking is something that must be transferrable to others regardless of their capacity, how could one do that if they are required to meditate for hours a day or go off on three-year retreats? Who would support the alms for the masses to go on three-year retreats? Do you pay these guys anything? Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is yours for free.

At the same time let me add that NO SGI senior leaders are supposed to get high. I am talking headquarters and up, not district or chapter leaders. If they do, it's on the sly, and it IS a big deal at a certain level of leadership of the organization. It's not just frowned on--it's a no-no. (But at those levels, you have no time to get high anyway.)

However that may have more to do with doing something illegal rather than it effecting a person's practice. My opinion is that someone makes the choice to quit getting high when their life tells them to. I think if your life is telling you to quit, then listen. My life told me to stop drinking and I did--many years ago.

The bottom line however, is that if me or SoCal or Babbabud, or BOG or anyone else that has come together here to encourage others to chant didn't get high; many people who are chanting now might not be chanting, this thread would not still be going, and your questions would not have just been responded to. Listen to your life and do what you need to do.

Everything in life happens for a reason and as you said so correctly:

"Cause and effect it works whether you believe it or not. Thats why I love it."

So do I!

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

Thomas

That was over seven years ago!

BOWING IN HUMBLE OBEISANCE TO ALL WHO ARE STILL HERE AND ALL THAT ARE NOT! Pat, you are still in my prayers of gratitude all the time. Same for you Cindy and Steve. I hope you are all well. I have a deep appreciation for having known you! Be well EVERYONE!

Much love and deepest respect,

Thomas

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=3819&page=139

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Volume IV, pgs 184-85

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Volume IV, pgs 184-85

A courageous Heart of Faith is Itself Buddhahood

Saito: It is said of bodhisattvas, “Seeking enlightenment above, saving sentient beings below.” From our standpoint, these correspond to practicing for oneself and practicing for others.

Ikeda: We become happy ourselves, and we help others do the same. This is analogous to the two motions of a planet, which rotates on its axis while revolving around the sun. It is a universal principal.

In a sense, bodhisattvas exert themselves to help people become happy, even if it means putting off their own happiness until later. This is the spirit of the Soka Gakkai. It is a most noble way of life.

Faith is a struggle. Life is a struggle. Buddhism is a struggle. By waging a courageous and high-spirited struggle against evil, we can draw forth the states of Bodhisattva and Buddhahood from within.

This world is dominated by the devil king of the sixth heaven, which exerts a powerful source of misery over all people. That’s why when a truly happy person appears, the devil king of the sixth heaven envies hates and tries to destroy the person. Nichiren Daishonin vigorously battled this negative influence, as did Shakyamuni.

We must challenge and defeat this negativity in life, which causes people to resent and persecute one another, which seeks to keep them in a state of misery. Only when we win over the forces of evil can we achieve true happiness or Buddhahood. That’s why Nichiren Daishonin urges us to “summon up the courage of a lion” (WND, 997).

Suda: Faith like the courage of a lion must be the hallmark of the world of Buddhahood, which is also described as a state of indestructible happiness.

Ikeda: Yes. Such happiness is absolute, because a person in this state of life can discern the significance of all of life and society; which in itself is wisdom. Also, no matter how many things change, the person’s heart remains calm and steady; this is inner strength. Moreover it’s absolute because with it we can freely tap this wisdom and strength from the depths of our lives whenever necessary.

It is certainly not a state free of worry or suffering. Such a life, if it existed, would be monotonous and dull. If everything were to go smoothly—that in itself would be an illusion, a lie. Worries are an integral part of the reality of life.

Nichiren Daishoin teaches the principal that earthly desires are enlightenment. Because we have desires and worries, we can appreciate happiness. Because we face and overcome painful difficulties, we can attain Buddhahood. The truth is that a life without any suffering is not at all happy. That is the perspective of Buddhism.

What, then, is the world of Buddhahood? From our standpoint, it is none other than faith.

President Toda said: “Attaining Budhhahood doesn’t mean simply becoming a Buddha or heading in that direction. Honestly believing in the Daishonin’s teaching of the true entity of life and that the ordinary person is most respectworthy, we are profoundly confident that we are Buddhas just as we are, from the eternal past to the infinite future. This is what it means to become a Buddha.”

This comes down to faith, determination. It’s a matter of our internal awareness.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra / Pgs. 185-188

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra / Pgs. 185-188

The Essential Teaching is to “Return To The Original Life”

Ikeda: “The Life Span of the Thus Come One,” the sixteenth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, describes the Buddha enlightened since the remote past, or the eternal Buddha. Just who is this Buddha? Commenting on the passage in the Lotus Sutra that reads, “it has been immeasurable, boundless hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood. (LS16, 225) the Daishonin explains: “I” represents the living beings of the Dharma realm. Everyone in the Ten Worlds is referred to here in the word “I”. (GZ, 753)

The eternal Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter means all living beings. We are all “eternal Buddhas.” Ordinary people are Buddhas just as they are.

There are no grades or distinctions among people. We are all equal; we are all equally Buddhas. The only difference among people has to do with whether, or the extent to which, we realize this in our hearts. From the standpoint of Buddhism, that is the only meaningful distinction.

A Buddha is not someone displaying the thirty-two features or eighty features. Our lives, originally are the Buddha. The appearance of the sun is a function of compassion. The illumination of the moon is also compassion, as is the beautiful respiration of green plants and trees. The entire universe is a great living entity carrying out activities of compassion from the beginningless past through the eternal future. This vast organism of compassion is the Eternal Buddha. And the life of every living being in the Ten Worlds is one with this Buddha of the “Life Span” chapter. Faith in the Mystic Law is the key to enabling us to “return” to this original life.

Saito: Returning to the original life—that’s the Lotus Sutra’s essential teaching.

Ikeda: Exactly: The Daishonin clearly states in the “Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings,” “The Life Span” chapter reveals the original life of all beings in the Ten Worlds. This chapter is called the essential teaching, or honmon, because it is the gate (Jpn mon) to the truth of eternity (Jpn hon)” (GZ,799)

Suda: The great life of the Buddha enlightened since the remote past is the “original life” of the beings of the Ten Worlds. The essential teaching is so called because it enables us to return to this original life.

Endo: Since this original life is fundamentally a property of one’s own life, there is no limit to the extent to which we can tap the power of the original Buddha.

Ikeda: The entire universe is like our own personal bank account. The amount of fortune we can withdraw depends solely on our faith. Faith means battling life’s negative functions. Justice means opposing evil. Buddhist practice means struggling against adversity.

At one point, the Daishonin’s follower Shijo Kingo, who was known for his spirited practice, was so overwhelmed by difficulties that he unwittingly began complaining: “I thought that those who believe in the Lotus Sutra were supposed to enjoy peace and security in this life.” When the Daishonin heard this, he instructed him as follows: “The pine tree lives for ten thousand years, and so its boughs become bent and twisted…The votary of the Lotus Sutra is the Thus Come One whose life span is immeasurable; no wonder his practice is hindered, just as the pines tree’s branches are bent or broken” (WND, 471). Just as the pine tree stands up to the wind and snow, showing proof of its immense longevity, practitioners of the Lotus Sutra, through enduring difficulties, manifest their true identities as Buddhas of eternal life. The Daishonin stresses to Shijo Kingo that now is the time to reveal the supreme vehicle of Buddhahood. At this time when you are about to receive supreme benefit, he questions, what can you possibly have to complain about?

Saito: In the same writing, the Daishonin also says, “Those who uphold this sutra should be prepared to meet difficulties”: but he assures Shijo Kingo that “Buddhahood lies in continuing faith” (WND, 471).

Ikeda: It’s a matter of embracing the Mystic Law. We need to steadfastly uphold the Mystic Law through every obstacle, confident that we truly have a mmission for kosen-rufu.

 

[CrazyDog]

Welcome Back PassTheDoobie!!

The one step taken today
opens up the path to tomorrow's victory.
"Well, it all starts from now!"
With faith based on the Buddhist principle of true cause,
let's boldly and energetically take on challenges from here on.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Nevertheless, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 3) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, June 7th, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"And yet, though one might point at the earth and miss it, though one might bind up the sky, though the tides might cease to ebb and flow and the sun rise in the west, it could never come about that the prayers of the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered."

(On Prayer - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 345) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, May 24th, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"In response to the question, 'What have you enjoyed most in life?' Helen Keller (1880–1968) replied: 'Overcoming difficulties.'[1] This was the spirit of a great woman who, though blind and deaf, had pressed forwards through all challenges to lead a life of social activism and contribution to humanitarian causes. Keller also declared: 'Patience and perseverance always conquer in the end.'[2]

SGI Newsletter No. 8764, SGI President Ikeda’s Editorial, Walking the Path of Happiness and Victory Together with the Women’s Division, translated 17th May, 2013 from the June edition of the Daibyaku Renge

[1] Joseph P. Nash, Helen and Teacher: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy (New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1998), p. 523.
[2] Judith St. George, Dear Dr. Bell..., Your Friend, Helen Keller (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1992), p. 54.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

We're able to grow in our faith and practice
with the help and support of "good friends."*
There is no need to suffer alone,
gather up the courage
and seek someone's advice about your worries and sufferings.
Such action is certain to become a source of great strength
and will surely help you to expand your state of life!

Daisaku Ikeda

Read more about "Good friends" at http://www.sgi.org/buddhism/buddhist-concepts/good-friends.html

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Shakyamuni taught that the shallow is easy to embrace, but the profound is difficult. To discard the shallow and seek the profound is the way of a person of courage."

(On Repaying Debts of Gratitude - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume 1, page 712) Selection Source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shinbun, May 15th, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"We who believe in and chant the Mystic Law are ourselves the Treasure Tower. If we persevere in faith, we will attain a magnificent state of life endowed with the treasures of the universe.

"There is no retirement age in faith. There is no retiring from our mission. This is the way of life of genuine practitioners of the Daishonin’s Buddhism."

SGI Newsletter No. 8649, from SGI President Ikeda’s speech at the 30th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting, held in conjunction with the SGI General Meeting, in Tokyo, on September 10, 2003.These excerpts were featured in a video of the speech, which was shown during the 61st Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting in Tokyo, on 7th October, 2012. The excerpted text appeared in 14th October, 2012, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun. Translated 15th Oct. 2012

 

[PassTheDoobie]

It is those trying circumstances
that give us the "chance" to grow and develop.
Let's transform any negative karma we have into our missions!
With strong powerful daimoku,
let's break through even the most impossible of walls!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"If you have no hope,
create some.
If the world around you is dark,
be the sun that illuminates all.

"Happiness
is not something we attain
by chasing after it.
Happiness
comes to those who live with
courage and tenacity.
Similarly, peace
will come to human beings
when they lead lives
of wisdom and principle."

SGI Newsletter No. 8416, Symphony of Life: SGI President Ikeda’s Photographs and Poems, from the June 12th, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated Dec. 27th, 2011

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Although I and my disciples may encounter various difficulties, if we do not harbour doubts in our hearts, we will as a matter of course attain Buddhahood."

(The Opening of the Eyes - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 283) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, May 20th, 2013

 

[BushyOldGrower]

Be happy...by cause and effect you make yourself happy.

Busy people seem the happiest because they don't have time to worry about how happy they are. Just chanting can change me from melancholy to happy and joking around.

The OK farmer told me he got a small job and that he was happy...

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo makes us all happy somehow. Is it in our intention to be good that we find happiness? Bog

 

[SneekyFarmer]

Good Morning...Bless you all...

This morning I check my messages and a grower here had asked me if I could please keep my prices low because he was going to need seeds. He lives in Oklahoma and his grow building was blown down. He told me he had lost his crop, seed stock and clones. That this would cost him twenty thousand dollars.

I told him to chant and know that he is not alone. I told him about our fire and how chanting realigned our lives. We chanted and focused on the priorities as this grower must do also. He sounds resolute that he will recover and he asked nothing of me really.

But what are we if we can't help our brothers and sisters when shit happens. Lets all chant for this fine man. I don't know if he would want me to give his identity but maybe he will see this post and understand how we are in his corner.

Of course I will provide for him but that is nothing. I ask you my friends to chant for this person so let's just call him OK Farmer. Let's give him our support. Let's show him what can happen when the power of prayer is dispensed.

Let the blessing begin... Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for our OK Farmer...Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the togetherness found in oneness. . Bog

Thank's for this post Bog.. Life is to short to let problems drag us down! You are a good man Bog and I appreciate the kind word's! Thank you for the prayer's too!

 

[BushyOldGrower]

Read and learn how devotion to the higher laws and a desire to see Kosen Rufu will free us all and give us a peaceful planet.

Working together toward this end will make it happen. We believe in cause and effect.

You are all of us. We are all together...

Chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo every morning as we count our blessings. Thanks for stopping by and good luck with your recovery from a big wind. Bog

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The voice carries out the work of the Buddha."*
What moves people's hearts is earnest and sincere words.
Brimming with strong life force,
let's clearly talk about what the facts and reality really are.

Daisaku Ikeda

*The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, page 4