602f85bb   
   XPost: alt.zen, alt.religion.buddhism.theravada, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.religion.buddhism.nichiren   
   From: usagi@tsukino.ca   
      
   On 5/7/2012 12:55 PM, Buku wrote:   
   >   
   > Tsukino, you make some interesting points.  Nichiren teaches:   
   > <...>   
   >   
   > The Lotus Sutra teachings are nearly completely different than the pre-   
   > Lotus Sutra teachings.   
   >   
   > The Lotus Sutra states: <...>   
   >   
   > Nichiren Daishonin teaches: <...>   
      
   > As a general rule, only the Lotus Sutra should be taught and the   
   > provisional teachings disgarded.   
      
   Thanks buku. I've been made more aware of what Nichiren teaches and what   
   the Lotus Sutra says. However, the lotus sutra teachings are in one   
   book, and the pre lotus sutra teachings are in another book. Nichiren is   
   one teacher, and other teachers are not Nichiren. Many teachers say many   
   things. As we know, Nichiren was born in the early 1200's and studied in   
   the Tendai school. Then, after extensive travels and studying of   
   Buddhism in Japn (for about 15 years) he expounded Nam MyÅ   
   hÅ   
    Renge KyÅ   
      
   for the first time, marking his Sho TempÅ   
   rin (åˆ�転法輪: "first turning   
   the wheel of the Law"). With this, he proclaimed that devotion and   
   practice based on the Lotus Sutra was the correct form of Buddhism for   
   the current time. At the same time he changed his name to Nichiren,   
   nichi (æ—¥) meaning "sun" and ren (è“®) meaning "lotus". This choice, as   
   Nichiren himself explained, was rooted in passages from the Lotus Sutra.   
      
   Therefore, from an analysis of Nichiren's life and the Lotus Sutra   
   teachings we can see that anyone can achieve enlightenment in this   
   lifetime from the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and what Nichiren said is   
   a) useful and yet b) not the lotus sutra. A great care must be expressed   
   in understanding that Nichiren was just one teacher, and while he was a   
   GREAT teacher, he was certainly not the ONLY teacher of the Lotus Sutra.   
   Many other schools besides Tendai taught the lotus sutra. In fact,   
   Huineng wept with joy and realization when he read the Lotus Sutra.   
      
   So I think a great care must be taken to separate a) what has been said   
   about the lotus sutra by people and b) what the lotus sutra says about   
   itself.   
      
   After all, if it is true that the buddha's wisdom is for US, and that   
   this is not a lofty goal, then we can all become like Nichiren himself!   
   We can all become like Buddha. Then we can, and that's that. I've never   
   lost sight of this as I have studied Nichiren's life and times. The most   
   interesting thing to me is that Nichiren also spoke out against the   
   Tendai school he became a monk in. Nichiren certainly had some strong   
   realizations and convictions to do that and it is true that at the time   
   there certainly was some valid criticism which could be passed around   
   (even today, I bet).   
      
   Problem is that Nichiren is dead now and the people who took over his   
   school were no better than the people who took over Huineng's school,   
   who took over Buddha's school and so forth.   
      
   So I don't mind studying the lotus sutra and I don't mind studying the   
   other sutras Nichiren, Huineng and even Buddha studied and expounded   
   before they found the Lotus Sutra.   
      
   Actually in the end I think Nichiren was a special case who was needed   
   to help give Buddhism a push in the right direction. Another Nichiren   
   would not have been needed for quite some time.   
      
   How about today, buku? Do you think the schools of buddhism have become   
   corrupt again? Do you think we need another Nichiren to show us the way?   
   Or do you think the old Nichiren is still good enough for now? ^^   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)