Well, here we go with a new blog.
This is the place where all your answers will be questioned.
Let the games begin.
Just finished with the Salinas Women's Division meeting at our house in Salinas. Funny how on the net everything is all "reform! reform!" and in real life people - members - really want a positive place to meet, chant and discuss.
I am reminded that in SGI it is easy to criticize and focus on organizational flaws when you really don't have any relationships. Reform becomes the war-cry of the uninvested.
I think we should put all the reformers and the culties in a giant caged ring and let them fight it out while the rest of us enjoy practicing Buddhism.
It's all kyojitsu in the end, and when all the bones are buried there will barely be time to go outside and play...
Rev. Greg, Shidoshi
Comments
The Embankments of Faith
In your letter, you asked how the effect varies according to the degree of slander against Buddhism. To begin with, the Lotus Sutra was taught to lead all people to enlightenment. However, only those who have faith in it attain enlightenment. Those who slander it fall into the hell of incessant suffering. As the sutra states, "One who refuses to take faith in this sutra and instead slanders it immediately destroys the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world...After he dies, he will fall into the hell of incessant suffering."
There are many degrees of slander. Even among those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, very few uphold it steadfastly both in mind and in deed. But those who do will not suffer serious retribution even if they have committed minor offenses against Buddhism. Their strong faith expiates their sins as surely as a flood extinguishes tiny fires.
In the Nirvana Sutra, Shakyamuni states, "If even a good priest sees someone slandering the Law and disregards him, failing to reproach him, to oust him, or to punish him for his offense, then that priest is betraying Buddhism. But if he takes the slanderer severely to task, drives him off or punishes him, then he is my disciple and one who truly understands my teachings."
This admonition forces me to speak out against slander in spite of the persecutions I face, for fear that I might become an enemy of Buddhism if I did not.
However, slander can be either minor or serious, and there are times when we should overlook it rather than attack it. The adherents of the Tendai and Shingon sects slander the Lotus Sutra and should be refuted. But without great wisdom it is very difficult to differentiate correctly between their doctrines and the teaching which Nichiren expounds. Therefore, at times, you might be well advised to refrain from attacking them, just as I did in the Rissho Ankoku Ron.
Whether or not we reproach another for his slander, it is difficult to prevent him from committing a grave sin. If we see or hear a person commit slander and make no attempt to stop him even though he could be saved, we betray our great gifts of sight and hearing and so commit an act of utter mercilessness.
Chang-an wrote, "If you befriend another person but lack the mercy to correct him, you are in fact his enemy." The consequences of this offense are extremely difficult to erase. The most important thing is to continually strengthen your compassion to save others from their own slanderous nature.
When a person's slanders are minor, he may sometimes need to be admonished, but at other times this is unnecessary, for he may be able to correct his faults without being told. Reprove a person for acting against Buddhism when necessary so that both of you can forestall the consequences of slander. Then you should forgive him. The point is that even minor slanders can lead to serious ones, and then the effects he must suffer would be far worse. This is what Chang-an meant when he wrote, "To remove a man's evil is to be like a parent to him."
There are examples of slander even among Nichiren's disciples and believers. I am sure that you have heard about Ichinosawa Nyudo. In his heart he is one of Nichiren's disciples, but outwardly he still remains in the Nembutsu sect. Therefore, I am very concerned about his next life and have presented him with the ten volumes of the Lotus Sutra.
Strengthen your faith now more than ever. Anyone who teaches the truths of Buddhism to others is bound to incur hatred from men and women, priests and nuns. Let them say what they will. The most important thing is for you to entrust your life to the golden teachings of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha, T'ien-t'ai, Miao-lo, Dengyo and Chang-an. This is the way to practice correctly according to the Buddha's teachings. The Lotus Sutra reads, "If one teaches this sutra for even a moment in the dreaded age to come, he will receive support from all the heavens." This passage explains that in the Latter Day when evil people stained by the three poisons will prevail, anyone who embraces the true teaching for even a short time will be aided and supported by the heavens.
Now you should cherish the great desire to attain enlightenment for happiness in your next life. If you doubt or slander even in the slightest, you will fall into the hell of incessant suffering. Suppose there is a ship which sails on the open sea. Even if the ship is stoutly built, should it leak even a bit, the passengers are certain to drown together. Even though the embankment between rice fields is firm, if there is only one tiny crack in it, the water will never be contained. You must bail the sea water of doubt and slander out of the ship of your life and solidify the embankments of your faith. If a believer's offense is slight, forgive him and lead him to obtain benefits. If it is serious, admonish him to strengthen his faith so that he can expiate the sin.
You are a very unusual woman since you asked me to explain the effects of various degrees of slander. You are every bit as praiseworthy as the Dragon King's daughter when she said, "I will reveal the Mahayana doctrine to save people from suffering." The Lotus Sutra reads, "To ask about the meaning of this sutra will indeed be difficult." There are very few people who inquire about the meaning of the Lotus Sutra. Always be determined to denounce slanders against true Buddhism to the best of your ability. It is indeed remarkable that you should be helping me reveal my teachings.
Respectfully, Nichiren
The third day of the ninth month in the first year of Kenji (1275)
Copyright 2002 SGI-USA. All rights reserved.
Uh, thanks for the reply??? I think??? Or did you mean that as a reply at all??
A mind is a terrible thing to waste dude...
RG,S
Yes, I agree, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
My way of suggesting, "think dammitt!"
Sincerely, Chikushonin
Daikudoshin, myokaku, myojisokukyo/
Namumyohorengemyojisokukyo
Well, Gregg...
I guess I'm invested, too.
As of June 2004, I will have been a practicioner of Nichiren Buddhism for approximately 29 years. And in that time, I have seen the organization go through a great deal of change. Was the experience all positive? Hell, no!
I took my share of abuse from leaders with delusions of being a general in a war. I remember when we pracitcally deified Mr. Ikeda and Mr. Williams. That did seem rather cultic. But I also had encouragement many people seniors in faith who never let me lose site of the Daishonin's teachings or the Gohonzon. There were Japanese ladies who practically my mothers and grandmothers in faith who constantly reminded me that I had a Buddha Nature.
I also learned something else - SGI is an organism in a state of continuous development and evolution. It is up to each of us to make SGI the religious organization we invision in the spirit of essho funi. We raise our respective life conditions and, at the same time, raise the life condition of SGI.
In the words of our teacher:
"More valuable than the treasures of the storehouse are the treasures of the body, and the treasures of the heart are the most valuable of all."
Peace,
Eddie
Greg;
You made an important point...but one which needs clarification...
You said:
"...it is easy to criticize and focus on organizational flaws when you really don't have any relationships. Reform becomes the war-cry of the uninvested...I think we should put all the reformers and the culties in a giant caged ring and let them fight it out while the rest of us enjoy practicing Buddhism..."
Of course the internet lends itself to critical analysis of the organization...I do it here because, quite frankly, the Zadankai is not the place for it...we have not yet found the best place for it...May I suggest the "Soka Spirit" forum? It can be a clearinghouse of organizational and doctrinal issues...
At the zadanki, my mission is to listen to the suffering and thoughts of others, and try to help them overcome their obstacles and become happy...to encourage and refresh them...and myself...
On the net, I'm grappling with my own frustrations and fears...Lisa's resignation from the SGI,,,and her exclamation that the SGI is "a cult",are like a dagger to the heart...because I'm trying so hard NOT to feel the same way...
I am surely "invested" in the SGI...it is only that human investment in the form of relationships that keeps me from leaving...and at times like these I lose hope and feel overwhelmed...I love the practice while detesting cult-like mennerisms...for three decades this has prevented me from practicing "joyfully"...Instead, I find myself faking it about as convincingly as a crack whore...
The faking is over...if what's left seems bereft of joy, it's the reult of practicing in eternal conflict...and I can't do it forever...
Thanks
David
This isn't true for me. I have had some great friendships with both SGI leaders and general members, and I am also an advocate of reform. Why? Because I would like others to be able to experience the joy of practicing this Buddhism. I watch guests at certain activities and meetings. When we're in our "Rah Rah Rah, Sensei!" mode, frankly most guests seem scared and/or turned off -- and they don't come back.
There have been some Zen and Tibetan Buddhism meetings lately in this area, and they've been very well-attended. A leader asked why these sects are growing and attracting so much interest when we're not -- despite all our efforts.
I think that one big reason is our overemphasis on President Ikeda; it just makes us look like a weird cult. Whether we are or aren't, we give the impression that we are -- and turn off people who could really gain from -- and contribute to -- SGI. Most SGI leaders do not want to hear this -- and they NEED to!
I have a little bit of a "split ichinen about the reform/zadankai thing Greg raised, and I'm sure most people on here do as well. At the Zadankai, the purpose is to discuss Buddhism and how to apply it, not how to reform the organization or make it run more smoothly and equitably. As I recall, the "town meetings" that were held back in the early 90s tried to address smoe of the issues we grapple with on-line, but that approach was not entirely successful (there may be some poeple on here who were more involved in that than I was, I'd like to hear how that worked out).Well, time for me to go. Thanks for the post, Greg, but I disagree that peope who talk on-line are not invested. QUite the contrary - if you are enough to raise an issue, you have to be at leas invested enough to be thinking about it. Talk to you later, Byrd in LA