Look, I don't wanna be a hardass. I don't wanna squelch you if you have something to say. In a comment here I explained the new moderation system for this site.
Offline, a reader pointed out that many Nichiren practitioners have a history of involvement with groups that are rather controlling. These groups regulate what members are "allowed" to say and think about Nichiren Buddhism. This might be one reason why some of us struggle to talk about this practice in our own words and from our own experience.
Good point. We need more free speech in the Nichiren community, not less.
So what do we do with someone like Nichijew? His blog is here if you haven't seen it yet. (WARNING: My antivirus software detects trojan redirect malware when I click on his blog. Please make sure your computer is protected before you visit his site.)
I'm interested in your thoughts and comments about free speech in the online Nichiren community. Whaddaya say?
25 comments
Glad you switched over to using the "hide comment" feature. I have seen it work well on other boards.Have you seen the Maltz blog?http://www.fraughtwithperil.co...He makes really good points -- especially when challenging chanters not to be sheep. I get the impression he is opposed to chanting though.Is he brilliant...or crazy...or crazy brilliant? Not sure what to make of him.
Frankly the hide-the-comment feature seems more like Lord of the Flies than a democracy. But I've never seen it used before so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.There used to be several in the Nichiren community who could be counted on to join any new group and carpet bomb it with their own viewpoint, in an offensive way. Now that several seems to be down to one or two. Is this a sign of maturity, or did they just get tired? Who knows.Moderating any board requires some tough choices. And the power relationships involved are so one-sided, it's asking for trouble. Personally I'm reluctant to tell anyone what they can and cannot say.
The Lotus Sutra teaches about the consequences of free speech. "We will be banished again and again, we will be exiled". Reading the Lotus sutra doesn't mean reading the words. It means living the Sutra. Many claim to have attained Bodhi but few have encountered persecution for the sake of the Lotus Sutra.Mark
Dear Mark,Even the Lotus Sutra must be taken in context, don'tyou think? Is that not the fundamental nature ofzuiho bini? You do use that term? The LS was Shakyamuni's ultimate teaching, regarding the specific and general natureof Enlightenment at a specific moment in time. This is the nature of his 40,000 teachings, of which the Lotuswas the ultimate sutra. Does that mean there is nothingelse to understand for the rest of eternity? As for the "banished again and again"..., I would referyou to the the Three Realms. But, are we banished foradvocating divisiveness or detente? I compliment youon the degree of your self-restraint in this post. I am wondering if you don't think others of us have sufferedon behalf of living and propagating this Sutra? My jawdrops at the thought.Do you have a dirty website? Did you know this? Canyou control that or is it out of your jurisdiction?As far as the subject of free speech on this board, mypersonal opinion is that Nichiren Buddhism as is currentlypracticed by every sect I know of on this planet is quiteill, despite the fact that Nichiren had/has THE key tochanging the karma of individuals and the orb. Thisconcerns me deeply and I have had hope that this boardwould be a place where we could engage in that essentialdialogue. What to say? My two cents.Armchair
Yes! They were like the Fashionistas of the Nichiren World and would go to the opening of a Yahoo Group or even an envelope if they thought there was some benefit in it for them. It's most likely that Carpet Bombing has gone out of Fashion.
Hi, Beryl - I am still officially involved with "a group that is rather controlling". The way I handle the free speech issue is that I engage in free speech online and not in the group itself (i.e., not at meetings). As many of you here may know, I also have a blog at Fraught With Peril:http://www.fraughtwithperil.co...I have had some interesting experiences there with watching the people who are watching the web. i.e., I have reason to believe that although the "rather controlling group" (hereafter RCG) officially discourages online interaction by its membership (on the grounds that face-to-face dialogue offers better opportunity to interpret body language and vocal inflection), they do officially watch what goes on here.For example, last December 6, I posted a piece which demanded an end to the RCG's conflict with its parent sect:http://www.fraughtwithperil.co...and:http://www.fraughtwithperil.co...On January 11 (slightly over one month later), the international president of the RCG gave a speech to a cavernous roomful of Japanese RCG leaders in which he used almost my identical language to express the RCG's "debt of gratitude" toward the US and the principle of religious freedom. He also held his hand over his heart to salute an American flag while the Japanese Young Men's Division Brass Band played the Star Spangled Banner. This stunning tribute to America was shown on videotape at RCG meetings throughout Japan and here in the US. No fireworks, though, as the meeting was indoors.Obviously, the right people in Japan had read my blog entry and the comments to it. So,I basically assume that we're being monitored, and I think that is a good thing. The web offers us a way of communicating both among ourselves as Nichiren Buddhists and also to those who deludedly believe themselves to be "in control" of the development of Nichiren Buddhism in the West. And it is probably more effective a means of comunicating content than the RCG's recomended tactic of sending earnest missives to the international president. Although you will always be warmly encouraged to engage the RCG's leaders in private dialogue, if you actually want the RCG to do anything, you have to discuss your issues online. That is to say, there has to be the risk of potential embarassment for the extremely face-conscious Japanese. In America, we don't care if we make fools of ourselves, and some of us even stray into the bounds of ill manners (which is why I don't generally engage the blogger you referred to in your post, Beryl). The Japanese seem to care a lot if they look bad. Therefore, the threat of embarassment, especially for the international leader, is a powerful tool for change. Perfect for an ex gag-writer like me. So, I continue on asking questions and trying to get people to think for themselves. I just do it online.But, I hear the leaders asking....am I happy?I'm as happy as a pig in shit. And you can quote me on that, Santa Monica. Stay well and happy,everyone.Byrd in LA
At least the RCG knows to plagiarize from the best, Byrd.
Love it.Byrd, your post reminded me that BuddhaJones needs an expanded blogroll. I will add your blog. Do know of any other must-read Nichiren- or Buddhist-related sites?I have a pal who has started writing this blog:http://www.genealogytales.com/...She's a Shu practitioner, and she is holding services at the Unitarian Universalist church in her town.Bye for now, Byrd
Not opposed to chanting at all. I am offering a new concept called, are you sitting down, get ready for the drum roll....Chanting with your life! YES! As a Bodhisattva from the Earth, you were a real human being that were actually taught by the Original Buddha Shakyamuni, yes folks, that's right, no, it was not Daisaku, it was the Original Buddha Shakyamuni himself that prepared you be become a Buddha and said he was your father, and THAT IS NOT ALL, if you read the end of chapter 22 of the Lotus Sutra, you will see he transferred the lifetime of all his merits to you as well, can you believe it! Did anyone in any sect or temple here on earth ever do that for you? I think not folks! So, you have Merits in your life (Ichinen Sanzen) and Buddha in your Mind (Transfer of merits) so when you spread the Lotus Sutra (at the end of chapter 22, the Original Buddha asks the Bodhisattva to return to the Saha World to spread the Sutra) you become so GENKI, I mean great! Oh, but many of you forgot who your father was, and ran to Daisaku, or Nikken, or Kempon, or Rev. this or that, or Sensei Joe Bloe or even the the New Deli Lama. But, you have a new chance, to dump all that luggage, and say hi to yourself, and feel your merits.Chant with your life! Spread your merits in the world.http://www.fraughtwithperil.co...Stop throwing stones at people, no need to beat people up,stop building sects, religion causes planes to fly into towers, and people to chant for priests to die, lets tell them all to remember the Original Buddha and be free, time to stop dancing like a jerk in all those stupid parades and like a chicken on a hot plate for your leaders. Are you a Sheep or Bodhisattva?Maltz
Original Buddha Shakyamuni -- you mean the guy who abandoned his wife and child to go find nirvana? Most guys just say they're going out for a pack of cigarettes. With some effort and patience, Gotama awakened to the true nature of existence/nonexistence. Thus he became a Buddha.So, Maltz, why is it that we're supposed to revere Shakyamuni above all? I thought his point in the Lotus Sutra is that we are to take as our teacher what he took as his teacher, namely the essence of reality, which Nichiren Buddhists "summarize" as Namu myoho renge kyo.Is that what you mean?
Mr. Maltz,I realize this might be hard for you, since you haveruined and have been kicked off so many boards. If you are going to be here, can your transferred Buddha nature manage to try not to be totally condescending and rude? It is so tiresome, really, and there are other opinions than yours that have merit. Please get used to this.That is a function of intelligence. You are not goingto convert us with your incontrovertible facts. We are seasoned practitioners, I gather, from many beliefsystems that we have personally found justifiable.There is an uncommon, I find, level of rationality andintelligence here and if you think pissing in the soupis a Buddhist thing to do, I just feel sorry for you.If we want to read and study your stuff, believe me,we know where to go. Please, as I asked Mark who had(has?) a similar problem, can you just be civil anddialogue with us? Guess what? We are not out to convert you, either. It's not that kind of place.Bruce. Can you understand? If you are going to continueto spew bombast, I may just have to leave myself.You left a very bad taste in my life this morning.Armchair.
Oh, I can see that you have a great misconception of what was actually taught in the Lotus Sutra. We don't revere Shakyamuni, or Paul Revere. Gautama in India was the Human Manifestation of the Original Buddha, and taught those 3000 years ago according to their ability to understand things. They had no connection to Buddha, he taught them simple things like the four noble truths, the eight fold path, but they learned other things on their own like how to go to the bathroom properly. They saw him meditate under the Bodhi Tree and thought he became Buddha! He left a life of luxury, a life living in a castle, never having to worry about money, having people look after him night and day, so he left that, and those things were still there for his wife and child. Would you leave a life in a castle? Would you even turn down a Castle Burger?The Lotus Sutra are parables building to a climax (are you getting excited?)and a stupa appears, and now for the first time we see the Original Buddha Shakyamuni. We are now told we are going to be told the truth for the very first time, and we have never been told the truth before.The Original Buddha Shakyamuni is a real concrete person that returned lifetime after lifetime over and over for such a long time we cannot understand how long and became Buddha, the first Buddha, the Original Buddha, and all Buddha are Manifestations of the Original Buddha Shakyamuni. Then he says, after that he trained many bodhisattvas to learn the way to become a Buddha, and this also took such a long time, we can't imagine, and then sent them under the earth to the Saha World. He says, those are his Original Sons and He is their Father. They now appear in the Stupa and are called the Bodhisattvas from the Earth. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda, and the Original Buddha walks over to them and places his right hand on their heads, and tells them he is going to send them back to Saha world, and people there need to be saved and told they have Buddha Nature, and we are prepared for this because we have already practiced everything there is to do! There is nothing more to do, we have already accomplished and completed every task, however he then says, I am not going to transfer to you the total merits of my life, and ask you to spread the Sutra. We are now in the Saha World, with all our merits, Buddha in our mind, and there is nothing to practice, nothing to worship, no one to call Sensei, no one to say HAI to, all you have to do is tell people they have Buddha Nature and spread the Lotus Sutra. This is not something I have made up, it is all there in the Sutra. Insanity is to keep doing something over and over and over and to expect something different to happen.Has anything changed in the world after millions of Kosen Rufu gongyo's ater the Pope has made blessings? There is no religion, only people who think there is,however there is Buddha Nature, and people can be free of the burning house, there is Nichiren Nature, it is a trap.My Best to you,Maltz
My goodness, some people like to Chubby Checker twist to slice and dice to their hearts content for what? I have always had a thing about precepts and expedients, and back in the 90's I fought hard to expose that the Daigohonzon was not authentic and that Nichiren was not a Buddha, and that Nikko was not heir, and many many other things, when I brought Kempon Hokke to America, and then brought the Prayer Gohonzon to America people just had a ball to criticize me. Still someone had to break the pinata, People needed a place for a safe landing. You guys were writing about me, we have something in common, Buddha Nature. I am sect blind. I don't see sects. I am religion blind. I don't see religion. If that bothers you we can talk about and find out why, there is no need to yell or throw rocks or stones, no need to wear helmets or bullet proof vests.You can ask me anything and expect a honest and reasonable answer. If you are arrogant, you might not get an answer. Now about converting, there is no such thing, so let me put you as ease right now. There is no sect to convert to. The last thing I would ever want to do is ask you to leave your group and join another group, forget it. My message is that you don't need a group, you don't need a practice, you don't need a leader, you have Buddha Nature already, you have already accomplished the Bodhisattva Way and have Buddha in your Mind. You don't need me either (see your first benefit -joke). So you can read me without a threat, and I can read you without a threat, that is how it should be. Take it easy.Maltz
I am not going to transfer to you the total merits of my life, and ask you to spread the Sutra. CORRECTION...Should be.."I am going to transfer to you the total merits of my life, and ask you to spread the Sutra." Miss. SteaksMr. Steaks
Super. Great news. But what you're describing is Maltzism, not anything even approaching Nichirenism. Two things are essential to Nichiren Buddhism: daimoku and Gohonzon. Without those, we're not talking about Nichiren Buddhism anymore.You can claim that the Lotus Sutra explicitly supports your views. Then again, I could credibly claim that the sutra explicitly states that the way to propagate the sutra is for you to travel to a foreign land and send word back to your family that you are dead. According to the sutra, that's a sure-fire way to make your illusion-poisoned children drink the medicine of the dharma. It's interesting and instructive as a metaphor or parable. But as a practical function it would be cruel, perverse and abusive.
Dear Mr. Maltz,Since you think Shakyamuni was the ultimate Buddha, what doyou make of him saying, "I, too, once also practiced bodhisattva austerities." Does this not infer that he studied under someone, a prior Buddha who taught him thesepractices, or do you think he just made them up himself?Does he also not refer to his first attainment of enlightenment in gohyaku jintendo (a long, long timeago) instead of kuon ganjo, the infinite past?Also, since the Lotus was preached 3,000 years ago, doesthat mean there is nothing more to learn for the restof eternity? Just wondering,Armchair
Nichiren did not follow Nichiren, nor did he have a Gohonzon when he first started on his way, he had a Statue of the Original Buddha Shakyamuni, and he wasn't even reciting Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo. He came to his conclusion:"...in my original prayer I made a vow that: I should not have a prejudice in favor of any sect; I should adopt whichever sect shows the evidence of being the teaching of the Buddha and is reasonable; I should be guided solely by the sutras, not by the commentators of India, translators and minister-masters in China; regarding the doctrines of Buddhism, I should not be afraid of even being punished by a king, not to talk of persecutions by the people below him; I should not follow instructions against the Buddha's teachings even if they are given by my parents, teacher and elder brother; and I should speak up honestly as expounded in sutras regardless whether or not people believe in me." (Refutation to Ryokan-bo)When he realized it was the Original Buddha Shakyamuni that transferred his merits to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. You can read all this for yourself. Maybe then you would not call me names, like a teenager having a temper tantrum. It was not until Sado Island that Nichiren wrote the Mandala, thinking it was the easy way for people to see the Original Buddha Shakyamuni and not confuse it with the Human Shakyamuni, and they could not afford all the Statues of the Ceremony in Space, so he wrote the Mandala, it was not a mandala of his life, and he had then chant so they could meditate having Buddha in their mind, not for parking spaces or for numbers, and it was not magic, and if it were a practice Nichiren would have said "chant 200 times in the morning and 500 times at times" but in fact, he always the the most important thing was knowing that the Original Buddha was Shakyamuni. If you doubt anything I am saying here, either you are lying to yourself, or something is really wrong. There is no Nichirenism, it is something you guys made up, "lets get Nichiren Nature" so now everyone is sick, because you should have made the goal, Buddha Nature. You strive for precepts like Human Revolution and change, and there is no such thing at all the Lotus Sutra. Sounds good, change is good, good clothes, nice car, but it is not Buddha Nature, not the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.I am sure you are going to come back with another insult, seems to be your MO.Bruce
It is because the Original Buddha is a concrete Buddha not a God, and had to endure the practice of a Bodhisattva that took a time longer than it is possible for us to understand. You could have read that for yourself. Give me a call, we can read it together, if you really want to know what is up and down. I am always ready to fine tune my understanding. If you are not interested, that is good for me to know.Take care.Maltz
To set the record straight, the Lotus Sutra says that Shakyamuni was enlightened in a time, infinitely BEFORE "gohyaku jintengo". This is the so called "kuon ganjo" that Taisekiji invented. Even so, Nichiren and the Lotus Sutra says that "Shakyamuni Buddha attained enlightenment at a time even more distant than gohyaku jintengo." (MW, Vol.2, p.268)Aren't you getting tired? You have so much anger built up?WOWMaltz
I think you need to read the Sutra, give me a call. No hard feelings. But you have an attitude problem Big Time.Maltz
Do you believe Nichiren was just kidding when he urged people to chant daimoku to the Gohonzon?Do you believe Nichiren did not specifically and repeatedly prescribe this practice?Do you believe this practice has nothing to do with buddhadharma? Fine. You're welcome to your beliefs. Others of us are interested in exploring the path of chanting daimoku to the Gohonzon, using the dharma as a lamp. Some chanters (like Cris Roman) are even working to bring the buddhadharma into mainstream culture.You seem to think that awakening can be inherited, as if some teacher or sutra has already done the heavy lifting and we can all just sit back in nihilistic bliss and congratulate one another on our enlightened nature. Good luck with that.You can howl and preen, and beg me to cease my foolish practice, and tell me that I just don't understand anything at all, and assure me that you only have humanity's welfare at heart, really and truly.But frankly, if the result of practicing Maltzdharma is that I'll end up like you -- raging impotently at shadows -- well, no thanks.
No one told me that when I came here I would need a helmet, bullet proof vest and hide in a trench. I know Chris Roman, I have not talked to him in a long time, I don't know what he thinks about, but he is a great guy. He has Buddha Nature, so do you. I read a little of what he wrote, and it is precepts and expedients, seems like he never left the SGI. If he wants to write me, I am sure we could have a great chat. Buddhism with no yelling. No raging impotently at shadows like DearDenver who probably bought a thesaurus today. Ciao Baby..
Mr. Maltz,You have two contrasting and inconclusive answers here.It is very seldom I am angry and certainly not on this boardor in conversation with people. And you read my questions as such? Am I so unclear or are you seriouslydeluded?You have answered none of my questions and you have beeninsulting. Do you not understand these things? I willquit asking you questions you cannot or will not answerif that's how it is. But that's okay. I don't wantto waste my time, either. I will just skip your postsif you can't answer questions like these except withcondescending and contrasting answers as if I am tooretrograde to see the difference.Best,Armchair
I'll bite. Mettawaves from Robin's Nesthttp://www.fraughtwithperil.co...Also, if you scroll way down, it can be linked from here: http://www.nichirenscoffeehous...