References to non-Buddhist gods and deities

[Myoho-Nameless]

Trusting your own judgement can sometimes be a bad move. But you might know more than I do.

The third refuge, the sangha, disappoints and disgusts me. Today in front of my gohonzon, I actually renounced that in it I take any refuge. Maybe I never really did. So I am only 2/3ds a Buddhist now. I have become what used to annoy me.

I am not "gone", but I need an extended leave to figure out what, if anything, that means to me.

[illarraza]

Trusting your own judgement can sometimes be a bad move. But you might know more than I do.

The third refuge, the sangha, disappoints and disgusts me. Today in front of my gohonzon, I actually renounced that in it I take any refuge. Maybe I never really did. So I am only 2/3ds a Buddhist now. I have become what used to annoy me.

I am not "gone", but I need an extended leave to figure out what, if anything, that means to me.

Take it easy. Take it easy. The Sangha of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth to which we belong is a whole different animal. Sometimes it is a Sangha of one and sometimes a Sangha of trillions. It is impossible to embrace, to take refuge in the Law and the Buddha and to reject the Sangha which, at the very minimum, is you. I have a bunch of pals in my Sangha and I in theirs. Read chapter 15 of the Lotus Sutra for the organization[s] of our Sangha [down to a solitary Bodhisattva of one].

Mark

[illarraza]

BTW where the hell are you going Masaru? That certainly is a cryptic message.

Illarraza

[rory]

why do people expect much of the sangha in Mappo? I've been disillusioned, I have had difficult times with institutions but if I persevered and had faith in the Lotus Sutra, which I do, I met good teachers and good people.

I also believe in the Buddhist deities; the world is far more complex than we imagine why shouldn't there be deities and all kinds of beings? I personally dislike this 'everything is a metaphor' attitude of Modernist Buddhism; it ultimately leads to nihilism; look at Robert Sharf's article I posted, he has many spot-on things to say.
gassho
Rory

[Queequeg]

Nameless, I'm sorry you feel so disillusioned. Its not clear from your brief comments why you feel that way about the community. If there are specific concerns, perhaps we, the community, might address them. Illaraza makes a good point, and I'll refer to an instruction attributed to the Buddha that Nichiren often referred to: rely on the dharma, not people. As Lotus Buddhists, we orient ourselves directly to the True Aspect. That is the only valid measure. Everything else is expedients. The community is the community of those with the same endeavor. If the community is diminishing, its because the people undertaking this endeavor are not appearing. If you wish to establish the community, it is up to each of us to create the conditions that will cause the appearance of those engaged in this endeavor. Sorry, there are no fairy tales to take the edge off. We endeavor to set aside the provisional and act on only the True Aspect.

Rory, I don't think that viewing Buddhist mythology as mythology diminishes the Saddharma in any way. Whether they are substantially real or just a figment of imagination is irrelevant to the imperative of the Lotus Sutra. The True Aspect is indestructible. So long as we have faith in the Saddharma, we cannot go wrong. Brahma, if real, chants NMRK, along with all the entities throughout the dharmadhatu. Even the icchantikas.

[Myoho-Nameless]

The third refuge, the sangha, disappoints and disgusts me. Today in front of my gohonzon, I actually renounced that in it I take any refuge. Maybe I never really did. So I am only 2/3ds a Buddhist now. I have become what used to annoy me.

I am not "gone", but I need an extended leave to figure out what, if anything, that means to me.

To those few whom it may concern, a few of you I have interneted with for years, and I was not specifically thinking of you when I had my mental falling out (at least PROBABLY not you) with the sangha.

and if you are curious, the gist of my realization was coming to terms with the fact that I have now and will probably always have divided loyalties.