Search found 146 matches

by Yuren
Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:49 am
Forum: Jodo Shin Shu
Topic: C.S. Lewis and Shin
Replies: 76
Views: 18011

Re: C.S. Lewis and Shin

Yes, good points. Shin and Pauline Christianity do claim to rely solely on Other Power (although Paul wavers on this in some texts, saying things like we will be rewarded for good deeds). It does seem to me that the Pauline system is a bit more complex than Shin, inasmuch as Paul's requires belief ...
by Yuren
Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:35 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Can I mix Nichiren with Shinto? Isn't mixing practices bad?
Replies: 48
Views: 8456

Re: Can I mix Nichiren with Shinto? Isn't mixing practices bad?

Friend, I don't know what your real life experience with Shinto is. At this time in Japan, Shinto is very much tied up with Japanese right wing nationalism. Please go to Ise and explain to the priests there how it is perfectly natural for non-Japanese to be able to participate in Shinto. When we ta...
by Yuren
Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:15 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Can I mix Nichiren with Shinto? Isn't mixing practices bad?
Replies: 48
Views: 8456

Re: Can I mix Nichiren with Shinto? Isn't mixing practices bad?

From my studies of Japanese Buddhism and time spent in Japan, traveling around temples and talking to some teachers, I can tell you only Jōdo Shinshū of all schools is explicitly forbidding people from mixing Shinto and Buddhism. Others do not have a problem with such 'mixing, incl. Nichiren, Soto Z...
by Yuren
Wed Sep 05, 2018 2:53 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Can Nichiren Buddhists chant "Om mani padme hum" to the Gohonzon?
Replies: 31
Views: 5982

Re: Can Nichiren Buddhists chant "Om mani padme hum" to the Gohonzon?

dharmapdx wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 3:08 amCan Nichiren Buddhists chant "Om mani padme hum" to the Gohonzon?

Ask the Gohonzon.
by Yuren
Fri Aug 24, 2018 12:49 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Where do I start?
Replies: 13
Views: 3760

Re: Where do I start?

Mahayana teachings are so vast, it is hard to know where to start. Any recommendations? Do I need a teacher or are there any paths I can study on my own? I ask that, not because I don't want a teacher but because they are hard to find where I live. There are certain paths that do not require to hav...
by Yuren
Mon Aug 20, 2018 3:31 am
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana has the following passage, which I believe is very relevant to this discussion: in general, tathāgatagarbha is identified as the dharmakāya encased in afflictions. This is not novel at all. I think the italics shines throughout the world was being interpreted ...
by Yuren
Sun Aug 19, 2018 4:27 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana has the following passage, which I believe is very relevant to this discussion: In its very origin suchness is of itself endowed with sublime attributes. It manifests the highest wisdom which shines throughout the world , it has true knowledge and a mind restin...
by Yuren
Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:46 am
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

I'm wondering whether this doctrine is related to a similar motif in East Asian Buddhism, that of "insentient beings preaching the Dharma". For instance, there's this case from Caodong school of Ch'an: Dongshan asked Yunyen, "Who can hear the teachings of the insentient?" Yunyen ...
by Yuren
Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:14 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

Thank you Queequeg for the in depth explanation, very useful.

I would emphatically say "cannot be traced to Indian roots" does not equal false.

It's derived from an Indian basis via some further philosophical speculation, which is very subtle.
by Yuren
Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:50 am
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

To Dogen, rocks ARE the buddha nature- although that seems to be his particular enrichment of that doctrine Yeah, I love that. - But the more I research it, the more it seems that doctrine cannot be traced to the Indian roots. Which is a big problem for those who want to LARP as orthodox (ie. compl...
by Yuren
Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:35 am
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

Don't confuse Shintoism with Buddhism. While Shintoism believes that everything(your table, chair, tree, rock, mountain, robe, bucket, pot, road, etc.) has a kami(spirit/"god") and is considered alive. Abandon any old possessions, and the belief is that the spirit of this object will come...
by Yuren
Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:34 am
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

To Dogen, rocks ARE the buddha nature- although that seems to be his particular enrichment of that doctrine Yeah, I love that. - But the more I research it, the more it seems that doctrine cannot be traced to the Indian roots. Which is a big problem for those who want to LARP as orthodox (ie. compl...
by Yuren
Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:44 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

I just found the answer to my own question, it seems it is indeed an innovation that is uniquely Chinese, at least if we believe Robert H. Sharf: the extension of buddha-nature to the insentient was a distinctively Chinese innovation. It is, in short, a conveniently discrete and perhaps paradigmatic...
by Yuren
Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:30 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Re: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

Aryjna wrote: Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:10 pm Rocks are insentient beings. It doesn't seem like the question applies at all in their case. There must be some more context on the matter.
Yes. And rocks have Buddha-nature according to that view. The view was/is not a fringe view in China.
by Yuren
Tue Aug 14, 2018 7:57 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?
Replies: 154
Views: 27026

Buddhahood of Insentient Beings Exclusively East-Asian?

A dispute arose in Chinese Buddhism with regard to whether insentient beings possess a Buddha nature, but the view that Buddhahood exists as a potential in all things and phenomena prevailed in China. This idea also became widespread in Japan. (See also enlightenment of plants.) I am very intereste...
by Yuren
Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:03 pm
Forum: Dharma Stories
Topic: Thread with no words
Replies: 162
Views: 145427

Re: Thread with no words

by Yuren
Wed Aug 08, 2018 6:11 pm
Forum: East Asian Buddhism
Topic: The Antiquity and Novelty of the Lotus Sūtra
Replies: 9
Views: 3468

Re: The Antiquity and Novelty of the Lotus Sūtra

I read that it is believe originally Lotus was from chapter Expedient devices (2), to chapter (23? I think, "Entrusting)
And the subsequent chapter were later additions (chapters on various Bodhisattvas). Is there a consensus among scholars regarding this?
by Yuren
Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:42 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: How to develop faith?
Replies: 21
Views: 3573

Re: How to develop faith?

Thanks for your explanations. I'm not very familiar with SG's methods. Agreed, without emphasizing them, nevertheless they should fully explain the 4NT&8FP etc. I came to the LS after studying Theravada, Pure Land, Zen, etc. I think it has the greatest effect that way - if you come to it after y...
by Yuren
Mon Aug 06, 2018 5:45 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: How to develop faith?
Replies: 21
Views: 3573

Re: How to develop faith?

Its true the SGI doesn't emphasize the 4NT and the 8Fold Path which is a bummer. But why is that "a bummer"? Seems to me it's a "bummer" only from a perspective that is not the Ekayana perspective of the LS. That's fine but why should we expect the SGI to take a perspective that...
by Yuren
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:35 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: How to develop faith?
Replies: 21
Views: 3573

Re: How to develop faith?

. Some devotional forms of Buddhism are outwardly similar in that there are also recitations and acceptance of articles of faith. Not only some, all forms of Buddhism involve faith. I often hear (from other Western Buddhists) how "faith" is essentially something different in Buddhism than...

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