starting to think you are spot on /gakki

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Minobu
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starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by Minobu »

The more i practice the more i regrett my scorched earth policy i have created towards the Gakki.
It all comes down the the Buddha of Kuon Ganjo and what it means for me.
from
http://www.sgilibrary.org/search_dict.php?id=1250



kuon-ganjo
[久遠元初] ( Jpn)
Literally kuon means the remote past, and ganjo, beginning or foundation. This term appears in On the Mystic Principle of the True Cause, a work written by Nichiren in 1282. This work refers to "the Mystic Law, uncreated and eternal, of the Buddha of beginningless time (kuonganjo), " and states that the Mystic Law lies in the depths of the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren interprets kuonganjo on two different levels: (1) In the context of the "Life Span" chapter, kuon refers to the remote past when Shakyamuni originally attained enlightenment, and ganjo, to the foundation of his original enlightenment. (2) In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren's oral teachings on the Lotus Sutra compiled by Nikkoin 1278, it is stated: "Kuon means something that was not worked for, that was not improved upon, but that exists just as it always has." Orally Transmitted Teachings continues: "Because we are speaking here of the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, it is not a question of something attained for the first time at a certain time, or of something that was worked for. This is not the kind of Buddhahood that is adorned with the thirty-two features and eighty characteristics or that needs to be improved on in any way. Because this is the eternal and immutable Buddha in his original state, he exists just as he always has. This is what is meant by kuon." The same section of Orally Transmitted Teachings concludes, "Kuon is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and 'true attainment' means awakening to the fact that one is eternally endowed with the three bodies." In essence, for Nichiren, kuon, or kuonganjo, means the eternal Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the original state of life that embodies Buddhahood.
narhwal90
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by narhwal90 »

Dunno about scorched earth Minobu, its not like there are periodic "do not let attend discussion meeting" lists sent around. If the SGI interpretation of something works for you then its maybe worth finding some meetings- honin myo

I seem to prefer a much wider perspective on buddhism than SGI offers, but its my home practice if you will. I like having SGI meetings in my rotation; see my friends, chant in a group, share as may be, volunteer here and there. Its nice to be able to practice with others.
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Minobu
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by Minobu »

narhwal90 wrote:Dunno about scorched earth Minobu, its not like there are periodic "do not let attend discussion meeting" lists sent around. If the SGI interpretation of something works for you then its maybe worth finding some meetings- honin myo

I seem to prefer a much wider perspective on buddhism than SGI offers, but its my home practice if you will. I like having SGI meetings in my rotation; see my friends, chant in a group, share as may be, volunteer here and there. Its nice to be able to practice with others.
yeah well i said some pretty harsh things towards President Ikeda...whom i met by the way..had him give me guidance years ago when i was about 26..

"Study Hard" was all he said..one on one..mano a mano....maybe that threw me into this labyrinth of various paths that just now have meaning in a whole new light.

One looks at the Lotus Sutra as an entity so to speak...and the emanation of the Buddha...and then the whole Lord Buddha Nagarjuna and His take on Buddhism and the prolific teachings from Him as well as the Lotus Sutra revival into our history....then the journey with Tien Tai...and then Nichiren DaiShonin...look at all this as the Kuon Ganjo thing i just posted off SGI website....

Maybe all of them were in fact emanations of Kuon Ganjo/Primordial Buddha...maybe the words Primordial Buddha is not enough and just Kuon Ganjo means so much more and more lucid...

Maybe someone else in modern times is that emanation appearing again to help the Lotus Sutra evolve in our humanity for all sentients liberation on this planet.

anyway...i did do a scorch earth thing...
d
narhwal90
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by narhwal90 »

I spent years in resentment over the SGI and what I perceived as its "pushing", but in the end it was all a story in my head. The SGI does what it does, good, bad and ugly. For my money, resenting it is like taking poison and hoping somebody else gets sick. These days my game is to try to bring something useful to the meetings...
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Minobu
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by Minobu »

narhwal90 wrote:I spent years in resentment over the SGI and what I perceived as its "pushing", but in the end it was all a story in my head. The SGI does what it does, good, bad and ugly. For my money, resenting it is like taking poison and hoping somebody else gets sick. These days my game is to try to bring something useful to the meetings...
I hear ya..
when i go over the reality of the Lotus Sutra...it's historic path...all the Dharma kaya aspects....the Primordial Buddha theories and discussions on this forum as well...what they imply...the only thing that saves me from not crumbling into a ball of guilt and regret is the Poison Drum theory..

One day I hope to make amends publicly at my centre, whom my mother helped rebuild and put together.
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Soka+G ... 28!6m1!1e1
narhwal90
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by narhwal90 »

And... naturally, I was in Toronto just a cpl years ago and did not even think of going... the usual for me. I spent 2 wks in southern California... likewise- no shortage of places to visit there either. I am likely to be in San Diego late in March, not going to forget this time.

I visited the washington DC SGI community center for the 1st time in many years, for the memorial service of my 1st district leader. He was a independent spirit, loyal to the NSA and later SGI but always a little uncomfortable. It was really nice to see the last few of the formidable 1st gen NSA Japanese ladies there as well, I miss the ones who've passed away. Back in the day they were very strict and outspoken to everyone wrt the practice but they also never forgot to make sure we had the fantastic homemade chili or curry rice for the ymd doing community center overnights. These days I have more or less monthly shifts up the baltimore community center and we don't do overnights anymore, but I clean the bathrooms, greet members and care for the place as I was instructed back then. Perhaps its a way of remembering them.

I have never met Mr Ikeda, but participated variously supporting a number of activities he attended. lol, one my shifts last year, we had an old NSA/SGI hand visiting for work, she stopped by the community center for gongyo etc and I drove her back to her hotel. On the way we traded war stories, she recalled one event where the young women were detailed to clean goose poop from the area of the activity lol I should think the young men were equivalently employed. That stuff was great fun back in the day, nice to recall & talk about but I'm glad things are in a different form these days.
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by Queequeg »

Had a snow day yesterday, so I took the opportunity to reorganize my books.

Picked up a dialogue between Ikeda Sensei and two Buddhism scholars about what language the Buddha spoke. I'm not bringing this up for the substance, but for what Ikeda Sensei said - Basically at the beginning of the discussion he acknowledged that what they were about to discuss was highly technical scholarship on linguistic analysis of sutras. He mentioned that the dialogue was being recorded for a non-specialist audience and so asked the scholars to try and explain their work plain language that would be accessible for a general audience.

Nothing remarkable in that, but, it reminded me how Ikeda Sensei always endeavored to make the heady aspects of Buddhism accessible for general audiences. It reminded me of the concern for ordinary practitioners that always framed his remarks.

I grew up in that atmosphere he fostered. That concern for others was ingrained into me - though I have very poorly observed this ideal in the course of my life.

I left SG because of profound disagreement with some fundamental teachings and have abhorred some of the doctrines they've developed over the years, but that fundamental impulse to put concern for others' first is something I miss. It is the jewel of Soka Gakkai.

I know he is not doing well now and has not been seen in public for a long time. That does sadden me. It would be good for the world if he were still able to be active. Picking up that dialogue reminded me of his greatness.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Minobu
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Re: starting to think you are spot on /gakki

Post by Minobu »

Queequeg wrote: but that fundamental impulse to put concern for others' first is something I miss. It is the jewel of Soka Gakkai.
.
Hear Hear , well said ...spot on...True Compassion....True Devotion to other's happiness in this world.
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