I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Minobu wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:44 pm
Minobu wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:24 pm
narhwal90 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 4:09 am Looks like one of the big gohonzon one might see in a community center.. .needs a very large butsudan for the scales to complement. I started with NSA in the 80's and received a nikken gohonzon, the familiar all paper construction of traditional dimension. They were easy to get, showing up for meetings for a few months was enough. I don't know about Shoshu practices these days, in SGI its still straightforward to obtain one though it is the SGI version.
i got mine the first night i ever went to a meeting... the meeting room..Sunrise district toronto Canada.
If you ever saw the scene in the movie The Last Detail where they are in a meeting with a woman leading the chanting...that was the room i first went to for the very first meeting...most of the people in the room were actual Buddhists..friends, and Mrs Izumi the head of canada.

the movie happened just before i joined.
ok downloaded movie to see...wow me memory is bad...really bad...
the Japanese woman with child in her lap is Mrs. Izumi the head of canada..she is not leading the chant sesion...and only one guy do i recognize....
man memory blurrrrrrrrr....
Do you have a link? I would love to see it.
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Minobu
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Minobu »

dharmapdx wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 6:26 am
Minobu wrote: Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:44 pm
Minobu wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:24 pm
i got mine the first night i ever went to a meeting... the meeting room..Sunrise district toronto Canada.
If you ever saw the scene in the movie The Last Detail where they are in a meeting with a woman leading the chanting...that was the room i first went to for the very first meeting...most of the people in the room were actual Buddhists..friends, and Mrs Izumi the head of canada.

the movie happened just before i joined.
ok downloaded movie to see...wow me memory is bad...really bad...
the Japanese woman with child in her lap is Mrs. Izumi the head of canada..she is not leading the chant sesion...and only one guy do i recognize....
man memory blurrrrrrrrr....
Do you have a link? I would love to see it.
you used to be able to see it on you tube...copyright laws took it down.

you need to download it...torrents are fun...maybe netflix or something has it...

it actually is a great movie...jack nicholson...
dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

How many variations of the Nittatsu are there? I just found this on Pinterest.
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Bois de Santal
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Bois de Santal »

dharmapdx wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:53 am How many variations of the Nittatsu are there? I just found this on Pinterest.
I believe there is just one okatagi gohonzon. You can check the date of inscription in the bottom right hand corner. I must have seen a tokubetsu back in the day, but I was never inclined then to examine it closely. I have a vague recollection that it was inscribed a few days after the okatagi but I could be imagining things (or muddling up with the dates on the Nikken gohonzons).

For those wondering - okatagi is the name given to the regular gohonzons given out. tokubetsu refers to the larger gohonzons given to long standing members or enshrined in community centres.
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Queequeg
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Queequeg »

Just different mounting.
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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Caoimhghín
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Caoimhghín »

coffeebeans wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:04 am That looks way cool. Are these written in Chinese or Japanese?
I may well not be informed properly. Apologies if as such is the case.

From a certain perspective, "technically" they are written in Sanskrit, aside from one unambiguously Japanese word/character, the name of the Venerable Nichiren. AFAIK, all (the rest)of these names/characters/words are Sanskrit in origin. The pronunciation can change over time, and especially due to being transcribed into the script of another language, but these venerable calligraphic examples are reflecting what are historically Sanskrit words, albeit preserved in the Chinese script.

Because of their script, "technically" they are written in Chinese all-through. But we are right now reading Latin letters. Does that mean we are reading the Latin language? Just as the Latin alphabet was adapted for English, so too was the Chinese script adapted for many East Asian languages, Japanese included.

Because of the "pronunciation" or "reading" of these characters, "technically" they are written in Japanese. Tentative suggestion of a proof: no one calls "Nichiren" the name "Rìlián".
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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Minobu
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Minobu »

Coëmgenu wrote: Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:28 pm
coffeebeans wrote: Mon Feb 12, 2018 5:04 am That looks way cool. Are these written in Chinese or Japanese?
I may well not be informed properly. Apologies if as such is the case.

From a certain perspective, "technically" they are written in Sanskrit, aside from one unambiguously Japanese word/character, the name of the Venerable Nichiren. AFAIK, all (the rest)of these names/characters/words are Sanskrit in origin. The pronunciation can change over time, and especially due to being transcribed into the script of another language, but these venerable calligraphic examples are reflecting what are historically Sanskrit words, albeit preserved in the Chinese script.

Because of their script, "technically" they are written in Chinese all-through. But we are right now reading Latin letters. Does that mean we are reading the Latin language? Just as the Latin alphabet was adapted for English, so too was the Chinese script adapted for many East Asian languages, Japanese included.

Because of the "pronunciation" or "reading" of these characters, "technically" they are written in Japanese. Tentative suggestion of a proof: no one calls "Nichiren" the name "Rìlián".

it's what they represent that is inside you and is the universe and the protectors and teachers....
dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Unreal. These Nittatsu omamoris are listed for nearly $2,000 each. They sure are gorgeous, though: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-66th-HIGH ... 2980420127
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Queequeg
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Queequeg »

That is remarkable. These are historical artifacts.
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,
dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Queequeg wrote: Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:13 pm That is remarkable. These are historical artifacts.

I know! Stunningly beautiful, but unbelievably priced. Listing says that these are 100% silver, which obviously adds to the value. It's hard to believe that they went from silver omamori, to the current plastic version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omamori#D ... d_function I would love to have one of the original Silver versions.
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Queequeg
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by Queequeg »

Beware spiritual materialism...
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,
dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Queequeg wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:02 pm Beware spiritual materialism...

Thanks, but I don't think my fondness for these Nittatau omamori stems from spiritual materialism on my part. (I mentioned the material value of them -- the fact that they are silver and listed for $2000 each -- merely as a side note.) But rather (1) a love of history, and (2) a desire to to be able to read the Chinese characters and to be able to speak Japanese.

Let me explain….

As much as we are told that the Gohonzon should be our "life," if most western practitioners are going to be honest, when we look at the Gohonzon for the most part what we see is a bunch of squiggly lines. But in my opinion the Nittatsu gohonzon is not like that. In the Nittatsu gohonzon you can very clearly see each individual character. It is very crisp and almost as clinical as a "learn to write in Chinese" handbook. The Nittatsu gohonzon really gives me a sense of there being actual characters, an actual alphabet, on the scroll of paper -- which gives me hope that maybe at some point I could actually read this! (Lest anyone accuse me of being quality-racist in these comment, I have seen plenty of writing in English that also just looks like a "squiggly lines." This is usually what happens when people write in "cursive." It seems to me that many Gohonzon are written in cursive, but the Nittatsu is not.)

And I am interested in the history of Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shu, with a particular interest on the era during which the Nittatsu gohonzon was issued. I'm fascinated by stories I've heard about them basically been handed over within five minutes on the street corner during proselytizing of new converts.

In short: I love the historical aspect of the Nittatsu, as well as its simplistic block lettering. The fact that the Nittatsu omamori was once issued in silver and is now being sold on eBay for nearly $2000, is just a curiosity for me….
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dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Finally got my Nittatsu Gohonzon, and I could not be happier! :namaste:
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dharmapdx
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Re: I want a Nittatsu gohonzon!

Post by dharmapdx »

Amazing. Wish I could afford this, over $2,500: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1965-RARE-SCAR ... 3601257497



I almost feel like it shouldn’t be for sale on eBay, but should be in some kind of museum.
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