Surprises in Buddhism?

narhwal90
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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Queequeg wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:47 pm
narhwal90 wrote: Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:35 am I was laid up in the hospital for 10 days in June- SGI folks kept me busy with texts, email, phone calls... will be making my 1st meeting this week, to see all those who took the time to reach out and follow Nichiren's example on taking care of members.
I hope it was just an acute condition and that you are recovered. I hope you are well, brother.
Yep, recovering from a motorcycle wreck. Thankfully it didn't involve anyone else, bones take their time to knit but a full recovery is expected. There were some long uncomfortable nights in and out of ICU, having and working a practice even for a few minutes in between more or less passing out from the combination of fatigue and narcotics was profoundly important. Nichiren's lessons on transforming suffering into practice were entirely appropriate. Goes to show you don't really need an altar and gohonzon, or even a book and beads. Those things are great but when its just you and the pain in the dark all you really need is NMRK and a working arm for half a gassho, if you happen to have one... :)

It took me several weeks before I could reasonably sit in front of my altar, at such times SGI's use of chairs is most welcome :)

for my money, wrt paradox, its the adventitious obscurations that distinguish the common mortal from a buddha- the common mortal lacks nothing but generally needs some help to overcome the obscurations. If there were some kind of material distinction then ichinen sanzen could not apply. I was at a study mtg on sunday, the leader touched on ichinen sanzen a bit, she proposed that making a determination, which I take to be volition, manifests it. That is oversimiplified of course OTOH I've not been considering that angle much, so it is an interesting detail to consider.
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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EGADS, N90!

Sounds like a serious spill and that you are fortunate to be here! I'm glad to hear that you're reasonably OK and on the road to recovery. Bonten and Taishakuten, and the rest of the Shotenzenjin must have been looking out for you.

Community is a wonderful thing. Beyond the high fallutin ideas about the Buddhist spiritual community, its in these types of instances when the people around you come together to aid and comfort that some of its deepest purpose is apparent.

Bikes, man. I have three in my garage, and none of them run. My wife likes it that way.
narhwal90 wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:35 am I was at a study mtg on sunday, the leader touched on ichinen sanzen a bit, she proposed that making a determination, which I take to be volition, manifests it. That is oversimiplified of course OTOH I've not been considering that angle much, so it is an interesting detail to consider.
That's a remarkable point. Shikishinfuni (non-duality of mind and body) and eshofuni (non-duality of living beings and the environment) illustrate this idea. Positive, negative or neutral, our volition, a function of the mind, is non-dual with form (matter). This is probably difficult for us to grok since we naturally tend to dualistic thinking (starting with "I"/"Other"). At the present time in our world, the pervading resolution to the problem of dualism is materialism (contrast with the other end of the spectrum, the various "mind-only" propositions). I think Ichinen Sanzen suggests the tension of the extremes.

I got to spend some time at a beach recently, and because it was so stormy, I'd have the stretch of beach all to myself - all alone with sand, water, lots of wind, and cloudy sky. I'd wade out past the break and just experience the ebb and flow of the waves. I contemplated how the waves were just ripples of energy transmitting through the medium of the ocean - the water itself was not flowing per se, like it does in a river - the waves were just vibrations. I contemplated how the mind is a fundamentally inert medium that is still when at equilibrium, but like the water transmits waves. I reflected how the nexus point of the vibrations that I experience as myself could recast the incoming energy as volition that concatenates into activity - positive, negative, or neutral; that my thoughts that become words and acts are really not fundamentally different than the transmission of waves through the water. The differences being the various mediums the vibrations would pass through - mind/body complex with all of its intricacies, society of beings and all of its intricacies, the environment and all of its intricacies.

I was taught, in a sort of simplified linear cause-and-effect way, that I could use practice to focus my mind to whatever goals I wished, and it worked simply because it took advantage of basic dynamics of reality. Its explained in the Lotus traditions through ichinen sanzen, but the reality is indifferent to its explanation... The fact that its possible to exert influence over the environment does not in itself indicate merit... This was the problem that I had with the whole chanting for benefits thing. It was the lack of discernment between good and bad. Of course, good and bad have some relativity, but the idea that "benefit=good" never sat right.

I think I've drifted back into the reverie I had at the beach... pardon the half formed thoughts. Its hard to talk about this, but I feel compelled to, and hear others try to describe it, too.

:rolling:
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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Queequeg wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 4:57 pm EGADS, N90!

Sounds like a serious spill and that you are fortunate to be here! I'm glad to hear that you're reasonably OK and on the road to recovery. Bonten and Taishakuten, and the rest of the Shotenzenjin must have been looking out for you.

Community is a wonderful thing. Beyond the high fallutin ideas about the Buddhist spiritual community, its in these types of instances when the people around you come together to aid and comfort that some of its deepest purpose is apparent.

Bikes, man. I have three in my garage, and none of them run. My wife likes it that way.
Bikes indeed... my ride was a 2002 Suzuki Bandit- was high mileage so the ins co totaled it, and the wrecker picked it up yesterday. It was an opportunity to observe my own attachment :) . Totaling it was appropriate tho, would have taken about $1k on the salvage market to get it back on the road, probably twice that for new parts with no guarantees about the frame- and this is the 3rd wreck the bike has had (2nd one for me- 1st was fairly trivial and I rode home).

I want to ride again but will have to bide my time, the entire extended family is united against it lol. That said, a friend has a free track prepped R6 with electrical problems that I'm going to get working. I'm a Suzuki guy but that is a pretty hot bike, one's mind tends to have thoughts in such cases.

But wrt protection and fortune- I narrowly missed a bunch of trees on the right as the wreck started and as I slid onto the far shoulder of the road, I watched a stump go by less than a foot away on the left. I always ride with full gear and since this was a long trip, I add a stunter's neck brace- all that stuff certainly saved my neck and likely my life since I went down face-first and rolled. Didn't even have a headache and the only bruising was the left side where I hit and that was extensive.

I've always been reluctant to go into causality of benefit- what were the conditions that made the line of my wreck between the trees and the stump, leaving me conscious and in one piece safely on the side of the road? Hard to say, but I sure can be grateful about it and for the nurses, and the SGI folks who chatted me up after.

Queequeg wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 4:57 pm
narhwal90 wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:35 am I was at a study mtg on sunday, the leader touched on ichinen sanzen a bit, she proposed that making a determination, which I take to be volition, manifests it. That is oversimiplified of course OTOH I've not been considering that angle much, so it is an interesting detail to consider.
That's a remarkable point. Shikishinfuni (non-duality of mind and body) and eshofuni (non-duality of living beings and the environment) illustrate this idea. Positive, negative or neutral, our volition, a function of the mind, is non-dual with form (matter). This is probably difficult for us to grok since we naturally tend to dualistic thinking (starting with "I"/"Other"). At the present time in our world, the pervading resolution to the problem of dualism is materialism (contrast with the other end of the spectrum, the various "mind-only" propositions). I think Ichinen Sanzen suggests the tension of the extremes.
I find ichinen sanzen a tricky sort of principle. To my mind its an excellent expression of a pervasive principle, unifying the various conditions found in humanity and illustrating the evolution of condition, indivisibly as part of the universe. OTOH it defines a such a complex space as to defy prediction- which might part of the point- to make adopting simplistic views about it difficult. Derivation from the Lotus Sutra as claimed by Nichiren seems very obscure though, the goshos only touch on it. I will confess to not having been reading the Maka-shikan much in the last couple months, perhaps that will add clarity in time.
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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narhwal90 wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:49 pm I'm a Suzuki guy
I've never settled into a make... since we're sharing :smile: I have a Guzzi SP1000 that I started modding into a cafe racer... but then life got in the way. Also have a Kawasaki ZL900 - love this bike. Needs a little electrical work. Its a factory made drag bike with gear ratio packing in a lot of power at the low end. It likes to go fastish... its sweet spot is about 90 mph. One of the last times I rode it, I was cruising in the sweet spot when a guy on what I think was a Hayabusa blew past me like I was standing still. My third is a project - a 1958 MZ125. A neighbor had it in his garage and gave it to me after he saw me in the garage working on the Guzzi. Someday I will get these things rolling.
I always ride with full gear and since this was a long trip, I add a stunter's neck brace- all that stuff certainly saved my neck and likely my life since I went down face-first and rolled. Didn't even have a headache and the only bruising was the left side where I hit and that was extensive.
If I start riding again, I will be wearing full gear. I don't understand guys going no helmet in tshirt and shorts. I guess those guys are called organ donors.
Derivation from the Lotus Sutra as claimed by Nichiren seems very obscure though, the goshos only touch on it.
Its Jazz, man.
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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Queequeg wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:30 pm I've never settled into a make... since we're sharing :smile: I have a Guzzi SP1000 that I started modding into a cafe racer... but then life got in the way. Also have a Kawasaki ZL900 - love this bike. Needs a little electrical work. Its a factory made drag bike with gear ratio packing in a lot of power at the low end. It likes to go fastish... its sweet spot is about 90 mph. One of the last times I rode it, I was cruising in the sweet spot when a guy on what I think was a Hayabusa blew past me like I was standing still. My third is a project - a 1958 MZ125. A neighbor had it in his garage and gave it to me after he saw me in the garage working on the Guzzi. Someday I will get these things rolling.
The stock Bandit was happiest in the 50-90 range, the factory suspension was overdamped for faster unless the road was really good. OTOH I had the forks revalved and resprung and a gsxr shock in the rear so it was nice and calm at higher speeds & deep into corners. I will miss it, owned it since 2012 and steadily upgraded bit by bit and kept it in the best tune I could- rode between 1k and 2k miles/month as weather permitted. Ironically, and thankfully, my wreck was only in the 20-30mph range. The old/cafe bike hobby has never appealed to me much, give me a modernish UJM I can tuck into and I'm happy, that well-tuned 4 cylinder wail winding up out of a sweeper gets my blood moving :)

OTOH my friend with the R6 wants to find a decrepit old mess and fix it up, cafe it etc- so I'll pitch in. Wrenching on a bike is a great way to spend a day.

Queequeg wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:30 pm
I always ride with full gear and since this was a long trip, I add a stunter's neck brace- all that stuff certainly saved my neck and likely my life since I went down face-first and rolled. Didn't even have a headache and the only bruising was the left side where I hit and that was extensive.
If I start riding again, I will be wearing full gear. I don't understand guys going no helmet in tshirt and shorts. I guess those guys are called organ donors.
Oh yes. I wrecked in Pennsylvania- they don't require helmets so they get lots of really messed up riders through the hospitals who don't make it out of ICU. I did a 10 minute ride without a helmet a few years ago, anything more than a short distance at 20 or so needs lots of fiddly accessories; ear plugs (unless you don't care about hearing), sunglasses with something to reduce air infiltration around the eyes, something to keep bugs out of your mouth & break up the airflow so you can breathe properly. Full face helmets are so much more comfy at speed- my Shoei had a built-in sunscreen that could slide up into the helmet, nice and light & stable in fast air, quiet and pretty good control over ventilation- easy to ride 9hrs or more and still feel human when you finally get there. It was worth every penny when it hit the pavement.

Queequeg wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 8:30 pm
Derivation from the Lotus Sutra as claimed by Nichiren seems very obscure though, the goshos only touch on it.
Its Jazz, man.
I guess I've never really gotten into jazz because of all the hand waving... :tongue:
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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narhwal90 wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:55 pm 1k and 2k
Wow, man. A daily rider. I basically just rode on weekends.
OTOH my friend with the R6 wants to find a decrepit old mess and fix it up, cafe it etc- so I'll pitch in. Wrenching on a bike is a great way to spend a day.
A bad day in the garage is better than 95% of the other things you could be doing... Riding is better.
Oh yes. I wrecked in Pennsylvania- they don't require helmets so they get lots of really messed up riders through the hospitals who don't make it out of ICU. I did a 10 minute ride without a helmet a few years ago, anything more than a short distance at 20 or so needs lots of fiddly accessories; ear plugs (unless you don't care about hearing), sunglasses with something to reduce air infiltration around the eyes, something to keep bugs out of your mouth & break up the airflow so you can breathe properly. Full face helmets are so much more comfy at speed- my Shoei had a built-in sunscreen that could slide up into the helmet, nice and light & stable in fast air, quiet and pretty good control over ventilation- easy to ride 9hrs or more and still feel human when you finally get there. It was worth every penny when it hit the pavement.
CT is another state where helmets are optional. I've seen guys pull over at the state line to remove helmets. Like, really?

And on the topic of helmets... I agree that is not something to go cheap on. Again, I don't understand those brain buckets. That's just meeting the letter of the law but basically amounts to going without a helmet. A mouth full of bugs is the least reason to wear a full face. LOL

I guess I've never really gotten into jazz because of all the hand waving... :tongue:
Well, it might explain why all those jazz men are SGI.

Aside - it was pretty cool being in Brass Band back in the day with all these really, really great, bold face name jazz musicians. Our drum cadences were HOT!
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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Queequeg wrote: Wed Jul 11, 2018 5:04 pm
OTOH my friend with the R6 wants to find a decrepit old mess and fix it up, cafe it etc- so I'll pitch in. Wrenching on a bike is a great way to spend a day.
A bad day in the garage is better than 95% of the other things you could be doing... Riding is better.
Its a wonderful thing to hop onto a well-found bike that you finished prepping the night before, start it up and roll :)


CT is another state where helmets are optional. I've seen guys pull over at the state line to remove helmets. Like, really?

And on the topic of helmets... I agree that is not something to go cheap on. Again, I don't understand those brain buckets. That's just meeting the letter of the law but basically amounts to going without a helmet. A mouth full of bugs is the least reason to wear a full face. LOL
Blows my mind too. I think the main functional benefit of those buckets is to give the EMT's a handy tool to scoop the brains off the road after the wreck...

Well, it might explain why all those jazz men are SGI.

Aside - it was pretty cool being in Brass Band back in the day with all these really, really great, bold face name jazz musicians. Our drum cadences were HOT!
Ah- thanks for reminding me of the NSA/SGI musician contingent.. :) I knew a few of those guys, one was on my gajokai shift for several years, he was always polished and altogether more hip than the rest of us and he had the best NSFW stories too. I always liked it when they would get together at an activity and jam one way or another. Happily, quite a few of them are still around in SGI these days.

I played cymbals in our Brass Band, and at least could avoid embarrassment but thats about as far as my musical talents went lol. My finest hour was finally having enough money to buy reasonable shoes and replace the broken-a$$ cymbals I had been playing with something a bit nicer. Aside from the members who could play and brought their own, the rest of us played very distinctly 3rd-hand instruments. But the big eye-wateringly early gongyos with all the youth division were pretty amazing :)
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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narhwal90 wrote: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:25 pm I played cymbals in our Brass Band, and at least could avoid embarrassment but thats about as far as my musical talents went lol. My finest hour was finally having enough money to buy reasonable shoes and replace the broken-a$$ cymbals I had been playing with something a bit nicer. Aside from the members who could play and brought their own, the rest of us played very distinctly 3rd-hand instruments. But the big eye-wateringly early gongyos with all the youth division were pretty amazing :)
We must have met or at least crossed paths at some point. Did you march in any parades? Do any death marches in Flushing Meadows?
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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We may have, at least sort-of. Back in those days I was in the DC area, later moved to Baltimore. I did the cherry blossom parade a couple times, the big chair on the DC mall, and attended a big shindig in Atlanta IIRC in 1989. I recall mention of some large activities north of the DC metro area being talked about (Boston???), but I think I started practicing shortly after those.

I was only in a couple years before Mr Ikeda changed NSA's direction, then of course the schism radically affected how things were being done.
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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narhwal90 wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 5:02 pm We may have, at least sort-of. Back in those days I was in the DC area, later moved to Baltimore. I did the cherry blossom parade a couple times, the big chair on the DC mall, and attended a big shindig in Atlanta IIRC in 1989. I recall mention of some large activities north of the DC metro area being talked about (Boston???), but I think I started practicing shortly after those.

I was only in a couple years before Mr Ikeda changed NSA's direction, then of course the schism radically affected how things were being done.
Don't remember my last parade... might have been right about 89 - might have been a Columbus Day parade in NY. IIRC my last convention was in Philly? Boston? We might have just missed each other.

Aside - some of you guys may remember Mark Porter - he and I pieced together that he might have crossed paths with me when I was a wee one at the bicentennial parade in NY. LOL. He and my dad worked down at the pier building the floats.

NSA, man... what a trip.
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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narhwal90 wrote: Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:39 am As the saying goes "Faith equals daily life", the results of the practice are to be seen here and now. The "prosperity cult" thing is a degenerate case, the win is the individual's human revolution; transformation from the inside out.
"Since childhood, I, Nichiren, have never prayed for the secular things of this life but have single-mindedly sought to become a Buddha." Why shouldn't we emulate Nichiren rather than chanting for fame and profit? Nichiren also teaches, "although they do not seek emancipation, emancipation will come of itself." Since emancipation (Supreme and
Perfect Enlightenment) will come of itself, any and all lesser benefit. Why, as some advocate, do we need to chant goal oriented Daimoku (other than Buddhahood)? There are some who created another religion other than the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of Nichiren and this distresses me no end.

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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

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illarraza wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 4:42 am
narhwal90 wrote: Wed Jun 27, 2018 1:39 am As the saying goes "Faith equals daily life", the results of the practice are to be seen here and now. The "prosperity cult" thing is a degenerate case, the win is the individual's human revolution; transformation from the inside out.
"Since childhood, I, Nichiren, have never prayed for the secular things of this life but have single-mindedly sought to become a Buddha." Why shouldn't we emulate Nichiren rather than chanting for fame and profit? Nichiren also teaches, "although they do not seek emancipation, emancipation will come of itself." Since emancipation (Supreme and
Perfect Enlightenment) will come of itself, any and all lesser benefit. Why, as some advocate, do we need to chant goal oriented Daimoku (other than Buddhahood)? There are some who created another religion other than the Lotus Sutra Buddhism of Nichiren and this distresses me no end.

Mark
You answered your own question.
"although they do not seek emancipation, emancipation will come of itself."
Ideally we all practice as Nichiren did and read the sutra with our bodies.

Not everyone is ready or capable of doing so, and that was actually the reason the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra and entrusted it to Jogyo - to open the path to all beings, particularly those who appear in the Degenerate Age. Nichiren was clear that only the least glimmer of faith was sufficient to irreversibly embark on the path. He did not expect that everyone would practice as he did. Of course if a person is capable of a more robust practice, then it behooves them to do so to the full extent of their capacity.

Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters, with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age. The four great bodhisattvas will protect anyone who embraces the five characters as faithfully as T’ai-kung Wang and the Duke of Chou supported King Wen, and as devotedly as the Four White-Haired Elders served Emperor Hui.
Kanjinnohonzon-sho

Even though they come out of the house looking for goat carts, deer carts and ox carts, the Buddha's task is accomplished - the children are saved from the burning house.

Question: When your disciples, without any understanding, simply recite with their mouths the words NMRK, what level of attainment do they reach?

Answer: Not only do they go beyond the highest level of the four flavors and three teachings, as well as that attained by practitioners of the perfect teaching set forth in the sutras that precede the Lotus Sutra, but they surpass by a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times the founders of the True Word and various other schools of Buddhism, such as Shan-wu-wei, Chih-yen, Tz’u-en, Chi-tsang, Tao-hsüan, Bodhidharma, and Shan-tao.

Therefore, I entreat the people of this country: Do not look down upon my disciples! If you inquire into their past, you will find that they are great bodhisattvas who have given alms to Buddhas over a period of eight hundred thousand million kalpas, and who have carried out practices under Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavati and Ganges rivers. And if we speak of the future, they will be endowed with the benefit of the fiftieth person, surpassing that of one who gave alms to innumerable living beings for a period of eighty years. They are like an infant emperor wrapped in swaddling clothes, or a great dragon who has just been born. Do not despise them! Do not look on them with contempt!

Miao-lo writes, “Those who vex or trouble [the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra] will have their heads split into seven pieces, but those who give alms to them will enjoy good fortune surpassing the ten honorable titles.”

Shishingohon-sho

The nature of cause and effect is like the relationship of flower to fruit. Or it is like the case of a single flame, no bigger than the light of a firefly, which, when applied to a thousand-ri plain of dried grass, in the space of an instant burns first one blade of grass, then two, then ten, a hundred, a thousand, and ten thousand, so that the grass and trees over an area of ten or twenty chō are consumed all at once. A dragon who places one small drop of water in its claws and ascends to the heavens can cause rain to fall upon the major world system. When performed as an offering to the Lotus Sutra, even a small act of goodness produces benefits that are equal in magnitude to these.
Niike dono goshosoku
Why, as some advocate, do we need to chant goal oriented Daimoku (other than Buddhahood)?
For the same reason that Nichiren challenged others to pray for rain - to demonstrate the efficacy of the teaching. The wish granting jewel is efficacious for all practitioners of the Lotus Sutra.
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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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

Post by dharmapdx »

This thread popped into my head today. It’s been a while….

Can’t believe I wasn’t able to express it this succinctly. This is all I was trying to say:

* I thought Buddhism would “enlighten” people to want to relinquish social rank, only to realize that many people who practice Buddhism do so precisely to GAIN social rank.

I am surprised that for some people Buddhism is merely a means-to-an-end (of gaining superior status over others).

I am reminded of many university professors that I have known who were not too terribly interested in their subject matter, but rather seemed to use their subject matter as a means of holding onto the SOCIAL STATUS of “Professor.”
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Re: Surprises in Buddhism?

Post by dude »

Nam myoho renge kyo is so powerful that some people who practice for even unsavory purposes can gain merit by chanting, even a little bit.
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