Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

boda wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:59 pm
Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:35 pm
Simon E. wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:21 pm lifestyle choices
That's a fraught phrase...

I'd restate something like,

"bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity."
Uh, better go with something like,

"bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity, with the exception of Buddhist."
No, that's a bad idea too, even if people do it sometimes. Taking refuge in being a Buddhist is not the same as taking refuge and practicing Dharma.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Simon E. »

Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:35 pm
Simon E. wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:21 pm lifestyle choices
That's a fraught phrase...

I'd restate something like,

"bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity."
Yes, that's much more accurate.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:35 pm "bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity."
I realized my statement might raise a question - the answer to which I don't quite know... it pushes past the limits of my knowledge of Buddhist philosophy... is there an unconditioned identity that one could take refuge in? I guess that would be the Buddha? Or is unconditioned identity just reasonable sounding nonsense... like turtle fur or rabbit's antlers?
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by boda »

Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:45 pm ... like turtle fur or rabbit's antlers?
Or a republican Nichiren Buddhist. :P
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Virgo »

bcol01 wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 3:08 amIs it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?
I guess it is better than supporting the shogun in Kamakura or Sengoku period Japan? :ban:

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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Fortyeightvows »

Virgo wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 11:19 pm I guess it is better than supporting the shogun in Kamakura or Sengoku period Japan?
:good:
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

boda wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:50 pm
Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:45 pm ... like turtle fur or rabbit's antlers?
Or a republican Nichiren Buddhist. :P
I can definitively declare that this phrase, to the extent that any term relates to a conditioned reality, does correspond to certain manifested beings.
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Wayfarer »

Forgets ‘parable of the raft, and also the Diamond Sutra. Ultimately there are no Buddhists, and the Buddha himself is nobody in particular. Shocking but true.
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by dude »

I've only heard two things about political issues from President Ikeda :
1) The SGI will always be on the side of the people, and
2) Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil, and their existence cannot be tolerated
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Simon E. »

boda wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:50 pm
Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:45 pm ... like turtle fur or rabbit's antlers?
Or a republican Nichiren Buddhist. :P
In your meat world life do you ever engage in discussion without trying to win? Just discuss, debate, exchange, give positive regard?
Try it.
Many find that it opens up a whole new world... without loss of perceived status.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by justsit »

Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:35 pm ... "bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity."
Aren't all identities conditioned? :shrug:
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

Simon E. wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:15 am In your meat world life do you ever engage in discussion without trying to win? Just discuss, debate, exchange, give positive regard?
In the meat world you would see my smile. But yeah, I should probably just let a lot of things go.
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Simon E. »

Not you QQ. You seem a reasonable fellow.
“You don’t know it. You just know about it. That is not the same thing.”

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to me.
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

justsit wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 2:39 pm
Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:35 pm ... "bad idea to take refuge in any conditioned identity."
Aren't all identities conditioned? :shrug:
Right. What is an unconditioned identity? If anything, that'd be tathagata, though "identity" would be misleading if used in a provisional, tentative sense without understanding that caveat or error if reified.

Mahaparinirvana Sutra addresses the "True Self" which when you get into it is nothing like the notion of self we naively have.

There are practices where we identify with certain identities...
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

Simon E. wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 2:56 pm Not you QQ. You seem a reasonable fellow.
Oh... Ah. Woops. Thanks S. :cheers:
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

dude wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:28 am I've only heard two things about political issues from President Ikeda :
1) The SGI will always be on the side of the people, and
2) Nuclear weapons are an absolute evil, and their existence cannot be tolerated
And then there's the whole Komeito thing.

You can also find his political views in his annual Peace Proposals.

There's also some interesting material by Ikeda if you dig around that has been purged from the record as he is elevated to "Eternal Mentor".

:juggling:
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by boda »

Simon E. wrote: Thu Oct 04, 2018 9:15 am
boda wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:50 pm
Queequeg wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 10:45 pm ... like turtle fur or rabbit's antlers?
Or a republican Nichiren Buddhist. :P
In your meat world life do you ever engage in discussion without trying to win? Just discuss, debate, exchange, give positive regard?
Try it.
Many find that it opens up a whole new world... without loss of perceived status.
It was a poor attempt at humor. The fact that I need to say this proves how poor it was. What can I say, I'm not always funny in the meat world either, for instance, I walked into a new meat market the other day that opened down the street and said out loud "this place is such a meat market." Funny? :shrug:
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by ford_truckin »

Republican here who voted for Trump. I don't see why it would be a bad thing.
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Re: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by Queequeg »

:popcorn:
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: Is it an oxymoron for a Nichiren Buddhist to be Republican?

Post by boda »

Speaking of Trump, has anyone read this NYT article? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201 ... trump.html

Turns out that Trump is actually a [give positive regard, must give positive regard. remember what Simon said] uh, *remarkable* businessman after all. :smile:
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