On Friday, December 1, 2023 at 12:38:40 PM UTC-8, David Dalton wrote:
[snip your corruption]
This newsgroup is devoted to Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism of the Lotus Sutra, and Nichiren Daishonin would consider your corrupted posting to be an affront to Lotus Sutra Buddhism, because it is a grave slander of the Buddhist Law.
This is described in the Letter to Akimoto, starting in the 4th paragraph:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-3
Here is the key phrase for you to comprehend on mixing extraneous practices [and teachings] with the Lotus Sutra:
"The learned authorities in the world today suppose that there is no harm in mixing extraneous practices
with the practice of the Lotus Sutra, and I, Nichiren, was once of that opinion myself. But the passage from
the sutra [that I have just quoted] does not permit such a view."
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-7
Nichiren Daishonin never suffered Zen and other slanders of the Lotus Sutra without a rebuke, and nor shall I.
The three principles regarding slanderers of the Lotus Sutra are highlighted in BOLD, below:
From "Letter to Akimoto", WND I, pp. 1016-1018:
https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/144#para-14
... But I, Nichiren, one man alone, declare that the recitation
... of the name of Amida Buddha is an action that leads to
... rebirth in the hell of incessant suffering, that THE ZEN
... SCHOOL IS THE INVENTION OF THE HEAVENLY DEVIL, that the
... True Word school is an evil doctrine that will destroy the
... country, and that the Precepts school and the observers of
... the precepts are traitors to the nation.
...
... Because I do so, from the sovereign on down to the common
... people, all people fear me more than they would an enemy of
... their parents, an enemy from a past existence, a plotter of
... treason, a night raider, or a bandit. They rage, they
... curse, they strike at me. Those who slander me are given
... grants of land, while those who praise me are driven from
... their areas or fined, and the people who desire to kill me
... are singled out for rewards. And on top of all this, I have
... twice incurred the wrath of the authorities.
...
... I am not only the strangest person alive in the world
... today; in the ninety reigns of human sovereigns, in the
... more than seven hundred years since the Buddhist teachings
... were first introduced to Japan, there has never been such a
... strange person. I, Nichiren, am like the great comet of the
... Bun'ei era (1264), a disorder of the heavens such as had
... never happened in Japan before that time. I, Nichiren, am
... like the great earthquake of the Shoka era (1257), a freak
... of the earth that had never before occurred in this land.
...
... In Japan since the history of this country began, there
... have been twenty-six perpetrators of treason. The first was
... Prince Oyama, the second was Oishi no Yamamaru, and so on
... down to the twenty-fifth, Yoritomo, and the twenty-sixth,
... Yoshitoki. The first twenty-four of these men were struck
... down by the imperial forces and had their heads put on
... display at the prison gate, or their corpses left to rot in
... the mountain fields. But the last two succeeded in
... overthrowing the sovereign and gaining complete control of
... the nation, and at that time the imperial rule came to an
... end.
...
... AND YET THESE VARIOUS PERPETRATORS OF TREASON ARE LESS
... HATED BY THE MASS OF PEOPLE THAN IS NICHIREN. If you ask
... why that should be, I will tell you. THE LOTUS SUTRA
... CONTAINS A PASSAGE DECLARING THAT THAT SUTRA IS FIRST AMONG
... ALL THE SUTRAS. However, the Great Teacher Kobo declares
... that the Lotus Sutra ranks third, while the Great Teacher
... Jikaku declares that the Lotus Sutra ranks second, and the
... Great Teacher Chisho agrees with Jikaku. Hence at present,
... when the priests of Mount Hiei, To-ji, and Onjo-ji look
... upon the Lotus Sutra, they read the passage that says the
... Lotus Sutra is first, but what they understand when they
... read it is that the Lotus Sutra is second or third in
... standing.
...
... Neither the nobility nor the warrior clans have any
... detailed information about this matter. But since the
... eminent priests in whom they place their faith all
... subscribe to this opinion, the laity share the same view as
... their teachers.
...
... With regard to other groups, the Zen school describes
... itself as a teaching transmitted apart from the sutras, and
... hence speaks with scorn of the Lotus Sutra. The Nembutsu
... school asserts that "not even one person in a thousand" can
... be saved through the other teachings and that "not a single
... person has ever attained Buddhahood" through them, by which
... it means that, in comparison to the Nembutsu, the Lotus
... Sutra is too lofty to practice and therefore ought to be
... rejected. The Precepts school is composed of Hinayana
... doctrines. Even in the Former Day of the Law the Buddha
... would not condone the spread of such teachings, so surely
... he would never approve of them being propagated in the
... Latter Day of the Law, causing the ruler of the nation to
... be confused and misled.
...
... Three women of antiquity-Ta Chi, Mo His, and Pao Ssu-misled
... the rulers of the three dynasties and caused them to lose
... their thrones. And in the same way, these evil doctrines
... are propagated throughout the nation and cause the Lotus
... Sutra to lose its proper place. As a result, the great
... sovereigns Antoku, Takahira, and the others were cast aside
... by the Sun Goddess and Great Bodhisattva Hachiman and
... drowned in the sea or were exiled to distant islands. They
... were overthrown by families who for generations in the past
... had been their followers, and this was because they had
... lost the protection of the heavenly deities. They put their
... faith in those who are enemies of the Lotus Sutra. But
... because there was no one who understood this, they had no
... way to learn of their error. This is illustrated in the
... statement that wise men can perceive the cause of things,
... just as snakes know the way of snakes.
...
... I, Nichiren, am no wise man. But just as a snake can
... understand the mind of a dragon and crows can foretell the
... coming of good or bad fortune in the world, so I was able
... to fathom the course that events would take. AND I KNEW
... THAT, IF I SPOKE OUT ON THE MATTER, I WOULD INSTANTLY MEET
... WITH PUNISHMENT, WHILE IF I DID NOT SPEAK OUT, I WOULD FALL
... INTO THE GREAT AVICHI HELL.
...
... In practicing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, THERE ARE
... THREE PRINCIPLES that must be understood. THE FIRST IS THAT
... REGARDING SLANDERERS. The monk Superior Intent, the monk
... Shore of Suffering, the Scholar Vimalamitra, and the Great
... Arrogant Brahman are examples. These men dressed their
... bodies in the three robes, lifted a single begging bowl up
... before their eyes, and meticulously observed the two
... hundred and fifty precepts, and yet they were in fact
... enemies of the Mahayana and in the end fell into the great
... citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... In recent times in Japan there have been men like Kobo,
... Jikaku, and Chisho who observed the precepts just as those
... earlier monks did and who did not differ from them in
... wisdom. But because they asserted that the True Word
... teaching of the Mahavairochana Sutra ranked first and the
... Lotus Sutra ranked second or third, if my view of the
... matter should by any chance be correct, they are now in the
... great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... It is a fearful thing to utter such words, and still more
... does one hesitate to put them into writing. But when the
... Buddha himself has declared that the Lotus Sutra is
... foremost, IF ONE LEARNS OF A PERSON WHO RANKS IT SECOND OR
... THIRD AND, OUT OF FEAR OF OTHER PEOPLE OR OF GOVERNMENT
... AUTHORITIES, FAILS TO SPEAK OUT, THEN "ONE IS IN FACT HIS
... ENEMY," THAT IS, ONE IS ACTING AS A FEARFUL ENEMY TO ALL
... LIVING BEINGS. THIS IS STATED IN BOTH THE SUTRAS AND THE
... COMMENTARIES, AND SO I SPEAK OUT.
...
... To speak out without fearing others and without flinching
... before society-this is what the sutra means when it says,
... "We care nothing for our bodies or lives but are anxious
... only for the unsurpassed way."
...
... It is not that one does not recall the calumny, the staves
... and stones that were suffered by Bodhisattva Never
... Disparaging. It is not that one is unafraid of the world.
... It is just that the censure of the Lotus Sutra is even more
... severe. It is like the case of Sukenari and Tokimune, who
... acted as they did even though they found themselves in the
... camp of the shogun, because they longed to avenge
... themselves upon their enemy and were ashamed at the thought
... of failing to do so.
...
... THE ABOVE IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL SLANDERERS.
...
... AS FOR THE FAMILIES OF SLANDERERS, the family members may
... pass their entire lives without slandering the Lotus Sutra.
... But even though they practice it every hour of the day and
... night, the fact that they were born into the family of a
... slanderer means that they will invariably be reborn in the
... hell of incessant suffering. For example, those persons who
... were born into the family of the monk Superior Intent or
... the monk Shore of Suffering and became their disciples or
... lay supporters all fell, against their will, into the hell
... of incessant suffering. Or it is like the family members of
... Yoshimori. Setting aside those who gave their lives in
... battle, even the children still in their mothers' wombs,
... torn from their mothers' bellies, were killed before birth.
...
... Now I, Nichiren, have mentioned the three great teachers
... Kobo, Jikaku, and Chisho, who boldly state in their
... writings that the Lotus Sutra represents the region of
... darkness, that it is a false and deluded doctrine. If what
... the Lotus Sutra itself says is correct, then what do you
... suppose will become of the priests at Mount Hiei, To-ji,
... Onjo-ji, the seven major temples of Nara-at all the 11,037
... temples throughout Japan? If the examples cited earlier are
... any indication, they will without a doubt fall into the
... great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering.
...
... SUCH IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO THE FAMILIES OF SLANDERERS.
...
... NEXT, WE COME TO THE COUNTRY OF SLANDERERS. Those persons
... who happen to live in a country where there are slanderers
... of the Law will all-everyone in the entire country-be
... condemned to the great citadel of the hell of incessant
... suffering. Just as all the various waters gather in the
... great ocean, so all kinds of misfortune gather about such a
... country. They will abound in the way that grass and trees
... abound on a mountain.
...
... WHEN THE THREE CALAMITIES PILE UP MONTH AFTER MONTH AND THE
... SEVEN DISASTERS APPEAR DAY AFTER DAY, THEN HUNGER AND
... THIRST WILL PREVAIL AND THE COUNTRY WILL BE CHANGED INTO A
... REALM OF HUNGRY SPIRITS. WHEN PLAGUE AND DISEASE SWEEP OVER
... THE LAND, THE COUNTRY WILL BECOME A REALM OF HELL. WHEN
... WARFARE BREAKS OUT, IT WILL BE TRANSFORMED INTO A REALM OF
... ASURAS. AND WHEN PARENTS, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS, IGNORING
... THE FACT THAT THEY ARE KIN, BEGIN TAKING EACH OTHER FOR A
... HUSBAND OR WIFE, THE COUNTRY WILL BECOME A REALM OF
... ANIMALS. UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO
... WAIT UNTIL DEATH TO FALL INTO THE THREE EVIL PATHS. WHILE
... ONE IS STILL ALIVE, THE COUNTRY IN WHICH ONE LIVES WILL BE
... CHANGED INTO THESE FOUR EVIL REALMS.
...
... SUCH IS THE PRINCIPLE RELATING TO A COUNTRY WHERE
... SLANDERERS LIVE.
Pay attention, your future across countless kalpas is being cast into great hellishness, should you continue here with your slander of the Law.
You have been warned and will be warned again, should you continue to pile slander upon slander and dig a truly prodigious hole for yourself.
-Chas.