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Fri Jul 03, 2009 at 13:08:26 PM MDT
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Tricycle blog points out an article from 2000 that is relevant to the Nichiren community today:
...many Westerners called for a purely Western Buddhism, free of irrelevant religious and cultural trappings of the East. Differentiating the essence from the trappings, however, is never simple....
Read the full article here.
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Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:35:41 AM MDT
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(Let the debate begin! - promoted by buddhajones)
Does Marijuana impede the road to Enlightenment?
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Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 12:52:51 PM MDT
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Queen's University, a publicly funded institution in the U.K., spent tens of thousands of pounds to travel to Japan:
The trip was to confer an honorary doctorate on Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a lay Buddhist group....
The amount of money spent on the trip is oddly high:
The Belfast Telegraph calculated that the cheapest flights to Tokyo, according to a travel website, would cost just under £500.
This would mean flights [for the university group] would have cost at least £7,000.
Queen's confirmed the delegation stayed at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Toyko with a basic room costing around £142 per night. This would work out at just under £2,000 per night for the university group.
Wow, that's costly. The cost to Queen's University's credibility is even higher. Full story.
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Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 12:09:31 PM MDT
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Scientology and its recent defectors remind me of a certain so-called Nichiren Buddhist organization. So I follow news of it with great interest. IMO, Scientology is showing us what happens to a zealous group after the death of its supreme charismatic leader. Is this in the cards for SGI?
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Fri Jun 26, 2009 at 19:12:20 PM MDT
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Ben Schott at NYtimes.com challenges readers to come up with a definition for faith. Some reader responses are thought-provoking:
Faith is the word many use when they mean "hope".
Faith is trust, both of which are broken so often.
Faith is belief that has no proof, otherwise it would not be needed.
Faith is what sustains the vast majority, the masses, who believe there is something better than their leaders provide.
Faith becomes the substitute for truth about the unknown.
Faith drives some, carries some, pulls some, fools many.
How do you define faith?
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Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 12:20:00 PM MDT
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A travel blog, Brave New Traveler, names Soka Gakkai along with GATE and Knowledgism "three new religions with a modern twist." The article notes:
Based on Buddhism, Soka Gakkai developed from the teachings of Nichiren, a 13th century Buddhist reformer.
That's one way to explain it. Another way: They misappropriated and distorted the teachings of Nichiren to legitimize the political and business activities of their pseudo-religious prosperity cult.
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Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 13:08:57 PM MDT
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The time limit to post comments on "Tibetan mantra same as daimoku" expired right when some thought-provoking new comments were posted. Darn it!!
The comment time period is 30 days from the original posting date to keep the auto-spam robots at bay. Anyone is free to open a new thread, but it's just never the same when you try to continue a discussion in a new thread after the original thread has closed....
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Sat May 23, 2009 at 15:51:44 PM MDT
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It's so basic, but I often forget. I sometimes find myself in a mental pattern of wanting to reject what I perceive as "bad." I want to purge it, make it go away.
Specifically, I've been dealing with "bad medicine," as one of my dear friends calls it. Most of us would probably refer to it as anger, jealousy, curses and ill will from others in our environment.
I have no doubt that these energies (for lack of a better word) are real and potent. If someone is hating on you, you're going to feel it (if you have any sensitivity) and it's going to hurt. It's meant to hurt you, but it also hurts the person who is originating or broadcasting an ugly emotion and the intent to harm....
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Tue May 12, 2009 at 15:55:10 PM MDT
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Hey guys. Is everyone out of town? Here's a question that keeps popping up in my sphere: Is chanting "Om Mani Padme Hum" the same as chanting "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo"?
This post offers a good summary:
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 at 13:03:39 PM MDT
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The sound of chanting actually irritates some people:
Somehow I never did take to the Daimoku, the chanting of Nam myoho renge kyo. The first time I heard the Daimoku, and the Gongyo, a recitation of liturgy chanted in a kind of phonetic pidgin Chinese, the sound struck me as cacophonous, jangling, unpleasant. Nine years later my opinion of it hasn't changed.
Read the whole entry to get a sense of what it's like to be a non-chanter surrounded by people who chant. Helps me understand the perspective of my ex.
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Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 12:44:54 PM MDT
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As the sun rose over the Pacific Ocean on this day in 1253, Nichiren stood on Mt. Kiyosumi and proclaimed Namu Myoho Renge Kyo -- devotion to the Lotus Sutra -- as the primary practice and vehicle for all beings to realize their Buddha nature.
This was not the first time the phrase had been spoken as a religious practice, of course. The Chinese used the phrase as a deathbed prayer (in Chinese: Namo Miao Fa Lien Hua Ching). And it wasn't unheard of in India: Namas Sad Dharma Pundarika Sutra.
But Nichiren was the first to proclaim the mantra as a universal prayer or meditation for awakening to Buddha awareness in one's present lifetime. Chant on, baby.
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Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 15:49:44 PM MDT
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A program to teach good manners to monks is being launched in Thailand. Interesting report from the BBC:
In recent years, they [monks] have been accused of abuses of their exalted position in society that range from amassing dozens of luxury cars, to running fake amulet scams, to violating their vows of celibacy, our correspondent says.
...He was especially concerned, he said, by the flamboyant behaviour of gay and transgender monks, who can often be seen wearing revealingly tight robes, carrying pink purses and having effeminately-shaped eyebrows.
Link.
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Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 12:55:30 PM MDT
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If you haven't read Waylon Lewis's post about whether Chogyam Trungpa was an alcoholic and sexually inappropriate, check it out.
Trungpa Rinpoche was, like an rock star or leader, incredibly charismatic and attractive to his students. There was, however, then, little sense of power-play. Example: he asked my mom, once, who was lovely and tall and fit, if she'd like to sleep with him....
Also, be sure to read the comments there. I have mixed feelings about all this, as I'm sure many other Nichiren practitioners do, too....
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Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 15:43:59 PM MDT
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The floodgates are opening. As members leave SGI, they're turning to Nichiren Shu. One Nichiren Shu minister is worried:
...I have found over the years that most of the people who leave SGI are leaving because they had a bad experience. So they need to detox and they need to, in a sense, recover from that bad relationship before being in a place where they can seriously commit to something new. And make no mistake about it - Nichiren Shu would be a new form of Buddhism to you. ...there is none of the pep rally/self-help/inspirational/The Secret/follow the leader kind of things that you may have come to associate with Nichiren Buddhism - not at all. So the transition would be very disconcerting I think.
There are logistical problems, too. Read more.
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