'American Idol' SGI chanter killed by car

Victorious

Her passing is sad indeed. I would like to clear up one issue related to her statements on television. Today was the first time I watched the video (above) in which she constantly intones the Ikeda/SGI rallying cry of being "ever victorious."

In video of her second appearance on the show, it is made to seem that Alexis had suddenly converted to "Buddhism" and thus became somehow more mellow.

See here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

After watching the first video, it seems clear to me that she was already involved with Soka Gakkai and their notorious "victory" rhetoric at the time of her first Idol appearance.

"If only I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say that the Soka skunk has changed its stripe." -- auntie

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by: mroaks @ Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 22:40:25 PM UTC

Sad

A person is dead. Someone who embraced the Lotus Sutra. Oaks, I don't know that this is the time to be making fine points about SGI rhetoric. Her death was truly tragic, and this is a time for personal reflection, IMO. Around this time last year two other prominent SGI members passed away. It is nothing but sad.

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by: brooke @ Tue Jul 28, 2009 at 06:16:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Alexis' passing

Dear Brooke,

Do you really think this person "embraced the Lotus Sutra"?  From what I have seen of the videos, I was really not left with that impression.

Armchair

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by: Armchair @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 02:49:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

embracing

Chanting the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is to embrace the Lotus Sutra. Isn't that the teaching of Nichiren Buddhism?

I wouldn't judge by appearances and superficial behavior. In the Lotus Sutra, even Devadatta and evil people attain Buddhahood. Buddhahood is not just for goody-goody nice people.

These teachings are why the Lotus Sutra is so revolutionary, and so maligned.

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by: brooke @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 05:11:20 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

questions of character

I have to say that I have a lot more respect for someone wiling to get up in front of people and do something than I have for people staring at a screen and criticizing.

I could cringe at a lot of things that go on, but someone chanting daimoku in front of millions of viewers isn't going to be one of them regardless of my assessment of the person.

Someone telling the judges on American Idol that they are not going to let their judgement put a stop to their dreams would seem to me a message that many people should hear.

People being critical of her just reveal their own petty smallmindedness.

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by: clown hidden @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 16:47:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Cringe

I cringed. Not because I thought she was loud and in-your-face. I like loud and in-your-face. And I like when people chant daimoku.

What makes me cringe is the charade that chanting somehow totally transforms your personality over night, and you go from flipping off Simon to wishing for his profound happiness. That's just BS, and it's using NMRK as a tool to promote something (a career, a TV show) rather than the other way around. That video segment portrayed NMRK as a magic cure and a gimmick. I don't think that's anything to cheer about.

I see nothing wrong with telling Simon to shove it, and I thought she was great for doing it.

I see a lot wrong with portraying NMRK as some kind of mindless happy chant.

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by: buddhajones @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 19:16:52 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

mindless happy chant

Mindless happy chant seems pretty accurate to me.
What did you think it was?

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by: clown hidden @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 19:39:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

mindless happy chant

After all people chant for happiness and chanting
displays no use of the powers of the intellect.  

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by: clown hidden @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 19:45:19 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I thought it was

a religious practice in the context of an ancient wisdom tradition.

Not a fad.

Not marketing gimmick.

Not an opiate.

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by: buddhajones @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 21:24:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's a

floor wax AND a dessert topping!

Try new Shimmer!

"If only I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say that the Soka skunk has changed its stripe." -- auntie

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by: mroaks @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 21:48:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

wisdom tradition mantra

Are you thinking of gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha?

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by: clown hidden @ Wed Jul 29, 2009 at 22:10:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wisdom tradition

I'm curious. Do some here feel that Namu myoho renge kyo is not connected to the Buddhist tradition? Do they feel that Nichiren essentially made up his own religion?

Because of the age of the Lotus Sutra, and its long presence in the Buddhist cannon, I feel that Nichiren Buddhism and the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra are part of the Buddhism.

I am interested in hearing more from those who feel that some mantras, such as portions of the Heart Sutra or Om Mani Padme Hum, are connected to the Buddhist tradition, but Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is not.

Please explain.

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by: auntie @ Thu Jul 30, 2009 at 23:13:13 PM UTC

TRADITION

Of course namu myoho renge kyo is part of the buddhist tradition. I don't know that it is a mantra of the wisdom tradition. The wisdom sutras may have been composed at around the same time as the Lotus, but I don't think that the Lotus Sutra is traditionally grouped as one of them. Even so I can see how someone could view the Lotus Sutra as a wisdom sutra as it reveals the mind of the Buddha.
But if you speak of mantras of the wisdom tradition I don't think most people will call to mind namu myoho renge kyo or the dharani's from the Lotus Sutra.

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by: clown hidden @ Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 16:38:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Traditon

First, NMRK is not a mantra. It is dai-moku or great-title, referring to the name of a sutra. It is used as a mantra.

The Lotus Sutra and the "Wisdom" sutras, the Prajna-paramita sutras, are not really of the same class. Both sprang from different movements within the early Mahayana.

While NMRK is technically not a mantra, it is not correct to dismiss it as part of the Buddhist tradition.  

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by: dmr @ Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 21:49:07 PM UTC

mantra not wisdom tradition

If you mean wisdom tradition in the sense that every religion is a wisdom tradition, and taoism, hinduism, and buddhism, are eastern wisdom traditions then I think you can say that namu myoho renge kyo is part of a wisdom tradition.
But if you mean the wisdom tradition in buddhism then you are talking about Prajnaparamita, the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, etc. but the Lotus isn't really in that group.
Yes, Daimoku is a title but it is most definitely a mantra.
 

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by: clown hidden @ Fri Jul 31, 2009 at 23:32:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wisdom tradition

I think you're both talking nonsense.

Wisdom tradition:

Wisdom Tradition is a term that is sometimes given to the inner core or mystic aspects of a religious or spiritual tradition, without the trappings, doctrinal literalism, sectarianism, and power structures that are associated with institutionalised religion.

To me, this is exactly what Nichiren Buddhism is -- the direct, personal, unmediated experience of chanting the mantra Namu-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon.

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by: brooke @ Sat Aug 01, 2009 at 19:38:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

wisdom.mantra

You are talking about two separate things. In Buddhism, Wisdom teachings or the Wisdom tradition refers to the Prajna-Paramita (Perfection of Wisdom) corpus of sutras and the various teachings and sects that are offshoots.

The Wisdom Tradition you are referring to is something else, existent mainly in Western philosophy. Further on in the Wikipedia article you pasted from, it reads "it can be considered synonymous with Esotericism, but does not have the faintly Western/Middle Eastern/Theosophical nuances that are sometimes associated with the latter term. In a different context, the term is also used to refer to certain elements in Ecclesiastes or in Christianity in general."

In other words, the Wisdom Tradition you are talking about does not really have anything to do with Buddhism.

As far as mantras go, it is a small point and I'm not going to debate it with you, as I'm sure you are an expert on the subject.

But, technically NMRK is not a mantra. A mantra should consist of some "bijas" or seed-syllables. Mantras do not have literal, concert meaninga. They are not sentences and they are not titles of sutras or commentaries, nor are the names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Nowadays, we give things a very broad interpretation. So if you want to called Nichiren's teachings, wisdom teachings, that's fine. Same with calling NMRK. It's misinformation, but relatively harmless.  

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by: dmr @ Sun Aug 02, 2009 at 09:04:33 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

OK

dmr, I appreciate your knowledge. Thanks for explaining. I see your point.

I hope you will elaborate on this topic in the future. This is the first I'm hearing the distinction between mantra and daimoku.

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by: brooke @ Sun Aug 02, 2009 at 17:46:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Mantra

Brooke, it's really a rather small point, hair-splitting I guess. But NMRK is more from the tradition of "nianfo" (Mindfulness of the Buddha) and nembutsu (name of the Buddha), than from any mantra tradition. Praising Buddha and bodhisattvas and sutras by chanting their names (not necessarily in a repetitive manner) are often included in various rites, ceremonies and pujas, along with mantras and dharanis. I should probably amend my remarks to say that the lines between mantra and nianfo first became blurred in the esoteric practices of the Shingon and Tendai schools of Japan.

Some people think that dharanis and mantra are the same thing, but there is a slight distinction there, too. A dharani is usually a collection of mantras.

NMRK is more of an invocation or prayer. A mantra is somewhat different and requires a more detailed explanation than I can go into here. Again, mantras usually have no literal meaning, yet many layers of deep symbolic meaning.

Strictly speaking, the use of a mantra require initiation or an empowerment and training from a qualified teacher. Still, millions chant om mani pade hum and the mantra from the Heart Sutra every day with no empowerments or specific training, so that can be taken with a grain of salt.

Literally, mantra mean "mind protection", a tool the practitioner uses to protect from delusional thinking and focus on awakening. Since to some degree, NMRK helps in the same way, while it is not technically a mantra, it functions as one.  

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by: dmr @ Sun Aug 02, 2009 at 18:45:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

thx, dmr

Hey, I learned something. Now my head hurts.

"If only I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say that the Soka skunk has changed its stripe." -- auntie

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by: mroaks @ Sun Aug 02, 2009 at 20:08:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

bija, seed syllables

It is true that there are many mantras that have seed syllables but there are many that do not.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is a mantra regardless.

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by: clown hidden @ Mon Aug 03, 2009 at 16:01:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]