These are all very serious questions.
I've heard it said that Nichiren thought that other religions should be outlawed. Is this true, and if it is would the same apply today?
If it wouldn't why not?
It does seem like his writings are about dealing with persecutions brought on by his condemnation of other pratices. If Nichiren were alive today what would he think about relating to other faiths?
Do all Nichiren Buddhists agree that outside of themselves everyone else is wrong?
Do all Nichiren sects believe that all other Nichiren sects are wrong?
Three Naropa University employees -- two of them top administrators -- have been fired after an investigation into embezzlement at the Buddhist-inspired school, the university's president said.
An internal investigation after an FBI tip found that a finance department employee had embezzled roughly $450,000 from the Boulder liberal arts school over a two-year period.
In 2008, a Soka University of America official was sent to jail for embezzling $1.7 million from the self-proclaimed Buddhist institution.
In Denver this week, SGI luminary and Soka University of America trustee, Maria Guajardo was blamed for inappropriate spending of federal child-care funds. The Denver Post reported:
Denver County received $4.2 million in federal funds from the state in 2005. The money was supposed to go toward growing and improving the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, which provides day-care help to low-income families.
Day-care providers across the city applied for the money to do staff training and expand facilities.
The Denver Department of Human Services contracted out the oversight responsibility to the Mayor's Office for Education and Children, headed by Maria Guajardo.
Guajardo's office approved several expenditures that were not allowed under the grant, including building expansions and certain types of instructional materials.
As the SGI's annual drive for unaccountable financial contributions kicks into high gear this month, members ought to ask more question about who's handling the money and with what oversight.
Hi all -- As you may know, fraughtwithperil is re-launching on a new software platform. The "fraught feeds" over in the far right column of this site will be reconfigured when their new site is up.
Also, I moved the link from the Soka Gakkai Unofficial message board down to the "sites to see" section. Recently, there were some unbroken headlines (such as Buddhism+is+great+word+word, etc.) in their feed. These continuous lines of characters with no spaces basically break the BuddhaJones site and throw our columns out of whack. (This is also why in the past we have asked people to refrain from posting long lines of exclamation points and the like !!!!!!!!!!!!)
Just a little housekeeping note. Hope everyone's having a great weekend.
A litle over a month ago COS had raised a question about Buddhism and vegetarianism. I was searching on line for information about meat eating in Hinduism and Buddhism and found this essay by Nick Kembel which I thought some of you might find worth reading.
"There once was a great monk who, out of compassion for all
sentient beings, was a strict vegetarian. In fact, he claimed he
had never in his lifetime consumed the flesh of any animal.
One lady, deciding to test the monk's claim, prepared a dish
for the monk. She told him it contained only vegetables, but in
fact it contained a small piece of meat. The monk gratefully
accepted the dish and the lady left, believing she had fooled
him. However, the monk saw through her trick, and tossed the
dish down to the earth. The next morning he awoke, and
found that the food, embedded in the earth, had sprouted into
2 shrubs: one garlic and one onion. This is why Buddhists do
not eat garlic and onions."
Thanks for the kind words regarding Martin's translation work, I relayed them to him. There was a request on SFI for some background info on Mr Bradley. I enclose it below with Part ll.
France is reeling from a documentary about a psychological experiment disguised as a game show. Researchers staged a fictitious reality show to see how far people would go in obeying authority, especially if television reinforces that authority....
"Most of us think we have free thinking and so we are responsible for our acts," Nick says. "This experience shows that in certain circumstances, a power - the TV in this case - is able to make you do something you don't want to do."
We "independent Buddhists" like to think that we're masters of our own minds. Many of us have had bad experiences with rah-rah faith rallies and organizations. We can look back and see that we did things we didn't really want to do, all for the sake of "faith." This experiment sent a shiver down my spine -- if you think "mind control" is nonsense, go check it out.
I keep in contact with Martin Bradley who now lives in Japan. He has published a book of Gosho translations, posted on-line, of certain Gosho that changed my whole outlook on Nichiren Buddhism... I recently asked him the following question and he has replied in detail.
Robin Beck or Rev Ryuei may have done us all a similar service..??....I will post it in two parts as it is rather lengthily and be happy to relay any questions or comments to Mr. Bradley.
It will be posted on Dharma Gateway.org...there is a link at Buddha Jones (thank you BJ) Martin and his web master/editor Gerhard Lenz are working on a translation of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren's annotations on such that can also be found on the site...they are currently up to chapter four.
There's a great article in the New York Times about Breaking with Scientology. Many of the quotes could have come from former Soka Gakkai members. Check it out:
"Why did we work so hard for this organization," Ms. Collbran said, "and why did it feel so wrong in the end? We just didn't understand."
Like SGI, Scientology faults defectors for leaving:
As for the defectors, Mr. Davis called them "apostates" and said that contrary to their claims of having left the church in protest, they were expelled.
Also, check out the related video, "Leaving the church, not the faith." Linky.
A Buddhism expert sees similarities to Nichiren's teachings in the dharma promoted by a new center in Utah:
"Dorje Chang Buddha III has already begun the transmission of the Mahamudra of Liberation, the highest Buddha-dharma, that offers a shortcut or quick path to liberation from the sufferings of this world," she says. "This is the dharma that all living beings must learn to become Buddhas."
Charles Prebish, a Buddhism expert at Utah State University and director of the school's Religious Studies Program, has never heard of Dorje Change Buddha III, nor, he says, have any of his Buddhist studies colleagues.
He indicated that virtually no Western forms of Buddhism teach the idea of a "Dharma-Ending Age." In the 13th century, the Nichiren School of Buddhism in Japan argued that it had the right teaching for the age of "Mappo" or the "Decline of the Dharma," Prebish says. "I have never seen this concept used in the context of Chinese or Tibetan Buddhism."
Still, Prebish says, the group uses appropriate ideas and references -- although he is withholding judgment on the new master's claims.
Investigative reporter Jake Adelstein is on the hit list of Japanese mafia. Anyone who has encountered the dark side of Soka will see some similarities between his experience and the experience of those who dare criticize SGI:
Indirect threats, vulnerable sources and family members, and inadequate support from law enforcement in the form of programs like witness protection, are all factors that make the yakuza danger intangible and hard to combat. Adelstein identifies the yakuza's preferred form of retaliation, which, he says, is usually a disappearance or apparent suicide. He tells me of his survival strategy: "You make it clear you won't kill yourself."
In Tokyo Vice, Adelstein's source tells him the story of Japanese director Juzo Itami, whose 1992 film Minbo no onna satirized organized crime. Itami was apparently planning a new movie about Goto's yakuza faction and its relationship with the religious group Soka Gakkai.
"Goto wasn't happy about that," Adelstein's source told him. "A gang of five of his people grabbed Itami and made him jump off a rooftop at gunpoint. That's how he committed suicide."
Anyone surprised to see Soka Gakkai linked to organized crime and forced "suicide"?
