BuddhaJones - Recent Comments

KWAN YIN

clown hidden — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:55:56 GMT

When I was in Taiwan posing as a buddhist monk I hitched a ride on a motorcycle with a young army officer who told me that he didn't believe in God but he believed in Kwan Yin. He had had some disease in one of his eyes and the doctor's treatments weren't helping. He prayed to Jesus to take away his pain and suffering and nothing happened. Finally out of desperation he prayed to Kwan Yin and was cured. He became a buddhist. He was so excited to see a westerner who was a buddhist monk he had to give me a ride and buy me lunch just so he could tell me this story.

I remain of the opinion that the idea is not that Kwan Yin can be my savior but that I can be a manifestation of Kwan Yin.

On Prayer

deardenver — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:07:55 GMT

Great topic. I generally agree with Engyo and Clown. I've always been confused about what prayer means in Nichiren Buddhism, though. The general consensus is that since there's no "supreme being" in Buddhism, there's no entity to whom to address prayer.

Nichiren wrote a whole long gosho called On Prayer. It confuses me because it's at odds with the general-consensus opinion stated above. On Prayer is full of anecdotal mysticism, protective deities helping people, and prayers being answered. Nichiren wrote:

...we know that the prayers offered by a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra will be answered just as an echo answers a sound, as a shadow follows a form, as the reflection of the moon appears in clear water, as a mirror collects dewdrops, as a magnet attracts iron, as amber attracts particles of dust, or as a clear mirror reflects the color of an object....

This implies that prayer (as understood in Nichiren Buddhism) has tangible/observable results or effects in the material/natural world. I can speak only anecdotally, and only for myself, but this has been my experience; I feel that I have had many of my prayers "answered" in some tangible way.

It has been a while since I read On Prayer from start to finish. The quote that's often cherrypicked from it is:

So, if you earnestly pray that blessings be given to you without delay, how can your prayers fail to be answered?

Brooke, this sounds pretty "beseechy" to me, and is clearly in keeping with the teachings of Nichiren.

Also, Buddhism is full of deities and entities who intercede on behalf of humans. We see this in the Lotus Sutra especially, with the great bodhisattva Kannon or Kanzeon or Perceiver of the World's Sounds. This is a being who hears prayers and responds instantly to pleas.

Some Nichiren Buddhists assert that Buddhism is perfectly reasonable and, therefore, there's no mystical hocuspocus in it. On the subject of prayer, however, I'd say it's all mysticism -- "...a doctrine of an immediate spiritual intuition of truths believed to transcend ordinary understanding..."

Prayer & meditation

Engyo — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:18:50 GMT

My viewpoint is that chanting is a form of meditation. All of the 3 variations you mention above would to me be classed as meditations.

I agree with Philip that prayer is focused outside ones self. I also view Buddhist prayer as from, rather than to. As a Buddhist, my prayers are an offering of merit (or positive energy, or whatever term you prefer) generated from my practice towards the subject of the prayer. This is in contrast with prayer that is directed to some outside entity or force for some desired response (as is common in the Abrahamic faiths).

Of course, this is just my personal opinion, not any sort of doctrine. YMMV.

prayer is focusing outside yourself

clown hidden — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:43:58 GMT

I know peopple use the word prayer and I guess like Humpty Dumpty you can choose whatever meaning to a word that you want, but I see prayer as directed to something else. I don't pray to myself. If there is something I can do that I want to do I just do it. I don't have to beg or convince myself.
I see chanting as an affirmation. I am reminding myself that I am one with the process of reality. I'm not saying, "Please, can I be what I should be?" I'm saying, "I am a manifestation of the universe with unlimited potential!"
I guess there are people who pray to their inner potential but it's hard for me to see why.

.

clown hidden — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:42:36 GMT

Like me or hate me, my point is simple. If you want to slander people get your facts straight or you look like an asshole.

Excellent comment

Cultmember — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:50:35 GMT

I don't think I could take anything away from something that has no value to begin with.

lying

clown hidden — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:07:32 GMT

I didn't make it personal. Shithead did. And if he had any evidence he would have brought it out by now. I don't think I could take anything away from something that has no value to begin with.
Mr. Oaks is just a moron with an axe.

Clown

buddhajones — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:32:17 GMT

I'm going to butt in. Clown, please think about what value your comment adds to this exchange. Does it further the argument you're trying to make?

How do you think your comment reflects on the organization you're trying to defend? (Rhetorical question.)

UNPROVEN

clown hidden — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:23:06 GMT

Your allegation was that people believed he could solve all the problems of the world.
That allegation remains unproven and now I will think of you as a liar. Prove your allegation you lying sack of shit!

Deluded hero worship

mroaks — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:25:30 GMT

Oh please. Anyone who has spent any time at all in or around SGI knows that deluded hero worship of omnipotent sensei is the order of the day. Do your own googling. But in case you can't, here's some low-hanging fruit. Emphasis mine....

Source: http://journeys-journal.blogsp...

....Then in 1975 he wrote the significant one word - 'World', under the 'Citizenship' column when registering the 'Soka Gakkai International' which he founded. That identity holds monumental brilliance in his life - it speaks for oneself the enlightened condition one single great life that is born into this world, and for the world as well. Till this very end, this identity has never waned or faded for a single moment. Year by year, month by month, where tides ebbed and seasons changed, my mentor has single-mindedly permeated his very entire life through and through with this one single thought of laying down his life for the purpose of establishing a world free from pain and suffering, absence of hatred and hurt, and away from human cries and tormenting weepings. In a word, he wants an ocean of clear conscience and sunrays of philosophical enlightenment to engulf the entire blue planet. My mentor has never sought an alternative in this life-and-death pursuit; never would he want to accomplish anything else less.
In a nutshell, he has shown the world how a human should behave. On the other hand, he has also shown the world how humanity should live. This, in all levels, is a life-draining task for anyone to undertake. It is an almost superhuman task by itself. My mentor loves humanity dearly. Nothing gives him more pleasure than to see one human being, rising from the muddy pond of suffering and misery, to blossom and spring up with joy, basking in the warm sunshine with laughter and happiness. He has indeed given his all to what he has set out and fought for.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages...

Little could anyone have ever imagined that he would be a mentor, leader, hero, peace activist, and truly one of the greatest humans that has ever lived....
He has talked with more leaders than most ambassadors have during their career. [hahahahaha -- mroaks] A truly powerful and inspirational man that has taken responsibility of accomplishing Kosen-rufu and inspiring peoples Human Revolution.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/group...

Ikeda's philosophy is inseparable from the teachings of the thirteenth-century Buddhist sage Nichiren (1222-82) and the Lotus Sutra from which Nichiren's teachings are derived.

Oh really? Ikeda/Nichiren/Lotus Sutra=inseparable? Gee, how could anyone ever get the impression that Ikeda is elevated and lauded by SGI members as a planet-saving Buddha?