Search found 759 matches

by FiveSkandhas
Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:25 am
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: An English translation of the Oko Kikigaki
Replies: 10
Views: 1522

Re: An English translation of the Oko Kikigaki

It is transliterated as Onko -kikigaki, not “ oko ” Here below is part 4 of a series somebody did on it on YouTube. I’m too lazy to search them all out but there are a number of videos in the same series (although a few of them seem to be missing in action). You may or may not find them of interest ...
by FiveSkandhas
Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:29 am
Forum: Sūtra Studies
Topic: Commentaries on the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra, the Adamantine Pinnacle Sutra and the Susiddhikara Sutra
Replies: 7
Views: 821

Re: Commentaries on the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra, the Adamantine Pinnacle Sutra and the Susiddhikara Sutra

Master Kukai himself read the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra before he had undergone any sort of esoteric rite and even (if I’m not mistaken) before basic exoteric Shukke. To my knowledge he never received any sort of reprimand or the like when he went to China to study esoteric Buddhism more formally. ...
by FiveSkandhas
Tue Jul 19, 2022 10:17 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Living in a social credit system
Replies: 4
Views: 375

Living in a social credit system

This is already a pretty close-to-accurate depiction of daily life in China, and it’s coming to the west in the next ten or twenty years at most.* Hear me now, believe me later. https://youtu.be/SZ2YJCg8Ess *Actually it’s already starting in the west in larval form: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
by FiveSkandhas
Mon Jul 18, 2022 1:13 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Pure Land practice and other Bodhisattva mantra
Replies: 3
Views: 548

Re: Pure Land practice and other Bodhisattva mantra

The Tendai school embraces many different practices including nembutsu, Lotus Sutra study and veneration, Zazen, and esoteric Buddhism. “Daimoku in the morning; Nenbutsu in the evening” -Tendai master Zhiyi (智顗). There is also the Obaku sect of zen in Japan that combines nembutsu and zen, although b...
by FiveSkandhas
Mon Jul 18, 2022 12:58 am
Forum: Dying and Death
Topic: Western Dzogchenpa has NDE, Becomes Perennialist
Replies: 41
Views: 5133

Re: Western Dzogchenpa has NDE, Becomes Perennialist

Ugh, if you must be a perennialist please do it in private.
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 10:25 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?
Replies: 60
Views: 3091

Re: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?

In considering the three natures this way... Here, we can point specifically to the problem I identified: In Compendium of Mahāyāna [Burnnhölzl, vol.1, pg. 235-6 , Asanga states, "[The dharmakāya has] the characteristics of fundamental change. For when the dependent nature in its afflicted par...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:08 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?
Replies: 60
Views: 3091

Re: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?

But I’m a bit confused by your take on the yogacara tradition. Do you believe there is something lacking in the yogacara worldview? I spent some time drilling into it and I can’t understand why it cannot be totally reconciled with Madhyamaka. Or maybe I’m just misreading you. The three own natures,...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:06 am
Forum: Chan
Topic: David Hinton’s 2020 book “China Root”
Replies: 4
Views: 1246

David Hinton’s 2020 book “China Root”

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the 2020 book China Root by David Hinton. I myself was not until the other day, when I picked it up simply because it was in the bargain bin and looked vaguely interesting. I’m finding that it explains Ch’an Buddhism in a rather strident “Taoist-centric” m...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:49 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?
Replies: 60
Views: 3091

Re: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?

Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning? Or only the 3rd turning. Also what does it mean for a sutra to be a sutra of definitive meaning? Some hold that only second turning sutras are definitive. I respect you a lot, Malcom Sensei, and I have paid careful attention to your views when I...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 4:00 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?
Replies: 60
Views: 3091

Re: Are all Mahayana sutras sutras of definitive meaning?

It really depends who you talk to. Different sects and traditions have slightly different views on what is “provisional”, what is “definitive”, and even what might be called “apocryphal” by some. There are also subtle difference in how these terms are defined, and based on what authority. While I do...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jul 17, 2022 1:24 am
Forum: Media
Topic: 1408
Replies: 5
Views: 540

Re: 1408

It’s a shame that King got pigeonholed as a “horror writer” because so many of his tales defy that description…Shawshank Redemption, Firestarter, the Dark Tower, and Apt Pupil come to mind. His work is a bit dated and riddled with cringeworthy sexist and racist tropes by today’s standards, as well a...
by FiveSkandhas
Sat Jul 16, 2022 8:11 pm
Forum: Introductions
Topic: Hi, all!
Replies: 6
Views: 435

Re: Hi, all!

Hello from slightly north of Yokosuka! One of the teachers I most respect has a temple near Yokosuka if that is where you are. There are many fine gems of Japanese Buddhism tucked away in the vicinity.
by FiveSkandhas
Sat Jul 16, 2022 7:17 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Visiting Fuji Taiseki-ji Kenshōkai
Replies: 11
Views: 1769

Re: Visiting Fuji Taiseki-ji Kenshōkai

It’s a lovely temple, well worth a visit. On your own terms, whatever they may be. Queequeg’s post is good as usual. Personally I don’t want door-to-door types marking my address as “potential win” and returning again and again, no matter how well-intentioned. It’s a bit like what happens when you s...
by FiveSkandhas
Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:55 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Does having an intention to commit a bad action but not doing it produce bad karma? Am I going to hell?
Replies: 22
Views: 1248

Re: Does having an intention to commit a bad action but not doing it produce bad karma? Am I going to hell?

Thich Nhat Hanh made his zen school, temples and monks vegan. Did he make bad karma? Surely not. Creating a new school is not the same as creating a schism of the sangha. To create a schism the new school has to think of other schools as invalid. Interesting. I’m not going to name names but there w...
by FiveSkandhas
Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:51 pm
Forum: Media
Topic: 1408
Replies: 5
Views: 540

Re: 1408

I liked this movie for some reason. There were some unsettling details…i.e., he picks up the bottle of alcohol and takes a swig. He puts it down on the bedside table and there is a very fast momentary closeup of the bottle. The label is upside-down.
by FiveSkandhas
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:14 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Difference of early Pure Land Buddhism from Modern
Replies: 5
Views: 531

Re: Difference of early Pure Land Buddhism from Modern

I don’t see how it can be convincingly argued that the visualizations in the Visualization Sutra were not intended to be practiced as written. And indeed there are records of people doing just that. There are several other sutras featuring lengthy and complex visualization exercises focusing on vari...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jun 12, 2022 3:07 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: “Lost” and “Broken” lineages and traditions
Replies: 2
Views: 386

Re: “Lost” and “Broken” lineages and traditions

Thank you as Always, Malcom-sensei
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jun 12, 2022 1:47 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: “Lost” and “Broken” lineages and traditions
Replies: 2
Views: 386

“Lost” and “Broken” lineages and traditions

As most if not all of us are well aware, it is forbidden to learn and practice Vajrayana from texts alone (as far as I am aware) without the personal instructions of a Guru / Teacher. Well and good. That said, two questions I probably should know the answer to, but plead exoteric Mahayana ignorance ...
by FiveSkandhas
Sun Jun 12, 2022 12:36 pm
Forum: Soto
Topic: The Bendowa and Teachers in Zen
Replies: 9
Views: 1297

The Bendowa and Teachers in Zen

Near the beginning of the Bendowa, Master Dogen writes: There may be true students who are not concerned with fame and gain who allow their aspiration for enlightenment to guide them and earnestly desire to practice the buddha way. They may be misguided by incapable teachers and obstructed from the ...
by FiveSkandhas
Fri Jun 03, 2022 8:26 am
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Arcane late medieval / early modern Nichiren thought
Replies: 2
Views: 976

Re: Arcane late medieval / early modern Nichiren thought

Anyone have any interesting or favorite links to any aspect of Nichiren Buddhism from a lesser known medieval or early modern perspective? Back when they used to call it all "Hokke" Buddhism.... forgotten scholarship, good meaty academics? Anything appreciated Culture of Civil War in Kyot...

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