According to the Lotus Sūtra, the degenerate age of the Dharma will never truly come, and the Dharma will never truly degenerate, because of the oaths related to the bodhisattvas of the earth given in the Lotus Sūtra that specifically detail their activities during the age of alleged "degeneration."
Convince me I'm wrong. I won't tell anyone if I actually believe this or if it is a thought experiment, because I want peoples' authentic thoughts concerning the assertion after they have reviewed the relevant prophecies concerning the degenerate age in the text.
The bold assertion is: "There is and never will be a mappo according to a surface-level reading of the text of the LS."
No degenerate age
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Caoimhghín
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No degenerate age
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?
The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
Re: No degenerate age
I believe different lotus schools have different predicates for validating the teachings within. he Nichiren school uses other sutras for example.
This said what is the basis for examination? Is there a particular reference within the sutra you could supply?
One key element to remember is not everyone chose to attend the assembly and these beings still abide in samsara. Those at the assembly may not be subject to the nature of the degenerate age because of their oath and efforts.
Nichiren teaches the pure lands and saha world are one in the same.
To quote bob dylan "We always did feel the same We just saw it from a different point of view "
Is this the discrimination it is meant to elicit?
This said what is the basis for examination? Is there a particular reference within the sutra you could supply?
One key element to remember is not everyone chose to attend the assembly and these beings still abide in samsara. Those at the assembly may not be subject to the nature of the degenerate age because of their oath and efforts.
Nichiren teaches the pure lands and saha world are one in the same.
To quote bob dylan "We always did feel the same We just saw it from a different point of view "
Is this the discrimination it is meant to elicit?
Re: No degenerate age
To quote Modest Mouse - Takes a long time, but God dies, too. But not before he'll stick it to you.Caoimhghín wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:47 pm According to the Lotus Sūtra, the degenerate age of the Dharma will never truly come, and the Dharma will never truly degenerate, because of the oaths related to the bodhisattvas of the earth given in the Lotus Sūtra that specifically detail their activities during the age of alleged "degeneration."
Convince me I'm wrong. I won't tell anyone if I actually believe this or if it is a thought experiment, because I want peoples' authentic thoughts concerning the assertion after they have reviewed the relevant prophecies concerning the degenerate age in the text.
The bold assertion is: "There is and never will be a mappo according to a surface-level reading of the text of the LS."
Eventually, I have no doubt that all memory of Shakyamuni Buddha will be lost. Just hasn't happened yet. When will that happen?
I can't tell you what I'll have for breakfast tomorrow, or what time I'll go to sleep tonight.But, I'll quote another Modest Mouse song,
Good old Nostradamus
He knew the whole damn time
There'd always be an east from west
And someone in there fighting
I take that part of the text as a message of hope for indeterminate people of the future who would face trying times. The earlier and later parts of the sutra offered instruction and encouragement to Mahayanists who were apparently not being treated very well, and a discerning person would be able to predict, without any specificity, that it could and would be worse someday.
Buddhadharma, though, is indestructible. Reality is indestructible.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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_johnarundel_
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Re: No degenerate age
Have you read the Daijuku-kyo (Sutra of the Great Assembly)?
"The five characters of Myoho-Renge-Kyo are the core of the Lotus Sutra and the origin of all Buddhas throughout the entire world. Upon seeing the signs that these five characters now must be propagated, I, Nichiren, have set the precedent, today, at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law."
- Nichiren Daishonin, “Shuju onfurumai-gosho” 種種御振舞御書
https://www.nichirenshoshu.or.jp/eng/daishonin.html
- Nichiren Daishonin, “Shuju onfurumai-gosho” 種種御振舞御書
https://www.nichirenshoshu.or.jp/eng/daishonin.html