I think the problem with the Nichiren members is a lack of faith.
case in point: christians
The whole christian thing is very hard to believe...one god one chance at eternal life or hell..no real reasoning on what it's all about and why....so they struggle. And they sometimes take to the streets screaming out bible verses ...it's their way of trying to come to terms with their belief...
For The Nichiren folk it's the same so they argue over who is right and who is wrong.
Lost in sectarian BullShit they focus on false pride and bravado ..
Once you come to terms with what This Religion is Really all about a beautiful feeling of confidence and appreciation for the variety of schools offering different modes of approach...I see the beauty in Christianity...for some it's like kindergarten , creating good karma and learning about love and kindness...before being able to be reborn and learn about Buddhism ...
then of course The Various Schools one must endure before being ready to embrace True Buddhism....then of course there are the Bodhisattvas of The Earth ..the true and original Bodhisattvas who were tutored under Lord Sakyamuni Buddha The Eternal Buddha as it is described in The Lotus sutra...Even they taking on the wolrd's karma in order to actually be born in this realm suffer the same fate....these are pure beings who take on collective karma ..
The mundane human spirit is cause for many a sectarian view...the whole herd instinct comes to play...
I know this is the Eternal Buddha's realm and His method of leaving so many teachings for so many sentients caught in samsara.....Some only can deal with Theradavian , others need deep mysticism and Tantra....others need non Budhist teachings to get a start on the path...
the Eternity it takes for some to come to the point where you can just absorb the qualities on Gohonzon and learn to see your Buddha Nature function....
Buddha Nature ...It becomes a friend who is always there to guide and protect you and inspire connections . Connections to others and ,study material, and the odd hearing something totally unrelated to the conversation someone is having but so relevant to a present thought process one is going through...if you have had this experience you know what i mean...
how is it you can be walking alone at night only to turn around and see a shooting star that makes you feel so connected to everything...
once your faith is strong you no longer need to shout about your religion or argue about it...just see it in everything...
Weak faith people argue about it to convince themselves...
lack of faith
- LastLegend
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Re: lack of faith
You would need to feel Shakyamuni’s connection present in you Minobu.
It’s eye blinking.
Re: lack of faith
Faith comes from our own Maitri and being Loved to inspire our own caring attitude, having Love and Compassion for others. Shakyamuni Loves us all, so we will always and have always been fully Loved. Manifesting the qualities of Quan Yin, or accepting the Bodhisattva Vows without reserve give faith in oneself too. Faith is one of the qualities of Maitri. Believing in something that is harmful is not faith, that is a misuse of what faith is. And of course those of other Spiritual Traditions who have real faith benefit too, and if we understand that real faith is generated by Love just like I said, we can better understand others and how to help them, and propagate the Law like it is taught for us to do so in the Lotus Sutra.
Nichiren asks us to have faith in the Gohonzon, faith in the Lotus Sutra, and faith in Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. This means we have to have faith in ourselves, and that means we have to have Maitri for ourselves. Do we know how to Love perfectly like Shakyamuni? Yes. We all do. It’s within our Buddha-Nature, such knowledge, and when we chant and use our Bodhisattvic energy we are manifesting the qualities of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha Himself. Having faith in that is the staple of our practice. Developing that and entering into Enlightenment by it’s practice is our goal, and I hope we all reach it soon. Om.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
Nichiren asks us to have faith in the Gohonzon, faith in the Lotus Sutra, and faith in Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. This means we have to have faith in ourselves, and that means we have to have Maitri for ourselves. Do we know how to Love perfectly like Shakyamuni? Yes. We all do. It’s within our Buddha-Nature, such knowledge, and when we chant and use our Bodhisattvic energy we are manifesting the qualities of Lord Shakyamuni Buddha Himself. Having faith in that is the staple of our practice. Developing that and entering into Enlightenment by it’s practice is our goal, and I hope we all reach it soon. Om.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
Last edited by Budai on Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: lack of faith
We believe that Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo is the Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..LastLegend wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:13 pm You would need to feel Shakyamuni’s connection present in you Minobu.
When we chant we might not feel it but you are melding with Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha .
Even the most defiled sentient whilst chanting is totally connected .
Then again all are connected for this is The Eternal Buddha Lord Guru Sakyamuni's Pure Land..
so words , well my words, do not do "IT" justice...i can only vaguely point to it according to my capacity and learning...
Re: lack of faith
This ancient Buddha enters our mind and we are filled with joy and protection, as was Nichiren.Minobu wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:32 pmWe believe that Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo is the Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..LastLegend wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:13 pm You would need to feel Shakyamuni’s connection present in you Minobu.
When we chant we might not feel it but you are melding with Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha .
Even the most defiled sentient whilst chanting is totally connected .
Then again all are connected for this is The Eternal Buddha Lord Guru Sakyamuni's Pure Land..
so words , well my words, do not do "IT" justice...i can only vaguely point to it according to my capacity and learning...
Re: lack of faith
I think the problem is many people simply see faith and belief as tools for weak minds because of the association with religion. This is unfortunate because belief is an integral part of human development (I posted one of many papers on the subject below). Nichiren's understanding on this must have been keen because he put it to good use.
What I find most interesting is he uses faith when encouraging active volition but describes it from an experiential perspective as lacking doubt. I would seem that this is to be interpreted as faith being an act where the mind engages the phenomenon (thus it might be expressed by the self) but the ultimate result should be an unconditioned lack of doubt all together.
It is interesting because technology is fueling many of these studies so much of the information has not be well established.
Belief formation – A driving force for brain evolution
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 2619303860\
What I find most interesting is he uses faith when encouraging active volition but describes it from an experiential perspective as lacking doubt. I would seem that this is to be interpreted as faith being an act where the mind engages the phenomenon (thus it might be expressed by the self) but the ultimate result should be an unconditioned lack of doubt all together.
It is interesting because technology is fueling many of these studies so much of the information has not be well established.
Belief formation – A driving force for brain evolution
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 2619303860\
Abstract
The topic of belief has been neglected in the natural sciences for a long period of time. Recent neuroscience research in non-human primates and humans, however, has shown that beliefs are the neuropsychic product of fundamental brain processes that attribute affective meaning to concrete objects and events, enabling individual goal setting, decision making and maneuvering in the environment. With regard to the involved neural processes they can be categorized as empirical, relational, and conceptual beliefs. Empirical beliefs are about objects and relational beliefs are about events as in tool use and in interactions between subjects that develop below the level of awareness and are up-dated dynamically. Conceptual beliefs are more complex being based on narratives and participation in ritual acts. As neural processes are known to require computational space in the brain, the formation of inceasingly complex beliefs demands extra neural resources. Here, we argue that the evolution of human beliefs is related to the phylogenetic enlargement of the brain including the parietal and medial frontal cortex in humans
Re: lack of faith
dear minobu...i changed my mind.Minobu wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:32 pmWe believe that Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo is the Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..LastLegend wrote: ↑Fri Apr 09, 2021 5:13 pm You would need to feel Shakyamuni’s connection present in you Minobu.
When we chant we might not feel it but you are melding with Eternal Buddha Lord Sakyamuni Buddha .
Even the most defiled sentient whilst chanting is totally connected .
Then again all are connected for this is The Eternal Buddha Lord Guru Sakyamuni's Pure Land..
so words , well my words, do not do "IT" justice...i can only vaguely point to it according to my capacity and learning...