Buddhism's causes of illness

[illarraza]

Karma test revisited

Karma Test Part 1

Select the best answer

Whose Karma Is It?
1). A lady who lives in Flint Michigan goes into the Lotto store, buys a quick pick ticket and wins $168,000,000.00

a. Lancelot Link's (the star chimp)
b. The lady's next door neighbor
c. President Bush's
d. Everyone's in Flint Michigan because the Lady is sure to share her winnings with everyone there.
e. The lady's who bought the ticket?

Whose Karma Is It?
2). Capone the street thug has been mugging little old ladies for five years and was just convicted of five counts of manslaughter. He gets forty-five to sixty years in prison without the possibility of parole.

a. President Bush's
b. The Icelandic peoples' who haven't had a case of manslaughter in thirty years
c. Vito Corleone's because, Capone, Corleone, Napolitan, what's the difference
d Capone's
e. None of the above, karma doesn't exist

Whose Karma Is It?
3). 37 countries made an olympic bid to become the next host of the olympics. China won and it is jubilant.

a. Charley Chaplin's
b. Dolly Parton's
c. The Ivory Coast's
d. Tibet's
e. China's

Whose Karma Is It?
4). Six Million Jews are killed in the Holocost.

a. The Irish people's
b. The Bolivian's
c. The Mennonite's
d. The Jew's
e. Hitler's

Whose Karma Is It?
5). A child of six has never picked up an instrument before. His mother buys him a little piano. He hears Bach's Fugue 13 For the Harpsichord one time on the radio and he perfectly mimics it note for note while his mother almost feints in amazement.

a. Sharon Stone's because she too plays the piano
b. The Jews'
c. The child's
d. The piano's because it is a magic piano
e. Bach's. He wrote the Fugue

Whose Karma is it
6). Indonesia suffers the worst natural disaster of the century. An Earthquake magnitude 9.0 causes a tidal wave, the likes of which no one has seen for millenia. 400,000 people die and 2 million people are made homeless.

a. Betty Midler's
b. The Indonesian people's
c. The Blarney Stone's
d. President Bush's because he is the cause of all things wrong in the world
e.Russia's because they gave $2,000,000.00 in relief while having a GDP of $1,200,000,000,000.00 and spending two hundred billion a year on new weapon systems.

Whose Karma Is It?
7). Tania Flores, born into a poor family in East Harlem, loves to study everything she can get her hands on. Everyday for twelve years she comes home from school and does four hours of homework. She then does her chores and reads a new book. She is number one in her high school class and enters the six year college-medical doctor program at city college where she excells and becomes a brain surgeon who invents a new cerebral artery bypass system that prevents the death of thousands of stroke victims and the severe morbidity of tens of thousands of other stroke victims.

a. The Puerto Rican people's
b. Tania's father who was a drug addict and abused Tania from the day she was two years old until the day he died (when she was 6) from an overdose of heroin
c. Tania's
d. Jesse the Body Ventura's
e. Rev. Ryuei's because he is a Nichiren priest

Karma Test Part 2

Good Causes? Bad Causes? Neither? Both? Can Not Be Determined?

Select the BEST Answer.

1). A leader of an organization who purports to be a follower of Nichiren has been teaching a guru's teaching at the expense of the Lotus Sutra for 15 years. He has sometimes taught that Nichiren Daishonin is the True Buddha, sometimes that Nam Myoho renge kyo is the True Buddha, and sometimes that the guru is really the incarnation of Nichiren Daishonn. It is a perfectly clear day and the streets have been cleared of all the snow. A snow plow is returning from cleaning the streets. The snow plow driver takes his eyes off the road for a moment to light his cigarette and runs over the leader's car. The leader doesn't die for 18 hours, is conscious, and aware the whole time.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

2). A true disciple and believer of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren overcomes severe dessiminated tuberculosis and recurrent multiple organ failure during a one year hospital stay. He goes on to spread Namu Myoho renge kyo, the doctrines of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, and The Succession Through the Scrolls of the Sutra in Japan and the United States. He is 91 years old and continues to chant twice a day every day.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

3). A young man hears about Nam Myoho renge kyo through his friend who is a new practicer. They both don't really know anything about Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, or the Eternal Buddha but they love the chant, the way it makes them feel and the philosophy that they can get anything they want by chanting this phrase to their Gohonzon. Since the young man quickly gains tremendous energy, awareness, and perceives for himself propitious circumstances, he believes every word those who tole him about Nam myoho renge kyo. He believes it is all due to the great guru and the organization of the great guru that he is receiving all these benefits. He reads the great gurus wriiting and the organizations newspaper every day on the advice of his senior members. He tells all his friends that they have to chant and buy the orgs newspapers because the great guru and the org are so great and the evil priests of those other orgs will destroy the world and any chance for people to attain Buddhahood. He reaches a stalemate in his faith no matter how much he chants, reads the great guru's writings and goes to one org meeting after another.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined


4). A devout orthodox adherent of Nichiren's Lotus Sutra Buddhism and pioneer who has brought the teachings of the Eternal Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin to Cambodia is returning to Cambodia. Her plane loses a wing and she is killed along with the rest of the passengers.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined


5). The mother of a new believer of the authentic teachings of Nichiren is shocked that her daughter gave up her quaker faith for Buddhism but despite pressure from the community that there is no room for a "Buddhist fundementalist" in their midst, the mother refuses to turn out her daughter.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

6). A non-Buddhist hears the Daimoku, notices changes in his best friend who chants Nam Myoho renge kyo and has become a follower of the guru and slanders the Daimoku, his Gohonzon, and denounces the gurus organization as a cult.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

7). A non-Buddhist hears the Daimoku, notices changes in his best friend who has become a believer in the authentic teachings of the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren. He slanders the Daimoku, the Nichiren Gohonzon, and the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni while calling the orthodox faith worse than the new age org.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

8). An organization member notices changes in a friend who has become a disciple and believer in Nichiren. He tells his friend the only way to attain Buddhahood is through his guru and his org.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

9). A faithful believer in an orthodox nichiren Lotus Sutra organization has a best friend who is in another organization that he believes is heterodox. He won't chant to his friend's Gohonzon but won't criticize his friends beliefs.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

10). A faithful believer in a heterodox organization has a best friend who who practices as the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren teach. He chants to his friend's Gohonzon while criticizing his friends beliefs.

a.Good Causes
b.Bad Causes
c.Neither
d.Both
e.Can Not Be Determined

[Aemilius]

"Whose Karma Is It?
1). A lady who lives in Flint Michigan goes into the Lotto store, buys a quick pick ticket and wins $168,000,000.00"

You should ask who arranged the Lotto? What were his/her motivations for doing so? And how did the lotteries start anyway?

"First recorded signs of a lottery are keno slips from the Chinese Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 BC. These lotteries are believed to have helped to finance major government projects like the Great Wall of China. From the Chinese Book of Songs (2nd millennium BCE) comes a reference to a game of chance as "the drawing of wood", which in context appears to describe the drawing of lots.

The first known European lotteries were held during the Roman Empire, mainly as an amusement at dinner parties. Each guest would receive a ticket, and prizes would often consist of fancy items such as dinnerware. Every ticket holder would be assured of winning something. This type of lottery, however, was no more than the distribution of gifts by wealthy noblemen during the Saturnalian revelries. The earliest records of a lottery offering tickets for sale is the lottery organized by Roman Emperor Augustus. The funds were for repairs in the City of Rome, and the winners were given prizes in the form of articles of unequal value."

"The first recorded lotteries to offer tickets for sale with prizes in the form of money were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century. Various towns held public lotteries to raise money for town fortifications, and to help the poor. The town records of Ghent, Utrecht, and Bruges indicate that lotteries may be even older. A record dated 9 May 1445 at L'Ecluse refers to raising funds to build walls and town fortifications, with a lottery of 4,304 tickets and total prize money of 1737 florins (worth about US$170,000 in 2014). In the 17th century it was quite usual in the Netherlands to organize lotteries to collect money for the poor or in order to raise funds for a wide range of public usages. The lotteries proved very popular and were hailed as a painless form of taxation. The Dutch state-owned Staatsloterij is the oldest running lottery. The English word lottery is derived from the Dutch noun "lot" meaning "fate".

The first recorded Italian lottery was held on 9 January 1449 in Milan organized by the Golden Ambrosian Republic to finance the war against the Republic of Venice. However, it was in Genoa that Lotto became very popular. People used to bet on the name of Great Council members, who were drawn by chance, five out of ninety candidates every six months. This kind of gambling was called Lotto or Semenaiu. When people wanted to bet more frequently than twice a year, they began to substitute the candidates names with numbers and modern lotto was born, to which both modern legal lotteries and the illegal numbers game can trace their ancestry."

"To gamble (jutakilà) is to risk money on games of chance. Gambling was already an ancient activity by the Buddha's time and the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu scriptures, contain the famous `Gambler's Lament' in which a man cries after having wagered and lost his wife and children. Such extreme betting is also mentioned in the Tipitaka (M.III,170). Hardly surprisingly, the Buddha saw gambling as an unskillful activity. He said: `There are these six dangers of being addicted to gambling. In winning one begets hatred; in losing one mourns the loss of one's wealth; one's word is not accepted in court; one is avoided by both friends and officials; one is not sought after for marriage because people say a gambler cannot support a wife'(D.III,183). On another occasion he said that `squandering wealth on dice' leads to one's decline (Sn.106)." (Guide To Buddhism A To Z)

[illarraza]

"Whose Karma Is It?
1). A lady who lives in Flint Michigan goes into the Lotto store, buys a quick pick ticket and wins $168,000,000.00"

You should ask who arranged the Lotto? What were his/her motivations for doing so? And how did the lotteries start anyway?

"First recorded signs of a lottery are keno slips from the Chinese Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 BC. These lotteries are believed to have helped to finance major government projects like the Great Wall of China. From the Chinese Book of Songs (2nd millennium BCE) comes a reference to a game of chance as "the drawing of wood", which in context appears to describe the drawing of lots.

The first known European lotteries were held during the Roman Empire, mainly as an amusement at dinner parties. Each guest would receive a ticket, and prizes would often consist of fancy items such as dinnerware. Every ticket holder would be assured of winning something. This type of lottery, however, was no more than the distribution of gifts by wealthy noblemen during the Saturnalian revelries. The earliest records of a lottery offering tickets for sale is the lottery organized by Roman Emperor Augustus. The funds were for repairs in the City of Rome, and the winners were given prizes in the form of articles of unequal value."

"The first recorded lotteries to offer tickets for sale with prizes in the form of money were held in the Low Countries in the 15th century. Various towns held public lotteries to raise money for town fortifications, and to help the poor. The town records of Ghent, Utrecht, and Bruges indicate that lotteries may be even older. A record dated 9 May 1445 at L'Ecluse refers to raising funds to build walls and town fortifications, with a lottery of 4,304 tickets and total prize money of 1737 florins (worth about US$170,000 in 2014). In the 17th century it was quite usual in the Netherlands to organize lotteries to collect money for the poor or in order to raise funds for a wide range of public usages. The lotteries proved very popular and were hailed as a painless form of taxation. The Dutch state-owned Staatsloterij is the oldest running lottery. The English word lottery is derived from the Dutch noun "lot" meaning "fate".

The first recorded Italian lottery was held on 9 January 1449 in Milan organized by the Golden Ambrosian Republic to finance the war against the Republic of Venice. However, it was in Genoa that Lotto became very popular. People used to bet on the name of Great Council members, who were drawn by chance, five out of ninety candidates every six months. This kind of gambling was called Lotto or Semenaiu. When people wanted to bet more frequently than twice a year, they began to substitute the candidates names with numbers and modern lotto was born, to which both modern legal lotteries and the illegal numbers game can trace their ancestry."

"To gamble (jutakilà) is to risk money on games of chance. Gambling was already an ancient activity by the Buddha's time and the Vedas, the most ancient Hindu scriptures, contain the famous `Gambler's Lament' in which a man cries after having wagered and lost his wife and children. Such extreme betting is also mentioned in the Tipitaka (M.III,170). Hardly surprisingly, the Buddha saw gambling as an unskillful activity. He said: `There are these six dangers of being addicted to gambling. In winning one begets hatred; in losing one mourns the loss of one's wealth; one's word is not accepted in court; one is avoided by both friends and officials; one is not sought after for marriage because people say a gambler cannot support a wife'(D.III,183). On another occasion he said that `squandering wealth on dice' leads to one's decline (Sn.106)." (Guide To Buddhism A To Z)

Interesting. Thanks for posting. Now I'll check my powerball tickets. If I win I'll buy Minobu, Malcolm, Manjusri and QQ a house.

Mark

[illarraza]

and Tkp67

[Minobu]

Gambling is no joke and this post by Aemilius is an important one...

I was never into lotteries much...sort of bought them now and then as a novelty.

Especially after the the first Million dollar win from quebec back in the early 70's when a million bucks was like a million bucks for real..

Anyway...so after over two years of this elcontrinic lottery was on the market to supplement the Olympic stadium over budget costs due to the mafia...watch the series Bad Blood on netflix...first 2 season are historic on how the Montreal ports were totally run by mob...


people do not realize that because of that....the whole American mob of old...maybe today as well...was run by a guy living in montreal...He ran the syndicate and no one to this day talks about it...


anyway...The only people that won that lotto were relatives of the president of the that lotto..only his family won the jackpots for over two years...when questioned, he said it was coincidence and no one challenged him...so much for electronic gambling..

anyway somehow i got the idea back in the day after dad was cured of disease that i could chant for the lotto and ended up really getting into it...

it led to me having a huge affair with craps as well...still do...lotto luck as i put it is about my gambling...the lotto is like a minor concern but i look at it like all the same...

i'm actually pretty good on a crap table....if i do lose it takes like 5 hours of play and it's only a hundred or so bucks...i win a lot...not a living though...and by a lot i don't mean thousands ...if only bi could afford a high stakes table in vegas ....lol...here the max is 2 grand bet...If you have unlimited money one could really win big...so i keep chasing the dream...

there is a numbers to it...one area of it on table... a McGill Math professor told my brother about and i use it to this day....it pisses off the pit boss...itsa grind but it keeps me at the table...


but yeah Aemilius is right on and i'm glad she posted this.

[Malcolm]

Minobu:

Actually, the cause of karma is affliction, desire, hatred, and ignorance. Desire, hatred, ignorance are the cause of most illnesses, because desire, hatred, and ignorance manifest in the body as "wind" (vāta), "bile" (pitta), and "phlegm" (kapha).

Now the one place you do have it right, is that the SUFFERING (a result) of illnesses is karmic, since karma ripens as neutral, painful or pleasant sensations. But the CAUSE of illness is the three humors. And the cause of the three humors is the three poisons. Karma does not cause the three poisons, the three poisons cause negative karma.

Karmic illnesses are illnesses that are a result, such as congenital blindness, and other incurable diseases. Curable diseases are not caused by karma. That is the distinction between humoral illnesses and karmic illnesses. There are also illnesses caused by spirits, and those attacks are general caused by engaging in nonvirtuous acts in temples, etc.

[Minobu]

Minobu:

Actually, the cause of karma is affliction, desire, hatred, and ignorance. Desire, hatred, ignorance are the cause of most illnesses, because desire, hatred, and ignorance manifest in the body as "wind" (vāta), "bile" (pitta), and "phlegm" (kapha).

Now the one place you do have it right, is that the SUFFERING (a result) of illnesses is karmic, since karma ripens as neutral, painful or pleasant sensations. But the CAUSE of illness is the three humors. And the cause of the three humors is the three poisons. Karma does not cause the three poisons, the three poisons cause negative karma.

Karmic illnesses are illnesses that are a result, such as congenital blindness, and other incurable diseases. Curable diseases are not caused by karma. That is the distinction between humoral illnesses and karmic illnesses. There are also illnesses caused by spirits, and those attacks are general caused by engaging in nonvirtuous acts in temples, etc.

you posted from the sutra basically what john posted.

you said , it's no longer there but you said...not all illness are caused by karma and then quoted the sutra and gave 6 reasons for ailments. the last reason was Karma so you said not all disease is caused by Karma there are other reasons beside karma.

I said i am not talking about ailments and their cause , I am saying all suffering is due to Karma..

so what ever malcolm...you never admit it when your wrong...days later the posts disappear.

i don't want to play with you anymore..i

same thing happened in Catholic School..
They wanted me expelled cause i was disrupting religion class.. like for real...they sent me to the priest .

so i had this discussion with him and he like lost totally and then said let me see your shcedule.

i want to see you friday at 1 pm...ok cool

i was enjoying it watching him squirm...

so like he never shows up...He used to say his door is never locked and just walk in...so like i'm 15 i do that twice ...like maybe i missed him...friends walked by saw me there and asked why not forget him he is not there lets go get high....


i waited till my next class..


Monday he is walking down the hall ..with a bunch of his minion kid fans....

I say Hi Father .

He goes where were you friday...i said i was there i wondered where you were , i actually thought you got called away so it's ok.

so he flares up and says I was there where were you? i say i was there father...so he goes "Are you calling me a lier?"
So like i do that and its all over....so i go "I would never call you a lier father but you know where you were and i know where i was ...thats all that matters for me...

He never spoke to me again...

meh karma repeats itself ...same ting mon.

[PadmaVonSamba]

I said i am not talking about ailments and their cause , I am saying all suffering is due to Karma.

How do you separate the two?

What you are missing is the difference between the pitch and the catch.

Suppose someone throws a ball at you.
That’s not your karma. You didn’t create the conditions for that to occur.(unless you organized a ball game or something).

But... How you catch the ball, or don’t catch the ball, or swing a bat at the ball, that’s your doing. That’s your karma. This is all that Malcolm and others are saying. Everything in the universe can happen to you. The warmth of the sun, the rain, and to think it’s all because of your karma would be really very self-centered, thinking that you created the universe and it revolves around you.

So, in terms of illness, there’s a global pandemic for example. You didn’t cause that with your karma. But how you respond to that, whether you wash your hands or wear a mask or not, whatever you do in response, that’s your cause-and-effect at work. If, in the past, for example, you practiced a lot of pride, or a lot of denial, then maybe now you would say “I don’t need any stinking mask! That Covid won’t get me!” That’s a pattern of thinking that creates the karma which may affect whether you get sick or not. Or, choosing to go somewhere that the virus is active even if you don’t know it, yes, in that sense, if you get sick then it’s the result of your karma. But the causes of the illness isn’t your karma.

[Malcolm]

Minobu:

Actually, the cause of karma is affliction, desire, hatred, and ignorance. Desire, hatred, ignorance are the cause of most illnesses, because desire, hatred, and ignorance manifest in the body as "wind" (vāta), "bile" (pitta), and "phlegm" (kapha).

Now the one place you do have it right, is that the SUFFERING (a result) of illnesses is karmic, since karma ripens as neutral, painful or pleasant sensations. But the CAUSE of illness is the three humors. And the cause of the three humors is the three poisons. Karma does not cause the three poisons, the three poisons cause negative karma.

Karmic illnesses are illnesses that are a result, such as congenital blindness, and other incurable diseases. Curable diseases are not caused by karma. That is the distinction between humoral illnesses and karmic illnesses. There are also illnesses caused by spirits, and those attacks are general caused by engaging in nonvirtuous acts in temples, etc.

you posted from the sutra basically what john posted.

you said , it's no longer there but you said...not all illness are caused by karma…

Correct, not all illness is caused by karma.

[illarraza]

I said i am not talking about ailments and their cause , I am saying all suffering is due to Karma.

How do you separate the two?

What you are missing is the difference between the pitch and the catch.

Suppose someone throws a ball at you.
That’s not your karma. You didn’t create the conditions for that to occur.(unless you organized a ball game or something).

But... How you catch the ball, or don’t catch the ball, or swing a bat at the ball, that’s your doing. That’s your karma. This is all that Malcolm and others are saying. Everything in the universe can happen to you. The warmth of the sun, the rain, and to think it’s all because of your karma would be really very self-centered, thinking that you created the universe and it revolves around you.

So, in terms of illness, there’s a global pandemic for example. You didn’t cause that with your karma. But how you respond to that, whether you wash your hands or wear a mask or not, whatever you do in response, that’s your cause-and-effect at work. If, in the past, for example, you practiced a lot of pride, or a lot of denial, then maybe now you would say “I don’t need any stinking mask! That Covid won’t get me!” That’s a pattern of thinking that creates the karma which may affect whether you get sick or not. Or, choosing to go somewhere that the virus is active even if you don’t know it, yes, in that sense, if you get sick then it’s the result of your karma. But the causes of the illness isn’t your karma.

I have a serious life threatening ailment of average life expectancy five years. I'm at 6 years and mostly feel good. Of the 157 peple in my clinic, for five years, I was the only one working full time. Now I'm semi retired. When I suffer, it is because of pain from head to toe, weakness, and brain fog, not infrequently ,after dialysis, I maintain my practice no matter what, invariably chanting Namu Myoho renge kyo and the suffering disappears. For pain, I only take tylenol with codeine. For sufferings I take Namu Myoho renge kyo. If Narwhal will allow, Nichiren writes regarding the power of the character Myo and the Lotus Sutra:

In the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra we read that Myo means: "To open"; "to revive"; and "to be fully endowed".

"...Coming now to the character myō, the Lotus Sutra says, “This sutra opens the gate of expedient means and shows the form of true reality.” The Great Teacher Chang-an states, “Myō means to reveal the depths of the secret storehouse.” The Great Teacher Miao-lo says of this, “To reveal means to open.” Hence the character myō means to open."

"Myō means to revive, that is, to return to life. For example, it is said that, though the chick of a yellow crane may die, if the mother crane calls the name of Tzu-an, then the dead chick will come back to life. Or, in the case of the fish and shellfish that have been killed because a poisonous bird called a chen has entered the water, it is said that, if they are touched with a rhinoceros horn, they will all be brought back to life. Similarly, persons of the two vehicles, icchantikas, and women were described in the sutras that preceded the Lotus Sutra as having scorched and killed the seeds that would have allowed them to become Buddhas. But by holding fast to this single character myō, they can revive these scorched seeds of Buddhahood."

No matter how one feels before chanting, even while in the depths of despair or fatigue, after chanting, one often feels revived with renewed hope, concentration, focus, and positive energy.

"Myō in India is rendered as sad, and in China, as miao. Myō means to be fully endowed, which in turn has the meaning of “perfect and full.” Each word and each character of the Lotus Sutra contains within it all the 69,384 characters that compose the sutra. To illustrate, one drop of the great ocean contains within it the waters of all the various rivers that flow into the ocean, and a single wish-granting jewel, though no bigger than a mustard seed, is capable of showering down the treasures that one could wish for with all the wish-granting jewels.

To give another analogy, plants and trees are withered and bare in autumn and winter, but when the sun of spring and summer shines on them, they put forth branches and leaves, and then flowers and fruit. Before the preaching of the Lotus Sutra, the people in the nine worlds were like plants and trees in autumn and winter. But when the single character myō of the Lotus Sutra shone on them like the spring and summer sun, then the flower of the aspiration for enlightenment blossomed, and the fruit of Buddhahood or rebirth in the pure land emerged.

Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna in his Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom says, “[The Lotus Sutra is] like a great physician who can change poison into medicine.” This quotation occurs in a passage in Great Perfection of Wisdom that explains the virtues inherent in the character myō of the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher Miao-lo remarks, “Because it can cure what is thought to be incurable, it is called myō, or wonderful.”

In general, there are four kinds of people who have great difficulty in attaining Buddhahood or rebirth in the pure land. First are those predestined for the two vehicles, second are icchantikas, third are those who cling to the doctrine of void, and fourth are those who slander the Law. But through the Lotus Sutra, all of these people are able to become Buddhas. That is why the Lotus Sutra is called myō."

In my experience, Nichiren's analysis of the Daimoku of the Lotus was born from experience, practice, and study. If there are those suffering, I reccomend chanting Namu Myoho renge kyo. Nichiren writes in A Ship to cross the sea of suffering:

:In the Latter Day of the Law, the votary of the Lotus Sutra will appear without fail. The greater the hardships befalling him, the greater the delight he feels, because of his strong faith. Doesn’t a fire burn more briskly when logs are added? All rivers flow into the sea, but does the sea turn back their waters? The currents of hardship pour into the sea of the Lotus Sutra and rush against its votary. The river is not rejected by the ocean; nor does the votary reject suffering. Were it not for the flowing rivers, there would be no sea. Likewise, without tribulation there would be no votary of the Lotus Sutra. As T’ien-t’ai stated, “The various rivers flow into the sea, and logs make a fire burn more briskly.”

Mark

[Minobu]

Minobu:

Actually, the cause of karma is affliction, desire, hatred, and ignorance. Desire, hatred, ignorance are the cause of most illnesses, because desire, hatred, and ignorance manifest in the body as "wind" (vāta), "bile" (pitta), and "phlegm" (kapha).

Now the one place you do have it right, is that the SUFFERING (a result) of illnesses is karmic, since karma ripens as neutral, painful or pleasant sensations. But the CAUSE of illness is the three humors. And the cause of the three humors is the three poisons. Karma does not cause the three poisons, the three poisons cause negative karma.

Karmic illnesses are illnesses that are a result, such as congenital blindness, and other incurable diseases. Curable diseases are not caused by karma. That is the distinction between humoral illnesses and karmic illnesses. There are also illnesses caused by spirits, and those attacks are general caused by engaging in nonvirtuous acts in temples, etc.

you posted from the sutra basically what john posted.

you said , it's no longer there but you said...not all illness are caused by karma…

Correct, not all illness is caused by karma.

a guy walks across the street on a green light...a guy runs the redlight and hits the guy...the guy is paralized for life.

this is karma..

now according to your interpretation of the sutra you deleted...it's the cars fault .

any illness that occurs is due to karma ...why ..because it causes a suffering...

the sutra was explaining different reasons for ailments which lead to cures...all of which have a cure with various methods of medicine in the right hands ...except the last one due to karma..that requires a whole other ball game....thats the meaning of the sutra quote you deleted...

you can use john's Nichiren example...he too does not get the meaning of including karma in the various causes for the illness..

if the guy that got hit by the car did not have that karma to get hit by the car ...it would not happen...any of the reasons for getting ill in the sutra you deleted is due to the person having a karma to attract it upon them selves...

you want to kid yourself to prove you are right...fine...

here is the previous one jogn posted

To clarify the causes for illnesses, there are six categories. First are illnesses caused by an imbalance of the four elements. Second are illnesses caused by one’s inability to control one’s appetite. Third are illnesses caused by an imperfect practice of meditation. Fourth are illnesses caused by demons entering into one’s body. Fifth are illnesses caused by the work of devils. Sixth are illnesses caused by the manifestation of one’s karma.

(Gosho, p. 911)

the first five can be cured by a qualified doctor...hopefully...the last is an illness that an ordinary doctor cannot cure..

but all of them are brought on by the person's karma...

shit just doesn't just happen...and you actually teach this stuff...and now you have to stick to it ...lol





When all else fails
We can whip the horse's eyes

[Minobu]

So, in terms of illness

if you have the karma to get sick you do...if you don't you don't...

i don;t think there is any sickness suffered that is brought on just by happen chance...and i don't care what the etiology


but hey if you believe stuff happens to people because of something other than karma.. ...why even bother to practice any of the teachings of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..

good luck with that ...

[PadmaVonSamba]

So, in terms of illness

if you have the karma to get sick you do...if you don't you don't...

i don;t think there is any sickness suffered that is brought on just by happen chance...and i don't care what the etiology


but hey if you believe stuff happens to people because of something other than karma.. ...why even bother to practice any of the teachings of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..

good luck with that ...

What you fail to get is where the karma is. By saying that everything a person experiences occurs as the effect produced by their past actions (something the Lord Buddha never said, btw)
you are basically confusing karma with fatalism.

[PadmaVonSamba]

a guy walks across the street on a green light...a guy runs the redlight and hits the guy...the guy is paralized for life.

this is karma..

now according to your interpretation of the sutra you deleted...it's the cars fault.

But by the same reasoning, it must also be the karma of the driver to hit the pedestrian, because whatever puts that driver into that situation must be his karma as well.

[PadmaVonSamba]

Correct, not all illness is caused by karma.

if you want to kid yourself to prove you are right...fine...

What is hilarious is that you continue being smug and condescending towards others when, by your own reasoning, you brought all of this on yourself with your own karma.

[PadmaVonSamba]

a guy walks across the street on a green light...a guy runs the redlight and hits the guy...the guy is paralized for life.

this is karma..

now according to your interpretation of the sutra you deleted...it's the cars fault.

But by the same reasoning, it must also be the karma of the driver to hit the pedestrian, because whatever puts that driver into that situation must be his karma as well.

The faulty reasoning is this:
If one says that when a car hits you or not (or an illness attacks you or not, or any such example) that this is the fruition (result) of one’s karma, then it must also be the case that for every car which passes you, whether it hits you or doesn’t hit you is determined by your karma.

But by extension, whether every tree you walk past drops a dead branch on you, or whether lightning hits you, that all of the possible things in the world which either will or will not happen to you is determined by something you yourself did.

The reason why this reasoning is faulty is that for it to be true, the entire universe would have to revolve around that one person, the one making the assertion about karma.
My! What a grand force in the universe we are. Then, what of the other seven billion people? How many of us can be at the center of the universe, causing cars to crash and microbes to infect people at the same time?

The problem is, people tend to be selective. They think, “oh I got sick because of my karma” because getting sick (or being struck by a car) is something unexpected, out of
the ordinary. But they don’t think, “the bird that goes over me didn’t poop on me because of my karma” because birds fly over us all the time. We rarely even notice. Yet, the same principle must hold true for both the bird as well as the car.

While it is certainly true that every action we make brings us to the exact moment of where we are, and in that sense, yes, if where we are is where the bird poop or the car hits, we can say it is our karma, that doesn’t mean that the event is the result of a positive or negative action in the past. It’s really just a big ego trip to think so. It artificially magnifies the situation in order to impute on it some cosmic significance.

Sure, we are all on a planet warmed by a sun 93 million miles away because of karma. So what? “Everything is caused by karma” doesn’t mean anything, really. And to then extract this or that occurrence, an illness or a birth defect and to say the causes of that (rather than the effect of it) is from one’s own karma, is simply interpreting the situation to fit into one’s presumptions, one’a own preferred narrative. This is the backwards logic that propels much spiritual nonsense.

[Malcolm]

So, in terms of illness

if you have the karma to get sick you do...if you don't you don't...

i don;t think there is any sickness suffered that is brought on just by happen chance...and i don't care what the etiology


but hey if you believe stuff happens to people because of something other than karma.. ...why even bother to practice any of the teachings of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..

good luck with that ...

Again, Buddha himself stated that illness is primarily caused by the three poisons. Take it up with him.

[Minobu]

Well obviously as anyone can see I am hard wired to believe that karma is at the root cause to what ever life moment we are in

[PadmaVonSamba]

So, in terms of illness

if you have the karma to get sick you do...if you don't you don't...

i don;t think there is any sickness suffered that is brought on just by happen chance...and i don't care what the etiology


but hey if you believe stuff happens to people because of something other than karma.. ...why even bother to practice any of the teachings of Lord Sakyamuni Buddha..

good luck with that ...

Again, Buddha himself stated that illness is primarily caused by the three poisons. Take it up with him.

Furthermore, all physical illnesses really occur at the microscopic level. In other words, one has to ask who or what is experiencing the ripening of karma, and how.
If you cut your hair, does part of “you” who experiences the haircut leave along with the hair?
Normally we would answer no. The same entity experienced as oneself sees the hair fall to the floor but doesn’t diminish in any way.

So then, if your leg becomes infected by disease and must be amputated, do “you” diminish in any way, or does who you are remain, although the leg is removed?

Again, most would answer that they are still completely who they were before the operation, just as with a haircut. Only part of the body has been removed.

Therefore, the physical body can’t be “you”.

So, then the question is...
If physical illness is the result of karma, then whose karma is it? Is it the karma of the millions of living cells that composed the leg? Or is it the karma of the person who identifies as the former owner of the leg?

If the answer is that the karma belongs to the former owner of the leg, then you can’t say that the illness affected the owner. You can only say that the illness affected the leg, or the cells in the leg, that which belonged to the owner.

If the answer is that the karma belongs to the leg, or to the cells of the leg, then the leg, rather than the owner of the leg, would have had to have accumulated the karma through previous actions.
However, nothing that the Buddha taught supports the idea that the meat and bones (the cells) that we call the human body is capable of intention, nor is it the physical body that sows and reaps karma. If it were, then what would be the karma of the hair falling from monks shaving their heads?

[PadmaVonSamba]

Well obviously as anyone can see I am hard wired to believe that karma is at the root cause to what ever life moment we are in

By your own reasoning, it isn’t hard wiring. It’s your ripening karma