The Writings of Nichiren

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tkp67
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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In the Vimalakirti Sutra we read: “Vimalakirti once more questioned Manjushri, saying, ‘What are the seeds of Buddhahood?’ Manjushri replied, ‘All the delusions and defilements are the seeds of Buddhahood. Even though a person commits the five cardinal sins and is condemned to the hell of incessant suffering, he is still capable of conceiving the great desire for the way.’”

The same sutra also says: “Good man, let me give you a metaphor. The plains and highlands will never bring forth the stems and blossoms of the blue lotus or the water lily. But the muddy fields that are low-lying and damp—that is where you will find these flowers growing.”
The Opening of the Eyes

---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd- ... Part%20One
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Minobu
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

Post by Minobu »

Sooo

desire = enlightenment....

is this what the passage is also pointing to?
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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I believe that is one of the implications. Earthly desires are causes the effect of which is enlightenment. It also serves to show the absolute equanimity of the buddhas. It also serves to illustrate function. One of which reveals ignorance is an important facet for liberation.
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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tkp67 wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:13 pm I believe that is one of the implications. Earthly desires are causes the effect of which is enlightenment.
Yes but i look at it from the angle if the person seeks Dharma then the theatre of his life drags him to the door .
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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Minobu wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:51 pm
tkp67 wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:13 pm I believe that is one of the implications. Earthly desires are causes the effect of which is enlightenment.
Yes but i look at it from the angle if the person seeks Dharma then the theatre of his life drags him to the door .
I think the deeper meaning here is that regardless of the earthy desire or the person the latent function still exists.

Of course one will suffer conflict regardless of that desire. Good, evil or otherwise.

One thing about desires I noticed is people never really seem to understand the causation of their own desires whether they are embraced or denied.

Desires seem to be the countenance of self, perhaps the easiest facet of self that we can see in ourselves or others.
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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the entire Samsaric experience is one of desire...desire is the cause...for the world of desire...
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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I think this is what makes the Daimoku so incredible. If used to fulfill desire it infuses the transcendental power of the buddha to right the mind.

This because the desire to know buddha is not ignorant and even if used in an attempt to fulfill desires born of ignorance the experience will include the auspices of the daimoku and thus the buddha.

Sure it is tough but it employs such an economy of effort to accomplish so much in one moment I can't fathom another practice for my own purpose.
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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Who else would be capable of walking a person through the last tethers of their own ignorance to know the complete and perfect enlightenment of Shakyamuni other than Shakyamuni himself?
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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IF we examine the essential and the theoretical teachings of the Lotus Sutra, we see that the theoretical teaching maintains, as [did the teachings that came] before, that the Buddha first attained enlightenment during his present lifetime; therefore, obstacles still beset the teaching. The essential teaching has freed itself from such impediments. However, compared with the five characters of the daimoku, it is a doctrine unsuited to the capacity of the people of the Latter Day of the Law. The wonderful means of truly putting an end to the physical and spiritual obstacles of all living beings is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nichiren
The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles

---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/103
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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is a doctrine unsuited to the capacity of the people of the Latter Day of the Law.
After my five year stint in Tibetan Buddhism , which is where i learnt what Nichiren shonin studied, i asked Rinpoche if I would attain enlightenment as a householder through these practices...I was into Vipassana and Tantra ..
He said flat out "No" .

and i don't buy into the whole wait till ya die and see ... All Mahayana is a sort of Myth ...but it produced Lotus Buddhism , which any one who ever gave it a real try ...knows...

It's like Shariputra city here at DW in the other sections.

The time is over for that sort of thing to actually do what is called for . We got almost forever to see this actually become more and more evident.

'nuff said.
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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I finally spoke to my teacher after several long years and have a connection to him now.

No longer does being on the other side of the world matter.

For this I am quite grateful.
I, Nichiren, do not observe the precepts with my body. Nor is my heart free from the three poisons. But since I believe in this [Lotus] sutra myself and also enable others to form a relationship with it, I had thought that perhaps society would treat me rather gently. Probably because the world has entered into the latter age, even monks who have wives and children have followers, as do priests who eat fish and fowl. I have neither wife nor children, nor do I eat fish or fowl. I have been blamed merely for trying to propagate the Lotus Sutra. Though I have neither wife nor child, I am known throughout the country as a monk who transgresses the code of conduct, and though I have never killed even a single ant or mole cricket, my bad reputation has spread throughout the realm. This may well resemble the situation of Shakyamuni Buddha, who was slandered by a multitude of non-Buddhists during his lifetime.

It seems that, solely because my faith in the Lotus Sutra accords slightly more with its teachings than does the faith of others, evil demons must have possessed their bodies and be causing them to feel hatred toward me. I am nothing but a lowly and ignorant monk without precepts. Yet, when I think that such a person should be mentioned in the Lotus Sutra, which was expounded more than two thousand years ago, and p.43that the Buddha prophesied that that person would encounter persecution, I cannot possibly express my joy.

It is already twenty-four or twenty-five years since I began studying Buddhism. Yet I have believed wholeheartedly in the Lotus Sutra only for the past six or seven years. Moreover, although I had faith in the sutra, because I was negligent and because of my studies and the interruptions of mundane affairs, each day I would recite only a single scroll, a chapter, or the title. Now, however, for a period of more than 240 days—from the twelfth day of the fifth month of last year to the sixteenth day of the first month of this year—I think I have practiced the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours each day and night. I say so because, having been exiled on the Lotus Sutra’s account, I now read and practice it continuously, whether I am walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. For anyone born human, what greater joy could there be?

It is the way of ordinary people that, even though they spur themselves on to arouse the aspiration for enlightenment and wish for happiness in the next life, they exert themselves no more than one or two out of all the hours of the day, and this only after reminding themselves to do so. As for myself, I read the Lotus Sutra without having to remember to, and practice it even when I do not read its words aloud.

During the course of countless kalpas, while transmigrating through the six paths and the four forms of birth, I may at times have risen in revolt, committed theft, or broken into others’ homes at night and, on account of these offenses, been convicted by the ruler and condemned to exile or death. This time, however, it is because I am so firmly resolved to propagate the Lotus Sutra that people with evil karma have brought false charges against me; hence my exile. Surely this will work in my favor in future lifetimes. In this latter age, there cannot be anyone else who upholds the Lotus Sutra twenty-four hours of the day and night without making a deliberate effort to do so.

There is one other thing for which I am most grateful. While transmigrating in the six paths for the duration of countless kalpas, I may have encountered a number of sovereigns and become their favorite minister or regent. If so, I must have been granted fiefs and accorded treasures and stipends. Never once, however, did I encounter a sovereign in whose country the Lotus Sutra had spread, so that I could hear its name, practice it and, on that very account, be slandered by other people and have the ruler send me into exile. The Lotus Sutra states, “As for this Lotus Sutra, throughout immeasurable numbers of lands one cannot even hear its name, much less be able to see it, accept and embrace, read and recite it.”6 Thus those people who slandered me and the ruler [who had me banished] are the very persons to whom I owe the most profound debt of gratitude.
---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/6

The Four Debts of Gratitude
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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In the fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra it reads, “If after the Buddha has passed into extinction one can understand the meaning of this sutra, one will be the eyes of the world for heavenly and human beings.”14 Those who uphold the Lotus Sutra will be the eyes for all of the heavenly and human beings in the world.
---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/70

The Supremacy of the Law
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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Though the teaching I am now propagating seems limited, it is extremely profound. That is because it goes deeper than the teaching expounded by T’ien-t’ai, Dengyō, and others. It is the three important matters1 in the “Life Span” chapter of the essential teaching. Practicing only the seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo seems limited, but since they are the master of all the Buddhas of the three existences, the teacher of all the bodhisattvas in the ten directions, and the guide that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way, it is profound.

The sutra states, “The wisdom of the Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable.”2 It refers to “the Buddhas” here in the sense of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions in the three existences, from the Thus Come One Mahāvairochana of the True Word school and Amida of the Pure Land school to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of all schools and all sutras, all Buddhas of the past, future, and present, and the present Thus Come One Shakyamuni. And the sutra speaks of the wisdom of all those Buddhas.

What is meant by this “wisdom”? It is the entity of the true aspect of p.318all phenomena, and of the ten factors of life that lead all beings to Buddhahood. What then is that entity? It is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. A commentary states that the profound principle of the true aspect is the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo.3 We learn that that true aspect of all phenomena is also the two Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures [seated together in the treasure tower]. “All phenomena” corresponds to Many Treasures, and “the true aspect” corresponds to Shakyamuni. These are also the two elements of reality and wisdom. Many Treasures is reality; Shakyamuni is wisdom. It is the enlightenment that reality and wisdom are two, and yet they are not two.
Earthly Desires Are Enlightenment

---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/35
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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three categories of illusion [三惑] ( san-waku): Also, three illusions. A classification of illusions, established by T’ien-t’ai (538–597): (1) illusions of thought and desire, (2) illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand, and (3) illusions about the true nature of existence. The illusions of thought and desire are illusions to be eradicated by persons of the two vehicles (voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones) and bodhisattvas. The other two categories of illusions are those that bodhisattvas alone go on to eliminate.
Illusions of thought and desire cause people to suffer in the six paths and the threefold world. Illusions of thought are distorted perceptions of the truth and are primarily mental and learned. They consist of the five false views and the five delusive inclinations. The five false views are as follows: (1) Though the body is nothing but a temporary union of the five components, one mistakenly thinks of the self as a separate or independent entity, and though nothing in the universe can belong to an individual, one mistakenly views that which surrounds one as one’s own possession. (2) One erroneously believes either that life is totally annihilated at death without continuance in any form, or that life persists after death in some eternally unchanged form such as a soul. (3) One does not recognize the law of cause and effect. (4) One adheres to misconceptions such as regarding inferior things as superior. (5) One views erroneous precepts or practices as the true way to enlightenment. The five delusive inclinations are greed, anger, foolishness, arrogance, and doubt; they arise in relation to the five false views. Hence in the category of illusions of thought, the five false views are regarded as primary and the five delusive inclinations as secondary. In contrast to the chiefly mental illusions of thought, the illusions of desire are emotional and inborn. These include greed, anger, foolishness, and arrogance and arise in connection with the various affairs and phenomena of the threefold world, not because of distorted perceptions of the truth.
Illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand are illusions that prevent bodhisattvas from saving others. To save others, bodhisattvas must be well versed in innumerable teachings, both religious and secular. This second category of illusions arises when the bodhisattvas try to master these teachings.
Illusions about the true nature of existence are illusions that prevent bodhisattvas from attaining enlightenment, or from awakening to the truth of the Middle Way. In the specific teaching, these illusions are divided into twelve. In the perfect teaching, they are divided into forty-two, the last and most deeply rooted of which is called fundamental darkness. By eliminating fundamental darkness, one attains Buddhahood. In Great Concentration and Insight, T’ien-t’ai states that the three categories of illusion are eliminated through meditation aimed at perceiving the unification of the three truths in a single mind. Specifically, the illusions of thought and desire are eliminated by perception of the truth of non-substantiality; illusions innumerable as particles of dust and sand are eliminated by perception of the truth of temporary existence; and illusions about the true nature of existence are eliminated by perception of the truth of the Middle Way.
---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/T/109

three categories of illusion
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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One should understand, therefore, that the basis of the Dharma body is the entity of the ordinary living being. The religious practices and vows of the Buddhas of the ten directions are in fact meant to enable one to acquire this Dharma body.

Next, with regard to the reward body, the commentary by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai states: “The wisdom that accords with the true nature of phenomena, following the way that accords with the truth, reaches perfect enlightenment. Wisdom accords with the principle of the true nature, and because it abides by this principle, it is called ‘Thus.’ One comes in accordance with wisdom and hence the word ‘Come’ is used. Hence the term ‘Thus Come One of the reward body.’ This is called rochana, which is translated as ‘pure and full.’”6

This means that the wisdom that accords with the true nature of phenomena follows the way that accords with the truth. When the principle and the wisdom of perfect enlightenment become perfectly fused with the realm of phenomena, then the principle is called “Thus” and the wisdom is called “Come.”7
On the Principle of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life

---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/178
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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“All phenomena” in the sutra refers to the Ten Worlds, and the “true aspect,” to what they actually are. The “true aspect” is another name for Myoho-renge-kyo; hence all phenomena are Myoho-renge-kyo. Hell’s displaying the form of hell is its true aspect. When hell changes into the realm of hungry spirits, that is no longer the true form of hell. A Buddha displays the form of a Buddha, and a common mortal, that of a common mortal. The entities of all phenomena are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo. That is the meaning of “the true aspect of all phenomena.” T’ien-t’ai states that the profound principle of the true aspect is the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo.8 This interpretation identifies the phrase “true aspect” with the theoretical teaching and “the originally inherent Myoho-renge-kyo” with the essential teaching. You should ponder this interpretation deep in your heart.
---> https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/40

The True Aspect of All Phenomena
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

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Minobu wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 7:04 pm Sooo

desire = enlightenment....

is this what the passage is also pointing to?
Bono doesn’t mean’desires’
煩惱卽菩提

Pronunciations
[py] fánnǎo ji pútí
[wg] fan-nao chi p'u-t'i
[hg] 번뇌즉보리
[mc] beonnoe jeuk bori
[mr] pŏnnoe chŭk pori
[kk] ボンノウソクボダイ
[hb] bonnō soku bodai
[qn] phiền não tức bồ đề


Basic Meaning: afflictions are none other than enlightenment
Senses:

The afflictions are bodhi. Since all existence has the tathatā as its underlying essence, illusion too must rest on this tathatā. Enlightenment, i.e., identity with the tathatā, is achieved only when one realizes that illusions in themselves can have no real, independent existence. This nondualistic approach is commonly seen expressed in East Asian indigenous schools of Buddhism, such as Chan, Huayan, and Tiantai.

煩惱
Pronunciations
[py] fánnǎo
[wg] fan-nao
[hg] 번뇌
[mc] beonnoe
[mr] pŏnnoe
[kk] ボンノウ
[hb] bonnō
[qn] phiền não


Basic Meaning: affliction
Senses:
Affective disorders, defilement(s); mental disturbances; emotional negativity, evil afflictions, carnal desires (Skt. kleśa; saṃkleśa; Tib. nyon mongs pa, kun nas nyon mongs pa, Pāli kilesa). Also commonly rendered as 惑; kleśa is transliterated as 吉隷捨. All of the thoughts, words, actions and emotions which arise and cease based on nescience and desire which keep human beings trapped in the cycle of birth and death, and which result in suffering. Therefore, Buddhism teaches methods for attaining nirvana/enlightenment as a means of eliminating the afflictions.
Depending upon their specific function in a given situation, the Chinese term 煩惱 has a wide range of synonyms, including: propensities 隨眠 (anuśaya), mental disturbances 惑 (cognitive distortions), pollution 染, bindings 結, bindings and instigations 結使, fetters 縛, snares 纏, yokes 軛, raging currents 暴流, obscuration 蓋, knots 繫, predilections 使, filth 垢, stumps 株杌, burning pain 燒害, darts/arrows 箭, thicket 稠林 (a metaphor for the great number and density of the afflictions), fatigue 塵勞, objective filth 塵垢, adventitious taint 客塵, roots of strife 諍根. Also, afflictions are termed in their substance as defilements proper 正使, and when the substance of the afflictions have been extinguished, the remaining habitual tendencies are called 'karmic impressions'  習氣. According to the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya 倶舍論 all afflictions are produced based on the three factors of (1) causal power 因力 (previously functioning afflictions), (2) environmental power 境界力 (the appearance of objects according to desire) and (3) power of application 加行力 (incorrect mental orientation toward objects). According to the Prakaraṇa-abhidharma-avatāra 入阿毘達磨論 on the other hand, afflictions can be produced based on environmental power alone.
Both Sarvâstivāda and Yogâcāra schematize the afflictions into the two main categories of primary (fundamental) 根本煩惱 and secondary (or derivative) 枝末煩惱 (枝末惑, 隨煩惱). The fundamental afflictions are the basic substance 體, and are usually expressed in Chinese with such terms as 本惑, 根本惑, or simply 煩惱, but in Sarvâstivāda are also called 隨眠 (underlying, latent tendencies). In Sautrāntika 經部 however the term 隨眠 is used to refer to the seed aspect 種子 of the afflictions, positing at the same time the distinction of afflictions in their manifest activity 現行, also called 纏 ( 'actively binding' ); this usage of terminology was adopted by Yogâcāra. Their quality, as described in the Yogâcāra system, is either unwholesome 不善, or obstructive without a determinable moral fruition 有覆無記.
The fundamental afflictions include the six of craving 貪, aversion 瞋, delusion 癡 (or nescience 無明), pride 慢, doubt 疑 and [mistaken] views 見 (having the connotation of wrong views 邪見, 惡見), and so these are listed as the six afflictions 六煩惱 (or 六隨眠). [Mistaken] views are distinguished into the five kinds of view 五見 of identification 有身見, attachment to extremes 邊執見, non-Buddhist religious views 邪見, view of attachment to views 見取見, and incorrect attachment to precepts 戒禁取見. When these are added together with the other five afflictions of desire and so forth, they are termed the 'ten afflictions'  十煩惱 (or 十隨眠, 十使). Among these, the first five (desire, etc.) do not have the basic character to seek and imagine, so their function is relatively slow and dull, and they are termed the 'five dull facilitators'  五鈍使 (or 五惑). The five views, on the other hand, have the character of imagination and seeking, and so their function is relatively fast and sharp, thus the label 'five sharp facilitators.'
Additionally, the category of craving 貪 from among the basic six propensities can be distinguished into the category of the craving of the desired realm 欲界, and another kind of craving that subsumes the two upper realms of form 色界 and formlessness 無色界. Thus the appellations of desire-craving 欲貪 and form-craving 有貪. With these two added to the initial set, they are called the seven propensities 七隨眠 (七使), or, when added to the ten propensities as three separate types (欲貪, 色貪, 無色貪) they are called the twelve propensities 十二隨眠 (or 十二使).
In Yogâcāra, among the ten basic afflictions, there are four that are directly derived from the view of self, and thus always arise together with the seventh consciousness 第七識. These are (1) self-delusion 我癡 (nescience of the principle of no-self, which leads to the next affliction—self-view). This is synonymous with the terms 愚癡 and 無明. (2) Self-view 我見 (or attachment to self 我執). The mistaken view of assuming and attaching to an unchanging, continuous self; also expressed with slightly different connotations as 有身見 (view of identify). (3) The conceit 'I am'  我慢—the fundamental sense of pride that accompanies the mistaken perception of self and serves as the basis for the seven kinds of pride 七慢. (4) Attachment of self 我愛 (also expressed as 我貪, 貪愛, and 貪着)—the addiction to things that are pleasing to oneself. These are called the four afflictions 四煩惱 (or four fundamental afflictions 四根本煩惱, four mental disturbances 四惑). Also, since the three most fundamental afflictions of craving 貪, aversion 瞋, and delusion 癡 are seen to be the source of all derivative afflictions, they are named with such terms as the three unwholesome roots 三不善根, three poisons 三毒, three stains 三垢, three fetters 三縛, etc. The secondary, or derivative afflictions 枝末煩惱 arise as variants, or as combinations of the fundamental afflictions, and are referred to by various terms such as 隨惑, 枝末惑, and 隨煩惱.
[Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, YBh-Ind, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
(Skt. kliṣṭa, aṅgaṇa, ādhi, āśaya, āśrava, utkileśa, upakileśa, upakleśa, upadhi, kileśa, kilbiṣa, kleśa-kośa, kleśa-doṣa, kleśa-bandhana, kleśôpakleśa, tapasrāga, reṇu-kleśa, vikṣrpa, vyasana, saṃyojana, saṃkileśa, sāṃkileśika)
---

Gassho
正法
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

Post by tkp67 »

In your mind how does an native english speaking american define earthly desires? And if they are not defined differently how does that deny them as causes?

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/earthly+desires
earthly desires
Desires for tangible things (such as wealth, property, or other material goods) or for pleasures of the body (such as sexual activity, gluttony, or other hedonistic pursuits). Buddhism teaches us to try to let go of our earthly desires, freeing our minds and bodies for a state of enlightenment.
Shoho wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:35 pm
Bono doesn’t mean’desires’
煩惱卽菩提

Pronunciations
[py] fánnǎo ji pútí
[wg] fan-nao chi p'u-t'i
[hg] 번뇌즉보리
[mc] beonnoe jeuk bori
[mr] pŏnnoe chŭk pori
[kk] ボンノウソクボダイ
[hb] bonnō soku bodai
[qn] phiền não tức bồ đề


Basic Meaning: afflictions are none other than enlightenment
Senses:

The afflictions are bodhi. Since all existence has the tathatā as its underlying essence, illusion too must rest on this tathatā. Enlightenment, i.e., identity with the tathatā, is achieved only when one realizes that illusions in themselves can have no real, independent existence. This nondualistic approach is commonly seen expressed in East Asian indigenous schools of Buddhism, such as Chan, Huayan, and Tiantai.

煩惱
Pronunciations
[py] fánnǎo
[wg] fan-nao
[hg] 번뇌
[mc] beonnoe
[mr] pŏnnoe
[kk] ボンノウ
[hb] bonnō
[qn] phiền não


Basic Meaning: affliction
Senses:
Affective disorders, defilement(s); mental disturbances; emotional negativity, evil afflictions, carnal desires (Skt. kleśa; saṃkleśa; Tib. nyon mongs pa, kun nas nyon mongs pa, Pāli kilesa). Also commonly rendered as 惑; kleśa is transliterated as 吉隷捨. All of the thoughts, words, actions and emotions which arise and cease based on nescience and desire which keep human beings trapped in the cycle of birth and death, and which result in suffering. Therefore, Buddhism teaches methods for attaining nirvana/enlightenment as a means of eliminating the afflictions.
Depending upon their specific function in a given situation, the Chinese term 煩惱 has a wide range of synonyms, including: propensities 隨眠 (anuśaya), mental disturbances 惑 (cognitive distortions), pollution 染, bindings 結, bindings and instigations 結使, fetters 縛, snares 纏, yokes 軛, raging currents 暴流, obscuration 蓋, knots 繫, predilections 使, filth 垢, stumps 株杌, burning pain 燒害, darts/arrows 箭, thicket 稠林 (a metaphor for the great number and density of the afflictions), fatigue 塵勞, objective filth 塵垢, adventitious taint 客塵, roots of strife 諍根. Also, afflictions are termed in their substance as defilements proper 正使, and when the substance of the afflictions have been extinguished, the remaining habitual tendencies are called 'karmic impressions'  習氣. According to the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya 倶舍論 all afflictions are produced based on the three factors of (1) causal power 因力 (previously functioning afflictions), (2) environmental power 境界力 (the appearance of objects according to desire) and (3) power of application 加行力 (incorrect mental orientation toward objects). According to the Prakaraṇa-abhidharma-avatāra 入阿毘達磨論 on the other hand, afflictions can be produced based on environmental power alone.
Both Sarvâstivāda and Yogâcāra schematize the afflictions into the two main categories of primary (fundamental) 根本煩惱 and secondary (or derivative) 枝末煩惱 (枝末惑, 隨煩惱). The fundamental afflictions are the basic substance 體, and are usually expressed in Chinese with such terms as 本惑, 根本惑, or simply 煩惱, but in Sarvâstivāda are also called 隨眠 (underlying, latent tendencies). In Sautrāntika 經部 however the term 隨眠 is used to refer to the seed aspect 種子 of the afflictions, positing at the same time the distinction of afflictions in their manifest activity 現行, also called 纏 ( 'actively binding' ); this usage of terminology was adopted by Yogâcāra. Their quality, as described in the Yogâcāra system, is either unwholesome 不善, or obstructive without a determinable moral fruition 有覆無記.
The fundamental afflictions include the six of craving 貪, aversion 瞋, delusion 癡 (or nescience 無明), pride 慢, doubt 疑 and [mistaken] views 見 (having the connotation of wrong views 邪見, 惡見), and so these are listed as the six afflictions 六煩惱 (or 六隨眠). [Mistaken] views are distinguished into the five kinds of view 五見 of identification 有身見, attachment to extremes 邊執見, non-Buddhist religious views 邪見, view of attachment to views 見取見, and incorrect attachment to precepts 戒禁取見. When these are added together with the other five afflictions of desire and so forth, they are termed the 'ten afflictions'  十煩惱 (or 十隨眠, 十使). Among these, the first five (desire, etc.) do not have the basic character to seek and imagine, so their function is relatively slow and dull, and they are termed the 'five dull facilitators'  五鈍使 (or 五惑). The five views, on the other hand, have the character of imagination and seeking, and so their function is relatively fast and sharp, thus the label 'five sharp facilitators.'
Additionally, the category of craving 貪 from among the basic six propensities can be distinguished into the category of the craving of the desired realm 欲界, and another kind of craving that subsumes the two upper realms of form 色界 and formlessness 無色界. Thus the appellations of desire-craving 欲貪 and form-craving 有貪. With these two added to the initial set, they are called the seven propensities 七隨眠 (七使), or, when added to the ten propensities as three separate types (欲貪, 色貪, 無色貪) they are called the twelve propensities 十二隨眠 (or 十二使).
In Yogâcāra, among the ten basic afflictions, there are four that are directly derived from the view of self, and thus always arise together with the seventh consciousness 第七識. These are (1) self-delusion 我癡 (nescience of the principle of no-self, which leads to the next affliction—self-view). This is synonymous with the terms 愚癡 and 無明. (2) Self-view 我見 (or attachment to self 我執). The mistaken view of assuming and attaching to an unchanging, continuous self; also expressed with slightly different connotations as 有身見 (view of identify). (3) The conceit 'I am'  我慢—the fundamental sense of pride that accompanies the mistaken perception of self and serves as the basis for the seven kinds of pride 七慢. (4) Attachment of self 我愛 (also expressed as 我貪, 貪愛, and 貪着)—the addiction to things that are pleasing to oneself. These are called the four afflictions 四煩惱 (or four fundamental afflictions 四根本煩惱, four mental disturbances 四惑). Also, since the three most fundamental afflictions of craving 貪, aversion 瞋, and delusion 癡 are seen to be the source of all derivative afflictions, they are named with such terms as the three unwholesome roots 三不善根, three poisons 三毒, three stains 三垢, three fetters 三縛, etc. The secondary, or derivative afflictions 枝末煩惱 arise as variants, or as combinations of the fundamental afflictions, and are referred to by various terms such as 隨惑, 枝末惑, and 隨煩惱.
[Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, YBh-Ind, JEBD, Yokoi, Iwanami]
(Skt. kliṣṭa, aṅgaṇa, ādhi, āśaya, āśrava, utkileśa, upakileśa, upakleśa, upadhi, kileśa, kilbiṣa, kleśa-kośa, kleśa-doṣa, kleśa-bandhana, kleśôpakleśa, tapasrāga, reṇu-kleśa, vikṣrpa, vyasana, saṃyojana, saṃkileśa, sāṃkileśika)
---

Gassho
正法
Shoho
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

Post by Shoho »

Hello.
“ In your mind how does an native english speaking american define earthly desires? And if they are not defined differently how does that deny them as causes?

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/earthly+desires
earthly desires
Desires for tangible things (such as wealth, property, or other material goods) or for pleasures of the body (such as sexual activity, gluttony, or other hedonistic pursuits). Buddhism teaches us to try to let go of our earthly desires, freeing our minds and bodies for a state of enlightenment.”


The purpose of chanting the Daimoku is to attain enlightenment.
When we chant to the gohonzon it is to praise the Buddha and the Law(人法一箇). It has nothing to do with fulfilling desires.
The idea of chanting for ‘things’ is an incorrect teaching.
Is chanting for ‘things’ a cause? Well obviously it would be considered a cause. But it is not the reason we chant the Daimoku.
Please look up the meaning of 一大事因縁(the one great cause the Buddha appears.
一大事因緣

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: sole great purpose for the Buddhaʼs appearance in this world
Senses:

The most important cause, viz., to become enlightened and save all sentient beings from sufferings. It is said that the buddhas appeared in the human world with this cause. 〔法華經 T 262.9.7a23〕
Gassho
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tkp67
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Re: The Writings of Nichiren

Post by tkp67 »

Soto.

My dear friend. I am afraid you assume that participants chant to fulfill material desires. This is a unfair and unfitting assumption in regards to my practice. No where in this thread is that encouraged (nor discouraged for that matter).

However I would caution against slighting those that chant for material things. This may sound counter-intuitive but it is not.

Nichiren's Buddhism is capable of fulfilling the wishes of the buddha of the ten directions and three times by opening the doors of Buddhism to all sentient beings. Unique to this sutra and one of the metrics that make it superior is the capacity for it to enlighten incorrigible believers.

Now my dear friend it is obvious you have a good heart, and see the sutra from the lens of conviction. This is wonderful. However the icchantika do not have this conviction or desire. Yet to fulfill the wishes of thus come one Shakyamuni the doors must be opened for them.

I do believe this methodology has allowed for expansion in the west because the daimoku integrated into the lives of icchantika converts them. This fulfills the wishes of all buddhas. It fulfills the truth that neither Shakyamuni nor Nichiren are stingy in any manner but rather posses unfathomable wisdom and compassion without bounds.

PERSONALLY I renounced materialism and family wealth for the purpose of humanitarian virtue well before I knew what Buddhism so it didn't line up with my own personal causes, capacity and condition. I did spend many years observing peoples from these practices, their minds and the transformation to glean the true nature of these variances and what they mean in regards to paying one's debt of gratitude.

Upon deep consideration I realized that while it did not appeal to me the very notion of doing so (chanting for things) would lead the icchantika to see the manifestation of good and evil in their own mind through their own volition and thus enter the doors of buddhism. Because they are icchantika they don't believe in the realms exist but they do not deny their own earthy desires. That is why the daimoku is given to them according to what they do believe and what appeals with them.

As I understand it the only thing one needs to fear is the doubt that this good medicine will fail to work for all other beings. It works according to time, cause, capacity and conditions which are not homogeneous across humanity. Thus the variation is natural and still the medicine is designed to work will all minds in this later age.

In my mind this is proof of the potency of Nichiren's buddhism and that this also pints to the true nature of his enlightenment, not an impractical or improper use daimoku.

I do understand however how it seems unreasonable once the tethers of materialism are cast off. Sadly the world I inhabit, most people embrace those tethers like a child embraces its mother.

:anjali:

Shoho wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 3:09 am Hello.
“ In your mind how does an native english speaking american define earthly desires? And if they are not defined differently how does that deny them as causes?

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/earthly+desires
earthly desires
Desires for tangible things (such as wealth, property, or other material goods) or for pleasures of the body (such as sexual activity, gluttony, or other hedonistic pursuits). Buddhism teaches us to try to let go of our earthly desires, freeing our minds and bodies for a state of enlightenment.”


The purpose of chanting the Daimoku is to attain enlightenment.
When we chant to the gohonzon it is to praise the Buddha and the Law(人法一箇). It has nothing to do with fulfilling desires.
The idea of chanting for ‘things’ is an incorrect teaching.
Is chanting for ‘things’ a cause? Well obviously it would be considered a cause. But it is not the reason we chant the Daimoku.
Please look up the meaning of 一大事因縁(the one great cause the Buddha appears.
一大事因緣

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: sole great purpose for the Buddhaʼs appearance in this world
Senses:

The most important cause, viz., to become enlightened and save all sentient beings from sufferings. It is said that the buddhas appeared in the human world with this cause. 〔法華經 T 262.9.7a23〕
Gassho
正法
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