Sunday, July 28, 2013

Lotus Sutra Champions

An Announcement

Yesterday, I launched a new website called Lotus Sutra Champions at:


Even though I've posted frequently on this site on subjects relating to Buddhism - and will continue to do so - I felt a need to create a separate site. By this means, I hope to attract Buddhists who aren't sure of how to proceed in their practice. Of course, this includes wannabe Buddhists and even non-Buddhists who have an open mind to concepts that challenge their traditional religious views. I hope to ultimately create a virtual organization of such people.

[Side note: A "virtual organization" can succeed where old-fashioned brick-and-mortar enterprises have failed, since the later can be too easily infiltrated, undermined, and are susceptible to hierarchical organization disease and the omnipresent need to engage in fundraising.]

There was a 13th century Buddhist monk named Nichiren who famously declared [and here I paraphrase]: "If you are practicing Buddhism correctly, then you will be persecuted by religious and secular authorities." He hastened to add that we would also be protected by Buddhas and other allies. But of course protective efforts sometimes fail and we have to accept that possibility. As things stand now, especially within the United States, Buddhists aren't being persecuted to any noticeable degree. And that's because the Powers-that-Be don't see us as posing any threat. But I would take that as a definite sign that we're doing something wrong - namely, not practicing Buddhism correctly. Lotus Sutra Champions hopes to correct that deficiency.

Below, I pasted an exact copy of the content of LSC as I'd posted it yesterday. Of course, as always, I welcome comments.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Greetings and an Invitation!

This blog is called "Lotus Sutra Champions," which answers one essential question:  What is the best way to practice Buddhism?  Answer: Read, recite, and ponder the Lotus Sutra above all else - this is what we should "champion." Much of what I'll express via the links below is strictly my own opinion. However, this much is not: The best way to practice Buddhism was taught by Shakyamuni Buddha 2,500 years ago, as indicated here:

QUOTE:

Again if there are people who embrace, read, recite, expound, and copy the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, even only one verse, and look upon this sutra with the same reverence as they would the Buddha..., then, Medicine King, you should understand that these people have already offered alms to a hundred thousand million buddhas and in the place of the buddhas have fulfilled their great vow, and because they take pity on living beings they have been born in this human world.

:UNQUOTE: [source: Chapter 10, Lotus Sutra, as translated by Burton Watson].

There are many places within the Lotus Sutra's 326 pages in which the Buddha makes it clear that these pages contain the most profound and essential teachings of all the buddhas of the universe. And this Sutra is intended to be our focal point, since it is the only possible path to the attainment of Enlightenment.

I hope you'll at least consider reading the Lotus Sutra silently to yourself. Perhaps you'll decide to adopt the practice of reading it aloud everyday as part of your own religious practice. There are several versions of the Lotus, but I have found the Burton Watson translation to be the most readable. Here's a link to a free, on-line version:


My particular way of practicing

I have been a practicing Buddhist for 22 years, much of that time spent as a member of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), headquartered in Japan. That meant I was a chanting Buddhist, a follower Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th century monk who declared the Lotus Sutra as being Buddhism's highest teaching. He advocated chanting "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo," which he claimed to be the essence of that Sutra. However, I came to feel that Nichiren went too far by making this claim:

QUOTE:

The heart of the Lotus Sutra is its title, or the daimoku, of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Truly, if you chant this in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra. Chanting daimoku twice is the same as reading the entire sutra twice, one hundred daimoku equal one hundred readings of the sutra, and a thousand daimoku, a thousand readings of the sutra. Thus, if you ceaselessly chant daimoku, you will be continually reading the Lotus Sutra.

[The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 923, "The One Essential Phrase,"
Written to the lay nun Myoho on July 3, 1278.]

:UNQUOTE.



I will now take Nichiren's words and rewrite them, hoping you'll see my objection:

"The heart of War and Peace is its title. Truly, if you 'chant' this title in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire 1,000-plus page novel. 'Chanting' its title twice is the same as reading the entire novel twice, one hundred such 'chantings' equal one hundred readings of the novel, and a thousand such 'chantings,' a thousand readings of the novel. Thus, if you ceaselessly 'chant' War-and-Peace, you will be continually reading the entire novel War and Peace."

I left the SGI because they ignore the Lotus Sutra. They discourage their members from reading it, merely being satisfied to emphasize chanting its 2nd and 16th chapters (in abbreviated form) twice each day in a language few understand - an ancient Chinese dialect!

I am no longer an SGI member, but I did not join another group. Instead, I refer to myself as a member of a Buddhist sect that has exactly one member, me, and one leader, Shakyamuni Buddha, who did not die and was not cremated as history tells us he was. I am inviting you, especially former members of the SGI, to read the Lotus Sutra at least once. You'll reach an inescapable conclusion: Unless your practice is based on reading, reciting, and pondering the meaning of the Lotus Sutra (that is, the whole thing), you are practicing incorrectly.

Since I changed my practice, I have read the Lotus Sutra's 332 pages over 130 times out loud. And I feel I have made much more spiritual progress than when I was practicing as the SGI promotes.
"Links" and "about me"

The next two sections - "Links" and "about me" - conclude this piece, which is a work in progress. I hope to refine it as time goes on. And I hope some of you will reach out and respond to me by, perhaps, even offering your own perspectives on Buddhism. I can be reached at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com.


Links

These links are to essays I have written, but are not offered below in any particular order:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2013/07/buddhism-dharani-daimoku-and-daisaku.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/11/buddha-speaks-within-your-mind.html


http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-did-buddha-lie-to-us.html




http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/01/parable-of-honest-and-excellent.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-refutation-of-abrahamists.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/01/cause-and-effect-how-did-this-happen.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/11/buddha-ignores-high-tech.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-suspicions-about-manjushri.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/12/when-ocean-of-life-peoples.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/10/religious-questions-from-presidential.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/12/buddhism-no-such-thing-as-soul.html


About me

I believe in transparency and truth in packaging. So it's only right I should tell you something about myself.

I'm a 62-year old retiree, having worked as a civil servant for a state university in Illinois in a low-level capacity for 31 years. My maximum salary never exceeded $40,000 per year, which I felt was more than generous for the work I did. Ironically, I only have an Associates Degree since I never much liked going to school; I'm more of a self-educated person.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with Stage IV liver cancer and given about 8 months to live. With chemotherapy, a positive attitude, Buddhist practice, and the support of loving family and friends, I have managed so far to elude Death's grasp. My doctor is amazed at how well I'm responding to chemo but he isn't saying I've been cured. In fact, the survival rate for people with my kind of cancer is 7% lasting as long as five years. My mindset is to beat this thing, not just live with it. But I will keep that 7% stat in mind.

Every day I'm alive is a gift, which I owe in large part to the loving kindness of my ex-wife who took me in. I was at a point where I couldn't take care of myself and had no other options, which she knew. I regard her generosity as one of the greatest benefits I've received in my Buddhist practice.

I intend to refine this site and add postings to it. I also hope to post some of your responses here. However, the day might come when I'm no longer here. I pray that this site will remain on line and that it will help guide people to the Lotus Sutra. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Yours in faith,

Steven Searle
Chicago, Illinois
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