Moral Philosophy and Dealings With Priests -
------------------------------------------
I want to die a slave to principles, not to men. - Emiliano Zapata
Table of Contents
___________________________________
.. Purpose
.. Fundamentals
.. Categorical Imperative
.. Formulations
.. Immorality
.. Rejection of Aristotle
.. The Enquiring Murderer
.. Universal oath-breaking
.. Some Fairly Unquestionable Arguments
.. Some Arguments That You Might Question
.. Truman And The Bomb Decision
.. Scrambling Eggs
___________________________________
Purpose
-------
This article is not an attempt to mix the Daishonin's Buddhism with
moral philosophy, but instead is an attempt to make a moral
philosophical discussion that might shed some light on general
principles which can be considered: concerning dealings with priests.
That's all: general principles for consideration.
The Lotus Sutra is the highest teaching, called the True Teaching. All
other teachings either bow to the Lotus Sutra, or cannot be retained
since they will preclude the unsurpassed enlightenment of the Lotus
Sutra.
It is an act of faith to pursue a course, without immediate beneficial
response, in the profound belief that it will result in a better
world.
If that is true, then is it not also true, that it is a faithless act
to pursue a course, without immediate hurtful response, despite our
underlying knowledge that incorrect actions are involved?
Western Moral Philosophy is divided roughly between the Deontological
camp, which believes in doing the right thing in spite of the result
(principles), and consequentialism, which is more focused on what
produces a better result for self (egoism) or others (utilitarian
altruism). Since Deontology would appear to be aligned with Buddhism
of the True Cause (Honnin-myo), I have chosen to travel down that path
in this discussion.
Fundamentals
------------
At the center of Deontology is Kant and the Categorical Imperative:
.. Categorical Imperative
.. ----------------------
.. (From Wikipedia.org, the free encyclopedia.)
..
.. ' The philosophical concept of a categorical
.. imperative is central to the moral philosophy of
.. Immanuel Kant. In his philosophy, it denotes an
.. absolute, unconditional requirement that allows no
.. exceptions, and is both required and justified as an end
.. in itself, not as a means to some other end; the
.. opposite of a hypothetical imperative. Most famously, he
.. holds that all categorical imperatives can be derived
.. from a single one, which is known as "the" Categorical
.. Imperative; it is upon this Imperative that the article
.. will focus.
So, according to Kant there is a single universal imperative from
which all others are derived.
.. Formulations
.. ------------ '
..
.. In his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals,
.. Kant formulates the Categorical Imperative in three
.. different ways:
..
.. o The first (Universal Law formulation): "Act only
.. according to that maxim by which you can at the same
.. time will that it should become a universal law."
Hence, universality is crucial, and lack of exceptions due to
situations or cir***stances is also crucial.
.. o The second (Humanity or End in Itself formulation):
.. "Act in such a way that you always treat humanity,
.. whether in your own person or in the person of any
.. other, never simply as a means, but always at the
.. same time as an end."
In Deontological terms, when you treat something as a means to an end,
that renders it morally neutral: as a utensil. The utensil only has
the value of the end to which you apply it. If persons (and other
entities) have intrinsic value, then they must not be treated simply
as a means to an end, they must be appreciated always.
.. o The third (Kingdom of Ends formulation) combines the
.. two: "All maxims as proceeding from our own
.. [hypothetical] making of law ought to harmonise with
.. a possible kingdom of ends."
So, the global view of all ends cannot be distorted to uphold the
local view of a single end, in establi****ng what are the correct
actions.
These are amazingly close to the Triratna, the Three Treasures: Law,
Buddha and Sangha. This is not accidental, in my humble opinion.
What comes from Kant's thinking is a close approximation to a
description of some parts of Buddhism. Not the Law itself, just a
description of how it would appear in his Deontology view.
.. Immorality
.. ----------
..
.. In Kant's view immorality occurs when the
.. categorical imperative is not followed: when a person
.. attempts to set a different standard for themselves then
.. for the rest of humanity. In the Groundwork for the
.. Metaphysics of Morals, once Kant has derived his
.. categorical imperative he applies it to a number of
.. examples. The second example and probably the most
.. analysed is that of an unfaithful promise. Kant applies
.. his imperative to a person who is short of money who
.. intends to ask for a loan, promising to repay it, but
.. with no intention of doing so. When Kant applies the
.. categorical imperative to this situation he discovers
.. that it leads to a contradiction, for if breaking
.. promises were to become universal then no person would
.. ever agree to a promise and promises would disappear.
.. Kant connects rationality with morality, and sees
.. contradictory behaviour as immoral. Some critics have
.. argued that Kant never asserts the connection between
.. rationality and morality, but most dismiss this and
.. point out that Kant clearly explains how morality must
.. be based upon reason and not upon desires.
So, desire for a goal is motivation, but is insufficient to provide
for justification for a course of action to satisfy that desire. A
course of action must be consistent with the three views of the
categorical imperative, to maintain the moral value of that entity.
.. Rejection of Aristotle
.. ----------------------
It is useful, while reading this passage about Aristotle, to remember
that his moral philosophy allowed the use of persons as a means to an
end, and justified the institution of slavery in Greece.
.. Especially im****tant to Kant were the works of
.. Aristotle, which stand in direct oppostion to much of
.. what Kant argues. Before Kant the most im****tant moral
.. theories were based upon Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
.. which assert that whatever leads to greater eudaimonia,
.. or happiness, is what is moral. Kant, however, believes
.. that any action taken for a deliberate end, whether it
.. be happiness or some other goal, is morally neutral.
.. Kant rests his rejection of the Aristotelian position on
.. a number of points. He points out that all the
.. imperatives are hypothetical, they are performed merely
.. to attain a certain end. More im****tantly to Kant, this
.. end is one dictated by desires, implying that the human
.. will is no more than a facilitator of predetermined
.. ends, limiting human freedom.
Here, Kant makes the claim that true duty or mission cannot be
observed and learned: a posteriori. It is a priori, or intrinsically
derived only from one's inherent wisdom. True mission (that cannot be
shaken or corrupted by externals) comes from an inner process, based
on intrinsic values, or inherent wisdom.
.. Kant also challenges the traditional viewpoint using
.. his definition of duty as something that is impossible
.. to learn from observation, and thus can only be deduced
.. rationally. While it is possible to learn imperatives of
.. skill and prudence that are morally neutral through
.. observation, the categorical imperative that allows one
.. to determine what actually is moral is known a priori
.. and can only be properly determined through reason. Any
.. imperative that is hypothetical is not based on reason.
.. You perform a hypothetical imperative only if you want
.. or desire something; they are performed for a certain
.. hoped for end. They are based on desire and hope and not
.. upon the reason upon which ethics should be founded.
..
.. One im****tant difference between Aristotle and Kant
.. is that in Aristotle's case only the educated and the
.. leisurely class that can indulge in self-examination can
.. be moral. Kant's philosophy is far more egalitarian.
.. Morality cannot be taught or learnt, it must arise
.. spontaneously from within.
The next passage goes on to discuss and prove that the three
imperatives are really all equivalent. After making this point,
problem cases that have arison over the years with Kant's principles
are discussed, Two of them are included:
.. The Enquiring Murderer
.. ----------------------
..
.. One of the first major challenges to Kant's
.. reasoning came from the Swiss philosopher Benjamin
.. Constant who asserted that since truth telling must be
.. universal according to Kant's theories, one must (if
.. asked) tell a known murderer the location of his prey.
..
.. This challenge occurred while Kant was still alive
.. and his response was the now infamous essay On a
.. Supposed Right to Tell Lies from Benevolent Motives. In
.. this reply Kant argued that it is indeed one's moral
.. duty to be truthful to a murderer, a statement which
.. seems to contradict Kant's earlier assertions that his
.. moral theory is the one that people practice
.. subconciously anyway. The scholar Paton, usually a great
.. Kant fan, has called this letter a tem****ary aberration,
.. and the petulant reply of 73 year old man.
..
.. It is worth noting that the example can be restated
.. in such a way that "no comment" will confirm to the
.. murderer the location of the victim, and so the only way
.. to save the victim is to lie. In any event, saying "no
.. comment" probably violates the Categorical Imperative
.. anyway, since one cannot will that everyone would always
.. respond to questions in such a manner. Thus, arguably,
.. the Categorical Imperative requires truthfulness, rather
.. than just prohibiting lies.
Note that the action of simply declaring his determination to the
enquiring murderer, not to be used as a means to evil ends as a third
answer, does not occur to Constant. Constant attempts to create a
false case: where "the only way to save the victim is to lie". This is
Consequentialism in a nutshell, and falsely assumes the outcome of an
action. In Kant's view he is disregarding the case that a lie would
lead the murderer to the victim through some cir***stance: all
strategies based on desires can fail, by being undermined by evil
cir***stance or tragic turn of events.
.. Kant believed the world would be shocked by how vast
.. the uses and implications of his categorical imperative
.. would be. After Constant, however, the uses were either
.. dramatically lessened, or it had to be accepted that the
.. moral system Kant was proposing would stand in
.. opposition to the intuitions of the average person.
Unfortunate, if true. I think Kant was completely right.
.. Universal oath-breaking
.. -----------------------
..
.. Another objection to Kant came from the Englishman
.. Sir David Ross who pointed that a world where everyone
.. could be depended upon to always break their promises
.. would be just as effective and reliable as world where
.. everyone kept their promises and one could thus will
.. that promise breaking become universal.
..
.. The reply to this is that a world where one could
.. always rely on everyone to break their promises would be
.. the same world as one with promises but with a different
.. language. The word 'not' in a phrase such as "I promise
.. not to go to class today" would no longer mean a
.. negation of a promise but would be an essential part of
.. a promising phrase. Because the language is different
.. does not change the act of promising at all; promises
.. would still exist and one would still expect them to be
.. carried through.
So, all phenomena can be viewed either as oath-keeping and oath-
breaking. Then having the proper view of the very same life experience
is what reveals the truth: value or nothingness.
Application of Moral Philosophy to Dealings With Priests
--------------------------------------------------------
First we will work our way through some easier to agree upon cases (in
my humble opinion) to some more difficult to agree upon cases.
Some Fairly Unquestionable Arguments
------------------------------------
1. The ends do not justify the means used to obtain them. Hence, every
end result and every means used to obtain that result must be examined
thoroughly. Otherwise, unintended consequences will result from using
inappropriate means or identifying people as a utensil, which attempts
to neutralize their moral value.
This implies that where you end up, and how you got there are both
im****tant, in defining your moral condition at that point: Your moral
condition relative to the universal Law INCLUDES the path and every
cause made along the way.
2. Upholding the Law and Slander of the Law are inverse. If upholding
the Law fills your sails, then slander of the Law takes the wind out
of them. (See the Letter to Akimoto, WND p. 1014, the four kinds of
vessels: upset/covered, leaking, defiled or mixed.) Slander, or
complicity in slander, can cause you to undermine your practice, as
the fortune you ac***ulate immediately leaks away, and this is an
evil.
3. Unity around a slander is complicity. Only the unity that upholds
the Law, is the unity of "many in body, one in mind". Slander of the
Law undermines that unity. So, simply being unified on a course is
insufficient, we need to try hard to do the right thing and avoid
slander.
4. Since all of the sutras come to the First Council (30 years after
the Buddhas death) from the prodigious memory of his cousin Ananda,
and were orally transmitted for generations until being written in
Sanskrit/Brahmi in about the First Century BCE, then one must accept
the do***entary validity of ALL the sutras of Buddhism or NONE of
them. If NONE are accepted, then there is no Buddhism. If there is
Buddhism, then the final admonition of the Buddha in the Nirvana Sutra
(just before his death) is what defines Buddhism: that the Lotus Sutra
is the highest teaching of the Buddha and purpose for his advent, and
therefore to honestly discard all of the other sutras of the Buddha,
except where they perfectly agree with the Lotus Sutra. Then Buddhism
is only that which rests solely upon the Lotus Sutra and not upon
provisional teachings, and none other. (This implies that Hinayana,
Nembutsu/Jodo, Zen, ****ngon/Tantric, Ritsu/Precepts, and all other
derivatives are really someone else's -ism, and not Buddh-ism. Calling
these traditions Buddhism is therefore a combination of identity theft
and plagiarism or misappropriation of works or literary piracy.)
This all assumes the proper translation. (Kumarajiva's as opposed to
say, Pu-k'ung's highly erroneous one.) From "The Selection of the Time
- Nichiren, disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha", the Writings of Nichiren
Daishonin pp. 555:
.. In studying the teachings of Buddhism, apart from
.. the distinctions between Hinayana and Mahayana,
.. provisional and true, and exoteric and esoteric
.. teachings, this question of the reliability of the sutra
.. translation is the most im****tant of all.
5. The Tendai believers call themselves Votaries of the Lotus Sutra.
But they are not followers of Nichiren, and do not follow the correct
practice for this time. Endlessly reciting and meditating upon the 28
Chapter Lotus Sutra was valid practice in T'ien-T'ai's time, the
Middle Day of the Law. It is an insufficient practice to overcome the
impurities of the Latter Day, and cannot bring about Kosen-Rufu
(widespread propagation of the Law), according to the Buddha's
prediction.
6. The followers of the Five Senior Priests call themselves followers
of Nichiren. But they are not followers of Nikko's School, the Fuji
School (Nikko's 2nd Admonition), and cannot bring about Kosen-Rufu
(widespread propagation of the Law), even though they continue to
build new temples. Widespread propagation cannot occur inside temples.
Since they cannot act to bring about Kosen-Rufu, they are not
followers of Nichiren.
7. Many SGI members follow the 26 Admonitions pretty faithfully, since
they no longer follow false priests who pretend to be followers of
Nikko while ignoring his 26 Admonitions. While they remain in the SGI
(Sangha), and if they should violate an Admonition, they suffer, but
do not become a "false" Lay member. There is no provision for
excommunication of Lay members in Nikko's school, the only punishment
comes from their own lives.
Therefore, this is the one and only Buddhism in the Latter Day of the
Law. That is why it is called True Buddhism.
Some Arguments That You Might Question
--------------------------------------
(But that are still correct, in my humble opinion.)
8. Nichiren Shoshu and the Hokkeko have always called themselves
followers of Nikko's Fuji School, but from the beginning (1912) they
have followed priests that disobey the 25th Admonition against ***ual
abstinence, and they have followed priests that were trained by
Nichiren Shu (5 Senior Priests) at Rissho University - disobeying the
2nd Admonition, and hence according to Nikko they are not his
followers, but are instead followers of the Five Senior Priests.
(Nikko would have kicked them out of the Fuji School just for training
at Rissho.)
From the end of Nikko Shonin's 26 Admonitions:
.. "I have set forth these 26 articles for the sake of the
.. eternal salvation and protection of humankind. Those who
.. violate even one of these articles cannot be called
.. disciples of Nikko."
In 1969, Daisaku Ikeda founded Soka University to train the future
leaders of the Soka Gakkai, among others. This was a necessary move,
because of the corruption seen in attitudes of Japanese Academics, and
their determined resistance to recognizing the Soka Gakkai as a valid
religious organization and worthy of respect. Witness the academic
quotes in the LOOK Magazine article (1963) by the President of Rissho
University, Rev. Shobun Kubota, D.T. Suzuki of Zen, and other
academics, that the Soka Gakkai "can not be Buddhism".
| The Rev. Dr. Shobun Kubota, vice-president of Rissho
| University of Tokyo, concurs. "The principle of
| Buddhism," he says, "is to restrain man's desires, such
| as ***, hunger, wealth and fame, but Soka Gakkai
| promises the possession of these desires. It uses man's
| weaknesses as a tool for its own expansion. It has the
| same characteristics as Nazism. Finally, it is a
| corruption of Buddhism."
|.
| LOOK Magazine, September 10, 1963
This from academic Buddhists who signed up unanimously, institution by
institution, to bear the ****nto Talisman, and promote Imperial Way
Buddhism and Imperial State Zen militarism for the God-Emperor. In
sup****t of that self- same Nazi Reich, while Makiguchi and Toda alone
bore the brunt of oppression to the end. Such evil-doers call
themselves Buddhists. Their tongues should rot in their mouths.
Soka University has created at least one academic environment where
the Soka Gakkai can be viewed with objectivity by students. This was
and remains an absolute good.
Nichiren Shoshu has continued to allow the training of their future
leaders by the Nichiren Shu Minobu Sect at Rissho University, even
though they were aware that this was a slander of Nikko's school, and
made them not followers of Nikko.
(Excerpts from http://www.geocities.com/smimoza/vol275.html,
the "Fake
[High Priest]" Newsletter:)
| "My view of the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu has been
| polluted with Minobu's wicked teachings," Nikken
| confessed at the opening ceremony for the Fuji Gakurin
| School (Dai- Nichiren, May 2000 edition).
Fuji Gakurin is the school that Nikken started to belatedly replace
Rissho University as the source of priest trainees for Nichiren
Shoshu. Apparently, he only took this action after people started
talking about the 26 Admonitions publicly (Living Buddhism article by
Daisaku Ikeda in 1998). The sad fact is, that Nichiren Shoshu has
violated all 26, most by the letter of the admonition, but all 26 by
their intent.
In relatively short order after being rebuked in 1998, Nikken
officially opened the Fuji Gakurin School on April 10th, 2000. Many
attended and heard his statements: Nichijun Fujimoto, Nichiyu Yo****da,
Nitto (Juken) Ohmura, Nichijo (Gikan) Hayase, Nissho (****nei) Yagi,
Chief of the Overseas Department Kotoku Obaya****, Chief of the Public
Relations Department Kogaku Akimoto and Vice Chief of the Study
Department Kosho Mizu****ma.
Nikken went on to state that "he had been contaminated by Minobu's
teachings"...
| "I once attended the University run by Nichiren-shu. The
| hardest thing for me in my campus life was that the
| teacher said many false things about the teachings and
| history of Nichiren Daishonin. I had always thought that
| I should refute these false ideas. However, I cannot say
| that that was my true intention, because I was only a
| student."
|.
| "When we constantly hear false things, we will be caught
| up in false ways of thinking, or I can say, we will be
| trapped in it. As I recall my early days, false ideas
| did exist in my view of Nichiren Buddhism, especially
| regarding the legitimate teachings of Nichiren-shoshu.
| At that time, I was not able to straighten out my
| thoughts sufficiently from the viewpoint of faith,
| action, study.... If I were young now, I could study
| with you, young fellows, in these cl*****, taught by
| these engaged teachers."
But his distorted views from Rissho were not left there at the
University.
We are reminded of Nikken's words on October 8th, 1985, when he
attended the completion ceremony of Komyoji Temple, Hachioji City,
Tokyo. Kotoku Hirayama, the chief priest of the temple, asked Nikken,
"What is the biggest obstacle you had in your practice?" Nikken
answered, "It is that I could not truly believe in the Gohonzon. I
cannot believe truly now. I have to really try."
Also, we are reminded of Nikken's statement that "Daigohonzon is a
fake" from the Kawabe memo. This statement seems to be influenced by
the author of "view of wood honzon is false", Minobu priest Bentetsu
Yasunaga, who is an associate professor at Minobu's Rissho University
and chief priest of Zenshoji Temple.
| In recent years, the exchange of Minobu priests and
| Nikken sect priests has become more frequent. Monks of
| the Nikken sect make pilgrimages to temples of Minobu
| sect with Hokkeko members, or they invite Minobu monks
| to Taisekiji. General chief of the Hokkeko federation,
| Kisoji Yanagisawa, made a pilgrimage to Kuonji Temple,
| the general head temple of the Minobu sect. We [the Fake
| Newsletter] have mentioned this issue before, and even
| "Emyo," one of organ papers of Nikken sect, could not
| argue against this. Taisekiji priests Kaido Seki, Jikei
| Maekawa, Kosho Mizu****ma, Sonfuku Ochiai, Gishu
| Funaba****, all made visits to Minobu's temples
| themselves. They later made excuses during lectures at
| their temples or in their temple newsletters, saying,
| "We went and saw the temple but did not chant."...etc.
The proof of Rissho's heritage is on their own website, the page on
"History of Rissho":
| Over 120 Years of Tradition and 70 Years of History as
| a Modern Educational Institution
|.
| No other institution of higher education in Japan has
| a longer tradition than Rissho University.
|.
| Our founding dates back to 1580 when the "Iidaka-
| Danrin School" was established to educate student
| priests of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism. The school
| took its name from its location, Iidaka Town, which is
| now Yoka- lchiba City in Chiba Prefecture. Some of the
| ancient wooden structures have been carefully preserved
| and form part of the Hanko-ji Temple. These structures
| include the lecture hall, gate, drum tower and bell
| tower, which are designated as "Im****tant Cultural
| Assets" by the Government. The school closed its gates
| in 1875. During its 295-year history, it produced a
| great many talented figures who made prominent
| contributions to promoting Buddhism and education in
| Japan.
|.
| Shortly before it [Iidaka-Danrin School] was closed,
| the "Nichiren-shu Shukyo-in" (Nichiren Religious
| Academy) was established in 1872 at the Jokyo-ji Temple
| in Takanawa, Tokyo, to succeed the "Iidaka-Danrin
| School" in modern times.
|.
| In 1904, the Academy was moved to Osaki,Tokyo, the
| present site of the main campus of Rissho University.
|.
| Authorized by the Government ordinance concerning
| colleges issued that year [1904], it opened its gates as
| "Nichiren-shu Daigakurin" (Nichiren Religious College).
|.
|.
| When the Government issued an ordinance concerning
| universities in 1924, the University was reorganized
| into Rissho University with Faculty of Letters newly
| opened. Its doors were opened to both Nichiren priests
| and ordinary students.
Hence, Nikken is more than simply an enemy of the Soka Gakkai and a
very bad High Priest at the Fuji School.
Nikken in clearly not a follower of Nikko's School and never has been
at any time. He is a follower of the Five Senior Priests and a minion
of Minobu, in spite of what his conscious mind tells him.
Consciousness is, after all, only one of Five Components.
From the Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism:
.. Dai-Gohonzon (Jpn): The object of devotion that
.. Nichiren inscribed at Minobu, Japan, on the twelfth day
.. of the tenth month in 1279, and which he referred to as
.. the purpose of his advent. "DaiGohonzon" literally means
.. the great object of devotion.
..
.. In "On Persecutions Befalling the Sage", written on the
.. first day of the same month, Nichiren states: "Now, in
.. the second year of Koan (1279), cyclical sign
.. tsuchinoto-u, it has been twenty-seven years since I
.. first proclaimed this teaching at Seicho-ji temple. It
.. was at the hour of the horse [noon] on the twenty-eighth
.. day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Kencho
.. (1253), cyclical sign mizunoto-u****, on the southern
.. side of the image hall in the Shobutsu-bo of Seicho-ji
.. temple ... The Buddha fulfilled the purpose of his
.. advent in a little over forty years, the Great Teacher
.. T'ien-t'ai took about thirty years, and the Great
.. Teacher Dengyo, some twenty years. I have spoken
.. repeatedly of the indescribable persecutions they
.. suffered during those years. For me it took twenty-seven
.. years, and the great persecutions I faced during this
.. period are well known to you all" (Writings of Nichiren
.. Daishonin, p. 996).
..
.. The Dai-Gohonzon was entrusted to Nikko, and then to
.. Nichimoku, and preserved at Taiseki-ji temple. "Matters
.. to Be Observed after Nikko's Death", a do***ent of
.. entrustment from Nikko to Nichimoku, reads: "As for the
.. Dai-Gohonzon of the second year of Koan [1279] that was
.. entrusted to my person, I bestow it on Nichimoku."
..
.. Nichiren inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon during the time of
.. the Atsuhara Persecution. Twenty farmers were arrested
.. and pressured with threats to disavow their belief in
.. Nichiren's teachings, but all refused to do so. Three
.. were then beheaded. It is said that Nichiren inscribed
.. the DaiGohonzon in response to the sincere and
.. courageous faith of these ordinary believers.
Nichimoku also wrote about the "plank" gohonzon in his transfer
do***ents.
So the credibility of Nikko and Nichimoku rest upon the validity of
the Dai-Gohonzon. If it is fake, they are liars. It is NOT fake, and
they are NOT liars.
If Nikken could just undermine the validity of the Dai-Gohonzon, the
way back to Minobu Sect for Nichiren Shoshu was clear.
All of this was in Nikken's mind when he enscribed his Gohonzon.
It is a Gohonzon of a Priest who follows the Five Senior Priests.
Chanting to it, by members of the Soka Gakkai, the Lay organization of
Nikko's School is therefore a violation of the 2nd Admonition of
Nikko:
.. 2. The doctrines of the five senior priests differ in
.. every regard from the teachings of the late master.
That makes the simple act of chanting to a Nikken Gohonzon a profound
slander of the Law. Especially now that all of this has come to light.
Even though it IS a Gohonzon, it's PATH to you in the three existences
of past, present and future begins with his enscription of it: he is
enscribing it with those thoughts in mind. It's END as utensil does
not justify the MEANS or path of acquisition. You can, after all, buy
a fine Nichiren-enscribed Gohonzon from many of the Nichiren sects.
The means of arrival matters.
When you chant to it, and bow to it with your body, then that effect
is in your life. His profound hatred of the Soka Gakkai and its loyal
members is manifest in your life.
The question is: Is there another way to shakubuku back Temple
members, other than chanting to their Nikken Gohonzon? That would seem
to be the only obvious way to homevisit.
9. By a similar argument to number 8, above, ALL Nichiren Shoshu
Temples, ESPECIALLY the Head Temple at Taisekiji, are not in the Fuji
School of Nikko, but instead are merely outposts of the Minobu Sect,
representing the beliefs of the Five Senior Priests that Nikko and
Nichimoku were liars, and that the Dai-Gohonzon is a fake, and the the
Kosen-Rufu movement is a sham. The fact that Nichiren Shoshu deifies
the Daishonin and High Priest Nikken, whereas the Minobu Sect deifies
Shakyamuni and the Nichiren Shu High Priest at Kuon-ji Temple on Mt.
Minobu, is irrelevant. As Nichiren stated clearly, there is no
difference between Nichiren and the Great Shakyamuni, or any other
mortal.
Persons are not to be deified in Buddhism. We uphold the Universal
Law, not persons. And like a fly on Pegasus' tail, we are raised to a
great height merely for that act.
The incorrect view of the Buddha's teachings always leads to
deification of someone, and wor****pping their statue in some distorted
pretense of being a Buddhist.
That makes the simple act of entering a Nichiren Shoshu Temple a
profound slander of the Law. Particularly if one shows respect, or
even "bends over to tie one's shoes" as paraphrased from Josei Toda.
10. Then there are really only three kinds of priests in the view of
Nikko's Fuji School.
.. 1. False Priests (such as those in Nichiren Shoshu and
.. Nichiren Shu, etc.)
.. 2. Ex-Priests (these may have converted to be SGI
.. members or not)
.. 3. Valid Priests (these follow all 26 Admonitions, and
.. were never trained in Nichiren Shu Buddhism at Rissho
University)
So when we deal with Reformist Priests, it is im****tant to ask, which
kind are they?
If they were trained at Rissho University, then the connection to deep
and abiding slander of Nikko's School would appear to overwhelm any
attempts to reverse that. Remembering the 2nd Admonition:
.. 2. The doctrines of the five senior priests differ in
.. every regard from the teachings of the late master.
.... in every regard ... they were incorrectly trained as Buddhist
Priests.
If they declare themselves as Ex-Priests, and think of themselves in
that way, and have joined the SGI, then they can be a potent force for
dealing with priesthood issues.
Otherwise, what is the effect of using their continuing slander of
Nikko's School (as False Priests), as a means to our end, however
noble that might be?
Truman And The Bomb Decision
----------------------------
It is said that Truman's decision to use the bomb on Hiro****ma and
Nagasaki was motivated by the casualty estimates of taking Honshu at
the end of the War. That is a Consequentialist argument and
incorrectly begs the result. It is immoral.
One can argue with Deontology, and I do, that no casualty estimate
could rise high enough to cause one to get in bed with the nuclear
demon. And since my father was part of the invasion force, I am
probably here as a result of that immoral and unjustifiable decision,
and now arguing against my own existence.
Having made the decision the way we did, are we not, for the
foreseeable future, going to be looking over our shoulder for our
nuclear companion to come for another visit? Of course we are. The end
does not justify the means: both ends and means must be justified
separately. (Or you could use ANY pretext for an invasion...)
Scrambling Eggs
---------------
When you make scrambled eggs there are two distinct first steps that
can be employed, which both result in scrambled eggs. You can either
carefully crack the eggs and let the yolk and the white fall into the
bowl, tossing the shells aside ... or you can just be expedient and
throw the eggs in the bowl. In either case you stir like crazy.
With the second method, eating them is a lot more work, as you, bite
by bite, separate each piece of shell from each bit of egg and spit it
out. Not very appetizing, but you did save that separation step !!
Imagine if the shell were toxic, and ingesting it made you sick.
Now think about everything Nichiren Shoshu and their associated
priests as the shell.
As I said at the beginning: This article is not an attempt to mix the
Daishonin's Buddhism with moral philosophy, but instead is an attempt
to make a moral philosophical discussion that might shed some light on
general principles which can be considered: concerning dealings with
priests. That's all: general principles for consideration.
Just something to think about. A cautionary note.
-Chas.
________________________________________
From "The Entity of the Mystic Law", Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
p. 426 ...
In the final analysis, the meaning of the Lotus Sutra is that the
metaphor is none other than the entity of the Law and that the entity
of the Law is none other than the metaphor. That is why the Great
Teacher Dengyo in his commentary says: "The Lotus Sutra contains a
great many metaphors and parables. However, when it comes to the major
parables, we find that there are seven of them. These seven parables
are none other than the entity of the Law, and the entity of the Law
is none other than these metaphors and parables. Therefore, there is
no entity of the Law outside of the metaphors and parables, and there
are no metaphors and parables outside of the entity of the Law. In
other words, the entity of the Law refers to the entity of the truth
of the essential nature of phenomena, while the metaphors and parables
represent the entity of the Mystic Law as manifested in actual
phenomena. The manifestations are none other than the entity of the
truth, and the entity of the truth is none other than the
manifestations. Therefore, it can be said that the Law and its
metaphors constitute a single entity. This is why the passages from
the treatises and the annotations by the Tendai school all explain the
lotus as both the Law itself and a metaphor for it."
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