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Post by lowell on Nov 3, 2016 23:21:58 GMT -6
The priests' advice is to chant the Mystic Law for your own happiness. Understanding how and why it produces happiness is unnecessary. They compare it to a baby and the mother's milk. The baby does not need to understand the biology and chemistry and psychology. It benefits from the milk irregardless.
Jesus too was teaching the law of karma for the future happiness of people. He knew that people needed to do good things to find happiness in the future. They needed to accept, forgive, and forget the transgressions of others. He knew that even thoughts and words could poison the well of happiness in peoples' lives.
So, in Matthew we find him going steps further into the Law and stating that 21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Here, Jesus is commanding correct thought and correct words in addition to correct action.
We see it again in his treatment of adultery.
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
How can people find happiness? The Mystic Law changes people. It transforms them from greed to thirsting for wisdom, from animality to creativity, from arrogant anger to boundless compassion. To do this in one lifetime is in truth a miracle. The Mystic Law continues to benefit those who invoke it in every lifetime from now on. Happiness that continues to develop and grow forever, is our future because we remember invoking the Mystic Law in this life, in the next. Nichiren says: I pray that you will embrace the Mystic Law, which guarantees that people “will enjoy peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences.”47 This is the only glory that you need seek in your present lifetime, and is the action that will draw you toward Buddhahood in your next existence. Single-mindedly chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and urge others to do the same; that will remain as the only memory of your present life in this human world. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 3:21:19 GMT -6
Then you are happy?
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Post by lowell on Nov 6, 2016 11:55:42 GMT -6
Yes. I experience more absolute happiness with each passing year. Most people experience relative happiness. Their happiness is related to some event or another in their present circumstances. When circumstances change, their happiness vanishes. Absolute happiness as I experience it is a tranquil joy that never goes away but may be eclipsed temporarily by some distressing event.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 15:39:40 GMT -6
Yes. I experience more absolute happiness with each passing year. Most people experience relative happiness. Their happiness is related to some event or another in their present circumstances. When circumstances change, their happiness vanishes. Absolute happiness as I experience it is a tranquil joy that never goes away but may be eclipsed temporarily by some distressing event. I'm glad that life is so pleasant for you. Lowell do you believe you'll ever see your wife again? NOT trying to be funny! Can you talk to her now? If these are unwanted questions and too personal, sorry.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2016 11:28:44 GMT -6
Lowell are your beliefs similar to that of a Brahman in India? I know nothing about Buddhism. It seems complicated. I have a doctor that's from India and he has told me a few things about his country and religion.
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Post by lowell on Nov 7, 2016 16:07:42 GMT -6
There are similarities. Shakyamuni (Siddhartha) Buddha accepted the Brahman concepts of time and cosmology and of course reincarnation is similarly believed in. Brahmanism has become Hinduism in India. Brahma is the God of gods, kind of like Zeus or Odin in Western theology. Buddhism accepted some of the Brahman heavenly deities as protectors of Buddhists. Brahma, Indra, Chandra, Naksatra, and others. All these protective deities promised to protect and serve the votary of the Lotus Sutra during the ceremony in the air. There is also a religion called Jainism that I know little about. Jains were opposed to Buddhism.
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Post by lowell on Nov 7, 2016 16:45:33 GMT -6
I'm glad that life is so pleasant for you. Lowell do you believe you'll ever see your wife again? NOT trying to be funny! Can you talk to her now? If these are unwanted questions and too personal, sorry. I am not sure. I see her face in the scroll I chant to sometimes. The first 3 months after her death I saw her face every day. She was happy and smiling. I found out from another Buddhist that the day she died, the 13th, is also the day that Nichiren Shoshu buddhists use for praying for their dead relatives and friends, since Nichiren died on the 13th of October. So I decided to visit her grave on the 13th of every month. I sit at the foot of the grave and recite the Sutra for her. The day before I go there, I see her face in the scroll, smiling at me. I also had a dream in which I was looking out the back window and saw her eldest son (who committed suicide years ago). He was walking towards the back door. I said "Look hun - here's Jake!" and I saw her walk to the back door from behind me on the left. I saw her hair and her shoulders and Jake appeared in the window of the door. She opened the door and they happily greeted each other. Then I woke up. She had another son who died a few years ago, from various problems like diabetes and the drug they use to cure antibiotic resistant infections. His name was Bobby and I haven't had a dream where she meets Bobby, yet.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2016 20:13:27 GMT -6
I'm glad that life is so pleasant for you. Lowell do you believe you'll ever see your wife again? NOT trying to be funny! Can you talk to her now? If these are unwanted questions and too personal, sorry. I am not sure. I see her face in the scroll I chant to sometimes. The first 3 months after her death I saw her face every day. She was happy and smiling. I found out from another Buddhist that the day she died, the 13th, is also the day that Nichiren Shoshu buddhists use for praying for their dead relatives and friends, since Nichiren died on the 13th of October. So I decided to visit her grave on the 13th of every month. I sit at the foot of the grave and recite the Sutra for her. The day before I go there, I see her face in the scroll, smiling at me. I also had a dream in which I was looking out the back window and saw her eldest son (who committed suicide years ago). He was walking towards the back door. I said "Look hun - here's Jake!" and I saw her walk to the back door from behind me on the left. I saw her hair and her shoulders and Jake appeared in the window of the door. She opened the door and they happily greeted each other. Then I woke up. She had another son who died a few years ago, from various problems like diabetes and the drug they use to cure antibiotic resistant infections. His name was Bobby and I haven't had a dream where she meets Bobby, yet. Interesting. How did that make you feel when you saw them? I know you have heard people say that so and so has pasted away. I never say that, I say they have passed, passed from death into life. I believe you will meet your wife again. I don't believe we are the beneficiaries of chance....that pure chance could be generous & so kind.
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Post by lowell on Nov 9, 2016 20:50:14 GMT -6
Interesting. How did that make you feel when you saw them? I know you have heard people say that so and so has pasted away. I never say that, I say they have passed, passed from death into life. I believe you will meet your wife again. I don't believe we are the beneficiaries of chance....that pure chance could be generous & so kind. That dream was one of those that are filled with tranquil joy. We may not be reborn on Earth. If I am correct and she has attained enlightenment, then she cannot be reborn on Earth. Earth is a prison world and only those who have committed major evils and have duly suffered in hell, can be born here with the exception of the Buddha and certain bodhisattvas. Gods can also take human form here but they seek the adulation of mortals and those who are devoted to them will not find release from this world. This is like a purgatory. Some can be released if they are tested and found worthy. Most fail and are reborn here. Some fail terribly and fall back into hell. Not everyone finds freedom in death. Some experience fear and helplessness and are compelled to be reborn into a less desirable existence with a less desirable destiny in that existence. Some find their arms gripped by devils who carry them into hell.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 9:56:34 GMT -6
Interesting. How did that make you feel when you saw them? I know you have heard people say that so and so has pasted away. I never say that, I say they have passed, passed from death into life. I believe you will meet your wife again. I don't believe we are the beneficiaries of chance....that pure chance could be generous & so kind. That dream was one of those that are filled with tranquil joy. We may not be reborn on Earth. If I am correct and she has attained enlightenment, then she cannot be reborn on Earth. Earth is a prison world and only those who have committed major evils and have duly suffered in hell, can be born here with the exception of the Buddha and certain bodhisattvas. Gods can also take human form here but they seek the adulation of mortals and those who are devoted to them will not find release from this world. This is like a purgatory. Some can be released if they are tested and found worthy. Most fail and are reborn here. Some fail terribly and fall back into hell. Not everyone finds freedom in death. Some experience fear and helplessness and are compelled to be reborn into a less desirable existence with a less desirable destiny in that existence. Some find their arms gripped by devils who carry them into hell. Lowell, do you then think this planet could be another planet's hell? I have ran into that before and it makes one think.
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Post by lowell on Nov 12, 2016 1:43:18 GMT -6
Lowell, do you then think this planet could be another planet's hell? I have ran into that before and it makes one think. No, hells are quite worse, though people can experience the sufferings of hell in this life. They nearly always have hellish experiences for a time and then a different condition of life emerges from their life. There are 8 cold hells and 8 hot hells. The hot hells are the worst. But even higher conditions of life have negative consequences. Those experiencing intense greed are tormented by it and cannot experience love and tranquil joy. Those who experience cruelty and fear in animality are also cut off from tranquil joy. Those who are consumed with arrogant anger, ditto. These lower conditions of life are considered the evil paths in Buddhism because those who primarily experience those make causes that lead them to fall into hell. If we think of hell as being the real prison, then this world is like a halfway house. A more beautiful, comfortable place to exist but a place with guards where the inmates are checked up on from time to time and if they misbehave too badly, they are returned to the prison.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2016 3:58:54 GMT -6
Thanks, that's something different, never heard that before.
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Post by lowell on Nov 12, 2016 23:55:52 GMT -6
Nichiren said in his letter titled "The Learned Doctor Shan-Wu-Wei" in 1270, "This saha world occupies the lowest position among all the worlds of the ten directions. Among these worlds, it holds a place like that of a prison within a nation. All the persons in the worlds of the ten directions who have committed any of the ten evil acts, the five cardinal sins, the grave offense of slandering the True Law or other terrible crimes and have been driven out by the Buddhas of those worlds have been brought together here in this saha land by Shakyamuni Buddha. These people, having fallen into the three evil paths or the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering and there duly suffered for their offense, have been reborn in the realm of Humanity or Heaven. But, because they still retain certain vestiges of their former evil behavior, they are inclined to easily commit some further offense by slandering the True Law or speaking contemptuously of men of wisdom. "
In another letter he replies to questions about why those who slander him for teaching the Lotus Sutra, do not have their mouths stopped up or their heads split apart (they go insane) as the Lotus Sutra predicts.
"Answer: There are two types of people who show animosity toward the Lotus Sutra. The first are people who cultivated the roots of goodness in former existences, who in their present existence are searching for some connection with Buddhism, who conceive a desire for enlightenment and are capable of attaining Buddhahood. It is these people whose mouths are stopped or whose heads split apart.
The other type are people who have slandered the correct teaching in their previous existences, slander it in their present existence, and for existence after existence go on creating karma that will condemn them to the hell of incessant suffering. These people, even though they may curse, will not have their mouths stopped. They are like men who have already been sentenced to execution and are awaiting their turn in prison. While they are in prison, regardless of what evil acts they may commit, they will receive no further punishment other than the death sentence already passed upon them. However, with regard to people who are eventually to be released, if they commit evil acts in prison, then they will receive warnings.
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Post by lowell on Nov 13, 2016 0:07:18 GMT -6
Before I learned of these letters, I had an experience where I lost my voice. I had been chanting for money and it occurred to me that I could take back a chess set (expensive) that I had loaned to a friend in another college rooming house. I went to that house and the door was open to the main room. I walked in and saw the chess set on the coffee table. I picked it up and found almost a hundred dollars underneath. I took both the chess set and the money, thinking the money was a benefit from chanting. When I got back to my rooming house I put the chess set in my room and headed downstairs to the common room. On my way down, my hand flew over and hit the bannister. It felt like it had broken. Later that night the friend came over and asked me if I had taken the money. I lied. He didn't believe me. Later that night I tried to chant and my voice quit working. I could only whisper. It was like that for three days. Then I realized that I would be prevented from practicing Buddhism correctly so I went to the other rooming house and the moment I began to tell my former friend the truth, my voice came back. I eventually repaid him all the money. I tried to get him to chant by pointing out that those who chant are truly people he can trust. He refused. Later I learned that he had been cheating with the wife of a mutual friend. So it may be that he was afraid of his own karma. I had learned a valuable lesson. Later I read about the prediction of those who slander the Lotus Sutra having their mouths stopped up and realized that by stealing and lying, I had slandered the Lotus Sutra. This sort of instant karma does not happen to Christians. Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism is the most powerful religion on Earth.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2019 3:37:17 GMT -6
I'm happy as a clam especially when God blesses me.
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