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Post by lowell on Sept 26, 2019 4:47:12 GMT -6
In Theravada Buddhism, disciples were discouraged from trying to attain enlightenment, or even a better circumstance in the next existence. Those who were classified as Shomon and Engaku (voice-hearers and self-realized sages) were told by the Buddha that their buddha natures were like scorched seeds. The best they could hope for through practicing Theravada Buddhism, was Nirvana. Nirvana was the enlightenment of no remainder. It is, for suffering people an end to their reincarnation into endless lives of suffering. It is the complete death of the self. This is why those who are unfamiliar with the True Mahayana Sutras of the last period of the life of the Buddha, say that buddhists don't believe in the soul or transmigration of the soul from existence to a different existence. It is not that these Theravada buddhists disbelieve in it, they despair of ever elevating their future existences to the tranquil joy of Buddhahood. Voice-hearers are those who listen to and observe reality and learn from it. They were like modern day scientists. Self-realized sages were like inventors and artists-musicians, people of relative creativity. The Buddha considered these people to be lacking the motivation to seek enlightenment, because they were satisfied with their knowledge and understanding. There are three types of enlightenment. There is enlightenment with a fundamental change of the self. (The nirvana of no-remainder)
There is a temporary partial enlightenment. (It usually occurs when it can lead one to seek complete enlightenment)
And there is complete enlightenment in one's current form and after only one lifetime.
We see the belief in the soul when we examine the words of the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra.
In Chapter 20 the Buddha reveals the first lifetime he remembers.
In Chapter 12 he reveals a lifetime when he was the disciple of Devadatta.
In Chapter 7 he talks about a Buddha named Great Universal Wisdom Excellence and remembers that he was one of 16 sons of that Buddha.
In Chapter 2 the voice-hearer Shariputra, dances for joy because the Buddha tells him, "The true entity of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas."
Then he proceeds to share his understanding with Shariputra.
This is the first moment where Shariputra realizes he will be a Buddha.
In subsequent chapters there are predictions of enlightenment for this group and other groups of disciples, until the preaching of the Ceremony in the air, the Emergence of the Treasure Tower in Chapter 11.
This establishes the Buddhist belief in the soul of the Buddha and the disciples of the Buddha, and for animals (in Chapter 12).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2020 12:54:41 GMT -6
Animals have souls?
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Post by lowell on Dec 26, 2020 15:42:25 GMT -6
Yes, all sentient beings are capable of attaining enlightenment, they all have souls.
The final prayer of my morning and evening prayers says:
"May the impartial benefits of Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo spread equally to the farthest reaches of the universe so that I,
together with all existence, may attain the tranquil state of enlightened life."
This was my experience. All existence proceeds from the One Law and reveals the One Law.
"It is called the Mystic Law because it reveals the principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena."
In Chapter 12, Manjushri returns from preaching the Law to the living beings of the ocean.
' Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated questioned Manjushri, saying, "When you went to the palace of the dragon king, how many living beings did you convert?"
Manjushri replied, "The number is immeasurable, incapable of calculation. The mouth cannot express it, the mind cannot fathom it. Wait a moment and there will be proof."
Before he had finished speaking, countless bodhisattvas seated on jeweled lotus blossoms emerged from the Ocean proceeded to Holy Eagle Peak, where they remained suspended in the air. These bodhisattvas all had been converted and saved by Manjushri. They had carried out all the bodhisattva practices and discussed and expounded the six paramitas with one another. Those who had originally been voice-hearers expounded the practices of the voice-hearer when they were in the air, but now all were practicing the Great Vehicle principle of emptiness.
Manjushri said to Wisdom Accumulated, "The work of teaching and converting carried out in the ocean was as you can see." '
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2020 17:48:22 GMT -6
Yes, all sentient beings are capable of attaining enlightenment, they all have souls. The final prayer of my morning and evening prayers says: "May the impartial benefits of Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo spread equally to the farthest reaches of the universe so that I, together with all existence, may attain the tranquil state of enlightened life." This was my experience. All existence proceeds from the One Law and reveals the One Law. "It is called the Mystic Law because it reveals the principle of the mutually inclusive relationship of a single moment of life and all phenomena." In Chapter 12, Manjushri returns from preaching the Law to the living beings of the ocean. ' Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated questioned Manjushri, saying, "When you went to the palace of the dragon king, how many living beings did you convert?" Manjushri replied, "The number is immeasurable, incapable of calculation. The mouth cannot express it, the mind cannot have fathom it. Wait a moment and there will be proof." Before he had finished speaking, countless bodhisattvas seated on jeweled lotus blossoms emerged from the Ocean proceeded to Holy Eagle Peak, where they remained suspended in the air. These bodhisattvas all had been converted and saved by Manjushri. They had carried out all the bodhisattva practices and discussed and expounded the six paramitas with one another. Those who had originally been voice-hearers expounded the practices of the voice-hearer when they were in the air, but now all were practicing the Great Vehicle principle of emptiness. Manjushri said to Wisdom Accumulated, "The work of teaching and converting carried out in the ocean was as you can see." ' Do you worship at home, I'm sure you do, Is there a temple or some place you visit? It seems complicated to me, just trying to understand. |
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Post by lowell on Dec 26, 2020 18:32:56 GMT -6
All my prayers are done at home to my altar that contains the true object of worship. There is a temple near Vancouver B.C., I intended to visit there but Covid closed the border.
The closest temple in the U.S. is in Pinole, California. I have been there a couple of times.
The head temple is in Taisekiji, Japan. I have been there once and I would like to go back. I may take out a loan and go there next year or the year after.
There are temples in Los Angeles; Flushing, New York; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Hawaii; and Surrey, B.C.
The first American members were the Japanese wives of American sailors. So that explains 2 temples in California and one in Hawaii.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Dec 27, 2020 4:39:37 GMT -6
All my prayers are done at home to my altar that contains the true object of worship. There is a temple near Vancouver B.C., I intended to visit there but Covid closed the border. The closest temple in the U.S. is in Pinole, California. I have been there a couple of times. The head temple is in Taisekiji, Japan. I have been there once and I would like to go back. I may take out a loan and go there next year or the year after. There are temples in Los Angeles; Flushing, New York; Chicago; Washington D.C.; Hawaii; and Surrey, B.C. The first American members were the Japanese wives of American sailors. So that explains 2 temples in California and one in Hawaii. Lowell This temple opened in Louisville recently not far from me. I've passed by it a few times. It's a beautiful structure. www.courier-journal.com/story/news/religion/2019/09/06/louisville-welcomes-new-vietnamese-buddhist-temple/2163542001/ |
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Post by lowell on Dec 27, 2020 5:26:47 GMT -6
Hmmm a visit from the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism which employs the mantra Om-Ma-ni-Pad-me-Hum and reveres the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara "Lotus Sutra Chapter 25"
But this temple and the other two Buddhist sites mentioned are Zen Buddhist. Zen does not use mantras and does not study or revere the Lotus Sutra.
The River Lotus Lion Dance sounds like fun though.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Dec 27, 2020 6:04:19 GMT -6
Hmmm a visit from the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism which employs the mantra Om-Ma-ni-Pad-me-Hum and reveres the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara "Lotus Sutra Chapter 25" But this temple and the other two Buddhist sites mentioned are Zen Buddhist. Zen does not use mantras and does not study or revere the Lotus Sutra. The River Lotus Lion Dance sounds like fun though. Most things I've read or heard about Buddhism were probably from you. I take it Buddhism is much like Christianity in that there are many sects, denominations, groups or whatever you want to call them that share some common beliefs, but practice them somewhat differently. |
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Post by lowell on Dec 27, 2020 7:17:39 GMT -6
Yes the Buddha taught for many years. He taught thousands of sutras. The first that he taught, the flower garland sutra, was one of the most profound. This established the Buddha as a significant teacher. He then began teaching specific sutras for specific problems that people had. The formal name for these sutras is Theravada Buddhism. It is also called Hinayana Buddhism (lesser vehicle). This period of teachings stressed self denial to the point of extinction of desires, and strong discipline of thoughts, words, and actions. After decades of this focus on the self and the goal of the Nirvana of no remainder, the Buddha changed the focus of the sutras he taught. He encouraged the monks to work to save others from suffering and to bring benefit to society. These decades of teaching became known as Mahayana teachings.
After 42 years of teaching, the Buddha taught the Lotus Sutra teachings, which consist primarily of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings, the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra.
These teachings during the last 8 years of his life, were intended for people in the latter day of the Law, when the earlier Sutras have lost their power to save humanity.
Nichiren Shohsu says of this time.
'Harvesting the results of his preparatory teachings, Shakyamuni finally enabled his disciples to know and understand the eternal true nature of their own lives. He also revealed that his teachings would retain the capacity to enlighten future generations of believers for only a limited period of time, gradually losing their efficacy as the benightedness of mankind increased. He foretold that by 2000 years following his death his teachings would be like an out of date medical prescription for a patient whose disease had turned far more serious.
Shakyamuni predicted that at that time another greater Buddha would be born who, after overcoming severe persecutions, would reveal the true cause of original enlightenment. This person would be the incarnation of the eternal true Buddha and sow the seed of enlightenment in the lives of all beings.
With the spread of the true Buddha’s teaching, the earth would eventually become a tranquil and bountiful “Buddha’s Land” where individuals, society and nature itself manifest the full potential of life. '
Some things have improved since 1260. The common people have more control over their destiny, more freedom to change their lives at this time. Kings and Queens are less common.
Careful observation of reality codified into the scientific method has brought wisdom and for the industrialized nations, freedom from much of the drudgery of daily life.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Dec 27, 2020 10:31:01 GMT -6
I'm of the opinion most belief systems have more similarities than differences. I think it's the believers in each of those systems that make things seem at odds. Even believers within the same belief system seem to want put their individual interpretations above those of others. I think Earl Hickey had the right idea. Do good things and good things happen.
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Post by lowell on Dec 27, 2020 17:18:10 GMT -6
Misinterpretation by believers, of the Master's teachings are a problem.
It is why the first Buddhist council convened to record the Buddha's teachings, within a year after the death of the Buddha.
'Tears express our feeling for both blessings and misfortune. The one thousand arhats shed tears in memory of the Buddha, and in tears Bodhisattva Monju chanted Myoho-renge-kyo. From among those one thousand arhats, the venerable Ananda replied in tears, "Thus I heard." Thereupon the tears of all the others fell, wetting their inkstones, and they wrote "Myoho-renge-kyo" followed by "Thus I heard." ' (Nichiren "The True Entity of Life" )
The agreement of the 1000 monks who met at the first Buddhist Council, ensures the accuracy of the sutras that were recorded.
This did not happen with the teachings of Jesus.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2020 14:46:57 GMT -6
Your definition of soul?
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Post by lowell on Dec 29, 2020 0:54:42 GMT -6
Entity.
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Post by lowell on Dec 29, 2020 3:14:39 GMT -6
Here is a portion of a letter written by Nichiren called "On The Ten Factors". "Among those who follow the Buddha way, we may distinguish three degrees of capacity, namely, superior, middling, and inferior, though all alike succeed in manifesting the Buddha nature within a single lifetime. Persons of superior capacity, as soon as they hear the teachings, become thoroughly enlightened and manifest the Buddha nature. Persons of middling capacity may require perhaps a day, perhaps a month, or perhaps a year in order to manifest it. Persons of inferior capacity seem to make little progress but to be stuck in one place. As they are certain, however, to reach enlightenment within a single lifetime, when they are on the point of death, just as all one’s dreams vanish when one returns to a waking state, so all the erroneous views and mistaken ideas they have up to now entertained with regard to the realm of birth and death and of delusion disappear without a trace, and they return to the waking state of original enlightenment and see the entire realm of phenomena as it really is. Then they realize that all this is the blissful land, the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, and that they themselves, whom up to now they have looked on as mean and lowly, are in fact Thus Come Ones of original enlightenment, who possess the three bodies within a single body.
In the case of rice plants, there are three types, those that ripen early in autumn, those that ripen in a middling time, and those that ripen late, and yet all are ready to be harvested within a single year. In the same way, although persons fall into three different categories of superior, middling, and inferior, all alike, within the space of a single lifetime, can come to the realization that they themselves are identical and in no way at variance with all the Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones."
"First, with regard to appearance, this refers to the appearance manifested by the form and shape of our bodies. This corresponds to the manifested body of the Thus Come One. It also corresponds to emancipation and to the truth of temporary existence."
"Next, with regard to nature, this refers to the nature of our minds. This corresponds to the reward body of the Thus Come One. It also corresponds to wisdom and to the truth of non-substantiality.
"The third factor is entity, which is the entities of these lives of ours. It corresponds to the Dharma body of the Thus Come One. It also corresponds to the truth of the Middle Way, to the essential nature of phenomena, and to tranquil extinction."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2020 5:16:11 GMT -6
I'm a Christian and when I was younger I listened to a preacher that said the soul was the intellectual properties of the person. Is that in any way what you're saying?
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