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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2021 4:07:09 GMT -6
Surely the Lotus Sutra has something to say about shacking up. This must be for Lowell since the other two are married. Info please.
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Post by lowell on May 30, 2021 5:27:51 GMT -6
At the time the Lotus Sutra was taught by the Buddha, there was one set of rules of conduct for monks, another for nuns, and another for lay people. Lay people were told to follow the laws of the country they lived in, with regard to personal conduct. Some countries permitted many wives and concubines. Concubines, as you may not be aware of, were basically female slaves. A wealthy man was never told to free his concubines by Jesus, or by the Buddha. The other forms of Buddhism, typically demand celibacy by their Priests. I have not read any instructions or prohibitions for lay believers regarding sexuality in the Lotus Sutra. I have read all 28 chapters several times. Now we have in Nichiren Shoshu priests who can marry, and there are no longer Buddhist nuns in Nichiren Shoshu. Nichiren Shoshu also says for lay believers to obey the laws of the land. New believers are told that there is only one commandment in Nichiren Shoshu. We are bound by the “precept of the diamond chalice” "because the power of Myoho-Renge Kyo never can be broken throughout eternity, just like a diamond. In other words, this diamond chalice leads one to attain Buddhahood without fail.* I am not married yet. We have a platonic relationship. We simply share the house. She has her bedroom and I have mine. Conveniently, we can't get married. She is still married to her last husband. She collects on his Social Security.
I enjoyed performing piano and flute duets with her at the retirement centers. Covid ended that. Shacking up would be fun. Old gals don't want it. So that's not going to happen. Wet dreams are the closest I get.
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Post by James T. Kirk on May 30, 2021 8:46:07 GMT -6
Surely the Lotus Sutra has something to say about shacking up. This must be for Lowell since the other two are married aren't Buddhists. Info please. Thinking about converting? Also, the "other two" are also not Buddhist, which is a more sensible reason for asking Lowell, who is. Any Buddhist, including a married Buddhist, should have no problem answering the question.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2021 8:59:37 GMT -6
Surely the Lotus Sutra has something to say about shacking up. This must be for Lowell since the other two are married. Info please. Thinking about converting? Also, the "other two" are also not Buddhist, which is a more sensible reason for asking Lowell, who is. Any Buddhist, including a married Buddhist, should have no problem answering the question. That's a strange relationship. I wish I could believe you. I know you're a believer, I'm glad you have over come temptation and taken matters in hand. (snicker)
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Post by James T. Kirk on May 30, 2021 9:37:20 GMT -6
Thinking about converting? Also, the "other two" are also not Buddhist, which is a more sensible reason for asking Lowell, who is. Any Buddhist, including a married Buddhist, should have no problem answering the question. That's a strange relationship. I wish I could believe you. I know you're a believer, I'm glad you have over come temptation and taken matters in hand. (snicker) Those comments make less sense than your first post. But, we've grown accustom to that. Your original post could have simply said "This question is for Lowell. What does the Lotus Sutra say about shacking up?"
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Post by lowell on May 30, 2021 16:34:16 GMT -6
Catholics require celibacy from their Priests. There are some break-away orders that allow marriage, but they are not approved by the Pope. Catholics do not require celibacy from their lay people. Shacking up among Catholic lay people is not one of the deadly sins, and only requires a regular confession to make any divine retribution disappear. For Buddhist lay people, shacking up is less problematic. It is considered to be something that will change if either of the shackers involved is unhappy with the situation. It will change and both of the shackers will become happy as they continue to chant and recite the sutra.
To me a strange relationship would be one where the husband beats the wife and / or murders her. My gal's husband and her were both in the Navy. He got angry and picked her up and slammed her down on a coffee table so hard it broke the coffee table. It also broke vertebrae in her back and neck. She gets a Navy disability check as a result. She refused to divorce him because she feels he owes for the damage that continues to limit her abilities.
It is typical, in my opinion, for Trump supporters to be cruel or sadistic to women, and to be physically violent with them. Some women may enjoy that, they may seek out abusive people. It is called masochism. A sadistic-masochistic relationship is a strange relationship, in my opinion.
Sydney may not share that opinion, she may think that a sadistic-masochistic relationship is normal and healthy.
The Lotus Sutra praises people who are honest and upright. "Shichijiki I nyunan" and "Nyuwa shichijiki sha" in the verse section at the end of Chapter 16 contain the word shichijiki which means honest and upright. "Shijiki I Nyunan" means Honest and upright, gentle in intent. "Nyuwas shichijiki sha" means Who are gentle, peaceful, honest and upright
Honesty is a characteristic that allows one to progress to enlightenment.
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Post by lowell on May 30, 2021 20:05:39 GMT -6
These phrases that are part of the poem at the end of Chapter 16 can be found in context below.
" Since I attained Buddhahood the number of kalpas that have passed is an immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions, trillions, asamkhyas. Constantly I have preached the Law, teaching, converting countless millions of living beings, causing them to enter the Buddha way, all this for immeasurable kalpas. In order to save living beings, as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction. I am always here preaching the Law. I am always here, but through my transcendental powers I make it so that living beings in their befuddlement do not see me even when close by. When the multitude see that I have passed into extinction, far and wide they offer alms to my relics.
All harbor thoughts of yearning and in their minds thirst to gaze at me. When living beings have become truly faithful, honest and upright, gentle in intent, single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha not hesitating even if it costs them their lives, then I and the assembly of monks appear together on Holy Eagle Peak. At that time I tell the living beings that I am always here, never entering extinction, but that because of the power of an expedient means at times I appear to be extinct, at other times not, and that if there are living beings in other lands who are reverent and sincere in their wish to believe, then among them too I will preach the unsurpassed Law. But you have not heard of this, so you suppose that I enter extinction. When I look at living beings I see them drowned in a sea of suffering; therefore I do not show myself, causing them to thirst for me. Then when their minds are filled with yearning, at last I appear and preach the Law for them. Such are my transcendental powers. For asamkhya kalpas constantly I have dwelled on Holy Eagle Peak and in various other places. When living beings witness the end of a kalpa and all is consumed in a great fire, this, my land, remains safe and tranquil, constantly filled with heavenly and human beings. The halls and pavilions in its gardens and groves are adorned with various kinds of gems. Jeweled trees abound in flowers and fruit where living beings enjoy themselves at ease. The gods strike heavenly drums, constantly making many kinds of music.
Mandarava blossoms rain down, scattering over the Buddha and the great assembly. My pure land is not destroyed, yet the multitude see it as consumed in fire, with anxiety, fear and other sufferings filling it everywhere. These living beings with their various offenses, through causes arising from their evil actions, spend asamkhya kalpas without hearing the name of the Three Treasures. But those who practice meritorious ways, who are gentle, peaceful, honest and upright, all of them will see me here in person, preaching the Law. At times for this multitude I describe the Buddha's life span as immeasurable, and to those who see the Buddha only after a long time I explain how difficult it is to meet the Buddha. Such is the power of my wisdom that its sagacious beams shine without measure. This life span of countless kalpas I gained as the result of lengthy practice. You who are possessed of wisdom, entertain no doubts on this point! Cast them off, end them forever, for the Buddha's words are true, not false. He is like a skilled physician who uses an expedient means to cure his deranged sons. Though in fact alive, he gives out word he is dead, yet no one can say he speaks falsely. I am the father of this world, saving those who suffer and are afflicted. Because of the befuddlement of ordinary people, though I live, I give out word I have entered extinction. For if they see me constantly, arrogance and selfishness arise in their minds. Abandoning restraint, they give themselves up to the five desires and fall into the evil paths of existence. Always I am aware of which living beings practice the way, and which do not, and in response to their needs for salvation I preach various doctrines for them. At all times I think to myself: How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha? "
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2021 20:25:24 GMT -6
After all that, do you go to Heaven or not go any where?.
I'm not trying to pick a fight, just asking is all.
Thanks for replying.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2021 20:33:29 GMT -6
That's a strange relationship. I wish I could believe you. I know you're a believer, I'm glad you have over come temptation and taken matters in hand. (snicker) Those comments make less sense than your first post. But, we've grown accustom to that. Your original post could have simply said "This question is for Lowell. What does the Lotus Sutra say about shacking up?" I was doing it in a polite way as not to hurt anyone's feeling.
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Post by lowell on May 30, 2021 22:28:00 GMT -6
After all that, do you go to Heaven or not go any where?.
I'm not trying to pick a fight, just asking is all.
Thanks for replying.
This world is for imperfect people with attachments to hindrances, incorrect ideas and beliefs. It is called a prison world. The Earth is like a purgatory where people are tested to see if they can progress to one of the many better worlds, and where they can expiate (payback) their karmic debts. This world also offers opportunity to accumulate massive amounts of good karma.
"This merit is superior to those of Dengyo of Japan, T'ien-t'ai of China, Nagarjuna of India, and Kasyapa, who was the Buddha's disciple. Therefore, the practice for a hundred years in the peaceful Pure Land is not worth the merit of chanting Nam-Myoho-renge-Kyo for one day in this defiled world."
The peaceful Pure Land is a reference to one of those many better worlds. The Pure Land is a world where Amida Buddha dwells. Those who pray to the Amida Buddha and praise his name, believe this Buddha will save them and escort them to this better world, a Heavenly world, when they die. They chant Nam-Amida-Butsu and the religion is called Nembutsu. Jodo Shinshu is an example.
It is very similar to Christianity. This makes it very difficult for Christians to gain converts. It has similar shortcomings as Christianity does too.
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Post by James T. Kirk on May 31, 2021 3:09:36 GMT -6
Those comments make less sense than your first post. But, we've grown accustom to that. Your original post could have simply said "This question is for Lowell. What does the Lotus Sutra say about shacking up?" I was doing it in a polite way as not to hurt anyone's feeling. I fail to see how asking Lowell a question would hurt garak's or my feelings or be seen as impolite. Referring to us as "the other two" would be more likely to offend, although that didn't bother me in the least. There was just no reason to mention us at all. It's obvious you were trying to question Lowell's commitment to his faith because of his living arrangements, or what you thought were his living arrangements. You, of all people, are in no position to judge anyone's spirituality or commitment to what they claim to be.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2021 3:21:51 GMT -6
Apparently there's a lot you can't see.
Lowell you did say something I do believe is possible. Best said by Aldous Huxley, "What if this world is just another planet's Hell?"
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2021 3:27:38 GMT -6
If someone says one thing and seemingly lives another way they have a right to be questioned. As for Lowell. I take him at his word. I've known him for a long time, I think he's honest.
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2021 3:49:31 GMT -6
Kirk, I've looked at your new board and it looks good. It's puzzling why you don't open it. Yeah, I know you won't let me on it. There are peeps that would join plus you could put it in the Proboards directory.
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Post by James T. Kirk on May 31, 2021 6:30:30 GMT -6
If someone says one thing and seemingly lives another way they have a right to be questioned. As for Lowell. I take him at his word. I've known him for a long time, I think he's honest. I agree with all of that. The issue I had is the necessity of the "other two" comment. There was no need for it.
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