How much anti-Buddhism is there on DU?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

Come on, who hates us, with our pretentious chants and namby-pamby tree-hugging spacey philosophising?

[The Zanti Regent]

1. Soka Gakkai loves Bush

According to the Japanese press, Soka Gakkai Leader Daisaku Ikeda is a big Bush supporter. He wants to get his hands on that Faith Based Money too!

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Sokka Gakkai: Pat Robertson Goes Oriental!

Sounds like a romantic comedy from the 1960s, but SGI/Nichiren Shoshu is a pretty fascistic organization.

Even the Buddhists have their wingnuts to deal with!

--bkl

[liberalhistorian]

4. ALL religions, no matter what, have

their own version of wingnuts that drive the rest of the adherents crazy, it's just human nature.

I know, as a liberal Christian, I'm getting mighty damn sick and tired of the fascist fundie RW wingnuts twisting, distorting, bastardizing, and taking over Christianity so as to make it almost unrecognizable from what it truly is.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. The Nazis took an interest in Buddhism also.

You write a book with the best of intentions, who knows what the reader will take from it.

[Lost in GA]

18. Now that you mention Nazis

I'd like to clarify something about the Swastika they kidnapped for their symbol. The word swastika comes from Sanskrit: Swa means 'wellness' in a holistic (body, mind, and soul) sense, and 'tika' means 'mark' or 'symbol'. When the 2 words are joined, the rules of Sanskrit grammar add an 's' between them, thus Swastika.
It is widely used today in all Hindu temples and Hindu thought, and has been so for several thousands of years. It represents auspiciousness, prosperity, inner and outer peace.
I'm not sure how the Nazi's got their hands on it and made it a symbol of hate.
Just a clarification.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

21. Yeah, funnily enough, I just made a very similar post the other day.

Still, the Nazi's did reverse it for their flag.

[sweetheart]

3. You left out...

"Lord Byron is a sheep shagger" :-D

Buddhism is a non-religion of there ever was one, and i find most
folks know squat about it. Karma gets translated as sin, and dharma
as truth... sorta but NOOOT! ;-)

Who is it who hates a Buddhist? Who?

I hate you! Is that so.

Who made you so smart? Who?

Talking to buddhists can be confusing for nonbuddhists, but i find
most folks secretly are intrigued by the way of living.

Din't know you're a buddhist lord byron. Cool. I'm a nyngma order
tibetan vadjrayana... these last 20+ years. Buddhism is core to
my life. Its inspiring to see another life touched.

Namaste,
-sweetheart

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. Thanks. It is an important subject to me, but not too important for a joke

I'm only a couple of years in myself, I've been studying Nichiren Buddhism, but I'll try and branch out and check out the other schools when I have time. I saw all those posts in GD about anti-semitism and Islamophobia here at DU, so here's my (tongue in cheek) contribution.

[liberalhistorian]

11. What is Nichiren Buddhism?

I'm most familiar with Zen Buddhism, so I'm really curious about some of its different branches.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

12. Based on the teachings of Nichiren, a 13th century Japanese monk.

Here's a website. I'm studying this right now, and I will study other philosophies soon, but it's a very interesting practice, and I have found it accessible and straightforward. The core of Nichiren Buddhism is the Lotus Sutra (that's where the nam myoho renge kyo is from).


http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/sbuddha.html

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/easia/nich.html

[liberalhistorian]

15. Thanks for the links, I'll check them

out! See, not all Christians are close-minded, intolerant fundies, lol!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

22. Well, you've never heard that said by me.

Us Buddhists are too bloody smug to be critical!

[Screaming Lord Byron]

25. Just to make it clear - that's the Soka Gakkai link so you can decide

for yourself, seeing we were talking about them. They don't particularly or necessarily represent my views, but I thought it was important people looked at them.

[MaryBear]

13. It's what Tina Turner practices.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. And Herbie Hancock, I believe.

It's one of (if not the) major Japanese Buddhist groups.

[sweetheart]

16. Branches hmmm..

Any attempt to describe buddhism is a folly, as words fall short,
themselves only reflections of intention. With that said:

Buddhism is not about understanding or theology, rather a way of
living. There are a gazillion branches, but you'll find them in
two primary categories:

1. Sutra - This means "thread" from the same origin as the english
word for stiches in a wound. The threads are rules and a sort of
dogma about how to live. It could be called "organized buddhism"
where it is know as an institution like a church.

2. Tantra - Tantra is beyond rules, and is truly indescribable, as
it is direct experiences of profound awakening. This expresses in
humour, love, joy and magnificent peace.

In a christian metaphor, sutra is a church. Tantra is sitting
directly with christ and being in love, or sitting with a sunset,
or not sitting, or not not sitting... words... fail.

Inside every being is awakening, and this "buddha" simply IS. The
mind is conditioned to think and interpret life in a frame of
reference. Enlightenment is the direct experience of life without
thought. Buddhist practices take the aspirant from whereever they
are in the spectrum of life's awakening towards a deeper, more
profound awakinging and a happier life. The practices help the
person awaken, and can range from chanting, meditation, running
singing, having sex... just the more exotic awakenings
are from nonconventional means. (Tantra).

There is a famous quote "If you see the buddha on the road, kill
him." Finding the buddha on the road implies you think the buddha
is outside you in the outer world, and that this very mindset negates
the buddha within. I prefer "If you find the buddha on the road,
AWAKEN."

People discover awakening as much as their spirit can realize at
any given moment. For each soul the path is different and there are
no universal rules or scripture... the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold
path are less scripture than obvious realizations about life.

The branches could also be said to be Theravada and Mahayana. This
is loosely monastic and evangelical repsectively. A mahayana
buddhist takes the enlightenment of all sentient beings as part
of their life's work...

All the words and understandings, as first pointed out, are
fallacies of understanding, and lead to division by words..
understanding is rules and "sutra"

Tantra is the unity of all of life, sex with life, reconciliation of
opposites, leaving rules beyond and knowing the dharma directly.
Samadhi - life without concept of self.

Hope that was not confusing.... infinite branches in sutra, no
concept of branches in tantra. All these branches exist in all
buddhist traditions.... and when you are ready, there are really
WOW! enlightened masters out there who can aid with the more subtle
issues in profound awakening.

namaste,

-s

[MaryBear]

17. Doesn't it all

come from the Buddha? Isn't it all Buddhism?

[sweetheart]

27. Yes buddha

"Shiva Ram" - a powerful mantra. Repeat it slowly about once
per minute with total silence and surrender in your heart.
Repeat this for 1 hour, first thing in the morning, every day.
Before bead time also.

Alternate this mantra with total silent (not speaking, or
outputting, just listening, passive, meditation. Every other day.

THat is a buddhist practice that increases the energy level of the
mind that when practiced over a period of months (WITH THE
EMPOERMENT FROM AN AUTHENTIC MASTER) provides a gateway to sublime
subtlety.

We don't really talk about buddhism very much, we live it.

THere is nothing to be understood.

Lord Byron is of a japanese tradition this was founded in japan by
some enligthened people, fully incandescent, like bodhidharma. I
prefer the tibetan traditions as i believe they were least
decapitated
by history. (pretty much all the tibetan lineages have full
amperage living bodhisattvas available in the inner circles.)
Advanced awareness is hated by ignorant
people, and they try to kill and destroy it, completely unaware
that to attack and hate enlightenment is a ticket to suffereing
beyond measure, and just on the remote possibility that the person
you're hating is really profoundly enlightened, then they themseves,
in consciousness are *you*. Christ was a fully enlightened person.
Years after his death, the theology remotely "knows" that he is a
vibration to model after in meditation. Generally speaking when you
can recall a human being's name from further 4000 years, they were
profoundly enlightened. The power of consciousness of that
enlightenment leaves a mark that AWAKENS.

A buddhist might say that all people are buddha, buddha awakening.

There is nothing to understand.

All things are buddhism. No thing is buddhism.

It can only be inferred.

A bodhisattva is an instance of a very awakened person who teaches.
Teaches means that the person can transmit christ consciousness,
full liberation in one life, in a world where very few tastte such
subtle joy. These folks are like lineage bodhisattvas, not of
birth, but by master to student, the miracle to "gift" awakening.
There are folks who are like this today, Adida is one, yet, as you
would expect, he is intense, and people who REALLY want to know
what the profound aspects of buddhism are, must work with a really
exceptional bodhisattva, unless they are already themselves a
obdhisattva or experience tremdous soffereing for not following the
path of their soul. (to awaken)

The buddha "IS YOU". Live like one.



I see absolutely no differentiation of any religion, as they are
all just talk. In practice, buddhism is absent of dogma.

That said, the teachings (dogma) can be helpful, like that mantra
"nam myoho renge kyo".. It raises the kundalini, and is a vehicle
of the person's (speakers) intent in meditation.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

23. Thanks, Sweetheart. I'm working my way through it.

[Exgeneral]

5. Is the thread itself anti or is the author falling in the forest

grasshopper?

[ZenLefty]

7. What is the sound of one hand smacking you?

:+

[Screaming Lord Byron]

9. Does it make a sound if I don't listen?

I could never get my head around all the Zen Koans, I think they're for more thoughtful people than me.

[ZenLefty]

10. I think they're for people who think less

Oh, wait. That's a koan in and of itself. :o

[Gringo]

19. My wife is a big Gakkai practicioner

And I'm a hardcore atheist. I always thought she would outgrow it when we first got together. I've been putting up with it for 9 years. Any religion that requires so much time spend enldlessly repeating the same dumb chant is NOT for me. None of them are for me, but if I were to practice a religion, it would be one where you go to the church or whatever once a year for 30 minutes, and that's it. Such a waste of time, IMO.

I agree that SGI is creepy - more Stepford than fascist, though. And for the record, all I've ever read about Ikeda is that he has been critical of Bush and the war. You are probably confusing them with Sun Myung Moon & the Moonies, rabid rightwingers and owners of the "newspaper", The Washington Times.

The less religion I have in my life, the happier I am. So puzzling to me how so many feel the exact opposite.

[Dogmudgeon]

20. It actually IS fascistic

It has ties with Moon and many of the hard-core right-wing Japanese political parties. Ikeda and the other representatives of SGI put on a much milder face, but there is a money flow behind the scenes.

Jiyuno Toride
http://www.toride.org/eindex.html

Soka Gakkai Today
http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/jqpublic/can.htm

SGI Today/FactNet link
http://www.cebunet.com/sgi/kachiyuke.htm?FACTNet

Steven Alan Hassan's Freedom of Mind (overall good)
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/soka/

Most devotees of Nichiren Buddhism are sincere (it predates SGI and Daisaku Ikeda), and I don't doubt that most of the members of SGI really are dedicated to peace and humanism. But the big players in SGI have theocratic urges similar to those of Dominionist "Christians".

Good luck with your wife's devotion, too. Chanting is a well-known tranquilizer. It's tough stuff to kick.

--bkl

[Screaming Lord Byron]

24. Thanks, I shall have to check it out.

Like I say, I'm checking out all the different aspects of Buddhism, so any information like this is of great use. I myself have heard two sides about SGI, and I'd like all the information I can get.

[liberalitch]

26. look within yourself...

the true answer to your question lies in the reason it was asked.