The goal of the Soka Gakkai community is world peace. World peace does not simply mean "no war". It means a true understanding of the oneness of all people and being able to transcend differences between us. A true respect for humanity and of living things. Of course, it's not necccesary to join an organization to have these thoughts but there is a saying in Buddhism. One the people are working together in unity (Itai Doshin) they can accomplish all their goals. Whereas when the people have no unity (Dotai Ishin) they can achieve nothing remarkable.
Re: Buddhism and war
Seems like all is not what it might first appear, enlightened Zen Masters supporting war!
Quote:And now a new study emerges that will radically shake up this view of Buddhism. Zen at War is a courageous and exhaustively researched book by Brian Victoria, a western Soto Zen priest and instructor at the University of Auckland. Victoria reveals the inside story of the Japanese Zen establishment's dedicated support of the imperial war machine from the late 1800's through World War II. He chronicles in detail how prominent Zen leaders perverted the Buddhist teaching to encourage blind obedience, mindless killing, and total devotion to the emperor. The consequences were catastrophic and the impact can still be felt today.
Most western Buddhists will find this account heart- and mind-boggling. Enlightened Zen Masters supporting war contradicts everything we know about the Buddha's teaching. After World War II, the Japanese Zen tradition, like the nation itself, went into a collective amnesia regarding its complicity in the war. So over 50 years of Buddhist history have been hidden from outsiders and the Japanese themselves. They are just beginning to confront what happened.
The Buddha once said that to understand everything is to forgive everything. What happened in Japan must be explored fully, so it can be both understood and transformed. Zen Master Hakuin taught, "where there is thorough questioning there will be a thoroughgoing experience of awakening."
It is crucial not to dismiss this as merely a Japanese political problem. The Zen leadership did not just go along with the wartime bandwagon, they were often the bandleaders. Placing what happened in context of history and politics in no way reduces the responsibility of the Zen tradition.
This total betrayal of compassion did not just take place during World War II. For six hundred years, one Zen Master bragged, the Rinzai school had been engaged in "enhancing military power." For centuries, Zen was intimately involved in the way of killing. This is the simple truth. Of course, only some temples and some teachers, were involved, but this aspect of Zen was a significant part of Japanese culture and became dominant for nearly one hundred years. In fact, the extremes of the war were the full flower of this heartless Zen that had been evolving in Japan. The sword was real and millions died. The most excessive situations show us the inherent distortions that exist from the beginning.
We need to know the mechanics of how the Buddha Way can turn into this horrific form of heartless Zen. This is not about orthodoxy or purity: It is about compassion and insight. This is not about condemning the Japanese, but as one Sangha, helping each other awaken authentically.
http://www.darkzen.com/Articles/zenholy.htm
Zen is not actually Buddhism. Zen is not based at all on the teachings of the Buddha. As a matter of fact, much of the teaching of Zen contradicts Buddhism.
NickFun
I've always thought that zen was just the chinese and japanese versions of buddhism.
It would be interesting to know where the two contradict. I'd be grateful for an explanation or just a link.
Nick is absolutely wrong, wrong, wrong.
I've written here many times a full description of the various Buddhist divisions and how they came to be. The Zen (Chan, in Chinese) Schools are derived from the teachings of Bodhidharma. Bohdidharma brought Mahayana Buddhism to Southern China via sea routes almost 1,500 years ago. Nickfun's sect, Soka Gaikai is a very modern off-shoot of Nitcheren, or Pure Land, Buddhism. By doctrine, Zen is closer to Theravada (the oldest forms of Buddhism, dating from the period of the Historical Buddha) of all the various major divisions of Buddhism. Soka Gaikai on the other hand is regarded by many Buddhists as Seventh Day Adventists are to the main stream Christian Churches. Nickfun is NOT a Buddhist scholar and believes that Mahayana is at least as old as Theravada!
Do look into the matter and I'm confident that you will find that Soka Gaikai is far more in contradiction to fundamental Buddhist doctrine than any of the Zen Schools. Choose whatever source you wish to compare the doctrines of Zen and Soka Gaikai to the Theravadan texts, and you will not only find Nick to be stunningly wrong, but will also get a good education.
Don't get me wrong, Nick and a whole lot of other people ARE Buddhists, its just that their doctrines have drifted very, very far from what the historical Buddha taught and the fundamental doctrines of most other Buddhist Schools and Sects.
You should have no trouble finding one or more of the posts that I and JLNobody have written on this subject numerous times in the past on this forum in the past.
Asherman
I must confess that I have never actualy seen these doctrines. Everything I know of buddhism comes from talking to buddhists and others who are interested in it for historical purposes.
I think I am becoming a buddhist, because my interest in it is not the historical aspect, but the benefits and improvements it can bring into my life.
Therefore I am would be very grateful if you could supply some sources for me to start with. Not to prove NickFun wrong though. The education part of it sounds much more interesting.
Nick
Any sources you might have are of interest also. Seems you are somewhat in disagreement, and I hope I am not being cynical when I say that I can benefit from that :wink:
Asherman, I must disagree. The Lotus Sutra, regrarded by Mahayanists as Siddartha's highest teaching, clearly teaches to disregrad the Theravada. Obviously you have never studied the teachings of Nichiren or the Soka Gakkai. The philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism is very deep and profound. There's a wealth of online reading materials. You can start here:
http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/introtobuddhism.html
I'm a bit nonplused as to what sources might be best for you. Since I am a Soto Zen Buddhist, recommendation of Zen Buddhist materials would probably be thought non-objective and biased. To understand the various major and minor divisions within Buddhism as a whole, we need to read books dealing with Asian History and many of those are more concerned with political trends, events, and dates that may have only passing attention to the religion(s) of Asia. Descriptions of Asian religion/philosophy in Asian Historical studies range from spot-on to gross misunderstanding. Many of the works coming out Harvard's Reischauer Institute are absolutely superb. Edwin Reischauer grew up in Japan, was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, and even more important is widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable western students of Asian History and Culture.
Books on Buddhism always run the risk of misinterpretation by the author(s), editor(s), and translator(s). It is necessary therefore to read a very wide range of material before making a personal decision as to which books/studies are most nearly correct. Books that focus on a single School or Sect written by a serious scholars tend to be more likely to catch their essence than books on Buddhism in general. On the other hand, while a book/study may do a workman-like job of studying a particular Buddhist set, it may totally miss the mark on how the whole range of Buddhist institutions, schools and sects are inter-related. For texts relevant to Tantric Buddhism, there is no better starting point than a good translation of the Hundred Thousand Songs of Milrepa. Tantric Buddhism is amongst the most esoteric and difficult of all the Buddhist major Schools for Westerners to fully understand.
It is a well known dictum of scholars that nothing can ever fully substitute for studying primary sources. That is the materials and texts closest to the subject of study. In this case the primary materials are the actual documents related to Buddhism. They are the Theravadan scriptures written in the Pali language, that I've described many times here. Just recently I went a bit more in depth about those documents, so that posting should be very easy to call up. Virtually a full and reliable English translation is in the possession of various U.S. Universities, with the Reischauer Institute at Harvard probably being the best known. Mahayana texts were originally written in Sanskrit, and it is probably virtually impossible to collect all of those texts in one place, and not all have even been translated into English. To further complicate things many later Mahayana texts were written in Tiben, Chinese, and other Asian languages
again not all of them have been translated into English. Many of these Theravadan and Mahayana texts will be difficult reading for those with little background in understanding the differences between Western and Eastern ways of thinking and writing about religion and philosophy. Still anyone who wishes to acquire a truly deep understanding of Buddhism will sooner or later have to delve deeply into the materials available.
In short there is no definitive short list of materials and sources available that can possibly substitute for in-depth study across many fields. So it anything we might recommend is likely to be inadequate, and possibly confusing.
Sources that may get the interested started:
Introduction to Oriental Civilization Series, published by the Reischauer Institute at Harvard, William Theodore De Bary during the 1960's. The individual works are devoted to the Sources of Chinese and Japanese Traditions, and are very authoritative.
East Asia: Tradition and Transformation by John K. Fairbanks, Edwin O. Reischaure, and Albert Craig (1989)
Epochs in Buddhist History by Kenneth J. Saunders (1921)
Oriental Mythology by Joseph Campbell (1962)
A Path to Oriental Wisdom: Introductory Studies in Eastern Philosohy by George Parulski, Jr. (1976)
Studies in Japanese Buddhism by August Karl Reischauer (1925)
Buddhism in Translations edited by Henry C. Warren (1972) focus on Theravadan texts.
Edicts of Ashoka translated by G. Srinivasa Murti (1950)
Buddhist Meditation by Edward Conze (1958)
The Wheel of Life by John Blofeld (1978)
Dynamic Buddha and Static Buddha by Susunu Yamaguchi (1958)
Three Ways of Asian Wisdom by Nancy Wilson Ross (1966)
Buddhism a Way of Life and Thought by Nancy Wilson Ross (1987)
The works of T.Z. Suzuki and Allan Watts are widely available and informative, though both tend to be Zen-like in their approach. Books on popular Zen are numerous, but uneven in their quality.
There are many translations of the Dhmanpada, and the serious student should not rely upon any single translation
especially if the translation appears directed at a popular audience.
Most of these sources should be readily available, but they are by no means exhaustive. The selections are just a quick survey of books I've deemed important enough to keep at hand. Of all those listed, East Asia: Tradition and Transfromatoin by Fairbaks, Reishauer and Craig is probably the best starting point.
If you are interested on Zen oriented books, just ask and I'll add to the recommended list above. Of those already listed, Suzuki, Watts, Ross, Blofeld, Yamaguchi and conze are particularily useful.
Thank you very much Asherman
I'll just copy your post onto my notepad, so I can keep it. I don't think it is beneficial for me to delve into all of this simultaneously.
NickFun
That link was good. BM. Thanks.
Seems I am getting my time's worth here today. Grateful to you both.
I find the most important proof of Buddhism to be ACTUAL PROOF! Buddhism has enabled me to change my life in so many ways. This is the mark of a true philosophy. All the theory in the world does not replace this.
I agree with that NickFun. Didn't the Buddha Siddhartha say that we shouldn't believe in anything, but test the validity of everything ourselves?
Yet, books and the written word are valuable. I've learned of something called the Jakata tales, (or was it Jataka tales...), a collection of stories of the Buddha's previous lives. It sounds interesting, because it sounds like something one can read to get a good understanding of the cultural functions of the minds that spawned the philosophy.
I know from playing guitar that it gets easier to learn songs by an artist by ear the more songs you learn, and I think this holds for everythig in life. The songs may be completely different, but understanding the mind of the one making the songs enables me to follow his logic. After learning many John Mayer songs (a great young guitarist) I am at a point where I can see how he does something the first time I hear a new song.
In my wake there are many other "deciphered" guitarists.
No one outside of post-graduate students of religion specializing in Oriental Philosophy and Religion is likely to read even this short list. Obviously, I'm convinced that knowing as much as possible about a subject I consider of central importance is a "good thing".
However, scholarship and pursuing the prize intellectually is not the most direct and proven way to achieve the rewards of our religion. Far better to be illiterate but in constant meditation and practice. Enlightenment is available to all sentient being, regardless of what religion they nominally belong to, how brilliant their intellect, or station in life. Meditation isn't magic, it is a carefully developed system to focus the mind; to empty the mind so that Perceptual Reality loosens its grip on us enough for glimmerings of Ultimate Reality to shine forth. Almost all of the mudras, koans, and ritualized chants are in the end only small tools used for a larger purpose.
Even meditation is ultimately only a tool used to further us along the path to Enlightenment. Early Buddhists pursued meditation and the practice of the precepts to free themselves from the Illusory World. The followers of Theravada (mostly in Southeast Asia today) still focus on individual enlightenment, though doctrinally they recognize that their dedication has secondary benefits to the population at large. Good Theravada Buddhists, even laymen, will spend some part of their lives in a monastic situation.
Mahayana, as a generality, extends the merit earned by Bodhisavas to all suffering sentient beings. Mahayana Buddhist laymen can look foreword to quickened Enlightenment by the disciplined practice of the more important elements of the Buddhist doctrines of the School/Sect they belong to. Hence, Nick believes that the repeated chanting of a ritualized formula will hasten his liberation from the Wheel of Delusion and suffering. As followers of Zen, JLNobody and I practice our religion in pursuit of those rare moments when the Doors open and our egos fall away into nothingness ... at least for awhile. Zen is only one of the divisions of Mahayana, and the various Sects of Tantric Buddhism are another. We don't all believe and practice the same thing, and understanding even within monastic centers of Buddhist learning. There are essentials that are consistent across all most all lines of Buddhist Schools and Sects. And, they all can be found within the oldest Theravada Sutras.
Meditation and Practice are both necessary, and intellectual understanding is a distant third for those who aspire to to conquer suffering.
NickFun wrote:Zen is not actually Buddhism. Zen is not based at all on the teachings of the Buddha. As a matter of fact, much of the teaching of Zen contradicts Buddhism.
However however Brian Victoria, a western Soto Zen priest and instructor at the University of Auckland makes numerous and specific references to Buddhism / Zen.
Quote:(Brian Victoria) chronicles in detail how prominent Zen leaders perverted the Buddhist teaching to encourage blind obedience, mindless killing, and total devotion to the emperor. The consequences were catastrophic and the impact can still be felt today.
Most western Buddhists (that I would assume be you Nick) will find this account heart- and mind-boggling. Enlightened Zen Masters supporting war contradicts everything we know about the Buddha's teaching.
So over 50 years of Buddhist history have been hidden from outsiders and the Japanese themselves. They are just beginning to confront what happened.
But, as Victoria rightly points out, the truth is never slander. Zen at War is a major contribution to understanding contemporary Zen and is a "must read" for all serious Dharma students. It may be the most significant Buddhist history book of the decade.
There is a lot to learn here that could have profound effects as we grow a Buddhist Sangha in the west.
First a little history. Buddhism became the state religion of Japan during the Tokugawa era (1600-1868). Nearly half a million temples were built. The Buddhist priesthood became an extension of the feudal government. Every household had to be affiliated with a local temple. With such wealth and power came enormous liability. By the time the Meiji era began in 1868, there was growing popular huge resentment against Buddhism. A nationwide movement began to cleanse Japan of this "foreign religion" and to reinstate Shinto as the only true Japanese tradition. Thousands of temples were closed, statues destroyed and priests forcibly returned to lay life. The only way institutional Buddhism could survive was to become part of the new imperial system.
According to Victoria, under the Shinto banner, the emperor was worshipped as a living god -- "the selfless wisdom of the universe." Imperial law and the Dharma were seen as identical -- "Imperial-way Zen" as opposed to the "Buddha-way Zen." Basically, the emperor replaced the Buddha, the Japanese spirit and loyalty replaced the Dharma, and the nation replaced the Sangha. Zen teachings were adapted to conform to the new tradition. A famous "Zen soldier" wrote, "Seeking nothing at all, you should simply completely discard both body and mind, and unite with the emperor."
Japanese Zen, especially the Rinzai lineage, had long been linked to the samurai culture and bushido, the way of the sword. For hundreds of years, Zen Masters trained samurai warriors in meditation, teaching them enhanced concentration and will power. Zen helped them face adversity and death with no hesitation, to be totally loyal and act without thinking. To put it bluntly, bushido was a spiritual way of killing infused with Zen philosophy. The sword had always been a Buddhist symbol for cutting through delusion, but under bushido it was taken literally, evolving from metaphor into concrete reality. The sword became an object of veneration and obsession, idealized and worshipped.
Victoria pinpoints Shaku Soen (1859-1919) as one of the first Zen Masters to enthusiastically embrace war as Zen training. Well-known as D. T. Suzuki's teacher, Soen is revered in the history of Buddhism in the West as the first Zen teacher to visit the United States. In the war against Russia, Soen served as a chaplain in 1904. "I wished to inspire," Soen later wrote, "our valiant soldiers with the ennobling thoughts of the Buddha, so as to enable them to die on the battlefield with confidence that the task in which they are engaged is great and noble. I wish to convince them.... that this war is not a mere slaughter of their fellow-beings, but that they are combating an evil."
From Soen's point of view, since everything was one essence, war and peace were identical. Everything reflected the glory of Buddha, including war. And since the Buddha's main purpose was to subjugate evil, and since the enemy of Japan was inherently evil, war against evil was the essence of Buddhism. "In the present hostilities," Soen wrote, "into which Japan has entered with great reluctance, she pursues no egotistic purpose, but seeks the subjugation of evils hostile to civilization, peace and enlightenment." (Japan's invasion of Russia was entirely self-serving and hardly reluctant.). To Soen, war was " an inevitable step toward the final realization of enlightenment."
http://www.darkzen.com/Articles/zenholy.htm
Asherman wrote:What's in a name? Does a strawberry taste differently if called an onion?
It can if your expectations of the events change, yes.
English spelling of Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, etc. is only an approximation adopted by translators, so don't worry all that much about getting the spelling absolutely correct. If you were writing a scholarly treatise for your Doctorate, then you would be advised to use the spelling most accepted by your review committee, otherwise don't sweat the little stuff.
There are a number of folk stories that can give us insights into the thought and conceptual foundations of ancient times. The Jataka Tales are Mahayana and originated in South Asia, though they were added to later by the Chinese and Japanese. Stories about Monkey, also originating in South Asia are a staple in teaching children who love the little rascal about Buddhism and the nature of life. These are often amusing stories, but with a point, and by all means read them and ponder what them for the insights you might gain.
As a musician, you have to practice constantly to achieve bare competence. The more you practice and focus your mind upon the music, the more it becomes a refuge against the venal world. As your skill and understanding develop, you no longer have to intellectually "think" the music, it just flows naturally from your melding with the instrument. That's meditation, and as satisfying as it must be to be "one" with the music, it is even better by thousands of orders of magnitude to step into the void of Ultimate Reality ... to experience directly and for yyourselfthe death of ego as it merges into the Great IIneffable I don't know any reason why any really great musician shouldn't be a Buddhist even if they've never even heard of the religion.
English spelling of Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, etc. is only an approximation adopted by translators, so don't worry all that much about getting the spelling absolutely correct. If you were writing a scholarly treatise for your Doctorate, then you would be advised to use the spelling most accepted by your review committee, otherwise don't sweat the little stuff.
There are a number of folk stories that can give us insights into the thought and conceptual foundations of ancient times. The Jataka Tales are Mahayana and originated in South Asia, though they were added to later by the Chinese and Japanese. Stories about Monkey, also originating in South Asia are a staple in teaching children who love the little rascal about Buddhism and the nature of life. These are often amusing stories, but with a point, and by all means read them and ponder what them for the insights you might gain.
As a musician, you have to practice constantly to achieve bare competence. The more you practice and focus your mind upon the music, the more it becomes a refuge against the venal world. As your skill and understanding develop, you no longer have to intellectually "think" the music, it just flows naturally from your melding with the instrument. That's meditation, and as satisfying as it must be to be "one" with the music, it is even better by thousands of orders of magnitude to step into the void of Ultimate Reality ... to experience directly and for yourself the death of ego as it merges into the Great Ineffable I don't know any reason why any really great musician shouldn't be a Buddhist even if they've never even heard of the religion.
English spelling of Pali, Sanskrit, Hindi, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, etc. is only an approximation adopted by translators, so don't worry all that much about getting the spelling absolutely correct. If you were writing a scholarly treatise for your Doctorate, then you would be advised to use the spelling most accepted by your review committee, otherwise don't sweat the little stuff.
There are a number of folk stories that can give us insights into the thought and conceptual foundations of ancient times. The Jataka Tales are Mahayana and originated in South Asia, though they were added to later by the Chinese and Japanese. Stories about Monkey, also originating in South Asia are a staple in teaching children who love the little rascal about Buddhism and the nature of life. These are often amusing stories, but with a point, and by all means read them and ponder them for the insights you might gain.
As a musician, you have to practice constantly to achieve bare competence. The more you practice and focus your mind upon the music, the more it becomes a refuge against the venal world. As your skill and understanding develop, you no longer have to intellectually "think" the music, it just flows naturally from your melding with the instrument. That's meditation, and as satisfying as it must be to be "one" with the music, it is even better by thousands of orders of magnitude to step into the void of Ultimate Reality ... to experience directly and for yourself the death of ego as it merges into the Great Ineffable I don't know any reason why any really great musician shouldn't be a Buddhist even if they've never even heard of the religion.
