Nichiren nugget

Vastmind

"Buddhism teaches that life at each moment embraces all phenomena. This is the doctrine of a life moment possessing three thousand realms, which is the Lotus Sutra's ultimate teaching and Buddhism's essence.

Because of the profound way our lives interact with people around us, it is vital that we reach out to others, that we be engaged with our environment and with our local community. A self-absorbed practice or theory without action is definitely not Buddhism."

-- Buddhism Day by Day: Wisdom for Modern Life, Daisaku Ikeda, pg. 95

lobster

@Vastmind said:
A self-absorbed practice or theory without action is definitely not Buddhism."

For some it definitely seems to be Buddhism. Nice theory, shame about the practice Daisaku Ikeda.

Hey wait ...
aren't you the guys whose theory is chanting the Lotus Sutra ceaselessly is Buddhism? Gosh.
http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/sects/nichiren.htm

Vastmind

I'll let the SGI members speak for themselves....Any here? I can't recall....I think @zombiegirl used to attend, no? Anyway....Someone gave me the book, and I've been reading through it the last couple of weeks. Eh....yeah, some I can do without, but you know we say that to all newbies around here...keep what you use, leave the rest. I like to offer different dishes around here....nothing new about that.

Perhaps I should have included the brief about Nichiren.....thanks for the reference page.

federica

You can't eat every single bit of a globe artichoke, @lobster.... some bits you have to discard as inedible. But there are some good bits too...

Lionduck

Buddhism is action. Buddhism is life. The Law is infinitely great, but for it to spread, to be known, requires action by people. In illustration of study without action, if you want to catch a fish, you can study all the ways to do so. You can put all those ways to memory. But, if you never apply any of them, that is if you do not take the action to catch a fish, you will never catch a fish.
A self-absorbed practice is in effect study without action.
A point to remember is that, historically, Shakyamuni set the example. He not only taught the Law, he applied it through his own thoughts, deeds and words every day.
All the great teachers were/are persons of action.
Do think carefully before you start throwing stones, lobster. Life is all too brief. We must savor it in all it's complexity.

[Everyone has the right to be happy - We need only give ourselves permission.]

lobster

I would suggest SGI in particular is singularly self absorbed in a single practice and person. It would seem that the quote is suggesting that SGI is not Buddhism. However I would further suggest it is Buddhism.

Now back to the nuggets.

DairyLama

The SGI people I've met did seem quite self-absorbed. But then nobody's perfect!

DairyLama

@lobster said:> I would suggest SGI in particular is singularly self absorbed in a single practice and person. It would seem that the quote is suggesting that SGI is not Buddhism. However I would further suggest it is Buddhism.

Yes, it is, and that's what wonderful about Buddhism, the sheer diversity. SGI at one end of the spectrum and Secular Buddhism at the other, nuggets for everyone! Hurrah!

( that sounds like an advert for a Buddhist version of McDonalds! )

silver

@Vastmind said:
"Buddhism teaches that life at each moment embraces all phenomena. This is the doctrine of a life moment possessing three thousand realms, which is the Lotus Sutra's ultimate teaching and Buddhism's essence.

Because of the profound way our lives interact with people around us, it is vital that we reach out to others, that we be engaged with our environment and with our local community. A self-absorbed practice or theory without action is definitely not Buddhism."

-- Buddhism Day by Day: Wisdom for Modern Life, Daisaku Ikeda, pg. 95

O boy...yesterday, I looked up the book ^ ^ ^ and it took me to amazon.com, where I proceeded to buy 3 (expletive deleted) books and one other item. D'oh!