In response to a heated conversation about which school of Buddhism is correct. Is SGI a cult? Is Disaku Ikeda a honest man or not...

I have been observing this rather heated conversation and am reminded of what happens across other faiths when people argue and try to convience that the other is correct.

Buddhism was created to lift people out of suffering, it was developed and nurtured so that ordinary people could look in the mirror and KNOW that they had the power to change their lives and the lives of others for the better.

You are wasting precious time arguing about this text and that letter, this gosho and that gosho.
What matters is what is in your heart.

Judge a man by his actions, not by his words. If you with your own eyes have seen evil deeds by IKEDA then judge him accordingly, but as Buddhists it is not our place to cast judgment on others.
Karmic law will create an outcome for any evil doings.

Just like the Christians and the Jews and the Muslims, everyone killing each other, fighting and arguing about who is right.

At the end of the day, we all want the same thing.

Food on our tables, love in our hearts and the safety of our family and children.

If Siddhartha Gautama, was listening to this conversation, I do believe that he would shed a tear at the level of arrogance and ignorance.

It is not our place to correct others, but to show them a path we have walked to achieve unshakable happiness.

Your life is your life, and you can choose how you live it.

If you wish to share your experiences for the good of man kind, it should be able helping others altruistically not demanding that they practice, said teaching, in the way written down in stone.
Every life is different, every life is unique.

You are missing the point of Buddhism if you continue to demand others follow the same path of you.

Namaste

Becoming..

What you hope, you will eventually believe, what you believe, you will eventually know, what you know you will eventually create, what you create, you will eventually experience, what you experience, you will eventually express, what you express, you will eventually become. That is the formula for all Life. It is as simple as that.

Live in Joy.

We all know what it’s like to get trapped in dark, constricting states of mind—and how useless it is, in terms of awakening, to dwell there. That is exactly what the Buddha taught: we don’t need to stay stuck in greed, hatred, and delusion. Life can be lighter, more workable, even when it’s challenging. This lightening up, which I see as an aspect of joy, is the fruit of insight into anatta, the selfless nature of reality, and anicca, the truth of impermanence. When we are not attached to who we think we are, life can move through us, playing us like an instrument. Understanding how everything is in continual transformation, we release our futile attempts to control circumstances. When we live in this easy connection with life, we live in joy.

Realize the Undivided Mind

We often feel our everyday existence is a distraction from our spiritual intention. When this happens, life is divided between the sacred and mundane, and the mind pits one concept against the other. But belief shapes reality, and if the belief is maintained that the sacred lies somewhere else other than Now, our spiritual life will be governed by that limitation. The truth is that the sense-of-self is not separate from the moment in which it is arising, any more than the sense-of-self is outside the mind that it thinks it possesses. In fact, realizing the undivided mind also heals the dualistic notion of “me” being outside the moment.

The Role of a Teacher.

A teacher, out of compassion and love, seeing that somebody is suffering, gives a path. But each individual has to walk on the path. There is no magical miracle with the teacher. Totally out of the question. He only shows the path. That is the only role of the teacher, nothing else.

Uproot the Core Problems

In the Buddhist path we are bringing together our actions, our view, and our practice. It is a balance of awareness, insight, and action, working harmoniously together. In that way our energy is no longer divided or scattered, but we are fully present in whatever we do. That is what it means to be a genuine human being.

In Buddhism, the point is not simply to be accomplished meditators but to change our whole approach to life. Meditation is not merely a useful technique or mental gymnastic, but part of a balanced system designed to change they way we go about things at the most fundamental level. In this context, it is a way of exposing and uprooting the core problems of grasping and ego-clinging that separate us from one another and cause endless pain.

-Judy Lief, "Is Meditation Enough?" (Spring 1997)

Nichiren Buddhism is not about simply chanting, and nothing more.

Personally I don't think chanting is understanding or insight. People of course are free to practice chanting, but this is not any branch of Buddhism personally that I would associate with and my personal belief is that this is quite literally mind control , and not the original meaning of any aspect of Buddhism. Buddhism is a intellectual study for the development of the mind and spiritual insight, this practice does not fulfill either goal and misrepresents Buddhism.

My response:

Thank you for your honest comment.

I think that if the Buddha was alive today, he would say this... "do not cast judgement on beliefs and practices of others."

Nichiren Buddhism is a practice centred in daily life, there are three tenants for good solid practice.

1. practice/chanting

2. Study

3. Faith

We study the Lotus Sutra and align our lives for the greater good and happiness of others.

Through chanting Nam myoho renge kyo, and using the Gohonzon, we are able to observe our minds and emotions and make better choices and decisions in life.

Chanting is not a magic lantern, and we are quite aware that action is required to make changes in life and the world;

Devotion to the mystic law of cause and effect with the voice, is the meaning of this mantra, but primarily for people who practice Nichiren Buddhism, this is about becoming aware of all your actions, words & thoughts towards other people, your life and the world as a whole.

How do you feel about a Buddhism that forbid women that practised, how do you feel about Buddhism that said that only priests were allowed to practice, this was the case for what Buddhism had become in many parts of the world, and Nichiren Dishonan was a man who quite literally questioned these beliefs, as he felt that they were not true Buddhism.

Shakyamuni Buddah, gave birth this practice for the sole purpose of lifting people out of the three sufferings of life, birth, sickness and death. This practice meets that goal.

There are many paths to wholeness my friend, and you are correct when you say that this is some form of mind control, but I have to correct you and tell you that it is about controlling your OWN mind, not someone else, controlling it for you.

It is about mastering your thoughts, emotions and mind.

The mind is the root of most of our suffering as human beings, to master this human mind (which I liken to a wild horse most of the time) is the key to developing strong and unshakable happiness.

We generate positive karma by making and uttering the right choices, thoughts and words in our lives.

My Peace go with you Buddah.

Love and Light

Robbie

Saving my friends Marriage. The Gohonzon. What it means to be a buddhist.

Hi Robbie, I like the video you post in youtube. I am new with Gohonzon and haven't attended any SGI meeting. I would like to ask if they have something about marriage. In Christian, they would prefer fixing the marriage if it is failling. Is it also the same in Gohonzon religion? She is fully aware that the guy is in a relationship and she induced him to cheat on her. She got herself pregnant and forced him to marry her. The problem now is he never told his main gf and didnt break up with her. She is working in abroad that's why she never could possibly found out about it. This guy want his life back and marry his main gf. I told him to chant gongyo e daimoku to fix his life. Is it ok to pray their annulment to work? Is this her karma? Hoping you could give me some advice...

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Hi there,

Firstly, thanks for writing. I always love to hear from people all over the world, with their various life stories etc.

Secondly, The Gohonzon is not a religion, it is an object for observing the mind. Nichiren Buddhism isn't strictly a religion, it is a life philosophy.

In our practice we learn that we need to be aware of three things;

The things we think
The things we do or our physical actions
and the things we say.

With these three things, we generate karma.

So when you chant daimoku  it is up to you what you chant for, you could chant for world peace, you could chant for the death of someone you do not like, you can chant for the murder of another person, to give you an EXTREME example.

The point I am trying to make is that daimoku, or chanting nam myoho renge kyo can be likened to a knife, a knife is capable of saving life, as well as taking life, it can be used to sustain life, it can be used to create and it can be used to destroy.

Ultimately, through your thoughts, your words and your actions, you can affect your life and the lives of others.

The best advice I would give someone, is to chant for the other persons happiness, nothing more.

Do not formulate your chant, just chant and trust that life will guide you in the right direction.

But when you choose your determinations, choose them with love, honour and compassion.

Being Buddhist is about choosing your words, thoughts and actions, and realising the potential impact they might have.

The Gohonzon, and chanting are not a magic weapon, or magic lamp.

Chanting enables you to take action, based on a place of love, compassion and great wisdom.

Deception is never a good thing, and lieing and being false behind other peoples backs, almost always comes out at some point.

Be honest and open is often the best way forward.

However, if you friend doesn't know what to do, and is struggling, she/he should chant for the happiness of this person, or chant for the wisdom to help her self out of this situation.

Fond wishes and love to you friend.

Robbie

Chanting Nam myoho renge kyo? Download mp3 of Gongyo and Diamoku

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to post today about the MP3 downloads, of Diamoku and Gongyo. Many people ask me all the time for the files of people chanting, so that they can chant together with the recording at home in their spare time.

If you want to make a daily practice with these sounds, it is much more fun, rewarding and comforting to do with others, but if you do not have someone to chant with you, then these mp3 downloads are the next best thing.

Learn how to chant nam myoho renge kyo.


Below is a list of the files you need:

Click here to Download Chanting Diamoku in mp3

Click here to download the 1 hour nam myoho renge kyo - daimoku 

Click here to download Morning Gongyo

Click here to download Evening Gongyo

Click here to download Hoben-pon SLOW

Click here to download Jigage SLOW

1 Hour Daimoku

When I chant will bad things happen?

Hi Robbie,

Thank you for the channel. I was a great believer and I chanted 10 years ago... I moved to Japan for studies and then for the lack of time and energy and also because I didn't see many ppl following Nichiren Buddhism I gave up on it ... I moved back to Australia ... and since the day I moved here things have been going the wrong way....I found your channel again and gave some hope to me ... I want to start chanting again... I like to talk to you more about the Gohonzon and the benefits...I'm in an out of jobs and for the past five years after I moved back to Australia from Japan it's been hard to find something that suites me and my qualifications ... I have an Australian MBA and a Bachelors Degree from Japan. Anyways my question is if I start to chant again will I encounter problems that I never had before ? because one of my friend told me that chanting to Gohonzon is like cleansing our souls ... so it gets rid of bad karma... and as a result we start getting bad things to our life's... is this true ? I want to turn my life around I think I was a happier and a positive person back then I would like to get good things to my life

Thank you ..
K

Hey K

Sorry I took so long to get back to you, I have been a bit busy at work.

I think the main thing to think about, is that you want your life to change. By chanting you are changing your thoughts and your mind.

Bad things happen to people in life all the time, it doesn't necessarily have anything to with chanting.

But if you study and read more about Buddhism, it will teach you that the struggles in life are there to help has become stronger and grow as people.

We can't escape them. They are part of life. Dark and light. Night and Day. Winter and Summer.

We chant and practice Buddhism not to escape from suffering, but to have the strength and courage and wisdom to deal with anything that life throws at us.

Chanting is changing what is in your mind, it then changes your thoughts, then your life, then your friends, family, community, country, world etc

We are all connected.

This practice is about everyday life, about happiness and being the best as a human being.

This is about human revolution.

Hope that makes sense.

Big love

Robbie