Once upon a time there was a wise man. He wanted to escape the suffering of walking upon the sharp rocks that covered the ground. He realised that he could avoid the pain of walking upon the sharp rocks by rising above them. He thought about it a great deal and took himself off into […]
An estimated 90,000 Rohingya Muslims have now been forced from their homes in Rakhine state in western Burma. Many have been trying to make the perilous journey over the Naf river estuary to Bangladesh only to be turned away by the authorities there. The escalating violence between ethnic Buddhists and the minority Rohingya has led […]
Having come to Buddhism through the SGI, I had for a long time remained ignorant of other schools’ practices, and had not even read the Lotus Sutra until I began to look at Nichiren Buddhism – or more precisely the SGI’s practice of Nichiren Buddhism – in a more critical light after taking a more […]
The challenge of walking the middle way is that extremists on both sides only see their enemy behind you This thought came to me while taking a shower – not sure why, but probably as a result of being misunderstood and misrepresented by both sides in recent discussions I have had regarding Science vs Faith. Zealots on […]
I don’t watch a great deal of TV apart from the news and the occasional documentary, but last night I saw a TV ad that reminded me of why we in the west are still a long way from understanding happiness. An ad for the Virgin Fibre Broadband service was highlighting how frustrating it can be when […]
In an article about turning poison into medicine I recently wrote about the Blade Wheel (Or Wheel of Sharp Weapons), an ancient buddhist text of apology and renunciation. In it, the reader is effectively chastised, or reminded that all of the sufferings that befall him are the actions of the Blade Wheel (once thrown against […]
I have recently been confronted with a tirade of anti SGI hyperbolae – it happens sometimes. After all, the SGI has its detractors – and I know a number of Nichiren Buddhists who simply couldn’t stomach some of the more prevalent facets of SGI dogma and either left the practice altogether, or joined other sects. […]
How fast should I chant daimoku and how long? It’s a question that is often asked when people start practicing Nichiren Buddhism. There’s a little booklet in the top left drawer of the table on which my Butsudan sits. It was given to me by a dear friend of mine to help me record the […]
The concept of turning poison into medicine (Jpn hendoku-iyaku) through one’s Bodhisattva practice is a strong thread that runs throughout many Gosho. It is common material for discussion amongst Nichiren Buddhists, and is one of the primary doctrines of the SGI, forming a major part of the SGI’s contemporary definition of one’s Human Revolution. For […]
Following this brief introduction are three different translations of a single passage, as an example of how translations can serve an exclusive or include view of the Supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. Make of this what you will – many others have already made of it what they would. The english versions of the Writings […]