Blind Faith and Correct Faith
"Blind Faith and Right Faith"

Good morning everyone. Today, I would like to examine the single word "Faith".

Part 1

Faith is usually considered to be a positive concept. But faith can only be positive when it is based on the truth. When that is the case, such faith could be called correct faith, or faith about which there can be no room for doubt. On the other hand, if faith is founded on ideas outside of truth or reason, that faith must be called blind, for two reasons. First, because the believer does not see that his beliefs have no foundation in the truth; and second, because he does not seriously question the validity of what he believes.

What criteria are valid in evaluating truth? In the “Three Tripitiaka Masters Pray for Rain”, the Daishonin suggests, “In judging the relative merits of Buddhist doctrines, Nichiren, believe that the best standards are those of reason and documentary proof. And even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact. ”

Although this passage speaks specifically about Buddhist doctrine, reason, documentation and actual proof are solid standards that should logically apply to most schools of thought or religions. The only time all three of these criteria might not be relevant is when a tradition is oral only, lacking a written transmission. But even then, reason and actual proof are trustworthy standards for determining truth.

In other words, I believe that in general, we must question whether or not any given set of ideas is provable according to reason. Again, are those ideas verifiable in relation to the documentation used to substantiate them? Finally, do those ideas confirm the truth in actual experience?

According to the three major monotheistic religions --Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the omniscient, omnipotent, all-loving and just Cod is said to have fashioned the body of man after his own'image. It is also believed that God loves us and wants But soon after God created the world, when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good'and evil that God had planted in the Garden of Eden, God said, "The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil "(Genesis 3:22) God then drove Adam and Eve from the garden so that they would not be able to eat from the tree of, life and become even more like him, possessing immortality.

There are several areas here where ideas contradict reason and fact. God himself is believed to dwell in the realm of the spirit, as opposed to the human physical plane. If that is so, what part of man's body is made in God's image? , what part of God is human?

Blind Faith and Correct Faith --Part 2

The idea that man is made in God's image is recorded in the book of Genesis, but how can that documentation be proven? In terms of actual proof, how can all men verify the fact that God and man resemble one another when we cannot see God ? Anyone who accepts the idea-that man is made in God's image must accept it through blind faith, because the idea cannot be proven, either through reason, documentation or experience.

Again, if God is omniscient, he had to have known, by definition, that Adam and Eve would succumb to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If God truly loves man, then why did he plant that tree in the garden in the first place, knowing that it would cause Adam and Eve to fall from paradise? Was this an act of love or a trap?

Monotheists believe that all people born after Adam and Eve have also had to suffer the consequences of the first couplers indiscretion, Is it a just God who makes all people suffer for Adam and Eve's mistake? The very premise that mankind would be kept pure, innocent And happy by not bowing the difference between good and evil is absolutely preposterous. Ignorance is not bliss. On the contrary, it is the cause of all suffering.

In the Bible, God speaks directly to Abraham. But the all-knowing God does not warn Abraham appropriately that having a child by Sarah's maidservant Hagar will set up a territorial, racial and religious rivalry between the lines of blood brothers, all because of issues of inheritance, that will continue for thousands of years, lead to the suffering and murder of otherwise innocent people and eventually endanger the survival of the entire planet.

If the examples I have just outlined about a few of God's acts were the behavior of a man, would you trust and revere him? On a gut level, I truly believe that the monotheistic belief systems were created by men who had no wiser way of Understanding the sufferings of life or the means to eradicate them. From the perspective of Buddhism, belief in a God who will gather the faithful into his kingdom of joy after their death seems to be, at best, the desperate hope of a people who can see no hope of true joy in this life. I do not say this to belittle monotheists. On the contrary.r-this realization arouses in me a profound desire to offer them a chance for true joy in the here and now.

Blind Faith and Correct Faith --Part 3

Most of us here today have embraced Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, and could therefore be charged with religious bias. In order to disprove such possible allegations, we must be absolutely clinical in evaluating the Daishonin's teachings according to His own standards of reason, documentation and actual proof. As I intimated earlier, correct faith can only be established when all questions have been answered and: all doubts removed through objective and thorough scrutiny.

Every aspect of the Daishonin's Buddhism is predicated upon Myoho-Renge-Kyo --the eternal and universal Mystic Law of causal relation tucked away within the depths of the Lotus Sutra, or more simply, the law of cause and effect. Unless someone can prove to it is reasonable to trust. me'other, the law of cause and effect is absolute and irrefutable.
that for every cause, there is an effect ...

Even the events I mentioned earlier from the Bible actually function according to the relationship between cause and effect. For example, God planted a tree, which is a cause, whose fruit he put off limits to Adam and Eve, which is another cause. Due Their eating of the fruit was simultaneously an effect of the existence of the tree and a conscious reaction to God's prohibition .. Their eating of the fruit was also a The effects of that new cause were Adam and Eve's gaining of knowledge of good and evil and their expulsion by God from the Garden of Eden. The events following Abraham's siring of Hagar's son Ishmael are also a long series of causes and effects. The problem is that while. monotheism depicts. events that function according to the law-of cause and effect, monotheistic doctrine does not teach the eternal and all-pervasive nature of this law in relation to the phenomenal univ erse. Another serious flaw in monotheism is that God .. himself is portrayed as an existence that suffers no personal consequences for the causes that he makes. In reality, there is nothing in the universe that functions outside of causal relation.

Blind Faith and Correct Faith --Part 4

What does Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism offer to mankind based on practice of the Mystic Law of cause and effect? ​​The Daishonin's practice mystically offers all ordinary people living in this mundane world of suffering the possibility of OCIing Buddhahood in a single lifetime. mystically "because without actually experiencing the realm of Buddhahood, it is extremely difficult for people to even imagine, much less believe, that just by chanting the words" Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo "to the Gohonzon, we can open up within ourselves a world of perfect wisdom to the workings of cause and effect, a world in which we can actually, tangibly know ourselves as eternal beings free from the bonds and sufferings of temporary existence on this physical plane, a world transformed before our eyes from a planet consumed by greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt into the land of eternally tranquil light. al Proof. We need and should expect to have actual proof of such an unbelievable claim, let me give you a simple but apt analogy .. Today, we all know what gunpowder is, and people familiar with the explosive know how to make it. However, before the discovery of gunpowder, people could nonetheless see crystals of potassium nitrate in soil, sulfur in volcanic areas and charcoal left over from incompletely burnt wood fires. Until someone came to the'realization that the right combination of these three elements could produce. an explosive compound, the possibility of gunpowder remained a mystery.

In the same way, when Nichiren Daishonin was an ordinary person in the limitless past of Kuon-ganjo. He observed the law of cause and effect that would allow people to become Buddhas. He named that law "Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. "He then made that law His master until He became a Buddha. These facts are recorded in a Gosha entitled, The Entity of the Mystic Law. I have also prepared a list of documentation supporting the validity of Nichiren Daishonin'Buddhism, including verified. prophecies made'both by Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin Himself. You will .find that list at the end of this lecture, but r will not go over each instance here for fear that I might bore you or put you to sleep with the details. Besides, the ability to foretell the future alone, as with all extrasensory abilities, is not necessarily evidence of Buddhahood. That is, just because a person can tell the future does not mean that he is a Buddha. But when a Buddha makes a prophecy that comes to pass, those wh o believe in the Buddha will see his prophecy as proof of the truth of Buddhism.

Blind Faith and Correct Faith --Part 5

Now, even if a person who has never witnessed the explosive potential of gunpowder is told that gunpowder explodes, he will never know the truth for sure unless he actually sees a demonstration. In the same way, even though the Daishonin tells us that Nam- Myoho-Renge-Kyo is the only law through which a person can obtain Buddhahood, we really cannot know whether or not he is telling us the truth unless we try His practice as He prescribed it.

Even if a person has doubts, faith begins the very moment we decide to taste the truth of the Daishonins Buddhism. In The Daimoku of the Lotus Suira, Nichiren Daishonin tells us: "Thus faith is the basic requirement for entering the way of the Buddha "(MW, VoL 3, p. 5) In the Orally Transmitted Teachings, He further assures us," The single word faith allows us to embrace this original Law. "(Gosho, P: 1764) As we ourselves and countless others before us have already experienced, actual proof on various levels follows the moment we begin to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Moreover, as we experience actual proof, that proof combines with reason and documentary proof to form a unified and irrefutable truth within This is correct faith, the most valuable possession we can own in any existence.

Then, as we practice with growing faith month after month, year after year, we finally and inevitably find without a doubt that by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon, we have indeed opened up within ourselves a world of perfect wisdom to the workings of cause and effect a world in which we actually, tangibly know ourselves as eternal beings free from the bonds and sufferings of temporary existence on this physical Diane, a world transformed before our eyes from a planet consumed by greed, anger, ignorance In Reply to Sairen- bo, the Daishonin promises: "Therefore, wherever we dwell and practice the single vehicle, that place will be the capital of Eternally Tranquil Light"

Since 1999, we have been "Taking the Field" in order to plant the seed of Buddhahood within the hearts of as many people as possible before the celebration of the 750 anniversary of the establishment of True Buddhism. So far, as we have had wonderful We must keep up our efforts to introduce the Daishonin's Buddhism to others so that as many people as possible will be able to share in the benefit of participating in the General Tozans commemorating our 750th anniversary at the end of the year. I know that you will all do your best, so thank you for attending todays Oko Ceremony.

Blind Faith and Correct Faith --Part 6

Documentary evidence Supporting Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.

1. In the Jinriki Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha foretells Nichiren Daishonin's advent and awesome mission in the Latter Day of the Law as follows:
"Just as the light of the sun and the moon dispels all darkness, this person will strive to eradicate delusion from the minds of all people in the world." This passage further shows us the significance of the Chinese character "Nichi" the name " Nichiren "" Nichiren "" Nichi "" Sun "means" sun "" Sun whose light drives away the darkness. In the same way, Nichiren Daishonin made His advent in order to rid man of delusion, the fundamental cause of all suffering.

2. An excerpt from the Yujutsu Chapter of the Lotus Sutra tells us why the Daishonin chose the Chinese character "ren" "Lotus" as the second character in the name "Nichiren." Nichiren "" He will remain unstained by the world, like the lotus blossom, which [is undefiled] by the [muddy] water in which it grows. "Because the lotus produces seeds and flowers at the same time, it is used as a metaphor for the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect "But at the same time, just as a lotus flower remains pristine while growing out of the decayed muck at the bottom of a pond, Nichiren Daishonin could not be tarnished by the corrupt society in which He lived. The'lotus therefore signifies purification of the mundane world.

3. The Daishonin cites several scriptural passages in a letter to Soya Nyudo "Soya Irido" to prove that He is the True Buddha for the Latter Day of the Law. year period after my passing, he will widely spread the True Law. "This passage tells us that the True Buddha will make His advent in the fifth five hundred year period after Shakyamuni's passing." The small nation mentioned in this excerpt indicates Japan, where, of all Shakyamuni's teachings, only the Mahayana or Greater Vehicle teachings were able to take root.

The next passage also coinsides from the same letter to Soya Nyudo, and is particularly interesting because it traces the migration of the Lotus Sutra and the many lives through which it passed in its journey tram India to Japan. "In his Records of the Translation of the Sutras, Seng-chao states:'With a copy of the Lotus Sutra in his left hand, the great master Suryasoma patted Kumarajiva on the head with his right and presented him a gift of the sutra, saying,'The sun of [Indian ] Buddhism is setting in the west, casting its glow towards the ea · t. This sutra is destined [for a land} to the northeast. You must respectfully transmit and propagate it. "Kumarajiva, born in what is now Turkistan, lived during The fourth and fifth centuries and is renowned as the foremost translator of the Lotus Sutra from Sanskrit into Chinese. The master under whom he studied Buddhism was Suryasoma, the most highly respected teacher of Buddhism in India at that time. s the events that occurred when Kumarajiva had completed his studies and visited his master to pay his farewell respects before leaving for China to translate hundreds of Buddhist writings into Chinese. Seng-chao, the author of the inserted account, was a priest during the Later Chin Dynasty in China who had studied philosophy under the great Chinese masters Lao Tzu and Chuang T ~. And is said to have. Later become Kumarajiva's leading disciple. It is Kumarajiva's translation of the Lotus Sutra that the Daishonin used in His propagation of True Buddhism ..

4. A passage from The Selection of the Time relates Shakyamuni's prediction about conditions in the world at the beginning of the Latter Day of the Law. "In the Daijuku Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One ... predicts the future ... Concerning the next five. Hundred years after that, he says,'Quarrels and disputes will arise among the adherents to my teachings, and the Pure Law will become obscured and lost' In 1203, after two'hundred years of encursions into India, the armies of Islam murdered all priests and nuns as they destroyed the Buddhist'center at Bikkhuramasila, which effectively wiped out Buddhism in India and the surrounding regions.

5. The Kanji Chapter of the Lotus Sutra predicts the various kinds of persecutions that Nichiren Daishonin will have to face in His attempt to propagate the Lotus Sutra during the Latter Day of the Law. into extinction, in an age of fear and evil we will preach far and wide: There wll'be many ignorant people who will curse and speak ill of us and will attack us with swords and staves ... (The Lotus Sutra, Burton Watson) Translation, p. 193) Angry Nembutsu opponents tried to kill the Daishonin at His home in Matsu bagayatsu, a district of Kamakura, on August 27, 1260. Then again, on November 11, 1264, the Daishonin was attacked at Komatsubara, where He received a gash on the forehead from a sword. His left hand. Was also broken during the attack. Another passage reads, r ••• again and again we will'be banished… The Daishonin was first exiled to Izu from May 12, 1261 until February 22, 1263. He was also exiled to the island of Sa do from October 10, 1271 until March 13, 1274, but not before he was nearly beheaded at Tatsunokuchi on September 12, 1271.

6. On July 1260, the Daishonin submitted the Rissho Ankoku Ron, remonstration document, to the-retired regent of the ruling Hojo clan, offering various passages from the sutras as proof that seven disasters will descend upon the Japanse people because of their rejection of The Lotus Sutra. By the time the Daishonin has written this document, five of the seven disasters have already occurred. Only the two disasters of internal strife and foreign .invasion have yet to manifest. But the Daishonin predicts that these disasters too will inevitably follow If the nation does not embrace His teachings. On February 11, 1m, Hojo Noritoki and Hojo Tokiakira, known as Nagoe brothers, staged a military revolt in Kamakura against the regent Hojo Tokimune. The attempt failed, however, and both brothers were killed. Four days later, on February 15, the elder brother of the regent, Hojo Tokisuke, staged a similar revolt in Kyoto, which similarly ended in Tokisukes death. invade Japan on two separate occasions, once on October 5, 1274, and the second time, on May 21, 1281. Although the attempted coups and foreign invasions ultimately failed, the fact that they occurred at all proved the validity of the Daishonins predictions, and substantiated the truth of the Daishonin's teachings.

Jisei Nagasaka, chief Priest of Myosetsu-ji Temple May 19,2002