[Buddha-l] Buddhist Intolerance?

[Bruce Burrill]

>Didn't Nichiren have some especially harsh things to say
>about his opponents?  I think they were mostly members
>of other Buddhist sects, so I don't know whether that fits in
>the scope of your project.



[b]If a person fails to have faith
but instead slanders this sutra,
  ...
The things he says
people will not believe,
the breath from his mouth will be constantly foul
  ...
If there are monks who,
for the sake of comprehensive wisdom,
seek the Law in every direction,
pressing palms together, gratefully accepting,
desiring only to accept and embrace
the sutra of the Great Vehicle
and [I]not accepting a single verse
of the other sutras[/I],
to persons such as this
it is permissible to preach it [the Lotus Sutra].
If a person, earnest in mind,
seeks this sutra
as though he were seeking the Buddha's relics,
and having gained and gratefully accepted it,
that person shows no intention
of seeking other sutras
and has never once given thought
to the writings of the non-Buddhist doctrines,
to a person such as this
it is permissible to preach it.[/b]

The Lotus Sutra Chapter 3

[b]The people of this country are continually deceived by the 
Nembutsu priests, or by the Zen, Ritsu or Shingon sect. Thus they act 
outwardly as though they revere the Lotus Sutra, but in their hearts 
they do not believe in it. So although I, Nichiren, do not think that 
I have done anything particularly wrong, when I assert the supremacy 
of the Lotus Sutra, they all resent me, just as the people in the 
Latter Day of the Law of Ionno Buddha detested Bodhisattva Fukyo. 
 From the ruler on down to the common people, they hate even to hear 
my name, let alone see my person, therefore, though I was innocent of 
any wrongdoing, having been exiled, I could not possibly be pardoned. 
To compound matters, I had denounced the Nembutsu--which the people 
of Japan revere more deeply than their own parents and more highly 
than the sun and moon--as the karmic cause that leads to the hell of 
incessant suffering. [color=red]I attacked the Zen sect as the work 
of devils, and Shingon as a heresy that will ruin the nation, and 
insisted that the temples of the Nembutsu priests, the Zen sect, and 
the Ritsu priests be [color=blue]burned down[/color], and the priests 
of the Nembutsu [color=blue]beheaded[/color]. ...[/color] Those who 
believe in the Lotus Sutra should beware of and guard themselves 
against the sutra's enemies. Know that the Nembutsu priests, the 
upholders of the precepts, and the Shingon teachers--in fact, [u]all 
those who refuse to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo--are the enemies of the 
Lotus Sutra[/u], no matter how earnestly they may read it. If you do 
not know your enemies, you will be deceived by them.[/b]
--- Nichiren
Written in the third month in the second year of Kenji (1276), 
cyclical sign hinoe-ne, in the mountains of Hakiri Village in the 
Nambu area of Kai Province.

[b]Finally the Buddha came to reveal the Lotus Sutra and stated, "The 
World-Honored One has long expounded his doctrines and now must 
reveal the truth." He also warned, [color=red][u]"In all the Buddha's 
lands of the universe there is but one supreme vehicle, not two or 
three, and [I]it excludes the provisional teachings of the 
Buddha[/u],"[/I][/color] [color=red][u]and "Honestly discarding the 
provisional teachings, I will expound the Supreme Law,"[/u][/color] 
and [color=red][u]"Never accept even a single phrase from the other 
sutras."[/u][/color] Thus, ever since that time, the supreme vehicle 
of the Mystic Law has been the only teaching profound enough to 
enable all people to attain Buddhahood. [u][color=red]Even though 
[I]no sutra other than the Lotus Sutra[/I] can provide even the 
slightest benefit,[/u][/color] the Buddhist scholars of the Latter 
Day claim that all sutras must lead to enlightenment because they 
were expounded by the Buddha. Therefore, they arbitrarily profess 
faith in any sutra and follow whatever sect they choose, whether 
Shingon, Nembutsu, Zen, Sanron, Hosso, Kusha, Jojitsu, or Ritsu. The 
Lotus Sutra says of such people, [u][color=red]"One who refuses to 
take faith in this sutra and instead slanders it immediately destroys 
the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world.... After he dies he 
will fall into the hell of incessant suffering."[/u][/color] Thus the 
Buddha himself concluded that one's practice accords with the 
Buddha's teachings only when he bases his faith precisely on the 
standard of the sutra, believing that there is but one Supreme 
Law.[/b] -- Nichiren

http://www.buddhistinformation.com/the_lotus_sutra_study_center/on_practicing.htm">http://www.buddhistinformation.com/the_lotus_sutra_study_center/on_practicing.htm

[b]Some people may be wondering whether the Mongols will really 
attack again, but I believe that invasion is now imminent. An 
invasion would be deplorable--it would mean the ruin of our 
country--but if it does not happen, the Japanese people will slander 
the Lotus Sutra more than ever and all of them will fall into the 
hell of incessant suffering.
The nation may be devastated by the superior strength of the Mongols, 
but slander of Buddhism [as taught by Nichiren] will cease almost 
entirely. Defeat would be like moxa cautery which cures disease or 
acupuncture which relieves pain. Both are painful at the moment but 
bring happiness later.[/b]

http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/librar