[Buddha-l] Buddhist Intolerance?

[Sharon Smith]

This article might be of use in placing Nichiren's exclusivism into
perspective:
Jacqueline Stone, 1994.  Rebuking the Enemies of the Lotus: Nichirenist
Exclusivism in Historical Perspective. Japanese Journal of Religious
Studies 21(2-3) pp. 231-259.
I think it's available on the web.  Google should help you find it under
the nichirencoffeehouse site.

Best, Vijayatara
>

>> 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_practi
> cing.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
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>
>
>


-- 
Sharon Smith