Stories of the Lotus Sutra - Chapter 3: The Dharma Flower Assembly

[Naiko]

This is such a great point, Naiko! Thank you for pointing this out, and yes, thank you to all who have built and maintained Treeleaf. I had to chuckle when Naiko made me realize the irony of my earlier post where I expressed my allergy to missionary activity--I expressed that allergy on a global, digital, religious platform built in Japan (I think), brought by some technological miracle to Canada, by Jundo and other "intrepid teachers" to use Naiko's terms.

That said, I do wonder whether Treeleaf and teaching Sutras are missionary activities. This might just be a moot word game, but for those us coming from certain negative religious backgrounds, it might be more than just words to us. Is there a difference between building a Zendo and leaving its door wide open, on the one hand, and actively travelling the world to convert and "save" people by a particular interpretation of doctrine? I think so! Not all transmission of knowledge is missionary activity, or else academics, TV chefs, journalists, etc, would all be missionaries..right?

This is a really interesting topic that I hope we find time to discuss briefly at our next Zoom session. Thanks for helping me think deeper about it, Naiko.

gassho
satlah
Mike

Mike, I share your allergy to missionary activities as well! There are several things Reeves has written that I found challenging, but his statement that Buddhism is a missionary religion drew a hard nope from me! I thought, ok, so I can’t be a Bodhisattva then. I have the same negative association with it.
Now, if I’m honest, my first exposure to Buddhism was the 70’s tv show, Kung Fu, and that planted a seed. But first Bodhidharma had to walk from India to China. Someone was spreading the Dharma, just hopefully not at the point of a sword the way that other religion has. I wonder how many people were inspired to learn about Buddhism while watching the Texas monks’ Walk for Peace. They didn’t really proselytize, but their demeanor drew such a positive response.
Gassho,
Naiko
stlah

[Shinkon]

Thus far, this commentary progresses like all the other commentaries I have read; if I look at past commentaries from graduate school until now, this number is well over 100.
That being said, Reeves viewpoint on this sutra is not 'new.' However, I always give any author a lot of leeway because they wrote a lengthy text. Maybe they say something new.
Okay, so, nothing new thus far. I should note that reading a commentary is new to some people here. As some have said, chapters have repetition, and that serves the author's purpose for elucidating text, etc.
Reeves dropped a not-so-good bomb in the first paragraph on p 26.

"The Bible begins with the book of Genesis and a creation story in which God is initially all by himself. Then he decides to create the world. Later Christian theologians would develop the idea that the creater God is radically independent. Already perfect and complete in every way, he is in need of nothing and no one."

As a theologian, translator, and recovering academic, I was disappointed by this. First, this is a neophytic understanding of Genesis; my rabbinic colleagues would second this observation. The understanding that God is radically independent is a small understanding. We used to call this God the master watchmaker, winding his creation and letting it go. On another note, God does not need humanity because he's omniscient and all-powerful - nothing can touch God. The counter can be argued: if God does not need humanity, then why create a bunch of flawed beings in God's image (imago dei) and let them flourish, even preferring one group among all others. Many counterpoints to his observation can be seen with little effort. (Disclaimer: I am no longer a Christian. I am a Zen Buddhist through the marrow.)
Sorry, Reeves. Regardless of whether they were apropos of fundamentalist ideology or a poor understanding, these ideas fell by the wayside long ago. While he may be an excellent Buddhist scholar and practitioner, he should have avoided this paragraph. It was not necessary for his textual argument. However, his editor allowed it.

Ok, that's over. Let's how Chapter 4 progresses.

Gassho,
Shinkon

[Shui_Di]

Something I learn from this chapter is about the many kinds of assembly.

Before, I thought that the Buddha is very popular, so many creatures beside human also come to hear it. But I never know if those other creature is real or not. But one thing for sure, that this Dharma is for everyone. Even the earth is shaking. Means the Dharma also everywhere. So it is everywhere and for everyone.

Gassho, Mujo
Stlah