Buddhist Fundamentalism

[Myosha]

"To study the Buddha Way is to study the self" - Dogen Zenji

And since China is western to Japan. . . .

Thank you for the lesson.


Gassho,
Myosha

[Jundo]

Just a question to our teachers regarding one recent posts made on that site. He implies that the teaching that all beings are already Buddhas to be a western invention and that no Buddhist sect teaches this. But is it true in at least the Soto school?

Gassho, Ben

Hi Ben,

The Teaching of "Original Enlightenment" is certainly not a western invention. It goes back into the Mahayana for perhaps 2000 years, at least 1000 years or more.

Now, whether such was included in the so-called "Hinayana" Teachings of South Asia is another question, and has been a matter of some debate. It depends how one looks at the question because, even in the old Sutta, the Buddha may be said to have often been describing "nirvana" in such way. It depends on how one reads the historical Buddha's words and the point of his Teachings.

There is a group of scholars (actually, really two scholars) who were sometimes called by the misleading name of "critical buddhists", who argued that Zen had deviated from the early Buddhist teachings by this emphasis in "Original Enlightenment". To make a long story short, many others scholars basically shot the more extreme of their assertions full of holes, and the "critical buddhists" are not widely accepted these days among Mahayana historians,

Here is a quick Wiki summary of Original Enlightenment (Hongaku) ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongaku

Here is a much longer scholarly article reviewing the most detailed book on the topic if you wish to read in detail.

http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2673

A lot of the criticism of "Original Enlightenment" is based on two misunderstandings. First, that one is talking about some kind of original "Atman" that the Buddha rejected when, in fact, Zen Original Enlightenment as a realization of Emptiness is not a realization of Atman; Second, "Original Enlightenment" does not mean we reject that need to Practice and have some Realization in order to realize that we are so (it is not an excuse to sit on the sofa and do nothing).

Gassho, J

[Hans]

Hello,

@ Tiwala: Boy oh boy that was a graphic depiction of the Avici hell indeed! We should never forget that all the horrible things depicted in that clip have already been done to people - by people! So whether we believe in a literal Avici place or not, the essential quality of suffering is absolutely real here and now in a much too literal sense.

Thanks for sharing it!

Gassho,

Hans Chudo Mongen

[Neo]

Jundo nailed it, as suspected. I think that buddha would turn around in his grave if he knew what his non-dogmatic therapeutic pragmatic teaching became in some places. But flaming back isn't the right medicine I guess. There's not one that can argue, or be argued to.

[Bobman4671]

That escalated quickly. Haha! XD I could just imagine him at his computer finding the elephant pictures and videos nearly exploding with anger.

But this has reminded me that one doesn't need to push one's ideas as the truth. We can never really know the whole thing. Thanks for sharing this. C:

Gassho
Javier


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