Mr. Alan Billups Writes:
Let us 1st deal with "Wheels of the Law."
The issue here is about our chanting to our "prayer Gohonzon." Alan goes off into the Wheels of the law and he mentions the Devil King ... Alan also mentions the Gosho "The enlightenment of trees and Plants." Alan also writes that "these words have reverence and force that is acknowledged by the spiritual realm in the the form of the Buddhist Gods or deities obeying with strict obedience of these words." What Mr. Alan Billups fails to acknowledge and he totally disregards is the power of the "Lotus Sutra." In the Gosho that Alan mentions; "The enlightenment of Trees and Pants" we assume that Alan is taking about the Gosho "On consecrating an image of Shakyamuni Buddha made by Shigo Kingo. This is what the Dashonin writes:
"It is the power of the
Lotus Sutra
that can infuse such paintings and statues with a “soul” or spiritual property. This was the realization of the
Great Teacher
T’ien-t’ai
. In the case of living beings, this doctrine is known as attaining
Buddhahood
in one’s present form; in the case of painted and wooden images, it is known as the enlightenment of plants and trees. This is why [the
Great Teacher
Chang-an
] wrote, “There has never been anything to compare to the brightness and serenity of concentration and insight,” and why [the
Great Teacher
Miao-lo
] stated, “They are nevertheless shocked and harbor doubts when they hear for the first time the doctrine that insentient beings possess the Buddha nature.” Nichiren Daishonin is clear that it is the power of the Lotus Sutra that gives "insentient beings its power." What makes the power of the "prayer Gohonzon work is the power of Lotus Sutra. Let us look at more of what Mr. Alan Billups writes below.
"Therefore, in performing the
eye-opening ceremony
for painted or wooden Buddha images, the only authority to rely on is the
Lotus Sutra
and the
T’ien-t’ai
school." Below is what Nichiren Daishonin writes in the Gosho "on consecrating an image of Shakyamuni Buddha made by Shingo kingo
Mr. Alan Billups and I cannot have an intelligent discussion with him "paraphrasing. We cannot accept any "paraphrasing." Exactly what does Mr. Billups mean by the "Seal of Nichiren?" Alan must present empirical evidence of this seal of Nichiren. On the prayer Gohonzon is Nichiren's Signature. The most riduculous statement that can come out of the mouth of Mr. Alan Billups is when Alan's writes "rely on the law and not persons specifically refers to "Common mortals." Mr. Alan Billups lose all credibility when he outrights makes stuff up. It was Shakyamuni Buddha who wrote 3000 years ago in the Nirvana Sutra to "rely on the law and not persons." How in the world can Alan Billups come up with such nonsense that this statement "specifically refers to common mortals." Please understand that both Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin understood that people would come up with con games and nonsense this is why the Buddha gave strict council rely on the law and not persons. Nichiren Daishonin mentions this about 8 times in various Goshos. When you read why he wrote this you can emphatically conclude what Mr. Alan Billups write is lot of nonsense. Nichiren Shonin make mention of "Follow the law and not persons many times in the Gohsho. This dispells what Alan writes: “Therefore, in the sixth volume of the Nirvana Sutra , his final teaching delivered in the grove of sal trees, our merciful father Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, said, ˜Rely on the Law and not upon persons.’ Even when great bodhisattvas such as Universal Worthy and Manjushra men who have returned to the stage of near-perfect enlightenment , expound the Buddhist teachings, if they do not do so with the sutra text in hand, then one should not heed them. “The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai states, ˜That which accords with the sutras is to be written down and made available. But put no faith in anything that in word or meaning fails to do so.’ Here we see that one should accept what is clearly stated in the text of the sutras, but discard anything that cannot be supported by the text. The Great Teacher DengyÅ says, "Depend upon the preachings of the Buddha, and do not put faith in traditions handed down orally,’ which expresses the same idea as the passage from T’ien-t’ai ’s commentary. And Bodhisattva Nagarjuna says that one should rely on treatises that are faithful to the sutras, but not rely on those that distort the sutras. Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man In the Gosho "Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man" Nichiren Daishonin deals with the issue of Text. Alan Billups as well as many of Nichiren Shoshu Teachings cannot be backed up with text or the Lotus Sutra. Mr. Alan Billups made stuff up, read what the Gosho writes about the law. The Buddha writes no matter how powerful a man made be if he does not have text in hand do not listen.
Mr. Alan Billups writes; "The High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu is granted the sacred utterances by previous high Priest." In the Nirvana Sutra Shakyamuni Buddhia gave clear instructions that we do not rely or oral transmissions of the law. We are only to rely on the "Lotus Sutra." We show that throughout the Gosho that Nichiren Daishonin gave such a warning against even the High Priest and even Alan as how he turned around what the words "Rely on the law and not on person means."
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