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20. October 2004: Wrestling
with the Third Powerful Enemy
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Following are the excerpt
from the lecture by Greg Martin, November 12, 1995.
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1)
“Evil enemies” in Buddhism are described
as functions of life’s inherent negativity.
When we are fulfilling our mission to help others
reveal their Buddhahood and lead valuable lives,
the three powerful enemies must appear. Therefore,
to defeat the third powerful enemy is to start defeating
the devilish functions within ourselves.
2) If we cannot stand up to priesthood issue, feeling
it is none of our concern, then, we will ultimately
fail to manifest remarkable benefits in our lives
and not be fulfilling our mission as the Bodhisattva
of the Earth. |
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The Three
Powerful Enemies
The Three Powerful Enemies are three groups of people
who persecute practitioners of True Buddhism. They are:
(1) lay people ignorant of Buddhism who denounce the votaries
and attack them with swords and staves; (2) arrogant and
cunning priests who think they have attained what they
have not yet attained and slander the votaries; and third
and most powerful of these enemies is (3) priests revered
as saints and respected by the general public who, in
fear of losing fame and profit, induce the secular authorities
to persecute the votaries of the Lotus Sutra.
Nikken is the Third Powerful
Enemy
Nikken sect has lost faith in the Daishonin as the True
Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. In their publications
Nikken prints the following;
(1) [Correct faith lies in] absolute faith in and strict
obedience to the High Priest. [Dai-Nichiren (Special Edition
II), p. 13]
(2) Nikken possesses the entity and function of the Dai-Gohonzon.
[Letter from senior priests to top Gakkai leaders, Sept.
6, 1991]
(3) In the past the Buddha and the Law were in the forefront
and the priest, Nikko, was in the background. But, since
the Daishonin has passed away the high priest should be
in the forefront and the Buddha and the Law in the background.
[Letter from senior priests to top Gakkai leaders, Sept.
6, 1991]
(4) One should never worship anything as a Gohonzon that
has not been authorized as such by the High Priest, who
has inherited the Heritage of the Law, even if it was
inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin himself... [Soka Gakkai
Counterfiets the Gohonzon Document]
They no longer view Nichiren Daishonin as the True Buddha,
but rather as a provisional one for 700 years ago who
has been replaced by the High Priest who is now the Daishonin
of modern times and who now must be called His Holiness.
They have turned the concept of the True Buddha upside
down, completely misunderstanding the meaning and significance
of the Daishonin's existence. Because of this fundamental
error they misread the Gosho and postulate such erroneous
doctrines as priests are superior to mere lay believers,
the High Priests is infallible and that only one person
(the high priest) can inherit the Law.
Facing the Third Powerful Enemy is what it means to be
a Bodhisattva of the Earth
Couldn't this problem have somehow been avoided? Maybe
if we had chanted more daimoku or treated the priests
better or been more cooperative -- couldn't the Soka Gakkai
have done something to avert this difficulty? This question
arises when one looks upon this priesthood issue as a
sad or unfortunate incident. The revelation of Nikken
as a devilish function could not have been avoided. It
was predicted in the Gosho. As we advance kosen-rufu,
a saintly priest will appear as a powerful enemy of kosen-rufu.
It is as certain that such an enemy will appear as one
plus one equals two. As long as kosen-rufu advances devilish
forces will appear. This will not be the only time such
things will happen.
The Power and Influence of
the Third Powerful Enemy
Why is this enemy so powerful? What are the symptoms of
this powerful enemies influence? Buddhism teaches us that
we possess a fundamental enlightened nature within us,
called the Buddha nature which has the functions of wisdom
and action to leading us to happiness. Buddhism also teaches
us that we possess a fundamental darkness as well, a devilish
function, characterized by the three poisons of greed,
anger and stupidity which leads us along the path of unhappiness
and ruin. Life is a constant inner battle between these
forces.
The internal devilish function arises in response to an
external stimulus. In this case the appearance of the
Third Powerful Enemy activates our fundamental darkness
causing the three poisons to gush forth from within. Sansho
Shima, the Three Obstacles and Four Devils include the
Devil of the Sixth Heaven arising from within because
of oppression by men of power. In other words, the appearance
of the Third Powerful Enemy, persecution by saintly priests
in cooperation with secular authority functions to activate
the Devil of the Sixth Heaven within us. This is a double
punch that can greatly disrupt our faith.
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Have you had an experience
of defeating the devilish functions within yourself? |
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What is the difference between
“devil of mercy” and Buddhist compassion? |
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How can each of us respond
to the mistaken practice of Nikken sect? |
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Buddhism teaches the concept of the Devil of Mercy. The
function of this devil is to enter the mind of half-hearted
mercy and sympathy within us to distort our thinking and
confuse our sense of judgment to distinguish between good
and evil. SGI members are naturally people with deep mercy
and compassion and thus the devilish function is taking
advantage of that. As a result some members will say,
Why should we be so harsh against the high priest? I feel
sorry for him. Shouldn't we feel more compassion for him?
Consequently, these people will overlook the true nature
of evil and fail to stand up and fight.
Defeating the devilish influence
of the Third Powerful Enemy
The Buddha and devil always coexist within you. When one
chants daimoku with passion for kosen-rufu the Buddha
within will rise and the devil within will shrink. These
forces are in constant battle within you. It is an eternal
battle which we must fight. When you start to lose conviction
and your passion for kosen-rufu wanes, the devilish functions
will rise within you and your Buddha nature will weaken.
Nichiren Daishonin stated that even if you slacken a bit
demons will take advantage. The devil we must fight does
not exist outside of you. We must battle the devil within
and help our members do so as well.
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(from World Tribune, October
24, 2003)
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