And just now, info about the Uncle Rufus tooth relic was disclosed (blessed art those who do library research).

And the actual behavor of hard core members when in the presence of Ikeda was being discussed.

And the value of Ikeda possessions among the inner hard core group.

The stuff that the hardcore members thrill to, but keep quiet about, secret about when with lower ranking members or outsiders.

Maybe a coincidance, maybe not.

Very little disruptive input on this thread until now, though.

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If you are or become an attorney, you will be a high value item in SGI's portfolio.

Remember - Vice Women's Division General/National Leader Linda Johnson was a lawyer, something the other leaders and articles etc. always made sure to point out.

Say, Nammy, what do you think of the Nichiren tooth relic and the other superstitions within the SGI? Are they still saying that the only image you are allowed to have on your altar is Ikeda's? I remember when I first moved out here to So. CA, one of the women who lived by me had a small statue of Shakyamuni Buddha on her altar. She told me she'd been told by leaders to get rid of it, but she didn't want to. I didn't say anything. Was that wrong of me? What about the dangers of mixing practices that the SGI tells us about? Do you read much of the teachings attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha, or do you limit your study to SGI-approved/promoted materials? What do you think of President Ikeda's poetry and photography? Welcome to the board!

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corboy
And just now, info about the Uncle Rufus tooth relic was disclosed (blessed art those who do library research).

And the actual behavor of hard core members when in the presence of Ikeda was being discussed.

And the value of Ikeda possessions among the inner hard core group.

The stuff that the hardcore members thrill to, but keep quiet about, secret about when with lower ranking members or outsiders.

Maybe a coincidance, maybe not.

Very little disruptive input on this thread until now, though.

I find it kind of amusing that it would something this ridiculous that would bring anyone out knowing how much has been said so far about techniques they use and so on, and this is what gets someone's attention. Priorities anyone?

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TaitenAndProud

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If you are or become an attorney, you will be a high value item in SGI's portfolio.

Remember - Vice Women's Division General/National Leader Linda Johnson was a lawyer, something the other leaders and articles etc. always made sure to point out.

Scientologists also prize members like lawyers doctors, therapists, celebrities, do they not? I bet all organization like these do and for very useful reasons like money (large donations), professional services now available to the org for free, access to new potential members.

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TaitenAndProud
What do you think of President Ikeda's poetry and photography? Welcome to the board!

I can tell you what I think. Utter crap for the former and extremely underwhelming for the latter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2013 04:35AM by sleepy skunk.

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Scientologists also prize members like lawyers doctors, therapists, celebrities, do they not? I bet all organization like these do and for very useful reasons like money (large donations), professional services now available to the org for free, access to new potential members.

While all those aspects are no doubt important, I think that it is more the credibility a high-profile member gives to the organization. Notice how much attention celeb members like Herbie Hancock, Tina Turner, and Orlando Bloom get even though they apparently do *no* activities. With Scientology, think actor John Travolta, musician Beck, and couch-jumping money machine Tom Cruise. So landing a highly placed member of society, like a doctor, lawyer, celebrity, or, ideally, politician, is a priority.

I don't think the SGI has managed to sign up any politician of any value/prominence, has it? Boy, getting a high-ranking senator or member of the President's cabinet or even a President would sure be the golden feather in the SGI's cap. Ikeda would cream himself!

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ScoobyDooby
JMO, Nammy is either very naive (not a good attribute for a lawyer) or an SGI troll. I vote for the latter.

Or perhaps a combination of both. I definitely think that a nerve has been hit, either way.

On that note:

"The Goreiho Mushibarai Ceremony (in Head Temple)."

"The Goreiho Mushibarai Ceremony of the Airing of the Sacred Treasures, conducted at the Head Temple Taisekiji every year during the two days of April 6 and 7, is one of Nichiren Shoshu's two great ceremonies, the other being the autumnal Gotai-e Ceremony. A great number of extremely important treasures have been preserved by the priesthood during the long seven hundred year period since the time of our founder Nichiren Daishonin. Once a year, great care must be taken to expel moisture and harmful insects from these treasures so that they may be passed on to later generations far into the future. At the same time, this momentous ceremony provides a chance for the many participating worshippers to deepen their faith.

Here is a brief summary of the activities that occur during the Grand Ceremony of the Airing of the Sacred Treasures in modern times. All of the events begin on April 6 with the Gokaihi Ceremony. After the recitation of the Lotus Sutra and during the chanting of Daimoku at this Gokaihi Ceremony, His Holiness the High Priest himself, conducts the ceremony of cleaning the accumulated dust from the face of the Dai-Gohonzon with heavy paper specially made just for this occasion. This ceremony is followed in the evening by a solemn procession. At this time, the approach road between the Nitenmon Gate and the Mieido is aglow with the blaze of post fires. The High Priest, who has followed a long cortege of priests, majestically faces the Mieido, ascends a prepared dais and begins a sermon on the Gosho. Thereafter, the first day' s activities draw to a close with lectures provided by priests on the propagation of the Law.

At 2:30 a.m. of the second day, April 7, attending priests and members of the faith assemble at Kyakuden (The Reception Hall) to worship at the
Ushitora Gongyo Ceremony and pray single-mindedly with the High Priest for the attainment of the worldwide propagation of the Law. Then at 7:00 a.m., the High Priest makes his second appearance at the Mieido to rigorously observe the monthly Oko Ceremony in gratitude to the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin. Subsequently, at 9:00 a.m., the eventful Airing of the Sacred Treasures finally commences at Kyakuden (The Reception Hall). Preceding this, a great number of sacred treasures stored within the Treasure Storehouse are transported into Kyakuden (The Reception Hall). These Sacred Treasures are contained within three large black lacquered chests, each marked with either the Treasure Wheel, the Circular Crane or the Tortoise Shell. Each chest is mounted upon a litter and draped with a sacred gold brocade altar cloth. Carried on priests' shoulders under the direction of the High Priest, these chests, inscribed first with the Treasure Wheel, then the Circular Crane and lastly the Tortoise Shell, are transferred in sequence before those waiting in attendance at Kyakuden (The Reception Hall). There, in the presence of the Chief Lay Representative of the Head Temple, the seal on the chest marked with the Treasure Wheel is broken. The Daishonin' s bones, His living dental framework (Onikuge) and the incense burner, candlestick and evergreen vase that were used by the Daishonin when He prayed for rain, are removed from the chest and placed on a table before the Gohonzon.

Next, as the High Priest and the General Administrator read off the names, various Gohonzons are hung on large frames especially erected in the inner and outer sanctuaries, beginning with the Gohonzon that has been called since ancient times "The Gohonzon inherited from master to disciple (Shi-Shi-Denju-no-Gohonzon)", inscribed by the Daishonin, and continuing with Gohonzons inscribed by the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin, the Third High Priest Nichimoku Shonin and other successive High Priests of Nichiren Shoshu. Finally, the wide Gohonzon of the Transferal of the Law which Nikko Shonin bestowed on Nichimoku Shonin at the time of the establishment of Taisekiji, is hung in the middle of the outer sanctuary and at this time, the recitation of the Lotus Sutra and the chanting of Daimoku is conducted.

After the Airing of the Gohonzons is completed, we move next to the handwritten scroll documents. During this Ceremony, Gosho written by Nichiren Daishonin, as well as documents and letters written by Nikko Shonin, Nichimoku Shonin and others are exposed for ventilation. After His Holiness the High Priest ascends the central dais and recites the Lotus Sutra, he reads The Minobu Transfer Document and The lkegami Transfer Document (ancient copies), as well as The Articles of Procedure After Nikko, that is the document written by Nikko Shonin in which he transfers the Law to Nichimoku Shonin. Following this, the names of Gosho with which most people are familiar are read, such as In Celebration of Spring, Three Shingon Masters Pray for Rain, The Kalpa of Decrease, Treasures Have No Value Compared With the Law, The Glft of Rice, King of the Lions Gosho, The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings, In Remonstrance of Bodhissattva Hachiman and Offering of Three Blades of Straw. In 1967, twenty-six of the Daishonin's scroll manuscript Gosho were designated Important National Cultural Assets.

In addition to these, there are many other manuscripts, including a great number copied by Nikko Shonin, such as the Rissho Ankoku Ron, Capturing the Essential Teachings of the Lotus Sutra, On the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice and The Eight Volumes of the Lotus Sutra, as well as copies of letters and Gosho, such as Reply to Lord Ueno and Reply to Kubo-ama and letters written to other disciples. There are epistles by Nichimoku Shonin and Nichido Shonin, Nichido Shonin's Godendodai, which is a draft manuscript known as the oldest extant writing about the life of the Daishonin, as well as Nichikan Shonin's manuscript of the Rokkan-sho. Symbolizing the weight of seven hundred years of history and tradition, these copious Sacred Treasures are truly a magnificent sight.

The Gosho and other documents brought before the participating believers are aired at the hands of the priests. Many priests sit before a long table in front of the inner sanctuary, fan the unscrolled parchments with Japanese folding fans, and then re-roll them. Handling these irreplaceable Sacred Treasures scrupulously with white-gloved hands to prevent any possible damage, the priests store them once again in the lacquer chests in proper succession, which brings the ceremony to a close.

^*After the Daishonin's death, five of the six elder disciples, including Nissho and Nichiro said, "The letters which the Daishonin wrote using Japanese syllabic characters (called kana, rather than scholarly Chinese characters) were in acknowledgment for Gokuyo (offerings) or for the purpose of leading complaining believers, and if we leave these for future generations, they'll bring disgrace upon the Daishonin." Thus, the five elder priests either tore up or burned some of the Daishonin's letters. In the final analysis, it can only be said that these five elder priests, who had not received the transmission of the Living Essence of the Law, did not quite understand the following: "The Daishonin is the True Buddha who came to save all existence in the Latter Day of the Law, and therefore, the words He spoke and the writings He left behind are the Buddna's Golden Words, teachings to be greatly revered." Besides admonishing them for their misunderstanding, the Daishonin's legitimate successor Nikho Shonin worked to collect the Gosho that had been widely dispersed, and to catalogue and write explanations of the major works for future generations. He even went so far as to take up the brush and make copies of the Gosho, to prevent the Daishonin's sacred teachings from being lost.

It is only because the successive Masters who have inherited the dignified spirit of "Persevering to ensure that the Law of Myoho-Renge-Kyo will be transmitted for all eternity" from Nikko Shonin, even at the risk of their very lives, as well as because of protection by members of the faith, that we are able to behold these most holy of sacred teachings today.

With the belief that through this Goreiho-Omushibarai-e, the Grand Ceremony of the Airing of the Sacred Treasures, this sect's Living Tradition of the Daishonin's Buddhism has been correctly transmitted without the slightest error, we must instill within ourselves that great spirit of protection of the True Law. It must also be said that this ceremony profoundly signifies our faith in this one and only, absolute pure Supreme Law, and our pledge that the Law of Myoho-Renge-Kyo will thoroughly take root in society and continue to spread throughout the entire world."

(Taken from "Nichiren Shoshu Ceremonies" [www.nichirenshoshu.or.jp]).

(Bolded portions added by me.)

****

The above is posted for scholarly edification purposes only.

I wonder what exactly was the content of those destroyed letters discussed in paragraph number 8.^* Must have been pretty bad, if even the priesthood was spurred to delete and rewrite history, for the sake of crafting an artificial image (a reminder of the $GI Cult Org. being in good company, too).

I maintain that the $oka Gakkai cult org. has just beat Nichiren Shoshu at their own game. Nichiren Shoshu may have been the first, but the Gakkai Cult Org. does it best (if anything, you just gotta give them that).

Will the Gakkai Cult Org. someday have "An Airing of The Dear Leader Ikeda" artifacts ceremony, where all $GI leaders from everywhere on Earth will come to witness and chant to it??? Don't say I didn't tell you so.


- Hitch

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I wonder what exactly was the content of those destroyed letters discussed in paragraph number 8.* Must have been pretty bad, if even the priesthood was spurred to delete and rewrite history, for the sake of crafting an artificial image (a reminder of the $GI Cult Org. being in good company, too).

Given that the Nichiren schools founded by the OTHER elder priests all have different accounts of the events in question, and that there are many gosho which are regarded as illegitimate (aka forgeries, pseudonymous, etc.), I think we can be confident that this little homily about those horrid non-Nikko priests and their nefarious wrongdoing can be understood as just another ploy by Nichiren Shoshu to emphasize that IT is the ONLY valid Nichiren school.

The smart money says it never happened.

On the subject of the airing of the scrolls, one of my early MD district leaders told of how when he went on tozan, they were airing out these scrolls and he was able to see them. He said a great many were really very simple, little more than NMRK down the middle. In fact, they sound much like my original Nichiren Shu scrolls! See pictures below. SGI leaders told me I had to take these down and get rid of them (if it was too late to not purchase them in the first place), you'll recall:
[i129.photobucket.com] - 130+ years old
[i129.photobucket.com] - 100+ years old

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Hitch
The above is posted for scholarly edification purposes only.

I wonder what exactly was the content of those destroyed letters discussed in paragraph number 8.^* Must have been pretty bad, if even the priesthood was spurred to delete and rewrite history, for the sake of crafting an artificial image (a reminder of the $GI Cult Org. being in good company, too).

I maintain that the $oka Gakkai cult org. has just beat Nichiren Shoshu at their own game. Nichiren Shoshu may have been the first, but the Gakkai Cult Org. does it best (if anything, you just gotta give them that).

Will the Gakkai Cult Org. someday have "An Airing of The Dear Leader Ikeda" artifacts ceremony, where all $GI leaders from everywhere on Earth will come to witness and chant to it??? Don't say I didn't tell you so.


- Hitch

I can't understand anyone's willingness to deify simple objects just because people think they belonged to someone of "importance". Deifying a person is unhealthy as it is but now his toothbrush can become a prized relic which people would also likely handle with those white gloves on? Too much. If it hadn't already been done with other gurus like LRH then it isn't out of the realm of the ordinary to imagine this happening in SGI. They already have enough strange rituals that have been touched on earlier in the thread, why not add some more strangeness and see what people will accept as part of their "practice"? I won't go too much on the scrolls, items and their authenticity since I'm irreligious and could be showing some of bias here other than could they actually pass the authenticity tests and do people even care to?

[www.buddhistchannel.tv]

Here, they talk about the authenticity of Buddha's tooth.

Quote

...And, verifying the authenticity of all displays is something the Asian Civilisations Museum takes seriously.

Tan Huism, Deputy Director of Asian Civilisation Museum's Curation and Collections, said: "We would look at the pieces and see how they compare with similar pieces from other museums. Of course, you could also do a scientific testing."

When contacted, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple's monk, who was overseas, said he was unable to comment.

But within the temple grounds, there are many notices explaining its position on the tooth relic.

It said the suggestion of DNA testing, while simple, is a practical challenge to conduct.

It added that DNA testing is also invasive and that it is unlikely that any Buddhist temple and their devotees would agree to such a test on what they believe to be the Buddha's tooth.

Apparently they don't take it as seriously as they say they are, so why would any guru do the same?

Ignorance is bliss.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2013 07:05AM by sleepy skunk.

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TaitenAndProud
Given that the Nichiren schools founded by the OTHER elder priests all have different accounts of the events in question, and that there are many gosho which are regarded as illegitimate (aka forgeries, pseudonymous, etc.), I think we can be confident that this little homily about those horrid non-Nikko priests and their nefarious wrongdoing can be understood as just another ploy by Nichiren Shoshu to emphasize that IT is the ONLY valid Nichiren school.

The smart money says it never happened.

You may be right. I wouldn't put it past them, nor would would it surprise me.

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sleepy skunk
I can't understand anyone's willingness to deify simple objects just because people think they belonged to someone of "importance". Deifying a person is unhealthy as it is but now his toothbrush can become a prized relic which people would also likely handle with those white gloves on? Too much. If it hadn't already been done with other gurus like LRH then it isn't out of the realm of the ordinary to imagine this happening in SGI. They already have enough strange rituals that have been touched on earlier in the thread, why not add some more strangeness and see what people will accept as part of their "practice"? I won't go too much on the scrolls, items and their authenticity since I'm irreligious and could be showing some of bias here other than could they actually pass the authenticity tests and do people even care to?

[www.buddhistchannel.tv]

Here, they talk about the authenticity of Buddha's tooth.

Quote

...And, verifying the authenticity of all displays is something the Asian Civilisations Museum takes seriously.

Tan Huism, Deputy Director of Asian Civilisation Museum's Curation and Collections, said: "We would look at the pieces and see how they compare with similar pieces from other museums. Of course, you could also do a scientific testing."

When contacted, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple's monk, who was overseas, said he was unable to comment.

But within the temple grounds, there are many notices explaining its position on the tooth relic.

It said the suggestion of DNA testing, while simple, is a practical challenge to conduct.

It added that DNA testing is also invasive and that it is unlikely that any Buddhist temple and their devotees would agree to such a test on what they believe to be the Buddha's tooth.

Apparently they don't take it as seriously as they say they are, so why would any guru do the same?

Ignorance is bliss.

I'd love to see a histological [en.wikipedia.org] report done on the so-called "living flesh" alone, because it isn't even human tissue.

They are coming from a different world mindset than you or I, Sleepy Skunk, from a worldview where genuine evidence simply doesn't matter or apply. Ignorance is indeed bliss, because their "belief" is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep-seated need to believe.


- Hitch

More background on the "tooth" -

" ... one of Nichiren Daishonin's teeth came
out with a piece of his gum flesh attached to it. He gave it to
Nichimoku Shonin with the wish that he would become better and
better at debate. We call this tooth, "Onikuge( The tooth with gum)."
It is guarded in the Treasure House at the Head Temple. The gum on
the tooth is still alive and continues to grow and now covers most of
the tooth. That is, it is still alive after over 700 years. It is hard to
believe. But it is true. This is one of the proofs that Nichiren
Daishonin's life continues . We can see "Onikuge" if we get an
opportunity to participate in a High Priest's succession ceremony or
at Nichiren Daishonin's special anniversary which is held only once
every 50 years."

The operative word above is "proof." As already mentioned by Sleepy Skunk, standards of evidence do, of course, vary.


- Hitch