To all Lotus Sutra scholars around the world.



Dr ueki

Dr. Masatoshi Ueki, a Buddhist thought researcher, has stated, "Guided by the teachings of Professor Gen Nakamura, I aim to reinterpret Buddhism as an idea, not as a faith." Dr. Masatoshi Ueki preaches unusual theories and far-fetched arguments about the Lotus Sutra. He claims that the Lotus Sutra is a sutra of action, that is, it is not a faith of blessings. This seems to be intended to block the process by which the Lotus Sutra becomes esoteric Buddhism. It also amounts to copyright infringement of the Lotus Sutra, which can be said to be the world's oldest science fiction novel.

The greatest bodhisattva practice in the Lotus Sutra is evangelism, which is far from the training of an athletic club. The same can be said for the offerings called the five types of priests and ten types of offerings. Dr. Ueki says that the faith of blessings that makes up most of the Lotus Sutra is not actually the true intention of the Lotus Sutra. However, unfortunately, this is the true intention of the Lotus Sutra. These faiths of blessings are the true feelings of Indians, and Indians who love the protection of gods and Buddhas are indifferent to history and arbitrarily created Shakyamuni Buddha and made him into a superman. That's what Indians are like.

The Lotus Sutra is a scripture that was established more than 500 years after the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. At the time the Lotus Sutra was written, Shakyamuni Buddha was already a legendary figure. The compilers of the Lotus Sutra probably didn't even know where Vulture Peak was. Shakyamuni, the founder of the Lotus Sutra, is a superhuman who distorted the historical Shakyamuni Buddha. Zomitsu, the so-called early esoteric Buddhism, is an imitation of the Lotus Sutra and was born from spells such as Dharani. The compilers of the Lotus Sutra were also developers of the idea of ​​multiple bodies and incarnations, and Kannon Bodhisattva is just one of them.

It goes without saying that the Lotus Sutra is not a direct teaching of Shakyamuni. However, some Nichiren sects have begun to linger and claim that although the Lotus Sutra is not a direct teaching of Shakyamuni, it contains a message to return to primitive Buddhism. Dr. Ueki is trying to make a breakthrough by starting with gender theory and the idea of ​​gender equality, which are his specialties. It would be better to simply accept that the Lotus Sutra is the source of esoteric Buddhism, but the stupid scholars who are developing the theory that the Lotus Sutra is the original Buddhism and the Nichiren sect priests who refuse to give up are pushing themselves to the edge. Let me make it clear that the Lotus Sutra does have some commonalities with original Buddhism. However, the majority of the Lotus Sutra is science fiction and the ideas that are the source of esoteric Buddhism. The rest is a belief in benefits.

Dr. Ueki claims that there is discrimination in the latter six chapters of the Lotus Sutra. However, there is gender discrimination in other chapters of the Lotus Sutra, and in the chapter on the granting of a prediction to 500 disciples. Furthermore, the theory that the Lotus Sutra was established in stages is a hypothesis with no archaeological evidence at all, and there is a glimpse of confirmation bias due to the desires of scholars, or compromise in an attempt to meet the demands of the Buddhist community. These scholars and monks classify even the first chapter of the Lotus Sutra as the second period, probably because the Bodhisattva Kannon appears and flashy science fiction suddenly appears.

Dr. Ueki's teacher was Professor Nakamura Gen of the Jodo Shinshu sect. Professor Nakamura Gen's family temple is Shinkoji Temple (Jodo Shinshu) in Okutani-cho, Matsue City, and his funeral was held at Tsukiji Honganji Temple. A scholar should disclose his sect, but Dr. Ueki has not disclosed his affiliation to the Soka Gakkai. He may also be a Christian. There are many puzzling points, such as how Ueki Masatoshi met Dr. Nakamura Gen, why Dr. Nakamura entrusted the translation to Ueki Masatoshi, who is a science major, even though he is an authority on Sanskrit, and why Dr. Nakamura did not translate the Lotus Sutra himself.

It was Dr. Nakamura Gen who encouraged Ueki to obtain a doctorate. Ueki dropped out of the Toyo University Graduate School of Letters, Department of Buddhist Studies. He later became the first man to obtain a doctorate by dissertation from the Department of Gender Studies at Ochanomizu University Graduate School. The title of his dissertation was "A Study of Gender Equality in Buddhism: From Indian Buddhism to the Lotus Sutra," and although it was about Buddhism, there is no department of Buddhism at Ochanomizu University Graduate School.

Dr. Ueki claims that the ideas in the latter six chapters of the Lotus Sutra are different from those in other chapters, but I cannot understand this at all. The Lotus Sutra is the forerunner of Mahayana Buddhism in terms of the introduction of spells, and it is also revealed in the Tathagata system by the Lotus Sutra. The concept of incarnation in the Lotus Sutra originates from Brahmanism and is carried through the entire Lotus Sutra, and not only Kannon Bodhisattva, but also Shakyamuni Buddha and Myo-on Bodhisattva are incarnations. It even appears in the chapter on Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, which Dr. Ueki praises.

Dr. Ueki states that the belief in Kannon was added to the Lotus Sutra. However, there is no archaeological evidence. Dr. Ueki is trying to separate the Kannon Sutra from the Lotus Sutra. The reason for this is probably due to consideration for temples related to the Kannon faith, or the belief in Soka Gakkai that the Lotus Sutra is performed by Bodhisattva Jogyo.

The Lotus Sutra is a "sutra of worldly benefits," and Bodhisattva Kannon is the guardian deity of practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. And it was the Lotus Sutra that incorporated the Kannon faith, which was a folk belief, into Buddhism. The Lotus Sutra is the "central sutra of Kannon faith" and the "pioneer sutra that introduced mantras." Dr. Ueki says that the Lotus Sutra satirizes fictional Buddhas, but this sounds like a loser's howl against the Lotus Sutra, which created a revolutionary fictional Buddha.

Dr. Ueki also says that the Lotus Sutra was created to eliminate prejudice between Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. However, there are very few Mahayana sutras older than the Lotus Sutra, such as the early Prajnaparamita Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. Ueki also repeatedly makes statements as if the Lotus Sutra is unrelated to esoteric Buddhism, but even a scholar should know that esoteric Buddhism cannot exist without the Lotus Sutra.

According to Kosai-ji Temple (formerly a Nichiren sect Zen temple), the family temple of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, "Esoteric Buddhism is a wonderful Buddhism. Historically, it can be said to be the final model for the development of Buddhism. However, its secret transmission and secret doctrines have sometimes made it possible for dangerous doctrines to emerge and rituals to be practiced." He appeals to the greatness of esoteric Buddhism, but it is actually the Lotus Sutra that is dangerous. Contrary to the claim that the Lotus Sutra is the correct teaching, it is also a cult scripture, as represented by the words of Kishimojin and Rakshasas, "If you interfere with a follower of the Lotus Sutra, your head will explode into seven pieces." The Lotus Sutra says that anyone who gets in the way of the Lotus Sutra or its followers will have their head explode into seven pieces, just like in the Fist of the North Star. This is also written in the Soka Gakkai mandala.

The Japanese Buddhist world arbitrarily develops the theory that the Lotus Sutra is the true teaching of Shakyamuni, but in reality the Lotus Sutra has an aspect of being a magical scripture that had a tremendous influence on esoteric Buddhism. Wikipedia says that the role of the Prajnaparamita Sutra as a bridge to esoteric Buddhism cannot be ignored, but this is not true. The Prajnaparamita Sutra was esotericized around the 7th century, but it was not involved in the esotericization of Mahayana Buddhism. It was the Avatamsaka Sutra that bridged the gap to esoteric Buddhism.

Many religious groups that believe in Nichiren ignore the connection between the Lotus Sutra and esoteric Buddhism, claiming that it is the teaching of Shakyamuni. This may be convenient for temples that are involved in the belief in Kannon, but if we ignore the faith, it is clear that the Lotus Sutra is the source of esoteric Buddhism. Because the Lotus Sutra is a sutra that preaches the "Tathagata system," it is filled with thorough fiction and has omitted unnecessary reality.

The reason why the Lotus Sutra developed into the Avatamsaka Sutra and then into Esoteric Buddhism is that at the beginning of the Avatamsaka Sutra, there is an expression that "a majesty emerges from between the eyebrows of Vairocana Buddha," which is clearly an imitation of the Lotus Sutra. There are other imitation of the Lotus Sutra in many places in the Avatamsaka Sutra. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra was created in an attempt to surpass the Lotus Sutra.

The Lotus Sutra boldly fictionalizes Shakyamuni Buddha himself. However, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, Vairocana Buddha is introduced as Dharmakaya Buddha, an incarnation of the law (the truth of the universe itself) that surpasses Shakyamuni Buddha. In other words, they tried to surpass the Lotus Sutra by establishing Vairocana Buddha. However, Dharmakaya Buddha cannot preach. There is no way that an incarnation of the law can preach. If all living beings are ordinary, only Shakyamuni Buddha, who has a human body, can preach so that all living beings can hear. For this reason, in the Avatamsaka Sutra, Vairocana is called the Buddha of Silence.

Instead, Vajrayana, another name for Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, who appears in the Lotus Sutra, is given the role of mediating between Vairocana and Shakyamuni. However, in the Mahavairocana Sutra, the story changes to one in which Vairocana breaks his silence and preaches to Vajrayana Bodhisattva. The opening line of the Mahavairocana Sutra, "Thus I have heard," refers to Vajrayana Bodhisattva, who is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. So who was listening to this conversation?

For this reason, in Shingon Buddhism, it is said that Nagarjuna received the sutra from Vajrayana Bodhisattva at a tower in South India. In this way, Esoteric Buddhism overcame the difficulties and developed from the Lotus Sutra to the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Mahavairocana Sutra, completing Esoteric Buddhism. In the Shingon sect's "Unsolved Documents," a Nara period monk, Tokuichi, asks who the "I" in the "I have heard" at the beginning of the Mahavairocana Sutra is. Tokuichi asked Kukai, who only mentioned the eleventh question in the Kofu Hoden, "The Doubt of the Iron Tower," and ignored the rest. As a result, he was repeatedly refuted not only by Shingon but also by later Tendai sects.

Also, Amida Buddha is a new Buddha that was created to counter the Zoroastrian god of light Ahura Mazda when Buddhism headed westward and encountered him. It was created to attract local people to Buddhism by appealing to the Pure Land of the Buddha's land, and preaches salvation after death rather than worldly benefits. Only Jodo Shinshu is a monotheistic religion, and Ikkoshu means monotheism. Also, only Jodo Shinshu temples do not issue "Goshuin". Jodo Shinshu prohibits all things such as fortune telling, sorcery, psychic powers, amulets, prayers, telekinesis, and training. Therefore, you cannot receive a Goshuin no matter which Jodo Shinshu temple you visit. In Jodo Shinshu, you are only allowed to listen to the sermons of wise people (those who understand the teachings of Buddha well). The Prajnaparamita Sutra preaches "emptiness", and the Lotus Sutra preaches "branching out" so to speak. For example, let's say there is a ramen shop called "Nyorai". The owner is Nyorai. The disciples train there, and when they are able to reproduce the taste of the shop, the owner allows them to "branch out".