A question on Buddhism, violence and arms

Kennyo Shonin, our 11th warrior Patriarch
after Shinran, wearing a battle flag with three types 
of Nembutsu. This photo is dedicated to
all fake Buddhists who hide their cowardice
 and heresies behind sweet peaceful words

  Recently I have received many questions on the topic of   violence and arms and I thought to give a public  answer to one of them. 

 Question: Is violence justified? Are there situations when   Buddhists can and should react violently? How about Buddhists   carrying arms? 

 My answer: I will give you a sad answer. I don’t like to give   such answers but I must do it. Yes, sometimes violence and arms  can be used and must be used. We are not Buddhas who are  beyond harm and live freely in both mind and body or any   manifestations they assume for the sake of saving and guiding   us. They can endure anything because they are beyond   suffering.  More than this, they can even make their body   manifestations indestructible. Just look at the example of   Padmasambhava who could not be burned or killed by any   means.

 However, we are ordinary beings living in samsara. We identify   ourselves with our delusory bodies and our dear ones. Most   importantly, we need freedom and liberties to follow and spread   the Dharma. We invented states and laws to protect these rights   and liberties and in the past many shed their blood to do so.   Surely, if Hitler and the Nazis were not stopped violently we   could not practice Buddha Dharma freely into our own   countries. The insanity of the Nazi regime with the racial   motivated killings needed to be stopped. Life in human form is   extremely precious and we could not allow and should never   allow anybody, be it a single person or a government to destroy   it or take its freedoms and advantages. Governments and   politicians are nothing else but our employees who were given   the mandate of administering the common resources and protect   the rights and liberties. These rights and liberties are NOT   given by governments but naturally possessed by us since we   were born. They are written in the natural way of things and the  role of any government is to protect them and assure an environment in which we can live naturally each according to his/her own conscience. However, when a government goes against the people who is supposed to serve and starts disrespecting their rights and liberties then that government breaks the social contract and it deserves to fall either peacefully or violently if they don’t want to go peacefully. This is common sense. You don’t need to be a Buddhist to understand this simple logic. And if you are a Buddhist you should not deny it like you are some kind of detached Buddha in human form. In samsara you need suitable samsaric environments to promote the Dharma. As Shinran said: 

On why it is important to defend all aspects of the Buddha Dharma

Somebody asked me why I put so much energy in defending general Buddhist teachings when all that matters in our tradition is faith in Amida.

My strategy is simple. If we allow modernists to destroy only a little part of the Dharma they will grow confident and start destroying all the teachings of various Dharma gates. They are already doing that as they attack anything that does not conform with their atheistic or secularist ideologies. They attack for example the doctrine or rebirth and life after death as well as the teaching on the transcendent reality of Amida and His Pure Land. They also try to destroy the teachings on morality and family duties. They are like rats who enter a house from all parts.

A question on the Buddhist marriage

photo from a Buddhist marriage in Maharastra, India
As you can see, I am not the only one who officiates
Buddhist weddings

I heard that my recent posts on the Buddhist marriage ceremony  created a lot of discomfort to many. How the normal union between man and woman can make some feel uncomfortable is beyond the capacity to understand of any normal person who knows Shakyamuni Buddha's teaching and the natural differences between men and women. Perhaps many fake Buddhists who put LGBTQ's ideology on the same level with the Buddhist teaching prefer to think with their anus instead of their brains 😀, so they do not deserve my attention. However, here is a question that should get an answer:

Sobre el significado budista del matrimonio y sobre el rol del esposo y la esposa

 

Translated from English by Juan Sebastian Hincapie Arana

En el estilo Amidaji de enseñanza siempre consultamos directamente el Dharma tanto en el aspecto más importante de la vida después de la muerte como en los detalles de nuestra vida diaria. En este caso queremos saber qué tiene que decir el Dharma sobre el matrimonio, por eso escucharemos las enseñanzas que el Buda Shakyamuni dio a las parejas (hombres y mujeres).

La mujer debe prestar atención y contemplar lo que el Buda dijo sobre los deberes de una buena esposa y el hombre debe prestar atención y contemplar los deberes de un esposo igualmente.

A response to fake Buddhist followers blinded by worldly ideologies

grow up and
don't be crysexual 😀

No matter what I say there is a category of people motivated by worldly ideologies who will always misinterpret my words. If I say that homosexuality is sexual misconduct and I prove that with passages from the sacred texts and then I say that the salvation of Amida Buddha is given freely to all, including homosexuals and all kinds of sinners, they will stop at the first part of the phrase, and accuse me of discrimination. They will refuse to read the second part about Amida's unconditional salvation. I am amazed at how brainwashed these people are! They seem to have the mind of five year old children when they get obsessed with something and no matter what you say to them, they will not pay attention to your words. 

However, let me try again. So, dear crybabies, to define sexual misconduct is NOT the same with condemning people! It’s just a definition. Please repeat after me – ITS JUST A DEFINITION.

You don't need to change the Buddhist morality when you are saved as you are

Whenever there is something my ego does not like in the Buddhist morality (I can honestly say that I am an animal possessed of myriads of blind passions and attachments) I don't try to change the teaching to make it more agreeable, but humbly recognize that I am incapable to follow it, ask for apology and bow down gratefully to Amida Buddha for saving me as I am.

The Nembutsu of faith and gratitude is the only answer when comparing my limited capacities with the Buddhist precepts and the example of virtuous Masters of the past.

It is extremely important to never change anything from the Dharma, not even as small as a  particle of dust. The Dharma is perfect even if our ego doesn’t find it agreeable and there is already a way out of samsara especially made for such wretched people like us – the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha, so we don’t need to change anything to be accepted. 

The definition of sexual misconduct according to the Buddhist teaching

This is a fragment from the chapter on karma from my book The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma. I post it again here as an answer to many questions related with sexual misconduct that were asked by my readers. Here you have a few passages from the sacred texts and explanations that will help you understand for example, many of my statements that refer to homosexuality as sexual misconduct. Please read it carefully. I am not presenting you with this teaching in order to condemn you, but to simply show the Dharmic truth on this matter. The chapter on karma from which this fragment is quoted first showed the karmic effects of such acts for those who rely on their own power (jiriki) while later explaining the indiscriminate salvation offered by Amida Buddha for the sinners who entrusted themselves to Him. So this fragment does NOT deny Amida's salvation but simply shows how karma works if we practice sexual misconduct and we do not accept Amida's helping hand.