~~Is it very necessary to have air-conditioned chanting room with carpet to sit on, Hifi stereo music equipment, Japan branded slide video projector, high quality type of wooden altar to place Buddha?
~~Is it very necessary to perform highly entertaining martial arts in front of world audience so they buy US$100 tickets to view show?
~~Is it very necessary for monks to have I-pads, I-phones and gold watches to show Buddhism is very rich, advanced and high-tech?
That's why until today has only 6% of world believers in Buddhism!! But when you look at the past, Shakyamuni or Gautama Buddha in India where he's sitting?? Under the Bodhi Tree in bright hot sun in daytime and under the moonlight at night, that's still the symbol of Buddhism until today, why have suddenly became chanting Lotus Sutra mantra in air-con room, perform Kung-fu or holding a I-pad?? Do you think they really know what's Buddhism about in first place?
Same as Gautama Buddha in Japan's Sado Island while Nichiren was undergoing persecution from the authority, he had only simple straw hut to keep warm from the harshly cold snow winter, and not enough food to sustain, don't need to mention medicines, ink and writing paper which he needed to encourage his disciples by post. Nichiren mentioned in Gosho A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering: "In the Latter Day of the Law, the votary of Lotus Sutra will appear without fail. The greater the hardships befalling him, the greater the delight he feels, because of his strong faith. Doesn’t a fire burning more briskly when logs are added? All rivers flow into the sea, but does the sea turn back their waters? The currents of hardship pour into the sea of the Lotus Sutra and rush against its votary. The river is not rejected by the ocean; nor does the votary reject sufferings. Were not for the flowing rivers, there would be no sea." He showed we must undergo hardships to practice Buddhism as this is the only way towards the Lotus Enlightenment and the greater Happiness!!
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