Did this moon anomaly save a Buddhist monk?

Did this moon anomaly save a Buddhist monk?

nichirenThere’s a theme building here at Who Forted?, but it’s not intentional, I’m just riding the wave of weird courtesy of the internet.

Meet the Buddhist monk Nichiren, who believed studying the sutras would guarantee enlightenment. Why the relevancy and immediacy of covering some ancient tale? Nichiren first chanted “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” 761 years ago on April 28th.1

Nichiren Daishonin, whose name means “Great Sage of the Sun Lotus”, pissed off a bunch of rival priests in Japan. These sourpusses demanded that their government lackeys do something about Nichiren horning in on their territory and congregations. Those same bureaucrats inadvertantly laid the foundation for a case supporting the separation of monastery and state, by calling for Nichiren’s execution.

Bringing us to our vintage fringe, or frintage, where on September 12th, 1271, Nichiren was dragged away from his home by soldiers for a beheading.

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Finally we came to a place that I knew must be the site of my execution. Indeed, the soldiers stopped and began to mill around in excitement. Saemon-no-jō, in tears, said, “These are your last moments!” I replied, “You don’t understand! What greater joy could there be? Don’t you remember what you have promised?” I had no sooner said this when a brilliant orb as bright as the moon burst forth from the direction of Enoshima, shooting across the sky from southeast to northwest. It was shortly before dawn and still too dark to see anyone’s face, but the radiant object clearly illuminated everyone like bright moonlight. The executioner fell on his face, his eyes blinded. The soldiers were filled with panic. Some ran off into the distance, some jumped down from their horses and huddled on the ground, while others crouched in their saddles. I called out, “Here, why do you shrink from this vile prisoner? Come closer! Come closer!” But no one would approach me. “What if the dawn should come? You must hurry up and execute me—once the day breaks, it will be too ugly a job.” I urged them on, but they made no response.2

There’s a strange confluence of weird stories revolving around Buddhism happening since Saturday. Timothy Grieve-Carlson posts A Previously Unheard UFO Story From A Tibetan Lama, followed by my “Nessie Is A Naga”, Says Britain’s First Lama last night, and then our pal Red Pill Junkie retweets this heartwarming image on Monday morning.

tiger_monkThe only thing left is receiving midnight phone calls of Indrid Cold chanting, “Om mani padme hum

Screw it, send us your Buddhism-related story, and we’ll consider renaming the site to BOO-ddha! As always, Who Forted? can be reached on Facebook, at Twitter, or leave us a comment.


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  1. http://www.sgi.org/buddhism/life-of-nichiren.html 

  2. http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/93#p767 

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