Failing to believe that you can attain Buddhahood is the true offence Nichiren is warning against in this text. If you fail to believe in your potential to attain Buddhahood you will fall, not into one of the lesser hells, but into the great Avichi hell to remain there for one medium kalpa. The is what it really means to slander the Law (Dharma).

"Great hatred is the fetter of hell,
Great avarice the preta's chain,
Great delusion the animal's.
Great desire is the human fetter,
Great jealousy is the asura's,
And great pride the deva's chain. These are six fetters binding one from Freedom."

Milarepa

It seems this text has caused some confusion. Below is another quotation from Nichiren that I hope will make clear his meaning.

"You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself. Your practice of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of the sufferings of birth and death in the least unless you perceive the true nature of your life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor’s wealth but gains not even half a coin. That is why the T’ien-t’ai school’s commentary states, 'Unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one cannot eradicate one’s grave offenses.' This passage implies that, unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one’s practice will become an endless, painful austerity. Therefore, such students of Buddhism are condemned as non-Buddhist. Great Concentration and Insight states that, although they study Buddhism, their views are no different from those of non-Buddhists.

"Whether you chant the Buddha’s name, recite the sutra, or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life. With this conviction you should strive in faith."

Not all Dharmapālas are wrathful, and not all wrathful deities are Dharmapālas. Dharmapāla is a technical term and it should be used instead of the generic "protector deity" label, since, in theory, all deities protect beings, however not all have protection as a specific function.

https://youtu.be/K7lXta9XtGk

Related to previous post 💀🔱

"Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse calls on Westerners to acknowledge the distortions we may bring to the study of Buddhism—through our cultural arrogance, the deceipt of ego, and simple ignorance. The successful transplant of such a subtle and challenging practice as Buddhism, he says, depends on thorough study and clear recognition of our habitual patterns.”

Editor, Shambhala Sun

https://www.siddharthasintent.org/resources/features/from-the-archives-distortion/

Greeks definitely knew this, btw.

Guru Rinpoche's advice on receiving empowerments and practicing tantra. Including a short biography of Padmasambhava.

For those interested:

Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche has kindly agreed to bestow the
Emowerment of Green Tara in the Atisha tradition through Zoom.

The day is Thursday, April 28, 2022

The time is 7:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time.

Everyone is welcome. Attendance is by pre-registration only.

Donations for the event and for Lama Kunga Rinpoche are accepted online (see below).

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkde2grzMpHNd_afKENvOaXGF0y145wLZS

I call Einodian Hecate,
lovely dame, of earthly, wat’ry, and celestial frame,
Sepulchral, in a saffron veil array’d, leas’d with dark ghosts that wander thro’ the shade;
Persian, unconquerable huntress hail!
The world’s key-bearer never doom’d to fail
On the rough rock to wander thee delights, leader and nurse be present to our rites
Propitious grant our just desires success, accept our homage,
and the incense bless.

"“I must stress here that visualize does not mean you should try to paint a picture of the refuge tree in your mind; that would be impossible. Visualization is very like thinking about the person who is closest to you in this life-your mother, for example. Try imagining her standing in front of you right now. As you do so, I’m quite sure you are not thinking about the exact shape of her ear. Or whether or not her toes curl. Or how many moles she has on her back. In fact, that kind of detail has probably never even occurred to you. At the same time, I am equally sure that you have created a strong sense of your mother in your mind and that you are completely confident it really is her. This is how you should visualize the objects of refuge, and the confidence you feel in your visualization is of utmost importance.”

Dzongsar Khyentse Norbu

For those who are planning on attending the upcoming Vajrabhairava initiation, or simply searching for a comprehensive daily practice, this document contains a complete front-generation sādhana of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom Mañjuśrī, which requires no initiation or transmission.

"One of the essential practices at all levels of tantra is to dissolve our ordinary conceptions of ourselves and then, from the empty space into which these concepts have disappeared, arise in the glorious light body of a deity: a manifestation of the essential clarity of our deepest being. The more we train to see ourselves as such a meditational deity, the less bound we will feel by life’s ordinary disappointments and frustrations. This divine self-visualization empowers us to take control of our life and create for ourselves a pure environment in which our deepest nature can be expressed."

Lama Yeshe

"Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void...

"Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.

"Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void.

"In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principal has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness."

Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

"Quanto mais observamos a nossa mente e vemos o que ela faz por nós e para nós, mais estaremos inclinados a cuidar bem dela e tratá-la com respeito. Um dos maiores erros que podemos cometer é não nos darmos conta da importância da mente. A mente tem a capacidade de criar para nós o bem e também o mal, e apenas quando formos capazes de permanecer felizes e equânimes não importando que condições estejam surgindo, somente então poderemos dizer que temos um pouco de controle. Até que isso ocorra, estaremos descontrolados e os nossos pensamentos é que estarão no controle."

Ayya Khema

"Qualquer dukkha que tenhamos, pequeno, médio ou grande, contínuo ou intermitente, tudo isso é criado pela própria mente. Nós somos os criadores de tudo aquilo que nos ocorre, formando nosso próprio destino, ninguém mais está envolvido. Cada um está desempenhando o seu próprio papel, é um acaso que estejamos próximos de algumas pessoas e distantes em outras ocasiões. Mas tudo aquilo que fizermos, tudo é criado pelos nossos momentos mentais."

Ayya Khema