Nichiren Buddhist: March 2012

Saturday, 31 March 2012

The Human Revolution

Some of my favorite books about Nichiren Buddhism are those in "The Human Revolution" series. There may be better introductory books available for the complete beginner to Buddhism, but this series of twelve books records the growth of the Soka Gakkai from second president, Josei Toda's release from prison until Daisaku Ikeda's inaugeration as the third president. The books include wisdom, guidance and a historical background to the growth of Nichiren Buddhism in Japan from the end of World War II until 1960.

If you are already a member of the SGI and familiar with a lot of the buddhist vocabulary and concepts I strongly recommend this series of books. They are written in a very easy to read style but contain so much wisdom and encouragement that I guarantee you will deepen your faith and want to contribute more to your district.

Why not read one volume a month for a year? In just twelve months you will learn a lot about the history of the SGI, Nichiren Buddhism and our mission for kosen-rufu.

Thursday, 29 March 2012

300 Second Challenge

Earlier I posted a link to listen to chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nichiren said that by chanting this we can reveal our Buddha nature and access our Buddha wisdom, but what does it mean?

Nam means devotion. We are devoting out lives to awaken our Buddhahood through faith, practice and study of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. It is more than just a devotion though; it is a complete unity. Every ounce of our being is part of "myoho-renge-kyo" and every syllabel of "myoho-renge-kyo" is part of our being.

Myoho is the mystic law of life. The fundamental reality of the constant changes that occur in our thoughts and lives moment by moment.

Renge literally means lotus flower, which is the title of Shakyamuni Buddha's ultimate teaching. One of the peculiarities of the lotus flower is that it seeds and blooms simultaneously. In the same way, our lives are governed by strict laws of simultaneous causes and effects. Everything we think, say or do causes a simultaneously effect in our lives which will manifest itself when the conditions are right. This could be an instantaneous effect, it could lie dormant for many years or it may not manifest itself until a future life, but that effect has been created and registered at the exact moment the cause was made.

Finally, Kyo means teaching or sutra, such as the kind of spoken teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha.

So putting it all together we are chanting our “devotion to the mystic law of cause and effect as revealed in the Lotus Sutra”.

Many new members want to know how often and how long they should be chanting, but there are no hard and fast rules. Most members will chant for about half an hour every morning and evening, but some will do less and others more. The only advice Nichiren gave us was to chant to our heart's content.

The only other thing I'd say is to just sit quietly somewhere without the distractions of TV and either have a go on your own or chant along with the mp3 link.

If you are new to this Buddhism why not commit to chanting for just 300 seconds a day or 300 seconds every morning and evening.

Try it for 30 days and see how you feel.

It may feel strange at first, but you'll soon get into a nice rhythm.

You may find once you start you lose track of the time or don't want to stop after 5 minutes.

If so, don't stop, just chant to your heart's content.

Click here to hear the chanting

Free Yourself From Suffering

"If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings."

"On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime" (from The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p3)

The Soka Gakkai is a lay organisation that follows the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin.

Nichiren was born in Japan in 1222 and when studying to be a priest he wanted to know how it was possible for there to be so many schools of Buddhism throughout Japan when they all originated from one man - Shakyamuni, the first recorded Buddha.

Nichiren's quest to find the "real" Buddhism of Shakyamuni, took him to many parts of Japan, studying all of the different sutras and visting all of the schools of Buddhism until he finally came to the realization that the one true teaching of Shakyamuni was the Lotus Sutra.

The two key points of this sutra are:

(1) Anyone, no matter what their position within society, their sex, their race or their intellect has the Buddha nature within them.

(2) Your Buddhahood can be accessed at ANY time. You don't have to spend a lifetime of suffering and hardship to achieve Buddhahood in the next life. You can reveal your inner Buddhahood within this lifetime, and not only that, you can reveal and tap into your Buddhahood at this very moment.

The purpose of our practice is to overcome the suffering in our life by awakening this Buddhahood from within us.

Nichiren discovered that the way to open this Buddhahood within ourselves, within our lives and within the universe was to joyfully chant "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo".

The quote at the top of this post was one of Nichiren's first writings and basically means that if you really want to overcome all of the various kinds of suffering that you are facing at this moment in time, and that you have faced through all of your previous lives and you want to have an abundance of happiness, you need to awaken the Buddha from within yourself by chanting "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo".

To hear what chanting sounds like,

This file comes from http://askrobbie.com/Daimoku-Medium.mp3

The Far Reaching Sound

Chanting is one of the core components of Nichiren Buddhist practise. By chanting "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" we can tap into the Buddhahood within our lives.

Alan Smallwood is a composer and producer from Washington DC who has combined inspirational music with Buddhist chanting.

His CD, "The Far Reaching Sound", consists of twelve pieces of music with "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" as an accompanying vocal.

Here is one of the "songs". Enjoy.