Practice for others is simply talking to other people about this Buddhism and telling them you think its good and beneficial to your life. Sometimes in the media or online this can be portrayed as cult-like behaviour, but it's no different to recommending a great movie you've seen or a new product you've loved. Also, if your experience of this religion wasn't great you wouldn't recommend it to others or you would give them a negative impression. We don't need to stand on a soapbox shouting about it or go door to door "pestering" people. It's just something that may naturally come up in conversation with friends, neighbours and co-workers.Practice for yourself. I've already mentioned in an earlier post chanting "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" to awaken your Buddha nature and tap into the mystic law of the universe. You can chant this any time you feel like it, but it also forms part of our morning and evening routine. Twice a day we recite extracts from two of the key chapters of the Lotus Sutra, which contain the core message of our faith, chant "Nam myoho renge kyo" and give thanks and appreciation in five prayers.
The two chapters we read from are Chapter 2 "Expendient Means" and Chapter 16 "Life Span". Nichiren Daishonin, didn't leave any hard and fast rules about daily practice other than recite part of these two chapters daily and chant "nam myoho renge kyo", but within the SGI (and other Nichiren Buddhist groups) the length of the extracts recited has become shortened to make it more manageable as part of your daily life, and prayers have been introduced to focus your thinking and determination and to show gratitude and appreciation for the practice.
Our Gongyo book contains the words needed to recite the chapters from the Lotus Sutra and also guidelines for the prayers, and it mentions that the wording of the prayers is there as a guideline, and that it is the sincerity and heartfelt thoughts that are more important than the specific wording.
The 4 basic prayers are...
(1) Appreciation to the functions in life and the environment which support us because of our practice.
(2) Appreciation to the Dai-Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin and his first successor Nikko Shonin. These three represent the three treasures of Buddhism (the mystic Law, the Buddha and the community of believers) and we also include Nikko Shonin's successor Nichimoku Shonin to show the continuation of this buddhism being passed on to future generations.
(3) This prayer shows our appreciation and desire for the spread of our faith throughout society. We foces on achieving kosen-rufu - a time when everyone is awakened to their Buddha nature and the achievement of peace throughout the world. We also pray for the eternal development of the SGI (the group we belong to which can bring about this positive change in people's lives) and also show appreciation to the three founding presidents of our organisation for their dedication to teaching and introducing others to this Buddhism.
(4) This prayer is our own personal prayers and determinations and is in 3 parts.
(4i) A prayer to bring forth our Buddhahood, change our karma, carry out our self-improvement and fulfil our wishes. You can include thanks to other people supporting you in your life, for the safety and well-being of friends and family, for the achievement of your own personal goals (new job, house, etc.)
(4ii) A prayer to all of those who have passed away and our deceased relatives. For many people this is a great source of comfort especially after someone has recently died. Twice a day we are giving thanks and cherishing the memory of those we have loved and continue to love.
(4iii) Finally, we pray for peace throughout the world and the happiness of all humanity.
If you would like to try the daily practice,
The text for the silent prayers can be found here - http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/resources/gongyo/silentprayers.php
The text for the Lotus Sutra extracts can be found here - http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/resources/gongyo/liturgyofnichirendaishonin.php
Here is morning Gongyo (First prayer, lotus sutra extracts and 8 minutes chanting. Prayers 2 to 5 are missing so you need to do those on your own)
For evening Gongyo, just start from 1.15. After the bell, hit pause and say "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" 3 times and then continue with video.
Here is a slower version of just the Lotus Sutra extracts.
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