Responses to Anonymouses up to December 4th completed

Have your say.

Strong Faith in Namu Myoho renge kyo equals understanding.

Question: If a person simply chants Namu-myoho-renge-kyo with no understanding of its meaning, are the benefits of understanding thereby included?

Answer: When a baby drinks milk, it has no understanding of its taste, and yet its body is naturally nourished. Who ever took the wonderful medicines of Jīvaka knowing of what they were compounded? Water has no intent, and yet it can put out fire. Fire consumes things, and yet how can we say that it does so consciously? This is the explanation of both Nāgārjuna and T’ien-t’ai, and I am restating it here.

Question: Why do you say that all teachings are contained within the daimoku?

Answer: Chang-an writes: “Hence [T’ien-t’ai’s explanation of the title in] the preface conveys the profound meaning of the sutra. The profound meaning indicates the heart of the text, and the heart of the text encompasses the whole of the theoretical and essential teachings.” And Miao-lo writes, “On the basis of the heart of the text of the Lotus Sutra, one can evaluate all the other various teachings of the Buddha.”

Though muddy water has no mind, it can catch the moon’s reflection and so naturally becomes clear. When plants and trees receive the rainfall, they can hardly be aware of what they are doing, and yet do they not proceed to put forth blossoms? The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo do not represent the sutra text, nor are they its meaning. They are nothing other than the intent of the entire sutra. So, even though the beginners in Buddhist practice may not understand their significance, by practicing these five characters, they will naturally conform to the sutra’s intent.

Question: When your disciples, without any understanding, simply recite with their mouths the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, what level of attainment do they reach?

Answer: Not only do they go beyond the highest level of the four flavors and three teachings, as well as that attained by practitioners of the perfect teaching set forth in the sutras that precede the Lotus Sutra, but they surpass by a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million times the founders of the True Word and various other schools of Buddhism, such as Shan-wu-wei, Chih-yen, Tz’u-en, Chi-tsang, Tao-hsüan, Bodhidharma, and Shan-tao.

Therefore, I entreat the people of this country: Do not look down upon my disciples! If you inquire into their past, you will find that they are great bodhisattvas who have given alms to Buddhas over a period of eight hundred thousand million kalpas, and who have carried out practices under Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Hiranyavatī and Ganges rivers. And if we speak of the future, they will be endowed with the benefit of the fiftieth person, surpassing that of one who gave alms to innumerable living beings for a period of eighty years. They are like an infant emperor wrapped in swaddling clothes, or a great dragon who has just been born. Do not despise them! Do not look on them with contempt!" The Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice

"...by practicing these five characters" is a bodily reading of the Lotus Sutra. Embracing SGI's mentor/disciple is to NOT have a bodily reading of the Lotus Sutra.

"Where or in what kind of thing we should focus our mind during daimoku recitation?" - Minobu

Response: Nichiren states we should focus on the words and attaining the Way:

"Simply chant Namu Myoho renge kyo and strive to attain the way"; and "Thus he states: 'Chant the Lotus Sutra with your ordinary distracted mind. You do not have to enter into a state of mental concentration. Whether sitting, standing, or walking, just fix your whole mind on the words of the Lotus Sutra.'-- Nichiren

Monsuhirbi87: Mark. but could we say that when he says "words of lotus Sutra" , it could be the daimoku ? Because he's not speaking explicitly about daimoku.

Mark: To place this quote in context, keeping in mind that this is an early writing (1259), Nichiren writes in On the Protection of the Nation :

"The reason is that the Great Teacher Miao-lo declared that if people of dull capacities or those lacking in wisdom in this latter age carry out the practice of the Lotus Sutra, they will find it easy to practice, for Bodhisattva Universal Worthy and Many Treasures and the Buddhas of the ten directions will appear before them. Thus he states: “Chant the Lotus Sutra with your ordinary distracted mind. You do not have to enter into a state of mental concentration. Whether sitting, standing, or walking, just fix your whole mind on the words of the Lotus Sutra.”

The purpose of this passage of commentary is to assure foolish persons of this latter age that they are included among those who can carry out the practice. The term “the ordinary distracted mind” is used in contrast to the term “the mind fixed in concentration.” Chanting the Lotus Sutra means chanting all eight volumes, one volume, one word, one phrase, one verse, or the daimoku, or title, and includes responding to the sutra with joy for a single moment and continual propagation to the fiftieth person. The words “whether sitting, standing, or walking” mean that there is no objection to [fixing your whole mind on the words of the Lotus Sutra while] carrying out the four activities of daily life. The term “whole mind” does not mean the mind that is concentrated in meditation, nor does it mean the mind that observes the truth. It is the mind that is found within the ordinary distracted mind of daily life.

The practice of fixing the mind on the words of the Lotus Sutra is not like fixing the mind on the words of the other sutras. Though one may chant only one word of the Lotus Sutra, within this one word are contained all the words of the eighty thousand precious doctrines of Shakyamuni, and it holds within it the blessings or benefits of all the Buddhas.

The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai states in volume eight of The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: “Though you do not hold in your hand a scroll of the sutra, yet you are constantly reading the sutra; though your mouth utters no words, you are chanting all the many sacred texts; though no Buddha is preaching the Law, at all times you can hear his pure sounds; though you do not ponder in your mind, everywhere you illumine the entire realm of phenomena.”

The meaning of this passage is that, although you may not hold in your hand the eight scrolls that make up the Lotus Sutra, if you are a person who has faith in the sutra, then all twenty-four hours of the day you are one who “upholds the sutra.” Though your mouth may not utter the sounds of one who is reciting the sutra, if you have faith in the Lotus Sutra, then every day, every hour, every instant you are one who reads all the sutras.

Though over two thousand years have already gone by since the Buddha passed into extinction, where there is a person who has faith in the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha’s voice still lingers there, and hour by hour, minute by minute, instant by instant that person hears the Buddha assuring him that he, the Buddha, has never died. Even though that person may not in his mind be meditating upon the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, he will everywhere illumine the entire realm of phenomena in ten directions. All these virtues pertain solely to the persons who practice the Lotus Sutra.

For this reason, when one who has faith in the Lotus Sutra approaches one’s final hour, one will enjoy these benefits. Though one’s mind is not fixed in concentration on the Buddha, though one’s mouth does not recite the sutras, and though one may not be in a place of religious practice, without employing one’s mind one will illumine the entire realm of phenomena, without uttering a sound one will recite all the sutras, and without taking a single scroll in hand one will grip all eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra."

To answer your question, since faith is first and foremost, at this time in the evolution of Nichiren's teachings, he taught that merely having faith in the Lotus Sutra and chanting but one word, one will attain Buddhahood. However, later on, it seems that chanting Namu Myoho renge kyo at the last moment is most beneficial.

I do not have a reference but I have heard that Nichiren was reciting the Jiga-ge (verse section of the Lotus Sutra) at the last moment of his death. Nichiren, of course, was the Supreme Votary of the Lotus Sutra, so whatever he was reciting from the Lotus Sutra at his last moment, he was a Buddha.

Nichiren also wrote in The Recitation of the Expedient Means and Life Span Chapters:

"On the other hand, if suddenly you should feel, for example, the approach of death, then even if you are eating fish or fowl, if you are able to read the sutra, you should do so, and likewise chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo..." (1264).

and in The Teaching for the Latter Day, we read:

"Perhaps because of karma from past lives, or some other reason, this woman chanted Namu-myoho-renge-kyo at the moment of her death..." -written on Minobu regarding a recently deceased faithful "young lady". - at Minobu date?

"Life flashes by in but a moment. No matter how many terrible enemies you may encounter, banish all fears and never think of backsliding. Even if someone were to cut off our heads with a saw, impale our bodies with lances, or shackle our feet and bore them through with a gimlet, as long as we are alive, we must keep chanting Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. Then, if we chant until the very moment of death, Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the Buddhas of the ten directions will come to us instantly, exactly as they promised during the ceremony at Eagle Peak. Taking our hands and bearing us on their shoulders, they will carry us to Eagle Peak. The two sages, the two heavenly kings, and the ten demon daughters will guard us, while all the heavenly gods and benevolent deities will raise a canopy over our heads and unfurl banners on high. They will escort us under their protection to the treasure land of Tranquil Light. How can such joy possibly be described!" On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings (1273)

In The Importance of the Moment of Death (1278), he wrote:

"And when your deceased husband chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo at the end on his deathbed, the evil deeds of a lifetime, and from the beginningless past, changed into the seeds of Buddhahood. This is what is meant by the teachings called “earthly desires are enlightenment,” “the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana,” and “attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form.”

Then again, in 1275 in Regarding an Unlined Robe, he seems to be saying any or all of the 69,384 characters of the Lotus Sutra will take one to the other shore:

"And being such a person, like Su Wu, I eat snow in order to sustain my life, or like Li Ling, wear a coat of straw to get through the days. In my mountain forest, when the trees bear no fruit, I spend two or three days without eating; when my deerskin garment is worn out, I go naked for three or four months. Yet for such a person, whom you have never even met, out of pity you send this robe to clothe my body—what profound kindness! When I don this robe, take my place before the Buddha, and recite the Lotus Sutra, then all the 69,384 characters that make up the sacred text, each individual character one by one, becomes a golden Buddha. Though the robe is only one, it clothes each and every one of the 69,384 Buddhas. And because that is so, the husband and wife who presented me with this robe will be visited by these Buddhas, who　will regard the couple as their supporters and watch over and protect them. For this husband and wife in their present existence they will be a prayer, a treasure; and when the husband and wife are on the point of death, they will be a moon, a sun, a path, a bridge, a father, a mother, an ox or a horse, a palanquin, a carriage, a lotus, a mountain, coming to greet and convey them to the pure land of Eagle Peak. Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, Namu-myoho-renge-kyo!"

For us, it would probably be safest to Chant Namu Myoho renge kyo at the last moment. Nichiren writes in the Selection of the Time:

"Those vicious and arrogant monks described in the Lotus Sutra in the beginning armed themselves with sticks and staves and used them to belabor Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. But later they pressed their palms together and repented of their error. Devadatta inflicted an injury on Shakyamuni Buddha that drew blood, but when he was on his deathbed, he cried out, “Namu (Devotion)!” If only he had been able to cry, “Namu Buddha (Devotion to the Buddha)!” he would have been spared the fate of falling into hell. But so grave were the deeds he had committed that he could only utter the word “Namu” and could not pronounce the word “Buddha” before he died.

"And soon the eminent priests of Japan will no doubt be trying to cry out, “Namu Nichiren Shōnin (Devotion to the Sage Nichiren)!” But most likely they will only have time enough to utter the one word, “Namu!” How pitiful, how pitiful!"

Lastly, Nichiren stated that his only thought while chanting was to attain Buddhahood but we know he also chanted for the sake of others both alive and dead.

A possible prayer to incorporate before, during, or after chanting the Daimoku

“May the merits we have accumulated by this offering (of the Daimoku) be distributed among all living beings, And may we and all other living beings Attain the enlightenment of the Buddha!” - modified from Chapter VII of the Lotus Sutra

"I Nichiren and my disciples will eventually attain Buddhahood "

"I Nichiren and my disciples will eventually attain Buddhahood as long as we maintain resolute faith despite our difficulties. Day and night I told my disciples never to hold doubts even should they lack heavenly protection or a peaceful life. Still they fail to listen and harbor doubts in their heart. In the face of stark reality, the foolish will forget the promises they have made."

WARE NARABI-NI WAGA DESHI SHONAN ARITOMO UTAGAU KOKORO NAKUBA JINNEN-NI BUKKAI-NI ITARUBESHI. TEN-NO KAGO NAKI KOTO-WO UTAGAWA-ZARE. GENSE-NO AN-NON NARAZARU KOTO-WO NAGEKA-ZARE. WAGA DESHI-NI CHOSEKI OSHIE SHIKADOMO UTAGAI-WO OKOSHITE MINA SUTEKEN. TSUTANAKI MONONO NARAI-WA YAKUSOKU-SESHI KOTO-WO MAKOTO-NO TOKI-WA WASURURU NARUBESHI.

Namu Myoho renge kyo for the deceased and living in Mayfield Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri

 Namu Myoho renge kyo

 Namu Myoho renge kyo

 Namu Myoho renge kyo

I'm Back...All comments approved

 

Why shouldb I even bother to respond to my barking dog detractors.

"If you are guilty of no error. In that case you must pay no heed, regardless of what others may say.," - Nichiren

Certainly, calling those who produce nuclear weapons or who wholesale radiated produce, "dirtbags" is no fault. Those who slander me for telling the truth should go to hell along with evil ones.

There are evil men who chant the Daimoku

"Similarly, the Nirvana Sutra says: “In that age there will be evil monks... These evil men will read and recite this sutra, but they will ignore and put aside the profound and vital principles that the Thus Come One has expounded in it.”

SGI leaders and Nichiren Shoshu priests come to mind,

The wise may be called human, but the thoughtless are no more than animals.

 Those who fail to see themselves but who believe that they can clearly see others, are no more than animals.

Katie and Jerry are not unlike Jikaku...

"He was like a bat, for a bat resembles a bird yet is not a bird, and resembles a mouse yet is not a mouse. Or he was like an owl or a hakei beast. He ate his father, the Lotus Sutra, and devoured his mother, those who embrace the Lotus Sutra."

The hearts of the people are the same today

"The hearts of the people are like those of birds and beasts; they recognize neither sovereign, teacher, nor parent. Even less do they distinguish between correct and incorrect in Buddhism, or good and evil in their teachers. But I will say no more of these things."

They lack the truth

"All the teachings other than the “one chapter and two halves” are Hinayana in nature and erroneous. Not only do they fail to lead to enlightenment, but also they lack the truth. Those who believe in them are meager in virtue, heavy with defilement, ignorant, poor, solitary, and like birds and beasts [that do not know their own parents]."

Thus all the people have become cowards

"They will be like a monkey terrified by a dog, or a frog cowering before a snake. This is solely because it is a country that, by allowing the votary of the Lotus Sutra, who is an emissary of Shakyamuni Buddha, to be hated by all the priests of the True Word, Nembutsu, Precepts, and other schools, has harmed itself and incurred the particular wrath of the heavenly gods. Thus all its people have become cowards. They are like fire fearful of water, a tree dreading the ax, a pheasant frightened out of its wits at the sight of a hawk, or a mouse threatened by a cat. Not one of them will be saved..."

Therefore, you must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your heart and embrace the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine [of the Lotus Sutra].

"The Benevolent Kings Sutra states: “If persons destroy the teachings of the Buddha, they will have no filial sons, no harmony with their six kinds of relatives,54 and no aid from the heavenly deities and dragons. Disease and evil demons will come day after day to torment them, disasters will descend on them incessantly, and misfortunes will dog them wherever they go. And when they die, they will fall into the realms of hell, hungry spirits, and animals. Even if they should be reborn as human beings, they will be destined to become soldiers or slaves. Retribution will follow as an echo follows a sound, or a shadow follows a form. Someone writing at night may put out the lamp, but the words he has written will still remain. It is the same with the effect of the deeds we perform in the threefold world.”

The second volume of the Lotus Sutra says, “If a person fails to have faith but instead slanders this sutra . . . When his life comes to an end he will enter the Avīchi hell.” And in the “Never Disparaging” chapter in the seventh volume, it says, “For a thousand kalpas they underwent great suffering in the Avīchi hell.”

In the Nirvana Sutra, we read: “If a person separates himself from good friends, refuses to listen to the correct teaching, and instead embraces evil teachings, then as a result he will sink down into the Avīchi hell, where the size of his body will become eighty-four thousand yojanas in total length and breadth.”55

When we examine this wide variety of sutras, we find that they all stress how grave a matter it is to slander the correct teaching. How pitiful that people should all go out of the gate of the correct teaching and enter so deep into the prison of these distorted doctrines! How stupid that they should fall one after another into the snares of these evil doctrines and remain for so long entangled in this net of slanderous teachings! They lose their way in these mists and miasmas, and sink down amid the raging flames of hell. How could one not grieve? How could one not suffer?

Therefore, you must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your heart and embrace the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine [of the Lotus Sutra]. If you do so, then the threefold world will become the Buddha land, and how could a Buddha land ever decline? The regions in the ten directions will all become treasure realms, and how could a treasure realm ever suffer harm? If you live in a country that knows no decline or diminution, in a land that suffers no harm or disruption, then your body will find peace and security, and your mind will be calm and untroubled. You must believe my words; heed what I say!" _ Establishing the Correct Teachings for the Peace of the Land

If I am of fault

"When the disciples of those three great teachers [Kōbō, Jikaku, and Chishō] slander the Lotus Sutra, is it simply because the minds of you gods of the sun and moon have taken possession of them and are causing them to commit slander? Or if that is not the case and I myself am at fault, then you, the god of the sun, must show me so! Let those disciples be summoned to debate with me, and if I am bested in the argument and yet refuse to change my views, then you gods may take away my life!"...

But that is not what happens. Instead, you unreasonably hand me over to my enemies, like a baby monkey entrusted to a dog, or a baby mouse presented to a cat, to be attacked and tortured without mercy, and yet mete out no punishment to my tormentors. That is what I cannot countenance! As far as you gods of the sun and moon are concerned, I suppose I am a deadly foe. When I find myself in the presence of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, I will surely press charges against you. At that time, you gods must bear me no resentment" The Doctrine  of Attaining Buddhahood in One's Present Form (1280).

Lacking the mercy to correct another is to be his enemy.

“Chang-an writes, ‘If one befriends another person but lacks the mercy to correct him, one is in fact his enemy.’ The consequences of a grave offense are extremely difficult to erase. The most important thing is to continually strengthen our wish to benefit others.

“Many such examples of slander are also found among Nichiren’s disciples and lay believers.” (pgs. 625-626)

Lets discuss Letter to Horen

 https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/62#para-54

"When one becomes a Buddha"

"...When one becomes a Buddha, one manifests oneself as the Thus Come One of the Dharma body, a body that is as vast as space.

Because one “gains strength,” having been born in the human or heavenly world, one becomes a person of virtue and influence, attracting many followers. When one becomes a Buddha, one manifests oneself as the Thus Come One of the reward body, dwelling on a lotus pedestal where one shines like the full moon in a clear sky on the fifteenth night of the eighth month.

And because one “brings color to one’s face,” having been born in the human or heavenly world, one acquires the thirty-two features and becomes as graceful and dignified as a lotus flower. When one becomes a Buddha, one displays oneself as the Thus Come One of the manifested body and comes to resemble Shakyamuni Buddha." - The Blessing of the Lotus Sutra

The Importance of Faith

"Since Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters believe solely in the Lotus Sutra, honestly discarding expedient means and not accepting even a single verse of the other sutras, exactly as the Lotus teaches, they can enter the treasure tower of the Gohonzon. How reassuring! Make every possible effort for the sake of your next life. What is most important is that, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo alone, you can attain Buddhahood. It will no doubt depend on the strength of your faith. To have faith is the basis of Buddhism. Thus the fourth volume of Great Concentration and Insight states, “Buddhism is like an ocean that one can only enter with faith.” The fourth volume of The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight” explains this: “With regard to the phrase ‘Buddhism is like an ocean that one can

p.833only enter with faith,’ even Confucius taught that faith is first and foremost. How much more so is this true of the profound doctrines of Buddhism! Without faith, how could one possibly enter? That is why the Flower Garland Sutra defines faith as the basis of the way and the mother of blessings.” The first volume of Great Concentration and Insight says, “How does one hear, believe in, and practice the perfect teaching to attain perfect enlightenment?” The first volume of On “Great Concentration and Insight” says, “To ‘believe in the perfect teaching’ means to awaken faith through doctrine and to make faith the basis of practice.”

A non-Buddhist document relates that, because the emperor of Han believed his aide’s report, the waters of a river froze on the spot. Another tells how Li Kuang, because he was eager to revenge his father, shot an arrow all the way up to its feathers into a boulder hidden in the grass. The commentaries of T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo make it perfectly clear that faith is the cornerstone. Because the Han emperor believed completely in his retainer’s words, the river froze over. And Li Kuang was able to pierce a rock with his arrow because he fully believed it to be the tiger that had killed his father. How much more so is this true in Buddhism!" - The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon

Embracing the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in itself encompasses the five practices. It was this matter, the wonderful practice that includes the immediate completion of the five practices, that was transmitted to the Great Teacher Dengyō when he journeyed to T’ang China and met the Reverend Tao-sui. No other teaching is more important for Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters. It is referred to in the “Supernatural Powers” chapter.14 I will write again in detail.

Respectfully,

Nichiren