What is enlightenment?

What is enlightenment?

The word enlightenment calls to mind those who practice austerities and therby gain extraordinary powers beyond the reach of common mortals. Nichiren Daishonin, however, taught that enlightenment, or Buddhahood, is a condition of life accessible to everyone, under any circumstances, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

It is only our inability to believe this - what we call our fundamental darkness or delusion - that prevents us from calling forth our Buddhahood.

Nichiren explains: "When deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha. This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a jewel when polished. A mind now clouded by the illusion of the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but when polished, it is sure to become like a clear mirror, reflecting the essential nature of phenomena and the true aspect of reality. Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" ("On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 4).

We "arouse deep faith" by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon with the firm conviction that we already possess Buddhahood. This conviction overrides our habits and preconceived attitudes, enabling us to call forth the Buddha's courage, compassion and wisdom, which we can apply to any circumstance. Even the daily challenges we face head-on become the means by which we can live fulfilled, happy lives.

Using the analogy of a lion, Nichiren describes how this powerful animal unleashes the same force "whether he traps a tiny ant or attacks a fierce animal" ("Reply to Kyo'o," WND-1, 412). Our inherent Buddhahood is the source of limitless power and wisdom that enables us to tackle any situation, however big or small, and guides us towards the best course of action.

Enlightenment is not a fixed state we someday achive. Rather, it is a lifelong process of challenge and renewal - a vigilant championing of the inherent dignity of life through thought, word and deed.

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

What should I do to develop my faith?

What should I do to develop my faith?

Nichiren Buddhism emphasizes three fundamentals of Buddhist practice - faith, practice and study. The practice of Nichiren Buddhism is viewed as a lifetime pursuit of development in these three arenas, a continual challenge for practitioners new and longtime. All three are intrinsically related.

Faith means believing in one's own Buddha nature, which is revealed and strengthened by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon. Practice means chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon with continually deepening conviction and sharing the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism with others.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin are the core of our study, which is why the SGI's Buddhist learning program has the overall theme "Live the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin!" We also study the guidance and commentaries of SGI President Ikeda, which are based on Nichiren's writings and puts them in a modern context.

Among these three fundamentals, faith is considered most important. But it can never be separated from practice and study. Our faith, or growing confidence, naturally leads us to practice and study more. Practice and study, through which we accumulate experiences and wisdom, lead to stronger faith.

This is why Nichiren encourages us to "exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism" ("The True Aspect of All Phenomena," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol.1, p.386). These two sentences sum up exactly what we need to do in order to develop our faith.

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

Is it OK to try the practice even if I am not sure I believe in it?

Is it OK to try the practice even if I am not sure I believe in it?

Many people are wary of how some religions tend to emphasize belief without any evidence of how they work. They basically ask for your blind faith. Nichiren Buddhism is different. It is a philosophy and practice of actual proof - belief, or faith, arises from the positive impact the parctice has on people's lives, from how it leads to happiness here and now.

Of course, if you are very new to chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo, you might not have experienced any conspicuous actual proof yet. But at SGI activities, you have no doubt heard members' experiences of having received benefit as well as explanations of how the practice works. This can be your starting point - instead of blind faith, you can begin with an expectation that the practice works and therefore be willing to try it.

Nichiren Daishonin establised the criteria of "theee proofs" that prople should apply to determine the validity of a religious practice: documentary proof, theoretical proof and actual proof. 

Documentary proof means that the teaching should accord with the Buddhist sutras, considered the collective and comprehensive body of wisdom at the time. Nichiren explains in his writings how chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and sharing it with others actualizes the Lotus Sutra, the highest teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Theoretical proof means that the teaching must accord with reason and logic. Nichiren Buddhism is profoundly based on the principle of cause and effect, of which all phenomena in the universe are an expression. We are not expected to believe in anything that cannot ultimately be explained in the light of this principle.

Acutal proof means that the teaching actually changes people's lives for the better, that there is undeniable improvement that anyone can see. Nichiren argued that actual proof is the most important of the three: "In judging the relative merit of Buddhist doctrines, I, Nichiren, believe that the best standards are those of reason and documentary proof. And even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact" ("Three Tripitaka Masters Pray for Rain," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol.1, p.599).

As Nichiren Buddhists, we develop ever-deepening faith through our own experience rather than simply accepting out beliefs from others. Ours is a philosophy of proof, and new members can expect to see actual proof from their practice soon after starting.

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

Terms that we always encounter. Here we define them.

Terms that we always encounter. Here we define them.

Buddha

"Awakened One." One who perceives the true nature of all life and leads others to attain this same enlightenment. This Buddha nature exists in all beings and is characterized by the qualities of wisdom, courage, compassion and life force.

Gohonzon

The object of devotion in Nichiren Buddhism. It is the embodiment of the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, expressing the life-state of Buddhahood, which all people inherently possess. Go means "worthy of honor" and honzon means "object of fundamental respect."

Karma

Sanskrit word meaning "action." The life tendency each individual creates through thoughts, words and deeds that exert an often unseen influence over one's life and environment.

Kosen-rufu

Literally, it means "to widely declare and spread [the Lotus Sutra]"; to secure lasting peace and happiness for all humankind through the propagation of Nichiren Buddhism. More broadly, kosen-rufu refers to the process of establishing the humanistic ideals of Nichiren Buddhism in society.

Lotus Sutra

The scripture of Mahayana Buddhism, it teaches that all people can reveal their innate Buddhahood and that this supreme potential is eternal. The sutra also encourages its practitioners to spread the teaching of universal Buddhahood and help all people awaken to this truth. Reciting portions of the Lotus Sutra is part of SGI members' daily Buddhist practice.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The fundamental Law of the universe expounded in Nichiren Buddhism, it expresses the true aspect of life. Chanting it allows people to directly tap their enlightened nature and is the primary practice of SGI members. Although the deepest meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is revealed only through its practice, the literal meaning is: Nam (devotion), the action of practicing Buddhism; myoho (Mystic Law), the essential Law of the universe and its phenomenal manifestations; renge (lotus), the simultaneity of cause and effect; kyo (Buddha's teaching), all phenomena.

Nichiren Daishonin 

The founder of the Buddhism upon which the SGI bases its activities. Based on his enlightenment, he inscribed the true object of devotion, the Gohonzon, for observing one's mind and established the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the universal practice for attaining enlightenment. The name Nichiren means "sun lotus," and Daishonin is an honorific title that means "great sage."

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

Why do we have to chant? Why not just meditate or think positively?

Why do we have to chant? Why not just meditate or think positively?

Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo reveals our Buddha nature. It directly connects our lives to the fundamental rhythm of the universe that we refer to as the Mystic Law.

Nichiren Daishonin teaches: "If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without begining and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life" ("On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol.1, p.3).

This passage expresses the main difference between chanting and the internalized disciplines of meditation or positive thinking. Although meditation and positive thinking are helpful for many people, these practices are centred on the mind - calming it and training it - and cannot express the fundamental nature of our lives, the enlightened, highest condition of our lives as a whole.

Nichiren Buddhism teaches that the Buddhahood inside us far transcends the power of our minds. It is the power of life itself that we tap into to transform our entire lives.

Our thinking does become more positive as a result of chanting, but this is because chanting draws out Buddhahood from the depths of our lives, which naturally changes our ways of thinking. The emergence of Buddhahood becomes the positive basis of every aspect of our lives, both mental and physical.

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

What is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo? How does chanting work?

What is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo? How does chanting work?

The primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism is chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. SGI President Ikeda says, "Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo aloud represents a determination and vow to dedicate one's life to the realm of truth of Myoho-renge-kyo in thought, word and deed" (September-October 2006 Living Buddhism, p.90).

As the title of Lotus Sutra, the highest teaching of Shakyamuni, the phrase Myoho-renge-kyo encompasses all of the concepts expressed in the sutra, including the idea that all of life holds the potential for both absolute happiness and fundamental darkness. In that sense, it conveys the overarching intent of the sutra, that all human beings possess the Buddha nature. Nichiren Daishonin, who lived and taught in 13th-century Japan, appended the word nam - meaning "to dedicate one's life" - to the beginning of Myoho-renge-kyo and established the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to enable all people to overcome suffering and bring forth their inherit life-condition of Buddahood in this existence, as they are.

When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are not petitioning or beseeching an external being to act in our favor. Rather, we are repeatedly sending out an expression of our determined intention as we bring forth from within ourselves our highest life potential. Our elevated life-state, in turn, elicits the environment's - indeed the entire universe's - support for our aims, and causes to arise within us the wisdom to take the best course of action for archieving the objective of our chanting.

Reference

Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.

Does Nichiren Buddhism work for everyone?

Does Nichiren Buddhism work for everyone?

Nichiren Buddhism teaches that the potential for Buddhahood exists in all people without exception. All people also possess the potential for delusion, specifically the delusion that they are incapable of attaining the indestructible happiness that comes with enlightenment. The practice of Buddhism is the means by which to discard delusion and reveal the Buddhahood within.

Awakening the Buddhahood in all people, not merely a select group, is the solemn vow of a Buddha. The Lotus Sutra articulate this vow in a passage we recite morning and evening as part of our Nichiren Buddhist practice, "At all times I think to myself:/ How can I cause living beings/to gain entry into the unsurpassed way/and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?" (The Lotus Sutra, p.232)

Because Buddhism is based on profound universal compassion, adopting its principles will result in benefit for all, regardless of whether they are actually Buddhist practitioners. The greatest fortune, however, derives from real dedication to the three fundamentals, or pillars, of our teaching: faith, practice and study.


Reference
Living Buddhism "Without Practice and Study, There Can Be No Buddhism". May-Jun 2007 Special Reprint.