Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[Weird]

Were it not for the presence of the “Life Span” chapter among all the teachings of Shakyamuni, they would be like the heavens without the sun and moon, a kingdom without a king, the mountains and seas without treasures, or a person without a soul. This being so, without the “Life Span” p.184chapter, all the sutras would be meaningless. Grass without roots will die in no time, and a river without a source will not flow far. A child without parents is looked down upon. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the “Life Span” chapter, is the mother of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and the three existences.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/18

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Weird]

There are various stages in the practice of this sutra [and various forms of slander exist accordingly]. Let me sum them up by quoting from volume five of The Annotations on “The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra”: “In defining the types of evil, The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra states briefly, ‘Expound among the wise but not among the foolish.’5 One scholar6 enumerates the types of evil as follows: ‘I will first list the evil causes and then their effects. There are fourteen evil causes: (1) arrogance, (2) negligence, (3) wrong views of the self, (4) shallow understanding, (5) attachment to earthly desires, (6) not understanding, (7) not believing, (8) scowling with knitted brows, (9) harboring doubts, (10) slandering, (11) despising, (12) hating, (13) envying, and (14) bearing grudges.’” Since these fourteen slanders apply equally to priesthood and laity, you must be on guard against them.

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging of old said that all people have the Buddha nature and that, if they embrace the Lotus Sutra, they will never fail to attain Buddhahood. He further stated that to slight a person is to slight the Buddha himself. Thus, his practice was to revere all people. He revered even those who did not embrace the Lotus Sutra because they too had the Buddha nature and might someday believe in the sutra. Therefore, it is all the more natural to revere those priests and lay people who do embrace the sutra.

When one chants the daimoku bearing in mind that there are no distinctions among those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, then the blessings one gains will be equal to those of Shakyamuni Buddha. A commentary states, “Both the beings and the environment of the Avīchi hell exist entirely within the life of the highest sage [Buddha], and what is more, the life and the environment of Vairochana [Buddha] never transcend the lives of common mortals.”9 You can surmise the significance of the fourteen slanders in the light of the above quotations.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/92

 

[Weird]

Even an ignorant person can obtain blessings by serving someone who expounds the Lotus Sutra. No matter if he is a demon or an animal, if someone proclaims even a single verse or phrase of the Lotus Sutra, you must respect him as you would the Buddha. This is what the sutra means when it says, “You should rise and greet him from afar, showing him the same respect you would a Buddha.”12 You should respect one another as Shakyamuni and Many Treasures did at the ceremony13 in the “Treasure Tower” chapter.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/92

 

[Weird]

In future ages if there are good men and good women who p.320have faith in the wisdom of the thus come one, you should preach and expound the Lotus Sutra for them, so that others may hear and understand it. For in this way you can cause them to gain the buddha wisdom.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/22

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

“Good men, water possesses a single nature, but rivers, streams, wells, ponds, brooks, channels, and vast seas each have their particular differences. The nature of the Law is like this too—in its ability to wash away grime and impediment, it is without differentiation. But in its categories of three doctrines, four stages, or two ways,1 it is not uniform."

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Prologue/2

 

[Weird]

Question: You have told us about the sources of this doctrine. Now what is meant by the observation of the mind?

Answer: The observation of the mind means to observe one’s own mind and to find the Ten Worlds within it. This is what is called observing the mind. For example, though we can see the six sense organs of other people, we cannot see our own. Only when we look into a clear mirror do we see, for the first time, that we are endowed with all six sense organs. Similarly, various sutras make reference here and there to the six paths and the four noble worlds [that constitute the Ten Worlds], but only in the clear mirror of the Lotus Sutra and of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai’s Great Concentration and Insight can one see one’s own Ten Worlds, hundred worlds and thousand factors, and three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39

 

[Weird]

The sahā world Shakyamuni Buddha revealed in the “Life Span” chapter is the eternal pure land, impervious to the three calamities and to the cycle of the four kalpas. The Buddha neither has entered into extinction in the past nor will be born in the future. And the same is true of his disciples. This means that their lives are perfectly endowed with the three thousand worlds, that is, with the three realms of existence. The Buddha did not reveal this truth in the theoretical teaching, or the first fourteen chapters, of the Lotus Sutra because the time was not right and the people’s capacity was not yet developed.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/39

 

[Weird]

Answer: The principle of the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds is the most profound doctrine of the Lotus Sutra, the very heart of the teachings of this school of ours

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/182

 

[Babbabud]

Thanks Weird
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Thcvhunter]

Ra Ma Da Sa
Sa Say So Hung

 

[Weird]

Welcome Thcvhunter.

The practice of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo encompasses all expedient means (other practices). I only make this clear since the thread originator had made it a point to keep the practice focused on the absolute teachings of Nichiren Buddhism.

It is a difficult matter to broach because it does not mean your practice is invalid, just personally relevant. This practice puts all of those elements into their relative context to humanity, thus created a new realm of understanding/being that allows mutual possession of the other realms in ourselves and others.

These realms are simple translations to states of our being that are influenced by our mind and bodies. The truth is we are all buddha (the highest real) already, that state just waiting to be realized and our diverse beliefs can sometimes put a difference in our perception that keeps us from seeing it. These practices haven't realized the 10th world, mutual possession thereof, nor shared it with the rest of the world. That is the focus of this practice and it can simply be evoked by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. The writings themselves examine the proofs in detail (and compares them to the other practices) through examples in Nichiren's life and shed light on practices born from those writings. I started small and my practice has grown and become deeper over time.

I still embrace the belief system that drew me here, it is encompassed in my buddhist practice and put into the proper perspective for the propagation of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Thank you for coming by hope this doesn't put you off.

“Good men, if there are living beings who come to me, I employ my buddha eye to observe whether their faith and other faculties are keen or dull, and then depending upon how p.267receptive they are to salvation, I appear in different places and preach to them under different names, and describe my life span as long or short. Sometimes when I make my appearance I say that I am about to enter nirvana, and also employ different expedient means to preach the subtle and wonderful Law, thus causing living beings to awaken joyful minds.

“Good men, the thus come one observes how among living beings there are those who delight in lesser teachings, meager in virtue and heavy with defilement. For such persons I describe how in my youth I left my household and attained supreme perfect enlightenment. But in truth the time since I attained buddhahood is extremely long, as I have told you. It is simply that I use this expedient means to teach and convert living beings and cause them to enter the buddha way. That is why I speak in this manner.

“Good men, the scriptures expounded by the thus come one are all for the purpose of saving and emancipating living beings. Sometimes I speak of myself, sometimes of others; sometimes I present myself, sometimes others; sometimes I show my own actions, sometimes those of others. All that I preach is true and not false.

“Why do I do this? The thus come one perceives the true aspect of the threefold world exactly as it is. There is no ebb or flow of birth and death, and there is no existing in this world and later entering extinction. It is neither substantial nor empty, neither consistent nor diverse. Nor is it what those who dwell in the threefold world perceive it to be. All such things the thus come one sees clearly and without error.

“Because living beings have different natures, different desires, different actions, and different ways of thinking and

making distinctions, and because I want to enable them to put down good roots, I employ a variety of causes and conditions, similes, parables, and phrases and preach different doctrines. This, a buddha’s work, I have never for a moment neglected.

“Thus, since I attained buddhahood, an extremely long period of time has passed. My life span is an immeasurable number of asamkhya kalpas, and during that time I have constantly abided p.268here without ever entering extinction. Good men, originally I practiced the bodhisattva way, and the life span that I acquired then has yet to come to an end but will last twice the number of years that have already passed. Now, however, although in fact I do not actually enter extinction, I announce that I am going to adopt the course of extinction. This is an expedient means that the thus come one uses to teach and convert living beings.

---> http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/lsoc/Content/16