Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[PassTheDoobie]

(On Prayer, WND pg. 345-46)...they would begrudge neither their reputations nor their lives in defense of the Lotus Sutra.

One may ask why the results of these vows should be so long in appearing. And yet, though one might point at the earth and miss it, though one might bind up the sky, though the tides might cease to ebb and flow and the sun rise in the west, it could never come about that the prayers of the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered. If the bodhisattvas, the human and heavenly beings, the eight kinds of nonhuman beings, the two sages, the two heavenly deities, and the ten demon daughters would by some unlikely chance fail to appear and protect the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, then above them they would be showing disdain for Shakyamuni and the other Buddhas, and below they would be guilty of deceiving the beings of the nine realms.

It makes no difference if the practitioner himself is lacking in worth, defective in wisdom, impure in his person, and lacking in virtue derived from observing the precepts. So long as he chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they will invariably protect him. One does not throw away gold because the bag that holds it is dirty; one does not ignore the sandalwood trees because of the foul odor of the eranda trees around them; and one does not refuse to gather lotuses because the pond in the valley where they grow is not clean. If they ignore the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, they will be going against their vow.

Now that the Former and Middle Days of the Law are over, persons who observe the precepts are as rare as tigers in a marketplace, and persons of wisdom are harder to find than the horns of a ch’i-lin. While waiting for the moon to rise, one must rely upon a lantern, and when there are no true gems at hand, gold and silver must serve as jewels. The debt of gratitude one owes to a white crow may be repaid to a black crow, and the debt one owes to a sage priest may be repaid to an ordinary priest. So, if you earnestly pray that blessings be given to you without delay, how can your prayers fail to be answered?

 

[Babbabud]

Wow so nice of you to stop by ... Im floored
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

We practice the Buddhism of the true cause.
Everyday is a fresh new start.
From this very moment, right where we are,
by beginning with what we decide to do ourselves,
let's take one courageous step forwards
to take on the challenges that we now face!

*Now is eternity. Right now is the beginning. The past is gone. The future has not yet arrived. The present moment is all that exists. … To view this moment of life as the direct effect of some cause made in the past is to think in terms of the true effect. To think, in other words, “I did that, so this happened.” But that perspective alone will not give rise to hope. The key is to view one’s life at the present moment as the cause for creating future effects. This is the true cause that reaches the very depths of one’s being. It is not a superficial cause. (Ref.: The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 6)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"A goal is a flag of hope that helps make each day fulfilling. It is a flag of challenge that flies fearlessly, even in the face of the stiffest winds.”

SGI Newsletter No. 9699, Spread Your Wings towards the Future, [29] The Swiss Flag, from 1st Aug., 2016, issue of the Mirai [Future] Journal, translation released 24th Aug. 2017

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Those who can learn from others are always improving themselves. Truly wise people are those who can and actively try to learn from all kinds of people.

“People who try to learn from others are able to sincerely respect and care about them."

SGI Newsletter No. 9699, Spread Your Wings towards the Future, [29] The Swiss Flag, from 1st Aug., 2016, issue of the Mirai [Future] Journal, translation released 24th Aug. 2017

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Daishonin teaches us (the principle
of three thousand realms in a single moment of life),
“One’s body and mind at a single moment
pervade the entire realm of phenomena."*
The power of daimoku
is as vast as the entire universe.
By chanting daimoku
with the vow to achieve kosen-rufu,
let's create a surge of increasing
fellow Bodhisattvas of the Earth.
Let's strive together with our young friends
all around the world!

*“You should understand that one’s life and its environment at a single moment encompass the three thousand realms. Therefore, when one attains the Buddha way, one puts oneself in accord with this fundamental principle, and one’s body and mind at a single moment pervade the entire realm of phenomena.” - “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One’s Passing”, WND-I, page 366, “The Doctrine of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Moment of Life”, WND-II, page 82

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!~

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Because each of you has such a profound mission, you are bound to face various difficulties and problems. But the bigger those problems, the stronger you will become, and the more you will be able to understand the sufferings of others and become a supportive person yourself. It’s important that you study and learn now to train yourselves and strengthen your minds and spirits.

"Nichiren Daishonin writes: “From the time I was young I have had my heart set on learning” (WND-2, 1050). He made a vow to become the wisest person in Japan, and studied diligently so that he could help others. Learning is the driving force for carrying out that noble mission.”

SGI Newsletter No. 9699, Spread Your Wings towards the Future, [29] The Swiss Flag, from 1st Aug., 2016, issue of the Mirai [Future] Journal, translation released 24th Aug. 2017

 

[PassTheDoobie]

“The expansion of our network of Bodhisattvas of the Earth is achieved by treating everyone we meet as a treasure of shining hope, wholeheartedly encouraging them, and painstakingly fostering the ties that we have forged, one after another.

“The focus is always the person right in front of us.”

SGI Newsletter No. 9702, The Eternal Citadel of Soka, Seven Decades of Working for People’s Happiness and Victory, from 25th Aug., 2017, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translation released 30th Aug. 2017

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The heart of strategy and swordsmanship derives from the Mystic Law. Have profound faith. A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered."

(The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra - WND-1, page 1001) Selection source: “Kyo no Hosshin,”
Seikyo Shinbun, September 1st, 2017

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!!!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

four powers ［四力］ ( shi-riki): (1) The power of the Buddha, the power of the Law, the power of faith, and the power of practice. In Nichiren’s teachings, the four powers are known as the four powers of the Mystic Law, whose interaction enables one to have one’s prayers answered and attain Buddhahood. The power of the Buddha is the Buddha’s compassion in saving all people. The power of the Law indicates the boundless capacity of the Mystic Law to lead all people to enlightenment. The power of faith is to believe in the Gohonzon, the object of devotion that embodies the power of the Buddha and the power of the Law, and the power of practice is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo oneself and teach others to do the same. To the extent that one brings forth one’s powers of faith and practice, one can manifest the powers of the Buddha and the Law within one’s own life.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ［南無妙法蓮華経］:

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ［南無妙法蓮華経］:

The ultimate Law or truth of the universe, according to Nichiren’s teaching. Nichiren first taught the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to a small group of people at Seichō-ji temple in his native province of Awa, Japan, on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month in 1253. It literally means devotion to Myoho-renge-kyo. Myoho-renge-kyo is the Japanese reading of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren regards as the sutra’s essence, and appending nam (a phonetic change of namu) to that phrase indicates devotion to the title and essence of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren identifies it with the universal Law or principle implicit in the meaning of the sutra’s text.

The meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is explained in the opening section of The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the record of Nichiren’s lectures on the Lotus Sutra compiled by his disciple and successor, Nikkō. It states that namu derives from the Sanskrit word namas and is translated as devotion, or as “dedicating one’s life.” What one should dedicate one’s life to, he says, are the Person and the Law. The Person signifies “Shakyamuni,” which means the eternal Buddha, and the Law is “the Lotus Sutra,” which means the ultimate truth, or Myoho-renge-kyo. According to Orally Transmitted Teachings, the act of devotion (namu) has two aspects: One is to devote oneself to, or fuse one’s life with, the eternal and unchanging truth; the other is that, through this fusion of one’s life with the ultimate truth, one simultaneously draws forth inexhaustible wisdom that functions in accordance with changing circumstances.

Orally Transmitted Teachings further states: “We may also note that the nam of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a Sanskrit word, while Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese words. Sanskrit and Chinese join in a single moment to form Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. If we express the title [of the Lotus Sutra] in Sanskrit, it will be Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra. This is Myoho-renge-kyo. Sad (a phonetic change of sat) means myō, or wonderful. Dharma means hō, Law or phenomena. Pundarīka means renge, or lotus blossom. Sūtra means kyō, or sutra. The nine Chinese characters [that represent the Sanskrit title] are the Buddha bodies of the nine honored ones. This expresses the idea that the nine worlds are none other than the Buddha world.

“Myō stands for the Dharma nature, or enlightenment, while hō represents darkness, or ignorance. Together as myōhō, they express the idea that ignorance and the Dharma nature are a single entity, or one in essence. Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity.

“Kyō represents the words and voices of all living beings. A commentary says, ‘The voice carries out the work of the Buddha, and it is called kyō.’ Kyō may also be defined as that which is constant and unchanging in the three existences of past, present, and future. The Dharma realm is myōhō, the wonderful Law; the Dharma realm is renge, the lotus blossom; the Dharma realm is kyō, the sutra.”

As Nichiren states, namu derives from Sanskrit, and Myoho-renge-kyo comes from Chinese. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is, therefore, not simply a Japanese phrase, but a Japanese reading of a Sanskrit and Chinese phrase. In this sense, it contains aspects of the languages of three countries in which Mahayana Buddhism spread. According to Nichiren’s treatise The Entity of the Mystic Law, Nan-yüeh and T’ien-t’ai of China and Dengyō of Japan recited the invocation meaning devotion to the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as their private practice, but they did not spread this practice to others.

In On the Three Great Secret Laws, Nichiren states that the daimoku Nichiren chants today in the Latter Day of the Law is different from that of the previous ages—the daimoku T’ien-t’ai and others chanted in the Former Day and Middle Day of the Law—because the practice of daimoku in the Latter Day of the Law involves chanting it oneself and teaching others to do so as well. Nichiren not only established the invocation (daimoku) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo but embodied it as a mandala, making it the object of devotion called Gohonzon. In Reply to Kyō’ō, he states, “I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart. The Buddha’s will is the Lotus Sutra, but the soul of Nichiren is nothing other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (WND/412).

 

[PassTheDoobie]

And with this, I will respectfully retire to my mountain dwelling and let Weird and Bud proceed to lead! I love you guys. Thanks for making this continue!

I bow in humble obeisance!

Thomas

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

And with this, I will respectfully retire to my mountain dwelling and let Weird and Bud proceed to lead! I love you guys. Thanks for making this continue!

I bow in humble obeisance!

Thomas

Miss your contributions was hoping for more

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

My Brother Weird!

Whenever I come back, I think it constipates the conversation in progress. I am so grateful to all of you. G's situation did effect my comfort level being here and as several of you know I post on the internet every week. Weird, KEEP IT GOIN MAN!

But if you do want me to continue to contribute, I will. (But if no one else posts, I'll stop.) I am not here to interfere. I love you all so much and my life reflects a level of fortune that surely is rooted in the sharing that happens here. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

T

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings pgs.117-120

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings pgs.117-120

Chapter Fifteen: Emerging from the Earth

One important point

Point One, on the passage “Among these bodhisattvas were four leaders. The first was called Superior Practices, the second was called Boundless Practices, the third was called Pure Practices, and the fourth was called Firmly Established Practices. These four bodhisattvas were the foremost leaders and guiding teachers among all the group.”

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says: This chapter, “Emerging from the Earth,” is devoted entirely to matters pertaining to the bodhisattvas of the essential teaching, those who were taught and converted by the Buddha in his true identity.(1) The action carried out by the bodhisattvas of the essential teaching is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is referred to in the character shō [“advocating” in the compound shōdō, or “advocating and guiding”]. The character dō signifies that they will lead and guide all the living beings of the country of Japan to the Pure Land of the Holy Mountain [Eagle Peak]. As for these guiding teachers of the Latter Day of the Law, the term “teachers” can only be applied to the bodhisattvas of the essential teaching.

In explaining the identity of the four great bodhisattvas described here, volume nine of Supplement to “The Words and Phrases,” following the explanation given in volume nine of Words and Phrases, says, “The four leaders described in the sutra passage here represent the four virtues. Superior Practices represents the virtue of true self. Boundless Practices represents the virtue of eternity. Pure Practices represents the virtue of purity. And Firmly Established Practices represents the virtue of happiness.

“There are times when a single person possesses all four of these principles. To transcend the two types of death [birth and death in the six paths and birth and death in the higher realms] is known as Superior Practices. To go beyond the two opposing views that life is cut off after one existence or that it is eternally the same is called Boundless Practices. Because one overcomes the five categories of illusions and entanglements, (2*) that state is designated Pure Practices. And because one is as perfect in virtue as [the Buddha who attained enlightenment under] the bodhi tree, that state is named Firmly Established Practices.”

Nichiren and his followers, who now chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, are all followers of these bodhisattvas who emerged from the earth.

Again, one may say that fire is that which burns things [and hence it corresponds to Superior Practices (3)]. Water is that which purifies things [and hence it corresponds to Pure Practices]. Wind is that which blows away dust and grime [and hence corresponds to Boundless Practices]. The great earth is that which nourishes plants and trees [and corresponds to Firmly Established Practices]. These are the respective merits of the four bodhisattvas. Though the practices of the four bodhisattvas differ from one to another, all are in effect the practice of Myoho-renge-kyo.

These four bodhisattvas dwell in the lower region. Therefore the commentary [Words and Phrases, [volume nine] says that they dwell “in the depths of the Dharma nature, the ultimate region of the profound source.” The lower region is where they live and abide, and the lower region represents the principle of truth. Supplement to “The Words and Phrases” says, “The lower region is described by Master Tao-sheng as the place where one abides in the principle (ri).” What emerge and become manifest from this dwelling in the principle are referred to as actual events (ji).

Again, the Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings says that, of all the thousand plants and ten thousand trees in the world, there are none that are not in essence bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth. Thus we may say that the bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth are the bodhisattvas of the essential teaching. The word “essential” or “original” represents the merits handed down from the past of numberless major world system dust particle kalpas ago, the merits that are without beginning and without end.

These bodhisattvas are possessors of the essential or original Law. The original Law is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This daimoku, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, is something that is without exception possessed by the bodhisattvas who emerge from the earth, but it is not possessed by the bodhisattvas of the theoretical teaching, those who were taught and converted by the Buddha in his transient status. From the substance of this original Law is derived the function that is propagated as the practice of concentration and insight, and is called the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. In effect, all the explanations given by great and ordinary teachers are directed toward the propagation of this function of the Wonderful Law.

The accepting and upholding of this original Law is expressed in the single word “belief” or “faith.” The single word “belief” is the sharp sword with which one confronts and overcomes fundamental darkness or ignorance. The commentary [Words and Phrases] says, “Belief means to be without doubt.” You should think about this.


The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Part One, ends here.
The first day of the first month of the first year of the Kōan era (1278), cyclical sign tsuchinoe-tora

Recorded by Nikkō

Notes
1. “The Buddha in his true identity” is the Shakyamuni described in the “Life Span” chapter as the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the inconceivably remote past. The term is contrasted with “the Buddha in his transient status,” which indicates the Shakyamuni who attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree in India.
2. Same as “the five types of abiding earthly desires” explained in the footnote on p. 36. (*from pg. 36: 2. The Lion’s Roar of Queen Shrīmālā Sutra (Columbia University Press, 1974) lists four static kinds of defilement: the static kind based on a particular viewpoint, the static kind in attraction to desire, the static kind in attraction to form, and the static kind in attraction to gestation. The five types of abiding earthly desires consist of these and the static kind based on darkness or ignorance.)
3. The Chinese characters for Superior Practices mean to go upward. Because fire goes upward when it burns, it is regarded as corresponding to Superior Practices.