Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[Payaso]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Life is filled with mysteries, and chanting has brought some enlightenment but mainly a feeling of peace which is helpful when facing the roar of a dragon, the clashing of swords and words spoken hastily with anger.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

May the TRUTH shine through the fog that we allow to collect in our vision...

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

 

[BushyOldGrower]

How else would you rather start your day? Chanting gives me hope and confidence needed to accomplish a goal.

I have life/self challenges too but we can fill our hearts with goodness/joy so easily.

Even during a time of suffering we have our relief...chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

When we don't look the other way and see others suffering we can help them.

We have a very large and powerful sword of mercy and justice so don't forget to hold it high so other can see the power!!!

I am just one leaf floating in the stream just like you. Where we are and where we will go is really of no concern. Just letting go and going with the flow is such a relief when you realize that nothing can go wrong. We are safe so be happy.

Teach others how to find their joy.

Tom, you have done this so well... *bows and unsheathes a very large and shiny sword*

Bog

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"My wish is that all my disciples make a great vow."

(The Dragon Gate - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 1003) Selection source: SGI President Ikeda's guidance, Seikyo Shinbun, July 28th, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Buddhism is a teaching of always moving forwards from the present into the future. I hope all of you will bring the sun of time without beginning to shine brightly within your lives, and create a new and even more wonderful dawn of world peace."

SGI Newsletter No. 8803, Future Division Members, Be the Light of a New Dawn!, from the editorial of the August, 2013 issue of the Daibyaku-renge, the monthly Soka Gakkai study magazine, translated 17th July, 2013.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Let's always try to cherish and look out for our neighbours and make every effort to develop our friendship with them. By participating in local community activities, socialising with other families, etc., let's spend some quality time each day getting to know others. A good friend is indeed a lifelong treasure.

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"I am praying that, no matter how troubled the times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground."

(On Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 444) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, July 18th, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

All the struggles we undergo for the sake of kosen-rufu
will transform into our greatest source of happiness.
This is the true pleasure and benefit of practicing Buddhism.
Let's put ourselves on the correct orbit of faith
so that we may advance courageously and resolutely
on the path to great happiness!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"In the end, no one can escape death. The sufferings at that time will be exactly like what we are experiencing now. Since death is the same in either case, you should be willing to offer your life for the Lotus Sutra."

(The Dragon Gate - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 1003) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, July 31st, 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Are you all chanting "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" as you are contemplating or when meditating?

And, just interested in the results of this?

Yes, the thoughts that go through our minds when chanting are all part of the actual reality of our lives. There is nothing outside of the Law. The thoughts become more and more foundational, based on our own experiences. They in fact naturally evolve as we awaken our Buddha nature, through the development of our faith which in this Buddhism is based on our actual experiences from chanting the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo out-loud.

This “perceived through the reality of our actual experiences” faith generally then evolves into the curiosity for study of the tenets that underlie the teaching that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is based on. The teaching is that actually, one is a Buddha, exactly as they are, and that this True Identity is obscured by delusion which is eventually washed away, in this lifetime, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, studying the teachings that support the doctrinal validity of the teaching of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and thus equipped, sharing the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with others.

Does this answer your question? Have you had a chance to look through the thread? You already understand this, but lack the teaching that backs up what you already naturally perceive. Natural perception is based in the eighth world of realization (there are a total of ten: hell, hunger, animals, anger, humanity, heavenly beings, learning, realization, Bodhisattva and Buddha) but we believe must be combined with the compassionate desire (Bodhisattva practice) to make others equal to ourselves as the Buddhas that we already are.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the means by which this can happen 100 percent of the time.

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

The Nine Consciousnesses

The Nine Consciousnesses

"The most fundamental layer of consciousness is the ninth or amala consciousness. Unstained by the workings of karma, this consciousness represents our true, eternal self. The revolutionary aspect of Nichiren Buddhism is that it seeks to directly bring forth the energy of this consciousness--the enlightened nature of the Buddha--thus purifying the other, more superficial layers of consciousness."

The Buddhist teaching of the nine consciousnesses offers the basis for a comprehensive understanding of who we are, our true identity. It also helps explain how Buddhism sees the eternal continuity of our lives over cycles of birth and death. This perspective on the human being is the fruit of thousands of years of intense introspective investigation into the nature of consciousness. Historically, it is grounded in efforts to experience and explain the essence of Shakyamuni's enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree some 2,500 years ago.

The nine consciousnesses can be thought of as different layers of consciousness which are constantly operating together to create our lives. The Sanskrit word vijnāna, which is translated as consciousness, includes a wide range of activities, including sensation, cognition and conscious thought. The first five of these consciousnesses are the familiar senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. The sixth consciousness is the function that integrates and processes the various sensory data to form an overall picture or thought, identifying what it is that our five senses are communicating to us. It is primarily with these six functions of life that we perform our daily activities.

Below this level of consciousness is the seventh consciousness. Unlike those layers of consciousness that are directed toward the outer world, the seventh consciousness is directed toward our inner life and is largely independent of sensory input. The seventh consciousness is the basis for our sense of individual identity; attachment to a self distinct to and separate from others has its basis in this consciousness, as does our sense of right and wrong.

Below the seventh consciousness, Buddhism elucidates a deeper layer, the eighth or ālaya consciousness, also known as the never-perishing or storehouse consciousness. It is here that the energy of our karma resides. Whereas the first seven consciousnesses disappear on death, the eighth consciousness persists through the cycles of active life and the latency of death. It can be thought of as the life-flow that supports the activities of the other consciousnesses. The experiences described by those who have undergone clinical death and been revived could be said to be occurrences at the borderline of the seventh and eighth consciousnesses.

An understanding of these levels of consciousness and the interaction between them can offer valuable insights into the nature of life and the self, as well as pointing to the resolution of the fundamental problems that humanity confronts.

According to Buddhist teachings, there are specific deep-seated delusions in the seventh consciousness regarding the nature of self. These delusions arise from the relationship between the seventh and eighth levels of consciousness and manifest as fundamental egotism.

Buddhist teachings describe the seventh layer as emerging from the eighth consciousness: it is always focused on the eighth consciousness of the individual, which it perceives as something fixed, unique and isolated from other things. In reality, the eighth consciousness is in a state of continual flux. At this level our lives constantly interact, exerting a profound influence on each other. The perception of a fixed and isolated self that the seventh consciousness generates is thus false.

The seventh consciousness is also the seat of the fear of death. Being unable to perceive the true nature of the eighth consciousness as an enduring flow of life energy, it imagines that upon death, the eighth consciousness will become permanently extinct. Fear of death thus has roots in the deep layers of the subconscious.

The delusion that the eighth consciousness is one's true self is also termed fundamental ignorance, a turning away from the interconnectedness of all being. It is this sense of one's self as separate and isolated from others that gives rise to discrimination, to destructive arrogance and unbridled acquisitiveness. Humanity's ravaging of the natural environment is another obvious result.

A Karmic River

Buddhism posits that our thoughts, words and deeds invariably create an imprint in the deep layers of the eighth consciousness. This is what Buddhists refer to as karma. The eighth consciousness is therefore sometimes referred to as the karmic storehouse--the place where these karmic seeds are stored. These seeds or latent energy can be either positive or negative; the eighth consciousness remains neutral and equally receptive to either type of karmic imprinting. The energy becomes manifest when conditions are ripe. Positive latent causes can become manifest as both positive effects in one's life and as positive psychological functions such as trust, nonviolence, self-control, compassion and wisdom. Negative latent causes can manifest as various forms of delusion and destructive behavior and give rise to suffering for ourselves and others.

While the image of a storehouse is helpful, a truer image may be that of a raging torrent of karmic energy. This energy is constantly moving through and shaping our lives and experience. Our resultant thoughts and actions are then fed back into this karmic flow. The quality of the karmic flow is what makes each of us distinct beings--our unique selves. The flow of energy is constantly changing, but, like a river, it maintains an identity and consistency even through successive cycles of life and death. It is this aspect of fluidity, this lack of fixity, that opens the possibility of transforming the content of the eighth consciousness. This is why karma, properly understood, is different from an unchanging or unavoidable destiny.

The question, therefore, is how we increase the balance of positive karma. This is the basis for various forms of Buddhist practice that seek to imprint positive causes in our lives. When caught up in a cycle of negative cause and effect, however, it is difficult to avoid making further negative causes, and it is here that we turn to the most fundamental layer of consciousness, the ninth or amala consciousness.

This can be thought of as the life of the cosmos itself; it is also referred to as the fundamentally pure consciousness. Unstained by the workings of karma, this consciousness represents our true, eternal self. The revolutionary aspect of Nichiren Buddhism is that it seeks to directly bring forth the energy of this consciousness--the enlightened nature of the Buddha--thus purifying the other, more superficial layers of consciousness. The great power of the ninth consciousness welling forth changes even entrenched patterns of negative karma in the eighth consciousness.

Because the eighth consciousness transcends the boundaries of the individual, merging with the latent energy of one's family, one's ethnic group, and also with that of animals and plants, a positive change in this karmic energy becomes a "cogwheel" for change in the lives of others. As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda writes, "When we activate this fundamentally pure consciousness, the energy of all life's good and evil karma is directed toward value creation; and the mind or consciousness...of humankind is infused with the life current of compassion and wisdom." Nichiren identified the practice of chanting the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the basic means for activating the ninth consciousness in our lives.

As the layers of consciousness are transformed, they each give rise to unique forms of wisdom. The wisdom inherent in the eighth consciousness allows us to perceive ourselves, our experience and other phenomena with perfect clarity and to profoundly appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things. As the deep-rooted delusions of the seventh consciousness are transformed, an individual is enabled to overcome the fear of death, as well as the aggression and violence that spring from this fear. A wisdom arises which enables us to perceive the fundamental equality of all living beings and to deal with them on an unchanging basis of respect. It is this type of transformation and wisdom that is sorely required in our world today.

[Courtesy April 2004 SGI Quarterly]

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Here's our perspective:

Here's our perspective:

I heard an interesting story about Buddha. Don't know if it is true obviously, but this doesn't really matter, what does matter is what this story points at.

When Buddha reached enlightenment, and there was nothing more for him to be conscious of, he decided to go into the forest/jungle to live out his life all alone.

When someone asked if he could teach others about enlightenment, he said that no one would get it. But, then one of his future students said that someone might, and Buddha agreed and started his teachings.

The most interesting thing is that for the first few years, at least in this story, Buddha didn't say anything at all. He simply stayed silent.

What was he trying to point at?

A few of his students became enlightened during this silent period.

Obviously, if Buddha didn't think anyone would get it, enlightenment is not as easy thing to grasp for humans.

From my direct experiences and direct consciousness of reality, beliefs and assumptions are what stand in the way of enlightenment.

Fundamentally, we are all enlightened, since we are Consciousness.

The only thing standing in the way of us becoming completely conscious of this TRUTH, as individual "consciousness," is the "self" that is attached to and identified with a whole snowball of beliefs and assumptions.

The activity of our self-mind is focused on what it perceives and interprets and our attention falls on these perceptions and interpretations on a moment to moment basis.

If we make a distinction between who and what we really are (consciousness) and who and what we have confused ourselves with (conceptual-self) we can become aware that we are enlightened already.

You might be referring to something out of the Flower Garland (Kegon) Sutra, but his later teachings would have refuted whatever his students "got" during the silent period as having been an expedient teaching to the Lotus Sutra, which is the only Teaching of the Buddha to support your premise of:

“Fundamentally, we are all enlightened, since we are Consciousness.

The only thing standing in the way of us becoming completely conscious of this TRUTH, as individual "consciousness," is the "self" that is attached to and identified with a whole snowball of beliefs and assumptions.

The activity of our self-mind is focused on what it perceives and interprets and our attention falls on these perceptions and interpretations on a moment to moment basis.

If we make a distinction between who and what we really are (consciousness) and who and what we have confused ourselves with (conceptual-self) we can become aware that we are enlightened already.”

Our teaching identifies nine distinct levels of consciousness. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo allows us to tap directly into the ninth consciousness of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo regardless of our own immediate perceptual capacities. All Buddhas are equal and the true identity and original source of Buddhahood based on the oneness of the Person and the Law is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

(A pad is NOT A COMPUTER! Sorry for my absence. It is SO GOOD TO BE BACK HOME!)

Much love and deepest respect to all! (Especially to you, Buku!)

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"We mustn't let up in our efforts to support and encourage our fellow members, so that everyone can come to personally experience the incredible benefit to be gained from striving for kosen-rufu.
​
"The most challenging times present perfect opportunities for transforming our karma. Our struggles to overcome tremendous hardships allow us to accumulate great good fortune and benefit that nothing can destroy.
​
"Everything is decided by our own attitude, determination, and courage. In a famous passage, the Daishonin declares: 'In battles soldiers regard the general as their soul. If the general were to lose heart, his soldiers would become cowards' (WND-1, 613).

"​Let's advance with confidence, joy, and unity, each of us winning in our lives and elated to be striving for kosen-rufu together at this significant time."

SGI Newsletter No. 8813, On Our Shared Journey for Kosen-rufu - 1, (27) Let's Advance with Confidence, Joy, and Solid Unity! From the 19th Aug. 2012, issue of the Seikyo Shinbun, translated 26th July 2013

 

[PassTheDoobie]

When new members in faith are able to deepen their faith and practice it signals, quite clearly, the advancement of kosen-rufu. Let's always patiently offer a listening ear to any sufferings or concerns they might have. And then again, let's always be willing to offer our most heartfelt encouragement to help them be victorious!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Even a wise person cannot become a Buddha through the other sutras, but with the
Lotus Sutra, even fools can plant the seeds that lead to Buddhahood. As the
sutra passage I have quoted earlier puts it, "Although they do not seek
emancipation, emancipation will come of itself."

(WND, 283)
The Opening of the Eyes

Written to Shijo Kingo in February 1272

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Our worldly misdeeds and evil karma may have piled up as high as Mount Sumeru,
but when we take faith in this sutra, they will vanish like frost or dew under
the sun of the Lotus Sutra.

(WND, 1026)
Letter to Niike
Written to Niike Saemon-no-jo in February 1280

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"What is the secret to victory? Mr. Toda once described that in a certain sense
life is a gamble. ""If you are lucky, you will win," he said. "But if you are
unlucky, then sometimes no matter how hard you try you lose. This is a hard
fact." That is why, in addition to ability, good fortune is essential. The key
to creating good fortune is found in faith and daimoku. I hope that you will all
act in accord with the fundamental Law of Buddhism and lead victorious lives
filled with unsurpassed good fortune."

Daisaku Ikeda

(Daimoku = Chanting Nam Myoho Renge kyo)

 

[SoCal Hippy]

"The ultimate essence of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism lies in living on through
to the very end, pressing ever forward, courageously taking on each new
challenge we encounter and never giving up. Constructing eternal glory -- the
state of Buddhahood -- within our own lives is the purpose of our Buddhist
practice in this lifetime; hence the Daishonin's constant urging that we make
tenacious efforts in the present."

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The ultimate essence of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism lies in living on through
to the very end, pressing ever forward, courageously taking on each new
challenge we encounter and never giving up. Constructing eternal glory -- the
state of Buddhahood -- within our own lives is the purpose of our Buddhist
practice in this lifetime; hence the Daishonin's constant urging that we make
tenacious efforts in the present."

Daisaku Ikeda

Damn we've missed you man! Please keep it coming. Together forever==me and you my Brother from another mother! I've known this guy for forty years and love him with all my heart! This is where you need to be. It's enough if you make it so.

Mugi-Wasshin! More Chanting! Let's KICK SOME DEVIL ASS!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

T