Chanting Growers Group

[Guest]

Gosho Excerpt:

"Judging from these examples, we may conclude that for evil people living in the latter age the attainment of Buddhahood does not depend upon whether their offenses are slight or grave, but solely upon whether or not they have faith in this sutra."

Reply to Hakiri Saburo,
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, pg# 409)
Written to Hakiri Saburo on 3 August 1273 from Sado - Ichinosawa
http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/409.html



Daily Encouragement:

As human beings, let us reach beyond our small, limited selves and attain an all-encompassing state of being, our hearts communing with the vast universe.


Lectures and articles about Nichiren Buddhism: http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/

 

[fallenangel]

hey all ,, just wanted to drop a line in and tell everyone that i had a wonderfull day today . very calm and focused while in a high pressure , high stress job ( that i ussually do not do ) all day i was thinking of all my new friends here wich gave me a nice calm warm feeling.....i spent some time chanting last night , but i was chanting to myself all day today ....

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Well done fallenangel! Keep chanting and see the results!

Well done fallenangel! Keep chanting and see the results!

"Gold can be neither burned by fire nor corroded or swept away by water, but iron is vulnerable to both. A worthy person is like gold, a fool like iron."

(The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 217) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, August 3rd, 2006

 

[Guest]

I re-enrolled in college today by submitting my application, its never to late to go to college in this life! I also have built up enough self confidence and self esteem to really say what I feel and have been holding back for quite some time and guess what..... I FEEL SPLENDID!

TIME TO THANK THE GOHONZON..... join me.....

NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

I just have to share this....

I just have to share this....

Frankly my three year old daughter is definitely a Buddha. I could go on and on with story after story that would substantiate that point beyond a father's pride in his child. When she was just nine months old, and could not speak yet, we were playing "where's your eyes, where's your nose", etc. and after getting a bit bored I said for the sake of my enjoyment, "and where's the Gohonzon?" She flipped me out by scurring over my lap to extend her hand and index finger directly at our alter, looking at me then the alter them me again. At that age these things had never been specifically pointed out to her.

She now chants on her own every day, and everyday asks me, "Daddy, tell me more about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and Nichi Daishonin. I need to know everything" EVERYDAY we go through this excercise! At her request!

I never have said to her, "OK, let me tell you about Buddhism." It is always her seeking spirit. I could almost make all of my daily posts about the conversations we have and the mind-blowing profound things that come out of her mouth. She and her brother chant together every evening before they go to bed, WITHOUT ANY ADULTS AROUND TO INFLUENCE THEM TO DO SO!

Yes, with my practice of so many years this makes me happy and proud, but to be honest, the truth of it is that the emotion I most often feel is kind of being freaked out and blown away! "Who the hell ARE YOU, kid?"

So last night another classic came out of her mouth that I am compelled to share: As anyone with lots of little kids knows, they often speak over one another without regard for anyone else talking, and they repeat what they are saying over and over until they get heard. So I am sitting there, watching the Disney channel with her and her three brothers; the boys all clamoring for my attention rather than watching TV; my mind finally hearing her saying:

"Daddy, I love what you did to my heart."

"Daddy, I love what you did to my heart."

"Daddy, I love what you did to my heart."

I looked down at her sitting on the floor between two of the boys high chairs.

"Daddy, I love what you did to my heart."

I got up and looked at her puzzled, because I thought maybe she was talking about a drawing or some other mundane activity. She could see from the look on my face that she would need to explain what she was saying for me to understand.

"Daddy, I love what you did to my heart, because, well, I think that my heart is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And I love you for that Daddy!"

T

 

[Babbabud]

Thanks for sharing something so special.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

I spoke out solely because I had long known that the people of Japan would meet with great suffering, and I felt pity for them. Thoughtful persons should therefore realize that I have met these trials for their sake. If they were people who understood their obligations or who were capable of reason, then out of two blows that fall upon me, they would receive one in my stead.

[ Reply to Yasaburo, WND Page 828 ]

 

[PassTheDoobie]

MASTER, IF I COULD, I WOULD TAKE ALL OF THEM. ^^^

Just please let me born with the Gohonzon lifetime after lifetime.

(But I already know that prayer will be answered. Thank you for my Treasures of the Heart, and the tears of joy that they bring to me!)

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

RB, I'll be lookin' for you!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"In the light of the above points, this shows, my followers, that you had better cut short your sleep by night and curtail your leisure by day, and ponder this! You must not spend your lives in vain and regret it for ten thousand years to come."

(The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 622) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, August 4th, 2006

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo (Part 6 0f 8)

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo (Part 6 0f 8)

The Gohonzon Exists in You

We do Gongyo every morning and evening. Do you remember the second silent prayer? Yes, it is appreciation for the Gohonzon: "I offer my deepest praise and most sincere gratitude to the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, which was bestowed upon the entire world."

Do you all show appreciation to the Gohonzon and realize that it is also your life? Or do you all think that the Gohonzon is just placed in your shrine? The Daishonin wrote to people like you, "If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are not embracing the Mystic Law."

In another Gosho passage, "Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-rengy-kyo."

Within your heart, within your life itself -- "the Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people." We have studied this. Do you remember studying that? Yet when we chant to the Gohonzon we actually put it outside ourselves. In other words, what we have learned and what we do are completely different. Why is this so?

In fact, we are all poisoned by the village culture previously mentioned and also by the Japanese culture. The village culture equals the Nembutsu culture. In the Nembutsu culture the Gohonzon is absolute and the Daishonin is absolute.

While having no fortune, having a low life condition, and having no strength, some of us need to appeal to the Gohonzon for mercy and for the Gohonzon to share benefit and wisdom with us. That is the Nembutsu culture. If you switch the Gohonzon with Amida Buddha, it makes sense. The mechanism is that we are so miserable -- let's ask the Amida Buddha for its mercy.

The Lotus Sutra is different. President Ikeda over the period of four and a half years has taught us the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra. [In this dialogue] the word ken means to view, hotou means the Treasure Tower. This means to view the Treasure Tower.

This Treasure Tower appears in the Lotus Sutra. The height of the Treasure Tower is a 500 yojun. If calculated, it would be more that 500 times the height of the Himalayas. Mount Fuji is pretty high but the Himalayas are twice the size of Mount Fuji. The Treasure Tower is more than 500 times that size. Well, that's magnificent.

Nevertheless, it's not a mountain of scraps but it's a tower of treasures. It is very majestic, splendid, and universal.

This grand Treasure Tower actually symbolizes the greatness of our lives. In other words, to realize that our life and existence is universal, splendid, magnificent, and eternal is called kenhotou.

The Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon using the ceremony of the Treasure Tower. Thus, the Daishonin clearly explained that the Gohonzon is the clear mirror used to view our bodies as the greatest Treasure Tower.

However, even though we study this, we worship the mirror and we find ourselves reflected in the mirror as unworthy. This shows us how poisoned we have been by the Nembutsu culture. That's why as mentioned earlier in the strange principle, we tend to go in the direction of "as long as I endure." We rejoice only in good times but we cannot rejoice or enjoy when we are down. We begin to say, "I'm not worthy."

The Lotus Sutra is a sutra that teaches us that even when our life condition is the worst, we are still great. Did you know that?

There is a difference between the Lotus Sutra and provisional teachings. It is called the five-fold comparison. The reason why the Lotus Sutra is superior to the provisional teachings is because theoretically, the Lotus Sutra preaches the attainment of enlightenment for the people of the two vehicles, evil people, and women. At that time, the public neglected those groups of people. Therefore, the provisional teachings did not help them.

On the contrary, the Lotus Sutra taught that those people who were discriminated against and neglected by the public were truly great. This philosophy was revolutionary. It was truly humanistic.

From the standpoint of life philosophy, [these people who are discriminated against] are in fact the life condition of ourselves when we are down. It is our most miserable self. In comparison with others, you can't help thinking that you are inferior. Within yourself, in such miserable circumstances, you need to believe that you are the entity of the Mystic Law. That is the true meaning of embracing the Lotus Sutra.

That is why the Lotus Sutra is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. It is not difficult to see yourself as great if you are healthy, in rhythm, and admired. Yet it is difficult to believe, and understand yourself as great when you face the biggest failure, face being ridiculed, and face depression.

Believing yourself as great is the true meaning of embracing the Lotus Sutra.

(to be continued)

 

[Guest]

Be Free to Control Yourself:
Embracing the Gohonzon Is Upholding All the Precepts

The law of cause and effect is always at work in our lives. When we cause suffering for others,our lives become corrupt and restricted, causing us to suffer and commit more wrongdoing. On the other hand, when we bring joy and happiness to others or prevent suffering and confusion, our lives will improve and expand, causing us to experience joy and happiness and, in turn, prompting us to do more good.

Based on this causal principle, the practice of Buddhism allows us to raise our life-condition and solidify compassion, courage and wisdom (that is, Buddhahood) as the basis of our existence. To keep us on this path of eternal self-improvement is the purpose of Buddhist precepts. As a guide to our efforts to improve ourselves, the Buddhist precepts were originally intended to encourage us to "stem injustice and stop evil."

Loving the reposts of Socal's former post,

I have come to find out many people practice alone and avoid crowds and stay in their "comfort zone" by not reaching out. This is not a time for passive shoju, are you kidding me? ITS TIME FOR SHAKUBUKU, come on your better than that!

Look at your life, perceive your life through chanting to your Gohonzon and come back and tell me your not being passive and letting the chips fall where they may! Realize that the village mentality is flawed and has lead to a distructive culture which within its ranks you'll find MyohoDisco bebopping to the BeeGees swimming in the ocean, jacques coustue (coostoe? phonetic spelling) with me, magellan with me lets make it around the world and back (sans the cannibals) and LIVE FEARLESSLY! Nothing can stop you not a shark nor a sword, not a typhoon or a monsoon or a hurricane or a tsunami or an earthquake. Your the master chief and commander of your life, your actually in full control even if others have always stipulated otherwise.

Are you kidding me, You don't understand what I am saying......

This is the essence.....

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO! (in your face, in your heart, in your life, within you basically!) Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, say it with me now....

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO! your almost there...... now quick go get your Gohonzon, I'm serious.... go get it....

goto this site..... www.sgi.org , then step two go here.....
http://sgi.org/english/Links/links.htm .... then click on your country and your almost there! The next step is to MEET WITH SGI MEMBERS, yes no paranoia required this is safe and legal, goto the Community Center in your area or the closest one, before you go you may call and ask some questions, maybe there is another one closer by.. maybe you want to go to a beginners meeting... its upto you but when you get there say this " HEY I NEED MY GOHONZON, WHATS THE HOLD UP", then your just about there, so close you can taste it, go the extra mile, go back to the center seek out the "expiriences" the guidance "ask any question, have no shame, the Gohonzon in unlimitedly merciful."

I admire you, I will be even happier once you get your Gohonzon. Its imperative! If someone offers you one, or your printing out your own, you certainly took a wrong turn.... Go back to step one and try again

See you can't be defeated, where there is a will there is a way, you know it!

My words are written with love and universal haramony, its THE LAW, its Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, I make it happen you do too! Go on, Go on, Pick yourself up and chant! Bring on the FIGHTING DAIMOKU!

I'm nothing but your friend here to help. Count me in when the going gets rough!

Deep Respect,
MyohoDisco & Mrs.MyohoDisco (by proxy)

P.S.- Hello Bog and Hello Grapepunch.

 

[meduser180056]

Great to see this thread alive and prospering.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

It's all ya need.

 

[Guest]

Great to see this thread alive and prospering.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

It's all ya need.

You know it!

Be Free And Independent

When we take faith in the Mystic Law and strive in our daily practice, we can manifest the Buddha's life, which is as strong and brilliant as a diamond, no matter what circumstances we face. This diamond precept is the foundation of all self-discipline and self-control.

The person who chooses to save life rather than cave in to the inclination to destroy is freer and more independent than a bird in the sky that cannot do anything but what it is programmed to do by instinct. Freedom and independence, in this sense, may be described as our power of self-determination and self-control. Those who act decently only when forced by external rules, often upon the threat of punishment, are neither free nor independent. In addition, those who only seek pleasure and avoid pain at the cost of others are least free and independent; in fact, they are slaves to their own selfish desires. To be free, we must rule ourselves; if not, we will allow someone else to rule us.

People are genuinely free and independent when they can control their negative inclinations and act compassionately and wisely on their own accord, without expectation of reward or punishment. By restoring the original intent and purpose of the Buddhist precepts, Nichiren Buddhism helps us clarify what it means to be free and independent as well as what it means to live morally and decently.

Upholding the principle of universal Buddhahood, we can act freely and morally, independent of external censure or coercion. The precept of universal Buddhahood, or the diamond chalice, therefore, is not a negation of other Buddhist precepts or rules of conduct in general; it is the sublimation of what they are meant to do.

By Shin Yatomi, SGI-USA Study Department Vice
Leader, based in part on Yasashii Kyogaku (Easy
Buddhist Study) published by Seikyo Press in 1994.

Please read my last post!

 

[Babbabud]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!

Whenever we confront lifes various obstacles, we are essentially challenging our fundamental darkness. If we lose our faith-our conviction in our potential for absolute happiness, our motivation to realize kosen-rufu--we will succumb to those obstacles.
Chanting entails two aspects: faith and practice, Faith , or confidence, is the crucial element of an effective attitude when chanting Nam myoho renge kyo. Practice has two components. As an affirmation of our developing faith, we chant Nam myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon. This is the aspect of practice for ourselves. As we continue, we will naturally develop our compassion towards others , which gives rise to the urge to share with them this way to tap the wonderful life of Myoho renge kyo. Giving expression to that desire is the aspect of practice for others.
The core of chanting Nam myoho renge kyo is the development of our conviction, our confidence. Only through our spiritual struggle to develop confidence__to apply both the faith and practice aspects of chanting Nam myoho renge kyo, and to practice for both self and others_can we "grasp the mystic truth innate in all life". This is the only recipe for bringing forth the power of Buddhahood.
Nam myoho renge kyo


Taken from the SGI study dept.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

When one comes to the end of one's good fortune, no strategy whatsoever avails. When one's karmic rewards are exhausted, even one's retainers no longer follow one. You survived because you still have both good fortune and rewards. Moreover, in the "Entrustment" chapter, the heavenly gods and benevolent deities pledged to protect the votaries of the Lotus Sutra. Of all the guardian deities in heaven, it is the gods of the sun and moon who visibly protect us. How can we doubt their protection?

[ The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra, WND page 1000 ]

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Even though one neither reads nor studies the sutra, chanting the title alone is the source of tremendous good fortune. The sutra teaches that women, evil men, and those in the realms of animals and hell - in fact, all the beings of the Ten Worlds - can attain Buddhahood in their present form. [This is an incomparably greater wonder than] fire being produced by a stone taken from the bottom of a river, or a lantern lighting up a place that has been dark for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years. If even the most ordinary things of this world are such wonders, then how much more wondrous is the power of the Buddhist Law! We ordinary beings are fettered by evil karma, earthly desires, and the sufferings of birth and death. But due to the three inherent potentials of the Buddha nature - innate Buddhahood, the wisdom to perceive it, and the actions to manifest it - we can without doubt reveal the Buddha's three bodies - the Dharma body, the reward body, and the manifested body. The Great Teacher Dengyo states, "Through the power of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law they can do so in their present form." He is referring to the example of the dragon king's daughter, who achieved Buddhahood in her reptilian form through the power of the Lotus Sutra. Do not doubt this in the least.

[ The One Essential Phrase, WND page 923 ]

 

[PassTheDoobie]

dragon king's daughter
[竜女] (Jpn.: ryunyo)

Also, dragon girl or naga girl. The eight-year-old daughter of Sagara, one of the eight great dragon kings said to dwell in a palace at the bottom of the sea. According to the "Devadatta" (twelfth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the dragon girl conceived the desire for enlightenment when she heard Bodhisattva Manjushri preach the Lotus Sutra in the dragon king's palace. When Manjushri asserts that she is capable of quickly attaining the Buddha wisdom, Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulated challenges him, saying that even Shakyamuni attained enlightenment only after fulfilling the bodhisattva practice for many kalpas, and that she cannot become a Buddha so easily. Just then the dragon girl appears in front of the assembly and praises Shakyamuni Buddha. Shariputra then speaks to her, saying that women are subject to the five obstacles and are incapable of attaining Buddhahood. At that moment, she offers a jewel to the Buddha, transforms herself into a male, and instantaneously perfects the bodhisattva practice. She then appears in a land to the south called Spotless World and manifests the state of Buddhahood without changing her dragon form. With the thirty-two features and eighty characteristics of a Buddha, she preaches the Lotus Sutra to all living beings there.

The dragon girl's enlightenment has important implications. First, it refutes the idea of the time that women could never attain enlightenment. Second, it reveals that the power of the Lotus Sutra enables all people equally to attain Buddhahood in their present form, without undergoing kalpas of austere practices. Perhaps the social circumstances in which the Lotus Sutra was compiled did not allow the dragon girl to be depicted as attaining Buddhahood without first becoming a male. But the transformation occurred instantaneously, not in the next life, and in this respect differs significantly from that of other, provisional teachings, which hold that a woman must be reborn as a man and then practice bodhisattva austerities for innumerable kalpas in order to become a Buddha.

From source: The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism

 

[PassTheDoobie]

High meduser! Thanks for the kind words. One would have to assume you must be chanting! That is so wonderful. Come join us! We really appreciate you being here. Please do so often!

Deep respect for your respectful words!

Thomas

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo (Part 7 0f 8)

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo (Part 7 0f 8)

A Great Buddha Is Reading This

I was unable to understand the meaning of compassion (jihi). Although the Doctors Division was often called compassionate, the more I pondered, the less I comprehended.

In Japanese ji means benevolence, which I understood, yet I could not understand the word hi which means sad. Some say jihi means to share suffering with others, another is to eliminate pain and give joy. Yet I still didn't understand. At that time I read a passage in an essay by President Ikeda: "When your soul is victorious, your sadness becomes hi of the word jihi." When I read that I had a revelation.

I had been reading jihi as meaning to be benevolent and sad, which made me more confused. If read by the Chinese character, it reads to be benevolent in times of sadness. Thus, it means to embrace yourself with a warm heart when you are at your lowest point, when you are in the midst of the worst suffering, or in the depths of your anxiety. Here lies the aspect of a victorious life.

For those who are able to embrace themselves in the midst of suffering, their sadness is no longer sadness. Such sadness itself will be transformed into courage when embraced by one's own compassionate heart. Despair will evolve into hope. The true meaning of an indestructible life lies only this way.

Only those who embrace themselves can truly cherish others who are suffering and regard others' suffering as it if were their own. For example, when you are low you don't like yourself. Later when you are feeling better and seeing others in the same situation you may say, "What a pity!" Yet deep within yourself you judge them by thinking, "How weak. He is a failure after all."

The way you judge yourself is exactly how you judge others. When embracing and respecting your lowest self with a compassionate heart like "I love me" or "I'm truly great," you can respect other people.

Gohonzon means the object of fundamental respect. President Ikeda has said, "What do we fundamentally respect? It is one's life. Our life has the highest value. It is the foundation of respect. The respect of one's life therefore cannot be based on whether one succeeds or fails. No matter what happens, we must start from respect. This is the meaning of embracing the Gohonzon. This is Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.

So now, who is going to give 100 points to yourself? (laughter) Thank you very much. There are so many obedient people. There are still a few people who could not raise their hand. I want to make one more point.

In the Gosho, "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life", it reads: "Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death. This is a matter of the utmost importance for Nichiren's disciples and lay supporters, and this is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra."

This is the foundation of the Daishonin's Buddhism. "This is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra." This is the most important sentence of the Gosho. Nichiren Daishonin, the Gohonzon, and oneself are in no way different or separate from one another. "To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death."

Because of that, when we grade ourselves with 60 points we are grading the Gohonzon 60 points and Nichiren Daishonin 60 points. Aren't we? Yet they are "in no way different or separate from one another." Don't we call this slander?

The person who says, "I grade the Gohonzon and the Daishonin 100 points but I grade myself 60 points" doesn't believe that they are "no way different or separate from one another." We call this disbelief.

People who do not grade themselves with 100 points, we call "slanderers" and "disbelievers." In the same Gosho it says, "Those who disbelieve and slander the Lotus Sutra will immediately 'destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world.' Because they cut themselves off from the potential to attain enlightenment, they do not share the heritage of the ultimate law of life and death."

"Those who disbelieve and slander the Lotus Sutra" -- those who cannot believe in themselves 100 percent "will immediately destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world."

Those who grade themselves a Buddha of 100 points -- those who believe and enjoy it -- live with the life condition of great security and are received and supported by a thousand Buddhas when they come to the end of their life. "How can we possibly hold back our tears."

If you can not raise your hand here, you will never be able to raise your hand. I will ask you once again. I am not threatening you. This is what the Daishonin says. This is the last time I will ask you. Do you grade yourself 100 points? (Big laughter) Thank you very much.

(to be continued)

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Muster your faith, and pray to this Gohonzon. Then what is there that cannot be achieved?"

(Reply to Kyo'o - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 412) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, August 5th, 2006