Chanting Growers Group

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myo
[妙] ( Jpn)

Wonderful, mystic, without peer, or beyond conception. This term is used to describe the Buddhist Law, which is wonderful and beyond ordinary understanding. In The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, T'ient'ai (538-597) interprets the word myo (wonderful) of the title Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, from two perspectives to show the profundity of the sutra. The first is the relative myo, also referred to as the comparative myo. The relative myo means that the Lotus Sutra is wonderful or mystic because, when compared with all other teachings, it is superior. Myo does not merely mean that the Lotus Sutra is superior to all other teachings, however. Hence the second interpretation, the absolute myo. This means that the Lotus Sutra cannot be compared with any other teaching because it encompasses and integrates all other teachings; no teaching exists outside it, and thus none can be called superior or inferior to it. From this viewpoint, all teachings when based on the Lotus Sutra express various aspects of the ultimate truth. Nichiren (1222-1282) interpreted myo as referring to Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which he deemed the essence of the Lotus Sutra. In The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, he explains three meanings of the character myo: to open, to be fully endowed, and to revive. "To open" means to open up the darkness of illusion and reveal the Buddha nature. "To be fully endowed" means to possess all Ten Worlds and three thousand realms, while permeating and integrating the whole of the phenomenal world. It can also mean possessing the practices and resulting virtues of all Buddhas. "To revive" means enabling one to attain Buddhahood. For example, women, evil men, and those of the two vehicles (voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones), who were denied the possibility of enlightenment in the provisional teachings, can all attain Buddhahood through the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. "To revive" also means that all teachings and doctrines, when based upon the Mystic Law, assume their correct perspective and fulfill their intrinsic purpose. See also Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

 

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Attachments and Liberation

Attachments and Liberation

"It is impossible to live in the world without attachments, or indeed to eradicate them. Our affections for others, the desire to succeed in our endeavors, our interests and passions, our love of life itself--all of these are attachments and potential sources of disappointment or suffering, but they are the substance of our humanity and the elements of engaged and fulfilled lives."

Buddhism is a teaching of liberation, aimed at freeing people from the inevitable sufferings of life. To this end, early Buddhist teachings focused on the impermanence of all things. The Buddha realized that nothing in this world stays the same; everything is in a constant state of change. Pleasurable conditions, favorable circumstances, our relationships with those we hold dear, our health and well-being--any sense of comfort and security we derive from these things is continually threatened by life's flux and uncertainty, and ultimately by death, the most profound change of all.

The Buddha saw that people's ignorance of the nature of change was the cause of suffering. We desire to hold on to what we value, and we suffer when life's inevitable process of change separates us from those things. Liberation from suffering comes, he taught, when we are able to sever our attachments to the transient things of this world.

Buddhist practice, in this perspective, is oriented away from the world: life is suffering, the world is a place of uncertainty; liberation lies in freeing oneself from attachment to worldly things and concerns, attaining a transcendent enlightenment.

The Lotus Sutra, upon which Nichiren Buddhism is based, is revolutionary in that it reverses this orientation, overturning the basic premises of the Buddha's earlier teachings and focusing people's attention instead on the infinite possibilities of life and the joy of living in the world.

Where other teachings had regarded enlightenment, or the final liberation of Buddhahood, as a goal to be attained at some future point in time, in the teachings of the Lotus Sutra each person is inherently and originally a Buddha. Through Buddhist practice we develop our enlightened qualities and exercise them in the world here and now for the sake of others and for the purpose of positively transforming society. The true nature of our lives at this moment is one of expansive freedom and possibility.

This dramatic reorientation effected by the Lotus Sutra is distilled in the key and seemingly paradoxical concepts of Nichiren Buddhism that "earthly desires are enlightenment" and "the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana." The image of the pure lotus flower blossoming in the muddy swamp is a metaphor that encapsulates this perspective--freedom, liberation, enlightenment are forged and expressed in the very midst of the murky swamp of life with its problems, pains and contradictions.

It is impossible to live in the world without attachments, or indeed to eradicate them. Our affections for others, the desire to succeed in our endeavors, our interests and passions, our love of life itself--all of these are attachments and potential sources of disappointment or suffering, but they are the substance of our humanity and the elements of engaged and fulfilled lives.

The challenge is not to rid oneself of attachments but, in the words of Nichiren, to become enlightened concerning them. The teachings of Nichiren thus stress the transformation, rather than the elimination, of desire. Desires and attachments fuel the quest for enlightenment. As he wrote: "Now Nichiren and others who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo . . . burn the firewood of earthly desires and behold the fire of enlightened wisdom..."

In their proper perspective--when we can see them clearly and master them rather than being mastered by them--desires and attachments enable us to lead interesting and significant lives. As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda says, "Our Buddhist practice enables us to discern their true nature and utilize them as the driving force to become happy."

It is our small ego, our "lesser self," that makes us slaves to our desires and causes us to suffer. Buddhist practice enables us to break out of the shell of our lesser self and awaken to the "greater self" of our inherent Buddha nature.

This expanded sense of self is based on a clear awareness of the interconnected fabric of life which we are part of and which sustains us. When awakened to the reality of our relatedness to all life, we can overcome the fear of change and experience the deeper continuities beyond and beneath the ceaseless flow of change.

The basic character of our greater self is compassion. Ultimate freedom is experienced when we develop the ability to channel the full energy of our attachments into compassionate concern and action on behalf of others.

[Courtesy July 2011 SGI Quarterly]

 

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13. Encouraging Devotion

Text: “We care nothing for our bodies / but are anxious only for the unsurpassed way.”

Glosses on the right:
bodies or lives—element of the body and element of the mind

Glosses on the left:
care nothing for—never begrudge
bodies or lives—even our bodies or lives

Summary: This passage is pointing out that our bodies and minds have from the beginning been in the nature of evil habits, impermanent, illusory, made up of the four elements and the five components. But the true reality of original enlightenment is something that abides forever. It is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!!!

There is no separation between us, exactly as we are, and the true reality. We are in fact embodiments of the true reality! How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!

T

 

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four elements
[四大] (Jpn shi-dai )

Also, four basic elements. The four constituent elements of all things, according to ancient Indian belief. They are earth, water, fire, and wind. These are also understood in terms of their natures or functions. Each corresponds to a quality of matter: earth to solidity, water to moisture, fire to heat, and wind to motion. Their respective functions correspond to four intrinsic functions of the universe itself: to sustain and preserve, to gather and contain, to mature, and to cause growth. Disharmony among the four elements in the human body was said to cause illness. Space, which functions to integrate and harmonize the four elements, is added to these four to make the five elements.

five components
[五陰・五蘊] (Skt pancha-skandha; Jpn go-on or go-un )

Also, five components of life, five aggregates, or five skandhas. The five components are form, perception, conception, volition, and consciousness. Buddhism holds that these constituent elements unite temporarily to form an individual living being. Together they also constitute one of the three realms of existence, the other two being the realm of living beings and the realm of the environment. (1) Form means the physical aspect of life and includes the five sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body—with which one perceives the external world. (2) Perception is the function of receiving external information through the six sense organs (the five sense organs plus the "mind," which integrates the impressions of the five senses). (3) Conception is the function of creating mental images and concepts out of what has been perceived. (4) Volition is the will that acts on the conception and motivates action. (5) Consciousness is the cognitive function of discernment that integrates the components of perception, conception, and volition. Form represents the physical aspect of life, while perception, conception, volition, and consciousness represent the spiritual aspect. Because the physical and spiritual aspects of life are inseparable, there can be no form without consciousness, and no consciousness without form. All life carries on its activities through the interaction of these five components. Their workings are colored by the karma one formed in previous lifetimes and at the same time create new karma.

 

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true aspect of all phenomena
[諸法実相] (Jpn shoho-jisso )

The ultimate truth or reality that permeates all phenomena and is in no way separate from them. A principle expressed in the "Expedient Means" (second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The chapter states: "The true aspect of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas. This reality consists of the appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and their consistency from beginning to end." The "Expedient Means" chapter defines the true aspect of all phenomena as the ten factors of life from "appearance" through "their consistency from beginning to end," which describe the unchanging aspect of life common to all phenomena. Since the ten factors exist in any being of the Ten Worlds, there can be no fundamental distinction between a Buddha and an ordinary person. This revelation of the ten factors of life thus establishes a theoretical basis for the universal attainment of Buddhahood. Based on this passage of the "Expedient Means" chapter, T'ient'ai (538-597) established the philosophical system of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. In his 1273 work titled The True Aspect of All Phenomena, Nichiren defined "all phenomena" as all living beings and their environments in the Ten Worlds, and "the true aspect" as the Law of Myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate reality permeating all living beings and their environments in any of the Ten Worlds. All phenomena, he stated, are manifestations of this universal Law; phenomena and the ultimate truth are inseparable and non-dual.

 

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The World of Anger

The World of Anger

"The key to the transformation of the world of Anger lies in self-mastery-channeling the energy that has formerly been directed toward winning over others into winning over oneself. This begins simply with the humility to respect and admire what is praiseworthy in others."

The willingness to learn from others and the readiness to self-reflect are qualities that define us as human beings, the means by which we develop ourselves and become happier. What happens when we lose or neglect these abilities? The frightful consequences of this are what Buddhism describes as the world of Anger. The word "anger" is likely to make us think of someone losing their temper or becoming enraged or furious. This is a natural and sometimes necessary reaction to situations we encounter. Such anger can often function positively, when it is directed against injustice or irresponsibility, for example.

There is a difference between this and the ego-obsessed world of Anger described in Buddhist theory. Anger here is one of ten "worlds" or conditions of life, which, according to the Buddhist concept of the Ten Worlds, are inherent in all people. We experience these at different times in different ways depending on our responses to our circumstances and the strength or weakness of our inner-motivated efforts to improve ourselves. They are: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Humanity, Rapture, Learning, Realization, Bodhisattva and Buddhahood.

The chief characteristic of the world of Anger is envy, the kind where one cannot tolerate the thought of anyone being in any way better than oneself. It is a burning need to be superior to others, a belief that one is fundamentally better than other people.

As a Buddhist text describes it: "Since those in the world of Anger desire in every instance to be superior to everyone else and cannot bear to be inferior to anyone, they belittle and despise others and exalt themselves, like a hawk flying high and looking down on the world. At the same time, outwardly they seek to display the virtues of benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and fidelity."

Nichiren, the 13th-century founder of the Buddhism practiced by members of the SGI, characterizes Anger as "perversity." This is because of the great disjuncture between the inner and outer worlds of someone in the state of Anger. One's intense competitiveness is masked by a show of virtue and by obsequious behavior designed to elicit the acknowledgment from others that is so essential to one's sense of superiority. The aggressiveness of people in this state belies their insecurity. Arrogance, contempt for others, a highly critical streak and a powerful, conflictual or competitive urge are all aspects of the world of Anger as it manifests in our lives.

When people in positions of power and authority become caught up in the snares of Anger, or when this world begins to predominate in society, the consequences can be catastrophic. As SGI President Ikeda describes, to one in this state, "everything appears as a means or a tool to the fulfillment of egotistical desires and impulses. In inverse proportion to the scale of this inflated arrogance, the existence of others-people, cultures, nature-appears infinitely small and insignificant. It becomes a matter of no concern to harm or even kill others trivialized in this way. It is this state of mind that would countenance the use of nuclear weapons. . . People in such a state of life are blinded, not only to the horrific suffering their actions wreak, but to human life itself."

The SGI movement aims to bring about a transformation in society through the transformation of the heart of the individual, based on an understanding of the dynamics of the human heart and the profound interconnection of the individual, society and the cosmos itself.

While every person strives to be happy, the misguided efforts of people in the world of Anger only drive them deeper into misery and a sense of isolation. Paradoxically, however, the sense of self-awareness and self-importance characteristic of the world of Anger is also a gateway to empathy with others. The acute sense of one's ego can be a basis for the realization of how important and precious each person's life is to them, and of the shared difficulties of existing happily in the world.

The key to the transformation of the world of Anger lies in self-mastery-channeling the energy that has formerly been directed toward winning over others into winning over oneself.

This begins simply with the humility to respect and admire what is praiseworthy in others.

[Courtesy October 2010 SGI Quarterly]

 

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"Extending a hand of assistance to people who are suffering the most is the way to open the path of happiness for all. The joy of a single individual whose life has been revitalized creates ripples of sympathy that spread far and wide. People are the foundation of society. Talking with others and gaining their trust and support is the way to establish a firm and unshakable foundation for enabling a teaching to flourish."

SGI Newsletter No.8292, The New Human Revolution––Volume 24: Chapter 3 "Humanistic Education"

 

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"If you are of the same mind as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth."

(The True Aspect of All Phenomena - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 385) Selection source: Buddhist study, Seikyo Shimbun, August 21st, 2011

 

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"No matter what the times or circumstances, the practice of chanting daimoku is our foundation. Nichiren Daishonin writes: 'Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo' (WND-1, 681). He urges us to chant daimoku in times of 'both suffering and joy.' To keep chanting through all--times of happiness, sadness, or suffering--is the sure path to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the means by which we can tap our inner Buddhahood, vanquish devilish functions, overcome our karmic suffering, and transform our state of life. It is an unparalleled practice that enables us to savour the 'boundless joy of the Law' (WND-1, 681). Chanting daimoku makes it possible for us to forge a state of absolute happiness in which being alive is itself a joy. If we always keep chanting no matter what happens, we will come to savour complete peace of mind. We will be able to bring forth the vast and boundless life-state of Buddhahood within us."

SGI Newsletter No. 8272, LEARNING FROM THE WRITINGS OF NICHIREN DAISHONIN: THE
TEACHINGS FOR VICTORY, [28] 'How Those Initially Aspiring to the Way Can Attain Buddhahood Through the Lotus Sutra', Chanting Vibrant Daimoku Is the Driving Force for Limitless Progress--Everything Starts with Our Own Inner Transformation, translated July 6th, 2011.

 

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The purpose of the appearance in this world of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, lies in his behaviour as a human being."

(The Three Kinds of Treasure - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 852) Selection source: "Myoji no Gen", Seikyo Shimbun, September 10th, 2011

 

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" `do not know how to thank you [Nanjo Tokimitsu] for the sincerity you have shown in sending these articles [of offering]. In the end, it must be [a reflection of] the depth of [your late father] Nanjo’s faith in the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by the statement that a minister proclaims his ruler’s sincerity, while a son proclaims his father’s sincerity. The late Nanjo is probably delighted.` - “The Story of Ohashi no Taro” (cf. WND-1, 675).

"Nichiren Daishonin sincerely praised the fostering of successors in the family, the solid transmission of faith from parent to child. The continuation of a deep commitment to kosen-rufu by the next generation will not only become a firm foundation for that whole family’s enduring prosperity, but also serve as a bright source of hope for the community in which they live.

"I hope that each Soka family will create their own wonderful history of kosen-rufu. Please remember that truly precious “treasures of the heart”—such as the courageous spirit to never be defeated by adversity and a warm spirit of care and concern for others—are imparted to children through the parents’ example."

SGI Newsletter No. 8316, Living the Gosho: (51) Fostering Successors in Faith in the Family, from the Aug. 26th, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated Sep. 9th, 2011.

 

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Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the source of definite victory for all us. It is like a sharp, jewelled sword that has the ability to pierce through any manner of suffering and hardship. Therefore, let's chant with vigour and intensity and win over everything!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

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"There is no place among the worlds of the ten directions that the sound of our voices chanting daimoku cannot reach. Our voices may be small, but when we intone the powerful sound of daimoku, there is no place in the universe that they do not penetrate." (Selection source, "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, July 7, 2011

 

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"'It is due to the authority and supernatural power of Bodhisattva Universal Worthy that this Lotus Sutra is propagated throughout Jambudvipa [the entire world]. Therefore the widespread propagation of this sutra must be under the care and protection of Bodhisattva Universal Worthy.' From The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 190.

"We are committed to creating peace through dialogue, infused with a universal wisdom, as exemplified by Bodhisattva Universal Worthy. We have now entered an age when many of the world's leading scholars find resonance with the value-creating philosophy of the SGI.

"Real wisdom is free from boastful arrogance or an attitude of superiority. The wise and noble spirit of Bodhisattva Universal Worthy pulses in the commitment to work for the welfare and happiness of people and in efforts for the sake of truth and justice."

SGI Newsletter No. 8269, Living the Gosho: Words of Encouragement from SGI President Ikeda, (38) World Peace and the Power of Bodhisattva Universal Worthy, translated July 4th, 2011, from the June 30th, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun.

 

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For as long as we all live let's make the very best use of our time, living in such a way that we leave behind a truly spectacular history! To construct something significant is indeed an arduous struggle. Let us ignite our spirits with enthusiasm and create indestructible value from every situation we encounter!

Daisaku Ikeda

 

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"Learning about a person is the foundation for human relations, as well as for education. When people, whether young or old, feel that the person interacting with them knows who they are and has a sincere interest in them, they are able to open up, and that's the first step to forming a relationship of mutual trust."

SGI Newsletter No. 8267, The New Human Revolution--Vol. 24: Chap. 3, Humanistic Education 33, translated June 28th, 2011

 

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"Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other."

(The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 1001) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", June 30th, 2011

 

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It's a great day! Sister T has returned!!!!!!!!!

And DG, you know I am always chanting for you!

I hope you are both super well and remembering to let your Daimoku do the heavy lifting. You have the Buddha nature! Make your own protection!

Bowing in humble obeisance,

Thomas

 

[TrichyTrichy]

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

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"This I will state. Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law."

(The Opening of the Eyes - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 280) Selection source: "Myoji no Gen ", Seikyo Shimbun, August 29th, 2011