Myoho is the translation of the Sanskrit term Saddharma. … Sad or sat of Saddharma corresponds to the first syllable Myo of Myoho and indicates truth. Saddharma, therefore, signifies the true or correct Dharma. Sad also denotes completeness, being perfectly endowed and comprehensive. Myo further possesses the meaning of unparalleled, mystical, impossible to perceive (with our six senses), as well as impossible to fathom (by ordinary human beings), marvelous and wonderful. Nichiren Shonin pointed out that while Myoho Renge Kyo is the heart and essence of the Lotus Sutra, the word Myo in itself is extremely rich and profound in meaning.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
Monthly Archives: December 2016
Daily Dharma – Dec. 10, 2016
Although I shall never enter into Nirvāṇa, I say to men of little virtue, ‘I shall pass away.’ I teach them with this expedient. Why is that? It is because, if they see me for a long time, they will not plant the roots of good, but become poor and base, and cling to the five desires so much that they will be caught in the nets of wrong views.
The Buddha gives this explanation in Chapter Sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. This Chapter is the first time he reveals himself as the Ever-Present Buddha who became enlightened in the far distant past and will continue to lead all beings to enlightenment into the far distant future. The Buddha uses the death of his physical body as an expedient so that those who take him for granted will make efforts to practice his teachings. When we practice the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sūtra, then we learn to see the Buddha in ourselves and all beings.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 5
Day 5 begins Chapter 3, A Parable
Having last month concluded Day 5, I return to the beginning of Chapter 3, A Parable.
Thereupon Sariputra, who felt like dancing with joy, stood up, joined his hands together, looked up at the honorable face, and said to the Buddha:
Hearing this truthful voice of yours, I feel like dancing [with joy].
Whenever I read the opening of Chapter 3 I’m always reminded of Rev. Ryusho Jeffus’ Lecture on the Lotus Sutra:
Chapter III opens with one of my favorite descriptions of how I think we should approach our practice and life in general. When we can face life with great joy, when we can feel like dancing, then I think we have completed most of the objective of our practice. Chapter II ends with the Buddha saying that when you have great joy this is when you will be a Buddha. Right away we are told Śāriputra has this feeling of joy so much that he felt like dancing.
Lecture on the Lotus Sutra
As a postscript I feel a need to confess only now realizing that for 10 months or so I’ve been copying and pasting the first line of Day 5 and repeating the error Day 5 begins Chapter 5, A Parable. I’ve gone back and changed all of the Chapter 5s to Chapter 3.
Daily Dharma – Dec. 9, 2016
True practicers of Buddhism should not rely on what people say, but solely on the golden words of the Buddha.
Nichiren wrote this passage in his Treatise on the True Way of Practicing the Teaching of the Buddha (Nyosetsu Shugyō-shō). We may take this to mean that we should not listen to anything that others tell us and dogmatically adhere to a fixed teaching. Another interpretation involves learning to see the world as the Buddha does. Where people often speak from their own delusion and selfish desires, the Buddha speaks only to lead us to his enlightenment and help us to remove our attachments. When we look for the Buddha in all parts of our lives, we can learn to appreciate anything we hear from anybody as teaching us to become enlightened.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 4
Day 4 finishes Chapter 2, Expedients, and completes the first volume of the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dharma.
Having last month covered the affirmation of the one vehicle it is time to consider the Buddha’s vow.
I do not deceive
Those who believe me and rely on me.
I am not greedy or jealous
Because I have eliminated all evils.
Therefore, in the worlds of the ten quarters,
I am fearless.I am adorned with the physical marks of a Buddha.
I am illumining the world with my light.
To the countless living beings who honor me,
I will expound
The seal of the truth, that is, the reality of all things.Know this, Sariputra!
I once vowed that I would cause
All living beings to become
Exactly as I am.That old vow of mine
Has now been fulfilled.
I lead all living beings
Into the Way to Buddhahood.
The Daily Dharma from Nov. 15, 2016, offers this on the final two stanzas:
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Two of the Lotus Sūtra. Earlier in the chapter he explained that all the teachings he used before the Lotus Sūtra were mere expedients, intended to use our desire for happiness to bring us out of our suffering and onto the path of enlightenment. The expedient teachings were tailored to the ignorant and deluded minds of those who heard them, but had not yet revealed the true wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. Now that we have met this Wonderful Dharma, we are assured of our enlightenment and that of all beings. We learn to see innumerable Buddhas in limitless worlds through unimaginable time, and our own true selves at the heart of reality. The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Prosperity
What is it that we hold most important in our lives? Is it a nice house, a good car, a big paycheck, our televisions, our video games, or something else? Many people today think of prosperity as the sign of a good life, or even the benefit of their religious practice and belief.
In Buddhism we should not approach our practice as a means to increase our net worth or our social standing or material acquisitions. To be consumed by the increase of materialism is to be trapped in a never-ending quest, which only leads to suffering.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Daily Dharma – Dec. 8, 2016
All living beings are suffering.
Being blind, they have no leader.
They do not know how to stop suffering,
Or that they should seek emancipation.
In the long night fewer people go to heaven,
And more people go to the evil regions.
They go from darkness to darkness, and do not hear
Of the names of the Buddhas.
The children of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha proclaim this to their father in a story told by Śākyamuni Buddha in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. They understand that when beings are so preoccupied with their own happiness, and so convinced that this happiness comes from what they can acquire, that they need an enlightened being to lead them to see the world as it is. With the Lotus Sūtra as the embodiment of the Buddha’s highest teaching, we have the same wisdom present to us as those children’s father was to them.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 3
Day 3 covers the first half of Chapter 2, Expedients.
Last month covered the true nature of reality and the 10 factors. And today I review in gathas:
The [wisdom of the] World-Heroes is immeasurable.
None of the living beings in the world,
Including gods and men,
Knows the [wisdom of the] Buddhas.No one can measure the powers, fearlessness,
Emancipations, samadhis,
And other properties of the [present] Buddhas,
Because they, in their previous existence,
Followed innumerable Buddhas
And practiced the teachings of those Buddhas.The profound and wonderful Dharma
Is difficult to see and difficult to understand.
I practiced the teachings of the [past] Buddhas
For many hundreds of millions of kalpas,
And became a Buddha at the place of enlightenment.
I have already attained the Dharma.
Before continuing, I want to offer a pair of quotes. First, from Nichiren, The Buddhist Prophet:
The Dhamma is the truth revealed by Buddha, the Lord of Truth; yet he is not the creator of it. We are enlightened by the truths taught by him, but we can be thus enlightened because our existence and nature are based on the same Dhammata that is found in Buddha himself.
Nichiren, The Buddhist Prophet
The other quote comes from Rev. Ryusho Jeffus’ Physician’s Good Medicine:
Oratio Divina is a type of prayer that is in response to the text. For example, after reading a portion of the Lotus Sutra, you might meditate on a personal response to what was read. Rather than merely absorbing the text or even trying to define or describe what has been read and its meaning, the focus becomes directed to how you shall respond in your life to what you read.
This type of study-response activity makes the sutra a tool or guide on which to base future actions. It can be a call to reinterpret your life and environment or your relationship to both. Rather than reading to understand, it is more of a reading to hear. Listen to the text you study and listen to what is going on internally as you listen. What are your first thoughts? Based upon what you heard, what are some actions you might take in your own life?
Physician's Good Medicine
Oratio Divina and the Lotus Sutra
Oratio Divina is a type of prayer that is in response to the text. For example, after reading a portion of the Lotus Sutra, you might meditate on a personal response to what was read. Rather than merely absorbing the text or even trying to define or describe what has been read and its meaning, the focus becomes directed to how you shall respond in your life to what you read.
This type of study-response activity makes the sutra a tool or guide on which to base future actions. It can be a call to reinterpret your life and environment or your relationship to both. Rather than reading to understand, it is more of a reading to hear. Listen to the text you study and listen to what is going on internally as you listen. What are your first thoughts? Based upon what you heard, what are some actions you might take in your own life?
Physician's Good MedicineDaily Dharma – Dec. 7, 2016
She said, “Look at me with your supernatural powers! I will become a Buddha more quickly.”
These are the words of the young daughter of Dragon-King Sāgara in Chapter Twelve of the Lotus Sūtra. Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva knew that she was capable of becoming a Buddha, but none of the other Bodhisattvas or anyone else gathered to hear the Buddha teach believed that she could attain enlightenment. Before making this statement, she offered a priceless gem to the Buddha. In less time than it took for the Buddha to accept her offering, she herself became a Buddha before the eyes of all who doubted her. This story shows that all beings can become enlightened, male and female, young and old, human and non-human. When we lose our doubts about others’ enlightenment, we also lose our doubts about our own.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com