The Odaimoku in the center of the Mandala Gohonzon is manifesting the entity of the Original Buddha in our mind. As such, it contains all the Buddhas of the ten directions — the four cardinal points, the intersections between each, and the zenith and nadir. It also contains all the sentient beings of all the Dharma realms, the lands of those realms and, in fact, everything in them. In other words, everything is contained in and embraced by Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

There is no division between us and them or self and other. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo manifests what’s in our mind and everything beyond our minds from the perspective of the Original Buddha. The trick is for us to operate from that perspective of the Original Buddha within us. That’s incredibly difficult to maintain in every moment of one’s life. It’s not impossible; just hard. There is no easy path to enlightenment, as you can see. The work of the Buddha, our work, is never fully done.

Whether the focal point of your gazing or veneration is a mandala Gohonzon or a statue arrangement Gohonzon, there is no doctrinal distinction. They are all equal. In Nichiren Shu, there are five versions of the object of worship that are recognized: a full statue arrangement, a full calligraphic scroll, the single phrase Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, a statue of the Buddha, a statue of the Buddha and Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Each is equal to the others. Never fear that because you don’t have all the statues you are somehow missing out. Regardless of which one you have or if you have none, it is your faith and practice that is most important.

In Nichiren Buddhism, whether using calligraphy on paper or statues [as an object of worship], we are not some disconnected observer. On the calligraphic mandala we are gazing up at the two Buddhas, Shakyamuni and Taho, seated on either side of the Odaimoku, which represents the great Stupa in the ceremony in the air. On either side of the two Buddhas are the Four Great Bodhisattvas, leaders of the Buddha’s original disciples, who rose up from under the ground. Everyone else depicted on the mandala is looking up at the two Buddhas. We join this gathering when we gaze upon the mandala.
In some ways there is no ceremony until we join. Everyone in the congregation, every character on the paper mandala, every wooden statue is waiting on you to begin the ceremony. The ceremony is being held just for you. They could have finished up 3,000 years ago, but at the request of the Buddha they have waited. The Buddha told them someone of great importance was coming and now finally you have arrived. Go to them and tell them you are ready to begin the ceremony in the air.

When we place faith in our practice, what best represents our faith is our actions. If, in our prayers, we somehow believe we are no longer responsible for taking appropriate actions on our own behalf, or that we no longer need to change our patterns of behavior, then our prayers are misguided and potentially harmful.

When I lead Daimoku chanting at my temple I always tell people as we begin to “chant with great joy and confidence.” I do this because I’ve experienced the difference. I can feel the difference from chanting with joy and confidence deep down in my life. Even if my voice is weak, as it sometimes is now as I age, in my mind, in my heart, I hold the thought of strength, confidence, and joy.

When we can approach our practice with the thought that what we are doing is huge, it is phenomenal, it is significant, it is powerful, and we are doing this thing and we are a part of it and we are making it happen in our lives, that is when we can begin to approach the tremendous joy that the Lotus Sutra holds for us. The Lotus Sutra is there waiting for us to enter and enter in a big way.

Our practice … is larger, much larger, and more significant than we appreciate as we recite the sutra. We are no small speck of life in an infinite universe. We are grand and noble beings whose thoughts, voice, and actions reverberate across the cosmos, witnessed by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. These actions are witnessed and heard by every deity, every protective force, and even Mara King Devil. Our voice vibrates endlessly far beyond the space in which we are chanting, far beyond the walls surrounding us, far beyond the building, and even further still beyond our solar system.

When we can begin to shift our self-awareness to the grandeur of our actions as connected with and expressed toward the Lotus Sutra, then our lives begin to shift and expand. It is as if you sometimes feel like your physical body is not large enough. At times I’ve almost felt like I might explode.

Recent scientific studies exploring the effect of the mind’s thoughts on the actions being performed at the time have shown that when the mind thinks an activity is exercise and not simply work or chores, then the body burns more calories and muscles actually gain strength more so than if we hold in our mind thoughts of chores or tedium. Walking to the bathroom, an action we may do mindlessly, when thought of as walking exercise burns more calories than mindlessly walking to relieve one’s bladder. These are small things, yet show how powerful the mind is and how important framing our thoughts can be.

“Chapter one of the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra says, ‘The calling of the Wonderful Dharma is not just the main part of the sutra. All the 28 chapters together are called wonderful. That is why each chapter contains the entity and each phrase converges in the wonderful name.’ We bow to Myoho Renge Kyo, the Saddharmapuṇḍarika, in one set with 8 fascicles, 28 chapters, and 69,384 characters. Each character is a true Buddha. The preaching of a true Buddha benefits all sentient beings. Therefore, all sentient beings have already attained the Buddha Way. That is why we bow to the Lotus Sutra.”

Sutei Hoyo Shiki, page 395

When we carry out our practice of the Lotus Sutra, when we venerate the Lotus Sutra, when we bow to or lift the sutra, we are doing all of these things not simply because of the word Wonderful in the title. Everything contained within the sutra is wonderful. It is a collection of wonderfulness. Each of the 69,384 Chinese characters that comprise the text of the sutra is a Buddha and each of those Buddhas benefits us. We bow to each of them when we bow to the Lotus Sutra.

Let me interject a caution here. I’m not sure I would have even mentioned this say 10 or so years earlier, but I need to address the increase of religions that teach prosperity as an indicator of faith or that prosperity must come first before helping others. While it is true that we benefit from our practice, it is not true that our benefits are the indicator of our faith or practice. Prosperity has nothing to do with joy. It has nothing to do with enlightenment. The Buddha turned his back on prosperity. He turned his back on austerity. If our teacher did this, shouldn’t we also? You do not need to become wealthy to benefit others. Your financial situation has nothing to do with your ability to benefit others. It has nothing to do with your ability to cause others to be joyful. It has nothing to do with your enlightenment. In fact, financial prosperity may even hinder all of the above. This is not to say we shouldn’t try to become secure in our living situations, or that we shouldn’t try to be wise in our finances. Finances and prosperity are simply things that can hinder or encourage, but it is the hindering and encouraging we should focus on. When we become virtuous, kind, trustworthy, respectful, humble in ourselves, then we are manifesting the qualities desired. These are unmeasurable and not indicated by our bank account or dwelling place or the car we drive or the clothes we wear. These qualities are in our actions and our words, our presence of being. Being honest with yourself you will know and others will certainly respond.

“This is the place of practice where the Three Treasures of ultimate truth and the unseen beings who protect the Dharma now appear and descend to this place. They see us clearly with the light of their wisdom. This place of practice where we are is the Pure Land of Eternally Tranquil Light. This present form-body is the awakened Dharma-Body. The sutra that we are upholding is what all Buddhas certify as the Dharma. The thought that is rightly upheld is the entire Dharma-realm. May each sound and each thought and all the virtues spread equally to adorn the Buddha’s land as offerings to the Three Treasures and contributions to all sentient beings.

“May awakening spread everywhere manifesting its light. May all the natural spirits, other beings, and the four kind of devotees in this world, those who are far and near, inside and outside the place of practice, throughout heaven and earth, and those who have a relationship with the Dharma and are seeing, hearing, and enjoying it receive conspicuous and inconspicuous benefit equally and limitlessly.”

Shutei Hoyo Shiki page 395

Our reading and reciting is a solemn practice, one that carries great significance. We are not who we may think we are when we engage in this seemingly simple practice. We are no longer the mere mortal living a mundane life. Our voices are carried throughout the entire universal Dharma realm, our thoughts are also spread to the farthest edge of the limitless universe, as contradictory as that may seem. They are our offerings we carry to all the entities, all the beings, all the energies throughout space and time. We are in fact creating a cascade of Dharma-influenced causes that reverberate outward from us, and inward toward us. Just as we send the Dharma nourishment to the beings of time and space, that same nourishment imprints on our own lives the Ultimate Truth of the Buddha, causing us to manifest all the rewards and benefits of the Lotus Sutra.

Our actions upon the environment become actions on ourselves as well. These thoughts should be the thoughts that occupy our minds as we engage in our devotions of reading and reciting the sutra. Our sitting or kneeling, our prostrations, our bowing, our bell ringing, our water offering, our incense burning, our book opening, the turning of the pages, our shifting in place as our joints ache, our singing of the hymns, our reading and reciting the sutra and chanting the sacred title are all priceless offerings we give to all sentient beings and to the Three Treasures of Buddha Dharma, and Sangha. We are not merely common mortals sitting in a simple room with a small box shrine housing a yellowing scroll or dented Buddha statue and reading in a scratchy voice. All of that is transformed into the grandest castle housing a gold-plated shrine wherein is housed a scroll written in gold, silver and platinum characters as we lift up the sutra with the voice of an operatic singer.

You and your place of practice are not merely transformed. No, they are truly revealed. Your place is revealed as the Buddha’s Pure Land it has always been. You are revealed as a Buddha you have always been.

These are the mysteries for us to contemplate as we engage in the solemn yet joyful practice of reading and reciting the sutra in our daily practice.

This doesn’t wear out. You can’t use it all up. In fact, the more you do it the more abundant it becomes. Your dedication of merit to others does not reduce your merit. Your Buddha’s Pure Land and your own enlightenment grow and expand as your practice continues to grow and deepen.