When you face difficulties, the Odaimoku will lead you to a path to overcome these difficulties. When you have many troubles, it will lead you to a path to show what the cause of your suffering is. And when your life is being threatened, it will lead you to a secure place unconsciously. Also, the Lotus Sutra has a mystical power to save deceased spirits. At a funeral or memorial service, Odaimoku chanted by attendees transfers their rewards to the deceased spirits, making them calm and peaceful.

The sound of chanting Odaimoku echoes deeply into our mind and stimulates our mind to wake up the seed of the Buddha-nature. Awakened, our Buddha-nature will lead us to enlightenment, and respond to the Eternal Buddha. We will be able to receive the Buddha’s rewards automatically – wisdom, enlightenment, compassion, healing and supernatural powers.

While Odaimoku consists of only seven Chinese characters, when you chant Odaimoku with all your faith, you will receive many of the Buddha’s rewards. Tradition says that when you chant Odaimoku faithfully, all gods and goddesses gather around you, tempted by the sound of the universal teaching. They will listen to your chanting and protect you from any harm. This tradition comes from a story about when the Buddha achieved perfect enlightenment – a god, the creator of the universe, appeared in front of the Buddha and requested the Buddha teach him about enlightenment. Gods might be almighty, but they are thirsty for universal enlightenment.

“Kyo” comes from the Sanskrit “Sutra,” which means “teaching” and “scripture.” However, in the Lotus Sutra the word “Sutra” has another meaning, which is, “Concentrated essence of all teachings into one.” This adds up to, “The King of all Sutras.”

We were born with a seed of Buddha-nature, but we haven’t yet awakened the seed by ourselves. Therefore, when we have troubles, we try to resolve anger with anger. When we are suffering, we try to heal the suffering with more suffering. We are pitiful because of ignorance. We need the teaching of enlightenment. We should awaken the seed of Buddha-nature in our minds, make the seed sprout and cultivate the Buddha-nature, because our spirits can be purified through individual enlightenments.

When there are complaints about this world being a corrupted human world, haven’t you ever thought or wondered, “Who made it like this?” In fact, it was us. We, human beings, corrupted this world. This world is innocent. If such human beings were to move to an ideal world, they would definitely corrupt the world again, and it would be just as they describe this world. Unless we improve our minds and purify our spirits, we will repeat the same behavior, and end up with the same results, no matter where we live.

The foundation of the Lotus Sutra gives us a new concept of religion. It was expounded 2,500 years ago that, “This world can be a pure land or an ideal world.” We tend to complain about this world, seeing it as a corrupted human world. People want to give up the real world, and expect a pure land in another world after death. However, the Lotus Sutra teaches us that the pure land is neither another world, nor a place to go to after death. “Here is the ideal world, the pure land and heaven.”

The lotus [flower symbolizes] that we and all beings have a Buddha-nature. Generally, most plants seed after blooming, but the lotus has already seeded when the flower has bloomed. This shows that we, human beings, were born with the seed of the Buddha-nature originally. Because of the seed we can achieve enlightenment, like the Buddha. Again, this shows a primary teaching of the Lotus Sutra: “We already have a seed of Buddha.”

“Ren” is lotus and “Ge” is flower, and “Renge” means lotus flower. The Lotus Sutra is named after the lotus flower because the lotus and lotus flower have unique natures that are suitable to symbolize the teaching of the Sutra. The lotus grows in muddy ponds and blooms beautiful white flowers, but the flower is never defiled with a muddy color; it always remains white. Even though the pond becomes muddier, the lotus flowers become a purer white. This symbolizes human struggle, and the salvation of the Lotus Sutra. The muddy pond represents a degenerated human society. A pure white flower represents enlightenment. Although this world is corrupt and deeply defiled, as long as you hold the Lotus Sutra, you will never be corrupted, but achieve a calm state of enlightenment, and together we will be able to transform this world into an ideal pure land.

“Myoho” means, “The eternal teaching to open all wonderful mysterious gates, awaken hidden power, develop hidden power, develop and resuscitate life.” So all universal laws, all phenomena and all other teachings, even god’s acts, can be expressed by using only the two words: “Myo ho.”