Of the Six Perfections – generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom – the perfection of discipline means to live in accord with the precepts. As we have seen, the Five Precepts are: to not kill, to not steal, to not be involved in sexual misconduct, to not speak falsely, and to not use intoxicants that cloud the mind. Buddhism recognizes that until we are awakened it is very difficult to live in full accord with the precepts. It is difficult because the precepts are actually a description of awakened conduct. So as our practice enables us to receive the merits of the Buddha’s awakening, it also enables us to become loving, generous, faithful, truthful, and mindful. Until we are fully awakened, however, the precepts act as guidelines that keep our practice honest and point out how to avoid harming ourselves and others. They are tools for self-reflection and can show us how to maintain our integrity and bring about benefit for ourselves and others.
Lotus SeedsQuotes
The Morning of April 28, 1253
For Seven days, he knelt in fervent prayer among the muted pines, preparing himself for the restoration of the true teaching of the Buddha to the people. Finally, on the night of April 27, 1253, his mind clear, his actions fully planned, he rose to his feet and made his way upward to a high peak where the forest of Asahi-ga-mori and the Pacific Ocean spread before him in the sheltering, voiceless darkness.
As the first rays of the morning sun brushed across the horizon, driving away the night and spreading a golden hush across the land, Rencho stood, motionless, facing eastward, his hands clasped in gassho, his face aglow with the truth. Nothing broke the stillness of this high place, neither wind, nor wave, nor song of bird. The world was silent as though it held its breath in patient expectation. And then the silence shattered as a resounding cry echoed from the young priest’s lips: “Namu Myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo!” “Adoration to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law!” The words thundered and resounded through the clear, mountain air.
It was the morning of April 28, 1253 – the beginning of a new day. The first step in restoring the truth had finally been taken.
Nichiren, Leader of Buddhist Reformation in JapanAdhering to Myoho Renge Kyo
Nichiren Shonin taught us in the Kanjin Honzon Sho, “All good deeds and virtues of Shakyamuni Buddha are manifested in the title of the Lotus Sutra, ‘Myoho Renge Kyo.’ No matter what mistakes we may have committed, we shall be naturally endowed with all the deeds and virtues of the Buddha, if we adhere to these five characters.”
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge KyoThe Solution Within
It is easy, especially when we are in great difficulty, to seek to be rescued by some outside source. It is sometimes very easy to think we do not possess the resources within our own lives, and so are unable to call out the solution from the depths of our existence. When we do that, however, we are actually engaging in a distortion of the Buddha and a distortion of our inherent Buddha potential. It is important to always keep in mind that the fundamental aim of the Buddha in teaching the Lotus Sutra was to reveal not only his eternal nature but also the equality of all beings and the great desire to enable all beings, you and I included, to become Buddhas.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1The Process of Enlightenment
We would be better served if we abandoned the notion that enlightenment is a terminus in our spiritual journey. Instead we should view enlightenment as a process to engage in until the end of our lives.
Physician's Good Medicine‘Reading’ the Truth by Nichiren’s Life
Buddha is the primeval master, and Nichiren is now living the life of his primeval disciples. Primeval, therefore everlasting, and as true for the future as in the past — he is the one predestined to be the leader, the savior of the coming ages. In short, Nichiren is the man who is “reading” the Truth by his life.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetOur Growing Capacity
As people take faith in the Lotus Sutra initially there is limited capacity for understanding. As time goes on and our capacity for understanding and incorporating the teachings in our lives increases, then we are able to see even deeper into the Dharma.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraSix Perfections and the Eightfold Path
The awakened qualities which we develop through our practice are known as the Six Perfections (in Sanskrit, paramitas). The Six Perfections enable us to do the work of a bodhisattva. They are generosity, discipline, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom.
These Six Perfections are a restatement of the Eightfold Path.
The real difference between the Six Perfections and the Eightfold Path is the addition of generosity and patience, although these are implied by right intentions. By including these two perfections as separate items, it makes explicit the fact that we are not really following the Eightfold Path unless we are generous and patient with others. In this way, the Six Perfections underscore the compassionate dimension that is integral to Mahayana Buddhism.
Lotus SeedsA Courageous and Compassionate Pattern of Living
Rencho often spoke to [Johon, a book merchant] earnestly and sincerely of his belief in The Lotus Sutra, explaining how the great teaching was not just an object of piety, something merely to be read with the eyes and understood with the mind. It was something to be read by the body, to be lived with all one’s flesh and blood; for it offered a courageous and compassionate pattern of living if one followed the examples and the vows of those divine beings who had heard the true teachings of Sakyamuni.
Nichiren, Leader of Buddhist Reformation in JapanChanting with Tranquility, Devotion and Attention
The more we chant and act in accord with the Buddha’s teachings, the more the Odaimoku will manifest itself within our life. This is why we recite the Odaimoku, and why we chant it with tranquility, devotion and attention.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo