Practicing Buddhism is a lot about opening ourselves up. We open our lives up to self-exploration and discovery. Through this process we weed out those things that prevent us from manifesting our inherent Buddha condition. We nourish the process through our practice of chanting the sutra and the Odaimoku, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Quotes
A Peaceful Practice
With the many distractions available to us it can be easy to become diverted from our practice, when our practice should actually be the most enjoyable activity we might engage in. It is a proper practice to always find peaceful pleasure in our practice of the Lotus Sutra, perhaps peace above all.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Real Aspect of All Things
In Nichiren Buddhism, non-duality is the real aspect of all things. The real aspect of all things transcends birth and death, subject and object, and all other dualities. This real aspect is the Buddha-nature and the Middle Way of which all things are just partial manifestations. It is identified with Namu Myoho Renge Kyo because we are able to realize this truth through devotion to the Lotus Sutra.
Lotus SeedsIndestructible Precepts
[T]he original teaching of the triple doctrine was that the believer should be charitable and observe the precepts in order to earn the karmic reward of rebirth in heaven, but the idea behind the teaching is that through the gradual and continuous practice of giving and the precepts the practitioner will come to understand the true nature of existence, abandon the lesser goal of rebirth in a heavenly realm, and begin to practice giving and the precepts with no thought of karmic reward. When this stage of awareness is reached, the practitioner has perfected the indestructible precepts, one of the four indestructible objects of faith (Buddha, Law, Order, and precepts) and is on the sage path leading eventually to enlightenment. The practitioner will continue on this path through various stages of spiritual development, stopping short of becoming an arhat only because lay people cannot devote themselves fully to meditation. If a practitioner can perfect the final practice of meditation, that reward, too, will be won.
Our Own Vows
We should regard the vows of the Buddha and Nichiren Shōnin as our own vows. We should participate in compassionate activities of the Buddha to make everyone happy and create an ideal world in which everyone can appreciate, respect and cherish each other.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuThe Light of the Lotus Sutra
With the Lotus Sutra and our Buddhist practice we can even illuminate the sufferings we are experiencing as well as those we have experienced and with the wisdom learned we can forge a future with different outcomes. No matter how dark or how long darkness has existed in our lives, just as a light illuminates a cave that has been dark for hundreds of years, the Lotus Sutra can bring light and enlightenment to our lives.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Impermanence
One important concept to keep in mind, which I think is very difficult in our modern materialistic society, is the thought that all things are impermanent and insubstantial. It is easy to be lead astray and think that things are important and will last indefinitely, when in fact no thing will remain unchanged forever.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe True Nature of All Experiences
Normally the sufferings of this world and the peace of Nirvana would be viewed as irreconcilable opposites. According to Mahayana Buddhism, however, all things are manifestations of Dependent Origination. That is, they are essentially empty of substantial existence or permanent characteristics. Awakening, then, does not trade one type of experience (such as enduring this world of birth and death) for another type of experience (such as attaining a Nirvana falsely imagined as some kind of blissful high or perfect afterlife) because all experiences are impermanent and dependent upon causes and conditions. Instead, awakening recognizes the true nature of all experiences. In this way, awakening frees us from our self-centered ignorance. It allows us to appreciate and care about things just as they are, instead of demanding that they conform to our desires and opinions. This recognition is the true state of Nirvana; it is not an escape from this world into another one. Nirvana is not the cessation of experience, but a revolutionary change in the way we experience the world and ourselves. This is what it meant by “the world of birth and death is itself Nirvana,” because Nirvana is not apart from the world and its sufferings, but is the true nature of life and death itself.
Lotus SeedsPsychological Suffering
Birth, aging, illness, and death, when viewed objectively, are only natural physiological changes. Our subjective, psychological interpretation converts them into suffering. Psychological reactions often make suffering worse than it need be. We are generally less distressed by illness itself than by the effect we imagine it will have on our future and the future of our loved ones. Unnecessary worrying about such things can only aggravate our suffering. By contrast, a correct understanding of the inevitability of change sets our minds at rest and thus minimizes our psychological suffering. The same is true of aging and death. In other words, subjective interpretation converts natural changes into causes of pain.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
Manifestation of the Original Buddha
Śākyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment in India after his eight-year-long practice is actually a manifestation of the Original Buddha himself who revealed the eternity of life in Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sūtra, “The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata.” He had not revealed it prior to this teaching. The Original Buddha appeared in this physical form in this world to save people.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the Odaimoku