Pieters (May 23, 1996)
Why do Nichiren Buddhists not practice zazen whereas the Buddha recommends it to us in the Lotus Sutra?

Murano (June 6, 1996)
Zazen is a good practice. You can do zazen. But zazen needs a proper place and time. It is limited to selected people. Nichiren was always thinking of the people who were busy in the daily life. The 1964 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. There was a Zen temple near the stadium. Some Americans tried to do zazen at that temple, but in vain. That temple had no room for zazen. Only 20 percent of the Zen temples have facilities for zazen while the smallest Nichiren temple is the proper place for chanting the Daimoku. I once visited a danka (member, supporter) of my temple for sutra-chanting. An old woman in the neighborhood happened to be there. She complained that the priest of her temple would never visit her home for sutra-chanting. I asked her, “What sect is your temple?’ She said, “Nembutsu.” I asked her again, “What is the name of your temple?” The name of the temple given to me was a Zen temple. She did not know sect difference. Common people chant the Nembutsu at any temple except Nichiren temples. In the minds of the common people, there are only two sects: the sect of the Nembutsu and the sect of the Daimoku. Very few of the danka of Zen temples practice zazen. If you stick to zazen, you lose the bulk of the people.