Having Attitude

01 Jul 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Buddhahood In This LifetimeWe hear about different attitudes to religious doctrine from around the world, some we can embrace, others we find unsettling. But whatever the doctrine, religion must teach us an ‘attitude to life’.

To live a life of true human dignity is certainly difficult. Life is change, it is continuous change. Nothing is constant. The  four sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death are an eternal theme that no one can escape.

Amid harsh reality, people yearn, from the depths of their beings, to live with dignity, and for their lives to have meaning, and they make efforts towards that end. The product of these human yearnings, these prayers, is religion. Religion was born from prayer.

What is Nichiren’s response to these prayers of human beings? What attitude towards life does he teach? The answer, in short, is the principle of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Sticking With It

20 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Strength When times are easy and things go our way, it is easy to stick to the plan. It is when things go wrong, problems arise, or we are distracted from our Practice that we need to summon up our inner strength.

Practicing Nichiren Buddhism is rewarding and fulfilling. Chanting and praying before the Gohonzon becomes part of the everyday routine, and wavering makes us feel that we are letting ourselves and our mentor down.

But we have to remember that being constant takes effort and that allowing ourselves to back slide can be the easiest of things. Nichiren Daishonin wrote to Shinjo Kingo on this very topic way back in 1275 ad, so it’s certainly not a new problem.

This is in regard to the passage “This sutra is hard to uphold.” According to Acharya Ben, you said to him: “I have been practicing the Lotus Sutra correctly since last year, when you told me that those who embrace this sutra will ‘enjoy peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences.’ Instead, however, great hardships have showered down on me like rain.” Is this true, or did he give me a false report? In either case, I will take advantage of this opportunity to resolve any doubts you may have.

A passage from the Lotus Sutra reads that it is “the most difficult to believe and the most difficult to understand.” Many hear about and accept this sutra, but when great obstacles arise, just as they were told would happen, few remember it and bear it firmly in mind. To accept is easy; to continue is difficult. But Buddhahood lies in continuing faith. Those who uphold this sutra should be prepared to meet difficulties. It is certain, however, that they will “quickly attain the unsurpassed Buddha way.” To “continue” means to cherish Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the most important principle for all the Buddhas of the three existences. The

sutra reads, “We will protect and uphold what the Buddha has entrusted to us.” The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai stated, “One accepts because of one’s power of faith and continues because of one’s power of constant thought.” Another part of the sutra reads, “This sutra is hard to uphold; if one can uphold it even for a short while I will surely rejoice and so will the other Buddhas.”

A fire burns higher when logs are added, and a strong wind makes a kalakula grow larger. The pine tree lives for ten thousand years, and therefore its boughs become bent and twisted. The votary of the Lotus Sutra is like the fire and the kalakula, while his persecutions are like the logs and the wind. The votary of the Lotus Sutra is the Thus Come One whose life span is immeasurable; no wonder his practice is hindered, just as the pine tree’s branches are bent or broken. From now on, always remember the words “This sutra is hard to uphold.”

With my deep respect, Nichiren

So when times get tough, or distractions occur, be strong and maintain a strong practice. It will help you through the bad times and being constant will help sustain your faith.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

On Two Wheels

17 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Like Riding A BicycleDo you remember the day you mastered the art of riding a bicycle? Of course you do. For me, it was the culmination of a rather lengthy, and very frustrating process, and but for the perseverance of my father, I might never have learned at all.

I just couldn’t seem to get it. It looked so simple, but the harder I tried, the worse I got. Then suddenly it clicked, I had it nailed, and from that day on I have been able to ride a bike.

Ok, so it’s no huge revelation, but I think learning about Buddhism is a bit like learning to ride a bike.

Initially, it all seems rather difficult, but as you learn about The Oneness of Self and the Environment, about Karma, cause and effect, about Life-Energy or The Ten Worlds, you also learn to see yourself, life and the Universe in a different way. And just in the way that having learned to ride a bicycle, you never unlearn the skill, once you learn to see the world through different eyes, you never unlearn that either.

Deep in my heart, I know that I am different for having Buddhism at the centre of my life. Other people have noticed that change, others ask what has changed and how I know that it’s a real change, not just a fad, or ‘a phase I’m going through’. Well as I say, once you see the world differently, you just can’t unsee it that way. It’s a wonderful change, and I’m very confident, not to say delighted, that it’s permanent.

Flying Free

14 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Little Owl ChickVisiting our local Owl and Raptor centre yesterday, and seeing the birds flying around so effortlessly, reminded me of this lesson from Nichiren Daishonin in which he uses the metaphor of us as caged birds, striving to be free …

Nichiren writes: “Myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddha nature of all living beings…. The Buddha nature that all these beings possess is called by the name Myoho-renge-kyo” (wnd, 131). Regarding how to manifest one’s innate Buddha nature, Nichiren explains: “When we revere Myoho-renge-kyo inherent in our own life as the object of devotion, the Buddha nature within us is summoned forth and manifested by our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is what is meant by ‘Buddha.’ To illustrate, when a caged bird sings, birds who are flying in the sky are thereby summoned and gather around, and when the birds flying in the sky gather around, the bird in the cage strives to get out. When with our mouths we chant the Mystic Law, our Buddha nature, being summoned, will invariably emerge” (wnd, 887).

In Nichiren’s metaphor, our innate Buddha nature, whose name is Nam myoho renge kyo, is a bird trapped in the cage of ignorance. In other words, our deluded minds create this cage that imprisons our Buddha nature. But when we chant Nam myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon, which expresses Nichiren’s enlightened life and the potential of all people, our dormant Buddha nature becomes activated.

The singing of the caged bird is our chanting, and the birds flying in the sky are the Buddha nature in our environment, particularly as it is expressed in the Gohonzon. Through our chanting, the Buddha nature within our lives and the Buddha nature inherent in the universe begin their dynamic interaction.

For Nichiren’s metaphor to work, however, it is necessary for the caged bird to recognize the birds in the sky as being its own kind. In other words, when we pray to the Gohonzon, rather than thinking of it as an external power or deity, we must think of it as the mirror image of our own Buddha nature. If the caged bird thinks of itself as an elephant, it is unlikely to give the slightest thought to flying.

Nichiren Buddhism clarifies that the teaching of the Buddha nature is a teaching of faith and practice. All people have it, but not many can believe in it. Furthermore, some of those who believe in their Buddha nature may not practice to manifest it, erroneously thinking-I’m already a Buddha, so I don’t have to do anything. One’s faith in the Buddha nature must be expressed in one’s actions to manifest it.

Those who see the universal Buddha nature of oneself and others, and work to awaken it in all people are already Buddhas, for such actions belong to none other than a Buddha. As we cultivate our inherent Buddha nature through our conviction and actions to manifest it no matter our circumstances, we begin to see it and experience it. In our everyday lives, seeing may be believing. But in the world of Buddhism, believing in the Buddha nature is the first step toward seeing it.

(from Living Buddhism – February 2005)

Share the Love

07 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Share the LoveThat makes me sound like a ‘60s flower child, doesn’t it? I was a bit too young to really take part in the Swinging Sixties, with their free love, flower power and peace signs. It must have been a very exciting time, so much was happening, in so many ways.

That’s how I feel about my experiences through chanting. The world is a much brighter, more enjoyable place to be and I really want everyone to know.

Of course, trying to explain in detail how Nichiren Buddhism can transform your life is not something you can do on the tube or in your local, uninvited. At least not without clearing the carriage, or the snug of the Red Lion, at one fell swoop.

So with my slowly increasing self-awareness and understanding of karma and Buddhist principles, I am chanting more for others than for myself, for their health, wealth and happiness, and am always willing to discuss my practice if people want to hear more.

I like the way this new world of Bodhisattva, well largely new to me, makes me feel, and I have this increasing urge to do things for others, rather than for me. What a wonderful world we would live in, if we all felt the same way.

My Chosen Path

06 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

The Chosen PathSo many of the World Religions base their beliefs on a God, a Supreme Being, a Creator or an Entity whose existence is the focus of the religion’s belief.As a confirmed Atheist, that focus never sat comfortably in my psyche.

I don’t think anyone really believes in a white haired old man sitting in the clouds these days, but there are millions of people who base their faith on a Being whose existence cannot be proven. In fact, many religions actively seek to dissuade followers from even trying to prove that existence.

I was schooled in the Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology as well as Psychology, and those sciences demand proof for each and every hypothesis. So when I stumbled, and that is the right way to describe it, upon Nichiren Buddhism, I was overjoyed to find that there was no supreme being and that every part of Practice demands we examine the results of that Practice as proof of it’s validity.

Nichiren Daishonin said that we should seek proof of the effectiveness of our Practice in the results it brings. He also says that if the results do not support the practice, that we should desist.

I don’t want anyone to think that I am putting Nichiren Buddhism above or before any other religion, I am only saying that, for me, it fits my thinking and for me, it works.

I have been practicing for a while now, but I’m still learning new things every day. The results have been amazing so the proof is there for me and others to see. When it suddenly dawns on you, that you have the ultimate control, by making the causes for the results you wish to see, life takes on a very exciting hue.

As Rare As Hens Teeth

02 Jun 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Mr TurtleA few simple thoughts on finding good friends …

“The best way to attain Buddhahood is to encounter a good friend.

How far can our own wisdom take us? If we have even enough wisdom to distinguish hot from cold, we should seek out a good friend. But encountering a good friend is the hardest possible thing to do.

For this reason, the Buddha likened it to the rarity of a one-eyed turtle finding a floating log with a hollow in it, the right size to hold him, or to the difficulty of trying to lower a thread from the Brahma heaven and pass it through the eye of a needle on the Earth.”

Nichiren Daishonin

Which in modern parlance means, it’s pretty difficult to find good friends.

So thank you to all the people I am privileged to call my friends, there are too few one-eyed turtles in life.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

A Great Role Model

31 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

BuddhaThe purpose for, and the reason behind my Buddhist Practice is to bring me closer to Buddhahood, each and every day.

That is to say, to emulate, as closely as possible, the Buddha himself in the way he was able to see life and all things in a pure clarity.

Siddhārtha Gautama was a man, albeit a prince, who forsaking his life of comfort and position, went out into the world to meditate on the causes of, and ways to reduce or remove, the suffering of life.

In Nichiren Buddhism we learn about the Ten Worlds, from Hell to Buddhahood.

The Buddha state originates from the very depths of life, called the amala consciousness, meaning the fundamentally pure life force or consciousness. The function of the Buddha state is to bring out the positive side of the other nine worlds.

This principle of the Ten Worlds shows that the Buddha state is a naturally occurring condition of life in every living being. The purpose of Buddhist practice is to enable us to cause the Buddha state to appear; to have it working strongly in us.

In Nichiren Buddhism, therefore, the Buddha is not some perfect, ideal being, but is rather an ordinary person living in rhythm with the law of the universe, taking wise, courageous and compassionate action for the benefit of others, through the functioning of the nine worlds in daily life.

The more I practice, the closer I come to Buddhahood, a very positive thought for today.

The Meaning Of NMRK

29 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Nam Myoho Renge KyoEvery day, twice a day, I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. You see it on the headline banner of my blog and I mention it often. I thought it would be beneficial for me to revisit the meaning and I would like to share it with you. This explanation and definition comes from the Sokka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism.

[南無妙法蓮華経] Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

The ultimate Law or truth of the universe, according to Nichiren’s teaching. Nichiren first taught the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to a small group of people at Seicho-ji temple in his native province of Awa, Japan, on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month in 1253. It literally means devotion to Myoho-renge-kyo. Myoho-renge-kyo is the Japanese title of the Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren regards as the sutra’s essence, and appending nam (a phonetic change of namu ) to that phrase indicates devotion to the title and essence of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren identifies it with the universal Law or principle implicit in the meaning of the sutra’s text.

The meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is explained in the opening section of The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the record of Nichiren’s lectures on the Lotus Sutra compiled by his disciple and successor, Nikko. It states that namu derives from the Sanskrit word namas and is translated as devotion, or as “dedicating one’s life.” What one should dedicate one’s life to, he says, are the Person and the Law. The Person signifies “Shakyamuni,” which means the eternal Buddha, and the Law is “the Lotus Sutra,” which means the ultimate truth, or Myoho-renge-kyo. According to Orally Transmitted Teachings, the act of devotion (namu) has two aspects: One is to devote oneself to, or fuse one’s life with, the eternal and unchanging truth; the other is that, through this fusion of one’s life with the ultimate truth, one simultaneously draws forth inexhaustible wisdom that functions in accordance with changing circumstances.

Orally Transmitted Teachings further states: “We may also note that the nam of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a Sanskrit word, while Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese words. Sanskrit and Chinese join in a single moment to form Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. If we express the title [of the Lotus Sutra] in Sanskrit, it will be Saddharma-pundarika-sutra. This is Myoho-renge-kyo. Sad (a phonetic change of sat ) means myo, or wonderful. Dharma means ho, Law or phenomena. Pundarika means renge, or lotus blossom. Sutra means kyo, or sutra. The nine Chinese characters [that represent the Sanskrit title] are the Buddha bodies of the nine honoured ones. This expresses the idea that the nine worlds are none other than the Buddha world.”

Myo stands for the Dharma nature, or enlightenment, while ho represents darkness, or ignorance. Together as myoho, they express the idea that ignorance and the Dharma nature are a single entity, or one in essence. Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity.”

Kyo represents the words and voices of all living beings. A commentary says, ‘The voice carries out the work of the Buddha, and it is called kyo.’ Kyo may also be defined as that which is constant and unchanging in the three existences of past, present, and future. The Dharma realm is myoho, the wonderful Law; the Dharma realm is renge, the lotus blossom; the Dharma realm is kyo, the sutra.”

As Nichiren states, namu derives from Sanskrit, and Myoho-renge-kyo comes from Chinese. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is, therefore, not simply a Japanese phrase, but a Japanese reading of a Sanskrit and Chinese phrase. In this sense, it contains aspects of the languages of three countries in which Mahayana Buddhism spread. According to Nichiren’s treatise The Entity of the Mystic Law, Nan-yüeh and T’ient’ai of China and Dengyoof Japan recited the invocation meaning devotion to the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as their private practice, but they did not spread this practice to others.

In On the Three Great Secret Laws, Nichiren states that the daimoku Nichiren chants today in the Latter Day of the Law is different from that of the previous ages—the daimoku T’ient’ai and others chanted in the Former Day and Middle Day of the Law—because the practice of daimoku in the Latter Day of the Law involves chanting it oneself and teaching others to do so as well. Nichiren not only established the invocation (daimoku) of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo but embodied it as a mandala, making it the object of devotion called Gohonzon. In Reply to Kyo’o, he states, “I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart. The Buddha’s will is the Lotus Sutra, but the soul of Nichiren is nothing other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (412).

Perfect Kindling For Faith

28 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Click here for detailsI know, I’m always going on about this brilliant book, but The Buddha, Geoff and Me will be available in Kindle format from May 3rd and not before time.

An amazing, invigorating and enlightening story about a young man’s friendship with a Nichiren Buddhist, who teaches him the principles of the religion and a lot more about the lessons of life.

For anyone interested in Buddhism (particularly Nichiren Buddhism) its teachings and practices, in the most readable style, the book is a must read.

This book will transform your thinking, help you to control your mood (life states) and lead you toward a more meaningful life. Buy it here in book form or in Kindle format here.

I don’t think it is overstating the case, when I say that this book changed the course of my life forever. It lead me to Nichiren Buddhism, and that in turn has transformed the way I think, speak and act, each and every day of my life.

It relates Nichiren Buddhism to everyday life so well, and in such an understandable form, it should be required reading for all students, it would change the world.

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