Learning Nichiren Gongyo Online

by: beryl

Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 16:00:08 PM PST

I learned it by hearing others do it. I followed along, trying to mouth the syllables. I don't know anyone who has fully mastered it in the sense that they never trip and always pronounce every syllable clearly and completely. But then, perfection isn't exactly the goal. Cris Roman wrote about his relationship with gongyo here.

Thankfully, there are tons of great online resources to help you learn gongyo....

YouTube has dozens of helpful videos. Here are three of note....

Well-done abbreviated gongyo:

This one is a little faster than many of the "learn gongyo" recordings, with hiki daimoku at the end. The scrolling syllables are a great help.

I say "abbreviated" meaning it's what we used to call "A and C" gongyo. But I realize that many newer chanters have never heard of "Part B" since the SGI cut it from their practice a few years ago. If anyone has a link to a full ABC recitation, please post it or send it to me.

Very slow gongyo for beginners only:

With this one, you can read along with the text, but it doesn't scroll. The very slow pace may start to bug you.

Crazy-fast rocket gongyo:

Perfect if you're running late. But it might make you laugh.

SGI stalwart Bob Hasegawa's American Gongyo site might be helpful, but I'm turned off by his using it as an opportunity to shill for donations of real estate and more to SGI-USA, saying: "...the giving of heartfelt gifts is the duty of us loyal members."

Ugh. Why go there if you can learn gongyo elsewhere for free and without the "loyalty" guilt trip?

Also of note on the American Gongyo site are the supposed "10 Good Reasons to Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo:"

1. Use the Ultimate Law of the Universe for Your Real Happiness (a.k.a., Enlightenment or Buddhahood).

2. Get Rid of Bad Karma and Build Good Karma. Change Defeat into Victory; Loss into Gain; Poison into Medicine.

3. Overcome Your Fears, Painful Memories and Phobias.

4. Understand Your Life Condition With an Enlightened Mind.

5. Relate to People in Your Environment on the Highest Level.

6. Control the Lower Four Worlds of Hell, Hunger, Dominant/Submissive Attitudes and Anger.

7. Find and Keep Actual Love.

8. Understand and Get What You Really Need for Your Happiness. (What Do I want out of life?)

9. Increase the Span of Your Life; Overcome the Sufferings of Birth, Old Age, Sickness, Death and Re-birth.

10. Get Stuff You May Want, Including Freedom, Wealth, Love, Friends, Work Satisfaction and Joy By Buddhafying Yourself.

Holy crap. If you're wondering why Nichiren Buddhism has gotten a bad rap as materialistic, asinine quackery, look no further. I think I've found a new example to add to my Dubious Daimoku collection.

I much prefer Terri Moore's gently optimisticTop Ten Reasons to Chant.

Got a good gongyo-related link? Please share it.