The Moment of Death, and Changing Karma

by: beryl

Wed Aug 13, 2008 at 12:40:18 PM PDT

Changing karma may be the quintessential benefit of practicing Nichiren Buddhism. Karma is the flow of internal cause to latent effect in time and space. If you want to know why your life is the way it is right now, look at all the causes that have preceded the present moment. If you want to know your future, look at what you're doing right now.

When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we gain the ability to change our karma. How is this possible? What does it mean?

Gongyo: An Intensely Personal Symphony

by: beryl

Tue Aug 05, 2008 at 14:11:47 PM PDT

The final "add on" to Nichiren Buddhist practice is something called gongyo, which involves the daily recitation of the Lotus Sutra.

I have repeatedly stated that the beauty of the Daishonin's teaching is in its accessibility to every human being, in any condition of life. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon will yield results without fail. Gongyo is perhaps less accessible.

Although I personally find gongyo to be one of the loveliest features of the practice, it is also the most difficult to integrate into one's daily life. If the Gohonzon can be said to be the largest theoretical hurdle that one must clear in approaching the practice of the Daishonin's Buddhism, then gongyo is the greatest practical hurdle.

The Eternal Buddha

by: robin

Fri Aug 01, 2008 at 14:43:47 PM PDT

Theoretical Underpinnings of the Gohonzon, Part Two

by: buddhajones

Tue Jul 29, 2008 at 23:13:43 PM PDT

Remember how I talked about the futility of trying to figure out which one of the Ten Worlds you might be in at any given moment? The theory of mutual possession explains that the Ten Worlds operate as a flowing continuum. Life is not a static process.

Theoretical Underpinnings of the Gohonzon

by: beryl

Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 13:26:56 PM PDT

According to all the Buddhist teachings, the essential nature of our own being is Buddha nature. But how can we perceive our essential nature?

Nichiren described the Gohonzon in a writing entitled "The True Object of Worship for Perceiving the Nature of Your Own Being." This concept of "perceiving the nature of your own being" is known as kanjin.

A Personal Relationship with the Gohonzon

by: beryl

Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 12:59:22 PM PDT

With these writings, I hope to give practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism a leg up on what it took me more than twenty years to figure out.

I suspect that anyone hearing about Nichiren for the first time might have a reaction similar to mine back in 1968. Hearing about the chant was bizarre enough, and I had trouble seeing the relevance regarding what a thirteenth-century Japanese monk had to say about religion. Nonetheless, the promises given me about the effects of chanting were tantalizing, so I decided to give it a try. In those days, it was quite easy to receive a Gohonzon and after about six weeks of chanting, I received mine.

The Gohonzon and Bodhisattva Practice

by: beryl

Mon Jul 21, 2008 at 13:52:32 PM PDT

I feel that Nichiren must have been continually working in his subconscious on the what and when of the Gohonzon. There is evidence to support the notion that the Gohonzon was a work in progress.

Each year, the Head Temple of Nichiren Shoshu holds an "airing" ceremony in which many of the Gohonzon inscribed by Nichiren are placed on display for believers. Looking at this collection, it is clear that Nichiren's notion of what the Gohonzon should include evolved as the years passed.

A Focal Point for One's Faith

by: beryl

Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 13:23:50 PM PDT

Although Nichiren advocated the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the mantra which all humans could use to actualize the Buddhist teaching, he did not invent that mantra. It is, as I explained, derived from the Sanskrit Nam prefacing the Lotus Sutra title, Myoho-renge-kyo.

There is evidence that Japanese Buddhist priests prior to Nichiren knew of the mantra's power and may have even chanted it. Additionally, the great Chinese teacher, T'ien-t'ai, who did seminal work on the Lotus Sutra, was also said to have referenced the efficacy of chanting the sutra's title.

For whatever reason, though, these priests preceding Nichiren did not widely spread the mantra. They may have sensed that it was not their job or perhaps that the time was not appropriate. Whatever the reason, Nichiren was the one who both revealed and aggressively propagated the teaching throughout his life and was continually persecuted as a result.