Practice 
Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 07:17:24 AM MST
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Is eating fish and meat wrong?
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Thu Jul 02, 2009 at 09:35:41 AM MDT
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(Let the debate begin! - promoted by buddhajones)
Does Marijuana impede the road to Enlightenment?
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Wed Jan 21, 2009 at 15:01:42 PM MST
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A frequently asked question in Nichiren Buddhist circles is: How does practice contribute to one's happiness?
There are mystical, woo-woo answers which are valid, but I would like to offer a practical answer having nothing to do with faith, belief or doctrine. This answer was inspired partly by yesterday's post on developing self-respect.....
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Tue Dec 02, 2008 at 12:55:42 PM MST
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Precious Metal has the scoop from Wales Online:
People have used chanting as part of healing rituals for thousands of years. The health aspect of chanting is distinct from its spiritual connections, which date back in the West to the Gregorian monks.
Keep reading.
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Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 01:15:09 AM MST
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Return to the Center paid a visit to a Nipponzan Myohojii Peace Pagoda:
The sign in the parking lot says that the Pagoda is a visible form of prayer - just like the monks walking and chanting and drumming I suppose. Prayer for peace as a means to form intention and affect a metanoia is certainly important. I think what might be equally important is to be visible. I find it all too easy to forget about peace, and not just peace writ large in the world, but peaceful action and thought within the confines of my tiny life (exspecially during the ironically-named "holiday season"). I welcome and need the reminders that places like the Peace Pagoda provide.
Photos on flickr.
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Discuss
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Thu Nov 20, 2008 at 17:00:08 PM MST
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Hey, I've received a couple of requests for info on where/how to learn Nichiren gongyo, the daily recitation of portions of the Lotus Sutra.
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....
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Thu Nov 06, 2008 at 15:04:31 PM MST
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Charles Atkins offers a summary of combining silent meditation and mantra-powered visualization. Excerpt:
In recent years, I have introduced ten to twenty minutes of mindfulness into my practice, prior to chanting daimoku and reciting gongyo. At first, it was astonishing to witness what an uncontrollable chaos emerged once I closed my eyes to be in the present moment. If I could give you a visual of my mind when I began mindfulness, it would be like a plane flying through an electrical storm with pockets of turbulence and the flash of lightning jolting the aircraft every which-way. Perhaps it could be compared to a raging bonfire with sparks shooting into the sky. Now, with little effort, my plane glides effortlessly through the clear air, and the bonfire has been reduced to a glowing bed of coals.
It is my belief that chanting daimoku for healing can benefit us greatly by beginning with quiet meditation that prepares us for mantra-powered visualization.
He also offers easy instructions for mantra-powered visualization.
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Fri Oct 24, 2008 at 14:27:35 PM MDT
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Three hours. Ten hours. We called it a "toso," a full day or evening of chanting. I used to participate in "million daimoku" campaigns, which amounted to hundreds of hours of chanting within a prescribed period of no more than three months.
I used to swear by it. When I needed a "benefit" or "breakthrough," I chanted obsessively. The group in which I practiced at the time applauded such an approach to Buddhist practice, hosting group chant-a-thons for specific purposes, such as the defeat of a rival sect.
Looking back, I am horrified. I feel that such practice is rooted in ignorance.
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Wed Oct 22, 2008 at 11:34:21 AM MDT
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Well, it's more civil than kerfuffly.
Charles Atkins announced new plans for distributing what he's calling the Kito Mandala.
Rev. Ryuei raised questions and concerns in the comments section of Charles' blog. He also crossposted to Sangha for Independents here and followed up here.
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Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 20:53:18 PM MDT
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Wake Up To Your Life by Ken Mcleod has been my main Buddhist practice book. It's very practical and encourages one not to believe anything. Rather than enlightenment, he discusses waking up. Hence the title of his book. To wake up, is to not be asleep in one's reactive patterns. In a nutshell, he advocates cultivating attention through a meditation practice, bringing attention to our reactive patterns thus stealing their power, and the result is pristine awareness/experience and compassion. Well, is this what is done in chanting?
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Thu Oct 16, 2008 at 15:06:02 PM MDT
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Continuing my thoughts about "chanting works"....
In the Bowling Club, "experiences" are a big part of the Nichiren Buddhist hard sell; "experiences" are the centerpiece of every proselytizing meeting and publication. An "experience" is the story of how a chanter chants for something -- a job, a girlfriend, a role in a movie, whatever -- and how, through somewhat mystical means attributable to Namu-myoho-renge-kyo, the person gets what he or she wanted or something even better.
As I said in my earlier post, I'm more skeptical of these stories than I used to be. Even so, the efficacy of chanting has been "proven" to me over and over again. What I'm reaching for is a new way to talk about "experiences."
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Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 16:10:46 PM MDT
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Many chanters say that if you chant namu-myoho-renge-kyo, it "works." Can you feel your Buddhist practice working? Does your scalp tingle? Do your clogged sinuses miraculously drain? What does it feel like when practice works?
For some of us, "working" means getting stuff we're praying about -- material stuff such as money, jobs or opportunities as well as "spiritual" stuff such as insight, equanimity or desired personality traits.
Arguably, acquiring (or wanting to acquire) "spiritual" things is fundamentally a materialistic approach -- what Chogyam Trungpa called spiritual materialism.
So when we say that chanting "works," are we necessarily talking about material gain? Or is the "benefit of practice" something more, um, ineffable?
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Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 15:46:03 PM MDT
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The web is bursting with Buddhist brainiacs who've read all the teachings and know all the shizz. I'm not one of them. I'm ignorant, and that's OK. When it comes to practicing Buddhism, there can be value in knowin' squat.
Lots of people are intimidated by the obscure vocabulary of Buddhism. They're flummoxed by intricate theories and doctrines. Worse, they worry that they need to have the "right attitude" (some kind of reverence?) or feel a deep sense of meaning or personal connection to Buddhism to benefit from chanting Namu-myoho-renge-kyo.
To them, I say: It's so basic and simple. Just chant Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. Why complicate it?
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Sun Sep 07, 2008 at 14:47:50 PM MDT
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Lawddy knows, I've been struggling to understand my relationship to the practice of chanting. In and out of various organizations and small groups -- and even in my investigation of other traditions -- I've always held fast to Namu-myoho-renge-kyo. So this diary is not meant to be definitive -- it's a snapshot of my thinking right now.
Deardenver's trajectory is similar to mine. She said something to me in passing that someone had said to her (sorry for the spotty attribution) something like, "Chant to Jesus." I took it and ran with it...
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Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 15:06:46 PM MDT
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In Buddhism, the First Noble Truth is "that life is suffering. To live, you must suffer. It is impossible to live without experiencing some kind of suffering. We have to endure physical suffering like sickness, injury, tiredness, old age and eventually death and we have to endure psychological suffering like loneliness, frustrations, fear, embarrassment, disappointment, anger, etc."
This is the first of the Four Noble Truths, of course. I'm noticing more and more that American culture is struggling to deal with suffering.
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