Chanting Growers Group

[easyDaimoku]

I'm still alive and still chanting: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

So many huge problems lately, but I'm remaining steadfast in my faith that the huge goodies are just around the corner. I wish you guys were physically here.

Thank you T for keeping it up and I'm glad you and the family had a nice time out west.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 832)
Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, July 23rd, 2012

 

[PassTheDoobie]

A passage from Josei Toda's "Precepts for Youth" reads: "Yet there are so many young people who are incapable of having compassion for their own parents. How can they be expected to care about perfect strangers? The effort to overcome the coldness and indifference in our own lives and attain the same state of compassion as the Buddha is the essence of human revolution."

SGI Newsletter No. 8550 - The New Human Revolution––Volume 25: Chapter 3, Installments: "Gentle Breeze" 19–20

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"The verse section of the chapter states, '... single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha, not hesitating even if it costs them their lives.' As a result of this passage, I have revealed the Buddhahood in my own life."

(Letter to Gijo-bo - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 389) Selection source: Myoji no Gen, July 19th, 2012

 

[El Bandito]

New member here and it looks like there are some like-minded folks. Nam myoho renge kyo, everyone. Great philosophy for gardeners...

 

[Bonzo]

Welcome DarkLotus215 and El Bandito!

nam myoho renge kyo!

hang in there brotha easy! keep doin' what you do!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Bonzo]

"Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 832)
Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, July 23rd, 2012

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Behind the two (chinese) characters for the word "earnestness" one finds the characters for "compassion" and "prayer". It is through our earnestness that bonds of trust and solidarity are built. Let's live each day of our lives victoriously and leave behind a magnificent history of accomplishments.

Daisaku Ikeda

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"Through chanting resonant daimoku, let’s cause the true, original essence of our lives to shine forth, give even greater play to our potential, and create a wonderful record of victory! This is the key to leading a life of complete fulfillment free of any regret.

"Second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda once declared: 'As champions of a noble cause, we must not be defeated; we must win without fail. That is why we speak out with all our might. Lions are distinguished by their roar.'

"Let’s engage in dialogue freely and tirelessly, spreading a fragrant breeze of friendship and trust far and wide."

SGI Newsletter No. 8533, On Our Shared Journey for Kosen-rufu, (10) Engaging in Dialogue with Courage and Confidence, from the 15th April, 2012, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated 8th June 2012.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"This life is like a dream. One cannot be sure that one will live until tomorrow. However wretched a beggar you might become, never disgrace the Lotus Sutra."

(A Warning against Begrudging One's Fief - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 824) Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, June 21st, 2010

 

[PassTheDoobie]

"When one comes to realise and see that each thing--the cherry, the plum, the peach, the damson--in its own entity, without undergoing any change, possesses the eternally endowed three bodies, then this is what is meant by the word ryo, 'to include' or 'all-inclusive'."

(Ongi kuden - Gosho Zenshu, page 784, The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, page 200) Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, July 25th, 2012

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), the Japanese industrialist and founder of Panasonic, and I were good friends and often spoke together. He said: "It may seem very hard to persevere with one thing and perfect it, but that is actually the most effective way to get ahead. Some people are always switching from one field to another, unable to choose and settle down. Sometimes this constant moving about leads to success, but, more often than not, it leads to disappointment."

One thing can open the way to everything. That is, in the process of mastering one thing, you end up learning about many other things, equipping you with the life skills and abilities to triumph in every area of your life.

SGI Newsletter No. 8552, To My Young Friends-Leaders of a New Age, [4] To Youth Entering the Workforce—Part 2 [of 3], from the May 23rd, 2012, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated 29th June 2012

 

[Payaso]

Konosuke Matsushita (1894-1989), the Japanese industrialist and founder of Panasonic, and I were good friends and often spoke together. He said: "It may seem very hard to persevere with one thing and perfect it, but that is actually the most effective way to get ahead. Some people are always switching from one field to another, unable to choose and settle down. Sometimes this constant moving about leads to success, but, more often than not, it leads to disappointment."

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

I find these words particularly important...sticking to one thing, one field or profession is an admirable thing to do and leads to success...as does chanting indefatigably...

Thank you Thomas for bringing me back down to earth once again...



Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

 

[Bonzo]

Howdy Payaso

nice Sunflower!

nam myoho renge kyo

 

[magiccannabus]

In some ways I have trouble relating to other Buddhists. My Buddhism doesn't involve any chanting or any other cultural/religious rituals. I don't hate it or anything, I just don't consider those things Buddhism. Maybe it just does nothing for me since I'm autistic, I don't know. I get so much more out of just reading the suttas and meditating. Seems like most Buddhist temples/study centers are Zen based here in the US. Not a lot of Theravada influence around here, which I suppose is the school I most identify with.

For those that do chant, do you normally chant in your native language, or do you chant a foreign language like Pali or Sanskrit. If the latter, do any of you know these languages? Does that affect how you perceive the experience of chanting?

 

[Payaso]

Howdy Bonzo!

Sunflower is from my garden. I never grew a sunflower before and it is amazing...

Working in the garden brings a smile to my face as does chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Welcome MagicCannabus! All I know about chanting is in what I said above...

I wouldn't do it if it did nothing for me or the world around us.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Removed to comply with threads original intent

 

[ClackamasCootz]

Removed to comply with threads original intent

 

[magiccannabus]

Welcome MagicCannabus! All I know about chanting is in what I said above...

I wouldn't do it if it did nothing for me or the world around us.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Nice to meet you I get the feeling that the chanting is, for many people an intuitive mental pathway for the development of positive states, or at least a mental exercise to gear the intentions in one direction or another. I just find the practice fascinating because it does nothing for me in those regards. I'm not trying to suggest I have some issue with it, but instead I am genuinely curious about it. That's the main reason I asked about the language used in the chanting. Others tend to approach things with intuitive paths that I must reason out differently due to some neurological differences.

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Nice to meet you I get the feeling that the chanting is, for many people an intuitive mental pathway for the development of positive states, or at least a mental exercise to gear the intentions in one direction or another. I just find the practice fascinating because it does nothing for me in those regards. I'm not trying to suggest I have some issue with it, but instead I am genuinely curious about it. That's the main reason I asked about the language used in the chanting. Others tend to approach things with intuitive paths that I must reason out differently due to some neurological differences.

You made me smile.

Well we appreciate that you correctly couch your perception as nothing more than a feeling and certainly not something that you have personally experienced. Since you already apparently know a lot about Buddhism, know that we have been talking about the type that is discussed in this thread for more than eight years. The “Chanting” of “Chanting Growers Group” is specifically chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. As a result of that, most of us would consider ourselves Nichiren Buddhists specifically. We would postulate that no person could chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and have no positive result. There are more than 1000 pages here discussing that. Before jumping in too far, it might be appropriate to read a few.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
[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 honored 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 Dengyo of 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" (WND/412).