Chanting Growers Group

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo
I have a pretty big challenge coming up tomorrow ... would appreciate some Daimoku. Nothing serious in the world of medical procedures ... but a pretty big deal to me
Thanks and much love to you all
thank you all for the support that this thread has brought for so many years now.
Nam myoho renge kyo .... like the roar of the lion

 

[Lapides]

You know you've got me in your corner Babba!

Good morning friends!

Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo!

 

[EasyMyohoDisco]

Nam myoho renge kyo
I have a pretty big challenge coming up tomorrow ... would appreciate some Daimoku. Nothing serious in the world of medical procedures ... but a pretty big deal to me
Thanks and much love to you all
thank you all for the support that this thread has brought for so many years now.
Nam myoho renge kyo .... like the roar of the lion

Been chanting for you to win with this for most of the year. Today is the beginning you will win!!!

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the
doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped
it within the five characters [of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then
adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age.

(WND, 376)
The Object of devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth
Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing
Written to Toki Jonin on April 25, 1273

 

[SoCal Hippy]

It may seem perfectly all right to put ourselves and our own wishes first, to
simply follow the dictates of our emotions and cravings, but the truth is that
there is nothing more unreliable than our own mind. Life doesn't always go like
clockwork and things will not necessarily turn out as we hope or plan.
Consequently, Nichiren Daishonin frequently stressed: You should become the
master of your mind, not let your mind master you. We mustn't allow ourselves to
be ruled by a self-centered mind. Rather, we have to discipline our mind and
gain mastery over it. This is the Daishonin's strict admonition.

Daisaku Ikeda


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[AfroSheep]

Good morning to you all, got a call back for my new job, have a trial 2mro all is going well so far. a chant for the morning is in order.


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[unclefishstick]

nice! i got past another of the crux moves on the rock climb i have been working on...four trips,50 odd attempts,and who knows how many Nam Myoho Renge Kyo's later and another five feet of rock climbed! lol

 

[Babbabud]

Good morning friends !!
Nam myoho renge kyo !!

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

Good Morning

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[SoCal Hippy]

It must be ties of karma from the distant past that have destined you to become
my disciple at a time like this. Shakyamuni and Many Treasures certainly
realized this truth. The sutra's statement, "Those persons who had heard the Law
dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company
with their teachers," cannot be false in any way.

(WND, 217)
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272

 

[SoCal Hippy]

The Daishonin has taught us that through gongyo and chanting daimoku we can
reach an elevated state in which, while engaged in our daily lives we travel
throughout the entire universe. When you worship the Gohonzon, the door to your
microcosm is opened to the entire universe, the macrocosm, and you experience a
great, boundless joy, as if you were looking out over the entire cosmos. You
feel great satisfaction and rejoicing, a great wisdom, as if you held the entire
universe in your palm.

Daisaku Ikeda


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[AfroSheep]

Good morning it is, have my trial for my job today, getting excited.

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

 

[en-lighten-ment]

Thank you,
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

 

[Weird]

Good Morning

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[Weird]

It must be ties of karma from the distant past that have destined you to become
my disciple at a time like this. Shakyamuni and Many Treasures certainly
realized this truth. The sutra's statement, "Those persons who had heard the Law
dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company
with their teachers," cannot be false in any way.

(WND, 217)
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272

I wrote a devotional this morning about this and then I erased it, but I re-read these posts and this is ties into what I was writing so I will try again.

Once again I am humbled by the law of cause and effect, enlightenment and truth.

I have to share that I do not think I could be here now, if others did not wish it for me before. And I mean, specifically in Buddhist terms, "seeing" & understanding the 3 evil paths, the self imposed hells that I had found my life contained to.

chanting and giving selflessly frees us, not just you, not just me, but as nichiren has shared US both you and me and not just for now, but in doing so we effect the energy of the world around us for generations to come.

I was shown the "chain" of karma started, the "boddhisattva" practice of my mother and grandfather and others (and so important in this equation, you, my fellow chanters) before me. they were not without fault and did not live perfect lives but they gave selflessly and with much faith and in seeing their wish for freedom from our own self imposed hells from selfless giving and how it has come to manifest itself in my life today, it brings credence to the truth that karmic energy transverses lifetimes, people and the start of karmic change effects all those you are connected to

we all need to be free of "the demons of this world" (the energy people who are in the 3 evil paths manifest and put out into the world karmicaly) if we are to embrace our buddha nature, so as I have found tranquillity in my being I have been shown the lack of tranquility on others and the difficulty they have in seeing the dynamic that prevents them from finding it

so I chant more now, because the people around me need to have an understanding to the true nature of things and the spontaneous law of cause and effect, and I hope this for them when I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

the place to practice this and see it come full circle is your garden, try it, chant to it, give selfless to it, and then give some of it selfless to someone who could really use it

even if you can only spare a small portion, put the dynamics into effect and see the greater cause and effect and perhaps it inspire you to continue

we dont need to be buddha to make buddha work in our lives, we simply need to give compassionately, selflessly and faithfully (be the bodhisattva) and the law of cause and effect will do the rest

dont let the negative virtues of the people around you daunt your journey because as much as the negative virtues of people can manifest into energy and effect the world, the energy is chaotic and without understanding. The positive energy of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, the true understanding of the nature of things and the spontaneous law of cause and effect, trumps that of the energy of our 3 evils paths.

The one thing I do with fair regularity is chant, and its kept me sane and in understanding in a world were delusion of all sorts seeks to assail me

since this started, chanting, every time i get a attack against my perception, and i feel my nature change and my actions differ, I have a tool one that really works.

now I am bipolar and most of these "attacks" are mania, depression or anxiety stages and when I have them my emotions so heavily bias my perception that I see things form a very deluded perception I actually feel a reality emotionally that does not exists, like extreme fear when the condition to cause fear does not rationally exist

chanting, it re-aligns my psyche, so that i am in harmony again with my being

no other drug does that, psyche drug or otherwise and they simply stuff the feeling away it always returns

this tool is teaching me to see past the delusion into the truth AND MY BODY, MIND, BRAIN CHEMISTRY ARE GOING BACK TO ALSO COMPLYING

no drug ever brought me to homeostasis

if anyone here is bipolar, schizophrenic, anxiety or panic disorder, or any chemical imbalance that is difficult to manage can appreciate the severity of these disorders and the what it is like to experience them

i know this a bit disjointed of a message, but the cause and effect in my life are becoming more clear as I practice chanting and I hope only to share some of the observations of cause and effect in my life in regards to the Buddhist understanding in hopes that everyone can achieve discovering and living to their full potential in this lifetime

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Shakyamuni's practices and the virtues he consequently attained are all
contained within the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo. If we believe in these
five characters, we will naturally be granted the same benefits as he was.

(WND, 365)
The Object of devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth
Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing
Written to Toki Jonin on April 25, 1273

 

[SoCal Hippy]

The Gohonzon is the concrete manifestation of the very existence of Nichiren
Daishonin, who taught kosen-rufu. Because of that, if you only practice gongyo
and chant daimoku and don't take any other action for the sake of kosen-rufu or
improving your own life, the Gohonzon will not have its true, full effect. If,
however, you take actions to achieve kosen-rufu, they will serve as that extra
push for your own life and help you leap to higher and higher states of mind in
you gongyo and chanting.

Daisaku Ikeda


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Gohonzon
[御本尊] ( Jpn)

The object of devotion. The word go is an honorific prefix, and honzon means object of fundamental respect or devotion. In Nichiren's (1222-1282) teaching, the object of devotion has two aspects: the object of devotion in terms of the Law and the object of devotion in terms of the Person. These may be described as follows: (1) The object of devotion in terms of the Law: Nichiren's mandala that embodies the eternal and intrinsic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That Law is the source of all Buddhas and the seed of Buddhahood for all people. In other words, Nichiren identified Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the ultimate Law permeating life and the universe, and embodied it in the form of a mandala. In his Questions and Answers on the Object of Devotion, Nichiren refers to the object of devotion for people in the Latter Day of the Law as "the title (daimoku) of the Lotus Sutra." He further describes the title as the essence of the Lotus Sutra, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to be found only in the depths of the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the sutra. The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind reads, "Myoho-renge-kyo appears in the center of the [treasure] tower with the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures seated to the right and left, and, flanking them, the four bodhisattvas, followers of Shakyamuni, led by Superior Practices. Manjushri, Maitreya, and the other bodhisattvas, who are followers of the four bodhisattvas, are seated below" (366). In this passage, Nichiren clarifies the relationship between the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the Buddhas Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, and the various bodhisattvas depicted on the Gohonzon. In this way he emphasizes Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the fundamental object of devotion. The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon explains that all living beings of the Ten Worlds "display the dignified attributes that they inherently possess" (832) through the benefit of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren viewed the Dai-Gohonzon, the object of devotion he inscribed for all humanity on the twelfth day of the tenth month in 1279, as the purpose of his life. This can be gleaned from his statement in On Persecutions Befalling the Sage, written in the tenth month of 1279: "The Buddha fulfilled the purpose of his advent in a little over forty years, the Great Teacher T'ient'ai took about thirty years, and the Great Teacher Dengyo, some twenty years. I have spoken repeatedly of the indescribable persecutions they suffered during those years. For me it took twenty-seven years, and the great persecutions I faced are well known to you all" (996). The object of devotion in terms of the Law is explained in greater detail in Nichiren's writings such as The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind and The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon.
(2) The object of devotion in terms of the Person: In his Reply to Kyo'o, Nichiren writes, "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). Nichiren here expresses his realization of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the origin and basis of his life, which he embodied in sumi ink in the form of the mandala he calls the Gohonzon. In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, he says, "The object of devotion is thus the entity of the entire body of the votary of the Lotus Sutra." "The votary" here refers to Nichiren himself. He also says, "The Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law is an ordinary person and an ordinary priest." "An ordinary priest" here refers to Nichiren. Because Nichiren revealed and spread Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is manifest as the Person and the Law, he is regarded by his disciple and designated successor Nikkoand his followers as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. Nichiren himself writes in The Opening of the Eyes: "On the twelfth day of the ninth month of last year [1271], between the hours of the rat and the ox [11:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M.], this person named Nichiren was beheaded. It is his soul that has come to this island of Sado and, in the second month of the following year, snowbound, is writing this to send to his close disciples" (269). He states that he "was beheaded," though actually he survived the execution at Tatsunokuchi, implying that the ordinary person Nichiren ceased to exist. In this context, the passage "It is his soul that has come to this island of Sado [his place of exile]" means that Nichiren described himself as having revealed a deeper, true identity in the course of his attempted execution. Again Nikkoand his followers equate that identity with the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.
(3) The oneness of the Person and the Law: This means that the object of devotion in terms of the Person and the object of devotion in terms of the Law are one in their essence. The Law is inseparable from the Person, and vice versa. The object of devotion in terms of the Law is the physical embodiment, as a mandala (the Gohonzon), of the eternal and intrinsic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren writes in his Reply to Kyo'o, "I, Nichiren, have inscribed my life in sumi ink, so believe in the Gohonzon with your whole heart" (412). This passage indicates that Nichiren embodied in the Gohonzon the state of life he enjoyed as the eternal Buddha who personified the Law, so that people could attain the same state of enlightenment. The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings reads: "The 'body that is freely received and used [also, the Buddha of limitless joy]' is none other than the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. The Great Teacher Dengyosays: 'A single moment of life comprising the three thousand realms is itself the "body that is freely received and used"; this Buddha has forsaken august appearances. The Buddha who has forsaken august appearances is the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies.' Now Nichiren and his followers who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are just this." "The Buddha who has forsaken august appearances" means a Buddha who is no different from an ordinary person in form and appearance.
(4) The core of the Three Great Secret Laws: The Gohonzon, or the object of devotion of the essential teaching, is the core of the Three Great Secret Laws in Nichiren's doctrine and represents the purpose of his life. The Three Great Secret Laws are the object of devotion of the essential teaching, the invocation, or daimoku, of the essential teaching, and the sanctuary of the essential teaching. Here, "essential teaching" refers to the teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, not to the essential teaching (latter half) of the Lotus Sutra. Nichiren expressed the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo he realized within his own life in these three forms, which correspond to the three types of learning in Buddhism—precepts, meditation, and wisdom. The object of devotion corresponds to meditation, the invocation to wisdom, and the sanctuary to precepts. Sanctuary is a translation of the Japanese word kaidan, which is also translated as "ordination platform." This is a platform where practitioners vow to uphold the Buddhist precepts. In Nichiren's teaching, to embrace the object of devotion is the only precept, and the place where one enshrines the object of devotion and chants the daimoku is called the sanctuary. Again to keep faith in the object of devotion and chant the daimoku while teaching others to chant it is called the invocation. Both the sanctuary and the invocation derive from the object of devotion. Hence the object of devotion is the core of all three. For this reason the Gohonzon, or object of devotion, is also referred to as the One Great Secret Law.
(5) The inscriptions on the Gohonzon: In the center of the Go-honzon are written the Chinese characters "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Nichiren." This indicates the oneness of the Person and the Law. On either side there are characters for the names of beings representing each of the Ten Worlds. At the top of the Gohonzon, the names of Shakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Buddha appear respectively to the immediate left and right (when facing the Gohonzon) of these central characters. They represent the realm or world of Buddhahood. The four bodhisattvas—Superior Practices, Boundless Practices, Pure Practices, and Firmly Established Practices—who lead the other Bodhisattvas of the Earth are positioned to the left and right of the two Buddhas. They, along with other bodhisattvas in the second row from the top such as Universal Worthy and Manjushri, represent the realm of bodhisattvas. Also in the second row are persons of the two vehicles—voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones, such as Shariputra and Mahakashyapa—and flanking them are representatives of the realm of heavenly beings, such as Brahma, Shakra, the devil king of the sixth heaven, and the gods of the sun and moon. In the third row appear a wheel-turning king, representing the realm of human beings; an asura king, representing the realm of asuras; a dragon king, representing the realm of animals; the Mother of Demon Children and the ten demon daughters, representing the realm of hungry spirits; and Devadatta, representing the realm of hell. Moreover, the four heavenly kings are positioned in the four corners of the Gohonzon: (again, when facing the Gohonzon) Vaishravana in the upper left, Upholder of the Nation in the upper right, Wide-Eyed in the lower right, and Increase and Growth in the lower left. While all other figures on the Gohonzon are represented in Chinese characters, the names of the wisdom king Craving-Filled and the wisdom king Immovable are written below Vaishravana and Upholder of the Nation respectively in Siddham, a medieval Sanskrit script. Here the wisdom king Craving-Filled represents the principle that earthly desires are enlightenment, and the wisdom king Immovable, the principle that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. Other characters on the Gohonzon include the names of Great Bodhisattva Hachiman and the Sun Goddess. All these names express the principles that the Ten Worlds exist within the eternal Buddha's life, and that living beings of the Ten Worlds can attain Buddhahood. Not all of the above names appear on every Gohonzon that is transcribed from the Dai-Gohonzon, but whichever ones do appear represent all of the Ten Worlds.The names of the Great Teacher T'ient'ai and the Great Teacher Dengyoare inscribed in the lower part of the Gohonzon representing those who transmitted the true lineage of Buddhism. There are two inscriptions gleaned from Miao-lo's Annotations on "The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra," which Nichiren used to describe the power of the Gohonzon and the Law it embodies. One, placed in the upper right (facing the Gohonzon), reads, "Those who vex or trouble [the practitioners of the Law] will have their heads split into seven pieces." The other, in the upper left, reads, "Those who give alms [to them] will enjoy good fortune surpassing the ten honorable titles." The ten honorable titles are epithets applied to the Buddha expressing his virtue, wisdom, and compassion. In the lower right is Nichiren's declaration that "This is the great mandala never before known in the entire land of Jambudvipa in the more than 2,230 years since the Buddha's passing.

 

[SoCal Hippy]

kosen-rufu
[広宣流布] ( Jpn)

Wide propagation, or wide proclamation and propagation. A term from the Lotus Sutra that literally means to declare and spread widely. The "Medicine King" (twenty-third) chapter of the Lotus Sutra reads, "After I [Shakyamuni Buddha] have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it abroad widely (kosen-rufu) throughout Jambudvipa and never allow it to be cut off." Nichiren (1222-1282), identifying himself as the votary of the Lotus Sutra, made it his lifelong mission to fulfill the above injunction of the Buddha, that is, kosen-rufu. He saw widely propagating his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which he identified as the essence of the sutra, as the fulfillment of that mission.

Nichiren wrote in his Selection of the Time, "Can there be any doubt that, after this period described in the Great Collection Sutra when 'the pure Law will become obscured and lost,' the great pure Law of the Lotus Sutra will be spread far and wide (kosen-rufu) throughout Japan and all the other countries of Jambudvipa?" (550).

In The True Aspect of All Phenomena, he also wrote, "At the time when the Law has spread far and wide (kosen-rufu), the entire Japanese nation will chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as surely as an arrow aimed at the earth cannot miss the target" (385).In On Practicing the Buddha's Teachings, he wrote: "The time will come when all people will abandon the various kinds of vehicles and take up the single vehicle of Buddhahood, and the Mystic Law alone will flourish throughout the land. When the people all chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the wind will no longer buffet the branches, and the rain will no longer break the clods of soil. The world will become as it was in the ages of Fu Hsi and Shen Nung" (392). He meant that the spread of the Mystic Law would bring about peace in society and nature.

Source:

http://www.sgilibrary.org/list_dict.php?list=k