Chanting Growers Group (2013-∞)

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, August 14, 2014:

Let us openly and clearly outline the virtues of Myoho-renge-kyo! Just as poisonous compounds are changed into medicine, so these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo change evil into good.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1064
White Horses and White Swans
Written to the lady of Utubusa on August 14, 1280

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, August 15, 2014:

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.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 412
Reply to Kyo'o
Written to Kyo'o and her parents, Nichigen-nyo and Shijo Kingo, on August 15, 1273

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, August 16, 2014:

A person's death is not determined by illness. In our own time, the people of Iki and Tsushima, though not suffering from illness, were slaughtered in an instant by the Mongols. It is not certain that, because one is ill, one will die. And could not this illness of your husband's be the Buddha's design, because the Vimalakirti and Nirvana sutras both teach that sick people will surely attain Buddhahood? Illness gives rise to the resolve to attain the way.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 937
The Good Medicine for All Ills
Written to the lay nun Myoshin on August 16, probably in 1278

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, August 17, 2014:

Rice is what sustains life. It is like the oil that sustains the life of the lamp. The Lotus Sutra is a lamp, and its votary is the oil that sustains it. Or again, the lay supporters are the oil that sustains the lamp of the votary.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 983
King Rinda
Written to Soya Doso on August 17, 1279

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, August 18, 2014:

People have varied tastes. Some prefer good and some prefer evil. There are many kinds of people. But though they differ from one another in such ways, once they enter into the Lotus Sutra, they all become like a single person in body and a single person in mind. This is just like the myriad different rivers that, when they flow into the ocean, all take on a uniformly salty flavor, or like the many kinds of birds that, when they approach Mount Sumeru, all assume the same [golden] hue.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1042
The Treasure of a Filial Child
Written to the lay nun Sennichi on July 2, 1280

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, August 19, 2014:

During [Sudatta's] last period of poverty, when all the people had fled or perished and only he and his wife remained, they had five measures of rice that would nourish them for five days. At that time, five people—Mahakashyapa, Shariputra, Ananda, Rahula and Shakyamuni Buddha—came one after another to beg for the five measures of rice, which Sudatta gave them. From that day on, Sudatta was the wealthiest man in all India, and he built the Jetavana Monastery. From this, you should understand all things.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1086
The Wealthy Man Sudatta
Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on December 27, 1280

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Wednesday, August 20, 2014:

And do not go around lamenting to others how hard it is for you to live in this world. To do so is an act utterly unbecoming to a worthy man.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 850
The Three Kinds of Treasure
Written to Shijo Kingo on September 11, 1277

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, August 21, 2014:

T'ien-t'ai states, "By observing the fury of the rain, we can tell the greatness of the dragon that caused it, and by observing the flourishing of the lotus flowers, we can tell the depth of the pond they grow in." Miao-lo says, "Wise men can perceive the cause of things, as snakes know the way of snakes." When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated. Similarly, when one knows the Lotus Sutra, one understands the meaning of all worldly affairs.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 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

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, August 22, 2014:

By considering the magnitude of the punishment suffered by those who harbor enmity toward the Lotus Sutra, we can understand the magnitude of the benefits obtained by devoting oneself to it.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1095
Reply to Jibu-bo
Written to Jibu-bo on August 22, 1281

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, August 23, 2014:

How wondrous it is that, around two hundred years and more into the Latter Day of the Law, I was the first to reveal as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra this great mandala that even those such as Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu, T'ien-t'ai and Miao-lo were unable to express! This mandala is in no way my invention. It is the object of devotion that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One, seated in the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas who were Shakyamuni's emanations as perfectly as a print matches its woodblock.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 831
The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon
Written to Nichinyo on August 23, 1277

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, August 24, 2014:

If there is one who can cause others to awaken to and take faith in a teaching such as this, then that person is their father and mother, and also their good friend. This is a person of wisdom.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 620
The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day
Written to Toki Jonin on August 23, 1275

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, August 25, 2014:

This Gohonzon is the essence of the Lotus Sutra and the eye of all the scriptures. It is like the sun and moon in the heavens, a great ruler on earth, the heart in a human being, the wish-granting jewel among treasures and the pillar of a house. When we have this mandala with us, it is a rule that all Buddhas and gods will gather round and watch over us, protecting us like a shadow day and night, just as warriors guard their ruler, as parents love their children, as fish rely on water, as trees and plants crave rain, or as birds depend on trees.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 624
On Upholding Faith in the Gohonzon
Written to the lay nun Myoshin on August 25, 1275

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, August 26, 2014:

It is easy to sustain our concern for someone who is before our very eyes, but quite a different thing when that person is far away, even though in our heart we may not forget him. Nevertheless, in the five years. . . that have already passed since I came to live here in the mountains, you have sent your husband from the province of Sado to visit me three times. How great is your sincerity! It is firmer than the great earth, deeper than the great sea!

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 933
The Sutra of True Requital
Written to the lay nun Sennichi on July 28, 1278

 

[Forest20]

Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Babbabud]

home from fires for a cpl day of rest
Nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Wednesday, August 27, 2014:

Mugwort that grows in the midst of hemp or a snake inside a tube [will as a matter of course become straight], and those who associate with people of good character will consequently become upright in heart, deed and word. The Lotus Sutra exerts a similar influence. The Buddha will look upon one who simply puts faith in this sutra as a good person.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1128
The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings
Recipient and date unknown

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, August 28, 2014:

Everyone in Japan, from the sovereign on down to the common people, without exception has tried to do me harm, but I have survived until this day. You should realize that this is because, although I am alone, I have firm faith.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 614
The Supremacy of the Law
Written to Oto and her mother, Nichimyo, on August 4, 1275

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, August 29, 2014:

[As a youth] he received great wisdom from the living Bodhisattva Space Treasury. He prayed to the bodhisattva to become the wisest person in Japan. The bodhisattva must have taken pity on him, for he presented him with a great jewel as brilliant as the morning star, which Nichiren tucked away in his right sleeve. Thereafter, on perusing the entire body of sutras, he was able to discern in essence the relative worth of the eight schools as well as of all the scriptures.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 650
Letter to the Priests of Seicho-ji
Written to the priests of Seicho-ji temple on January 11, 1276

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, August 30, 2014:

Misfortune comes from one's mouth and ruins one, but fortune comes from one's heart and makes one worthy of respect.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1137
New Year's Gosho
Written to the wife of Omosu on January 5, year unknown

 

[Weird]

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, August 31, 2014:

Believers in the Lotus Sutra should fear those who attempt to obstruct their practice more than they fear bandits, burglars, night raiders, tigers, wolves, or lions—even more than invasion now by the Mongols.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 495
Letter to the Brothers
Written to Ikegami Munenaka and Ikegami Munenaga on April 16, 1275