Chanting Growers Group

[SoCal Hippy]

The Meaning of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The Meaning of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin reveals the existence of a universal law, the essence of all things. This law is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Superficially, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo could be translated as: 'I devote myself to the Mystic law of cause and effect through sound.' However, this is rather like the definition of Irish stew found in Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary:
'Mutton, onions, and potatoes stewed with flour.'
It's quite accurate, but gives no idea of the richness and complexity of the mixture, nor of the reality of the experience of eating it. The complete meaning of Nam-myoho- renge-kyo cannot truly be understood intellectually.
Myoho-renge-kyo is the title, in Chinese, of the Lotus Sutra. It is in this Sutra that Shakyamuni, the first historically recorded Buddha, revealed the extraordinary truth that all beings have equal potential to attain enlightenment in their present form. That all of us, in fact, already possess the Buddha nature. Unfortunately we are, as imperfect human beings, unaware of this truth and it remained a marvellous theory until the advent of Nichiren Daishonin. As President lkeda says:

Whereas Shakyamuni expressed it as the 'twenty- eight-chapter Lotus Sutra', Nichiren Daishonin, to enable all human beings of the Latter Day to attain Buddhahood, revealed the ultimate principle of the Lotus Sutra as Nam-myoho- renge-kyo (Conversations and Lectures on the Lotus Sutra, pp. 149-50).

Chinese characters have many shades of meaning. So, although myoho means Mystic Law (mystic here means difficult to understand, not occult), the characters from which this word is derived indicate the whole of life. Nichiren Daishonin states, 'Myo is the name given to the mystic nature of life, and ho to its manifestations' (Major Writings, Vol. 1, P. 5).
In 'The Buddha in Daily Life', Richard Causton explains that myoho ,expresses the relationship between the life inherent in the universe and the myriad different ways this life expresses itself' (p. 101). Myo means 'fully endowed', or perfect, and denotes the state of Buddhahood, whilst ho refers to delusion and ignorance, which, like Buddhahood, exist as a potential within all life. Myo also means to open, and to revive, indicating that we can open or revive the state of Buddhahood within ourselves and others.
Buddhism teaches that myo and ho cannot be separated; just as death is inherent in life, so life is inherent in death. This is the eternal rhythm. Ho represents life, which contains the potential for death, whilst myo denotes death, which contains the potential for life. Nichiren Daishonin explains, 'Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life' (Major Writings, Vol. 3, p. 23).
Renge means 'lotus flower', which symbolizes the strict law of the simultaneity of cause and effect by the fact that it blossoms and seeds at the same time. This signifies that whatever action we take, the unseen effect is immediately lodged in our lives to become manifest at the appropriate time. The beautiful, pure lotus flower only blooms when its roots are embedded in deep mud, which serves to remind us that Buddhahood emerges from our impure everyday lives.
Kyo means sutra, the teaching or voice of the Buddha. It is sound or vibration and, as Richard Causton explains:

... since everything in the universe is essentially connected through the vibration of various different kinds of waves - light waves, sound waves, radio waves and so on - by implication kyo refers to the life activity of universal phenomena and indicates that everything that exists, has existed or will exist is a manifestation of the Mystic Law (The Buddha in Daily Life, pp. 195-6).

The Chinese character for Kyo" originally meant the warp in a piece of cloth. This came, by extension, to mean the thread of logic, or the Law which underpins all things.

Fundamentally, then, kyo refers to the continuity of life throughout past, present and future, and in the title of the Lotus Sutra, Myoho- renge-kyo, indicates that the ultimate truth of life as expounded in the Lotus Sutra is itself eternal and unchanging' (ibid., p. 196).

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is, therefore, the basis of everything in the universe.
Nichiren Daishonin tells us:

Once you realize that your own life is the Mystic Law, you will realize that so are the lives of all others. That realization is the rnystic kyo, or sutra (Major Writings, Vol. 1, P. 5).

It is this understanding of the true nature of our lives that brings about a change in our daily behaviour which leads, ultimately, to the creation of a world without war. And how do we come to this realization? With the help of nam.
Nam is a shortened version of the Sanskrit word namu, 'to devote one's life'. In the context of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo it implies not only a spiritual attitude but also physical action. By placing it in front of the title of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren Daishonin enabled anyone who chants this phrase with faith in the Gohonzon to activate their own Buddhahood. He stated:

If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo (Major Writings, Vol. 1, p. 3).

In order to 'awaken' ourselves to our Buddhahood, all that is necessary is to chant Nam- myoho-renge-kyo with the sincere desire to do so. Then we can transform our lives. We have the 'recipe', all we have to do is start cooking'. The great joy of this is that it's foolproof.

Source: UK Express – Aug. ’96, #302

 

[PassTheDoobie]

It is a rare thing to be born as a human being. And if, having been born as such, you do not do your best to distinguish between the correct doctrine and the incorrect so that in the future you may attain Buddhahood, then you are certainly not fulfilling your true worth as a human being.

[ On Prayer, WND Page 350 ]

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo

Ocean Culture Buddhism By Dr. Tetsugai Obo

In Japan there are two different cultures: one is the culture of the village; and the other, the culture of the ocean. The mentality of the village culture is to "go with the flow." This means that the people of the village culture are particularly concerned with what everyone else thinks about them. In essence, public opinion equals the village. What the villagers think of you becomes most important.

For many Japanese, the village-like mentality deeply lies in their consciousness. In this culture, people are taught not to view things as black and white, not to take a position either way, not to be arrogant, or audacious, or meddlesome.

This year, I have been thinking about this. I see many psychiatric patients, patients with asthma, patients with sinus infection, patients with eczema, and patients with severe allergy. I have seen more than 10,000 patients so far in my practice. What I found in common with all these patients was their conformity. I hardly see non-conforming people.
Imagine that out of 10,000 people the vast majority of them are conformists! How interesting! I can't help thinking that conformists are more susceptible to having an illness.

The word conformist in Japanese, majime, has changed its meaning over the past decades. It used to mean "serious or sincere," but now it means "to go with the flow of custom or culture." Above all, Japanese culture is troublesome. It is a culture that promotes sickness.
[Japanese culture values] modesty, the virtue of humbleness, being refined -- males should say little, females should be one step behind -- being considerate, being harmonious, suppressing yourself, not being audacious, not being overconfident, and not being arrogant. In other words, to kill yourself is Japanese culture. Therefore, the more you conform to it, the more devastated you will become.

In general, conformists lack individuality and are passive. Leaders in society, such as presidents of companies, tend to be arrogant and aggressive and powerful. They also tend to lack common sense, however, and are authoritative in nature. In this society, from the standpoint of Japanese culture, I have observed that bad people have more energy. Good people are not energetic and are sickly after all.

From a Buddhist viewpoint, one who is shining the true self of the entity of Myoho (Mystic Law) is in a sense audacious. Audacious people live according to the Mystic Law. On the other hand, conformists who suppress themselves actually kill the entity of Myoho. This is slander.

The best example is the congressmen of the Japanese Democratic Party. After the elections they were interviewed and their attitude was only that of self-absorption. It makes you wonder why they get elected but these people are truly energetic, powerful and have a lot of fortune.
On the other hand, conforming and serious people lack fortune. President Ikeda often says, "Let's be audacious, bold and tough. Be confident and persuasive." After all, this is the correct way. The problem is not that bad people run the world but that good people are killing themselves.
If serious people, kindhearted people, good people, and warmhearted people speak up and stand up for justice and create momentum, selfish people will automatically feel uncomfortable and eventually vanish. President Makiguchi once said that only if we create this can we have the "era of humanistic competition."

In fact, this Japanese culture of being conforming and serious is the culture of the village. If you act differently you will become an outcast of the village. The people of village culture do not like those people who speak clearly of issues of black and white.

The Murayama administration was a good example of village culture. During that time, the great Kobe earthquake occurred. Many Japanese people felt frustrated over how the government handled the disaster. Many showed anger and questioned the administration as to why it didn't help the victims right away. The spokesperson responded by saying, "There is nothing we can do about it. We have to follow the rules. We can offer help to the masses but not to individuals." This incident showed the lack of compassion by the government.

Village culture is unmerciful because it prioritizes the institution over the people. In other words, the village culture is a culture that oppresses people. This kind of culture is what is a fundamental base of the Japanese culture. But there is another Japanese culture called the culture of the ocean.
Do you remember when the Japanese baseball pitcher Nomo came to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers? At that time the major league was on strike. Many wondered what was going to happen to Nomo and questioned if he would make it in the major leagues. Many Japanese people and the mass media wrote bashing articles against Nomo. People asked him why he was going overseas.

Yet Nomo came to America without any hesitation. Before you knew it he was in the all-star game as a rookie. Suddenly Japanese paparazzi were on his side and praising him. They wanted Nomo to say, "I will do my best for Japan." However, he refused to say it. Instead he said, "I enjoy pitching."
We all thought Nomo must have been fluent in English, but he could hardly speak it. In an interview after winning a game, Nomo had a translator with him. I was wondering if he was scared. By just looking at Nomo I felt that he didn't have a typical Japanese attitude.

Later I found that he was born in Osaka but his parents were originally from an island off the coast of Japan. These islands are still islands of many fishermen. Nomo's parents had the culture of the ocean people. The ocean culture is very independent, energetic, and open.
On the other hand, village culture is very concerned with the opinion of the public, it is conservative and has a pattern of having two different sides: smiling on the surface but disagreeing inside.

On the ocean side of Japan there is a strong tendency for ocean culture and on the mountain side there is the village culture. When visiting a region which shares both of these cultures, some leaders of the Soka Gakkai will ask why it is so different even in the same organization. After I explain the village and ocean culture they can understand the differences.
Nichiren Buddhism is Based on Ocean Culture
Many Japanese religions and philosophies are based on the village culture. Do you know the only religion based on the ocean culture? Yes, it's the Daishonin's Buddhism!

Nichiren Daishonin called himself the son of the sendala, in other words the son of a fisherman. It is the lowest of the caste system. It means the son of an untouchable, and he was proud of that. It was the time that you could do anything you wanted if you were born in a higher caste. The Daishonin placed himself within the lowest class of his time.
The Daishonin fought against the highest authority of the nation. The Daishonin fought authority head-on without any support. I think that showed a great contrast between the Daishonin who had no status or authority and the others with all power.

As they clashed the Daishonin called authorities "the ruler of this little island country." For people of the village culture this was inconceivable. Only the Daishonin, who truly was a man of the ocean culture, was capable of making such a bold statement.

The Daishonin's Buddhism is a philosophy of the ocean culture. That's why it's very independent, open, progressive and energetic. Nevertheless, the Daishonin's Buddhism eventually became influenced heavily by the village culture after his death. The Daishonin's Buddhism became corrupted. As a result the high priest became absolute. Eventually lay followers were considered too unworthy to see the high priest.

Seven hundred years passed and President Makiguchi was born as a son of a fisherman in Arahama. He was raised in the ocean culture, so despite the time period, he did not have a village mentality. President Toda was raised in Atsuta and born in Ishikawa prefecture. He also was the son of a fisherman. One of his ancestors was captain of a fishing boat. He truly was a man of the ocean. President Ikeda was a son of a seaweed maker. When looking at this, the Soka Gakkai entirely consists of the ocean culture. It is directly connected to the Daishonin except some areas that became village-like in the last 700 years.

Interestingly, my senior, Professor Miyata at Soka University, is doing research on President Makiguchi. He suggested that if he [Makiguchi] had ever directly encountered the priests from the Head Temple he wouldn't have joined the Nichiren Shoshu sect.

President Makiguchi was in search of a religion that could be the basis of his Soka educational system. In one word, Soka education means to open up person's possibilities, to view every student with a warm heart to help the student be independent and logical. He was searching for a religion that would lay a foundation for his educational system. Then he encountered [Priest Horigome of] Nichiren Shoshu.

Priest Horigome had founded a temporary branch office in Nakano. Priest Horigome was studying philosophy at Waseda University. He concluded that Buddhism could no longer contribute to society as long as it remained in the temple. He thought they needed to start a religious movement in which lay believers could play an active role. That's why he founded that temporary branch.

When Priest Horigome -- who believed in the Buddhist movement of lay believers -- and President Makiguchi -- who believed in the Soka educational system -- met, a religious movement based on humanism started.
Ironically, there was no such tradition within Nichiren Shoshu. Because of that, from the very beginning, the priesthood thought that the Soka Gakkai was arrogant. They also claimed that the lay believers shouldn't be audacious. This is a good example of the confrontation between village culture and ocean culture.

In the past there was the Tanuki festival incident and many other incidents that involved the priesthood and they all originated from the difference between those two cultures, village and ocean. I think that these differences became more evident in situations such as the current priesthood issues with the Soka Gakkai. Therefore, this situation could not have been avoided.
This is a prelude to what I really wanted to discuss. Let's go back to the prime point and look at ourselves.

The Strange Principle

How many points could you give yourself out of a score of 100 right now? Please raise your hand if you think you fall within the range of 0 to 60 points. Thank you very much.

Now raise your hand if you think you fall between 61 to 99 points. Usually only a few people raise their hands here. Most people raised their hands with points 0 to 60. Oh, the doctors division is different because most of you raised your hands within the higher group.

How about 100 points? Oh, two people raised their hands. Thank you very much. Except these two, the rest of you are not practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. Can you believe it?

Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is the religion that teaches us that we are 100 points. As noted previously, the Daishonin's Buddhism emphasizes living audaciously, boldly, and tough. It is hard to understand this.
In Chinese characters shinjin (faith) means "believe from the heart." What is it you are going to believe in? It is the Gohonzon and also the Lotus Sutra. What does it mean to believe in the Lotus Sutra? It means to believe that oneself is the entity of the Mystic Law. The head is Myo, the throat is Ho, the chest is Ren, Ge is the stomach, and the legs are Kyo.
We were taught that faith means to believe that your life itself is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the entity of the Mystic Law. Do you remember this? Would you rate Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Buddha at 60 points?
Last November, I was invited to a district meeting to give a Gosho lecture. There were six French members from Southern France who owned vineyards. SGI-France is considered a cult by the government and treated unlawfully. Everybody in France practices very seriously. At this meeting we studied "On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime."

The Gosho says "...when you chant Myoho and recite Renge, you must summon up deep faith that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself." When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you name your life Myoho-renge-kyo. Deepen your faith as you declare your name Myoho-renge-kyo.
When I asked the French members, "Who can believe that you are Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Buddha in here?" All six of them raised their hands by saying YES! Three out of forty Japanese members raised their hands.
Actually, Gakkai members live by the village culture. The Daishonin's Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai should be a religion of the ocean culture. But it has become a religion of the village culture. Well, it's hard to understand... I'd like to make a comparison.

The Strange Principle

I have written an article titled, "A Strange Principle," for the health section of the Seikyo Shimbun. After observing many people, I have found that conformists -- hard working, responsible, caring and altruistic people -- mysteriously enough come to a deadlock. Those conforming to [the expectations of] others while working hard cannot break through. These altruistic people often face rejection, refusal, being made fun of, and in extreme cases are despised. Have you seen these people? Serious conformists can't advance.

On the contrary, irresponsible, arrogant, and shrewd people are successful in every attempt. Since everything goes well, they are targeted for flattery and they become even more successful. This is a very popular phenomenon. I have encountered various types of people and their lives, and I have witnessed many of these cases. What is this all about? Earnest people are fooled and the villains get fattened up. I pondered "why?" for a long time but I didn't get an answer.

I had an opportunity to research while still contemplating this issue. I began to see the mechanism of the strange principle little by little. Hesitantly, I wrote about it in the Seikyo Shimbun. I was afraid that it would be too controversial or that it would be cut, but I had to write it anyway because I thought there must be some people bothered by the same thoughts. Luckily, the article made it to the final print, and some people responded.
One of the responses read: "As you have written I have done my best to do shakubuku [teach people about Buddhism] up until last year, to promote the Seikyo Shimbun, did lots of zaimu [financial contribution], and fought with all my strength. But this year I am fighting illness and I'm on welfare. Why, despite my hard work are all of these things happening to me? I don't understand. Even though it is written so, it lacks thorough explanation and I still don't understand what you mean."

Immediately I answered his questions via letter and he was really happy. Actually, there is another principle that causes such phenomena. I selfishly named the principle that lies beyond such superficial phenomena as the "strange principle".

The principle means that, even if they are fighting for others in need -- for their families, doing SGI activities for kosen-rufu, working for world peace and against injustices in the world -- those who kill themselves and who neglect themselves will eventually lose fortune.
Therefore, this is a principle that as long as you neglect your own life, then others will neglect you.

People say, "As long as I persevere and endure someday my hardship will eventually pay off. Until then I must be patient." The Daishonin wrote: "Where there is unseen virtue, there will be visible reward."
But the harder you endure the worse off you become. One after another you go through even more hardships. Thus you are not making any "unseen virtue."

Why? Because you are killing your life which is the entity of the Mystic Law. You accumulate fortune when you rejoice and enjoy whatever you do and when you allow your life to shine as it is. It will become your good fortune. Automatically, others will value your existence.

Smiling Is Contagious

This month in the SGI Graphic President Ikeda talked about his wife and her smile. Mrs. Ikeda is always smiling.

President Ikeda said, "Having a smile should not be a result of your happiness. Smiling becomes the cause to be happy. Smiling when you are happy or smiling as a result of your happiness is not the right way. No matter how hard your life is, you keep smiling. Within your life fortune will accumulate." This is what I mean by a "strange principle."

For instance, some say, "You can overcome your problems if you do shakubuku, if you promote Seikyo Shimbun you can be happy. You can be happy if you try to do more zaimu." This is a life condition of hunger. You are always expecting something in return. If you don't overcome your problem you will resent having made the effort. This is different from the life condition of Bodhisattva. The Daishonin states: "Self and others rejoice together."
There is a famous allegory of Tokusho Doji. He wanted to donate something to the Buddha because of watching others make their contributions. Since he didn't have anything to give he made a mud pie. If he thought he could get something in return by giving the mud pie, such as getting a benefit later or being reborn as King Ashoka -- if he did it as if he were trading the mud pie -- he would not have gained any benefit.

One's life gains benefit when one is delighted to do so. It is not "give and take." Neither is it the spirit of self-sacrifice.

It is wrong to think, "As long as I do my best and work hard selflessly, I will somehow get benefits." Which category do you think President Ikeda falls into: finding a way to shine as he lives, or [meekly] enduring everything? Obviously, the first is the answer.

This is the "strange principle." Strange means Myo and principle is Ho. People who neglect the entity of the Mystic Law lose fortune. People who shine their entity of the Mystic Law multiply fortune.

The question is which way you are. Simply, it is either way. It is whether you shine in your life, and the direction in which you enjoy living, or a direction in which you disrespect yourself. The most important thing is which way the basis of your life is facing.

I would like to ask again, who would give themselves 100 points in this audience? There are a lot of honest people.

The Gohonzon Exists in You

We do Gongyo every morning and evening. Do you remember the second silent prayer? Yes, it is appreciation for the Gohonzon: "I offer my deepest praise and most sincere gratitude to the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, which was bestowed upon the entire world."
Do you all show appreciation to the Gohonzon and realize that it is also your life? Or do you all think that the Gohonzon is just placed in your shrine? The Daishonin wrote to people like you, "If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are not embracing the Mystic Law."

In another Gosho passage, "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-rengy-kyo."
Within your heart, within your life itself -- "the Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people." We have studied this. Do you remember studying that? Yet when we chant to the Gohonzon we actually put it outside ourselves. In other words, what we have learned and what we do are completely different. Why is this so?

In fact, we are all poisoned by the village culture previously mentioned and also by the Japanese culture. The village culture equals the Nembutsu culture. In the Nembutsu culture the Gohonzon is absolute and the Daishonin is absolute.

While having no fortune, having a low life condition, and having no strength, some of us need to appeal to the Gohonzon for mercy and for the Gohonzon to share benefit and wisdom with us. That is the Nembutsu culture. If you switch the Gohonzon with Amida Buddha, it makes sense. The mechanism is that we are so miserable -- let's ask the Amida Buddha for its mercy.
The Lotus Sutra is different. President Ikeda over the period of four and a half years has taught us the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra. [In this dialogue] the word ken means to view, hotou means the Treasure Tower. This means to view the Treasure Tower.

This Treasure Tower appears in the Lotus Sutra. The height of the Treasure Tower is a 500 yojun. If calculated, it would be more that 500 times the height of the Himalayas. Mount Fuji is pretty high but the Himalayas are twice the size of Mount Fuji. The Treasure Tower is more than 500 times that size. Well, that's magnificent.

Nevertheless, it's not a mountain of scraps but it's a tower of treasures. It is very majestic, splendid, and universal.
This grand Treasure Tower actually symbolizes the greatness of our lives. In other words, to realize that our life and existence is universal, splendid, magnificent, and eternal is called kenhotou.

The Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon using the ceremony of the Treasure Tower. Thus, the Daishonin clearly explained that the Gohonzon is the clear mirror used to view our bodies as the greatest Treasure Tower.
However, even though we study this, we worship the mirror and we find ourselves reflected in the mirror as unworthy. This shows us how poisoned we have been by the Nembutsu culture. That's why as mentioned earlier in the strange principle, we tend to go in the direction of "as long as I endure." We rejoice only in good times but we cannot rejoice or enjoy when we are down. We begin to say, "I'm not worthy."

The Lotus Sutra is a sutra that teaches us that even when our life condition is the worst, we are still great. Did you know that?

There is a difference between the Lotus Sutra and provisional teachings. It is called the five-fold comparison. The reason why the Lotus Sutra is superior to the provisional teachings is because theoretically, the Lotus Sutra preaches the attainment of enlightenment for the people of the two vehicles, evil people, and women. At that time, the public neglected those groups of people. Therefore, the provisional teachings did not help them.

On the contrary, the Lotus Sutra taught that those people who were discriminated against and neglected by the public were truly great. This philosophy was revolutionary. It was truly humanistic.

From the standpoint of life philosophy, [these people who are discriminated against] are in fact the life condition of ourselves when we are down. It is our most miserable self. In comparison with others, you can't help thinking that you are inferior. Within yourself, in such miserable circumstances, you need to believe that you are the entity of the Mystic Law. That is the true meaning of embracing the Lotus Sutra.

That is why the Lotus Sutra is difficult to believe and difficult to understand. It is not difficult to see yourself as great if you are healthy, in rhythm, and admired. Yet it is difficult to believe, and understand yourself as great when you face the biggest failure, face being ridiculed, and face depression.
Believing yourself as great is the true meaning of embracing the Lotus Sutra.

A Great Buddha Is Reading This

I was unable to understand the meaning of compassion (jihi). Although the Doctors Division was often called compassionate, the more I pondered, the less I comprehended.

In Japanese ji means benevolence, which I understood, yet I could not understand the word hi which means sad. Some say jihi means to share suffering with others, another is to eliminate pain and give joy. Yet I still didn't understand. At that time I read a passage in an essay by President Ikeda: "When your soul is victorious, your sadness becomes hi of the word jihi." When I read that I had a revelation.

I had been reading jihi as meaning to be benevolent and sad, which made me more confused. If read by the Chinese character, it reads to be benevolent in times of sadness. Thus, it means to embrace yourself with a warm heart when you are at your lowest point, when you are in the midst of the worst suffering, or in the depths of your anxiety. Here lies the aspect of a victorious life.

For those who are able to embrace themselves in the midst of suffering, their sadness is no longer sadness. Such sadness itself will be transformed into courage when embraced by one's own compassionate heart. Despair will evolve into hope. The true meaning of an indestructible life lies only this way.
Only those who embrace themselves can truly cherish others who are suffering and regard others' suffering as it if were their own. For example, when you are low you don't like yourself. Later when you are feeling better and seeing others in the same situation you may say, "What a pity!" Yet deep within yourself you judge them by thinking, "How weak. He is a failure after all."

The way you judge yourself is exactly how you judge others. When embracing and respecting your lowest self with a compassionate heart like "I love me" or "I'm truly great," you can respect other people.

Gohonzon means the object of fundamental respect. President Ikeda has said, "What do we fundamentally respect? It is one's life. Our life has the highest value. It is the foundation of respect. The respect of one's life therefore cannot be based on whether one succeeds or fails. No matter what happens, we must start from respect. This is the meaning of embracing the Gohonzon. This is Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.

So now, who is going to give 100 points to yourself? (laughter) Thank you very much. There are so many obedient people. There are still a few people who could not raise their hand. I want to make one more point.

In the Gosho, "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life", it reads: "Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death. This is a matter of the utmost importance for Nichiren's disciples and lay supporters, and this is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra."
This is the foundation of the Daishonin's Buddhism. "This is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra." This is the most important sentence of the Gosho. Nichiren Daishonin, the Gohonzon, and oneself are in no way different or separate from one another. "To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death."

Because of that, when we grade ourselves with 60 points we are grading the Gohonzon 60 points and Nichiren Daishonin 60 points. Aren't we? Yet they are "in no way different or separate from one another." Don't we call this slander?
The person who says, "I grade the Gohonzon and the Daishonin 100 points but I grade myself 60 points" doesn't believe that they are "no way different or separate from one another." We call this disbelief.

People who do not grade themselves with 100 points, we call "slanderers" and "disbelievers." In the same Gosho it says, "Those who disbelieve and slander the Lotus Sutra will immediately 'destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world.' Because they cut themselves off from the potential to attain enlightenment, they do not share the heritage of the ultimate law of life and death."

"Those who disbelieve and slander the Lotus Sutra" -- those who cannot believe in themselves 100 percent "will immediately destroy all the seeds for becoming a Buddha in this world."

Those who grade themselves a Buddha of 100 points -- those who believe and enjoy it -- live with the life condition of great security and are received and supported by a thousand Buddhas when they come to the end of their life. "How can we possibly hold back our tears."
If you can not raise your hand here, you will never be able to raise your hand. I will ask you once again. I am not threatening you. This is what the Daishonin says. This is the last time I will ask you. Do you grade yourself 100 points? (Big laughter) Thank you very much.

You Are a Great Buddha

First you have to decide "A great Buddha is sitting." Making this decision requires courage. This is what we call the courage of faith. You have to recognize from the bottom of your heart: "I am the truly great Buddha." This means "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest joy among joys."
After this meeting when you're going home, please think, "The great Buddha is walking." Great Buddha is looking at a mirror, reflecting a life and praising this life. This is the true meaning of doing gongyo and chanting daimoku.
Probably if I say this some people will argue that this is arrogant. I have a concern that this is going back to the village culture. So I want to talk about arrogance.

Arrogance is the mind of oneself being superior to others. It means that arrogant people are always comparing themselves to others. "I am doing more, I am fighting more. I am a bigger leader, I am richer, etc."
Arrogant people feel secure by confirming their superiority. This function of life is called "arrogance."

The reason people feel more secure when they compare themselves with others is because they have anxiety in the depths of their lives. They have disbelief and inferiority at their core, thus they become anxious after short periods of relief. Later on, they catch others and need to be reassured that, "I'm more impressive, I'm greater!" These kinds of people, who continue to show off, are called arrogant. Deep within their arrogant hearts they have inferiority and self-doubt.

On the other hand, the world's greatest people -- as an old Japanese proverb says "the riper the rice grain, the lower it hangs" -- the greater the person the more humble he is. They respect other people because they have confidence and pride in themselves.

Such confidence and pride does not come from the recognition of others. The world's greatest people did not become the best because of recognition. The public recognizes these people because they are the forerunners of the fields in which others paid no attention.

Fundamentally the greatest way of living is to have confidence and pride in oneself. At a glance, to view yourself as "I am a great Buddha, I rate myself a perfect 100 points" seems arrogant. Actually, it equals the greatest way of living. Since it is similar to having an arrogant attitude, it is called "the arrogance of the Lotus Sutra."

The arrogance of the Lotus Sutra is the correct way because its meaning is fundamentally different from arrogance in attitude.

President Ikeda repeatedly says, "You are Buddhas. Don't be deceived. Please believe that you are all Buddhas." I bet we don't really believe what our mentor says, do we? We think President Ikeda is just saying that to encourage us. We think he is saying "You are Buddhas" to encourage us, but the truth is different. We take our mentor's words as encouragement, but we don't really believe it. Such an attitude is arrogant.

It's okay that we seem like we are arrogant, or audacious or bold although people might not like it. If we change our attitude this way, everything strangely starts to open up.

The world will not take Japan seriously if Japanese people remain in the village culture. Finally, the time has come to spread the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra that possesses the independence of the ocean culture to the world. In a sense, the time has come for the Soka Gakkai to take the lead. It's not a good idea that the Soka Gakkai remains like the village culture.

When you go to bed, think: "A great Buddha is going to sleep now." In the morning, as you wake up, no matter how you feel, think: "A great Buddha is waking up." When you change clothes, when going to the bathroom, when washing your face, and making miso soup, think "This miso soup is made by a great Buddha. This is a great bowl of miso soup." Live your life by praising your own life, enjoy whatever you do, and taste every bit of it.

Each morning wake up with the Buddha, and each evening go to sleep with the Buddha. Live life with joy every moment -- this is the true meaning of the practice of reading the Lotus Sutra with your life.

We chant three times at the end of this meeting. Let's chant three times while remembering that this chanting praises our lives.

Thank you very much for today!

 

[Guest]

hello fellas!
it's enpowering to read your thoughts, you always give me a good start of the day and a good ending
i've come to let you know that i got a contact of the sgi.org in my country and the town i'm living in now. i've talked to their representative and she told me that i can come to their groups whenever i want, so now i'm just waiting for the whole moving-out thing to pass...so i think something great is gonna happen in my mind in the next 2 weeks, again
i never thought that my mind is so powerful!

Yes Scegy, I knew in my heart you were working towards making a breakthrough and now preparing yourself to further quench your seeking spirits thrist for more Nam Myoho Renge Kyo are great causes! Congrats. Remember Scegy, it begins with Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Just chant more and more each day, if you read Socal's post above this one, please take note:

First you have to decide "A great Buddha is sitting." Making this decision requires courage. This is what we call the courage of faith. You have to recognize from the bottom of your heart: "I am the truly great Buddha." This means "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest joy among joys."

The fact that you are a great Buddha and I am a great Buddha is a powerful concept which will make this transition into Nichiren Buddhism more streamlined in the sense that you will "see" beyond what was previously thought possible and begin to realize through chanting You will make the impossible possible. Also I sincerely request that you have "no fear" and cast all doubts aside! The greatest truth is Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. We will continue to overcome all these "obstacles" in life scegy, and turn poison into medicine, you shall learn to catapult yourself beyond your expectations with every new development! This I am sure of.

Socal: Much love to you brother, We all have been chanting for you and I personally am very pleased to read your great posts and see your consistency for all of us throughout the recent "oppurtunities to enhance your life". Your last post was exceptionally powerful and I would like to say thank you for keeping our threads study material relavent, fresh and sharing such incredible insight. Your a great Bodhisattva of the Earth.

Hitman: What can I say! I too was "around" when this thread began way back when and I never really paid much attention to it, just as I did with my own life, but my exposure to Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, really became noticeable when a dear friend/brother/mentor encouraged me to come back and read this thread many months later (over 19 months). Then I began to chant gongyo and before you know it I was thristy to acquire my Gohonzon and set out to begin my practice properly and my Gohonzon birthday is March 28, 2006 and since I have only been illuminated by Nichiren's teachings and the Lotus Sutra and shine the light of the Lotus Sutra wherever I go. In the past I have felt guilty or "bad" after not completing gongyo twice a daily, yet I have come to find out, no need to feel guilty if you couldn't make the time because the Gohonzon has unlimited Mercy and simply just make the time! So now when I am running late I will just do Sanjo (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo 3 times) its important my relationship with the Gohonzon continune to grow, but I still encourage myself and others to try their best to make gongyo part of your daily routine because you really want to enhance the protection of the protective forces at a bare minimum! Besides how great does it feel to chant to your Gohonzon with appreciation everyday?! Priceless!!! Keep on Keeping on bud, keep reading the thread, if you don't have your Gohonzon go on Hitman its time to get it (same goes for everyone else who does not have a Gohonzon).

Babbabud: Chanting Gongyo with our wives was an incredibly special milestone in my life, chanting at the SGI center, although very fast paced was also quite a great expirience to share with my beloved family. Both your hearts and sincerity have helped my wife and I reach a new level of fullfillment as far as realizing an ideal friendship and also strengthened my practice. Thank you once again for blessing your shakabuku with a hard copy of the Goshos and also joining me in the 3 volume study of Gongyo (both the Hoben and Juryo chapters by Ikeda) which we both realize will help our practice and those around us benefit from the incredible knowledge/wisdom/understanding attributed to our continuing study practice and growing faith. I have never heard my wife chant so loudly till we all chanted together, from the bottom of my heart thank you for enriching my life so much and also sharing the encouraging and great moments and conversations we recently had. PTD been right all along about many things and through you I was physically able to see how Nichiren/The Gohonzon/The Lotus Sutra/Thomas/You/ Your Wife/My Wife/ MySelf/everyone is interconnected and the only boundaries that truly exsist are the ones we impose upon ourselves. "Your the Buddha I'm the Buddha" (how can you ever hate anyone again?) Also may the record reflect I realized through my time with the Babba's, the Bigger the Buddha the Bigger the Joints the Buddha Tokes! When I say big folks, I mean like Mt. Fuji BIG! I also realize we have all been chanting together in previous lifetimes, many in body yet one in mind bud! Love you guys. P.S. hope you feel better soon.

PTD: I can chant fast gongyo now.lol. I am starting to go through the Goshos for the first time and also studying the 3 book series by Ikeda on Gongyo (since at the monthly beginner meeting in my district they have been slowly going through it sentence by sentence and my pace is a bit more accelerated to say the least so its time I get upto speed, lol, and bud and I really look forward to developing a more concrete foundation to be able to further articulate Nichiren Buddhism properly and effectively). Did not chose to try the FO yet, although bud offered a few times I was not ready for that instead I chose to eat everything but FO or Fah. Fo or Fah is a vietnamese dish of noodles and meat, I heard it was good but for some reason I just felt compelled to eat as much junk food as possible and enhance my Buddhabelly. Also I purchased a book at my wife's reccomendation regarding Communism and Buddhism by Ikeda and Gorbechev (spelling?) I am very excited about this one. Very nice people at SGI san francisco just like ever other sgi group,

we all wanted to know why is the pace at the Kosen-rufu gongyo is so quick? The pace in my meetings is usually less than half the speed of the fast gongyo pace, is slow gongyo meant to be a "more inclusive" way to chant and the fast pace being the normal pace? I was under the impression that however you chant is the right way to chant, now what is the proper form to recite gongyo or is the proper way to chant gongyo upto your discretion? I follow the book and after reciting the Hoben and Juryo chapters I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for a few minutes then proceed to silent prayers. My district chants a half hour of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo at the start of the meeting then we do gongyo. I have heard from other members that they chant for a half hour then do gongyo then chant for another half hour, I want to chant more effectively and respect the "format" if there is one.

Also PTD, I want to start a school for children or after school program centered around Nichiren Buddhism down the line maybe you can help me with this? Whoa, I once wanted to be an astronaut then an attorney and now I want to share Buddhism with children and everyone that walks near my path. So,

"Trust in the Gohonzon, you have all the means to fulfill each and every desire of yours and become extraordinarily happy."

I formally had many desires which were not what I truly wanted! How this happened I don't know most likely ignorance played a huge part, but now looking into the mind of the Buddha and my growing practice have helped me realize that what I desire is first and formost to share Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, if your receptive or not, I'm just planting seeds and it makes me so very happy!

Another point I would like to discuss publically is SGI's policy on "spreading Kosen-rufu", Jehovah's Witnesses go door to door like salesmen/saleswomen preaching their doctrine, I am aware that Buddhists have also done similar things in the past, Do Nichiren Buddhist go door to door? The reason why I bring this up is because I am against going door to door and intruding on people's lives and attempting to talk buddhism in a fashion that maybe misconstrued or counterproductive. I single-mindly seek to see the Buddha, thats why I ask because if I am supposed to be compelled to go knocking on doors I am missing something huge, also because what I am learning from my studies is that we must share and propagate our Buddhism. I also know that the emphasis is stressed on the individual and no instances come to mind where I can see that Nichiren or Shakymuni tell us to go door to door specifically and expound the teachings or engage others in Buddhist discussion in such a seemingly unfit manner. I am aware that as we practice Buddhism we will share with all who come in contact with us directly or indirectly, so please help me understand if this is some other form of Buddhism I am confused with, because I want to really know the dynamics of "sharing" in the right way and not let a silly misconception slow me down.

Also I may be very engrossed and assimilated into your advanced Buddhist study here, but I am certainly not ready to engage in spontaneous debates effectively enough although I feel I have no limits with respect to my ability to articulate my current level of understanding encompassing the scope of my comprehension which is constantly growing (i don't mean to contradict myself in so many words but quite frankly its how I feel). So if I must share what I know and believe in I am prepared to speak the best I possibly can about Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and admit there are many things I wish to know that I have yet to comprehend. Subsequently this is a reason for my absolute faith, with Nam Myoho Renge Kyo I have all the answers even if it may not seem that way to "the naked eye".

To everyone whom I did not mention: Whats happening? Need a pick me up... go chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for a bit and then grab your favorite disco (or your personal preference) LP and boogie! Be the happiest person in the universe, I know potentially your already there. peace

 

[Guest]

Gosho Excerpt:

"The sutra teaches that women, evil men, and those in the realms of animals and Hell ? in fact, all the beings of the Ten Worlds ? can attain Buddhahood in their present form. [This is an incomparably greater wonder than] fire being produced by a stone taken from the bottom of a river, or a lantern lighting up a place that has been dark for a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand years. If even the most ordinary things of this world are such wonders, then how much more wondrous is the power of the Buddhist Law!"

The one essential phrase,
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, pg# 923)
Written to Myoho-ama on 3 July 1278 from Minobu
http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/library/Nichiren/wnd/concord/pages.view/923.html




Daily Encouragement:

The writer Goethe was an unflagging optimist. How was he able to maintain such optimism? Because he was always active. He did not allow his life to stagnate. He writes: "It is better to do the smallest thing in the world than to hold half an hour to be too small a thing." Spending thirty minutes a day assiduously challenging some undertaking can completely change our lives.


Lectures and articles about Nichiren Buddhism: http://sgi-usa.org/buddhism/

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Chang-an wrote, "If one befriends another person but lacks the mercy to correct him, one is in fact his enemy." The consequences of a grave offense are extremely difficult to erase. The most important thing is to continually strengthen our wish to benefit others.

[ The Embankments of Faith, WND Page 625 ]

 

[Babbabud]

Much love to all who frequent this thread. Much thanks to all the challenges recieved that help to cultivate our buddha nature
nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Guest]

I purchased a small notebook when I was at the SGI bookstore recently and started taking notes last night. The intention behind the little notebook is to manually record relavent buddhist information, quotes, etc. I never really kept a diary nor do I intend to start now, but there are times when I wish I would have wrote certain things down for a quick reference, and I want to do away with that feeling so to speak.

My first entry last night in the notebook was simply " Gohonzon Buddha is the greatest gateway into 'focusing your mind' " I came to that conclusion after a special Gongyo evening session last night although I am sure I have read it before a few times. You see when your chanting to your "object of devotion", ANYTHING GOES! Its a free for all if you ask me, hence my constant growth. Focusing on my Life and proclaiming Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is a great form of meditation, thus the "focus" generated through "assiduous practice" further elevates your life and enhances your effectiveness. Rather the lucid examination/massage/focused concentration of the Buddha (in this instance your mind) is magnified and utterly illuminated when chanting before the Gohonzon Buddha.

Can you say, "HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY?"


My ramblings on this thread are focused and have meaning on this end. I share my love for Buddhism with you all not only as a sign of respect for all you have done for me but also to consistently gauge my progress and formulate a more couragous fundamentally sound plan of action as I proceed. In the process we all seemlessly benefit!

So, the things we could not explain before and the things we cannot explain now are answered when you chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Try it out.... See what happens....


*** I implore you to recieve your Gohonzon, if your spouse or roommate has one, go for your certificate! Be good happy humans!***

much love!

yours,
MyohoDisco

 

[SoCal Hippy]

Hi everyone, tomorrow early A.M. back to SoCalif to give away my daughter. Will be a little out of touch for a couple of days. Always appreciate everyones posts, questions, input and views!

Please everyone take care and continue to assiduously chant Nam myoho renge kyo!

 

[Babbabud]

Great to hear SoCal You have a great time and I hope your daughter has a wedding of her dreams and you have a fun time giving her away to someone Im sure she loves so much. Dance with her one time SoCal it will do ya good !! Much love from the babba clan to the SoCal clan !!
nam myoho renge kyo

 

[SoCal Hippy]

My sincere thanks to the Babba clan!!!!

Nam myoho renge kyo!

 

[Babbabud]

Chanting

Chanting

Chanted this week for a bit more time to spend with my grandbaby. Spent a few hours this evening baby sitting. Had the most wonderful fullfilling evening chanting my grandaughter to sleep.
nam myoho renge kyo!!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

(pssst! Hey Disco!)

(pssst! Hey Disco!)

Gohonzon Buddha.

I'm sure you are aware of it, but you are referring to the Entity of the Law, The Buddha of Beginningless Time, Nichiren. I have never heard of the reference "Gohonzon Buddha", but by making such, I just wanted to make sure you knew who you were talking about.

(It isn't you, and at the same time it is you!)

T

PS: Have been ill will something nasty the kids brought back from pre-school.

CONGRATULATIONS SOCAL!

 

[Guest]

I'm sure you are aware of it, but you are referring to the Entity of the Law, The Buddha of Beginningless Time, Nichiren. I have never heard of the reference "Gohonzon Buddha", but by making such, I just wanted to make sure you knew who you were talking about.

(It isn't you, and at the same time it is you!)

T

PS: Have been ill will something nasty the kids brought back from pre-school.

CONGRATULATIONS SOCAL!

Just planting seeds.... Feel better!

Congrats Babba, when those benefits manifest its beyond words.

All the best Socal!

 

[Babbabud]

Hope you feel better soon T.
nam myoho renge kyo

 

[Babbabud]

Health

Health

"All of you have goals and convictions," SGI President Ikeda says in the conclusion of his Dec. 9 speech. "You are creating personal meaning and fulfillment as you dedicate yourselves tirelessly for the sake of the Law, for people's happiness, and for the welfare of society. And, on the most fundamental level, you are leading lives of absolute victory.

"It still remains, however, that we are only flesh and blood. We need to know our own physical limitations. Lack of sleep is something we must especially avoid. Not only can it lead to illness or traffic accidents, but it can also gradually erode our overall health. It is also important to eat regular meals and avoid immoderate eating and drinking. It falls to each of us to manage our own health sensibly in accord with our age, making sure that we get enough sleep and rest and have a well-balanced, nutritious diet.

"Health comes from wisdom. Please remember that faith equals daily life. My wish is for all of you to live valuable lives, your faces radiant with good health."

----------------------------------------------------------------

I also have felt a bit under the weather lately so I thought a few wise words on the subject from President Ikeda might be in order. Hope all who have felt a bit low on the inside and out can work on taking care of themselves so we can have these radiant faces and good health. So much love for you all .... your buddhist brother bud.
nam myoho renge kyo

 

[PassTheDoobie]

Just planting seeds.... Feel better!

Just doing my best to make sure the rows stay as straight as possible for the sake of successful cultivation.... Feeling better!

But then, with you around, how could that ever fail to come to pass?

You made me cry with your acknowledgement of Mr. Matsuoka and Mr. Osaki. You have no idea (and I could never adequately describe) the emotion that swept through me in reading that post from you. 'Profound' would be so far below what I felt that I will not insult that brilliant moment by trying to use it in the description. Thank you !

(more in a bit...I just got a call to family duty....(again)

T

 

[Guest]

Just doing my best to make sure the rows stay as straight as possible for the sake of successful cultivation.... Feeling better!

But then, with you around, how could that ever fail to come to pass?

You made me cry with your acknowledgement of Mr. Matsuoka and Mr. Osaki. You have no idea (and I could never adequately describe) the emotion that swept through me in reading that post from you. 'Profound' would be so far below what I felt that I will not insult that brilliant moment by trying to use it in the description. Thank you !

(more in a bit...I just got a call to family duty....(again)

T

Many in body yet One in mind.

Thanks to babba for reminding me to include them in gongyo and THANKS to Mrs.Babba for writing it in! Now its in all our Gongyo books except the small (for now).

I too am trying to catch up hardcore on this end, I'll be back soon.

Work hard play hard and have the courage and bravery to proclaim Nam Myoho Renge Kyo as one of the Happiest People in the Universe! Make it Happen.

 

[Babbabud]

Nam myoho renge kyo

Nam myoho renge kyo

Recently met some very nice people from here on the chanting thread. When we all met at the airport as we had never met face to face before I took a sign with me



Later when we all did Gongyo together.... since mrsB and i have not recieved are Omamori Gohonzon as of yet, we used it as a stand in. Hence it sitting on top of the tv where we can all see. A little trick my very good buddy taught me about what tv's are good for when in motel rooms. Made a great temp. place to chant for some people really wanting to share gongyo together Just thought i would share this as it is now in the garden area and if you check our grow thread youll see it there. A great keepsake from a very fun time
nam myoho renge kyo!!

 

[PassTheDoobie]

YOU are my BROTHER!!!

YOU are my BROTHER!!!

"It still remains, however, that we are only flesh and blood. We need to know our own physical limitations. Lack of sleep is something we must especially avoid.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I also have felt a bit under the weather lately so I thought a few wise words on the subject from President Ikeda might be in order. Hope all who have felt a bit low on the inside and out can work on taking care of themselves so we can have these radiant faces and good health. So much love for you all .... your buddhist brother bud.
nam myoho renge kyo

As usual, dear Brother, you nailed it. I was well aware before your accurate and timely post, that I was fast approaching the danger zone. How long can any of us go on four or five hours of continuously interrupted sleep a day before fatigue turns into illness? My added pressure is that I am married to Superwoman, and in light of her, even my best days reflect as inadequate. (Ain’t that the way it is for all of us guys?)

[A postscript to my post to scegy on having children: personal experience says it might be best to not wait until you are fifty to have a slew of them!]

Bud, when you sent me that beautiful PM a few days ago, saying you were sorry it was short because you weren’t feeling well, I was too sick to do anything but read it. I didn’t even have the energy to keystroke the word “SAME”, back to you. Talk about LOW life condition, I was feeling NO life condition. Cut and paste and go back to bed were about as far as I could take it for a couple of days there. My apologies to you and MYOHO for not responding to your wonderful conveyances.

I truly love you both and you are treasures of my life. Thank you! I wish to express my deepest, deepest, most sincere gratitude for you remembering to remind MyohoDisco of our Teachers and MrsB for “writing them in”. NOW I fully understand what it is you were really telling me! All of you are Buddhas and I am humbled at the thought that I might be the unworthy conduit for your obvious connection to them. Could you not be connected to them and do such a thing? No way! Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Is that some heavy shit or what!!!! Whoa!!! (More tears)

But a great benefit occurred this afternoon that has brought me back to life again, and I praise the Gohonzon for bestowing it upon my family and me so I will share it out of humble gratitude. We all have fantasies in our lives as we grow-up and those lives take shape and begin to reflect the reality of the karma that we all make for ourselves. I really never expected to have children. I have a hereditary terminal brain disease that runs in my family and it has already taken the lives of many in my family. (I actually chanted to get it when I first started practicing to prove the power of the Gohonzon to my Christian family with complete faith that the power of the Law would overcome it; but that is a tremendous benefit to share another time.)

However, there were other times in my life when it seemed that I might have children (before now, as per the personal revelations I made in response to scegy’s Q), and when those circumstances occurred and would reoccur, I always had this fantasy that somehow my kids would learn to read and write Japanese, so they could read all the fabulous texts that exist that are not (for whatever reason) yet translated into English; for themselves, and for me in my old age. As the years went by in my life, I basically forgot this dream.

My four oldest kids (all less than age four) already speak, or at least understand, four languages and are very fluent in two of them--my native language and my wife’s native language. However Japanese isn’t one of these four, although my wife does speak Japanese as one of the five languages she is that she is conversationally fluent in (six if you throw in her Italian which is greater than my mastery after all of these years here, of her native tongue).

So after all of that as a prelude let me tie this all together so it begins to make sense. I got sick because we have been shopping pre-schools for our voluminous number of kids. They got sick and as usual, I got what they got but I got sicker! My daughter just finished up her first stint in Montessori, but we knew when we enrolled her that we could never afford to send ALL of the kids there, and that it wouldn’t be right to give her a preferential treatment educationally. So we have been looking, doing two or three-day “trials” to find the best and yet affordable place for them all. It is a VERY competitive market here. Children’s education is a huge and lucrative market. The advances in Asian society, business and culture have not happened without effort and resolve, over the last ten or twenty years.

We had basically decided on this one and were going to do the official enrollment (payment) on Monday. So today, we sent just our daughter because the three boys are all ill as well. Got a call as soon as we got home that they had forgotten to tell us of a scheduled power outage to the electrical grid for repair and upgrade, so the school would be without air-conditioning for much of the day. We decided to bring her home, but they made the mistake of sending her off with a note for our remittance total for Monday that did not reflect what the wife had negotiated with them from the very beginning. One thing you DON’T want to do with stonegirl is renege on a done deal.

She got pissed and started looking again. When she got home from work this evening, she had “that smile” on her face. “I found a great school! And it’s a great price and VERY nice! But what would you think about the kids going to Japanese school?” “What do you mean?” I said. “It’s a Japanese school. They teach English and (her language), but the school is Japanese. It means that the kids would learn to read and write Japanese AS MUCH AS THEY WOULD BE LEARNING OUR LANGUAGES.”

WHICH THEY ALREADY KNOW!!!!!!!

“You’re kidding me!!! That has always been my dream!” Electricity shot up and down my body.

“If it is, I never heard of it. I was worried you would say no because you would think doing so much in so many languages would fuck up their heads or something!”

“NO! NO! It’s my dream! I can’t believe this! This is the Gohonzon doing this! DONE DEAL!!!”

So that’s my benefit. I won’t get into my “no life” condition thoughts or pressures. Just when I needed something to pick my sorry ass back up and put it back on track the mercy of the Law picked me up by the scruff of the neck and said, “Have faith kiddo! And don’t sweat the small stuff.”

As so Mr. Matsuoka and Mr. Osaki—the thread continues and gets ever longer….