Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Repost.........................
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is a chant or mantra. A mantra is a powerful phrase that is said with a certain concentration or intent. A mantra has meaning in and of itself, but the intention or concentration of the person who says it can make a big difference in the effect of the chant.
For example: Have you ever dated someone for a while and you were pretty sure that he or she loved you, and you loved that person too, but you hadn't told each other yet? You know that feeling? When you say, "I love you," it has the power to change your life in ways you probably can't imagine.
A mantra is like that. When you say it, it can fundamentally change your life.
Some people use "love" very casually. They say "I love this," or "I love it," or "Love ya." It doesn't have the same weight as when a person considers his or her feelings very seriously before saying "I love you."
Usually, the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is said over and over again. Maybe it would sound kind of crazy to chant "I love you I love you I love you" a thousand times a day.
It's not so crazy -- actually it's pretty common these days -- to hear cuss words out of someone's mouth a thousand times a day. "The f-ing this and the f-ing that." Sometimes, people repeat insults and complaints as if they are mantras. So, "chants" of one type or another are a part of everyday life.
Have you ever noticed that if you hang out with people who cuss a lot or use a certain phrase, after a while you end up using the same language? Sometimes it's really hard to break yourself of the habit. This is an unfortunate example of how a phrase can be engraved on a person's consciousness.
It's probably better to get in the habit of saying a phrase that has a more uplifting influence, such as Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
Why chant the same phrase over and over?
Chanters repeat the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo because, as mentioned, repetition engraves it in their consciousness (and their unconscious too.)
Since Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is such a great mantra, you might think that chanting it once or chanting it a thousand times would have the same effect. Well, not necessarily.
If you can say "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo " one time, but say it with profound faith, intention, concentration -- whatever you want to call it -- that one utterance packs a mighty wallop. But most of us are not at a place in our "spiritual development" where we can summon up such profound faith at any given moment.
When we chant, with each repetition of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo , we are rooting ourselves deeper in faith and deeper in the spiritual tradition of the Lotus Sutra.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is the heart and title of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra teaches the enlightenment of all living beings. The Lotus Sutra's essence (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ) is the teacher of all Buddhas, past, present and future. When we chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo we are strengthening our connection to and learning from the teacher of all Buddhas.
A very cool thing is that this great Buddha wisdom lives in each and every person. It is the essence of life itself. So we are not chanting to some god or imaginary power. We are chanting the name of our innate wisdom, compassion, courage and energy. We are calling it up. We are engraving it on our heart. We are becoming more and more in tune with it.
But why this mantra?
In many religious traditions, reciting a mantra is a well-established spiritual practice that has beneficial effects. There are lots of other mantras aside from Nam Myoho Renge Kyo . "Om mani padme hum" is a famous mantra, for example. Maybe "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..." also qualifies as a mantra.
Mantras are different in that they have different meanings and create different vibrations. A mantra is basically a vibration.
It is said that when you strike a tuning fork to make it vibrate, it can make other nearby tuning forks that are pitched to the same frequency start to vibrate spontaneously. It sets off a "chain reaction" of vibration because the forks are all tuned into the same frequency.
Similarly, the vibe we create when we chant triggers vibration not only in the depths of our life, but in our surroundings. As we tune ourselves more and more to the vibe of this Buddha wisdom, we resonate with the Buddha vibe that is in other people and in our environment. The vibration of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo awakens innate Buddha qualities everywhere in a sort of chain reaction.
People have been chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for centuries and there are lots of ways to explain it. While not everyone agrees on why it works, most chanters agree that it is a worthwhile devotional practice. The best way to understand it is to chant and see for yourself.
Nichiren describes the practice of chanting in his writings. A good place to start is On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime.
http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=3
You can chant alone, but it helps to have someone to chant with. If you want to find people who chant, check out www.sgi-usa.org.
__________________
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Repost.........................
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is a chant or mantra. A mantra is a powerful phrase that is said with a certain concentration or intent. A mantra has meaning in and of itself, but the intention or concentration of the person who says it can make a big difference in the effect of the chant.
For example: Have you ever dated someone for a while and you were pretty sure that he or she loved you, and you loved that person too, but you hadn't told each other yet? You know that feeling? When you say, "I love you," it has the power to change your life in ways you probably can't imagine.
A mantra is like that. When you say it, it can fundamentally change your life.
Some people use "love" very casually. They say "I love this," or "I love it," or "Love ya." It doesn't have the same weight as when a person considers his or her feelings very seriously before saying "I love you."
Usually, the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is said over and over again. Maybe it would sound kind of crazy to chant "I love you I love you I love you" a thousand times a day.
It's not so crazy -- actually it's pretty common these days -- to hear cuss words out of someone's mouth a thousand times a day. "The f-ing this and the f-ing that." Sometimes, people repeat insults and complaints as if they are mantras. So, "chants" of one type or another are a part of everyday life.
Have you ever noticed that if you hang out with people who cuss a lot or use a certain phrase, after a while you end up using the same language? Sometimes it's really hard to break yourself of the habit. This is an unfortunate example of how a phrase can be engraved on a person's consciousness.
It's probably better to get in the habit of saying a phrase that has a more uplifting influence, such as Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
Why chant the same phrase over and over?
Chanters repeat the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo because, as mentioned, repetition engraves it in their consciousness (and their unconscious too.)
Since Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is such a great mantra, you might think that chanting it once or chanting it a thousand times would have the same effect. Well, not necessarily.
If you can say "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo " one time, but say it with profound faith, intention, concentration -- whatever you want to call it -- that one utterance packs a mighty wallop. But most of us are not at a place in our "spiritual development" where we can summon up such profound faith at any given moment.
When we chant, with each repetition of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo , we are rooting ourselves deeper in faith and deeper in the spiritual tradition of the Lotus Sutra.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is the heart and title of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra teaches the enlightenment of all living beings. The Lotus Sutra's essence (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ) is the teacher of all Buddhas, past, present and future. When we chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo we are strengthening our connection to and learning from the teacher of all Buddhas.
A very cool thing is that this great Buddha wisdom lives in each and every person. It is the essence of life itself. So we are not chanting to some god or imaginary power. We are chanting the name of our innate wisdom, compassion, courage and energy. We are calling it up. We are engraving it on our heart. We are becoming more and more in tune with it.
But why this mantra?
In many religious traditions, reciting a mantra is a well-established spiritual practice that has beneficial effects. There are lots of other mantras aside from Nam Myoho Renge Kyo . "Om mani padme hum" is a famous mantra, for example. Maybe "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..." also qualifies as a mantra.
Mantras are different in that they have different meanings and create different vibrations. A mantra is basically a vibration.
It is said that when you strike a tuning fork to make it vibrate, it can make other nearby tuning forks that are pitched to the same frequency start to vibrate spontaneously. It sets off a "chain reaction" of vibration because the forks are all tuned into the same frequency.
Similarly, the vibe we create when we chant triggers vibration not only in the depths of our life, but in our surroundings. As we tune ourselves more and more to the vibe of this Buddha wisdom, we resonate with the Buddha vibe that is in other people and in our environment. The vibration of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo awakens innate Buddha qualities everywhere in a sort of chain reaction.
People have been chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for centuries and there are lots of ways to explain it. While not everyone agrees on why it works, most chanters agree that it is a worthwhile devotional practice. The best way to understand it is to chant and see for yourself.
Nichiren describes the practice of chanting in his writings. A good place to start is On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime.
http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=3
You can chant alone, but it helps to have someone to chant with. If you want to find people who chant, check out www.sgi-usa.org.
__________________
