Category Archives: Awakening to the Lotus

Awakening to the Lotus

An Introduction to Nichiren Shu

Awakening to the Lotus bookcover
This book is available for purchase at Nichiren-Shu.org

From NBIC website
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One of the most important and widely practiced forms of Japanese Buddhism, Nichiren Shu is also one of the least known outside of Japan. The few books available in the West are either college-level texts or direct translations of works that assume some prior knowledge of this uniquely Japanese school of Buddhism.

Awakening to the Lotus finally explains Nichiren Shu in terms that everyone from the most basic beginner to those with previous experience of Nichiren Buddhist schools can understand. Examining the foundation, the teaching, the practice, and the beliefs of Nichiren Shu, this book can serve both as a handbook for those just beginning to practice Buddhism and as an information resource for those who simply want to learn more about this fascinating school.

Beginning with the basics of general Buddhism, Awakening to the Lotus quickly focuses in on the specific doctrines and teachings of Nichiren Shu. Ceremonies, special events, personal practice, the Lotus Sutra, and the teachings of the founder of the school, Nichiren Shonin, are all covered fully in easy to understand language.

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800 Years: Devotional Faith

The Lotus Sutra’s teaching of the Eternal Buddha brings together all of the aspects of the Buddha: the Truth, the person, and enlightened action.

We can see this complete figure of the Buddha when we faithfully devote ourselves to him. Faith in this case means devoting our actions and our thoughts to the Buddha’s way as expressed in his teaching in the Lotus Sutra. The physical body of the Buddha no longer exists since his body passed away, so the direct object of our devotion should be his teachings in the form of the Lotus Sutra. This sutra is the spirit of the Buddha and, since the Buddha’s death, his physical manifestation. Respecting and making offerings to the sutra is exactly the same as respecting and making offerings to the Buddha himself.


Awakening to the Lotus

800 Years: Seeing the Truth of the Lotus Sutra for Ourselves

In the [Lotus] sutra, the Buddha said, “They will be able to understand [this sutra] by faith.” The transfer of merit from the Odaimoku is based simply on faith, not on intellectual understanding. Note that this is not “blind faith” as it is sometimes understood in Western culture; instead, it is initial trust that allows us to move to a point at which we see the truth of the Lotus Sutra for ourselves.

Awakening to the Lotus

Changing the World

We can truly change the world for good. This is the bodhisattva ideal: to save all living beings as we walk our own path to enlightenment. By following the teachings of Nichiren Shonin and the Lotus Sutra, we can walk the Bodhisattva Path and transform this world into the Buddha’s Pure Land.

Awakening to the Lotus

A Model for Buddhist Life

The Lotus Sutra was not simply stories and metaphors for Nichiren Shonin. It was a model for Buddhist life and a prophecy of what a Buddhist would experience in applying it’s teachings.

Awakening to the Lotus

Through the Lens of the Lotus Sutra

The teachings which had come before Buddhism, Confucianism and Brahmanism, provided a basic moral framework for society. Hinayana Buddhism had introduced the beginning of Buddhist philosophy. Pre-Lotus Sutra Mahāyāna Buddhism had introduced the selfless ethics of the Bodhisattva. However, though Nichiren Shonin’s ethics were based on these systems, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching also provided a means of comparison between all of the systems. Each of the previous teachings showed only a portion of the truth; they were incomplete in themselves. Only the Lotus Sutra is complete; we can find ethical truths in other systems only when they are viewed through the lens of the Lotus Sutra.

Awakening to the Lotus

The Transmission of the Three Great Hidden Dharmas

Because Nichiren Shonin has had the great compassion to teach the Lotus Sutra in the Declining Age of the Dharma, the transmission of the Three Great Hidden Dharmas will extend beyond the Declining Age of the Dharma into the endless future.

Awakening to the Lotus

The Merits of the Lotus Sutra

The merits of the Lotus Sutra are so profound that it can open the eyes of those who do not believe so that they can also share in its merits.

Awakening to the Lotus

The Merits of Spreading the Odaimoku

The merits of spreading the Odaimoku itself during the Declining Latter Day of the Dharma is immeasurably deeper than upholding it at any other time, or of upholding any other teaching at any time.

Awakening to the Lotus

Universal Salvation

This Buddha had sixteen sons, who upon hearing of their father’s enlightenment, renounced their positions and joined him as disciples. They along with all of the heavenly kings asked that Buddha to expound the Dharma and bring peace to all suffering beings. They said, “May the merits we have accumulated by this offering be distributed among all living beings, may we and all living beings together attain the enlightenment of the Buddha.” This teaches the core of the Great Vehicle, that enlightenment is not individual but universal salvation.

Awakening to the Lotus

A Gem of Priceless Value

Each of us possesses a gem of priceless value. We have the wisdom of the Buddha within our hearts, but we are not aware of it. This wisdom is the Buddha-nature, the potential to become a Buddha. Because of our deluded state we are unaware of our Buddha-nature and fail to make any effort to develop it.

Awakening to the Lotus