NICHIREN BUDDHISM & THE WONDERFUL DHARMA OF THE LOTUS SUTRA
The Power of Faith in the Lotus Sutra
May all beings of all realms be helped equally, and overcome suffering, and gain the happiness of blissful liberation! With this prayer I endeavor to increase my understanding and appreciation of what others have given and contributed to me and to develop constant, mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will beneficially contribute to others.
FREE ILLUSTRATED DIGITAL BOOKS • 8 LANGUAGES (CC BY 4.0)
Dharma Storybooks
Illustrated retellings of the Lotus Sūtra’s parables, The Story of the Dragon Girl, Never-Despising Bodhisattva, The Simile of Herbs, and The Sun and the Lotus: The Life of Nichiren Shōnin—ready to read and share with family and newcomers.
INTERACTIVE PORTAL • QUIZZES, MATCHING & ARCADE
Lotus Sutra Study Web
Test and reinforce your Lotus Sūtra knowledge across 8 languages: match all 28 chapter titles, 8 parables, and 13 prophecies, build custom quizzes from 320 questions, or play the Bodhisattva Never-Despising patience game.
ONE MINUTE DAIMOKU • TODAY IS DAY 314 OF 2026 • DISPLAYING REASON 14 OF 100
Day 14: The Lion’s Sinew
Chanting Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is like playing a koto string made of a lion’s muscle; its supreme power causes all strings made from lesser animals to immediately snap, symbolizing how it cuts through all lesser worries and provisional teachings.
You do not need to dismantle human attachments piece by piece—when you chant the Odaimoku with resolute faith, its transformative vibration acts as the lion’s roar within your life, turning daily reality into an unshakeable realm of confidence and security.
“Today, I chant to strike the lion’s string within my own voice, instantly shattering all hesitation and fear.”
Daily Affirmation • Reason 14 of 100
DAILY DHARMA • NOVEMBER 10, 2026
Daily Dharma for November 10, 2026
Show Gemini’s thinking
Conceptual Summary
The illustration, crafted in the traditional Japanese butsuga (Buddhist painting) style on aged silk, visually interprets Śākyamuni Buddha’s verse from the Lotus Sūtra emphasizing the extreme difficulty of preserving his teachings after his parinirvāṇa. In the celestial upper register, Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai) is shown preaching the Lotus Sūtra on Eagle Peak, flanked by Bodhisattvas and disciples on ornate, swirling clouds. To directly interpret the metaphor “It is not difficult / To grasp the sky,” a faint, stylized figure in the upper-right corner is shown reaching for the clouds and sky. In the earthly lower register, a small shelter nestled in a rugged, windy landscape depicts dedicated monastics diligently copying and safeguarding sūtra scrolls (shakyō) at a low wooden desk.
Iconography & Character Identification
• Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai): Central figure seated on a lotus throne with a golden halo, performing the preaching mudra.
• Bodhisattvas & Disciples: Celestial attendants (including Monju and Fugen) and historical disciples listening on Eagle Peak.
• Historic Monks & Scribes: Japanese Buddhist monastics, including a central figure reminiscent of Nichiren Shōnin, copying and chanting over sūtra scrolls.
• Celestial Traveler: Upper-right figure metaphorically “grasping the sky.”
• Kanji & Seal: 双子座 (“Gemini” constellation) and ジェミニ (“Gemini” in katakana inside the red hanko seal).
It is not difficult
To grasp the sky,
And wander about with it
From place to place.
It is difficult
To copy and keep this sūtra
Or cause others to copy it
After my extinction.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com.
DAILY GOSHO • WRITINGS OF NICHIREN SHŌNIN (WONS)
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Denying Earlier Teachings and Revealing the Truth
When Śākyamuni Buddha denied his earlier teachings and revealed the truth, He stated positively, “The World Honored One expounds the true teaching after a long period [of expounding expedient teachings]; and I have been reticent on this truth [that is, the reality of all things,] for a long time.” The Buddha of Many Treasures then sprang up from the underground and declared that it was the truth, and the Buddhas of the ten directions gathered together and approved the truth by reaching their broad, long tongues to the palace of the Great King of the Brahma Heaven. All the audience at the three meetings at two places where the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra witnessed them.
Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō-dono Gosho, A Letter to Lord Nanjō Hyōe Shichirō, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin,
Doctrine 3, Pages 128
ESSAYS, NOTES & SITE ANNOUNCEMENTS
From the Blog
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There’s An App For That!
Back in August I announced the creation of my One Minute Daimoku website. Since then it has become the most visited part of 500yojanas.org. The website has been…
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Reconsidering Soka Gakkai’s Teaching
So maybe it’s my problem. When Gemini Notebook suggested that “Becoming the Very Manifestation-Body” was what Soka Gakkai’s Human Revolution was all about, I responded that “I simply…
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Living Makoto
This is something of a postscript to my series of articles that began with What Would A Buddha Do? It’s also a useful explanation of why I find…
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A Story in the Style of Kenji Miyazawa
After reading Gemini Notebook’s “Becoming the Very Manifestation-Body” and “All Within the Five Characters of Myō-Hō-Ren-Ge-Kyō” I’m forced to concede that what I want to see in Nichiren…
Sacred Texts & Study Library
- Where To Begin — Introduction to Nichiren Shu practice
- Threefold Lotus Sutra (Full Text) & Annotated Chapters
- Lotus Sutra Audiobook & Shindoku Chanting
- Comparing Kern to Kumārajīva & Nomenclature Concordance
- Writings of Nichiren Shōnin & Nichiren Study Papers
- Lotus Sutra Study Papers • 32 Days • 45 Days
- Books Archive & Nichiren Shu Calendar
The Buddha sang these verses in Chapter Eleven of the Lotus Sūtra for all those who had come to hear him teach. When we start on the path of enlightenment by finding joy in the Buddha Dharma, we might believe that the world will change around us to meet our expectations, and that we will have no more difficulties. Then when we do find hard times, we may even abandon this wonderful practice and go back to our habits of gratifying ourselves. Our founder Nichiren lived through unimaginable hardships so that we who follow him would not lose this precious teaching. The Buddha in these verses reminds us that difficulties are part of our practice, and that we can find a way to use any situation in life to benefit others.