The Practice of Odaimoku Chanting
All the merits Śākyamuni Buddha has attained, in other words, his true heart, are included in the Five Letters of myō-hō-ren-ge-kyō. If we believe in and practice the teachings of the Five Letters at the cost of our lives, we are able gradually but surely to gain the Buddha’s true heart.
Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra
This Sahā World is 7,000 yojana by 7,000 yojana in area, and it includes 80,000 countries. In 2,000 years of the Ages of the True Dharma (shōbō) and Semblance Dharma (zōbō), the Lotus Sūtra did not spread widely. If it does not spread during this Latter Age of Degeneration (Mappō), Śākyamuni Buddha would be a liar, validation of the truth of the Lotus Sūtra by the Buddha of Many Treasures would come to nothing, and broad, long tongues of Buddhas in manifestation throughout the universe to praise the preaching of Śākyamuni Buddha would become as fragile as banana leaves.
Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 213
If you wish to obtain quickly the knowledge
Of the equality and differences of all things,
Keep this sūtra, and also make offerings
To the keeper of this sūtra!
The Buddha sings these verses to Medicine-King Bodhisattva at the beginning of Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. When we see things for what they are, how they are similar and how they are different, we see them with the eyes of the Buddha. This Wonderful Dharma in the Lotus Sūtra is the Buddha showing us how to open our eyes to the joys and wonders that exist in this world of conflict and suffering. When we find something valuable, we offer it our time, our thoughts and our devotion. By making offerings to this Wonderful Dharma, and to all those who keep it, our eyes open even more to the truth of our lives.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City
“Bhikṣus! The great Brahman-[heavenly-]kings of the five hundred billion worlds in the south, who saw their palaces illumined more brightly than ever, also danced with joy. They wondered why [their palaces were so illumined]. They visited each other and discussed the reason, saying, ‘Why are our palaces illumined so brightly?’ There was a great Brahman-heavenly king called Wonderful-Dharma among them. He said to the other Brahmans in gāthās:
Our palaces are illumined so brightly.
There must be some reason.
Let us find [the place]
[From where the light has come].We have never seen this [light]
For the past one hundred thousand kalpas.
Did a god of great virtue or a Buddha appear
Somewhere in the universe?“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings of the five hundred billion [worlds] went to the north, carrying flower-plates filled with heavenly flowers, in order to find [the place from where the light had come]. Their palaces also moved as they went. They [reached the Well-Composed World and] saw that GreatUniversal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata was sitting on the lionlike seat under the Bodhi-tree of the place of enlightenment, surrounded respectfully by gods, dragon-kings, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, men and nonhuman beings. They also saw that the sixteen princes were begging the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma. They worshipped the Buddha with their heads, walked around him a hundred thousand times, and strewed heavenly flowers to him. The strewn flowers were heaped up to the height of Mt. Sumeru. The Brahman-heavenly-king offered flowers also to the Bodhi-tree of the Buddha. Having offered flowers, they offered their palaces to the Buddha, saying, ‘We offer these palaces to you. Receive them and benefit us out of your compassion towards us!’ In the presence of the Buddha, they simultaneously praised him in gāthās with all their hearts:
It is difficult to see a World-Honored One.
You, the World-Honored One, eliminated all illusions.
We have not seen a World-Honored One
For the past one hundred and thirty kalpas.Send the rain of the Dharma
On the hungry and thirsty beings!
Possessor of immeasurable wisdom,
We have never seen anyone wiser than you.
You are as rare as an udumbara-flower.
Now we have met you today.Our palaces are beautifully adorned
With your light.
World-Honored One, receive them
Out of your great compassion towards us!“Thereupon the Brahman-heavenly-kings, having praised the Buddha with these gāthās, said, ‘World-Honored One! Turn the wheel of the Dharma so that Mara, Brahman, the other gods, śramaṇas, and brahmanas of the world may be peaceful, and that they may be saved!’ They simultaneously praised the Buddha in gāthās with all their hearts:
Most Honorable of Gods and Men!
Turn the wheel of the unsurpassed Dharma,
Beat the drum of the Great Dharma,
Blow the conch-shell horn of the Great Dharma,
Send the rain of the Great Dharma,
And save innumerable living beings!
Devoting ourselves to you, we beg you.
Resound your profound teaching!“Thereupon Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathāgata gave his tacit consent to their appeal.
See The Power in Us
Chapter 21: The Supernatural Powers of the Tathāgatas
“Wishing that spirit of the messages of this Lotus Sutra will be handed down from generation to generation forever, I, the Buddha, state the main points of teachings carried in the Odaimoku.
“The Odaimoku includes all the merits of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
“The Odaimoku contains all the supernatural powers of the Buddha to save all people.
“The Odaimoku is the crystallization of the Buddha’s boundless wisdom necessary to teach and lead all beings.
“The Odaimoku expresses all merits the Buddha has practiced.
“These four things showing the Buddha’s real image and spirit are explicitly revealed in the Lotus Sutra; the Buddha’s true mind is the Odaimoku.
“Especially after the Buddha’s extinction, you must keep in mind that you should believe, from the bottom of your heart, in the Lotus Sutra and the Odaimoku in which the entire mind of the Buddha is clearly explained, and that you should recite and study the Lotus Sutra and chant the Odaimoku in order to practice the Buddha’s teachings as instructed by the Buddha.
“Wherever the place might be, at the place where the teachings of the Lotus Sutra have spread and the faith in the Odaimoku is practiced in correct and proper ways, you must set up a place of prayer and spend a life with faith in the Sutra, be it in a village or countryside with farms, woods or groves, or in a monastery, or in the house of ordinary people, or a residence of higher status people, or in a mountain village or a vast plain.
“The reason for this is that nowhere else but a place where the Odaimoku is believed in and its teachings are expounded is the true place of prayer.
“It is this place of prayer to the Odaimoku where all Buddhas have become enlightened.
“Here, the Buddhas expound their teachings.
“In other words, this Sahā world in which we live, believing in the Odaimoku, is the very place where the Buddha’s true world lies.”
Easy Readings of the Lotus SutraIn Buddhism, the Buddha declares that one who sees the enemy of the Lotus Sūtra and keeps silent because he is afraid of persecution, is an enemy of Śākyamuni Buddha. No matter how wise or moral he is, the Buddha warns, such a man is bound to fall into hell; he is like a child who refuses to warn his parents of the attempt on their lives, or a subject who refuses to admonish his king, who is about to be dethroned, because he is afraid of possible persecution.
Myōhō Bikuni Go-henji, A Reply to Nun Myōhō, Nyonin Gosho, Letters Addressed to Female Followers, Page 200-202
If those of high rank reproach you, view them as formidable enemies of the Lotus Sutra. Consider the opportunity as rare as seeing an uḍumbara that blooms only once in 1000 years, or a blind turtle by chance encountering a log floating in the ocean, and respond with confidence. Even a person who possesses a fief as large as 1000 or 10,000 chō may have his land confiscated or lose his life over a small matter. If you must lay down your life for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, have no regrets.
Nichiren wrote this passage in a Reply to Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono Gohenji). Lord Ueno enjoyed a privileged position in society and was concerned about losing his status and belongings as a result of his faith in the Lotus Sūtra. In this letter, Nichiren reminded Lord Ueno of his true purpose in life, that he had come as a Bodhisattva to benefit all beings by leading them to enlightenment with the Buddha Dharma.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Day 10 concludes Chapter 6, Assurance of Future Buddhahood, and opens Chapter 7, The Parable of a Magic City.
Thereupon the World-Honored One said to the bhikṣus:
“Now I will tell you. This Great Kātyāyana will make many offerings to eight hundred thousand millions of Buddhas, attend on them, respect them, and honor them in his future life. After the extinction of each of those Buddhas, he will erect a stūpa-mausoleum a thousand yojanas high, and five hundred yojanas wide and deep. He will make it of the seven treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, shell, agate, pearl and ruby. He will offer flowers, necklaces, incense to apply to the skin, incense powder, incense to burn, canopies, banners and streamers to this stūpa-mausoleum. After that he will make the same offerings to two billions of Buddhas. Having made offerings to those Buddhas, he will complete the Way of Bodhisattvas, and become a Buddha called Jambunada-Gold-Light, the Tathāgata, the Deserver of Offerings, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the Man of Wisdom and Practice, the Well-Gone, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed Man, the Controller of Men, the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. The ground [of his world] will be even, made of crystal, and adorned with jeweled trees. The roads will be marked off by ropes of gold, and wonderful flowers will cover the ground to purify it. Anyone will rejoice at seeing it. The four evil regions: hell, the region of hungry spirits, that of animals, and that of asuras, will not exist in that world. Many gods and men will live there. Śrāvakas and Bodhisattvas, many billions in number, also will live there to adorn that world. The duration of the life of that Buddha will be twelve small kalpas. His right teachings will be preserved for twenty small kalpas, and the counterfeit of his right teachings also will be preserved for twenty small kalpas.”
Thereupon the World-Honored One, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:
Bhikṣus!
Listen with one mind!
What I say
Is true, not false.This Kātyāyana
Will make
Wonderful offerings
To the Buddhas.After the extinction of each of the Buddhas,
He will erect a stūpa of the seven treasures,
And offer flowers and incense to the śarīras
[Of the Buddha enshrined in the stūpa].On the final stage of his physical existence,
He will obtain the wisdom of the Buddha
And attain perfect enlightenment.
His world will be pure.
He will save many billions of living beings.
All living beings
In the worlds of the ten quarters
Will make offerings to him.No light will surpass
The light of that Buddha.
The name of that Buddha will be
Jambu [nada]-Gold-Light.Innumerable Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas
Will live in his world, and adorn that world.
They will have already eliminated
The bonds of existence.
Offering of Merits
I now show my appreciation to the Three Treasures of the Lotus Sutra: the Buddha, Dharma and Saṃgha, for my being able just now to chant the Odaimoku and recite the Lotus Sutra, and offer the merits of the chanting of the Odaimoku and the reciting of the Lotus Sutra to all those who have granted me favors with gratitude and to those who have passed away.
I have the honor of chanting the Odaimoku and reciting the Lotus Sutra in front of the Maṇḍala Gohonzon which shows its perfect harmony and is unprecedented in history.
I call on “Kuonjitsujō-no-Shakamunibutsu,” the Eternal Buddha Śākyamuni, or the Original Buddha who continues his eternal relief mission. I call on “Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō,” the fundamental law of cause and effect which works beneath all existences, including human beings. I call on the “Honge-jōgyō (Superior-practice Bodhisattva) Nichiren Daibosatsu,” the Buddha’s messenger, assigned especially to the period of Mappō, the Latter Age of the Dharma, who revealed the existence of the Original Buddha and the true law of Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō. I pray from the bottom of my heart and offer my profound appreciation to these fundamental Three Treasures, all expounded in the Lotus Sutra.
Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Specifically, I pray that the merits of our faith will reach the spirits of our ancestors. At the same time, I pray that all spirits, related and unrelated, will attain Buddhahood.
The concluding parts of the Juryō-hon (Chapter XVI: the Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata) and the Jinriki-hon (Chapter XXI: the Supernatural Powers of the Tathagatas) of the Lotus Sutra, which we have just recited, read as follows: “I have only one wish. That is to know how I can quickly lead you to the right way of faith so that you can attain Buddhahood. For that purpose, chant Odaimoku and lead your life following the teachings of the Odaimoku, even if you cannot see me. If you do so, you will certainly walk along the Way of the Buddha and attain enlightenment in this world.”
Namu-myōhō-renge-kyō
Easy Readings of the Lotus Sutra
Wherever there are dependent rewards such as plants, trees and land, there exist living beings known as principal rewards. Therefore, Grand Master Miao-lê comments in the tenth fascicle of the Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra, “Both principal and dependent rewards always preach the Lotus Sūtra.” He also comments in his Diamond Scalpel, “The ultimate reality is the truth throughout all things (of the Universe), and all things consist of ten reality aspects such as appearance, nature, entity, etc. The ten reality aspects are equipped in each of the ten realms, consisting of principal and dependent rewards.” Furthermore, he comments, “Dependent and principal rewards of Avīci Hell all exist in the mind of the Buddha, and both dependent and principal rewards of the Buddha exist in one thought of an ordinary person.” Seeing these annotations, there is no doubt about three thousand conditions existing in one thought. Therefore, the appearance of the Universe is not different from the five letters of myō hō renge and kyō. As for Śākyamuni Buddha and the Buddha of Many Treasures, when functions of the five letters save people, they appear as two Buddhas nodding at each other as they did when “The Appearance of a Stupa of Treasures” chapter was expounded.
Shohō Jisso-shō, Treatise on All Phenomena as Ultimate Reality, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Page 75
