Nichiren Shonin’s teachings indicate that the precept platform can be anywhere one practices chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Awakening to the LotusQuotes
Becoming Enlightened
Becoming enlightened is not about winning some competition against something or someone. It is about overcoming your own suffering and leading by example. Becoming enlightened is about becoming victorious over illusion, victorious over suffering, victorious over self-doubt, and becoming victorious in life.
The Magic City: Studying the Lotus SutraPraying
In Buddhism and especially as we chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo we are engaging not in this manner of praying but from the perspective of praising the Lotus Sutra, of celebrating the truths contained within this teaching of the Buddha, and of rejoicing. Our praying is not about something coming into our lives or something being done for our lives, our praying is about the changes that take place in our lives because of our practice and our celebration of those changes.
Practice GuideLittle Things
I read something the other day that said it isn’t the big things that really make us happy or unhappy. It is little things. Think about this. The research found that for example on our jobs we gain a sense of happiness or dissatisfaction more from the accumulation of little events throughout the day or days, than we do from one or two major events. We have a sense of our general disposition more from viewing a series of events than from one event. Today we are able to practice Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra because we have created the causes to do so. And by the same method, the accumulation of the merits of our practice we can manifest the Buddha potential within our lives.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1The Challenge in Eliminating Suffering
It is true that, on the one hand, the elimination of suffering does not lie in the acquisition of more material things. It also does not lie in the abhorrence or avoidance of the material. The Buddha chose the middle path. This path turned away from asceticism and from hedonism. The middle path is one of finding the way between the two, without ignoring either. This is our challenge.
Physician's Good MedicineRecords of the True Buddhist Life
Now Nichiren interpreted the “Consummation and Perpetuation” in a totally different manner. The inspiration he derived from these narratives was a spirit of emulation, instead of mere piety; the life of the true Buddhist was to be lived in emulating the courageous and compassionate spirit of the divine beings and the vows they uttered. This was due to Nichiren’s peculiar conception of the whole scripture, namely, that it was a book not to be read simply by the eyes, or merely understood by the mind, but to be “read by the body,” that is, by flesh and blood. The truths revealed therein were, for Nichiren, the records of the true Buddhist life, which was realized by the saints of the past, and therefore to be striven for by all Buddhists of the coming ages.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetSeeing This World As It Is
[O]ne must not deplore the real world because of the degradation and disorder. Don’t think about a next unknown world, even heaven, because what is definite is that we must live in this sensuous real world now. We should see this world as it is, and make more effort to change it into the ideal world, the “Buddha’s World.” Even if we don’t achieve this during our lifetimes, after death we will enter into the Buddha world automatically.
Spring WritingsFaith, Practice, and Study
Thinking about ourselves and the Simile of the Herbs, if we say we are Buddhist but have no practice or don’t follow the precepts we are like a plant with no stem or tree without a trunk. It won’t be possible for us to support our faith and wisdom without the connection the stem provides. So too our practice, our chanting Odaimoku, is the connection that allows our faith and our wisdom to grow. Our faith harmoniously supports our practice and wisdom. You could say that study is our mind, which is the branches holding the leaves or wisdom of our lives. Our manifestation of enlightenment is dependent upon our faith, our practice, and our study. Without all three we cannot effectively maintain the kind of life that is capable of manifesting our innate Buddha potential.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraSeeing the Middle Way
Emptiness is a way of pointing to the ungraspable nature of reality. It is not a denial or existence or being, but is a way of seeing things in accord with the Middle Way.
Lotus SeedsRich Soil of Buddha Nature
Buddha nature is like rich soil that has great potential to bring forth excellent fruit. Nonetheless, in order to make the fruit, you need not only the soil but also seeds, water, and sunshine. This is the function that our Buddhist practice serves. In Nichiren Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra and the Odaimoku are the seeds of Buddhahood that with careful practice will sprout and grow. Eventually the “sprout” will mature and the flower of enlightenment can bloom.
Awakening to the Lotus