Nichiren Shōnin took the Buddha’s vows as his own and did not spare his life to spread the Odaimoku. This is the actual meaning of Shiki doku, reading the Lotus Sūtra by realizing its teaching through our experience; and, it is the ultimate form of reciting the Odaimoku verbally and faithfully.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuQuotes
Practicing the Way of Bodhisattvas
“What you are now practicing is the way of Bodhisattvas. Study and practice it continuously, and you will become Buddhas.” – Lotus Sutra, Chapter III
Our daily efforts may seem small but over time they accumulate into a significant effort. What may seem quite impossible if we look at the whole actually becomes very doable with continuous effort. The trick is to not be discouraged. While enlightenment exists in every single moment, it is the accumulation of many moments of practice and effort that enables us to build a solid life full of happiness and joy. It may be impossible to imagine this today, but looking back over your life of accumulated effort you will definitely see significant change.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Interdependence and Connection
Our lives, on a very fundamental level, a microscopic level, contain billions of cells. Each cell is a living breathing, reproducing entity, and none of this is separated by anything from any other thing. We are all interdependent and connected both internally and externally. When we can see beyond me and mine, and them and us and all the divisions that we so conveniently hide behind we can see the grandeur of the entire grand drama play out in our lives and in our experiences.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraThe Jewel of Ichinen Sanzen
Before Nichiren Shonin, Ichinen Sanzen was a theory that Buddhist practitioners attempted to understand through meditation. Nichiren Shonin, however, taught that Ichinen Sanzen could be realized through faith in the Odaimoku. At the very end of the Kanjin Honzon-sho, he wrote:
Lotus SeedsFor those who are incapable of understanding the truth of the “3,000 worlds contained in one thought,” Lord Shakyamuni Buddha, with his great compassion, wraps this jewel with the five characters of Myo, Ho, Ren, Ge, and Kyo and hangs it around the necks of the ignorant in the decadent Latter age of the dharma.
What Does the Lotus Sutra Teach?
What does the Lotus Sutra teach? According to Nichiren Shōnin,
“Twenty important doctrines are in this Lotus Sūtra … The ‘3,000 existences in one thought’ doctrine is hidden between the lines of the sixteenth chapter on ‘The Life Span of the Buddha’ in the essential (honmon) section of the Lotus Sutra.” (Kaimoku Shö, WNS2, p. 34)
Among these doctrines, the most important one is Ichinen Sanzen. Nichiren Shōnin said,
“The doctrine of Ichinen-Sanzen, or the ‘Three Thousand Existences in One Thought,’ is the rarest and the most miraculous.” (Shōjō Daijō Funbetsu Shō, WNS2, p. 193)
In the Kaimoku-Shō, Nichiren Shōnin further stated,
“Considering these testimonies of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in various sutras with those in the Lotus Sutra, they are like yellow rocks against gold nuggets, white clouds against white mountains, white pieces of ice against mirrors of silver, and black color against blue color.” (Kaimoku shō, WNS2, p. 44)
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuBeing Better, Not Perfect
Embracing the idea of being better and letting go of the need for perfection is one of many keys to becoming happier in our lives. In being better, not perfect, the idea is that by continually making changes, by continually making progress, we actually improve our lives in a much more significant and profound way than if we focused on trying to achieve perfection.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Responsibility for Common Welfare
The Judeo-Christian God commanded, “Thou shalt not kill,” and Jesus enjoined his followers, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Believers are expected to obey God and emulate Jesus. The question of whether Christian love applies to animals and non-Christians, however, has remained unresolved. In this instance love is a matter of obedience, not reason. A believer whose faith is strong regards God’s commandment as absolute and obeys it. One of less faith may well stray from the path. In short, the basis for Christian love is not a logical principle of universal applicability but a creed accepted on faith.
The fundamental Buddhist viewpoint, based on the law of dependent origination, is that society is an organic macrocosm composed of interrelated individuals, all sharing responsibility for the common welfare.
Buddhist Dependent Origination vs. Indian Philosophies
Two factors distinguish dependent origination, the Buddhist doctrine of causation, from contemporary Indian philosophies. First, it confines itself to the world of actual experience and makes no attempt to deal with universal absolutes, which are beyond the realm of human cognizance and influence. Second, while teaching that given the requisite conditions each cause produces its inevitable effect, it rejects both the idea that human fate is fortuitous and the idea that it is completely governed by any single, fixed cause.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
Overcoming the Small Ego
[For us to attain Buddhahood in Mappō] … we must endeavor to overcome the small ego of self, and then work on becoming a great person. Otherwise, it is difficult to become one with the Buddha. We must first try not to cling to our own point of view or perspective. Instead, we should try to think of things from the standpoint of others, not only about people but also about things in nature such as animals, plants or our planet. It is a Buddhist practice to observe the situation of all things in our environment and listen to their message. Viewing oneself from a general perspective is also a way to deny ego. Without this type of effort, the Odaimoku would lose its meaning. We sometimes see some who chant the Odaimoku who are doing so only to fulfill their selfish ego.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuPriorities
Language and the words we use are very interesting. Sometimes we can change a word and while the result is the same there is a shift of awareness of the problem in a different way. Take the example of not having enough time to do something, perhaps your daily practice. Now instead of saying I don’t have enough time, try inserting “it’s not a priority.” Hmmm?
I think we almost always manage to get things done that are important to us, especially if we phrase it in such stark language. When we say we don’t have time, it is important to ask ourselves if we are just being polite or if we are hiding behind some other reason.
We have only so much time in every day, it truly is a precious commodity. How we use it is critical, and this shift in our language may help to highlight what is important and what isn’t. It may allow us to actually get to the bottom of something that is prohibiting us from becoming happy.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1