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NAM MYOHO RENGUE KYO

So, this is the second lecture of what we call “The introductory course” to Nichiren´s Buddhism. And the first lecture, for those of you who may have missed it, was about what we call the “The ten basic states of life” And in the curse of that lecture it became apparent to everybody that these basic states of life can display, or reflect, either a negative

The ten basic states, you remember, were hell, hunger, anger, animality, tranquility, rapture, learning, partial enlightenment, bodhisattva – that is to say the state where you desire strongly to help others – and finally, Buddha. In other words, Buddhism is saying that both, hell, heaven and Buddhahood, exist nowhere else, but in the midst of our daily lives. And one can pass through these worlds at a tremendous pace, even from moment to moment of one´s life. And depending upon the effort one makes, that world will react negatively, or even destructively, or positively. So, the effort, of course, is the effort to elevate one´s state of life into the highest state of all which is known as Buddhahood.

So Buddha is far for being something rather removed from this world, far from being some mystic, almost super human figure. Buddha is, in fact, nothing other than a human being in the most elevated state of life that the human being can achieve, “any human being” can achieve at its time buddhahood. Buddha, in fact, means in one literal sense “human being”, but human being in the sense of a whole human being, a human being that is displaying their full potential as a human being.

So this was a subject, and now we get to get on to the next phase which is the practice that enables one to actually attain that state in one´s own life, that is to say, the invocation of Nichiren´s Buddhism, or the chant which is Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. So, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo is the fundamental practice of Nichiren´s Buddhism. And the purpose of chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, over and over again, to our owns heart content, is not only to elevate one´s life into the Buddha estate, but also to project in that state one´s desires, one´s prayers, wishes, for oneself and others.

So, Nam Mioho Rengue Kyo is, in other words, what the Buddha gave in his wisdom as the key to be able to unlock this Buddha state which exist in everybody, and begin to make use of it in one´s own daily life. Indeed, what Nichiren Daishonin taught was that in order to chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, to actually bring oneself to do it, you have to be in the Buddha state. In other words, the moment that desire to chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo arises in one´s life that desire is coming from the Buddha state. See, because it is very difficult for us to believe that. We have a vision of Buddha as something that is amazingly serene, or tranquil, we see statues of Shakyamuni Buddha in also those different poses, and in a sense, one rather grows up, perhaps, to imagine that this is something beyond the normal human being. But in fact, what Shakyamuni himself was teaching was that buddhahood is inherent within everybody. And, in order to bring that state, more and more, to be the main tendency in one´s life, Nichiren Daishoning, who succeded Shakyamuni Buddha, two thousand years later, taught people to chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

So NMRK is, in fact, the dynamic force of life, itself, the creative force which is, at the same time, totally harmonious, that one sees working in nature, or in any particular phenomena of the universe. But the Buddha taught was that behind NMRK is that force, the meaning of those words is that force of creative energy which exists in everything in this entire universe, including, ourselves. So, in other words, the force of the rhythm of life is NMRK. The creative force that one sees in nature, the force that makes the tides come and go, and the moon has the effect on the earth – which it does- and the force that brings great winds, the force that is seen in the workings of the sun in creating growth and health is all NMRK, expressed in those words. Likewise, NMRK, of course, contains, not only that force for good, but also, at the back of it, is the negative part of life, or the destructive part of life. All is embraced in that force of life itself.

So, as a human being, of course, we have free will, or haven´t we?, to use life as we decide. We are equipped with the ability to make decisions. We are equipped with some free will, even though, of course, we have a destiny or karma. And fundamentally, that free will gives us the opportunity to decide whether we want in our lives to act and react in a positive creative and valuable way, or in a negative destructive or anti valuable way. And it is true, that the practice of elevating the Buddha state through chanting NMRK that you can ensure that every basic state of life from hell to Buddhahood itself is working favorably, positively, and creatively.

So I think if you look at human life, generally, one can see in this world today that this force is not existing or acting in so very many human beings. The point about the great force of life is that it is not only dynamic and progressive, but it is also harmonious, yet it is very obvious in the actions of human beings that this is not the case in human life, in the present, in general. When Human beings try to be progressive, which of course, they always righteously should desire to be, it always seems to lead to chaos and confusion. There is no cohesion in human progressiveness, what one person is doing is so often at the expense of another person. At the same time, if human beings want to behave harmoniously together, they seem, in order to do so, to have to deny progressiveness. Tremendous efforts have been made, haven´t they? Through history, to achieve harmony between human beings, but it seems to always end in a compromise, which is rather weak, and wishy washy, and results, not in more progress, but in less progress. So how can a human being or human beings in general, not only achieve dynamic progress, but also achieve it in perfect harmony. The only way, Buddhism says, is for human beings to make sure that each one of their lives is individually in rhythm with the force of life itself, because the force of life itself in its natural state works both progressively, and harmoniously.

So, I would like to, at various points, quote from one of the writings of Nichiren Daishonin who is known as the Buddha of this age called Mapo in Buddhism, the age that began running at about the 900 and 1000 A.D. In one of his writings, written in 13th century called “On attaining Buddhood” he said this - “It is the same with the Buddha and a common mortal, one is called a common mortal, but once enlightened he is called a Buddha. Even a tarnish mirror will shine like a jewel if it is polished, a mind which presently is clouded by illusions originating from the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but once it is polished it will become clear, reflecting the enlightenment of immutable truth. Arouse deep faith, and polish your mirror night and day. How should you polish it?, only by chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.” So, in other words, the tarnished mirror is the mirror of ignorance, ignorance of the truth about life, which Buddhism then begins to teach, and most important of all, the truth that Buddhahood exists in everybody. So Nichiren Daishonin says - “How do you discover this?, through the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. You polish your life and you begin to see the qualities of the Buddha state emerging in it.” - So this is the background, all too briefly perhaps, of the reason for chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo being the fundamental practice of Nichiren´s Buddhism.

This chanting itself is the rhythm of life expressed in words through the human mouth, but this rhythm of life, of course, is being expressed, in sound, also, by every other living being. And what Buddhism is saying is - “The force of life, or life force, exists in everything in the universe, so why should human beings be in any exception.· - The life force in the universe also exists in us, but so many people don´t know how to tap it. So the tapping of it is the achievement that Nichiren Daishonin talks through the chanting of Nam Miojo Rengue Kio.

It is very interesting that some physicists are becoming so very clear that man, or woman, contains two energies; one, they call mechanical energy; and one, some are beginning to call the universal energy, or the universal force. So, the physicists approach, of course, is a hypothesis that since this energy exists in the whole universe, it might also exists within the life of every human being. Now, this is exactly what Buddhism was teaching starting about three thousand years ago. But this force of life, this incredible power, this amazing power that causes the natural phenomena that never seizes to surprise us, also exist within the life of human beings. They can only tap that part and use it, of course, they can overcome every obstacle that faces them, and begin to live happy lives. So, where has physicist come yet give the answer of how to activate that power? The Buddha said: “chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo”, and this is what those persons who are members, and are already practicing, are doing day in and day out, polishing their mirrors just as Nichiren Daishonin taught.

So, this effort to put one self in rhythm with the force of universal life itself is described, or conveyed, by the very Nam of those words Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. Nam means devotion, or devoted effort. You can´t explain Nam properly without including, really, effort. Through the effort of Nam we can get on to the track and ride with the rhythm of universal life itself. Provided, we follow that word “Nam” with “Myoho Rengue Kyo”, which I will explain in more detail later. So Nam is to be in rhythm, that effort to devote ourselves, day in, day out. So, in our practice, we chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo for various lengths of time, which is entirely up to us, individually, at least twice a day; once in the morning, once in the evening.

But, what is the purpose of that? This cause is what the Buddha talked. We wake up jangled from a night sleep, maybe we had nightmares, dreams, maybe were being comfortable, or uncomfortable, whatever. At any rate, one´s life is not exactly in balance when one wakes up, so the first thing to do is to put it in balance with the force of life at the beginning of the day. In other words, to climb on to, if you´d like, the top of the wave of the rhythm of life, and try to make sure to get through that day on that wave top. So, of course, one does not come to this immediately, it takes time, and practice, and effort, to build this force, or tendency, of life. But the more one practices, the more you discover that you are staying on the top of that wave, for longer and longer, and that that wave is taking you through at great part of the day, and it is enabling you to ride over, or swamp the obstacles in one´s life. This is what is called actual proof in Buddhism.

Nichiren Daishonin said that the true religion must satisfy three proofs; first, literally or historic proof; secondly, theoretical truth; and thirdly, actual proof. And actual proof, he said, is the most important of all. So, through the practice of chanting, very quickly, in our lives, we get actual proof that somehow something is really changing, it seems that our environment is working more with us than before. The truth of it is, of course, that we are beginning to link our lives to this amazing creative, yet harmonious force of universal life. And therefore, of course, our environment begins to work in rhythm with that, reflecting, as our environment does, all the states that we may pass through. So, very quickly, one gets this actual proof, and if it wasn´t for that, of course it would be very difficult for human beings to continue to make that effort on dharma. Because, we get actual proof so rapidly people feel great and can go on with it. And through that actual proof in one´s daily live, faith in the teachings of the Buddha steadily grows, and the desire to continue to practice increases.

So, just to give you a little background, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo was first declared by Nichiren Daishonin, a Priest of the 13th Century, in Japan, to be exact on the 28th of April, 1253. What led him in doing this was that as a young boy born into a very poor family he had gone, like other boys of his age who were bright, to be educated at the local temple, high about his village, in a Peninsula which is now called Chiba. After a little while, a year or two, at this temple, he was struck, even at his young age, at the confusion of Buddhist´s taught and teachings at that time. I don´t know whether any of you know the history of Japan in that period, but it was a period of hard confusion, and Buddhism had really descended into a myriad different sects, many of whom where even ignoring the teachings of Shakyamuni, and basing their practice on teachings invented by people who had appeared in more recent history.

Yet, also at that time, Japan was in a state of ultimate chaos. There had never been such a history of natural disasters in all of Japan´s history. In the fourty years or so, around the time of Nichiren´s birth, there were the worst and most frequent earthquakes and typhoons, epidemics, floods, droughts, and all other forms of disasters, than Japan had ever seen in its own history, and, indeed, more than it´s ever seen since. So Nichiren Daishonin, as quite a young man, with his natural seeking mind of youthful said - “If Buddhism is really the truth of life why is this country, that is supposed to be Buddhist, suffering so desperately? And he couldn´t, because of his seeking mind, reconcile himself to the situation. If Buddhism is the truth, and if Japan is practicing Buddhism, why are the people suffering in tens of thousands, dying of droughts, and floods, earthquakes, typhoons and so on…

So, he, at that time, had a very clear insight into light. He was, if you´d like, born in an enlightened sate, and he, basically, deep in his life, understood that Buddhism had gone wrong, and where had it gone wrong. And this is clearly seen by his writings at those days. But the point was, of course, he had to prove it, to the people, to the ruling authorities, and to the other sects of Buddhism which existed at that time. So, for many years, about fifteen years, in fact, he travelled around all the great Buddhist centers of learnings in Japan, in order to justify or validate his understanding of the ultimate truth through Buddhist documentation. He wished to link what he knew was right to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha two thousand years before him, so that people could see that clearly, in the orthodox flow of Buddhism, the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo was exactly in accordance with Shakyamuni´s predictions and the truth which Shakyamuni Buddha had taught all those many years ago.

So, having done that to his full satisfaction, and having equipped himself, if you´d like, to debate with anyone who doubted or attacked him for his views, which instead he had to do many times in his life time, he then returned to his original temple, and on that day 28th of April, he declared that the fundamental truth of Buddhism was contained in the phrase Myoho Rengue Kyo, and that if people would then devote themselves to it, in other words “Nam”, and repeat this phrase, over and over, until their hearts content, then, people, not only of Japan, but of the world, would find that they were overcoming their unhappy destiny, changing their karma, and achieving happy and fruitfull fulfilling lives.

But at the moment he did that, all hells descended on him, he was a common priest from a poor family, he had no state of honor in society whatsoever, and it caused an outflow from the very moment he declared this, people from his own temple wished to attack him, and the local Lord, and so on, had master guards to arrest him. He escaped, and really the rest of his life time was involved in battling with persecutions in order to finally establish his teachings firmly so that he would never die when he died himself. This, of course, he was able to do, and the very fact that we are chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo today, many of us is proof of that. So, in many ways, he explains why these persecutions were bound to happen to him, they for one thing, were fulfilling the predictions of the earlier Buddha Shakyamuni two thousand years before. Two thousand years before Shakyamuni clearly stated the various types of persecutions which Nichiren Daishonin, or the Buddha of the age, of this age of Mappo, would have to undergo, these predictions of Nichiren Daishonin, himself, had suffered.

And as practice strengthens and as understanding grows, so the devilish forces of life will arise to interfere, without this – he said – there would be no way of knowing that this was the true law. In other words, if you activate a highly positive force, the negative side of life will, firstable, resist desperately, this is in the very nature, or rhythm of life, in order to prevent that force from winning the battle. IT is, in other words, the old story of good and evil, forces of positive and negative that are inherent in life. So, even today, when we wish to decide, or we decide would like to chant, say 15 or half an hour of daimoku – daimoku meaning the invocation of Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. We will always find, possibly, or often find, that the negative force rises up in all sort of coming ways to try to stop us from doing so. Maybe we feel like another cup of coffee, even, or maybe I just read the paper first. So, even in these small ways the negative force is evident when you wish to start chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. This is known in Buddhism as Sansho Shima, that is to say, the three obstacles and the four devils. Three obstacles and the four devils being representative of the negative force of life, which automatically rises up, in the same way as an airplane when it is taking off meets the resistance of the wind. In fact is often compared to that because an airplane needs that resistance in order to fly, yet that resistance is also trying to hold it down. So, in the same way, the resistance of that negative force of life, that battle is, in fact, what makes us make great effort. So, even the resistance is valuable in the end. So it is that effort to overcome the negative force and practice in the Buddha´s taught which is all involved in that one word Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

So, that little background is enough of the history, but fundamentally what Nichiren Daishonin realized was that the most important teaching of Buddhism was the teaching which, not surprisingly, Shakyamuni himself had said was his supreme teaching, this was called The Lotus Sutra. And the title of The Lotus Sutra, in fact, in Japanese phonetics, apply to Chinese characters, some are a bit complicated, is Myoho Rengue Kyo. That is the Japanese sound to the classical Chinese characters in which that Sutra was written. Of course, it was first written and recorded in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit it is known as Sadharmapundarikasutra, then translated into Chinese in the flow of Buddhism, as it went through China, to Japan, and the sounds of those Chinese characters are Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. So like all Buddhist teachings, the title contains all of it, the essence of the whole Sutra, the meaning of it, in all its respect, it´s contained always in its title. So Myoho Rengue Kyo, that short phrase, five characters, myoho rengue kyo, contains the whole truth of Buddhism, economically, if you´d like, stored in the depths of meanings of those five characters.

So Shakyamuni himself had said: “this sutra is my supreme teaching, discard all previous teachings” But this was very difficult for people to understand, and indeed many of his earlier followers never heard him teach the Lotus Sutra, which was eight years before he died, in a total of about fifty years of preaching. So, that instruction to his disciples to discard all previous teachings was neither understood, often not even heard, and often not performed as followed. Nichiren Daishonin, appreciated all this in his lifetime, two thousand years later, and then proceeded to validate it in his writings, and in his teachings. So, in other words, Nichiren Daishonin was saying: This contains the essence of life. The Lotus Sutra concerns the essential or ultimate truth of life, that truth is contained in the title Myoho Rengue Kyo. Therefore, if we devote ourselves to that Sutra, which is contained the meaning of those five characters we will be in rhythm with that law. He went further to say that this teaching alone contained all the eighty thousand teachings of Buddhism. Therefore, those few characters contain the essence of everything. So I hope that sort of serves you as a background.

So, in other words, Shakyamuni in the Lotus Sutra was explaining his theory about life, and his experience of enlightenment, but he didn’t actually say how one could attain enlightenment through this sutra. The Sutra clearly stated that every human being has the Buddha state in him, but the point was how could it be activated in the same way that Shakyamuni Buddha, or Gautama Buddha – is his name sometimes – activated it. But he did say that this Sutra would be the supreme teaching for the age of Mappo that is the age we are living now. And furthermore, he said, that in that age people would have the intellectual capacity to be able to grasp and understand this teaching, and practice it. And he also, in a Sutra said that the Buddha would be born to a country northeast of where he was preaching, in the early stages, the first five hundred years of the age of Mappo. And this person´s task would be to teach the people of those days how to find happiness through the Lotus Sutra. So, this was the background of Nichiren Daishonin declaring Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

Though, in the writing that are referred to perform “On attaining buddhahood” Nichiren Daishonin said this: “therefore, when you chant the mystic Law Myoho Rengue Kyo, and recite the Lotus Sutra” - that is reciting certain verses of the Lotus Sutra, which we also do every day as part of our practice, which is a subject of another lecture – “you must summon up the conviction that Myoho Rengue Kyo is your life itself”. So, although, Myoho Rengue Kyo is life in the whole universe, the force of life itself, it is also your life itself. And in many other writings and teachings Nichiren Daishonin said - “unless you understand that Myoho RengueKyo is your life, you are not practicing my Buddhism”. In other words, this practice does not concern an external power to which supplication has to be made in order to find happiness. What Buddhism is teaching is that the power is within you. Of course, it is outside of you too, but to no more, or greater extend, but it is also in you. Therefore, the whole purpose is to find the key to unlock the door and release this force in one´s own life. This force that passing through the Buddha state, has the ingredients of all the causes of the Buddha, causes of wisdom, compassion, courage, and so on.

So now I´d like to just go on and explain the other words in the phrase a little more detail. Firstable, Myoho, Myoho has the literal meaning mystic Law. Myo is mystic, ho meansLlaw. Another way of understanding this would be to say mystic is something unseen, difficult to understand, ho or law is something seen. So, of course, we all know that life consist of both, a spiritual aspect, and a physical aspect, material aspect. So, ho, you could say, is the material or seen aspect of life, and myo is the spiritual, or unseen aspect. Myo and ho, also can mean, ho life, myo death; or ho manifest, myo latent. All these meanings are contained in the characters myo and ho. So, this is fundamental to Buddhism´s understanding of the truth of life. In other words, all aspects of life, both in the spiritual and material sense, are constantly passing through phases of life and death, seen and unseen. That every one of all the myriads phenomena of life, all the manifestations of life force that we see around us is passing through this amazing cycle of seen and unseen. So, of course, we see it in life and death, in a human being, or an animal. But furthermore, we see it even in the spiritual qualities, or the spiritual emotions, sadness can rise up and appear, and become manifest in the form of tears, or a gloomy face. Something changes in that person´s life and that disappears, and a smile takes its place. Where did his sadness go? Certainly it did not disappear from one´s life, because if you ever get another circumstance to arise, that sadness will appear again, the same with joy, and all the other emotions, they become manifest. But where do they go when they are not manifest? Of course, if there is one answer, they are latent. Always there in one´s life, existing yet non existing, as the Buddha described. So, this is what everything in life is doing, everything in this whole universe is passing through the seen stage into an unseen stage, and back into a seen stage, and so on… This is part of the rhythm of life. The rhythm of life, Buddhism says, is that everything in it is passing through a cycle, which is seen at one point, and unseen at the other point. For I do sometimes describe the cycle of birth, maturity, death, and then latency, which is described in Buddhism by a very simple word, Qu, and then birth again. So, because this is happening, in the case of joy, or sadness; it is happening in the case of trees and plants, animals, bioherbs and human beings wouldn´t be any different. It would be nothing else but arrogance to imagine that we should be different to everything else in this universe. Of course this is also happening in us, and once we become aware of this rhythm of Myo and ho, we can actually see it working in our own lives. We can realize, actually, in our daily lives.

So, this is Myoho, this constant cycle of every living thing in a state of manifestation and latency. So the period of latency has a purpose, and that purpose, again, is linked to the Law of Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, the purpose of the latency is to activate sufficient life force in, and around, that entity of life, so that it is strong enough to support another physical surrounding, to appear, in other words, once again, which it must do in the very rhythm of live, in physical form, and contribute to the functioning of this world and of the great universe. This is the period of latency, which we call death, in human terms, yet is far from death, it is no different from sleep, in a way, we must sleep in order to get energy for the next day.

There I want to refer into mechanical energy. In the case of the state of death it is a period when we must regenerate our life force in order to take on another physical form. So, that is the aspect of life which Buddhism, or Nichiren Daishonin described as Myoho, or the Law of life. But this Law has another most important facet, and that is the lotus flower. Rengue literally mean a lotus flower, and a lotus flower is quiet a unique thing in the world of nature, because it produces its flower and its seed at the same time. Symbolism, from the point of view of the Buddhist wisdom is that the appearance of the flower and the seed at once represents the Law of cause and effect. What Buddhism is saying is that every single action that we make in thought, word, or deed, is a cause, and at the moment that cause is made the effect is immediately built into one´s life. So the effect may not appear until much later when the circumstances and conditions arise for it, but nevertheless, it is actually built into one´s life. So, to give another simple example, if you go skiing when you are fifteen, or nineteen, and you damage your ancle in some way, and you don´t have it properly attended to, or the doctors make a bungle of it, it may give you no trouble or whatsoever, but in forty years, as one is beginning to enter old age, then you find yourself it is giving you rheumatism, or arising into whatever, and that´s a very simple example of something that can be extremely subtle.

So, what Buddhism is saying is that every moment of life, you are making causes. Therefore, every moment of life you are creating effects, which for a time are latent, and then will appear in your life in one way or another, and their effect is always exactly related to the cause, so far as its value, or non value, anti value, is concerned. If you make a great noble and pure cause, then always the effect in one´s own life, when it appears, will be great, noble, and pure, but if you make a bad cause, a cause that hurts somebody then the effect when it appears in your own life will be a similar form of hurt. So, what Buddhism is teaching is that this Law of cause and effect is absolutely inescapable, you can´t escape it.

In the old early days of Buddhism, they described it in a sort of legendary manner as being like two small gods who sat on your shoulders, and one was recording the causes, and the other was making sure the effects were occurring. But this is how this works, so of course, once your eyes are opened to this again you can see it working in one´s own life. One can clearly look back over one´s life, see where you made the cause which produced the effect which is exactly relative to it. So, then one gradually becomes adjusted to the realization that this is happening not just once a week, but every single moment. So, every single moment of one´s life one is reacting to an effect, which in its term becomes a cause. So, destiny, or karma is the chain of that, cause and effect. So, of course, if one´s basic state of life, let´s say is anger, then that tendency to be angry is revealed in causes which have effects, and the effects being such that they perpetuate that anger in a chain, not only through one life time, but through many life times, because Buddhism also points out that the entity of life, even though it may go into the state of latency still will be carrying with it the pattern of cause and effect through into the next life, eternally.

So, therefore, when one comes back to the practice of Buddhism, again, the purpose of that practice is to give one the power to sustain making good, great, pure, causes. So, through making good, great, pure causes, through the practice of Buddhism, and sustaining that, day in and day out, you are gradually overcoming or enlightening the bad karma that you may have created in the past through making bad causes. So, this is, I think, one of the greatest points of the Buddhist philosophy, not only of the philosophy itself, incredibly deep and wide, and rounded and all embracing, but also you are given a practice that gives you the power to sustain living that philosophy. Well, it´s been full of many philosophies, but how many of those philosophies have given the human beings a practice to actually live it, not just today and tomorrow, not just as an old night wonder, not just as a grace for six months, but for year after year after year, for a lifetime, and more. This is truly the amazing thing.

You can see now that Myoho and Rengue express the rhythm of life in its two main facets. One being the cycle of manifestation of latency, and the other being, if you´d like, running through it, like a shuffle in a weaving machine, the Law of cause and effect. Now, this is incredible. In a way it seems simple, yet in a way it is unbelievably complex and complicated. When one tries to imagine the pattern of all those causes and effects, every minute of every living thing´s live, running through this cycle of manifestation and latency, of life and death.

Now, the last word is Kyo, Nam devotion, Myoho to this incredible rhythm or behavior of universal life, Rengue including at its foundation the Law of cause and effect, and Kyo. Kyo meaning literally sound, or sutra, teaching, communication, or even, in modern terms, vibration. So, what Buddhism is saying is that everything in the entire universe is linked rhythmically through sound, through Kyo. In other words, neither man, nor woman, nor any living thing, is independent of every single other living thing in the entire universe. What I do, at this moment, is not just effecting you all, and me, of course, not just affecting friend´s house, where I am doing this lecture, but effecting the entire universe. This is an incredible thought, isn´t it? In other words, the ripple of the actions of every living thing is felt by everything else.

So, Buddhism describes this by a great principle which is known in Japanese as Esho Funni, the inseparability of man and his environment. Whatever action, and that includes both spiritual and physical, a person makes, is immediately reflected into everything in that person´s environment. And since every environment overlaps with many other environments, therefore, that effect is felt in other environments as well, and this goes on and on, outer, outer, outer, far into this universe. So, of course, if only people, especially in the west, truly understood this principle, I don´t think today there would be the incredible pollution and destruction of the environment which we see in several countries. Maybe there would, because greed is pass stronger, but the fact is that this has occurred because no human being really understood this principle of Esho Funni, of the absolute inseparability of oneself and the environment where we exist. So, this environment reflects, and of course, reflects in return on oneself. Supposing one is in a state of anger, and you go into a school room, or an office, or back home with your family, and even without saying one word, that anger radiates into that environment. An angry person walking into a room, everybody can feel it, without even saying anything, and as a matter of fact, without even looking at him. Of course it is true that the anger reflects in red cheeks and blaring eyes, but even without looking at the person you can feel the anger in the room. The same implies the hell, if someone is in hell they have a tendency to drag everybody in hell as well, if they can possibly do that. You feel that pull of that miserable frustration. And, of course, the same implies the Buddha, this is the important part, just as the same as you can precipitate others into the state of hell or anger, you can also precipitate others into the state of Buddha.

Therefore, if Buddha, more and more, becomes the main tendency, one´s own life and one´s environment will react quite naturally, of course, one´s Buddha state in everything that is surrounding one begins to react to one´s own Buddha state, and vice versa. So, Buddhism is teaching that the most important thing for human happiness is to elevate one´s state of life so that one´s environment reacts in that same elevated state. And of course, this is why when people practice they discover they are getting benefits, so it may seem almost like a miracle, almost sort of magical. Why is it that before I started chanting, you know, I went to my bank manager a hundred times and never would he gives me a loan, yet this month, after a month chanting NMRK I go to him and he gives me it. And it sounds absurd, this money example, but to some people it is an incredibly important one. Why is it? Because, previously, something in that person´s life was really antagonizing or upsetting their best nature. However, just making causes for a loan, he never got it. But when that person is elevated to his higher state of life, that reflects also in the behavior of the bank manager, also for that matter, of his wife, and everybody else. And this, of course, is a principle which is fundamental in Buddhism, that one soon can begin to proof to one´s own saying.

So, the chanting of Nan Mioho Rengue Kio, therefore, is fundamental, not only to one own´s happiness, but also for the happiness of your environment. Therefore, one can say that even one person chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo is beneficially affecting, not only his own life, but certainly the life of his friends, his relationships, his family, and actually the entire planet, called earth, and all nouns, till the universe itself. So what I say today, at this lecture is Kyo, it´s affecting your lives, whether nicely, or nastly, I don´t know, but nevertheless, it is affecting you. My environment is overlapping all of yours; equally, each of your environments is overlapping each other. So, the ripples of what I say go outwards to you, and then who knows how far outwards from into each of your environments. Maybe when you get down to breakfast tomorrow morning you say to your wife of something about that night that, cause you heard this fool say some stupid things last night, in which case, the ripples aren´t terribly good. But if you say – “oh that was interesting, you know, and he said this, and this, and this…” And your wife says –“really? that´s rather interesting!” – And then, she tells her friends, this is how the ripples go ever outwards.

So, that is, if you´d like, what we refer to Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. I think I should mention the actual practice. The one thing Nichiren Daishonin said was that we should chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo to our hearts content, so this means being very honest to one self. I once heard the President of our lay society say there is absolutely no point in one member hosting to another member how much daimoku, or Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo they chant, because one person´s life is totally, totally different, to another person´s life. Nichiren Daishonin said – “You should chant to your heart´s content” – And the truth is that if you are really honest with yourself, you feel – “I really should chant more today.” - “Or, to overcome that problem I know I need to chant more.” - Or equally, if you are all tense, and work up, and you are honest with yourself, again, you could feel – “No, that´s enough” – you know – “for today.” But it means being honest with yourself as if you were being checking yourself, and making sure that you are really, sincerely, looking at your life, and judging it.

And this is what Nichiren Daishonin says. In another gosho he says – “There are times when one daimoku is enough, and there are times when ten thousand daimoku is not enough.” In another gosho he says – “I just chanted one daimoku to help her to overcome her sickness.” So, of course, in that one daimoku he would put his whole life. But sometimes when we are feeling lazy, or miserable, or upset, certainly, we are not putting our whole life into every daimoku, anyway, not at the beginning of our practice. Therefore, Nichiren Daishonin says – “You should chant, over and over again, to your heart´s content.” – It depends, entirely, your nature, your character, the type of problems that you desire to overcome, your needs, the heaviness, or the lightness of your karma, as we call it, or destiny, how much each person should chant.

Though, as a general guide to people, it is usually said that if you´d really wish to keep the life force flowing in a stream of water throughout your life time roundabout three thousand daimokus day by day is always adequate. The truth is that some people would go from many days, even weeks, chanting much less than that. Others will feel the desire to chant much more than that. In the end, what matters is the result, isn´t it? What you can show for the effort you make, and always if you are honest with yourself, you can judge whether you should do more, or whether you can do a little less. But, being human beings with a negative state of life working in us, it´s a good principle to do a little bit more, perhaps, sometimes you feel you´d like to. This is the effort, isn´t it? of Nam.

So, through setting up straight, with one´s eyes opened, not closed, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo is not inward going only, it is not introspective only, though it includes introspection. You should sit up straight with your eyes open. And of course, since you have caused, you received the object of devotion, which we call the gojonzon, which is a scroll with Chinese characters on it - subject of another lecture - you can fix your eyes on there and chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

If you have no gojonzon yet, it is best to chose a blank wall, or the sky, or whatever you like that is not going to missmerise you, or upset you, like, for looking at eternally for, or at the wall paper all the time, it could be disturbing, but just something blank to concentrate your mind and your life as you chant these words. So, of course, it is very strange, it is not just strange to us in the west. Sometimes we say – “Oh, this must be easy for the Japanese, or the Chinese” – But for them it is just as strange, sitting up straight with one´s eyes opened chanting words about which we understand very rarely, how could this possibly mean anything? Yet the truth of it is that once we begin to even chant once, or twice, or three times, seriously concentrating our minds on the sound of those words, somehow we feel something profound. And of course, this is because it is awakening the Buddha state in our lives. The Buddha state in each one of our lives fully responds to Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

So, of course you can say – “this is very mystic” - but think how one´s life responds to other sounds, often very deeply and very profoundly, also. The sound of music in its various forms, noisy sounds, harsh sounds, the singing of birds, rude sounds, all have, don´t they? the deepest effect on our lives. What is being affected? their states of life, which I went through on the beginning, and one of these various states is Buddhahood. Therefore, if you chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, which is the life, or the force of Buddha, or the force of life itself, of course, the reaction in you is profound. Though, it may take time to discover it. So, certainly, when I first started to practice I felt rather strange about the idea of it. In fact, the first time that I chanted Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo I did it in secret when no one was looking, I felt so embarrassed about it, sitting, elderly gentleman, age 50 at the time, sitting, or kneeling in my room, and chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. But especially, for me anyway when I first did it, and I did it as far as I remember for about a half an hour, first time I did, it was extremely profound, and a deep experience which I can never forget, and which, of course, absolutely totally influenced my whole life for the better.

So, whatever happens when one tries it, one needs to be, of course, serious, though you don’t understand it, your trusted friends may be saying – “this thing works” – “this thing” – you know – “is changing my life for the better”. So something serves, and you do it, perhaps, only for few minutes, but you do it sincerely, and without a shadow of doubt, immediately, though it may not be apparent once, effects are taking place in your life, which will become manifest comparatively quickly, this is the truth.

People discover, so quickly, that this practice works for themselves; and of course, no one can make one do it by force. Once we practice, as you know, we have a bead which we use to help concentration. There is nothing holy, or sacred about the bead, in fact, although, of course, they become part of one´s live when we use them a lot. But, in fact the bead represents the fact that life is in your life. You place them on your two hands - in this way - place them in palms and fingers together, in the natural state of prayer this represents that life is in your hands. Here are your head, two arms, here is your two legs, and you cross it right in the middle representing the waist, and each bead is one of the hundred eight desires which are taught in Buddhism as being inherent in life, and I am certainly no naming all of them now, and I couldn´t anyway from memory. And, also, here there are four small beads with the qualities of purity, and eternity, life force in strength, and wisdom, which comes from the act of practice. In fact, of course, there are more formal meanings, three tassels, in fact, the Buddha, the Law, the Priest, the three treasures as there are known. Though, I am not going through that now. But I want to emphasize is, that this is representing that life is in your hands, and everyone else´s, if one practices as the Buddha talks then great benefits will come, if you don´t practices as the Buddha talks…

Also, bringing your hands together represents the mutual possession of the ten worlds. Each of those each states of life in itself contains the ten. In other words, even a Buddha has hell, hunger, anger… just as human being hell has Buddha. This is a very important principle because it shows that Buddha is a human being, and that human beings all have Buddhahood. So, that is what this position represents. So, this is how we practice, alertly, sitting up straight, chanting the words clearly and resselently, not shouting them, and not whispering them. After all, these words are expressing the rhythm and force of life. So naturally, they should be firm, and clear, dynamic is the best word we use, and very rhythmical. And through that, as we chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo with our mouths, hear it with our ears, at the same time in our minds we are concentrating on our prayers, on our desires and wishes, for the betterment of ourselves, and also, for the happiness of other people. So, Buddhism relates practicing for yourself and practicing for others as an absolute necessity or part of the rhythm of life itself. If we practice for ourselves only, we would not be in rhythm with the natural rhythm of life. Equally if we practice for others only we would not be in rhythm. The rhythm of life is supposed to nurture oneself as well as it nurtures others. We can be of little use if we are a pathetic scattered battered plunged ourselves, at the same time, how could be impress anybody else? We have to have strength, life force, vibrant life, in order to influence our environment, and indeed, have the strength to help others. So, this is the very nature of the practice.

But I hope that sort of the beginning of becoming clear, and still if you´d like, we have five minutes if anyone has a burning question, please don´t hesitate to ask. Has anyone got anyone in particular of what I have been saying?

All right, What I suggest is, just in case some of you have not heard the chant, that those members who are here now, we´ll just turn and face this blank wall and chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo three times, and you will all hear what it is all about. Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo.

a positive aspect, depending on the effort one makes.

The ten basic states, you remember, were hell, hunger, anger, animality, tranquility, rapture, learning, partial enlightenment, bodhisattva – that is to say the state where you desire strongly to help others – and finally, Buddha. In other words, Buddhism is saying that both hell, heaven and Buddhahood, exists nowhere else, but in the midst of our daily lives. And one can pass through these worlds at a tremendous pace, even from moment to moment of one´s life. And depending upon the effort one makes, that world will react negatively, or even destructively, or positively. So, the effort, of course, is the effort to elevate one´s state of life into the highest state of all which is known as Buddhahood.

So this was a subject, and now we get to get on to the next state which is the practice that enables one to actually attain that state in one´s own life, that is to say, the invocation of Nichiren´s Buddhism, or the chant which is Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. So, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo is the fundamental practice of Nichiren´s Buddhism. And the purpose of chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, over and over again, to our own´s heart content, is not only to elevate one´s life into the Buddha estate, but also to project in that state one´s desires, one´s prayers, wishes, for oneself and others.

So NMRK is, in fact, the dynamic force of life, itself, the creative force which is, at the same time, totally harmonious, that one sees working in nature, or in any particular phenomena of the universe. But the Buddha taught was that behind NMRK is that force, the meaning of those words is that force of creative energy which exists in everything in this entire universe, including ourselves. So, in other words, the force of the rhythm of life is NMRK. The creative force that one sees in nature, the force that makes the tides come and go, and the moon has the effect on the earth – which it does- and the force that brings great winds, the force that is seen in the workings of the sun in creating growth and health is all NMRK, expressed in those words. Likewise, NMRK, of course, contains, not only that force for good, but also, at the back of it, is the negative part of life, or the destructive part of life. All is embraced in that force of life itself.

So, as a human being, of course, we have free will, or haven´t we?, to use life as we decide. We are equipped with the ability to make decisions. We are equipped with some free will, even though, of course, we have a destiny or karma. And fundamentally, that free will gives us the opportunity to decide whether we want in our lives to act and react in a positive creative and valuable way, or in a negative destructive or anti valuable way. And it is true, the practice of elevating the Buddha state through chanting NMRK that you can ensure that every basic state of life from hell to Buddhahood itself is working favorably, positively, and creatively.

It is very interesting that some physicists are becoming so very clear that man, or woman, contains two energies; one, they call mechanical energy; and one, some are beginning to call the universal energy, or the universal force. So, the physicists approach, of course, is a hypothesis that since this energy exists in the whole universe, it might also exists within the life of every human being. Now, this is exactly what Buddhism was teaching starting about three thousand years ago. But this force of life, this incredible power, this amazing power that causes the natural phenomena that never seizes to surprise us, also exist within the life of human beings. They can only tap that part and use it, of course, they can overcome every obstacle that faces them, and begin to live happy lives. So, where has physicist come yet give the answer of how to activate that power? The Buddha said: “chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo”, and this is what those persons who are members, and are already practicing, doing day in and day out, polishing their mirrors just as Nichiren Daishonin taught.

So, this effort to put one self in rhythm with the force of universal life itself is described, or conveyed, by the very Nam of those words Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. Nam means devotion, or devoted effort. You can´t explain Nam properly without including, really, effort. Through the effort of Nam we can get on to the track and ride with the rhythm of universal life itself. Provided, we follow that word “Nam” with “Myoho Rengue Kyo”, which I will explain in more detail later. So Nam is to be in rhythm, that effort to devote ourselves, day in, day out. So, in our practice, we chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo for various length of time, which is entirely up to us, individually, at least twice a day; once in the morning, once in the evening.

Yet, also at that time, Japan was in a state of ultimate chaos. There had never been such a history of natural disasters in all of Japan´s history. In the fourty years or so, around the time of Nichiren´s birth, there were the worst and most frequent earthquakes and typhoons, epidemics, floods, drauds, and all other forms of disasters, than Japan had ever seen in its own history, and, indeed, more than it´s ever seen since. So Nichiren Daishonin, as quite a young man, with his natural seeking mind of youthful said - “If Buddhism is really the truth of life why is this country, that is supposed to be Buddhist, suffering so desperately? And he couldn´t, because of his seeking mind, reconcile himself to the situation. If Buddhism is the truth, and if Japan is practicing Buddhism, why are the people suffering in tens of thousands, dying of drauds, and floods, earthquakes, typhoons and so on…

So, he, at that time, had a very clear inside into light. He was, if you´d like, born in an enlightened sate, and he, basically, deep in his life, understood that Buddhism had gone wrong, and where had it gone wrong. And this is clearly seen by his writings at those days. But the point was, of course, he had to prove it, to the people, to the ruling authorities, and to the other sects of Buddhism which existed at that time. So, for many years, about fifteen years, in fact, he travelled around all the great Buddhist centers of learnings in Japan, in order to justify or validate his understanding of the ultimate truth through Buddhist documentation. He wished to link what he knew was right to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha two thousand years before him, so that people could see that clearly, in the orthodox flow of Buddhism, the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo was exactly in accordance with Shakyamuni´s predictions and the truth which Shakyamuni Buddha had taught all those many years ago.

All right, What I suggest is, just in case some of you have not heard the chant, that those members who are here now, we´ll just turn and face this blank wall and chant Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo three times, and you will all hear what it is all about. Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo, Nam Myoho Rengue Kyo. moments that will last a lifetime

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CONFERENCIAS SOBRE EL SUTRA DEL LOTO

ESTUDIOS DIRIGIDOS POR RICHARD CAUSTON

NAM MYOHO RENGUE KYO

Revolución Humana

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