Myoho (妙法) Meaning to Me.

                             妙法 Myoho

I read this passage today from my desktop Daily Wisdom From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin:

“And yet there is one river called the Sahara that follows a course as straight as a taut rope, flowing directly into the western sea. A woman who has faith in the Lotus Sutra will be like this river, proceeding directly to the Pure Land in the west. Such is the virtue inherent in the single character myo. (WND, 149).”

Wow, there is a lot to unpack there. First, please notice that it says “…faith in the Lotus Sutra…” and not faith in anything else. It doesn't say faith in the Daishonin, a priest, an organization, a spiritual leader, etc., It says faith in the Lotus Sutra. So, brothers and sisters, don't be led astray, and when in doubt, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (NMRK), which is the title of the Lotus Sutra, and one of the things Nichiren Daishonin left us which incompasses all of the Lotus Sutra. Still, I request we read the Lotus Sutra out alloud beside a campfire one day, but I doubt I'll stay awake -- it's not a Nancy Drew novel. So, thank you Nichiren for showing us a way to bypass that 😁. Let's move on.

The thing that stuck out most to me about the above passage is where Nichiren writes: "Such is the virtue inherent in the single character myo." I have herd people say "myo" is the thing, and I always wondered why. And so I researched the topic and here is why:

First, according to Google AI, we read: In Nichiren Buddhism, myo (妙) is the first character of Myoho-renge-kyo (the Mystic Law) and translates to "mystic," "wonderful," or "beyond comprehension." It represents the Buddha nature inherent in all people, the Middle Way of life that transcends existence/nonexistence, and the power to activate enlightenment, revive hope, and transform "poison into medicine".

According to the WorldTribue.org:

“Myo means to open” (WND-1, 145). The Mystic Law brings out the inherent value of all things. In other words, no matter our state of life, when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can open and reveal the world of Buddhahood.

In other writings of Nichiren we read:

The character myo has the power to “cure the dead as well as the living” (WND-1, 149). Here, the “the dead” refers to the people of those three groups previously excluded from attaining enlightenment. Because chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is powerful enough to reactivate their Buddha nature, it has the power to awaken the Buddha nature in all people.

Ikeda Sensei states: “...just as the morning sun dispels the darkness, the lives of those who consistently chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will never be deadlocked. Chanting is the foundation of Nichiren Buddhism. When we vigorously chant daimoku, the sun rises brightly in our hearts. Energy surges, compassion wells forth, joy radiates and wisdom shines. All the Buddhas and heavenly deities—the positive forces of the universe—spring into action. Life becomes enjoyable. Nothing is more powerful than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (May 2015 Living Buddhism, p. 35).

Myoho (妙法), translating to "Wonderful Law" or "Mystic Law," is a core concept in Nichiren Buddhism representing the fundamental truth of life and the universe. It merges "Myo" (mystic/wonderful), denoting the invisible, latent aspect of life, with "Ho" (law/phenomena), representing visible, manifest existence, indicating that ordinary people can unveil their inherent Buddha-nature.

                                     

~~ Eso Terry 

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect. Is it a thing? Because I write this, I have written, and the effect is yet to be seen. One simple fact is that Cause and Effect is a worldly theme. In the Christian Bible, it is written that "You reap what you sow." I think this is the same as the Buddhist Cause and Effect, but it seems to be talking more about the material aspects than the spiritual aspect.

In a nut shell, the law of Cause and Effect underlies the workings of all phenomena. Positive thoughts, words and actions create positive effects in our lives, leading to happiness. On the other hand, negative thoughts, words and actions—those that in some way undermine the dignity of life—lead to unhappiness. This is the general principle of karma.

In Buddhist teachings other than the Lotus Sutra, Buddhist practice is understood as a gradual journey of transformation that unfolds in accordance with cause and effect. This is a process by which the essentially flawed and imperfect common mortal gradually transforms over the course of many lifetimes into a state of perfection—Buddhahood. It is an undertaking that requires painstaking efforts to accumulate positive causes while receiving the effects of past negative causes and avoiding new negative causes.

Nichiren Buddhism, on the other hand, we don't have to wait until a future lifetime to achieve Buddhahood, we achieve it this life by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 

The difference between this life and next lives, is best explained through the concept of the Ten Worlds. This concept describes our inner state of life at any moment in terms of ten “worlds,” from hell to Buddhahood, which we move between constantly depending on how we live our life and respond to our environment. Hence, we are in and out of Buddhahood every day, every minute of our lives. We get cut off in traffic and beep our horn with some swear words, temporary hell; on the other hand, we receive flowers from an admirer we admire, Heaven; and better yet, we share Buddhism with a friend and see her life flourish from this sharing, we are in Buddhahood. 

In the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, ordinary people carry out Buddhist practice in the nine worlds (cause) and eventually attain Buddhahood (effect). The nine worlds disappear completely, replaced by the world of Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, clarifies that Buddhahood and the other nine worlds are each eternally inherent possibilities of life at each moment. Through faith and practice, the world of Buddhahood, which is otherwise dormant, is brought forth and the nine worlds go into a state of dormancy, though they never completely disappear.

This revolutionary perspective on “attaining” Buddhahood is expressed in the concept of the simultaneity of cause and effect. The nine worlds (“cause”) and the world of Buddhahood (“effect”) are in fact equally inherent potentialities existing simultaneously in our lives. This concept is symbolized by the lotus plant, which, unlike other plants, bears flowers (symbolizing the ordinary person) and fruit (symbolizing Buddhahood) at the same time.

In other words, from the perspective of the Lotus Sutra, delusion and enlightenment—the ordinary person and the Buddha—are two aspects, or possibilities, that are always equally inherent in life. Our inability to perceive our inherent Buddha nature—the idea that Buddhahood is somehow remote from our ordinary reality—is simply a delusion, a result of negative causes that have accumulated in or lives over many existences. However, through the correct Buddhist practice, anyone can activate their Buddha nature.

In conclusion, I think, therefore I am a Buddha, and so are you, you just need to awaken it.  

Here is an old film from the 70's which describes the Buddha's enlightenment in modern terms. Please note the cause and effect part, where the Shakyamuni finds his enlightenment is from within.  

 ~~ Eso Terry  

Global Citizen is the bases of Nichirin Buddhism.

This morning I posted my live thoughts on "Morning Buddhist Thoughts" on being a global citizen. The definition of a global citizen is:

Global citizenship is a form of transnationality, specifically the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader global class of "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives their nationality or other, more local identities, but that such identities are given "second place" to their membership in a global community. Extended, the idea leads to questions about the state of global society in the age of globalization.

There you have it in a nutshell what I believe being a Nichiren Buddhist stands for, epesecially the line "a broader global class of 'humanity'".  No national politics can justify the starvation of one human being for power.  We see this everywhere today.  Let's fix this brothers and sisters.  Let's chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together and fight for a better world where the value of life is the number one goal of the world. 

Here is the Nichiren Writing I quoted this morning: 

People have varied tastes. Some prefer good and some prefer evil. 

There are many kinds of people. But thought they differ from one another in such ways, once they enter into the Lotus Sutra, they all become like a single person in body and a single person in mind. This is just like the myriad different rivers that, when they flow into the ocean, all take on a uniformly salty flavor, or like the many kinds of birds that, whey they approach Mount Sumeru, all assume the same (golden) hue.

(WND 1042) 

Click For My Morning Buddhist Thoughts

 

Ten Demon Daughters

 

ten demon daughters ［十羅刹女］ ( jū-rasetsu-nyo): Also, ten rākshasa daughters, ten rākshasīs, or ten demonesses. The Sanskrit word rākshasa means demon, and rākshasī, female demon. The ten demon daughters appear in the “Dhāranī” (twenty-sixth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra and are described as protectors of those who uphold the sutra. They are Lambā, Vilambā, Kūtadantī (Crooked Teeth), Pushpadantī (Flowery Teeth), Makutadantī (Black Teeth), Keshinī (Much Hair), Achalā (Insatiable), Mālādhārī (Necklace Bearer), Kuntī, and Sarvasattvojohārī (Stealer of the Vital Spirit of All Living Beings). (Note: In his translation of the Lotus Sutra, Kumārajīva rendered into Chinese the meanings of the Sanskrit names of seven demon daughters, but transliterated the remaining three.) In the “Dharanī” chapter, these ten demon daughters, along with Mother of Demon Children, vow to shield and guard the sutra’s votaries. They speak to the Buddha in unison, saying, “If there are those who fail to heed our spells and trouble and disrupt the preachers of the Law, their heads will split into seven pieces like the branches of the arjaka tree.”

An Extrordinary Home Visit

Jack Smith's life was in the dumps, his car in the shop, job to be cut, and wife has left him. Jimmy Onit is a men's leader, he chants with Jack Smith and everything changes. 

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging

 

In the twentieth chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni illustrates the story of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. The chapter describes this bodhisattva as having lived in the Middle Day of the Law after the death of a Buddha named Awesome Sound King, at a time when arrogant monks held great authority and power. Never Disparaging venerated all people, repeating the phrase “I have profound reverence for you, I would never dare treat you with disparagement or arrogance. Why? Because you will all practice the bodhisattva way and will then be able to attain buddhahood.”
  Monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen mocked him and attacked him with staves and stones. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, however, persevered in his practice and achieved purification of his six senses through the benefit of the Lotus Sutra. When the arrogant clerics and laypersons who had treated Never Disparaging with ridicule and contempt heard his preaching and saw that he had purified his senses, they all took faith in him and became his followers. But due to their past offenses of treating him with animosity, they did not encounter a Buddha, hear of the Law, or see the community of monks for two hundred million kalpas. For a thousand kalpas, they underwent great suffering in the Avīchi hell. After they had finished paying for their offenses, they again encountered Bodhisattva Never Disparaging and received instruction from him in attaining supreme perfect enlightenment.
  This story illustrates the principle of attaining enlightenment through a reverse relationship, or the connection established with the correct teaching through rejecting or slandering it. It illustrates the great power of the Lotus Sutra to save even those who oppose or slander it. Shakyamuni identifies Bodhisattva Never Disparaging as himself in a past existence and reveals that those who disparaged him are present in the assembly of the Lotus Sutra on Eagle Peak. Shakyamuni further states that these people are now at the stage of practice where they will never regress in their pursuit of supreme perfect enlightenment. He then urges that the Lotus Sutra be single-mindedly embraced and propagated after his death.

Medicine King

Medicine King ［薬王菩薩］ ( Bhaishajyarāja;  Yakuō-bosatsu): A bodhisattva said to possess the power to cure physical and mental diseases. The Sanskrit bhaishajya means curativeness, medicine, or remedy; rāja means king. According to the Meditation on the Two Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Medicine Superior Sutra, in the remote past, in the Middle Day of the Law of a Buddha named Lapis Lazuli Brightness, Bodhisattva Medicine King was a rich man named Constellation Light. He heard the teaching of the Buddha wisdom from the monk Sun Repository. Rejoicing, he presented beneficial medicines as an offering to Sun Repository and his fellow monks, and vowed that when he attained Buddhahood all those who heard his name would be cured of illness. Constellation Light had a younger brother Lightning Glow, who also offered beneficial medicines to Sun Repository and others, vowing to attain Buddhahood. The people praised the two brothers, calling the elder brother Medicine King and the younger brother Medicine Superior. Constellation Light and Lightning Glow, the sutra says, were reborn respectively as Bodhisattva Medicine King and Bodhisattva Medicine Superior and will in the future attain enlightenment as the Buddhas Pure Eye and Pure Storehouse.
  Bodhisattva Medicine King also figures prominently in the Lotus Sutra. The “Teacher of the Law” (tenth) chapter is addressed to Bodhisattva Medicine King. In the “Encouraging Devotion” (thirteenth) chapter, he and Bodhisattva Great Joy of Preaching lead the host of bodhisattvas in vowing to propagate the sutra in the evil age after Shakyamuni’s death. The “Medicine King” (twenty-third) chapter describes the austerities he performed in a previous lifetime as a bodhisattva named Gladly Seen by All Living Beings, or simply Gladly Seen. In the remote past, Bodhisattva Gladly Seen heard the Lotus Sutra from the Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue. As a result, he mastered a form of meditation that enabled him to manifest any physical form. In gratitude, Gladly Seen entered this meditation and caused flowers and incense to rain down from the heavens as an offering to the Buddha Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue and the Lotus Sutra, but he felt dissatisfied with this offering and decided that it would be more meaningful to offer his own body. After steeping himself in scents and fragrances for twelve hundred years, he anointed his body with fragrant oil and set himself ablaze in the presence of the Buddha.
  The blaze illuminated worlds equal in number to the sands of eighty million Ganges Rivers, and the Buddhas within them praised his act as the supreme offering. His body burned for twelve hundred years, and after it was consumed, he was reborn in the land of Sun Moon Pure Bright Virtue Buddha, whom he found at the point of entering nirvana. The Buddha transferred his teachings to Bodhisattva Gladly Seen and then died. Gladly Seen cremated the Buddha’s body and built eighty-four thousand stupas to enshrine his ashes, to which he then made offerings. Not satisfied, he proceeded to burn his arms as a further offering for seventy-two thousand years. All the bodhisattvas, gods, people, and other beings he had converted grieved to see him without arms, but he declared to them that having offered his own flesh, he would surely attain Buddhahood, whereupon his arms were restored. Later he was reborn as Bodhisattva Medicine King. The “King Wonderful Adornment” (twentyseventh) chapter says that the bodhisattvas Medicine King and Medicine Superior are reincarnations of Pure Storehouse and Pure Eye who converted their father, King Wonderful Adornment, to the correct teaching.
  The Biography of the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai Chih-che of the Sui Dynasty by Chang-an states that T’ien-t’ai (538–597) was a reincarnation of Bodhisattva Medicine King because he had attained a great awakening through the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

Ceremony in the Air

 

Ceremony in the Air ［虚空会］ ( kokū-e): The second of the three assemblies described in the Lotus Sutra, in which the entire gathering is suspended in space above the ground. The two other assemblies take place on Eagle Peak. The Ceremony in the Air is depicted from the latter half of the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter through the “Entrustment” (twenty-second) chapter of the sutra. In the “Treasure Tower” chapter, the treasure tower of the Buddha Many Treasures emerges from beneath the earth and is suspended in midair. Shakyamuni, after summoning the Buddhas who are his emanations from the ten directions, stations himself in midair, opens the treasure tower, and enters it, taking a seat beside the Buddha Many Treasures. Then, using his transcendental powers, he lifts the entire assembly into space so that they are at the same level. This begins the Ceremony in the Air. The “Treasure Tower” chapter ends with Shakyamuni urging the audience to propagate the sutra in the evil age after his death. In the “Encouraging Devotion” (thirteenth) chapter, the innumerable bodhisattvas attending vow to fulfill the Buddha’s will even if they must endure persecution by the so-called three powerful enemies.

In the “Emerging from the Earth” (fifteenth) chapter, the bodhisattvas of the other worlds make the same vow, but the Buddha refuses to entrust the mission to them. At that moment the Bodhisattvas of the Earth make their appearance; this marks the beginning of the essential teaching of the sutra. In the “Life Span” (sixteenth) chapter, Shakyamuni reveals his original enlightenment—the enlightenment that he attained numberless major world system dust particle kalpas in the past. In the “Supernatural Powers” (twenty-first) chapter, Shakyamuni transfers the essence of the sutra specifically to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth led by Bodhisattva Superior Practices, entrusting them with its propagation in the Latter Day of the Law. In the “Entrustment” chapter, he transfers the sutra to all the bodhisattvas present. Then Shakyamuni’s emanations return to their lands, the treasure tower reverts to its former position, and the Ceremony in the Air comes to an end. The heart of this ceremony consists of the revelation of Shakyamuni Buddha’s original enlightenment and the transfer of the essence of the sutra to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth.

Nichiren (1222–1282) states that the object of devotion he revealed as the Gohonzon is the perfect embodiment of the Law, which is the essence of the Lotus Sutra, and that it is also a representation of the Ceremony in the Air. The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon reads, “This Gohonzon was revealed . . . in eight chapters [of the Lotus Sutra], from the ‘Emerging from the Earth’ chapter through the ‘Entrustment’ chapter”. It also reads, “Without exception, all these Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great sages [attending the Ceremony in the Air] . . . dwell in this Gohonzon”. The fact that the ceremony takes place in the air signifies that it transcends the framework of time and space.

Many Treasures

 

Many Treasures ［多宝如来］ (Prabhūtaratna;  Tahō-nyorai): A Buddha depicted in the Lotus Sutra. Many Treasures appears, seated within his treasure tower, in order to lend credence to Shakyamuni’s teachings in the sutra. According to the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Many Treasures Buddha lives in the World of Treasure Purity in the east. While still engaged in bodhisattva practice, he pledges that, even after entering nirvana, he will appear with his treasure tower in order to attest to the validity of the Lotus Sutra, wherever it might be taught. 

In the “Treasure Tower” chapter, Shakyamuni assembles all the Buddhas from the ten directions. He then opens the treasure tower and, at the invitation of the Buddha Many Treasures, seats himself beside this Buddha. Shakyamuni then employs his supernatural powers to lift the assembly into the air, and the sequence of events known as the Ceremony in the Air begins. 

Treasure Tower

 

treasure tower ［宝塔］ ( hōtō): A tower or stupa adorned with treasures or jewels. Any of a variety of jeweled stupas depicted in Buddhist scriptures. The best known is the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha that appears in the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. According to the sutra, this massive tower emerges from below the earth and measures 250 yojanas wide and 500 yojanas high. It is adorned with the seven kinds of treasures: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and carnelian, and seated inside the tower is Many Treasures Buddha. T’ien-t’ai (538–597) gives two reasons for the appearance of the treasure tower in the Lotus Sutra: (1) to substantiate the teaching of replacing the three vehicles with the one vehicle expounded in the theoretical teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra, and (2) to prepare for Shakyamuni’s revelation, in the “Life Span” (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching (the sutra’s latter half), of his original attainment of enlightenment numberless major world system dust particle kalpas in the past.

Nichiren viewed the treasure tower as an allegory for human life in its enlightened state achieved through the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In a letter Nichiren wrote in 1272 known as On the Treasure Tower, he says: “In the Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. No treasure tower exists other than Myoho-renge-kyo. The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo”. In the same letter, he also refers to the Gohonzon, the object of devotion in his teaching, as “the treasure tower.”