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NAM -  MYOHO -  RENGE -  KYO
                  DEVOTION TO THE LOTUS SUTRA  
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"LET  THE  MYSTIC  LAW  OF  THE  UNITY  OF  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT
FILL  MY  MIND  AND  GUIDE  MY  THOUGHTS,  WORDS  AND  ACTIONS"

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Recent [2017] Group Gongyo... Slightly Slower »»

[fast parts mod: speed 92% pitch+ 135]

 
Recent & Detailed Explanation of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo:

The essence of Buddhism is the conviction that we have within us at each moment the ability to overcome any problem or difficulty that we may encounter in life; a capacity to transform any suffering. Our lives possess this power because they are inseparable from the fundamental law that underlies the workings of all life and the universe.

Nichiren, the 13th-century Buddhist monk upon whose teachings the Soka Gakkai is based, awakened to this law, or principle, and named it “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” Through the Buddhist practice he developed, he provided a way for all people to activate it within their own lives and experience the joy that comes from being able to liberate oneself from suffering at the most fundamental level.

Shakyamuni, first awoke to this law out of a compassionate yearning to find the means to enable all people to be free of the inevitable pains of life. It is because of this that he is known as Buddha, or “Awakened One.” Discovering that the capacity to transform suffering was innate within his own life, he saw too that it is innate within all beings.

The record of Shakyamuni’s teachings to awaken others was captured for posterity in numerous Buddhist sutras. The culmination of these teachings is the Lotus Sutra. In Japanese, “Lotus Sutra” is rendered as Myoho-renge-kyo.

Over a thousand years after Shakyamuni, amidst the turbulence of 13th-century Japan, Nichiren similarly began a quest to recover the essence of Buddhism for the sake of the suffering masses. Awakening to the law of life himself, Nichiren was able to discern that this fundamental law is contained within Shakyamuni’s Lotus Sutra and that it is encapsulated and concisely expressed in the sutra’s title—Myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren designated the title of the sutra as the name of the law and established the practice of reciting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a practical way for all people to focus their hearts and minds upon this law and manifest its transformative power in reality. Nam comes from the Sanskrit namas, meaning to devote or dedicate oneself.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is thus a vow, an expression of determination, to embrace and manifest our Buddha nature. It is a pledge to oneself to never yield to difficulties and to win over one’s suffering. At the same time, it is a vow to help others reveal this law in their own lives and achieve happiness.

The individual characters that make up Myoho-renge-kyo express key characteristics of this law. Myo can be translated as mystic or wonderful, and ho means law. This law is called mystic because it is difficult to comprehend. What exactly is it that is difficult to comprehend? It is the wonder of ordinary people, beset by delusion and suffering, awakening to the fundamental law in their own lives, bringing forth wisdom and compassion and realizing that they are inherently Buddhas able to solve their own problems and those of others. The Mystic Law transforms the life of anyone—even the unhappiest person, at any time and in any circumstances—into a life of supreme happiness.

Renge, meaning lotus blossom, is a metaphor that offers further insight into the qualities of this Mystic Law. The lotus flower is pure and fragrant, unsullied by the muddy water in which it grows. Similarly, the beauty and dignity of our humanity is brought forth amidst the sufferings of daily reality.

Further, unlike other plants, the lotus puts forth flowers and fruit at the same time. In most plants, the fruit develops after the flower has bloomed and the petals of the flower have fallen away. The fruit of the lotus plant, however, develops simultaneously with the flower, and when the flower opens, the fruit is there within it. This illustrates the principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect; we do not have to wait to become someone perfect in the future, we can bring forth the power of the Mystic Law from within our lives at any time.

The principle of the simultaneity of cause and effect clarifies that our lives are fundamentally equipped with the great life state of the Buddha and that the attainment of Buddhahood is possible by simply opening up and bringing forth this state. Sutras other than the Lotus Sutra taught that people could attain Buddhahood only by carrying out Buddhist practice over several lifetimes, acquiring the traits of the Buddha one by one. The Lotus Sutra overturns this idea, teaching that all the traits of the Buddha are present within our lives from the beginning.

Kyo literally means sutra and here indicates the Mystic Law likened to a lotus flower, the fundamental law that permeates life and the universe, the eternal truth. The Chinese character kyo also implies the idea of a “thread.” When a fabric is woven, first, the vertical threads are put in place. These represent the basic reality of life. They are the stable framework through which the horizontal threads are woven. These horizontal threads, representing the varied activities of our daily lives, make up the pattern of the fabric, imparting color and variation. The fabric of our lives is comprised of both a fundamental and enduring truth as well as the busy reality of our daily existence with its uniqueness and variety. A life that is only horizontal threads quickly unravels.

These are some of the ways in which the name “Myoho-renge-kyo” describes the Mystic Law, of which our lives are an expression. To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is an act of faith in the Mystic Law and in the magnitude of life’s inherent possibilities. Throughout his writings, Nichiren emphasizes the primacy of faith. He writes, for instance: “The Lotus Sutra . . . says that one can ‘gain entrance through faith alone.’ . . . Thus faith is the basic requirement for entering the way of the Buddha.” The Mystic Law is the unlimited strength inherent in one’s life. To believe in the Mystic Law and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to have faith in one’s unlimited potential. It is not a mystical phrase that brings forth supernatural power, nor is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo an entity transcending ourselves that we rely upon. It is the principle that those who live normal lives and make consistent efforts will duly triumph.

To chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to bring forth the pure and fundamental energy of life, honoring the dignity and possibility of our ordinary lives.


Ten Worlds Discussion »»»


MORE TRANSLATIONS AND IMPRESSIONS ON: NAM-MYO-HO-RENGE-KYO

"LET   THE   MYSTIC   LAW   OF   CAUSE   AND   EFFECT   UNITE   IN   MY  MIND  
AND   REVEAL   MY   BEAUTIFUL    SPIRITUAL   REALITY.
LET   THIS   ENLIGHTENMENT   HEAL   MY   KARMA   AND   SHOW   THE   WAY   TO   ETERNAL   BEING   AND   HAPPINESS"
~~~~~
"LET  THE  MYSTIC  LAW  OF  THE  UNITY  OF  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT
FILL  MY  MIND  AND  GUIDE  MY  THOUGHTS,  WORDS  AND  ACTIONS"
~~~~~
"LET   THE   MYSTIC   LAW    OF  CREATION   AT   ONE   WITH   THE   MANIFESTATION    OF   LIFE
FILL   MY   CONSCIOUSNESS   WITH   ETERNAL HAPPINESS   AND   GUIDE   MY   LIFE   AND    ACTIONS"

~~~~~
"LET   ME   BECOME   AWARE   OF   THE   MYSTIC   LAWS   OF   CAUSE   AND   EFFECT   IN   UNITY
LET   THAT   GUIDE   MY   THOUGHTS,   WORDS,   AND   ACTIONS "

~~~~~
"LET  THE  MYSTIC  LAW  OF  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT   UNITE  WITH   MY  MIND
AND  BRING  THE   ETERNAL   HAPPINESS   THAT  DOESN'T  DEPEND  ON  CURRENT  CIRCUMSTANCES"
~~~~~
"LET  THE  MYSTIC  LAW  OF  THE  UNITY  OF  CAUSE  AND  EFFECT
FILL   MY   CONSCIOUSNESS   WITH  THE   MEMORY   OF   MY   ETERNAL   EXISTENCE"  
~~~~~

"Let   me   actively   engage   with   my   divine   mind  
which   is   in   the   direct   cause   and   effect   relationship   with
THE   ONE   MIND,   THE   ETERNAL   SOURCE   OF   ALL   LIFE,   SUBSTANCE,   SPIRIT   AND   LOVE"

~~~~~
Let   the   Mystic   Law   of   Cause   and   Effect   United   fill   my   Consciousness
And    Bring   me   Eternal   Happiness,   Peace,   and   Healing.
And    Let   me   share   this   Kosen   Rufu   with   everyone.

~~~~~
Let   Me   Unite   With   The   Mystic   Cause  
And    Bring   Absollute   Happiness   To   My   World.

~~~~~
Let   The   Mystic   Enlightenned   Beings   Join   With   Me.
~~~~~
I Chant to bring myself into the awaeness that I am already United witht the Mystic Cause

ON CHANGING KARMA:
The chronic projection of negativity onto the events you think are coming up ... this paints the future with a sense of dread!
Instead, focus on and antipicate improvements coming up ... when the dread is gone it won't be influencing the future

...with a strong intensity of chanting, we can get a dramatic release from that dread.
This can be felt like the difference between falling and not falling
...
Remember that experiencing awareness on the spirit plane is being completly surrounded by infinite cosmic LOVE!

More Karma
Chant with a strong conviction, a feeling of certainty, that things are getting better!
Especially if we are accustomed to thinking, expecting, worrying, things are getting worse!
This is the essence of changing Karma.
   One can feel a slight thrill of anticipation with each fresh breath!

Expect things to always improve because of your faith
And eventually there will come the graduation and release from the overwhelming sense of this material plane.
And into the Pan-Dimensional Mystical Reality of Eternal Cosmic Being


The problem to address is the Mystic Law of Cause not united with effect or effect without Cause.
That is the normal state of seperation. We chant to raise consciousness specifically to unite Cause with Effect.
We're already very conscious of the effect, (US), in need of healing, direction, encouragement, success, etc.

The goal is to unite with our Cause, the Eternal Mystic Cause that transcends all time, space, & situation!
LET ME RAISE MY CONSCIOUSNESS UP TO THE MYSTIC LAW AND THEN SEE THE UNIFICATION WITH THE ETERNAL

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instead of "Whatever happened to that body I used to be in?"
Say: "Whatever Happened to that State Of Mystical Perfection I once was in?'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





An experiment for me in blending in "The Course" and other concepts »»».


PRAYER GUIDES

• The first thing is to pray. From the moment we begin to pray, things start moving.
The darker the night, the closer the dawn.
From the moment we chant [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] with a deep and powerful resolve,
the sun begins to rise in our hearts.

• Hope—prayer is the sun of hope.
To chant each time we face a problem, overcoming it and elevating our life condition as a result—
this is the path of “earthly desires are enlightenment” taught in Nichiren Buddhism.

• Pray that instead of devils or negative, destructive forces infiltrating your being,
that Brahma, Shakra, and the gods of the Sun and the Moon—
the positive, protective forces of the universe—will enter your life!

• Pray that they will enter the lives of … You family, friends, the entire membership, all the planet as well.
If you do this, your strength will multiply a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
With such prayer, you will realize a fundamental transformation in the very depths of your life.
This is the secret to achieving your human revolution.

• An arrow will not hit the target unless we take proper aim. The same is true of chanting.
Our prayers come to fruition when we set clear goals and strive earnestly and persistently to realize them.

• Faith in the realm of Nichiren Buddhism is not a matter of simply chanting to the Gohonzon
and expecting things to automatically go well.
We need to chant and make efforts, make efforts and chant;
by doing so, we can activate the positive functions of the universe to work on our behalf.

• Josei Toda said: “Firmly believing that there is no distinction between the Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin and ourselves, we should chant with deep appreciation and gratitude for this in our hearts.
When we do so, the rhythm of our lives aligns itself with the rhythm of the universe, and our lives connect with the great life of the universe, thereby enabling us to bring forth incredible life force.”
Accordingly, there are no hardships or sufferings in life that we cannot overcome, and there is no way that we will fail to become happy.

• Practicing this Buddhism doesn’t mean that our lives will always be smooth.
Life is a series of ups and downs, challenges and adversity.
We should expect to encounter suffering, hardship and sadness.
At such times, we should chant with all our might.

• If we do so, in light of the teachings of Buddhism, we are certain to break through those difficulties.
As we repeat this process throughout our lives, and continue to strive for kosen-rufu, we’ll achieve our human revolution and build a life state of absolute happiness.
That’s the path of faith. So no matter what happens, never stray from faith.




LEADING GONGYO - CURRENT GUIDELINES:

Morning and evening gongyo follow the same format:
To begin, face the Gohonzon, sound the bell, and group chant Nam myoho renge kyo three times slowly.
This includes appreciation to the protective functions of the universe.

Recite the excerpt from the "Expedient Means" chapter. When finished, sound the bell.
Recite the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter. When finished, sound the bell

Here you begin fast chanting Nam myoho renge kyo.
Continue chanting for as long as you wish.
To conclude, sound the bell and group chant Nam myoho renge kyo three times.

Then offer these new silent prayers.

I offer my profound gratitude and appreciation to the Gohonzon, which embodies
Nam myoho renge kyo the essence of the Lotus Sutra.
I offer my profound gratitude and appreciation to Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law.
I offer my profound gratitude and appreciation to Nikko Shonin.
Solo Chant Nam myoho renge kyo - three times.

I offer my deepest appreciation for the three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda the eternal mentors of kosen rufu, for their selfless dedication to propagating the Law.
Solo Nam myoho renge kyo - three times.

I pray that the great vow for worldwide kosen rufu be fulfilled and that the Soka Gakkai International will develop in this endeavor for countless generations to come. I pray to accomplish my own human revolution, change my destiny, and fulfill all of my wishes. (+ additional prayers) I pray for my deceased relatives, fellow members, friends, and all those who have passed away, particularly for these individuals:
(Sound the bell continuously while offering prayers.)
Solo Chant Nam myoho renge kyo - three times

I pray for peace throughout the world and the happiness of all living beings.
Sound the bell and group chant Nam myoho renge kyo slowly three times to conclude.




~ TABLE OF CONTENTS ~

CHARTS:

DIAGRAM OF THE DAI-GOHONZON
DIAGRAM OF NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO





VERSIONS OF GONGYO:

HOBEN PLAIN TEXT»

JURYO PLAIN TEXT»

TEXT WITH CHINESE CHARACTERS
HOBEN CHAPTER
JURYO CHAPTER

TEXT WITH TRANSLATION
HOBEN CHAPTER
JURYO CHAPTER


ADDITIONAL SECTION OF JURYO CHAPTER
(CURRENTLY NOT IN USE... - WITH TRANSLATION)





GONGYO:

First Silent Prayer: I offer appreciation to the functions in life and the environment (shoten zenjin) that serve to protect us, and pray that these protective powers be further strengthened and enhanced through my practice of the Law. (Chant)

.Gongyo


2nd Silent Prayer:    I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer profound appreciation for the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, which was bestowed upon the entire world; to Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law; and to Nikko Shonin.   I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer appreciation to Nichimoku Shonin. (Chant)

3rd Silent Prayer:     I pray that the great desire for kosen-rufu be fulfilled, and that the Soka Gakkai International develop in this endeavor for countless generations to come. I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer appreciation to the three founding presidents—Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda—for their eternal examples of selfless dedication to the propagation of the Law. (Chant)

4th Silent Prayer:    I pray to bring forth Buddhahood from within my life and accomplish my own human revolution, change my destiny and fulfill my needs and wishes. (Offer additional prayers here.) I pray for my family and for all those who have passed away, (Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers, Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends) (Chant)

I pray for peace throughout the world and the happiness of every being.



TRANSLATION »                    NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO DIAGRAM »                            GOHONZON DIAGRAM »




EARLIER ...

1st Silent Prayer:    I offer appreciation for the functions in life and the environment (shoten zenjin) that serve to protect us, and pray that these protective powers be further strengthened and enhanced through my practice of the Law. (Chant with Gongyo)

2nd Silent Prayer:    I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer profound appreciation for the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, which was bestowed upon the entire world; to Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law; and to Nikko Shonin.   I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer appreciation to Nichimoku Shonin. (Chant)

3rd Silent Prayer:     I pray that the great desire for kosen-rufu be fulfilled, and that the Soka Gakkai International develop in this endeavor for countless generations to come. I acknowledge my debt of gratitude and offer appreciation to the three founding presidents—Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda—for their eternal examples of selfless dedication to the propagation of the Law. (Chant)

4th Silent Prayer:    I pray to bring forth Buddhahood from within my life and accomplish my own human revolution, change my destiny and fulfill my needs and wishes. (Offer additional prayers here.) I pray for my family and for all those who have passed away, (Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers, Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Friends) (Chant)

I pray for peace throughout the world and the happiness of every being.




10 Worlds final edit:

1] from Nichiren about the world of Hell [Hell Light?] ... [The Land of Tranquil Light]

Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside oneself; both lie only within one's own heart. Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person. The Lotus Sutra reveals this truth, and as we embrace the Lotus Sutra we'll realize that hell is itself the Land of Tranquil Light.
How reassuring! The "Life Span" chapter states, "It has been immeasurable...thousands...millions...of kalpas since I in fact attained Buddhahood." In this passage, "I" refers to all beings in the Ten Worlds. Because all these are inherently Buddhas, they dwell in the pure land.

2] Hunger
in itself is neither good nor bad. Without a sense of hunger, we would starve. Desires and wants can provide motivation for self-improvement and advancement.
In the world of hunger, however, we are unable to use our desires creatively, and can become slaves to them and suffer as a result.

3) The World of Animals
In the world of animality, we lack reason and conscience, seeing life as a struggle for survival in which we can be willing to harm others... …but animals do exhibit many qualities, like loyalty and selflessness, that we can learn from.

4) The World of Asuras (Anger)
In Indian mythology, an asura is a contentious god or demon. One characteristic of the life state of asuras, also called anger, is a strong tendency to compare ourselves with others and a preoccupation with surpassing them . In this world we can often put on airs to impress with self-perceived greatness. This may appear well-intentioned and civil, possibly even humble. But inside, we harbor jealousy and resentment…. This conflict can make us prone to hypocrisy and betrayal. But there is a degree of self-awareness and control. In a sense, this world could be considered a higher state than those lower evil paths. But remaining here ultimately gives rise to suffering. So Asuras together with hell, hunger and animality, becom the "four evil paths."

5) The World of Human Beings
One aspect of this world is the quality of reason that enables us to distinguish right from wrong and to make better judgments. We can now have a fair degree of self-control. But in a world rampant with negative influences, to truly live here is impossible without consistent effort to improve oneself. Moving up from the lower four Worlds, this world of human beings is the first one where raising our condition becomes a possibility.

6) The World of Heavenly Beings
In general, we can think of the world of heaven as the condition of joy that pervades our lives. But this joy is not permanent and eventually weakens and disappears... therefore, it's not the genuine happiness that Buddhism aims to achieve.

These six paths describe life easily influenced by external circumstances. If we remain here we can't enjoy freedom or independence. The aim of Buddhist practice is to transcend these paths and build a self-determined happiness that isn't controled by our environment. So these conditions are known as the four noble worlds.

7) & 8)
The worlds of Voice-Hearers and Cause-Awakened Ones (also called the worlds of learning and realization) represent higher states of Buddhist practitioners, and are called the "two vehicles." Voice-Hearers are those who achieve a partial awakening with the study of Buddha's teachings. And Cause-Awakened Ones are those who can achieve some awakening on their own…. The partial enlightenment that characterizes the "two vehicles" consists of awakening to the transience and impermanence of all things in our environment. But here we can also face the assumption we've reached a pinnacle of development—and focus on our personal attainment to the exclusion of concern for others.

9) The World of Bodhisattvas
In the previous worlds of learning and realization we see the Buddha as our teacher, but don't yet believe we're capable of attaining the actual enlightenment of the Buddha. In contrast, as bodhisattvas we not only regard the Buddha as our teacher but also aim to realize that same supreme enlightenment. In addition, as bodhisattvas, we believe that all people can attain Buddhahood and we work to spread the Buddha's teachings.

10) The World of Buddhas
A Buddha is someone fully enlightened to the Mystic Law, the basis of all life and phenomena in the universe.
Opening to this state of life within brings unsurpassed compassion and wisdom.
All of us inherently possess the world of Buddhahood, but bringing that forth amid the reality of our lives is no easy matter. For that reason, the Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon, the object of devotion, as an embodiment of the world of Buddhahood that he had attained. When we believe in the Gohonzon and strive to chant for our happiness and that of others, we bring on the world of Buddhahood inherent within us, and begin to embody it in our lives.

Buddhist texts, including Nichiren's writings, often liken the world of Buddhahood to a lion king. Like the lion king, those who have activated their Buddhahood neither fear nor are daunted by anything or anyone. It is a condition of courage, genuine peace, absolute happiness and enlightenment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
unedited version:
Extra writings from Nichiren about Hell... [The Land of Tranquil Light]

Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside oneself; both lie only within one’s own heart. Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person. The Lotus Sutra reveals this truth, and one who embraces the Lotus Sutra will realize that hell is itself the Land of Tranquil Light.

The sutra reads, “If someone . . . should enter a great fire, the fire could not burn him. . . . If one were washed away by a great flood and called upon his name, one would immediately find oneself in a shallow place.”It also reads,
The good fortune you gain thereby . . . cannot be burned by fire or washed away by water.” How reassuring! How encouraging!The two characters for hell can be interpreted to mean digging a hole in the ground. Can anyone avoid having a hole dug for them when they die? This is what is called “hell.” The flames that burn one’s body are the fires of the hell of incessant suffering.

{To} Those who embrace the Lotus Sutra, however, [They] can turn all this around. Hell becomes the Land of Tranquil Light; the burning fires of agony become the torch of the wisdom of a Thus Come One
of the reward body; the dead person becomes a Thus Come One of the Dharma body; and the fiery inferno, the “room of great pity and compassion” where a Thus Come One of the manifested body abides. Moreover, the walking stick becomes the walking stick of the true aspect, or the Mystic Law; [Moreover] the river of three crossings becomes the ocean of “the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana”; and the mountain of death becomes the towering peak of “earthly desires are enlightenment.” Please think of it in this way.


The “Life Span” chapter states, “It has been immeasurable, boundless [hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of nayutas of kalpas] since I in fact attained Buddhahood.” In this passage, “I” refers to all beings in the Ten Worlds. Because all beings of the Ten Worlds are inherently Buddhas, they dwell in the pure land. The “Expedient Means” chapter reads, “These phenomena are part of an abiding Law, [and] the characteristics of the world are constantly abiding.” Since it is the way of the world that birth and death are eternally unchanging characteristics of life in the three existences of past, present, and future, there is no need to grieve or to be surprised. The single word “characteristic” represents the eight characteristics, or phases, of the Buddha’s existence. Even these eight phases do not transcend the two words birth and death. To be enlightened in this way is referred to as the attainment of Buddhahood in one’s present form by the votaries of the Lotus Sutra.


The Ten Worlds

Through examining the "Ten Worlds"—a classification of ten distinct states of life—we can get a clearer understanding of the dynamics of the Buddhist philosophy of the human condition and gain insight as to how to improve it. The Ten Worlds are: the world of hell; the world of hungry spirits (also called hunger); the world of animals (animality); the world of asuras (anger); the world of human beings (humanity or tranquillity); the world of heavenly beings (heaven or rapture); the world of voicehearers (learning); the world of cause-awakened ones (realization); the world of bodhisattvas; and the world of Buddhas (Buddhahood). Among these, hell, hunger, animality, asuras, humanity and heaven are known collectively as the "six lower worlds" or the "six paths." The worlds of voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, bodhisattvas and Buddhas are known as the "four noble worlds."

The idea of the six paths originates with the ancient Indian worldview that envisions six broad realms within which all living beings transmigrate through the repeated cycle of death and rebirth. Buddhism adopted this view. The four noble worlds indicate levels or states beyond the six paths that are achieved through Buddhist practice. Sutras other than the Lotus Sutra often define these worlds as places inhabited by certain kinds of beings, or, in the case of the four noble worlds, by Buddhist practitioners. For instance, hell is viewed as a place of torment that exists underground, while Buddhas and bodhisattvas are believed to dwell in pure lands far from the ordinary realm of human beings. But the Lotus Sutra overturns this way of thinking, teaching "the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds"—that each of Ten Worlds possesses the potential of all ten within itself. Rather than distinct realms, the Ten Worlds are conditions of life that everyone has the potential to experience at any time.

Nichiren Daishonin writes: "Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside oneself; both lie only within one's own heart. Awakened to this, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, one is called an ordinary person. The Lotus Sutra reveals this truth, and one who embraces the Lotus Sutra will realize that hell is itself the Land of Tranquil Light" ("Hell Is the Land of Tranquil Light," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 456). What does this mean for us? From one perspective, though in one moment we may experience the misery characterized by the world of hell, in that same moment, through Buddhist practice, we can begin transforming our lives so that we can savor the deep, inexhaustible joy of the world of Buddhahood.

1) The World of Hell
The Japanese word for hell, jigoku (Skt naraka), suggests an "underground prison." Hell represents the basest human condition in which one is fettered by agony, completely lacking in freedom. Nichiren writes, "Hell is a dreadful dwelling of fire" ("Letter to Niike," WND-1, 1026). If we consider hell as a potential state of life, it describes being so overwhelmed that our suffering seems to engulf us completely, like roaring flames. Nichiren also states, "Rage is the world of hell" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). Rage, here, means desperation and resentment arising from the inability to quell misery, with no hope of respite from torment. Hell is a state of life in which one feels that living itself is suffering and that whatever one sees or encounters causes more suffering. We could also say that in the world of hell we are controlled by destructive impulses. War, which embodies extremes of human misery, can be considered an expression of the world of hell.

2) The World of Hunger
The world of hungry spirits, or hunger, is characterized by overwhelming desires and the suffering that comes from those desires going unfulfilled. The Japanese term gaki (Skt preta), translated as "hungry spirit" or "hungry ghost," originally referred to the dead. This is because the dead were thought to be in a constant state of starvation. The world of hunger is a condition in which our mind and body burn with constant intense craving. Nichiren Daishonin writes, "The realm of hungry spirits is a pitiful place where, driven by starvation, they devour their own children" ("Letter to Niike," WND-1, 1026). He also says, "Greed is [the world] of hungry spirits" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). To be hungry to the point of devouring one's own children is to be ruled by the misery of craving that knows no bounds. Desire in itself is neither good nor bad. Without a sense of hunger when our bodies need nourishment, we would starve to death. Desires and wants can provide impetus for self-improvement, for human advancement. In the world of hunger, however, we are unable to use desires creatively. We become slaves to them and suffer as a result.

3) The World of Animals

The world of animals, or animality, is characterized by motivation based on immediate gain or loss rather than on reason or logic. Nichiren Daishonin says, "Foolishness is [the world] of animals" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). When in the state of animality, one acts based on instinct or impulse, unable to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil. Nichiren also writes, "It is the nature of beasts to threaten the weak and fear the strong" ("Letter from Sado," WND-1, 302), and that the realm of animals is characterized by the need "to kill or be killed" ("Letter to Niike," WND-1, 1026). In the world of animality, people lack reason and conscience, seeing life as a struggle for survival in which they are willing to harm others to protect themselves. Unable to look beyond the immediate, they cannot plan for the future. Such a state of ignorance ultimately leads to suffering and self-destruction. While Buddhism draws from ancient Indian tradition in associating this state of life with animals, in reality, animals can exhibit qualities, such as loyalty and selflessness, from which humans could gain by learning. And animals play an irreplaceable role in supporting human life. Human beings, on the other hand, can be capable of baseness and cruelty, such as seen in wartime, that surpasses anything in the animal world. Because the worlds of hell, hungry spirits and animals all represent conditions of suffering, they are collectively known as the "three evil paths."

4) The World of Asuras (Anger)

An asura is a contentious god or demon found in Indian mythology. One characteristic of those in the life state known as the world of asuras, also called anger, is a strong tendency to compare themselves with and a preoccupation with surpassing others. When they see themselves as superior to others, these people become consumed with arrogance and contempt. If, on the other hand, they encounter a person who seems clearly their superior, they become obsequious and given over to flattery. People in the world of asuras often put on airs in order to impress others with their self-perceived greatness. On the surface, those in this world may appear well-intentioned and civil, even humble. Inwardly, however, they harbor jealousy or resentment toward those they sense as better than them. This conflict between outward appearance and behavior and inner feelings and orientation makes those in the world of asuras prone to hypocrisy and betrayal.

This is why Nichiren Daishonin writes that "perversity is [the world] of asuras"
("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). The Japanese word tengoku, translated here as "perversity," is composed of two characters meaning "to submit without revealing one's true intent," and "bent" or "twisted," respectively. Unlike the three evil paths—the worlds of hell, hunger and animality—in which one is controlled by the three poisons (the fundamental human delusions of greed, anger and foolishness), those in the world of asuras display a stronger degree of self-awareness and control. In this sense, it could be considered a higher state than the three evil paths. Nevertheless, remaining in the condition of asuras ultimately gives rise to suffering and therefore constitutes, together with hell, hunger and animality, one of the "four evil paths." Though the world of asuras is often called the world of anger, this does not mean it is characterized by rage or the tendency to lose one's temper. Rather, it suggests an abiding sense of contention or predisposition toward conflict arising from self-centered ambition.

5) The World of Human Beings
The world of human beings, or humanity, is a condition of composure and tranquillity. Thus, Nichiren Daishonin says, "Calmness is [the world] of human beings" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). One aspect of the world of humanity is the quality of reason that enables us to distinguish right from wrong and to make judgments based on that distinction. In this condition, a person also has a fair degree of self-control. "The wise may be called human, but the thoughtless are no more than animals" ("The Three Kinds of Treasure," WND-1, 852), writes Nichiren. To remain in this state of humanity, however, requires effort. In a world rampant with negative influences, it is not easy to continue to live in a truly human manner. It is actually impossible without consistent effort to improve oneself. Moving up from the lower four of the Ten Worlds, the world of human beings is the first in which improving one's condition becomes a possibility. Furthermore, those in the world of humanity, while vulnerable to negative influences, are also capable of exerting themselves in Buddhist practice and thereby advancing to the four noble worlds.

6) The World of Heavenly Beings
The name of this world derives from the Indic word devaloka, which means the place where gods and superhuman godlike beings reside. In Buddhist philosophy, the world of heavenly beings, or heaven, refers to a condition of life in which one experiences the joy of having one's desires fulfilled. Hence, Nichiren says, "Joy is [the world] of heaven" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). Human beings experience many kinds of desire. There are fundamental or instinctual desires, such as for sleep and food. There are desires for material things, as well as social, intellectual and spiritual desires. In general, we can think of the world of heaven as the condition of joy that pervades our lives at having any of these various desires fulfilled. But the joy associated with the world of heaven is not lasting; it eventually weakens and disappears. The world of heaven, therefore, is not the condition of genuine happiness that Buddhism aims to achieve.

From the Six Paths to the Four Noble Paths The six worlds discussed above, [ The lower six worlds ] together referred to as the six paths, describe states of life easily influenced by external circumstances. Those who remain in them cannot enjoy true freedom or independence. The aim of Buddhist practice is to transcend these six paths and build a self-determined happiness that is uncontrolled by the environment. The conditions of life a person develops through Buddhist practice are known as the four noble worlds, the worlds of voicehearers (learning), cause-awakened ones (realization), bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

7) The World of Voice-Hearers (Learning) &
8) Cause-Awakened Ones (Realization)
In Hinayana teachings, the two worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones (also called the worlds of learning and realization) represented the two highest states Buddhist practitioners could attain and are together called the "two vehicles." "Voice-hearers" originally meant those who had achieved a partial awakening through hearing (listening to) the Buddha's teachings. In contrast, cause-awakened ones were those who had achieved an awakening on their own, through their connection with or observation of various phenomena. The partial enlightenment that characterizes both worlds of the two vehicles consists of an awakening to the transience or impermanence of all things. Impermanence indicates the reality that all phenomena change with the passage of time and eventually die out and cease to exist. Those who possess the life condition of the two vehicles, having overcome the tendency to be attached to impermanent things, can view themselves and the world objectively, awakened to the truth that everything in this real world changes and perishes with the passage of time.

Nichiren Daishonin says: "The fact that all things in this world are transient is perfectly clear to us. Is this not because the worlds of the two vehicles are present in the human world?" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). He is saying that within the world of humanity exists the potential for the life states of the two vehicles. Considering the Ten Worlds as potential conditions of human life, we could say that the worlds of learning and realization represent states of awakening and self-determination that transcend those of the six paths. People in these states may be inquisitive, intellectual and creative. The shortcomings those in these conditions face, however, are complacency—the assumption that one has reached a pinnacle of development—and a preoccupation with personal attainment to the exclusion of concern and effort for the good of others. It is this tendency toward self-centeredness on the part of people of the two vehicles that caused early Mahayana Buddhist scriptures to deny them the possibility of attaining enlightenment.

9) The World of Bodhisattvas
Bodhisattvas are beings who relentlessly exert themselves to gain the enlightenment of a Buddha. Persons of the two vehicles, though regarding the Buddha as their teacher, do not believe themselves capable of attaining the same state of enlightenment as the Buddha. In contrast, bodhisattvas not only regard the Buddha as their teacher but also aim to realize the same supreme enlightenment. In addition, bodhisattvas believe that all people can attain Buddhahood and work to spread the Buddha's teaching widely to relieve people's suffering and lead them to happiness. What distinguishes bodhisattvas is their strong spirit to seek the world of Buddhahood, the highest state a human being can manifest, as well as their efforts to share with others the benefits they have obtained through Buddhist practice. Bodhisattvas are filled, before all else, with a strong wish for people's happiness. The world of bodhisattvas is a state of life in which one acts with a sense of mission for the sake of people and for the Law. Compassion is fundamental to this world. The Sanskrit term for compassion, karuna (Jpn jihi), is sometimes translated as "loving kindness" or "mercy." Regarding this, Nichiren Daishonin says: "Even a heartless villain loves his wife and children. He too has a portion of the bodhisattva world within him" ("The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," WND-1, 358). Here, Nichiren reminds us that all people, even the cruel and corrupt, have the potential for compassion. It is the nature of those who exhibit the world of bodhisattvas to base their lives and actions upon compassion for all people.

10) The World of Buddhas
The world of Buddhas, or Buddhahood, is a supremely noble and virtuous state of life. The Sanskrit word buddha means "one who has awakened." A Buddha is someone enlightened to the Mystic Law, the wonderful law or principle that is the basis of all life and phenomena in the universe. Specifically, "the Buddha" refers to Shakyamuni, also known as Gautama or Siddhartha, who lived and taught in India roughly 2,500 years ago. The Buddhist sutras describe various other Buddhas such as Amida and Mahavairochana, but these are mythical figures intended to represent the wonder and greatness of a particular virtue or quality of the Buddha's enlightened state of life. Nichiren Daishonin appeared in the Latter Day of the Law, the age in which Shakyamuni's teachings had been predicted to fall into decline and become ineffective in leading people to enlightenment. To save all people in the Latter Day from suffering, Nichiren manifested the world of Buddhahood in his own life as proof that an ordinary human being can do so. Because he established the way by which all people can attain Buddhahood, he is respected as the true Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. The world of Buddhahood is a life condition rich in noble virtue and good fortune. It emerges when individuals awaken to the reality that the source and foundation of their very lives is the Mystic Law.

A Buddha is someone who opens this state of life within and thus embodies unsurpassed compassion and wisdom. And, fueled by that compassion and wisdom, a Buddha works constantly to enable all people to manifest the same world of Buddhahood. All of us inherently possess the world of Buddhahood, but bringing that condition forth amid the reality of our lives is no easy matter. For that reason, the Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon, the object of devotion, as an embodiment of the world of Buddhahood he had attained. He did this to provide a means for all to bring forth Buddhahood in their own lives. The world of Buddhahood, the state that Nichiren manifested, in essence, is the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. When we believe in the Gohonzon and strive to chant for our own happiness and that of others, we can tap the world of Buddhahood inherent within us and embody it in our lives. In "The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind," Nichiren refers to the deep connection between faith and our innate Buddhahood. He writes, "That ordinary people born in the latter age can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of Buddhahood is present in the human world" (WND-1, 358). The Lotus Sutra reveals that all people are innately Buddhas; we human beings can believe in that teaching precisely because our lives fundamentally possess the world of Buddhahood.

Based on Nichiren's statement above, Nichikan, the great scholar of Nichiren Buddhism, writes, "A heart that strongly believes in the Lotus Sutra is [another] name for the world of Buddhahood." The Lotus Sutra here means the Gohonzon. And the world of Buddhahood is none other than absolute happiness gained from basing one's life on chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon whatever our circumstances. Buddhist texts, including Nichiren's writings, often liken the world of Buddhahood to a lion king. Like the lion king, those who have activated their Buddhahood neither fear nor are daunted by anything or anyone. It is a condition of courage, genuine peace, absolute happiness and enlightenment. (An Introduction to Buddhism, pp. 16–26) Adapted from an article in the October 2007 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai's monthly study journal Through examining the "Ten Worlds"—a classification of ten distinct states of life—we can get a clearer understanding of the dynamics of the Buddhist philosophy of the human condition and gain insight as to how to improve it.

 


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BASICS ... A Description of SGI Buddhism              Chaz Hawley

 

        In India, 2500 years ago Shakyamuni Buddha was seeking answers to the serious problems of life, especially the suffering, the crises, sickness and dying that we all still see today. He left the royal life he was born into, and spent years going through various extremely austere disciplines to try and reach a higher understanding, and finally it suddenly came to him while just sitting under a tree. This was comfortable, compared to long periods of fasting and immobilization. He called it the "Middle Way".

        His numerous teachings, or Sutras explained many aspects of the philosophy of enlightenment. In his last years, he taught the Lotus Sutra, which was the complete fundamentals of enlightenment. Over the centuries different schools and interpretations arose, focusing on various earlier sutras. They added ceremonies, they worshiped statues of Shakyamuni, and created a hierarchy of priests and monks.

        18 centuries later, in 13th century Japan, a Buddhist monk, Nichiren, searched all the sutras for the truest teachings. He found that the Lotus Sutra is the enlightenment as Shakyamuni intended. This teaching stresses that all people have an eternal Buddha Nature which can be immediately accessible to them. This Sutra, titled in Sanskrit, "Myo Ho Renge Kyo", stresses the importance of accessing the enlightenment of our Buddha Natures. This brings us benefits, happiness and compassion that guides us as we continue dealing with the many serious problems of life. We are not postponing our enlightenment for some distant future incarnation.

        The Lotus Sutra's title roughly translates: The Mystic Law of the Unity of True Cause and Effect. Nichiren added "Nam" or "Dedication" to the title, creating a statement of pure devotion towards our enlightenment. It is like saying: "I Let the Mystic Law of the Unity of True Cause and Effect fill my mind and guide my words and actions".

        Shakyamuni further stressed that, though it appeared he had suddenly attained enlightenment in that moment of his life, he realized he had always been enlightened!! This concept he defined as the "True Cause". This also being the True Cause for all of our Buddha Natures!! The power of affirming this when we chant Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo is the pathway for transforming our minds away from the fundamental darkness of ordinary existence to the realization of our immortal perfection as Buddhas ourselves. So, like Shakyamuni, we also always existed in the state of True Enlightenment, and try to practice realizing this point.

        Nichiren created the Gohonzon to display a visual representation of the "Treasure Tower", or "Ceremony in the Air", as described in the Lotus Sutra. This is a graphic representation of Shakyamuni's greatest insights. It includes Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo in bold characters down the middle, and many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and names of Heavenly Kings various Deities and other spirits that were included in the Lotus Sutra. It manifests the whole spectrum of all the states of Mind, or the "Ten Worlds", from the lowest to the highest. Like a mirror to our soul, it reflects the complete potential of our lives and therefore can be cherished not as an external object, but as our complete and innermost state.

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Arguing from the "Point Of Perfection"             Chaz Hawley

        In deepest mystical actuality are we not all Buddha? Our Buddha Nature makes us all One at that level, the Oneness of Cause and Effect. While growing up we have many experiences, and even now as we are experiencing our every day lives, we all are subjected to behaviors that come from the others in our lives. Yet are they not also Buddhas? Sure, if their behavior is imperfect, they are not aware of being Buddhas, or their behavior would be perfect. And if we were aware of our Oneness during the times when we were interacting, then our feelings, our reactions would be Buddha-like: wise, forgiving, loving, patient, compassionate and undisturbed.

        Should we not now, when we chant to experience the perfection of our Buddha Nature, our oneness with all around us, wouldn't that include looking back at our past with that same wise, loving, forgiving, compassionate understanding, and that would include no longer being disturbed by it? It was merely the mistaken behaviors of those, (including ourselves), who were ignorant or in denial of the Truth of our Oneness and Eternal Buddha Nature.

     The defense of our mortal separateness, the insistence on cherishing the seeming reality of our separate individual pasts, all the lower worlds, with all of their hurts and all of our grievances, this belief in these states being as valid as the higher ones, this belief is hurting us...all the attempts for the subdivision of our Oneness are hurting us.

        The mystical connection and Oneness of all our Buddha Natures, the striving for awareness of all our Beings in the Mystic Law, of our Highest Worlds, this striving lifts the burden of carrying our grievances and instead brings us happiness and peace. Forgiveness at this Mystical Level of Oneness gives us the ability to truly unburden ourselves of the traumatic accumulation of hurts, angers and grievances and stop the endless repeating patterns of behavior between ourselves and our friends, co-workers and family members.

        Campaigning for this means we have to clearly see what Truth is and what error is. The Truth is we are One with the Mystical Unity of Cause and Effect. Therefore, Perfect Cause: the Buddha Mind ... Perfect Effect: our Buddha Nature, and the Unity of Cause and Effect is our Oneness with our brothers, sisters, parents, children, friends, all the beings in our world. Error is the belief that we are seperate and the past can continue to hurt us.

      To reason from the Point Of Perfection of our Buddha Nature, and go to where we seem to be now, dwelling in which ever lower worlds and whatever that distance might be, this should make it clear that if we are experiencing anger and frustration and grievances, that can't really be the truth about our being. TheTruth has always been the Truth of our Oneness with the Buddha Mind, through Countless Lifetimes! The Unity of Cause-and-Effect has always been to makeTrue the Law of the Cause of Perfection on the Effects of Perfection. When Shakamuni realized this enlightenment, he realized he had always been enlightened!!

        To argue instead for the validity or reality of the mistaken behaviors of others who were unaware of their Buddha Nature, To try and deal with them psychologically, and these behaviors we extended towards them when we were ignorant of our Buddah Nature, those experiences of pain or frustration or negativity continue to occur when we deny our Buddha Nature and the Buddha Nature of those we are interacting with. Happiness is impossible then, enlightenment is impossible then.

        So the letting go of grievances is crucial yet can be helped greatly with the absolute certainty they are unreal compared with the Reality of the Higher Worlds. Grievances are a lie about our true Buddha Selves and the true Buddha Selves of others that we are actually One with. Experience Oneness, Experience Happiness!! This should be the emphasis of my practice.

 

                                              ~ How To Become One With Unlimited Self Esteem ~
                                                    By Danny Nagashima, SGI USA General Director


        You can analyze your situation all you want. You have to get to the root of why "I don't believe in the greatness of my life". You have to grab it by the roots and yank it out of your life. The answer is probably so simple, but we tend to over-analyze, it gets complicated and the solution seems far away. Your mission as a Buddhist is to become happy – not to master suffering. We have the negative and positive sides of us – one says, "who are you kidding", the other, "you can do it". You have to fight to not to give in to your negativity. This is not about being a writer, an artist, an actor, etc. It is about becoming the man or woman that you always wanted to become, a man or woman who really values his/her life.

        The obstacles you face are the answers to your prayer.

        Those feelings of self-doubt, those feelings that "I am a failure" – those are the feelings that I have to face and to address. How you feel about yourself, that feeling of self-loathing, of not being good enough, of being a sham. Those are the feelings you have to face. Your talent is not being questioned; it is about how you feel about yourself. That is the karma. You have to value your own life, to appreciate that it has nothing to do with anybody else validating you. Follow your heart; follow your Buddhahood and the effect from that, the benefit from that will be massive.

        You need to follow your heart, truly treasure your life.


        When Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon, he was already chanting daimoku out of the greatness of his life, his Buddhahood, his enlightened state; he inscribed the Gohonzon for all humanity so that everyone could relieve his or her suffering. When you sit in front of the Gohonzon and chant, you have to have the most reverence for your life, the same as the Daishonin's; therefore your life deserves that kind of reverence. If you chant for two weeks to really be a person of unlimited self-esteem and to really, truly appreciate your life including your flaws, your accomplishments, your defeats and your losses, your victories, all that you have created and to truly appreciate your talent as XYZ for two weeks, everything will change.

        Forget about the past garbage. Put it away.

        That will only make you feel impotent. From today on, really chant about being that man/woman of unlimited self-esteem. Really appreciate everything about your life; all the things that make you incredibly unique and wonderful. All your sufferings, problems, heartaches, will be the stuff you need, in order to share your experience, to encourage and to inspire others.

        Focus on really, truly awakening to your greatness.

        This is the opportunity (sufferings, obstacles, lack of self-esteem) you needed to go through in order to become outrageously successful – so you can fulfill your dream. If you focus on this – really valuing your life now, then everything will fall into place in a much bigger way. This is something no one can give you; the universe is showing you what you need to tackle. When you first chant this way, a lot of garbage may come out of your life, a lot of negativity, awful feelings may surface. We always bring into our lives what matches our life condition.

          So chant to feel incredible joy about your worth and you will feel and know self worth and greatness.

        You not being able to do whatever you determine is a manifestation deep down of your feeling of fear, that you are not good enough, that you do not have it in you. You must get yourself to a place where there is the greatness of your life, then everything will be transformed. We have to believe in our Buddhahood. When we face the Gohonzon, we should say, "I am going to praise my wonderful life".

          It is important to awaken to your own greatness.

         Your life is the Gohonzon. Now is the time for you to start over. When you pray to a deity, your prayer becomes passive. Our voice is the Mystic Law. This law is not outside of you. When you get a benefit, it was you who created it. You must awaken to your greatness, appreciate and value your own life. It is no different to the enlightened life of Nichiren Daishonin, embodied in the Gohonzon.

        Just as a beautiful piece of art elicits a response, or a great book touches your life in a certain way, we must elicit the Buddha nature from our own lives. It is right here, and the Gohonzon is the perfect vehicle to bring out that strength, joy and vibrant life condition; then you take that to the world and change the environment. We are not necessarily chanting for the house, the car, the job, the relationship, but we are chanting to elevate our life condition to attract that happiness. The results that we see in our lives are a reflection of our life condition.

     Every day as you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo consciously call forth your Buddhahood to manifest itself consistently.

     Chant to rise above your basic tendency of disbelief, or continually thinking that you are a common mortal who does not deserve good fortune in this life. Do not negate your life when you sit in front of the Gohonzon. Do not beg. Do not scream. Do not berate the Gohonzon. Believe in the greatness of your life; manifest the extraordinary side of you. The Gohonzon is the tool we need to bring out our Buddhahood.

     My life is the Gohonzon. Do not slander your life.

     The doubt is necessary to prove to myself that "I am a Buddha. I will fulfill every one of my dreams for myself". We already possess something incredible – our Buddha nature, the Gohonzon. But we do not believe that the good fortune, the "million dollars" is truly ours. We will not be able to get it, or to enjoy it. Trust that the Gohonzon, your prayer, is the absolute means for you to transform your life. Trust and faith are the key words.

        Chant with the expectation that every one of your wildest dreams will be fulfilled beyond your wildest imagination.


        Chant to believe in your Buddhahood. Trust in the greatness of your life. In "On Attaining Buddhahood", Nichiren Daishonin made a primary point: to free ourselves from the suffering of birth and death which we have endured in lifetime after lifetime, and to attain absolute happiness, we need to awaken to the mystic truth that has always been within our lives. That truth is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That truth is "I am a Buddha". Trust that you have everything you need for your happiness.


                                               TEN POINTS TO BECOME A PERSON OF UNLIMITED SELF-ESTEEM

1. Chant to become a person of unlimited self-esteem

2. Chant to awaken to your own greatness

3. Chant to appreciate your life, including flaws, accomplishments defeats, losses, and victories and truly appreciate all that makes you a unique and wonderful person

4. Chant to make the impossible possible

5. Chant to consistently manifest your Buddha nature and rise above your basic tendencies and overcome the inherent negativities in your life

6. Believe that you are a Buddha and create all the benefits for yourself

7. Believe you are the Gohonzon

8. Trust that in the Gohonzon, you have the means to fulfill each and every desire to become extraordinarily happy

9. Chant to display your Buddhahood and to bring forth that strength, joy, vibrant life condition

10. And then take it to the world and change the environment

History of Nichiren Shoshu from Bill:

Many of us supported the Temple. While under construction, men and YMD would spend the night 40 miles away to guard against vandals, etc. Sensei encouraged oneness of laity and priest. SGI built and contributed dozens of temples.

Then they eliminated Sensei's position as leader of all lay Nichiren organizations They then excommunicated all who did not follow the high priest, which came to about 12,000,000 SGI members worldwide. About 5% stayed with the temple. Temple says High Priest is direct representative of Daishonin, and as such, is the enlightened one. Enlightenment is only possible through the High Priest. I've read many HP speeches. They look a lot like Sensei"s, until they mention the "Devil Ikeda". They basically deny the possibility of enlightenment unless you get the blessing of the HP. They are now launching proselytizing efforts to fundamentally destroy the Gakkai. Most religions promote leading good lives. Most regard divinity as separate from people, but still work towards good will, Temple puts HP as gate to enlightenment, and attacks SGI and Sensei as devilish. We can work side by side with other religions and peace movements. The temple is fighting to destroy the fundamentals of Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus sutra. It is important to study the Gosho and Sensei's guidance to understand deeply what the Gohonzon is and what the Daishonin teaches. That's the short answer. The World Tribune and Living Buddhism are essential to keeping us on the correct path to enlightenment and Kosen Rufu. Soka Spirit (Sunita's meeting) is the front lines of countering the Temple's destructive efforts. 


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SGI CORE BUDDHIST CONCEPTS »       

Articles On Aging & Youthfullness »   1    2    3


METAPHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE of the Lotus Sutra »

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 GONGYO: Plain Text:
Hoben Chapter:

Myo ho ren ge kyo.  
Ho ben pon. Dai ni.

Ni ji se son.    Ju san mai.
An jo ni ki.    Go shari hotsu.

Sho but chi e.   Jin jin mur yo.
Go chi e mon.    Nan ge nan nyu.

Is sai sho mon.   Hyaku shi butsu.
Sho fu no chi.    Sho i sha ga.

Butsu zo shin gon.   Hyaku sen man noku.
Mu shu sho butsu.   Jin gyo sho butsu.

Mur yo do ho.    Yum yo sho jin.
Myo sho fu mon.    Jo jeu jin jin.

Mi zo u ho.    Zui gi sho setsu.
Is hu nan ge.   Shari hotsu.

Go jeu jo butsu ir ai.    Shu jeu in nen.
Shu jeu hi yu.    Ko en gon kyo.

Mu shu ho ben.    In do shu jo.
Ryo ri sho jaku.   Sho i sha ga.

Nyo rai ho ben.    Chi ken hara mitsu.
Kai i gu soku.   Shari hotsu.

 



Nyo rai chi ken.    Ko dai jin non.
Mur yo mu ge.   Riki. Mu sho i. Zen jo.

Ge das. San mai.    Jin nyu mu sai.
Jo jeu is sai.    Mi zo u ho.

Shari hotsu. Nyo rai no.    Shu jeu fun betsu.
Gyo ses sho ho.    Gon ji nyu nan.

Ek ka shu shin.    Shari hotsu.
Shu yo gon shi.    Mu ryo mu hen.

Mi zo u ho.    Bus shitsu jo jeu.
Shi shari hotsu.    Fu shu bu setsu.

Sho i sha ga.    Bus sho jo jeu.
Dai ichi ke u.    Nan ge shi ho.
Yui butsu yo butsu.    Nai no ku jin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~3X
Sho ho jis so.    Sho i sho ho.
Nyo ze so.    Nyo ze sho.
Nyo ze tai.    Nyo ze riki.

Nyo ze sa.    Nyo ze in.
Nyo ze en.    Nyo ze ka.
Nyo ze ho.    Nyo ze hon mak ku kyo to.

Juryo Chapter [4X2 Phraising]:

Myo ho ren ge kyo. Nyo rai ju ryo hon.
Dai ju roku.

Ji ga toku bur rai. Sho kyo sho
kos shu. Mur yo hyaku sen man. Oku
sai as ogi. Jo sep po kyo
ke. Mu shu oku shu jo. Ryo nyu
o butsu do. Ni rai mur yo ko.

I do shu jo ko. Ho ben gen
ne han. Ni jitsu fu metsu do. Jo
jeu shi seppo. Ga jo jeu o
shi. I sho jin zu riki. Ryo ten
do shu jo. Sui gon ni fu ken.

Shu ken ga metsu do. Ko ku yo
sha ri. Gen kai e ren bo.  Ni
sho katsu go shin. Shu jo ki shin
buku. Shichi   jiki   i   nyu nan. Is shin
yok ken butsu. Fu ji shaku shin myo.

Ji ga gyu shu so. Ku shutsu ryo
jeu sen. Ga ji go shu jo. Jo
zai shi fu metsu. I ho ben rik
ko. Gen u metsu fu metsu. Yo koku
u shu jo. Ku gyo shin gyo sha.

Ga bu o hi chu. I setsu mu
jo ho. Nyo to fu mon shi. Tan
ni ga metsu do. Ga ken sho shu
jo. Motsu zai o ku kai. Ko fu
i gen shin. Ryo go sho katsu go.

In go shin ren bo. Nai shutsu i
sep po. Jin zu riki nyo ze. O
as ogi ko. Jo zai ryo jeu
sen. Gyu yo sho jeu sho. Shu jo
ken ko jin. Dai ka sho sho ji.

 


Ga shi do an non. Ten nin jo
jeu man. On rin sho do kaku. Shu
jeu ho sho gon. Ho jeu ta ke
ka. Shu jo sho yu raku. Sho ten
gyaku ten ku. Jo sas shu gi gaku.

U man da ra ke. San butsu gyu
dai shu. Ga jo do fu ki. Ni
shu ken sho jin. U fu sho ku no. *
Nyo ze shitsu jeu man.
Ze sho zai
shu jo. I aku go in nen. Ka
as o gi ko. Fu mon san bo
myo. Sho u shu ku doku. Nyu wa
shichi jiki sha. Sok kai ken ga shin.

Zai shi ni sep po. Waku ji i
shi shu. Setsu butsu ju mur yo. Ku
nai ken bus sha. I setsu butsu nan
chi. Ga chi riki nyo ze. Ek o
sho mur yo. Jum yo mu shu ko.

Ku shu go sho toku. Nyo to u
chi sha. Mot to shi sho gi. To
dan ryo yo jin.  Butsu go jip pu
ko. Nyo i zen ho ben.  I ji
o shi ko. Jitsu zai ni gon shi.

Mu no sek ko mo. Ga yaku i
se bu. Ku sho ku gen sha. I
bon bu ten do. Jitsu zai ni gon
metsu. I jo ken ga ko. Ni sho kyo *
shi shin. Ho itsu jaku go yoku. Da
o aku do chu. Ga jo chi shu
jo. Gyo do fu gyo do. Zui o
sho ka do. I ses shu jeu ho.

Mai ji sa ze nen. I ga ryo
shu jo. Toku nyu mu jo do.
Soku jo jeu bus shin.

Juryo Chapter [Traditional Phraising]:

Myo ho ren ge kyo. Nyo rai ju ryo hon.
Dai ju roku.

Ji ga toku bur rai.    Sho kyo sho kos shu.
Mur yo hyaku sen man.    Oku sai as ogi.

Jo sep po kyo ke.    Mu shu oku shu jo.
Ryo nyu o butsu do.    Ni rai mur yo ko.

I do shu jo ko.    Ho ben gen ne han.
Ni jitsu fu metsu do.    Jo jeu shi seppo.

Ga jo jeu o shi.    I sho jin zu riki.
Ryo ten do shu jo.    Sui gon ni fu ken.

Shu ken ga metsu do.    Ko ku yo sha ri.
Gen kai e ren bo.    Ni sho katsu go shin.

Shu jo ki shin buku.    Shichi jiki i nyu nan.
Is shin yok ken butsu.    Fu ji shaku shin myo.

Ji ga gyu shu so.    Ku shutsu ryo jeu sen.
Ga ji go shu jo.    Jo zai shi fu metsu.

I ho ben rik ko.    Gen u metsu fu metsu.
Yo koku u shu jo.    Ku gyo shin gyo sha.

Ga bu o hi chu.    I setsu mu jo ho.
Nyo to fu mon shi.    Tan ni ga metsu do.

Ga ken sho shu jo.    Motsu zai o ku kai.
Ko fu i gen shin.    Ryo go sho katsu go.

In go shin ren bo.    Nai shutsu i sep po.
Jin zu riki nyo ze.    O as o gi ko.

Jo zai ryo jeu sen.    Gyu yo sho jeu sho.
Shu jo ken ko jin.    Dai ka sho sho ji.

Ga shi do an non.    Ten nin jo jeu man.
On rin sho do kaku.    Shu jeu ho Sho gon.

 

 


Ga shi do an non.    Ten nin jo jeu man.
On rin sho do kaku.    Shu jeu ho Sho gon.

Ho jeu ta ke ka.    Shu jo sho yu raku.
Sho ten gyaku ten ku.    Jo sas shu gi gaku.

U man da ra ke.    San butsu gyu dai shu.
Ga jo do fu ki.    Ni shu ken sho jin.

U fu sho ku no.    Nyo ze shitsu jeu man.

Ze sho zai shu jo.    I aku go in nen.
Ka as o gi ko.    Fu mon san bo myo.

Sho u shu ku doku.    Nyu wa shichi jiki sha.
Sok kai ken ga shin.    Zai shi ni sep po.

Waku ji i shi shu.    Setsu butsu ju mur yo.
Ku nai ken bus sha.    I setsu butsu nan chi.

Ga chi riki nyo ze.    Eko sho mur yo.
Jum yo mu shu ko.    Ku shu go sho toku.

Nyo to u chi sha.    Mot to shi sho gi.
To dan ryo yo jin.    Butsu go jip pu ko.

Nyo i zen ho ben.    I ji o shi ko.
Jitsu zai ni gon shi.    Mu no sek ko mo.

Ga yaku i se bu.    Ku sho ku gen sha.
I bon bu ten do.    Jitsu zai ni gon metsu.

I jo ken ga ko.    Ni sho kyo shi shin.
Ho itsu jaku go yoku.    Da o aku do chu.

Ga jo chi shu jo.    Gyo do fu gyo do.
Zui o sho ka do.    I ses shu jeu ho.

Mai ji sa ze nen.    I ga ryo shu jo.
Toku nyu mu jo do.    Soku jo jeu bus shin.

 



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                        Traditional Gongyo w/ Chinese Characters                      

Hoben Chapter

Gongyo Gongyo



 Juryo Chapter:  


Gongyo Gongyo

Gongyo

Gongyo



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                                                             Gongyo with Translation:                                                                

Hoben Chapter:

Myo ho ren ge kyo. Ho ben pon. Dai ni.

Identifies the excerpt to come as the Hoben Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

Niji seson. Ju sanmai. Anjo ni ki. Go shari-hotsu. Sho-but-chi-e. Jinjin muryo. Go chi-e mon. Nange nannyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. Sho fu no chi.

At this time the World-Honored One serenely arose from meditation and addressed Shariputra: "The wisdom of all Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable. The portal to this wisdom is difficult to understand and difficult to enter. Neither men of Learning (shomon) nor men of Realization (engaku) are able to comprehend it."

Sho-i sha ga. Butsu zo shingon. Hyaku sen man noku. Mushu sho butsu. Jin gyo sho-butsu. Muryo doho. Yumyo shojin. Myosho fu mon. Joju jinjin. Mi-zo-u ho. Zui gi sho setsu. Ishu nange.

"The reason is this. A Buddha has carried out countless austerities under many hundred thousand myriads of kotis of Buddhas. He devoted himself to these practices so valiantly and untiringly that his name is universally known. He realized the profound, unparalleled Law and preaches it according to the people's capacity, yet his intention is very difficult to understand."

Shari-hotsu. Go ju jo-butsu irai. Shuju innen. Shuju hiyu. Ko en gonkyo. Mu shu hoben. Indo shujo. Ryo ri sho jaku.

"Shariputra, ever since I attained Buddhahood, I have widely expounded my teachings through many stories of past relationships and many parables, and by countless means have led the people to renounce all their attachments.

Sho-i sha ga. Nyorai hoben. Chiken hara-mitsu. Kai i gu-soku.

The reason for this is that the Tathágata is possessed of both means and perfect wisdom."

Shari-hotsu. Nyorai chiken. Kodai jinnon. Muryo muge. Riki. Mu-sho-i. Zenjo. Gedas. Sanmai. Jin nyu musai. Joju issai. Mi-zo-u ho.

"Shariputra, the wisdom of the Tathágata is all-encompassing and profound. His mercy is infinite, and his teaching knows no bounds. Endowed with power, fearlessness, concentration, emancipation [from sufferings and desires] and the capacity to meditate, he dwells in the boundless and awakens to the never before-realized Law."

Shari-hotsu. Nyorai no. Shuju fun-betsu. Gyo ses sho ho. Gonji nyunan. Ekka shushin. Shari-hotsu. Shu yo gon shi. Muryo muhen. Mi-zo-u ho. Bus^shitsu joju.

"Shariputra, the Tathágata has the power to perceive which among the various teachings [is suited to his audience], to preach the teachings in a skillful way, and to gladden the hearts of the people with warm and tender words. That is to say, Shariputra, the Buddha has realized the infinite, boundless and unparalleled Law."

Shi shari-hotsu. Fu shu bu setsu. Sho-i sha ga. Bus sho joju. Dai ichi ke-u. Nange shi ho.

"Shariputra, I will say no more, because that which the Buddha has achieved is the rarest and most difficult Law to comprehend."

Yui butsu yo butsu. Nai no kujin. Shoho jisso. Sho-i shoho. Nyo ze so. Nyo ze sho. Nyo ze tai. Nyo ze riki. Nyo ze sa. Nyo ze in. Nyo ze en. Nyo ze ka. Nyo ze ho. Nyo ze honmak kukyo to.

"The true entity of all phenomena can only be understood and shared between Buddhas. This reality consists of appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and their consistency from beginning to end."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Juryo Chapter:

Myo ho ren ge kyo. Nyo rai ju ryo hon. Dai ju roku.

Identifies the excerpt to come as the Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra.

Ji ga toku bur rai. Sho kyo sho kosshu. Muryo hyaku sen man. Oku sai asogi. Jo seppo kyoke Mushu oku shujo. Ryo nyu o butsu-do. Nirai muryo ko.

At that time the World-Honored One, desiring to emphasize this teaching once more, spoke in verse.

"Since I attained Buddhahood, countless aeons have passed, a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, asogi aeons. I have taught the Law continuously during these countless aeons and caused infinite millions to enter on the road to Buddhahood."

I do shujo ko. Hoben gen nehan. Ni jitsu fu metsu-do. Jo ju shi seppo.

"I let the people witness my nirvana as a means to save them, but in truth I do not die; I am here always, teaching the Law."

Ga jo ju o shi. I sho jin-zu-riki. Ryo tendo shujo. Sui gon ni fu ken.

"I am here always, yet because of my mystic powers the deluded people cannot see me even when I am close by."

Shu ken ga metsu-do. Ko kuyo shari. Gen kai e renbo. Ni sho katsu-go shin.

"When the people witness my passing, they pay widespread reverence to my relics. All of them harbor thoughts of yearning, and in their hearts a thirst for me is born."

Shujo ki shin-buku. Shichi-jiki i nyunan. Isshin yok ken butsu. Fu ji shaku shinmyo. Ji ga gyu shuso. Ku shutsu ryojusen.

"When they have become truly faithful, honest and upright, gentle in mind, single-mindedly yearning to see the Buddha, not begrudging their lives to do so, then I and the assembly of monks appear together on Eagle Peak."

Ga ji go shujo. Jo zai shi fu-metsu. I hoben-rik ko. Gen u metsu fu-metsu. Yo-koku u shujo. Kugyo shingyo sha. Ga bu o hi chu. I setsu mujo ho.

"Then I tell the people that I am always here never dying, that l seem at times to live, at times to die, merely as all expedient means. If there are those in other worlds who are reverent and sincere in faith, among them also I teach the highest Law of all."

Nyoto fu mon shi. Tan ni ga metsu-do. Ga ken sho shujo. Motsu-zai o kukai. Ko fu i gen shin. Ryo go sho katsu-go. In go shin renbo. Nai shutsu i seppo.

"But you refuse to heed my words and insist upon thinking that I die. I see the mass of people drowned in a sea of woe, and for that reason I do not show myself, causing them to thirst for me. When their hearts commence to yearn, I appear to once to teach the Law."

Jin-zu riki nyo ze. O asogi ko. Jo zai ryo jusen. Gyu yo sho jusho. Shujo ken ko jin. Dai ka sho sho ji. Ga shi do annon. Tennin jo juman. Onrin sho do-kaku. Shuju ho Shogon. Hoju ta keka. Shujo sho yu-raku. Soten gyaku tenku. Jo sas shu gi-gaku. U mandara ke. San butsu gyu daishu. Ga jodo bu ki. Ni shu ken sho jin. Ufu sho kuno. Nyo ze shitsu juman.

"Such are my mystic powers. For innumerable kotis of aeons I have always been on Eagle Peak and have lived in various other lands When men witness the end of an aeon and all is consumed in a great fire, this, my land, remains safe and unharmed, constantly filled with gods and men. The halls and palaces in its gardens and groves are adorned with all kinds of gems. Precious trees bear plentiful flowers and fruit, and the people there are happy and at ease. The gods strike heavenly drums making a ceaseless symphony of sound. A rain of white mandara blossoms scatters over the Buddha and the people. My pure land is indestructible yet men see it as consumed in fire, filled with sorrow fear and woe, a place of countless troubles."

Ze sho zai shujo. I aku-go innen. Ka asogi ko. Fu mon sanbo myo.

"These people with their various crimes, because of the effects of their evil deeds, will never even hear the name of the three treasures, though countless aeons go by."

Sho u shu ku-doku. Nyuwa shichi-jiki sha. Sokkai ken gashin. Zai shi ni seppo. Waku-ji i shi shu. Setsu butsu-ju muryo. Ku nai ken bussha. I setsu butsu nan chi.

"But those who follow meritorious ways, who are gentle, peaceful and upright, all of them will see me here in person, teaching the Law. At times I will teach these people the immeasurable length of the Buddha's life, and to those who see me only after a long while I will explain how difficult it is to meet the Buddha."

Ga chi-riki nyo ze. Eko sho muryo. Jumyo mushu ko. Ku shugo sho toku.

"Such is the power of my wisdom that it illuminates infinitely far. This life that endures for countless aeons I gained as the result of lengthy practice."

Nyoto u chi sha. Mot^to shi sho gi. To dan ryo yo jin. Butsu-go jip puko. Nyo i zen hoben. I ji o shi ko. Jitsu zai ni gon shi. Mu no sek komo. Ga yaku i se bu. Ku sho kugen sha.

"You men of wisdom, rid yourselves of all doubts about this! Cut them off once and for all. The Buddha's words are true not false, He is like the skilled physician suing some devices to cure his deluded children. He lives but tells them he has died. No one can call his teaching false. I am the father of this world, saving those who are suffering and afflicted."

I bonbu tendo. Jitsu zai ni gon metsu. I joken ga ko. Ni sho kyoshi shin. Ho-itsu jaku go-yoku. Da o aku-do chu. Ga jo chi shujo. Gyo do fu gyo do. Zui o sho ka do. I ses shuju ho.

"Because of the delusions of ordinary people, I say I have departed though in fact I live, for if they see me constantly, arrogance and selfishness arise in their hearts, Abandoning themselves to the five desires, they fall into the paths of evil. I am ever aware of which people practice the Way, and which do not."

Mai ji sa ze nen. I ga ryo shujo. Toku nyu mu-jo do. Soku joju busshin.

"This is my constant thought: how I can cause all living beings to gain entry to the highest Way and quickly attain Buddhahood."


An other Translation... Line by line »»»


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                 Additional Part Of Juryo Chapter (No longer in daily use, With Translation)                    

- This part precedes the above part of Juryo Chapter -


Niji butsu go. Sho bo-satsu gyo. Issai daishu. Sho zen-nanshi. Nyoto to shinge. Nyorai jotai shi go. Bu go daishu. Nyoto to shinge. Nyorai jotai shi go. U bu go. Sho daishu, Nyoto to shinge. Nyorai jotai shi go. Zeji bo-satsu daishu. Mi-roku i shu. Gassho byaku butsu gon. Seson. Yui gan ses shi. Gato to shinju butsu-go. Nyo ze san byaku i. Bu gon. Yui gan ses shi. Gato to shinju butsu-go

"At this time the Buddha addressed the bodhisattvas and all the multitude: "Men of devout faith, believe and understand the true words of the Tathágata" Again the Buddha addressed the people: "Believe and understand the true words of Tathágata." "At this time the bodhisattvas and the multitude beginning with Miroku, pressed their palms together and said: "World-Honored One, our only wish is that you teach us. Certainly we will believe the Buddhas words. Thus they spoke three times, repeating the words. " Our only wish is that you teach us. Certainly we will believe the Buddha's words.

Niji seson. Chi sho bo-satsu. San sho fu shi. Ni go shi gon. Nyoto tai cho. Nyorai hi-mitsu. Jinzu shi riki.

When the World Honored One says that the bodhisattvas repeated their petition three times and more without ceasing he addressed them "Listen well and hear the Tathágata’s secret and his mystic power."

Issai seken. Tennin gyu. Ashura. Kai i kon shaka-muni-butsu. Shus shaku-shi gu. Ko gayajo. fu on. Za o dojo. Toku a-noku-ta-ra san-myaku sanbodai. Nen zen-nanshi. Ga jitsu jo-butsu irai. Muryo muhen. Hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta ko.

"All gods, men and asutras of this world believe that after leaving the palace of the Shakyas, Shakyamuni Buddha seated himself at the place of meditation not far from the city of Gaya and attained the supreme enlightenment. However, men of devout faith, the time is limitless and boundless -- a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, nayuta aeons -- since I in fact attained Buddhahood."

Hi nyo go hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. Asogi. Sanzen dai sen sekai. Ke shi u nin. Matchi mijin. Ka o tobo. Go hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. Asogi koku. Nai ge ichi-jin. Nyo ze to gyo. Jin ze mijin. Sho zen-nanshi. O i unga. Ze sho sekai. Ka toku shiyui. Kyokei chi go. Shu fu.

"Suppose there is one who reduces five hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, nayuta (1011) asogi (1059) major world systems to particles of dust, and then takes them all toward the east, dropping one particle each time he traverses five hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, nayuta, asogi worlds. Suppose that he continues traveling eastward in this way, until he has finished dropping all the particles. Men of devout faith, what is your opinion? Can the total number of all those worlds be imagined or calculated ?"

Mi-roku bo-sat to. Ku byaku butsu gon. Seson. Ze sho sekai. Muryo muhen. Hi sanju sho chi. Yaku hi shin-riki sho gyu. Issai shomon. Hyaku-shi-butsu. I murochi. Fu no shiyui. Chi go genshu. Gato ju. A-yui-ot-chi-ji. O ze ji chu. Yaku sho fu das seson. Nyo ze sho sekai. Muryo muhen. Niji butsu go. Dai bosas shu. Sho zen-nanshi. Konto funmyo. Sengo nyoto. Ze sho sekai. Nyaku jaku mijin. Gyu fu jaku sha. Jin ni i jin. Ichi-jin ikko. Ga jo-butsu irai. Bu ka o shi. Hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. Asogi ko.

Bodhisattva Miroku and the others said to the Buddha " World Honored One, these worlds are infinite and boundless. They are beyond calculation. They exceed the power of the imagination. Neither men of Learning nor men of Realization even with their illusion-free wisdom could imagine or calculate the number. Although we are now at the stage where we will never backslide in faith we are totally incapable of comprehending this, World-Honored One, these worlds are infinite and boundless." Then the Buddha addressed the great bodhisattvas: "Now, men of devout faith I clearly proclaim to you. Suppose all these worlds, whether they received a particle or not are once more reduced to dust. Let one particle represent one aeon. Then the time which has passed since I attained Buddhahood suppose this by one hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, nayuta, asogi aeons."

Ji ju ze rai. Ga jo zai shi. Shaba sekai. Seppo kyoke. Yaku o yosho. Hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. Asogi koku. Dori shujo.

"Ever since then I have been constantly in this world expounding the Law and instructing [the people]. Also I have led and benefited the people in one hundred thousand, ten thousand hundred thousand nayuta asogi other worlds."

Sho zen-nanshi. O ze chugen. Ga setsu nen-do-but to. U bu gon go. Nyu o nehan. Nyo ze kai i Hoben fun-betsu.

"Men of devout faith during this time I taught people about Nento Buddha and others saying that I would end all sufferings and pass away. All this I did through different methods of teaching that were suited to the capacity of the people."

Sho zen-nanshi. Nyaku u shujo. Raishi ga sho. Ga i butsu-gen. Kan go shin to. Sho kon ridon. Zui sho o do. Shosho ji setsu. Myoji fudo. Nenki daisho. Yaku-bu gen gon. To nyu nehan. U i shuju hoben. Setsu mimyo ho. No ryo shujo. Hok kangi shin.

"Men of devout faith, when the people came to me, I perceived with the eyes of a Buddha the degree of their faith and other qualities depending upon whether their capacities were keen or dull. I made my appearance teaching in many different worlds using different names, and explaining how long a period my teaching would be efficacious. On other occasions when I made my advent I told the people that I would soon enter nirvana, and employed many methods to expound the wonderful teachings and caused the people to be gladdened their hearts."

Sho zen-nanshi. Nyorai ken sho shujo. Gyo o shobo. Toku hak-ku ju sha. I ze nin setsu. Ga sho shukke. Toku a-noku-ta-ra. San-myaku sanbodai. Nen ga jitsu. Jo-butsu irai. Ku-on nyaku shi. Tan ni hoben. Kyoke shujo. Ryo nyu butsu-do. Sa nyo ze setsu.

"Men of devout faith, I the Tathágata, observed that the people delighted in inferior teachings and were meager in virtue and weighted down by defilement. Therefore I taught them that I had renounced the world in my youth and later attained enlightenment. But in truth the time since I attained Buddhahood is the tremendously long period I have already revealed. This was only an expedient I used to teach the people and cause them to enter on the path to Buddhahood."

Sho zen-nanshi. Nyorai sho en kyoden Kai i dodas shujo. Waku sek koshin. Waku set tashin. Waku ji koshin. Waku ji tashin. Waku ji koji. Waku ji taji. Sho sho gon-setsu. Kai jitsu fu ko.

"Men of devout faith the sutras which the Tathágata expounded are all for the purpose of saving people from their sufferings. Sometimes I spoke of myself sometimes of others; sometimes I presented myself, sometimes others; sometimes I showed my own actions sometimes those of others. All my doctrines are true and none are false."

Sho-i sha ga. Nyorai nyojit chiken. Sangai shi so. Mu u shoji. Nyaku tai nyaku shutsu. Yaku mu zai-se. Gyu metsu-do sha. Hi jitsu hi ko. Hi nyo hi i. Fu nyo sangai. Ken no sangai. Nyo shi shi ji. Nyorai myo ken. Mu u shaku-myo.

"The reason is that the Tathágata perceives the true aspect of the threefold word exactly as it is. There is no ebb and flow of birth and death nor life in this world and later extinction. It is neither substantial nor empty neither consistent nor diverse. Nor is it what those who dwell in the threefold world perceive it to be. All such things the Tathágata sees clear and without error."

I sho shujo. U shuju sho. Shuju yoku. Shuju gyo. Shuju oku-so. Fun-bek ko. Yoku ryo sho sho zengon. I nyakkan innen. Hiyu gonji. Shuju seppo. Shosa butsu-ji . Mi zo zan pai .

"People have differing natures, differing desires, differing modes of behavior, and differing ideas and outlooks. Therefore out of my desire to plant the seeds of enlightenment in their hearts I have taught the various teachings through stories of past relationships parables and other sayings. This practice proper to a Buddha I have continued unceasingly."

Nyo ze. Ga jo-butsu irai. Jindai ku-on. Jumyo muryo. Asogi ko. Joju fu-metsu. Sho zen-nanshi. Ga hon gyo bo-satsu do. Sho jo jumyo. Kon yu mi jin. Bu bai jo shu. Nen kon hi jitsu metsu-do. Ni ben sho gon. To shu metsu-do. Nyorai i ze hoben. Kyoke shujo.

"Since I attained Buddhahood an unimaginably long period has passed. The length of my life is infinite aeons. My life has always existed and shall never end. Men of devout faith, once I also practiced the bodhisattva austerities, and the life, which I then acquired, has yet to be exhausted. My life will last yet twice as many aeons from now. Although I never really pass away I predict my own death. With this means, the Tathágata teaches the people."

Sho-i sha ga Nyaku buk-ku-ju o se. Haku-toku shi nin. Fu shu zengon. Bingu gesen. Ton-jaku go-yoku Nyu o oku-so. Moken mo chu. Nyakken nyorai. Jo zai fu-metsu. Ben ki kyoshi. Ni e endai. Fu no sho o. Nanzo shi so. Kugyo shi shin.

"The reason is this If the Buddha remains in the world too long those people with shallow virtue will not be able to accumulate the good fortune necessary to attain enlightenment. They will fall into poverty and debasement. Greedy with the five desires they will be caught in the snares of deluded thoughts and ideas. By seeing the Tathágata constantly present and undying in this world, they will become arrogant and selfish and will neglect their practice of Buddhism. They will fail to realize how difficult it is to meet the Tathágata and will feel no reverence for him."

Ze ko nyorai. I hoben setsu. Bi-ku to chi. Shobus^shus-se. Nan ka chigu. Sho-i sha ga. Sho haku-toku nin. Ka muryo. Hyaku sen man nok-ko. Waku u ken butsu. Waku fu ken sha. I shiji ko. Ga sa ze gon. Sho bi-ku. Nyorai nan ka tokken. Shi shujo to. Mon nyo ze go. Hit^to sho o. Nanzo shi so. Shin ne renbo. Katsu-go o butsu. Ben shu zengon. Ze ko nyorai. Sui fu jitsu metsu. Ni gon metsu-do.

"As an expedient, therefore, the Tathágata speaks to the monks, saying, "You should know it is a rare thing to live at a time when a Buddha appears in the world. "The reason is that even after the lapse of infinite hundred thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand aeons, some of the men of little virtue may chance to see a Buddha, but others still may not." Therefore I tell them, "Monks, it is rare that may see the Tathágata" When the people hear these words, they are sure to realize how rare it is to see a Buddha, and then they will yearn and thirst for him. In this way they will plant the cause of enlightenment in their hearts. Therefore the Tathágata announces his own death even though he does not really become extinct."

U zen-nanshi. Sho-butsu nyorai. Ho kai nyo ze. I do shujo. Kai jitsu fu ko.

"You men of devout faith, any teaching of any Buddha is always like this. Since Buddhas reveal their teachings in order to save people all of them are true and none are false."

Hi nyo ro-i. Chi-e so-datsu. Myo ren ho-yaku. Zen ji shubyo. Go nin ta. sho shi-soku. Nyaku ju niju. Nai-shi hyaku-shu. I u ji-en. On shi yo-koku.

"Imagine a wise and skilled physician who can compound medicines to cure any disease. He has many sons, perhaps ten, twenty, ore even a hundred. He goes off to a distant land to see some matter."

Sho shi o go. On ta doku-yaku. Yaku hotsu monran. Enden u ji.

"Later the children drink some kind of poison that makes them wild with pain, and they fall writhing to the ground."

Zeji go bu. Gen rai ki ke. Sho shi on doku Waku shitsu honshin. Waku fu shis sha. Yo ken go bu. Kai dai kangi. Haiki monjin. Zen nan non ki. Gato guchi. Go buku doku-yaku. Gan ken kuryo. Kyo shi jumyo.

"At this time the father comes back to his home and finds that his children have drunk poison. Some are out of their minds while others are not. Seeing their father from afar all are filled with joy and kneel down to entreat him saying, "How wonderful that you have returned safely! We were stupid and by mistake drank some poison. We beg you to cure us and let us live longer." "

Bu ken shi to. Kuno nyo ze. E sho kyobo. Gu ko yaku-so. Shiki ko mimi. Kai shitsu gu-soku. Toshi wago. Yo shi ryo buku. Ni sa ze gon. Shi dai ro-yaku. Shiki ko mimi. Kai shitsu gu-soku. Nyoto ka buku. Soku jo kuno. Mu bu shugen.

"The father seeing his children suffering like this follows various prescriptions. Gathering fine medicinal herbs that are perfect in color fragrance and flavor he grinds sifts and mixes them together. Giving a dose of these to his children he tells them, "This highly beneficial medicine is perfect in color fragrance and flavor. Take it and you will quickly be relieved of your sufferings and will be free of all distress." "

Go sho shi chu. Fu shis shin ja. Ken shi ro-yaku. Shiki ko gu ko. Soku-ben buku shi. Byo jin jo yu. Yo shis shin ja. Ken go bu rai. Sui yak-kangi. Monjin gu-shaku ji byo. Nen yo go yaku. Ni fu ko buku.

"Those children who have not lost their senses can see that the beneficial medicine is good in both color and fragrance, so they take it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness. Those who are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father return and beg him to cure their sickness but when they are given the medicine they refuse to take it."

Sho-i sha ga. Dokke jinnyu. Ship ponshin ko. O shi ko. Shiki ko yaku. Ni i fu mi. Bu sa ze nen. Shi shi ka min. I doku sho chu. Shin kai tendo. Sui ken ga ki. Gushak kuryo. Nyo ze ko yaku. Ni fu ko buku. Ga kon to setsu hoben. Ryo buku shi yaku. Soku sa ze gon. Nyoto to chi. Ga kon sui ro. Shi ji i shi. Ze ko ro-yaku. Kon ru zai shi. Nyo ka shu buku. Mot^tsu fu sai. Sa ze kyo i. Bu shi ta-koku. Ken shi gen go. Nyo bu i shi.

"This is because the poison has penetrated deeply, causing them to lose their minds. Therefore they think that the medicine will not taste good in spit of its fine color and fragrance. Then the father thinks, "My poor children! The poison has attacked them and completely deranged their minds. Although they are happy to see me and ask me to cure them, they refuse to take this fine medicine I offer them. Now I must use some means to get them to take it." So he tells them this: "Children, listen, I am now old and weak. My life is nearing its end. I leave this good medicine here for you now. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you." So instructing them, he again goes off to another land, where he sends a messenger home to announce: "Your father is dead." "

Zeji sho shi. Mon bu haiso. Shin dai uno. Ni sa ze nen. Nyaku bu zai sha. Jimin gato. No ken kugo. Konja sha ga. On so ta-koku. Ji yui koro. Mu bu jiko. Jo e hikan. Shin zui shogo. Nai chi shi yaku. Shiki ko mimi. Soku shu buku shi. Doku byo kai yu. Go bu mon shi. Shichi toku sai. Jin ben rai ki. Gen shi ken shi.

"Hearing that their father has deserted them and died, the sons are overcome by anguish and reflect "If our father were alive, he would have pity on us and protect us, but now he has forsaken us and died in some faraway land. We are now mere orphans with no one to rely on." In their incessant grief, they finally awaken. They realize that the medicine actually does possess excellent color, fragrance and favor, and so they take it and are healed of all the effects of the poison."

Sho zen-nanshi. O i unga. Ha u nin no. Sesshi ro-i. Komo zai fu. Hot cha. Seson. Butsu gon. Ga yaku nyo ze. Jo-butsu irai. Muryo muhen. Hyaku sen man noku. Nayuta. Asogi ko. I shujo ko. I hoben-riki. Gon to metsu-do. Yaku mu u no. Nyo ho setsu ga. Komo ka sha.

"Now, men of devout faith, what do you think about this? Can anyone say that this excellent physician is guilty of lying?" "No, World-Honored One." Then the Buddha spoke, saying: "It is the same with me. The time is limitless? A hundred, thousand ten thousand, hundred thousand, nayuta, asogi aeons ?since I attained Buddhahood. For the sake of the people I have used these expedient means telling of my own passing. But no one can reasonably accuse me of lying."

Niji seson. Yoku ju sen shigi. Ni setsu ge gon.

(End of part which may be omitted)

Ji ga toku bur rai. Sho kyo sho kosshu. Muryo hyaku sen man. Oku sai asogi. Jo seppo kyoke Mushu oku shujo. Ryo nyu o butsu-do. Nirai muryo ko.

At that time the World-Honored One, desiring to emphasize this teaching once more, spoke in verse. (Continues to Juryo chapter above)


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METAPHYSICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF LOTUS SUTRA - FROM : SGI BUDDHIST CONCEPTS »

The Lotus Sutra is considered the sutra that fulfills the purpose for Shakyamuni's advent in the world, expressed in these words: "At the start I took a vow, hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us." In other words, the purpose of Shakyamuni's advent was to enable all people to attain the same state of perfect enlightenment that caused him to be known as "Buddha," or "awakened one."

The Lotus Sutra contains a number of concepts that were revolutionary both within the context of Buddhist teachings and within the broader social context of the time. Many of these are not stated explicitly but are implied or materialized in the dramatic and even fantastic-seeming events portrayed in the text. Much of the genius of later scholars of the sutra, such as T'ien-t'ai (538-597 C.E.), lay in their ability to extract and systematize these principles.

A core theme of the sutra is the idea that all people equally and without exception possess the "Buddha nature." The message of the Lotus Sutra is to encourage people's faith in their own Buddha nature, their own inherent capacity for wisdom, courage and compassion. The universal capacity for enlightenment is demonstrated through the examples of people for whom this possibility had traditionally been denied, such as women and people who had committed evil deeds.

In many sutras a number of Shakyamuni's senior disciples are condemned as people who have, through arrogant attachment to their intellectual abilities and their self-absorbed practice, "scorched the seeds of their own enlightenment." The profundity of Shakyamuni's teachings in the Lotus Sutra, however, awakens in them the spirit of humility and compassion. They realize that all people are inextricably interlinked in their quest for enlightenment, and that if we desire happiness ourselves, it is imperative that we work for the happiness of others.

In this sutra, moreover, Shakyamuni demonstrates that he actually attained enlightenment in the infinite past, not in his current lifetime as had been assumed by his followers. This illustrates, through the concrete example of his own life, that attaining enlightenment does not mean to change into or become something one is not. Rather, it means to reveal the inherent, "natural" state that already exists within.

As Daisaku Ikeda has written, the Lotus Sutra is ultimately a teaching of empowerment. It "teaches us that the inner determination of an individual can transform everything; it gives ultimate expression to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in each human life."

 

CHART OF THE DAI-GOHONZON:
(Text and content mostly from www.gakkaionline.com)



DETAILED CHARACTER CHART OF NAM-MYO-RENGE-KYO»

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DETAILED CHARACTER CHARTS OF "NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO"

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Details on the characters.

NamMyo

MORE DETAILS ON THE CHARACTERS AND NAM MY HO RENGE KYO

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. Chanting is the key to unlocking the storehouse of wisdom, compassion and courage within that enables us to perceive the true nature of our lives and overcome all obstacles.

The meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is explained in the opening section of The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the record of Nichiren’s lectures on the Lotus Sutra compiled by his disciple and successor, Nikk?. It states that namu derives from the Sanskrit word namas and is translated as devotion, or as “dedicating one’s life.” What one should dedicate one’s life to, he says, are the Person and the Law. The Person signifies “Shakyamuni,” which means the eternal Buddha, and the Law is “the Lotus Sutra,” which means the ultimate truth, or Myoho-renge-kyo.

According to Orally Transmitted Teachings, the act of devotion (namu) has two aspects: One is to devote oneself to, or fuse one’s life with, the eternal and unchanging truth; the other is that, through this fusion of one’s life with the ultimate truth, one simultaneously draws forth inexhaustible wisdom that functions in accordance with changing circumstances.
Orally Transmitted Teachings further states: “We may also note that the nam of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a Sanskrit word, while Myoho-renge-kyo are Chinese words. Sanskrit and Chinese join in a single moment to form Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

My? stands for the Dharma nature, or enlightenment, while h? represents darkness, or ignorance. Together as my?h?, they express the idea that ignorance and the Dharma nature are a single entity, or one in essence. Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity.

Ky? represents the words and voices of all living beings. A commentary says, ‘The voice carries out the work of the Buddha, and it is called ky?.’ Ky? may also be defined as that which is constant and unchanging in the three existences of past, present, and future. The Dharma realm is my?h?, the wonderful Law; the Dharma realm is renge, the lotus blossom; the Dharma realm is ky?, the sutra.”


“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. Chanting is the key to unlocking the storehouse of wisdom, compassion and courage within that enables us to perceive the true nature of our lives and overcome all obstacles.

“Myo means to be fully endowed, which in turn has the meaning of ‘perfect and full’ ” (WND-1, 146). The Mystic Law is the source of all things. Just as a great tree sprouts from a tiny seed, the Mystic Law gives birth to and encompasses all things. Our life—comprising fundamental enlightenment, earthly desires, the nine worlds and the world of Buddhahood—is itself the Mystic Law, and we are fully endowed with the limitless potential of all phenomena.

“Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life” (WND-1, 149). Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo revitalizes our lives and instills in us fresh hope amid adverse circumstances. Through chanting, we can reveal our Buddhahood. And every suffering can be “revived” or transformed, becoming a springboard toward absolute joy and fulfillment.

Nichiren also says that 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.

This is why “Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life” (WND-1, 149).

 

Arrangement of the Gohonzon

The graphic arrangement of the Gohonzon is based on the concept of the Ceremony in the Air depicted in the Lotus Sutra. The eleventh or “Emergence of the Treasure Tower” chapter depicts the appearance of a magnificent tower: “At that time in the Buddha’s presence there was a tower adorned with the seven treasures, five hundred yojana in height and two hundred and fifty yojana in width and depth, that rose up out of the earth and stood suspended in the air” (The Lotus Sutra, p.170).

One yojana is said to be the distance the royal army could march in a day. According to one interpretation, 500 yojana would be equal to the radius of the earth. The Treasure Tower was closed when it first emerged, but Shakyamuni opened it when Many Treasures Thus Come One, who appeared to validate Shakyamuni’s teachings, invited him to sit with him in it. This is how the Ceremony in the Air begins.

Regarding the Treasure Tower, the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, says: “Within our lives exists the magnificent state of life beyond our comprehension called Buddhahood. This state of life or its power defies our imagination; nor can our words express it. However, we can concretely manifest this state in our lives. To explain that our lives can manifest the latent Buddha nature as a concrete reality is the ceremony depicted in ‘The Emergence of the Treasure Tower’ chapter.”

In other words, the appearance of the Treasure Tower is a metaphor for the magnificent Buddha nature in our lives. In the Lotus Sutra, the opening of the closed doors of the Treasure Tower represents the transition from a theoretical explanation of Buddhahood as a potential state to the actual manifestation of the Buddha nature in each person.

On the Gohonzon, “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo-Nichiren” corresponds to the Treasure Tower. Shakyamuni Buddha and Many Treasures Thus Come One are seated in the tower facing the audience. The rest of the bodhisattvas, deities and various beings are facing these two Buddhas. In India, important persons are usually seated to the right. That Shakyamuni is placed to the left of “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” as we face the Gohonzon and Bodhisattva Superior Practices (the leader of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth) to the right means that Shakyamuni is facing out from within the Treasure Tower and Bodhisattva Superior Practices is facing him.

The Gohonzon diagram published along with this article will help you see the position and meaning of each inscription on the Nichikan-transcribed Gohonzon. It is hoped that explaining the graphic components of the Gohonzon will make it easier for you to sense the meaning of Nichiren Daishonin’s message to all humanity-that every individual is potentially a Buddha, that everyone can attain Buddhahood through faith in the Gohonzon.
We can compare the graphic image of the Gohonzon to each of our lives. Living in such a defiled age as the Latter Day of the Law, our lives can be easily dominated by the lower life-conditions, such as Anger or Animality-when this happens it is just like putting those worlds in the center rather than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Our lives are just like the Treasure Tower, but they may be closed and buried deep in the earth of delusion. Our challenge, therefore, is to bring the hidden Treasure Tower up from within the soil of our fundamental darkness and open it, establishing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in the center of our lives and illuminating our lower life-conditions-putting them in their proper places.

What makes this possible is the power of faith and practice for oneself and others. It is our challenge to continue to practice to the Gohonzon with firm faith in its message that we are innately endowed with the supreme treasure. In this way, we can solidify Buddhahood as the basis of our life-condition, as exemplified by the arrangement of the Gohonzon.

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A comparisont in blending Course In Miracles concepts with Buddhism:

God = Mystic Cause
God goes with me wherever I go.
God is my strength. Vision is His gift.
God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
God is the Light in which I see.
God is the Mind in which I think.
~ I would like to find my real thoughts. ~
God is the Love in which I forgive.
~ I forgive you... brother... sister... myself. ~
God is the Strength in which I trust.
I feel the Love of God shining in me now.
I am inviting in the Voice for Truth....


>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Prayers from Raj & The Course In Miracles:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The only meaningful step to take is to break the isolation and say: "Father, share with me Your Perspective, because I have been told that it is my perspective by Birthright, and I haven't been experiencing it. And my not experiencing it, I am told, has caused me to see everything erroneously, and is responsible for the ever-present anxiety that I feel, the ever-present uneasiness that I feel, the ever-present vulnerability that I feel. And I don't want to feel it anymore. "

"I'm willing to consider the possibility that this information that's given to me is correct. And so I will do the thing I don't understand. I will reach out into that which seems to be empty. I will reach out for You whom I've never had, as far as I know, a direct experience of. Or if I did, they were, as far as I'm concerned, flukes, rare events, rare favors, which I feel tremendously blessed by, but they're nothing that I can feel confidently as an ever-present source ……but I'm going to reach out, as though it's there. Please help!"

And then you shut up and you make room for the response. 01-30-2005, Tape 1, Side 2, 8:41 mins. ACIM Chapter 9, The Unhealed Healer. P. 210

I authorize my body to release whatever is not necessary to its perfect functioning, and I withdraw any prior conscious or unconscious authorization to the contrary. Raj/Jesus

Father, Thy Will be done. Father, let me be filled with all that You Are Being—right here where I see me. Father, I wish to yield to the Reality of Me that has to be going on right here, where I thought I have been alone, isolated and constantly in danger.

I will listen for Your Voice. I will stop listening for my voice—meaning my thinking-- my best practice of reason. I will shut up long enough to hear. Fill me today with all Thou art. Fro 
RAJ: NIGHTTIME PRAYERS


I allow only for that which expresses the Christ consciousness, and only that which is in harmony with the purpose of capital "B," Being ….the Father's Will. In other words: Let the reign of Divine Truth, of Divine Love, of Divine Life, of Divine Light, of Divine Principle and of Divine Soul be established in me, and rule out of me all self-will. And may Thy Word enrich the affections of all humankind and govern us. I choose to do Your / Our Loving Will always.

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I surrender myself completely to You. I fully trust You to take care of everything, and that You will guide me to think and do what is needed, and to not think and not do what is not needed. Amen.

"Will my Healing Team please address this (describe)_________ problem. I would like a healing session and I would like it to be maximal. And may we please have a healing session for everyone."

"How many, or who, feels blessed as a result of my encounter with them today?"

I wish to see the Presence of Love and I wish to be the Presence of Love with as much persistence as those in the middle of extreme circumstances will be bringing to moving through them.

"It is the intent of my body to identify the presence of my Individuality perfectly."

"I authorize my body to release whatever is not necessary to its perfect functioning, and I withdraw any prior conscious or unconscious authorization to the contrary."

All Loving Mother/Father God, I yield up all of my conscious and unconscious justifications for not looking utterly beautiful and for not having the manifestation of perfect health and perfect symmetry and perfect harmony. I yield those justifications up. I yield instead to Your original and current Idea, which is spirit, that patterns the energy, that makes me experience-able. I choose to do Your/Our Loving Will always.

All Loving Mother/Father God, I yield up all of my conscious and unconscious justifications for not seeing everyone and everything as utterly beautiful and for not seeing the manifestation of perfect health and perfect symmetry and perfect harmony. I yield those justifications up. I yield instead to Your original and current Idea, which is spirit, that patterns the energy, that makes everything experience-able. I choose to do Your/Our Loving Will always.

Father, Thy Will be done. Father, let me be filled with all that You Are Being—right here where I see me. Father, I wish to yield to the Reality of Me that has to be going on right here, where I thought I have been alone, isolated and constantly in danger.

I will listen for Your Voice.

I will stop listening for my voice—meaning my thinking-- my best

practice of reason. I will shut up long enough to hear.

Fill me today with all Thou art.

Fill me today with all that Thou art...I don't want to be this presence of a personality any longer. Fill me with the Light and reveal Me to me...reveal Yourself to me as Me...and exalt my poor perception of myself into its natural, primitive state of Divinity.

The only meaningful step to take is to break the isolation and say: "Father, share with me Your Perspective, because I have been told that It is my perspective by Birthright, and I haven't been experiencing It. And my not experiencing It, I am told, has caused me to see everything erroneously, and is responsible for the ever-present anxiety that I feel, the ever-present uneasiness that I feel, the ever-present vulnerability that I feel. And I don't want to feel it anymore.

I'm willing to consider the possibility that this information that's given to me is correct. And so I will do the thing I don't understand. I will reach out into that which seems to be empty. I will reach out for You whom I've never had, as far as I know, a direct experience of. Or if I did, they were, as far as I'm concerned, flukes, rare events, rare favors, which I feel tremendously blessed by, but they're nothing that I can feel confidently as an ever-present Source ……but I'm going to reach out, as though It's there. Please help!"

And then you shut up and you make room for the response.  
WHAT EXACTLY TO DO WITH ANY ILLNESS OR DISCOMFORT RAJ: 
  Two things: Not only does each one of you have a Guide, one who is totally Awake, standing at your service, you also have me standing with you at your service. And then in addition to your Guide, there are those Awakened Individualities who work in conjunction with your Guide on your behalf, I'm going to say, relative to your physical well-being. They do not manipulate the body, but they stand helping to uncover whatever beliefs are blocking the normal function of your body and facilitating their release. And so what I encourage you to do every night when you go to bed is to just say:

"Will my Healing Team please address this (describe)_________ problem. I would like a healing session and I would like it to be maximal." Not that the support that is given is less than maximal, but by saying: "and let it be maximal," it is a matter of your giving permission consciously for the healing to be maximal. Edited by Trish 2008-06-07 8:53 AM from Inverness Scotland, October 1996

(Paul adds: "May we please have a healing session for everyone who has asked for healing, even if it was only expressed as a hope, with little faith.") (William adds: "And may we please have a healing session for everyone.")

_____________________________________________________________ So the question is, when you go to bed at night: How many, or who, feels blessed as a result of my encounter with them today?"

_____________________________________________________________ Raj, ACIM Study Group, 3/11/2011 (last paragraph, re people involved in Fukushima tsunami.): So, wish to see the Presence of Love and wish to be the Presence of Love with as much persistence as those in the middle of the circumstances will be bringing to moving through it. And I promise you the moving through it can occur much more quickly. Be part of what causes that to happen.

_____________________________________________________________

Gathering Yucaipa May 1, 1996: QUESTION: Okay, my question is about pain. How do we go about releasing long-lasting pain? X-rays have proved the reason but can't seem to find the answer. After innumerable doctors, innumerable medication and exercise the pain affects the everyday activities, but can't seem to find release.

RAJ: Very literally I want you to write on your refrigerator: "It is the intent of my body to identify the presence of my Individuality perfectly."

Now, something new for you to write down, a separate statement: "I authorize my body to release whatever is not necessary to its perfect functioning, and I withdraw any prior conscious or unconscious authorization to the contrary." I will say it over again, "I authorize my body to release whatever is not necessary to its perfect functioning, and I withdraw any prior conscious or unconscious authorization to the contrary." And then I want you to remember what I said about your body or form being nothing more than energy pattern that is perfectly fluid, so that you might understand that there is no matter that has to physically adjust in order for the pattern to reconfigure. You understand what I mean? So there need be no delay.  
New Raj writings for July 2022
The Return to Natural Optimism
It appears that Brotherhood is being aggressively ravaged on a number of fronts which, because they are not "local" but widespread and far reaching, are molding, coercing, and even subtly finessing the psyche of mankind into a seemingly justified state of worldwide fear and defense. The pandemic; the conflict in Ukraine; the unnaturalness of "isolation from" and "protection against" each other; the distrust which grows daily as more and more people engage in acts of bold authority (called violence) to regain order and peace, putting large numbers of people at risk in apparently benign settings like grocery stores, schools, concerts and public gatherings; the refusal by those in authority to honor and promote simple humaneness and the willingness to forsake it in the name of "independence" and its "rights". . . . . . all of these things, because THEY are the voices which are being given voice to, are overshadowing and casting doubt upon the emerging awareness of there being a Voice for Truth and the need to give voice to It . . . as well as to hear It! It is important for this not to go unnoticed. No, it is imperative that this not go unnoticed! Why? Because violence—the opposite of peace—is not the precursor to peace, and doubt is not the precursor to Vision. Indeed, violence is the precursor to more "acts of authority." More "violence." It cannot provide the inner experience of being loved which is the only thing capable of inspiring the actual experience of safety and security . . . which IS the precursor to and is inseparable from peace. This is why it is imperative. The impossible is unsustainable. Because of this, the illusion will end! The Fall will be undone because it never happened in Fact! And now is when the disillusionment is happening! This is why A Course in Miracles has been revealed. The call for what it teaches is upon mankind. The Brotherhood, Which has been since the beginning, must now Remember Itself and take hold of Itself! Not because the devil will get It and cause It to burn in eternal torment, but because God's Will will be done! Cooperate with It. Instead of whining, complaining, throwing up your hands in dismay and giving up in some form of suicide, throw up your hands in a gesture of "Hallelujah!" and give up what has been an illegitimate imposition upon your divine Birthright. Embrace and experience being the holy Son or Daughter of God in the Kingdom of Heaven—meaning, Reality—which has been the Truth the whole time you were mesmerized by other voices to believe otherwise! If you are experiencing voices (thoughts) motivating you to give up by engaging in permanent sorrow and dismay, if you find yourself motivated to take bold action (violence) to overcome abuse . . . be careful! It isn't your world or anyone in it which is abusing you . . . even if you think you can prove to me that it is. Why? Because you are not outside of the Kingdom of Heaven! You have not become a mortal! You are not an organism! And neither is your "clear-cut provable enemy." But he thinks he is, and he thinks you are. And he believes what he thinks, having forgotten what he Knows, just as you have . . . although you have the advantage of having arrived at a point where you are no longer convinced, and your beliefs are beginning to yield to what you are discovering yourself Remembering. Now, the vigor you are willing to bring into play to stop abuse by force, in order to get relief from the suffering, will need to be redirected. The gumption to stand up and unequivocally object must not be abandoned! But it must be withdrawn from whatever is clearly objectionable by definition and applied to that which makes up the definitions—the thinking! You must use the gumption to shut up the thinking! How? By Listening for the Voice for Truth and giving voice to It . . . and doing it with unswerving commitment. That is the only thing that will break the mesmerism. You must remember that you are never deluded all by yourself. It takes two to engage in the Fall. Your "enemy" is your partner in crime, and your enemy is your salvation! That is the meaning of the words, "What you give, you get to keep!" You are deluding yourself about him through the use of "creative thinking," and because you don't see yourself doing it, you are deluded as well. It is, however, in your discovery and realization that "there is another way to look at this"—meaning for you to look at and see everything—that your enemy can cease to be an enemy and be seen, instead, as simply "a Brother in distress". . . someone else thinking "creatively". . . just like you had been! And guess what? This humble recognition of yourself in him and him in you, in the context of your fundamental innocence, is what the word "forgiveness" means!!! In this moment of exonerating your Brother, you break the "mutual agreement" which had held the illusion of mortality in place, reconfirming it endlessly, righteously and unforgivingly. In this "sudden shift of perception" it then becomes possible as well as incumbent upon you to confirm to him your innocent Vision of him, removing his need for defense with you, and providing the environment in which he can feel loved, together with the safety and security which are inseparable from peace. This will not force him to abandon his convictions about you, nor will it cause him to immediately see the ways in which he holds his justified fears in place, as well as his confidence in his misperceptions. But you will be able to see that it is the same misplaced gumption at work which you employed right up until the last miserable moment before you dared to consider the possibility that "there [was] another way to look at this." This wisdom, gathered from your experience will justify your persisting on behalf of his ever-present capacity to see differently at any moment . . . because that's what someone else did for you . . . and that's what it takes. You see, it's not just that "what you give, you get to keep." It's that what you give, and give, and give, and give, and give, and give, ad infinitum, endlessly, never-endingly, you get to keep. It's not something you do until things are "fixed." Giving is the antidote to selfishness, separation, and its accompanying fear and guilt. The infinite Act of Creation, is the eternal Gift. It is God being God. It isn't something He is doing until He gets it right, so that He can then relax and never have to do it again! No! Coming back into your right Mind, regaining your divine Sanity is not a means of accomplishment, but of yielding to . . . to . . . to . . . to . . . to . . . to God Knows what . . . over and over and over with Him. We only "accomplish" by letting Him accomplish through us by means of our co-creating with Him. We are the part of God which recognizes God in everything without first imagining that the experience of consciousness is the experience of being "a" mind, the existence of which is proven by "thinking," and the purpose of which is to define everything and be in charge of it. >>>>>>>>>> to here 6/29/22 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< The account of Creation in Genesis says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." I've said this before, but it's easy to forget. So, I'll say it again. The meaning of that sentence is that Mind moves and the experience of Meaning occurs infinitely . . . but for what? With no means to experience or recognize the movement, nothing has happened, and rather than creating an imaginative Genesis story about Creation, one simply needs to understand that Mind, because It cannot be Mind and not be Consciousness as well, does move and experience the Movement as one single simultaneous event, like the front and back of a piece of paper, or the heads and tails of a coin. Neither one can exist without the other. In other words, "experiencing the Movement" is an omnipresent and infinite capacity of Mind called omniscience—all Knowing. Its Function is the recognition and acknowledgement of That Which Moved as the evidence of That Which is Moving (in other words, "recognizing God in it"). Without this Function, there is no Conscious experience of Being. With it there is only the Conscious experience of Being. Therefore, one could say, "All is infinite Mind and Its infinite recognition of Itself." This capacity is therefore, "the Co-Creator" and it is the only distinction there is in Mind. Does any of this sound familiar? Might this be the surprising meaning of "conscious human individuality," of being "co-creators with God" as it is described in A Course in Miracles? Except that being infinite and omnipresent, without being in any way separate from That Which is Creating, it can no longer be misconstrued to mean "a" co-creator among co-creators? Such a surprising meaning requires a willingness to allow for a literal redemption of the current mortal organic definition of conscious human individuality—which is a body where consciousness is nothing more than physical evolution's crowning development of the most highly evolved transmitters and conveyors of complex electrical synapses occurring in a piece of meat called a brain, and voila! A mortal with a mind! The literal redemption which is provided in the Course declares, "Your mind is part of God's. You are very holy." And I am adding that the part of God's Mind that yours is, is the Self-recognition part. This means that "you are not God, but God is all there is to you," and you are the "paying attention" part. Now you can understand why the Course says, "Your attention is God's treasure." The actual redemption is when one permits his attention to shift from body identification to Mind identification—from being a body in which "a" mind is functioning, to being Mind, in which body, world and universe are being experienced . . . a perspective in which it becomes perfectly clear that "All is Mind, from the rolling of worlds in the most subtle ether, to a potato patch!" Again, although paraphrased: "And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was, verily, God!" This is the Meaning of the holy instant. What is the holy instant? It is when you shut up the thinking, ask, "What is the Truth here?" and Listen in the Silence until you Hear. Then, you, experiencing Consciousness, are God seeing all that He has made and [you] recognizing Him in It. That is your Function and that is the Function of the holy instant. Then you can see your Brother not as "enemy" but as "a Brother in distress" like you had been, and you can nurture his releasing his defenses with pitiful patience and enduring love. Then you can find freedom from the ravaging of Brotherhood because you Know that Brotherhood can only be reestablished in the absence of defense and in the fearless embrace of the Brother Who has not become what He is afraid He has, and which He mistakenly objects to through the use of violence. Then you will say, "No!" to invitations to confirm your Brother's misperceptions of Himself, and you will guide Him without rancor into new uses of His mind which pave the way for realization and the justificaton of self-respect which your behavior inspires in Him. Such is the way in which the return to natural optimism begins to heal the exhaustion which reaction to the world's clamoring induced in you because you listened more to it than to the Voice for Truth and didn't see the part you played in your exhaustion. Such is the way the Brotherhood is healed by the withdrawal of your confirmation of your Brother's and Sister's threats and your reactions to Their misperceptions of Themselves, looking instead into Their eyes, remembering God and sharing the Vision which fills you to give to Them because there is a God and They are loved . . . along with you. Rajpur Kingston, Washington June 20, 2022


>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

Repeat some of these with eyes shut,

Here's a powerful affirmation:
Above all else I wish to see. Above all else I wish to see differently.
Above all else I wish to see everything through your Eyes, Holy Spirit, or your Eyes, Jesus.
I wish to look through your Vision, which is your Gift to me
and you’re giving it to me as you perform in your function,
which is your Gift to me from God. And you know what?
I ask for it, so that I might give it to my brother.


A key description to the "Fall" or "Human Situation" [pg 90]
Decisions cannot be difficult. This is obvious if you realize that you already have
decided not to be wholly joyous....the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you
actively decided wrongly, but can as actively decide otherwise. Be very firm with yourself about this,
and keep yourself fully aware that the undoing process, which does not come from you,
is nevertheless within you because God placed it there. Your part is merely to
return your thinking to the point at which the error was made, and give it over to the
Atonment in peace. Say this to yourself as sincerely as you can,
remembering that the Holy Spirit will respond fully to your slightest invitation:

I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace.
I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise.
I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace.
I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the
consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him.
I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me.

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<
"Scientifice statement of Being"
There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.
All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.
Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error.
Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.
Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness.
Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.


Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I John 3:1–3

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<

All Loving Mother/Father God I yield up all of my conscious and unconscious justifications
for not having the manifestation of perfect health and harmony. I yield them up.
I yield instead to Your original and current Idea, which is Spirit, the patterns the energy,
that makes me experiencable.I choose to do Your/our Loving Will always.
It is the intent of my body to identify the presence of my individuality perfectly.
I authorize my body to release whateve is not necessary to its perfect functioning,
and I withdraw any prior conscious or unconscious authorization to the contrary.
Will my Healing Team please address this _________ problem.
I would like a healing session and I woud like it to be maximal

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<

Significant excerpt from: Conversation with Raj Mar 26 2011 after the Fukishima Situation

You know, for centuries there have been conflicts and resolutions.  But we truly are coming upon a point where there's not just going to be the resolution of conflict, but there's going to be the shifting from the realm of conflict into the conscious awareness of Being, that you as the Son or Daughter of God deserve to be experiencing, because it's your Birthright, and there's really nothing else Real for you to be experiencing.  

Now, you all can be good Christians or you can be good religious people or you can be good students of the Course and find a way to make the best of a bad situation, the best of the conflict that's going on so that you might come through somewhat unscathed and still be where everyone was after the crusades—still asleep, still dreaming dreams, still experiencing the human condition.   

Or you can, because of your education relative to the Truth and A Course In Miracles, use this opportunity to make the shift.  What shift?  Not from a disastrous world condition to an excellent world condition, but a shift from your allegiance to the voice for fear to an allegiance to the Voice for Truth.   A shift which Wakes you up—which ends the illusions, which ends the conflict forever.  

C'mon . . . either everyone is expecting Armageddon or everyone is expecting the Rapture—the upliftment of mankind.   

Well, let's stop having those polarized dynamics as interesting ideas to talk about, think about, and let's right now begin to act . . . out the choice of choosing for the Voice for Truth.  Opting for . . . that—the nature of which is Love—so that you might be the agent for change here that heals an injured world, I'm going to say, not just of injuries current, but injuries past . . . and that reveals each one of you and everything without blemish—without flaw—with complete restoration of every part of you and every part of everything.  

You know what?  Fear is an artificial sensation.  You know, we say: "Oh-h, when the fall occurred, or when you got your divorce from the Father, two things came into play: Fear and guilt."   

Well I'm going to tell you something:  Fear is an artificial sensation and guilt is an artificial sensation.  So let's not be treating fear and guilt with such respect as though they are something.  They're artificial sensations.  They do not mean anything in the context of God and God's Allness.  They have no meaning whatsoever.  And because God is All, they never have had any actual meaning.  Therefore, they are not anything actual to overcome or deal with.  You can't do anything to that which is an artificial sensation.  

But you can shift your attention . . . to Love.  You can shift your attention away from privacy and self-authority, to your Father and rejoin with your Father.   And in that rejoining, remember who you Are, and in that experience, find that Love is the spontaneous feeling you experience relative to everything. And it's when you discover that everything is blessing you with the Love that it is, so that it's an exchange infinitely speaking, in which there is no conflict, in which there is no chaos, in which there's no radioactive damage caused recently or in the past, where there is no physical injury or disease either currently or left over from the past, where the Kingdom of Heaven is redeemed from your insistence upon it being something else: a physical world and universe which began from a big bang . . . a physical explosion, a physical movement of force inherently polarized from the get-go.  

A Course In Miracles means something. It's True. It doesn't really mean working miracles, because a miracle in that sort of definition would have to mean that some sort of force—spiritual or otherwise—would have to be applied to the material world and universe you think exists, and changes it by force, so that it stops being destructive and starts being benign.  Now that would be a miracle!  

But no, A Course In Miracles is about shifting your attention from the voice for fear and giving your attention to the Voice for Truth, which is the Holy Spirit—which is that which is nothing more than your right Mind—and in that shift becoming unpolarized and unconflicted yourself.   

And in the falling away of the tension of this conflict that you have manufactured for yourself, what you really Are—what all of Creation really Is in its benign unified aspect—registers with you and it looks like a miracle has happened, because infirmity, illness, death are undone, damage is undone.  The True nature of everything simply registers with you once again . . . awesomely registers with you once again.  That seems miraculous, but I promise you that the uncovering of the Divinity of everything, the uncovering of the Divineness of everything that has characterized everything forever . . . that occurring is not a miracle, because force is not applied to make something that was not something into something else that is something.  

You are not going to be able to use Love to bless the island of Japan.  You are not going to be able to use Love to bless the area around Chernobyl.  You are not going to be able to use Love to bless a cemetery so that all those who have died come forth.  You cannot use Love to undo an illusion.  Love serves to open your eyes to what God has been Being all along, in spite of your false definitions applied to everything and the conflict it has created for you.  

I know I am repeating myself over and over and over again, but I am repeating a simple Truth that it's almost impossible for you to believe because it is so simple and because it flies in the face of your experience.  

Now, the conditions in the world are distressing.  Even the ones that seem to be positively oriented seem to be occurring in the context of conflict.  And so, even that which has excellence is strenuous.  The strenuousness of it, the apparent processes in time that it appears everything will have to go through, whether it's the changing of a mind of a people, or whether it's the changing of the radioactivity that should take tens of thousands of years to dissipate, the fact is: that time needs to be wiped out of the process, out of the picture, so that instantaneous healing can be experienced.  

"Oh, gee, instantaneous healing!  Well, it's going to be hard, because of course, radioactive materials are matter aren't they?  And so they are going to have to operate according to the laws of matter, aren't they?"  

Whew . . . No! No! No! No! No! No!  Why?  Because the only change that needs to occur is you abandoning your commitment and addiction to definitions that are inconsistent with Creation Itself.  And which, when you abandon them, will allow Creation as It Truly Is to be experienced by you as It Truly Is [snaps fingers] . . . just like that, because of a [snaps fingers] willingness that wasn't argued against, because a commitment was abandoned and there was a willingness to embrace what seemed to be: "the impossible."  

Now there is a need for this today!  There is a need for this today!  And every single one of you have the groundwork, have the basics, to participate in it happening!  And so I am pushing you, yes!  And I am inviting you, yes!  I am pushing and pulling, I am doing everything I can to inspire you to be radical and to consider "the impossible", so that there might be Ascension, so that there might be Awakening. 

AN EXPERIENCE FROM THE EARLY 80'S

Once in the 80's, during a very painful crisis, a CS practitioner said to me something like: "I want you to contemplate the Infinity of God's Love!" and she gave me a "Treatment"
Then: a sudden weightlessness, with a falling into darkness, windy sensation, [maybe 5 seconds] followed by an uplifting launching sensation [maybe 5 seconds] still in darkness, then breaking into brilliant Light. [maybe 10 seconds]
With brilliant colors and patterns of indescribable beauty! [maybe 5 seconds]
Then a peaceful yet surprising feeling of mind expansion where the earth, and progressively the solar system or cosmos were enveloped as consciousness expanded. maybe Then a thought came,10 seconds
"I wonder what happened to that thing I used to call my body?"
[Too bad I didn't hold off on that thought!]
Because suddenly I was back in body, but healed of the pain and with a profound and overwhelming sense of Divine Love surrounding me and everything I saw in my room. As if they were leaning toward me sharing this Love with me.



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