NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
What is NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO?
What is NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO?
The phrase NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO is taken from the title of the greatest teaching of the first historically recorded Buddha, known as Siddhartha Gautama or Shakyamuni Buddha, who lived in India around 500 years before Christ was born. This teaching, called the Lotus Sutra, declares that all living beings, regardless of gender or intelligence (that means everyone - including you and me!), have the potential to attain Buddhahood. In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha teaches that inside each one of us a universal truth known as the Buddha nature. Basing our lives on this Buddha nature enables us to enjoy absolute happiness and to act with boundless compassion. Such a state of happiness is called enlightenment. It's simply waking up to the true nature of life, realising that all things are connected, and that there is such a close relationship between each of us and our surroundings that when we change ourselves, we change the world.
In the 13th Century, a Japanese
priest called Nichiren (1222-1282) realised that the message of the Lotus
Sutra was summed up by its title, NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO, which can be translated
as the teaching of the lotus flower of the wonderful law. Nichiren
declared that all of the benefits of the wisdom contained in the Lotus
Sutra can be realized by chanting this title NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO. Since
the time of Nichiren many, many millions of people have followed his advice,
chanting NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO regularly as a means of improving their health,
happiness, wisdom and compassion. The
goal of chanting NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO is
to manifest the enlightenment of the Buddha in our own lives. We can then
realise our own creative potential as individuals and, in so doing, create
thriving and peaceful families, work places and communities. Eventually
this gradual transformation of individuals will create peace and prosperity
in societies throughout the world.
Related Topics:
How do I chant? | What
should I think about? | How long should
I chant for? | When should I chant?