What does Nam-myoho-renge-kyo mean,
(Not an official SGI site)
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the mystic law that means:
We are all Buddhas -
and realizing
we ARE the Mystic Law.
We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ~
and we ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ~the Mystic Law.
It is all-encompassing and contains the wisdom and energy of all of life itself...the whole universe.
When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we tap into that energy and access it for our lives...directed towards our desires and for the fulfillment of happiness for all. In this practice, it's okay to have desires. More than okay! We don't have to alleviate them. Desires make us who we are and lead us to chant.
When we chant we change the internal life within our lives. We change the core and fiber of our lives. We change our karma. And when we make that internal change, our ENVIRONMENT (meaning everything that is not within our own skin, our jobs, our relationships, our sense of self, everything we experience and think) ALL of that changes to reflect our internal change. We call this "Human Revolution."
When we chant we harness the energy that is our birthright. And we chant for however long we wish, twice a day, every single day, to get and keep our lives in rhythm.
When we are in rhythm we are in the right place at the right time... to find out about and get the job...or to meet the man of our dreams...or to protect our child from danger.
We chant for something and get it or something better. We get access to internal happiness and strength that cannot be blown away by any event or obstacle.
In fact, we view obstacles themselves as benefits, as strange as that may sound....because obstacles make us chant more, and when we chant more we draw even higher life conditions and deeper satisfaction into our lives.
What can we chant FOR? Anything. We chant for others, we chant for our planet, our countries, and ourselves.
We can chant for whatever our desire may be...even if it might not be the "right" desire for us. In the act of chanting, we will change our karma and our desires themselves will naturally begin to shift. We will open our lives to the deeper wisdom within...the deeper yearning, the REAL desires that we have forgotten or given up on. We will grow. We will prosper and we will blossom.
We will gain the wisdom of the right action to take - because ACTION springs from wisdom.
The challenge is...we need to do it. We have to chant to bring all this rhythm and harmony out. And that's why we practice together as an organization, the SGI, The Soka Gakkai, our fellowship of friends who support each other, chant for each other, and create a new Soka family for each practitioner. We are so fortunate.
We are in this life together...sharing our challenges and our successes. If you are not yet connected to the SGI please go to sgi-usa.com and find your local members. You will be so glad you did.
Some Powerful Quotes from our mentor Daisaku Ikeda from Ikedaquotes.org:
THIS moment, this instant, is important,
not some unknown time in the future.
Today, this very day is what matters.
You must put your whole being
into the time that exists now.
For future victory rests in the present moment.
BUDDHISM holds that everything
is in a constant state of flux.
Thus, the question is
whether we are to accept change passively
and be swept away by it,
or whether we are to take the lead
and create positive changes on our own initiative.
While conservatism and self-protection
might be likened to winter, night, and death,
the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize
the ideals evoke the images of spring,
morning and birth.
Do gongyo (our daily recitation of the Lotus Sutra)
And, filled with renewed vitality,
Daisaku Ikeda, from Ikedaquotes.org
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