Introduction

Nichiren Shōnin (1222-1282) was a priest of the Tendai school who eventually broke with that tradition. His name means “Sun Lotus,” and he was given the title Shōnin, which means “sage.” Nichiren was a great teacher and reformer who dedicated his life to relieving the suffering of the common people. He pointed out the errors of the elitist and decadent schools and movements that were distorting the true spirit of the Buddha Dharma and he distilled the essence of the profoundest teachings of Buddhism into a simple accessible practice so that all people could liberate themselves and.

Nichiren Shōnin based his teachings on the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, also known simply as the Lotus Sūtra. After many years of study, Nichiren Shōnin found that the Lotus Sūtra was the culmination of Śākyamuni Buddha’s teachings wherein the ultimate truth of Buddhism is clearly expounded. Nichiren taught that the simple yet profound practice of chanting the “Great Title” (Odaimoku) of the Lotus Sūtra, that is Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, is a practical and accessible way for all people to realize the deepest truths of Buddhism. Just as calling upon a loved one’s name brings to mind all of the qualities and characteristics that we associate with that person, the Great Title or Odaimoku of the Lotus Sūtra is the way whereby we can call to mind the many qualities and characteristics of the Buddha’s awakening.

Many people have the impression that in order to attain awakening one must master difficult philosophical concepts, attend long sitting meditation retreats or even take up a monastic lifestyle. Awakening, however, is an inner revolution of heart and mind and not merely a technique or particular culturally bound lifestyle. The practice of chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō acts as a catalyst to bring about this inner revolution. Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō is a verbal expression of the Buddha’s awakening, the ultimate source and goal of all other teachings and methods of Buddhism.

The practice of chanting Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, however, might seem totally unrelated to the teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha, who taught Buddhism in terms of the “four noble truths” and the “eightfold path.” Śākyamuni Buddha himself attained awakening through practicing insight meditation. Furthermore, there were no written sūtras until hundreds of years after the Buddha’s passing. The Mahāyāna sūtras in particular, such as the Lotus Sūtra, are not meant to be literal reports of the historical Buddha’s teachings. In view of these things, how can Nichiren Buddhists claim that chanting the title of a sūtra is the way to attain awakening?

There is a Buddhist parable that may be relevant here. Once there was a wealthy man whose neighbor built a beautiful three story tower. The wealthy man decided that he too would like to have such a tower, so he commissioned an architect to design one for him and hired some men to begin building it. However, when the construction crew began digging the foundations, the wealthy man complained, saying that he wanted them to begin with the pinnacle of the tower instead of wasting their time with the basement. The amazed architect had to tell the wealthy man that it was impossible to build a tower without a foundation for it to rest upon, and utterly impossible to build a pinnacle resting on nothing but thin air. In the same way, it is impossible to understand how Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō can be the pinnacle of Buddhist teaching and practice without a solid grounding in the basic teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha and their development both theoretically and practically over the course of time. This is not to say that Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō can not be properly understood until one has mastered every nuance of Buddhist thought, but it does mean that one should be able to appreciate what it represents. Similarly, the formula E=mc2 may have a very profound meaning, but it would be lost on someone who has never heard of Einstein or the theory of relativity.

The aim of this book is to provide an introduction to the Buddha Dharma as taught and practiced by the Nichiren Shū, a Buddhist lineage founded 750 years ago. “Nichiren” is the name of the founder. “Shū” means “school.” Nichiren Buddhism is one of the largest schools of Buddhism in Japan. It is a confederation of the lineages descended from Nichiren’s six major disciples as well as all of the major temples historically related to Nichiren’s life. It is my hope that I will be able to provide this solid grounding in the foundational teachings of Buddhism and to show how they all flow like mighty rivers into the great ocean of Odaimoku practice. As Nichiren himself claimed, the chanting of Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō may seem narrow but it is actually very deep. If I can clarify what it means to say that Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō is both the seed and the ultimate fruition of all the myriad teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha, then this book will have fulfilled its aim.