Recieving the Gohonzon.
I keep meaning to post and I keep not doing it. I need to do it more because things are happening I want to make note of. That's not proper English and I don't care.
Sunday, July First, Daniel and I recieved our
A Gohonzon is a scroll that is a copy of the original written by Nichiren Daishonin and it is an important part of Nichiren Buddhist practice. It also represents the commitment the people recieving the Gohonzon are making to Buddhism and World Peace.
Daniel and I began practicing Nichren Buddhism in Feburary of 2007. We were introduced by our friend Emi, who was our roommate at the time. I am fortunate that good karma drew us into that circumstance. Emi is from Japan and she moved here after living in London for five years. She has been practicing Nichiren Buddhism since she was in her early teens. We practiced gongyo with her almost every night.
Gongyo is the main aspect of this practice. We kneel or sit in front of the Gohonzon, usually burning incense, although this is not required. It's just something that helps set a meditative mood. We take turns leading, but we start as a group by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo three times. This is followed by a morning prayer when we do it in the morning. It's a prayer of appreciation for the protective forces of nature. Then we chant two chapters from the Lotus Sutra, which is called Myoho Renge Kyo in Japanese. We chant daimoku, which is chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, hopefully reaching a meditative state. We stop when someone rings the bell because they feel like it. Then we do 3 more prayers. 1 in gratitude to the founders of this type of Buddhism, 1 is for those who have died, and one is for the propagation of humanistic values and world peace.
What does Nam Myoho Renge Kyo mean? It's full meaning is better understood through practice. But the basic translation breaks down kind of like this: Nam means devotion or dedication to... by chanting we devote ourselves to practicing Buddhism and seeking world peace. Myoho is basically the mysteriousness of life and its manifestations. Renge is a word for the lotus plant, which seeds and flowers at the same time, representing cause and effect. And Kyo means sound or teaching, basically that we learn and practice Buddhism through chanting and the spoken word.
Just to be clear, we do not pray to the Gohonzon or anything else outside ourselves. We chant to the inner depths of our lives and beings to create causes that change our karma for the better.
Of course I will try to answer any questions you might have, and if you're interested in more information sgi-usa.org is the main site for the US branch of the Soka Gakkai International, the organization of people who practice Nichiren Buddhism.
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