Nichiren Daishonin explains that there are four different ways in which chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon produces good fortune, or benefit. Conspicuous prayer resulting in conspicuous benefit means that, through sincerely chanting for what you desire, you quickly achieve it. This is the benefit people often receive soon after they begin to practise; they chant for something specific, like money or a job, and get it so soon that it seems to them almost miraculous. Conspicuous prayer resulting in inconspicuous benefit means that you achieve a specific desire after a lapse of time; in retrospect, however, with the wisdom of your Buddha nature, you understand why you did not achieve your desire at once. This is rather like a ten-year-old boy being told by his parents that he cannot drive the family car, say, even though he really wants to. He may kick up a fuss at the time but, when he grows up, he sees the wisdom of his parents refusal. In other wordds, this category of benefit applies to those things which come to us only when we are truly ready to create maximum value from them, not when we think we are ready. Inconspicuous prayer resulting in conspicuous benefit refers to the support a strong and steady practice will give you by building up a deposit account of good fortune. This is known as protection and was the type of benefit Marc Bergman experienced* when threatened by the youths on the tube train. Finally, inconspicuous prayer resulting in inconspicuous benefit means that strong and steady practice carried out over a long period of time will lead to every area of your life being filled with the qualities of your true self, which is Buddhahood - wisdom, courage, compassion, purity and the joy of inexhaustible life-force. Members of the SGI often call this type of benefit human revolution. Nichiren Daishonin teaches that the fundamental purpose of the practice of this Buddhism is to achieve the last category of benefit. Of course, while Buddhism does not deny the value of material or short-term benefits, its real aim is to show us how we can establish a strong and solid life as a whole, in which we can overcome any difficulty that we meet and thus help establish true and lasting happiness within ourselves and in the world about us. For the more we are able to overcome our own problems through developing our Buddhahood, the greater compassion we naturally start to feel for others who are still fettered by evil karma, earthly desires and the inborn sufferings of birth and death, and so increasingly we begin to share the desire of all Buddhas to lead other people to enlightenment. In this day and age, that means to teach others about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren Daishonin declared that even if we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo only once -- indeed, even if we only hear the phrase -- we have already created immeasurable good fortune for ourselves because the seed of Buddhahood is never lost but is stored forever in our karma. It thereby becomes the cause for us to chant at some point in the future, when the time is right for us to do so, and thus eventually attain enlightenment. As the Lotus Sutra promises, Among those who hear of this Law, there is not one who shall not attain BUddhahood. However, while you automatically sow the seed of Buddha-hood in your life the moment you hear or chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo even once, quite how soon the seed germinates and grows into a tree of enlightened wisdom is entirely dependent upon your own freely chosen actions from that moment onwards. In other words, to attain BUddhahood demands a seeking mind, perseverance and assiduous effort. Such is the nature of renge, cause and effect. pg 194-5 of The Buddha In Daily Life by RIchard Causton, available on Amazon *Marc Bergman was able to chant mentally while being intimidated by young ruffians on a tube train and see them change their behaviour and move to another part of the train.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 17:23:38 +0000
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