Transcript download: lesser greater self 1 What is the Nichiren perspective is on ego or no self. Is the aim to fully dissolve the personal self? Is it an illusion we have an ego? Are we to upgrade the self or see it as non-existent? I’ve never fully understood this topic. This is an […]
Download transcript: Faith in the Gohonzon Recently I received a question, “Please explain our connection with the Gohonzon and why it’s important to have faith in the Gohonzon. What exactly does the Gohonson mean?. This is an important question as it goes right to the heart of our practice. Gohonzon means object of […]
In past posts we have discussed what to do when you first start to chant. You were introduced to the 90 day challenge, where you learned to set a goal and chant for it for 90 days to prove to yourself that you would gain benefits through chanting. In this post I’ll orient you to […]
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The popular understanding of enlightenment brings to mind someone with extraordinary powers beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Popular belief states that such people have gone through austerities for many lifetimes to attain enlightenment and, once achieved, it is set in stone. In Nichiren Buddhism, enlightenment is not a static state. To be enlightened means […]
If you decide to try the chant for 90 days, questions might come up from family members. In the words of one person new to the practice, “How do I explain what I am doing to my friends and family?” In this blog, I am going to give you some ideas of how to answer […]
Setting goals and chanting for them is an unusual aspect of Nichiren Buddhism. In this post I am going to explain why setting goals is an important part of the practice. The Three Proofs Nichiren Daishonin, a 13th century monk, and founder of this branch of Buddhism, established three different for criteria for evaluating any […]
Many of you have come from different kinds of spiritual practices many of which have included some form of meditation. A frequent question is, “How is chanting different from meditation?” Since I have only tried one form of meditation, and there are many, I am going to describe the chanting practice and you can compare […]
What is karma? Karma represents tendencies present in the inner, unconscious realm of life. They have been created through one’s past actions, which include ways of thinking, ways of speaking and physical actions. Karma, or actions, can be either good or bad, positive or negative. Popular thinking views karma as negative but Buddhism says that […]
Nichiren Buddhism is practical. It exists to allow you to turn your life from negativity and unhappiness to redirect it towards unshakeable happiness or Enlightenment. The Lotus Flower in Buddhism is a symbol of this process. As you can see it is rooted the murky waters of a pond. That water represents the daily life […]