Daily Practice Has Two Parts
The daily practice in Nichiren Buddhism includes both practice for oneself and also practice for others.
Practice for Oneself
Practice for oneself includes twice daily chanting practice, called daimoku. This the primary practice and is the repetition of the mantra Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo allows you to tap your Buddha nature and bring out its attributes of compassion, deep wisdom, freedom and unshakeable happiness for use in everyday life.
The secondary practice includes both daimoku and a recitation of two books of the Lotus Sutra, in a twice daily ritual called Gongyo. It takes about fifteen minutes morning and evening.
It’s called ‘the practice’ because, twice daily, you attune your life to your inner state of Buddhahood, or Enlightenment, gradually growing into higher states of life.
When you chant and you tap into your Buddha nature, you can bring out its wisdom, compassion and happiness to be lived in everyday life. It allows you to address and take action to deal with problems and challenges in life from a much deeper level of wisdom so that life assumes a flow and you are not deadlocked when handling obstacles and challenges. It allows you to turn any difficult situation, poison, into a source of happiness and value, or medicine.
Practice for Others
- Practice for others includes:
- Chanting about another person’s issues, as though they were your own. Taking action to give them the means to make fundamental changes in their lives. This includes teaching someone to chant and supporting their practice.
This work opens the heart of the practitioner. In this manner the compassion necessary to eliminate suffering in the world grows in the heart of each person. This fundamental change is of great benefit to the person doing the work.
“What Is the Daily Practice of Nichiren Buddhists?”(C) Margaret Blaine, The Practical Buddhist