Click here for text and audio (slow and fast) of
THE LITURGY OF NICHIREN DAISHONIN ~ GONGYO
NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO
DEVOTION TO THE MYSTIC LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT THROUGH SOUND VIBRATION
Buddhism originates in the teachings of Shakyamuni (Gautama Siddartha), the historical founder of Buddhism who was born in what is now Nepal some 2,500 years ago.
Shakyamuni was born a prince but renounced his royal upbringing to embark on a spiritual quest to understand how human suffering could be ended. Eventually, while in deep meditation, he experienced a profound awakening, or enlightenment--a deep, encompassing understanding of life and human nature.
Shakyamuni
According to tradition, Shakyamuni then traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent for nearly 40 years sharing his enlightened wisdom, promoting peace and teaching people how to unleash the great potential of their lives. He became known as the Buddha, or "awakened one." His teachings were recorded as sutras and spread throughout Asia, giving rise to a number of distinct schools of Buddhism, generally characterized by an emphasis on peace and compassion.
The teachings of Shakyamuni are recorded in an enormous body of texts, known as sutras.
During the some 50 years over which Shakyamuni shared his teachings with the people of his day, he traveled widely throughout India. Rather than expound his philosophy in a systematic manner, his teaching mainly took the form of dialogue. Meeting with people from a wide range of backgrounds--from ministers of state to unlettered men and women--he sought to respond to their questions and doubts. Most of all, he sought to provide answers to the fundamental questions of human existence: Why is it that we are born and must meet the inevitable sufferings of illness, aging and death?
The sutras were compiled in the years following the death of Shakyamuni; it is thought that the Lotus Sutra was compiled between the first and second century C.E. In Sanskrit it is known as the Saddharmapundarika-sutra (lit. "correct dharma white lotus sutra"). Like many Mahayana sutras, the Lotus Sutra spread through the "northern transmission" to Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan. Originally entering China in the third century C.E., the Lotus Sutra is said to have been translated into several different versions of the Chinese, of which three complete versions are extant. The fifth-century translation of Kumarajiva (344-413 C.E.) is considered to be particularly outstanding; its philosophical clarity and literary beauty are thought to have played a role in the widespread veneration of this sutra throughout East Asia.
The title of the Lotus Sutra in Kumarajiva's translation, Myoho-renge-kyo, contains the essence of the entire sutra, and it was on the basis of this realization that Nichiren (1222-1282 C.E.) established the invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as his core Buddhist practice.
The Lotus Sutra contains a number of concepts that were revolutionary both within the context of Buddhist teachings and within the broader social context of the time. A core theme of the sutra is the idea that all people equally and without exception possess the "Buddha nature." The message of the Lotus Sutra is to encourage people's faith in their own Buddha nature, their own inherent capacity for wisdom, courage and compassion.
