Transcript Meaning of NMRK

Imagery of the Lotus
Sutra
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Translation
• English is a linear
language
• Most english translations
reduce a Chinese
‘image’ to a single word
or phrase, sacrificing
beauty for simplicity
• Meaning of sounds in
Japanese or English may
change over time
• Chinese is not a linear
language – it requires
both rational and
intuitive
• Power of images to
convey meaning is
universal & timeless
• Meaning of sounds in
archaic Chinese does not
change over time
Chinese/Japanese
• Chinese words are modified by the words around
them but the images they contain are indelible
• Japanese speaking people use Chinese characters
when they wish to convey a specific meaning
– Borrowed image/meaning characters are called ‘kanji’
• Because single kanji can have many different
Japanese pronunciations, it is accompanied by
Japanese pronunciation characters (kana)
Nan
Wu
NAM
• Nan & Wu is a sound construct used by early
Chinese buddhists to imitate the sanskrit word
“NAMAS”
• Namas is interpreted as ‘devotion’
• Old meaning of Namas means ‘yoke’
• In ancient times, buffalo/oxen were yoked
together to pull heavy carts. Large carts carried
riches, food, medicine, or honored people. If
one of these carts entered a village, a watchful
person would yell out ‘NAMAS’ or yoke
Nan
Wu
NAM
• When a teaching of the Buddha was to be recited
or preached, buddhists used this term (Namas) to
mean: ‘harken’, ‘become aware’, ‘pay close
atttention’, & ‘show respect’
Western scholars commonly translate Namas as
‘Hail’
• Because the hearer turned his total attention to
what was being preached, the word came to mean
‘Devotion’
Nan
• Shih (Jap. Ju) is the number 10. As an element of Nan it
represents the 5 cardinal points: north, south, east, west,
and center. The center being the most important because
one’s center determines the other 4 cardinal points
• Chiung is a bottomless box, an open space, freedom, a
pasture, retirement. As an element of Nan, it means
frontier
• Jen is a compound. It looks like symbol for Japanese yen
(money). It is an upside down person (an offense), plus a
second horizontal line. The second line indicates a
repetition of offenses or simply repetition. As Nan, it means
a repetition of vegetation – a jungle.
Nan
• Shih, Chiung & Jen combines to form a
descriptive compound that is the jungle
frontier south of China. By itself it means
‘South’
Wu
• Wu looks like a checkerboard with 4 dots
under it. It is an image of men felling a
forest (the semi-circle at the top left is the
radical for cutting). It means vanishing,
defect, want, or negation – a clearing away.
Imagery of Nam
A person is surrounded in all directions by jungle vines
(his offenses). They cling, rip, tear at his flesh, and
block the light, making progress difficult. He is lost,
turned around, and going deeper into the jungle.
This is Nan of Nan Wu
And Wu is the clearing
• Namu or Nam – 3 Sanskrit terms
translated in the Lotus Sutra as faith or
belief
– Sraddha: to arouse faith and to possess
curiosity about (1st stage)
– Prasada: expresses the idea of purity and
clarity; purpose of faith is to cleanse the mind
in order to enable our inherent wisdom to
shine
– Adhimukti: literally means intent. The
orientation of one’s mind or will. The mental
attitude of deepening one’s understanding,
cultivating and polishing one’s life toward
perfecting the ultimate state of ‘prasada’.
Faith purifies reason, strengthens it, elevates it
as an engine for continuous self-improvement
MYO
• Myo is composed of two Chinese root characters
• Nu means ‘young girl,” “thou”, or “you”
• Shao is something small that has been cut in half –
something fine, something difficult to perceive
• Kumarajiva used these symbols to to express
‘wonderful’, ‘subtle’, ‘fine’, and ‘mysterious’
• Corresponds to sanskrit word ‘Sad’ meaning
‘perfectly endowed’ or ‘complete’ round (Hokke)
teaching (kyo)
NU
Why is "mysterious" (mystic) a "young girl"? The answer
lies in the nu character.
The brush strokes that compose nu outline the image of
the new moon. Look inside the brush strokes to see it.
The moon is at first a slender crescent that grows into full
roundness, expressing the maturity of a young girl
growing into a full (pregnant) woman. The new moon is
like a young girl. The full moon is a mature woman. The
moon is by extension an expression of the cycle of birth
and death, therefore "universal."
The new moon only partially illuminates the full moon
meaning "all has not been revealed" and is therefore
"mysterious.“
MYO
The moon illuminates the darkness as does hope (myo).
Hope opens the doors that are "difficult to enter" in the
Hoben Pon of the Lotus Sutra. The path illuminated by myo
is medicine for all living things.
"Just as the moon is reflected in the water the moment it
appears from behind the eastern mountains" (from the Major
Writings, Vol. 3, p. 306), our world is illuminated by
introducing all to Myo, the First Buddha of the Lotus Sutra.
HO
• “HO” is “Fa” in Chinese and ‘dharma’ in
Sanskrit
• It means ‘rule’, ‘law’, and by extension,
“model” or “pattern”
• Modern form is composed of two Chinese
characters – Chu and Shui
HO
• Chu looks like a music stand. The triangular
base of the stand is a vessel or jug. The
telephone pole-like structure above it is the
jug’s cover. It means to remove, lay aside, to
leave. Removing the jug’s cover and contents
leaves it empty.
• Shui is two dots and a semi-vertical line. The
vertical line represents a stream, the two dots
are whirls of water. It means “water.”
HO = Law?
• Jug? Water? How can this mean ‘Law’?
– Law (Fa) removes chu (vices) and makes morals as smooth as water
(shui)
• There is an older combination of elemental characters used to
construct fa (Jp.ho, English "law"). Fa was composed of chi and
cheng.
• Chi is a triangle. It means "union" or "junction of different elements,"
and "adapting to the whole." To understand this meaning, imagine the
sides of the triangle converging into a single point.
• Cheng is footprints leading directly to the crest of a hill then viewing
all directions. Because the prints do not stray cheng means
"righteousness."
• Fa means "adapting (chi) towards righteousness (cheng)" —
therefore, "law."
MYOHO
• “Myo” whose literal meaning is mysterious or
inscrutable stands for Hossho (Buddahood or
enlightenment)
• “ho” literally meaning the law or phenomena, for
Mumyo (darkness or ignorance)
• Myoho means that both enlightenment & darkness
are two sides of one like light and shadow
• Also means that all phenomena represent nothing
but the 10 Worlds
REN – the Lotus
• Hua is a radical indicating vegetation. The horizontal line is
the surface from which the plan emerges. For the lotus,
that surface is a swampy water. The 2 vertical lines are
contractions of a primitive that was an offering made with
both hands. It’s construed as the plant emerging from the
ground
• Chuan in its primitive form is a yoke, meaning mastery. It is
now a carriage. The carriage delivers riches, medicine, or
honored people. It is a treasure vehicle.
• Cho is footprints, one after the other. It looks like a large Z
with two dots above it
• Cho combines with Chuan, becoming carriages in a row,
one after the other, or a succession. In a Buddhist sense,
causality. Combining hua, cho, and chuan results in a
plant that expresses causality - the Lotus.
Lotus
• Principle of oneness of the life-force of the
unenlightened sentient being and the enlightened
Buddha.
– As the lotus blossom bears within itself its own fruit in
the form of seeds
– Its immaculate beauty is undefiled by the muddy waters
it grows in
• Nichiren taught that everything, including all
Buddhas, bodhisattvas, heavenly beings and
mortals manifest their true and noble forms when
illuminated by the Law
GE
• The ge of renge is hua in Chinese. It’s
2 characters both pronounced hua.
• Hua1 means vegetation
• Hua2 is a composite. Modern form
looks looks like a square net on a pole.
Primitive images (yu & hua3) are
unrecognizable.
GE
The flower (hua) is the expansion (yu) of vegetal (hua1) evolution (hua3).
• This expansion of evolution in flowers begins with han, the flower bud. Han
is composed of characters meaning "the external manifestation of an interior
force."
• Flowers are clusters of blessings. The Sutra says "Mandara flowers fall like
rain," (U mandara ke, Gongyo book, p. 33), covering the believer in
blessings.
• The Fourth Buddha of the Lotus Sutra (hua) is the external manifestation of
an interior force, fully evolved, completely expanded, the Buddha of
liberation.
KYO
• Kyo is Ching (pronounced "ying" in Chinese). It
means "teaching." It is composed of I (Jp. ichi),
ch'uan, t'ing, and mi.
Ichi is a single horizontal line, the first character in Chinese.
It is unity, the source of all things, the number one. It shows
relationships within characters.
Ch'uan is three waves — a river formed by smaller streams.
Ichi and Ch'uan combine to make the sound/image Ching2.
The river (Ch'uan) flows underground (ichi). It means
underground waterways, veins, and blood vessels.
KYO
KYO
T'ing (a person standing on the ground) observes the source of things
(ichi) and where they flow (ch'uan). The deeper the source (ichi) the
longer the river (ch'uan).
The source (ichi) of Myoho-renge-kyo is infinite and always present.
T'ing observes the surface (ichi) and the movement (ch'uan) under
the surface. Flowing water (ch'uan) changes but is singular (ichi). It
is the lifeblood (ching2) of all Buddhas. Ching (fifth Buddha of the
Lotus Sutra) is the Buddha of ever-present eternity. All phenomena
are teachings (Ching).
Kyo represents the sounds and voices of all; the eternity of life; our
voices activates, it is inherently possessed of enlightenment &
darkness, and simultaneously obtains cause and effect
• Daimoku – ‘Great Title’
• Dai- of Daimoku
– Means ‘great’, not special, super or
superior
– Dai is the image of a person, standing
with arms and legs fully extended
– To stand up for your family, work,
community which is great
• The arms & legs fully extended mean to
fully ‘extend oneself (for others) is great.’
• The arms mean also all-embracing,
signifies a broad-spirited person, someone
who is fully awake, alive.
– Lotus Sutra is said to be the ‘wisdom
that embraces all species’
Title of the Lotus Sutra
• 28th day of the fourth month, 1253 – Nichiren
Daishonin first declared it
• Sanskrit
– Saddharmapundarikasutra
• Chinese
– Miao-fa Lien-hua Ching
• Kumarajiva (344-413 AD)
• Japanese
– Myoho-renge-kyo
• Sutra (gongyo) we recite twice a day is classical, literary and
ancient form of Japanese
BUDDHISM
• Nichiren Daishonin’s
Buddhism begins with the belief that all living beings have
potential to
achieve enlightenment
• Revived the teachings of the Lotus Sutra as the heart of all
Buddhism.
• The workings of the universe are all subject to a single
principle, or Law. By understanding that Law, we can
unlock the hidden potential and achieve harmony with life
• Nam myoho renge kyo is given concrete form by
inscribing the Gohonzon
Nam or Namu
 Verbal contraction of Sanskrit word namu or
namas
(do not to don’t)
– Literally means ‘devotion’ or kimyo
– To devote one’s life (Nichiren)
 To embrace, to fuse with (become one with) life,
with the immutable truth of Myoho-renge-kyo.
 “Believe in this mandala [the Gohonzon] with all
your heart. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar
of a lion. What sickness can therefore be an
obstacle?” (MW-1, 119).
Myoho
Mystic Law
• Myo – ‘fully endowed’; perfection
– Character of myo means ‘to open’ according to
Nichiren; we ordinary individuals are able to
develop our full potential
– Unseen essence of life; its mystic nature
• Ho – life’s manifestations or phenomena
Renge
Lotus Flower
The lotus flower grows and blooms in a muddy pond,
and yet remains pristine and free from any defilement,
symbolizing the emergence of Buddhahood from within
the life of an ordinary person.
Symbolizes the simultaneity of the law of cause and
effect
 Buddhism teaches that everything in the universe
embodies the law of cause and effect
 The most powerful cause we can make is to chant
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the effect of Buddhahood
is simultaneously created in the depths of our life
and will definitely manifest in time.
Kyo
Sutra
• Voice or teaching of a Buddha; also means sound
or vibration/ rhythm
• Chinese character kyo originally meant the warp
in a piece of woven cloth; kyo later came to take
on the meaning of the thread of logic, reason, or
The Way of the Law
• According to Nichiren, fundamentally, kyo refers
to the continuity of life throughout past, present
and future
7 Habits of Highly Ineffective
Buddhists
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Past-oriented attitude
Complains first; self-centered or selfish
Apathy - comfortable with being uncomfortable
Gives lip-service – do as I say, not what I do
Inability to love and believe in yourself
Inconsistent daily practice
Doubts that your life is Nam myoho renge kyo
itself
Creative Power
• The law of cause and effect is strict, universal
and operates throughout eternity
• Our challenge is to fight against negative
tendencies (greed, anger, ignorance) which
prompt us to hurt ourselves or others
• Through buddhist practice, we are fusing with
the law, becoming one with the infinite life
force of the Mystic Law
• To chant with an awareness of our true identity
as Bodhisattvas of the Earth
Vision Quest
• The real work begins when you uncover
your essence
– To build a building, you don’t just start by
piling up concrete and girders
– For word and action to truly manifest your
vision, you need to make Buddhahood a daily
reality, the Prime Point
– Fundamental choice of freedom – the ability to
choose freedom and strength. To choose not to
be ruled by your fears, your personal issues
with others or yourself
Foundation to Share in Intent
• Soka – to share in the intent of Nichiren, to
believe in the 3 virtues of the Buddha
– Mentor, sovereign & parent
– Embrace the gohonzon, to take his writings to
heart
– Take on the mission, as a Bodhisattva of the
Earth, and to realize it as it applies to your own
life