Daisaku Ikeda - On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime: Commentaries on the Writings of Nichiren

T his series of lectures by SGI President Ikeda was published in SGI-USAs Living Buddhism from the September October 2006 issue through the March April 2007 issue.

Please also see The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, , for On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime.

• GZ, page number(s)refers to the Gosho zenshu, the Japanese-language compilation of letters, treatises, essays and oral teachings of Nichiren Daishonin.
• LSOC, page number(s)refers to The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, translated by Burton Watson (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 2009).
• OTT, page number(s)refers to The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, translated by Burton Watson (Soka Gakkai: Tokyo, 2004).
• WND, page number(s)refers to The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1 (WND-1) (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 1999) and vol. 2 (WND-2) (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 2006).

This is a series of lectures by SGI President Ikeda on the writing On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime. He writes, Nichiren Daishonins profound teaching of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime can powerfully transform the age and open a bright future for our modern world in the twenty-first century.

If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innatein all life. (On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime, The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, )

J ust what constitutes a deeply meaningful life? What is true happiness? Nichiren Buddhism is a teaching of hope that enables us to forge a state of unsurpassed and indestructible happiness and to lead a life of supreme value, while also helping others do the same.

All people have the potential to attain Buddhahood; moreover, they can gain that lofty state just as they are and in fact are assured of being able to do so in this lifetime. Nichiren Buddhism clearly elucidates this wonderful path to enlightenment.

Nichiren Daishonins profound teaching of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime was a revolutionary concept that turned prevailing Buddhist thought on its head. Indeed, it continues to shine today as a principle that can powerfully transform the age and open a bright future for our modern world in the twenty-first century.

Therefore, I look forward to studying Nichirens writing On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime together with you, as we embark in high spirits on a new journey of growth and development toward the Soka Gakkais eightieth anniversary (in 2010).

The Profound Meaning of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime is an important writing that clarifies the basic theory and practice of Nichiren Buddhism. SGI members throughout the globe have deepened their understanding of the essence of Nichiren Daishonins teachings by earnestly studying this writing as a guideline for practice and study.

Although the original is no longer extant and the precise date and name of the recipient are unknown, this letter is traditionally thought to have been written around 1255 and addressed to Toki Jonin. The assertion that it was composed in 1255, shortly after Nichiren publicly declared his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in 1253, is credible in view of the letters content, explaining as it does the significance of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in terms of both theory and practice.

The practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the foundation of Nichirens lifetime of teachings. Nichiren Buddhism, unlike the established Buddhist schools of his day, was not dedicated to the worship of a specific god or Buddha. Nichiren established the means for all people to achieve enlightenment, the ideal of the Lotus Sutra, by formulating the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which enables us to activate our inherent Buddha nature and manifest it as the life-state of Buddhahood.

In Nichiren Buddhism, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo has two aspects: the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in terms of faith and chanting in terms of practice. Chanting in terms of faith refers to the spiritual aspect of our practice. This essentially consists of the struggle we wage in our hearts against our inner delusion or darknessa battle against the negative and destructive forces within us. It means that through the power of faithin other words, through strengthening our conviction that we possess the Buddha naturewe can break through the darkness obscuring this awareness, thus revealing the life-state of Buddhahood. Chanting in terms of practice, meanwhile, refers to chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ourselves and also teaching it to others. It means making efforts in word and deed for our own and others happiness in the course of our spiritual struggle against inner negativity and illusion.

When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are both chanting the name of, and calling forth, the Buddha nature in our own lives and the lives of others. Through applying our practice of faith to win over doubt and delusion, the power of our inherent Buddha nature is called forth by the sound of our chanting and spontaneously manifests in our lives.

The key point that sets Nichiren Buddhism apart from the other Buddhist schools of his day was the establishment of this concrete means for attaining Buddhahood. And from the time he first declared Nam-myoho-renge-kyo until the moment of his death, Nichiren ardently strove to teach this supreme path of enlightenment to people throughout the land.

In the opening passage of On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime, Nichiren clearly and fully articulates the basic philosophy of enlightenment that lies at the heart of his teaching, which exists for the happiness of all humanity: If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life (WND-1, 3).