Odaimoku Invites and Expresses Our Faith
Many people who know of Nichiren Buddhism believe that our primary practice is to chant the sacred title of the Lotus Sutra in the form of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Most Nichiren Buddhists believe that our primary practice is to chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. Nichiren called the chanting of daimoku the practice that is the “essence of the essential.” (WNS4, p. 42) It would certainly seem as though the main practice of Nichiren Buddhism is to chant Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. I would propose, however, that Nichiren recognized something even more integral to the practice of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Age of the Dharma of this world than the chanting of its title, and that is to faithfully accept and rejoice in the good news that the sutra conveys, if even for a moment. In The Four Depths of Faith and Five Stages of Practice (Shishin Gohon-sho), Nichiren says:
Beginners should refrain from giving alms, observing the precepts, and the rest of the first five bodhisattva practices, and for the present should instead take up the practice of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo which is the spirit of the single moment of understanding by faith and the stage of rejoicing. This is the true intention of the Lotus Sutra!
(WNS4, p. 110)
In this statement, Nichiren defined the Odaimoku practice as the spirit of the single moment of understanding by faith, an expression found in “The Variety of Merits,” a chapter of the Lotus Sutra. In that chapter, Shakyamuni Buddha says that anyone who has even a moment of understanding through faith after hearing the Buddha speak of his attainment of buddhahood in the remotest past will accrue innumerably more merit than if they had practiced the first five of the six perfections (generosity, morality, patience, energy, and meditative absorption, wisdom being excepted) for countless ages. (LS, p. 260) The phrase “understanding by faith” is a translation of the Sanskrit term adhimukti, which also means “determination,” “resolution” or “zeal.” To “understand by faith” therefore means to have a firm conviction about something, in this case regarding the attainment of buddhahood in the remotest past. What this means is that we are convinced by the statements of the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra that buddhahood is not something attained within historical time. It means we have heard and come to trust in the Buddha’s teaching that buddhahood is timeless, unborn & deathless, it does not come or go, it transcends the conditioned boundaries of self and other, it is the true nature of reality which is the unconditioned, and it is never apart from us. We take the Buddha’s word for it, on faith, and from that point, it becomes a seed of wisdom that motivates and guides the authentic practice of generosity, morality, patience, energy, and meditative absorption. It is of more import than the practice of the six perfections because without it there can be no perfections.
Nichiren also defined the Odaimoku as the spirit of the stage of rejoicing. This also comes from “The Variety of Merits,” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. Further on in the chapter, the Buddha says, “Furthermore, the good men or women who do not speak ill of this sutra but rejoice at hearing it after my extinction, should be considered, know this, to have already understood my longevity by firm faith.” (LS, p. 264) Earlier in the tenth chapter, “The Teacher of the Dharma,” the Buddha also spoke of the importance of feeling joy upon hearing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. “If after my extinction anyone rejoices, even on a moment’s thought, at hearing even a verse or a phrase of the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, I also will assure him of his future attainment of unsurpassed, complete, and perfect awakening.” (LS, p. 176, adapted) This moment of rejoicing and the moment of understanding by faith are really talking about the same moment of receptivity to what the Buddha is teaching in the Lotus Sutra about the true nature of our lives. To speak in terms of faith is to speak of taking the Buddha’s word on trust, but to speak in terms of rejoicing is to speak of being uplifted by what we have heard.
To chant the Odaimoku as Nichiren intended is to chant it with a sense of deep conviction and joy in what the Buddha in the Lotus Sutra has taught about the nature of buddhahood. This is not to simply believe in some idea about the nature of someone else’s buddhahood, whether Shakyamuni or Amitabha or even of the kind of buddha we hope to be in some future lifetime in some distant pure land. What the Buddha is speaking about in the Lotus Sutra is about a buddhahood that is all of life everywhere in all of time as experienced in our life at this place in this moment. The Buddha is speaking about the true depths of our human nature, in fact, of the nature of all that is.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo literally means “Devotion to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. It is the verbal practice of praising the sutra. We praise it presumably because we are convinced and uplifted by it. But what if we are not? What if we doubt that there is such a thing as buddhahood, a spiritual awakening that overcomes and transforms suffering and allows for an awareness of the true significance of things? What if we believe that even if there is such a thing that it has nothing to do with us, or that it is simply a remote possibility that can only be realized in some future life in a more perfect set of circumstances? What if we believe that we are not capable of it? Or that the people around us are not capable of it? Why then should we bother chanting the praises of a discourse of the Buddha that we do not believe and that does not touch our hearts? Perhaps we chant the Odaimoku simply because we find it soothing. Perhaps we chanting the Odaimoku because we believe it is a magical spell for attaining worldly desires. Perhaps we believe it is an affirmation that can bring peace in our present lifetime and a good rebirth in the next (as the sutra does say in Chapter Five). Maybe we believe that chanting it will enable us to attain a buddhahood that we do not presently have. It could be that chanting the Odaimoku for these other reasons, even if we feel no conviction or joy in the central message of the Lotus Sutra about the true nature of buddhahood will still bring us benefit. It will still keep us engaged with the Lotus Sutra. However, will this still be the practice of Nichiren Buddhism?
Nichiren does speak of the problem of outwardly praising the Lotus Sutra while inwardly doubting it in his writings. He wrote things like, “…people do not believe in the Lotus Sutra in their hearts but only outwardly pretend to embrace it.” (WNS5, p. 50) Or “…it appears today that everyone seems to put faith in the Lotus Sutra, but their faith is superficial, not with heart.” (WNS2, p. 43) Or “Great Master Ci’en wrote ten fascicles of the Praising the Profundity of the Lotus Sutra, in which he admired the Lotus Sutra. But Great Master Dengyo chastised him, saying, ‘Though he admired the Lotus Sutra, in effect he killed its spirit.” (WNS3, p. 32) Or “Practicing this sutra without having firm faith is like trying to grab hold of a jewel in a mountain of treasures without hands or walking a journey of one thousand ri [four thousand kilometers] without feet.” (WNS6, p. 51) Would the person who wrote such things advocate a practice of mere lip service to the Lotus Sutra?
Still, I don’t think we should forget that Nichiren considered any engagement with the Lotus Sutra to be beneficial. He even considered a negative reaction to the Lotus Sutra to be efficacious because it would still create a connection with the sutra that would ultimately enable a person to attain buddhahood.
We should also solely expound the Lotus Sutra to those who slander the Dharma. This would establish the connection of a poisonous drum between the unfaithful people and the Lotus Sutra, as it is said that the sound of a drum smeared with poison kills a man who hears it. It is like the practice of Never Despising Bodhisattva preached in the Never Despising Bodhisattva chapter of the Lotus Sutra.
Though if a person has the capacity of a wise man, though, we should teach him the hinayana sutras first of all, then the provisional Mahayana sutras, and finally the true Mahayana sutra, the Lotus Sutra. However, if a man is deemed ignorant, we should teach him the true Mahayana sutra from the start, as it can plant the seed of buddhahood in both believers and slanderers.
(WNS3, pp. 90-91)
The analogy of the poison drum comes from the Nirvana Sutra. The idea is that a drum smeared with a magical poison will kill anyone who hears the drum, regardless of whether they want to hear the drum or not. In the same way, those who hear the True Dharma will eventually attain buddhahood, whether they initially accept the Dharma or not. In the Never Despising Bodhisattva chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the eponymous bodhisattva greets everyone he meets with the words, “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why is that? It is because you will be able to practice the Way of Bodhisattvas and become buddhas.” (LS, p. 292) Many who hear him reject his teaching that everyone can attain buddhahood and even attack him, but in the end they were able to hear the Lotus Sutra from him and be guided back to the path to buddhahood. These stories both show that initial rejection of the Dharma is not a hindrance and that any kind of relationship with the Dharma will eventually lead one to buddhahood.
Nichiren was also very impressed by a teaching of the Tiantai patriarch Miaole in regard to the efficacy of the Lotus Sutra, even for those who initially reject it:
Miaole also preaches in his Annotations on the Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra: “If a phrase of the Lotus Sutra fills your heart, you can be sure it will help you to reach the other shore of enlightenment. If you contemplate and practice the Lotus Sutra, it is sure to be a ship which can cross the great ocean of birth and death and reach the other shore of enlightenment. Rejoice at hearing the Lotus Sutra and always expound the sutra by becoming a master or an attendant. Whether you believe or abandon it, the Lotus Sutra can open the way to Buddhahood once you hear it. Whether you follow or disobey the Lotus Sutra, you will become a Buddha in the end because of the merit of having heard the sutra.” I think that the phrases, “Whether you believe it or abandon it” and “Whether you follow or disobey the Lotus Sutra,” are truly impressive.
(WNS3, p. 78)
This passage is what is referred to in the Kaikyo-ge or Verses for Opening the Sutra that we use in our regular services, wherein it says: “It does not matter whether we are wise or not, or whether we believe the sutra or slander it.” Nichiren, just like Miaole before him, believed that the Lotus Sutra and its Odaimoku are so efficacious that ultimately they will benefit a person and enable them to attain buddhahood even if they reject it at first. This shows their deep steadfast confidence in the power of the Wonderful Dharma. Of course, it is much better to have a more direct and positive relationship with the sutra from the start. As Miaole says, one should ideally rejoice upon hearing the sutra, let it fill one’s heart, contemplate it, practice it, and expound it to others.
For those who may feel anxious that the power of their Odaimoku practice is being undermined by their lack of understanding of the Lotus Sutra or lack of faith in what they are able to understand, Nichiren assured his followers that their practice will still be efficacious as long as they do not slander it, which is to say actively denigrate or turn away from the sutra.
Those who heard the Lotus Sutra can become buddhas even if they do not put faith in the sutra, so long as they do not slander it, due to the inexplicable merit of having heard the sutra. This is like the person bitten by a poisonous snake called shichibuja who is bound to fall before taking seven steps and is unable to take the eighth step due to the inexplicable work of the poison Or it is also like an embryo that changes its shape within seven days and never stays in one shape for more than eight days.”
(WNS6, p. 54)
Reflecting on all of this, I believe that the practice of the Odaimoku as taught by Nichiren is primarily meant to be the verbal corollary of a joyful acceptance of what the Lotus Sutra teaches, which is that buddhahood in our true nature and is not only discoverable but already at work in and through our lives here and now. The Odaimoku is meant to be an expression that invites those who hear it to take faith in the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma and it is an expression of that faith. Nevertheless, it still has efficacy even though one may not fully understand or even have faith in the sutra. Simply chanting it brings us into a relationship with the sutra that will be ultimately fruitful. It is at the very least a positive engagement with the sutra, even if only superficial at first. If all else fails, Nichiren believed that even a negative attitude toward the Lotus Sutra was better than not having ever heard of it. Therefore, we should make the most of our practice by bearing in mind that it is not just a verbal practice but a practice of the heart, a practice of joyful confidence in what the Lotus Sutra reveals about the nature of buddhahood and our own true nature, but we should not be anxious about having the right attitude. We are not trying to force ourselves to feel or think what we don’t really feel and don’t really think. So please just chant the Odaimoku for whatever reason you may have for chanting it, open your mind and heart to its influence, and rest assured that through its influence we will come to a place of deep joyful confidence in the true nature of all that is - which is the life of the Eternal Buddha that we are all already a part of. This is the teaching and practice of Nichiren Buddhism that arises from faith.