Question

When we mere mortals, living in the illusion of the First Six Worlds (six evil paths).

(Way of the underworld, way of the hungry spirits, way of the animals, way of the Ashuras, way of the humans, heavenly way)

only can chant Daimoku (Nam Myōhōrengekyō) to grant our desires, we engage in the practice of prayer, not Shōdai.

Schematically, prayer is first and foremost, asking the outside for something.

- It may be asking a god or deity for grace.

- For some, prayer can also be the elevation of the soul towards God to express adoration or veneration.

- For others, it may be an act of adoration, praise and submission to God.

Everyone makes an act of faith, which is expressed in prayers that are an act of faith.

With us the term is a Japanese word – Sho-die (chanting the Daimoku - Nam Myōhōrengekyō).

Recall that for us there are three beliefs regarding the Gohonzon.

1 - The Gohonzon is the true NichIren Daishōnin Buddha.

2 - The Gohonzon is the realization of NichIren Daishōnin’s awakening.

3 - The Gohonzon is the only path to awakening for us, ordinary man.

Gérard, could you explain what Sho-die means for us NichIren Shōshū believers?

Answer

At the first meeting, I spoke about prayer, saying in broad terms that there is no prayer in Buddhism, that the only thing we practice for is the attainment of Buddhahood with, in the process of awakening, our contribution to the vast propagation.

It was then pointed out to me that the parents of a seriously ill child will naturally think only of the child during the practice, which then becomes a prayer, and that for any sensitive person, this is quite normal.

Of course, as ordinary human beings, many things offend our sensibilities, and there is no shortage of reasons to want to pray and ask for help or healing. I'd even go so far as to say that sometimes it's the only driving force behind our practice.

NichIren Daishōnin himself prayed. The most famous of his prayers is undoubtedly the well-known prayer for rain, which took place in 1271.

Since May of that year, drought had been raging throughout the country, and the people were in agony. The shogunate then ordered the monk Ryōkan, who was revered as a living Buddha by the population at the time, to perform the rain ceremony in order to calm public unrest, bring relief and, at the same time, maintain the shogunate's prestige.

In response, Ryōkan declared in front of many people, "From June 18 and for seven days, I will pray for rain and save all the people under heaven."

When NichIren Daishōnin was informed of this, he said, "It's a small matter whether or not you can make it rain by praying for rain, but on this occasion, let it be known to all that only Nitschiren's teaching makes prayer possible. It's up to people to believe it or not".

Ryōkan had over one hundred and twenty disciples, and frenzied prayers began. Some chanted the Nenbutsu, others read the Sutras, some even read the Lotus Sutra.

However, even after forty-five days, there was no sign of rain. So, they began to panic and mobilized hundreds of monks from Tahō-ji temple to pray with all their might, but all they got was dew - not a single drop of rain fell.

Ryōkan, with a heavy heart, had to admit defeat. So, in order to rescue the people from this scourge, NichIren Daishōnin, accompanied by Nikkō Shōnin, went to the Tanabe-ga-ike pond. There, they intoned the reading of the sacred chapters Ho-ben and Jurio, before intoning the Daimoku. Suddenly, the previously clear sky darkened with rain-bearing clouds. And in the blink of an eye, a beneficent shower began to trickle down, quenching the thirsty earth.

For NichIren Daishōnin, making it rain wasn't a problem, especially since even the famous poetess Izumi Shikibu, a woman known for her loose morals, married many times and favored by many men, made it rain by reciting a poem consisting of thirty-one words: "Our country is called the rising sun, so it's logical that the sun should shine. But it is also said that the sky (rain) is below us, so it would be good if it rained". And even Nō-in Hōshi, a monk notorious for disregarding the precepts, is said to have made it rain with his haiku: "Make the water of the heavenly rivers flow over the seedling and let it fall on the earth. If it's a god who comes down from the sky and makes it rain, then it's that god...".

But how did NichIren Daishōnin pray? Of course, he chanted Daimoku, but inwardly, he wasn't addressing an external force and saying "please Gohonzon, make it rain"! First of all, in 1271, there was no Gohonzon. And in any case, the Gohonzon is not a God or a Saint to whom we ask a favor. Nor did he address the deities, begging "Brahma, Indra, please let my wish be granted".

When NichIren Daishōnin speaks of prayer, he always uses the word "say". Indeed, in the Reply to Kio-ō, he writes:

"What is to be deplored is the ephemeral nature of life; we must say strongly to the Divinities that they protect us".

In the Treatise on Removing Wrongs by Reprimanding Dharma Offenses, he writes:

"Whatever troubled times there may be, I say to the Lotus Sutra and the ten Raksasi to protect each and every one of you, with a strength to bring fire from a damp tree or water from a parched earth".

In the Treatise on Prayer, he writes:

"If you strongly say the desire to obtain a particular benefit, why should your prayer not be answered?

These passages clearly establish the difference between praying and chanting the Daimoku. "Saying" while chanting the Daimoku is absolutely impossible. For this reason too, we must distinguish between chanting the Daimoku and praying. This is why, in the Gongyō of the NichIren Shōshū, the expression of one's prayers is done as a rule during the fourth meditation.

It is distressing and a pity to see people chanting only a prayer Daimoku, based on the desires belonging to the six paths, a practice far inferior to the original practice of the Buddha's path which is the chanting of the Daimoku. In the Answer to Lord Matsuno, we read:

"Laymen should chant Nam Myōhōrengekyō day, night, morning, evening without having any other thought..."

In the Treatise on the Wonder of the Original Cause, he writes:

"When one chants Nam Myōhōrengekyō without having any other thought, with unshakable faith, the body of the ordinary being is identical to the body of the Buddha".

Let's pay attention to the expression "without having any other thought". A thought that is not that of "faith" is another thought. If we concentrate all our "faith", other thoughts disappear.

The Sōka Gakkai has largely distorted the notion of prayer in Buddhism, reducing the Daimoku to a simple magic formula that grants all worldly wishes, and the Gohonzon to a vulgar lucky charm. Proof of this is the expression "send Daimoku", invented from scratch by Daisaku Ikeda and showing how ignorant he was of Buddhism.

NichIren Daishōnin in the treatise on the Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra writes:

"When you chant the Daimoku of this Sutra, you must realize that it is a joy even greater than that of a man blind from birth who obtains sight and sees his father and mother; it is also rarer than seeing a man released and reunited with his wife and children after being captured by powerful enemies."

He makes a clear distinction between worldly desires for healing and so on, and the spiritual desire to attain Buddhahood. Also, in the Reply to Nyūdō Toki, he writes:

"Life is limited; we must not spare it. What we must ultimately aspire to is the land of the Buddha".

In concrete terms, now more than ever, when war is raging almost everywhere, it's normal to wish - and for some, even pray - for peace. But peace is not Kōsen-rufu. Just because there's peace doesn't mean people will be rid of the three poisons and the suffering they cause. On the other hand, if we build the Buddha's true land, then peace and serenity will set in for good.

Admittedly, it may be difficult to tell a recent believer to practice in order to become a Buddha when he or she has difficulties in life. But Buddhahood means having a state of life as strong as the Buddha's, unshakeable come what may. But that's just one aspect of Buddhahood: when facing illness, chanting the Daimoku gives us the vital strength to overcome it. It's not just a way of coping with problems through prayer, but a step towards deepening one's faith through this experience. This is, of course, a completely different attitude from the totally mistaken one of the Sōka Gakkai, which uses faith as a means of satisfying worldly desires. It's also true that many difficulties and obstacles arise even when we're believers. The question then is, how do we react to them? Can we make progress without being overcome by problems? Furthermore, when we overcome a problem, do we simply say "Oh, that's good", or are we grateful for the powers of the Buddha and the Gohonzon Dharma and can we use this gratitude in our personal practice and the conversion of others? This attitude is the result of ordinary, constant faith. It is therefore essential to continue to firmly perform the daily Gongyō and Daimoku chanting. Ultimately, the Daimoku we chant must be the Daimoku of faith, not the Daimoku of prayer.