Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like a key, it's like a key to our Buddhahood,
but what does it mean.
Our Buddhahood or our enlightened state of life.
And interestingly enough, this Buddhahood is one of the 10 life-states,
so in other words, from Hell, Anger and Hunger,
but Buddhahood is one of these life-states.
So also in each one of these worlds, even in the world of Hell the potential of Buddhahood
is inside there.
So, basically even at the moment when I am extremely angry or maybe elated or I might
be concerned or I might be doing whatever, whatever state of life I might be in,
but I always have this potential of turning that state of life into Buddhahood.
So this means that no one is excluded, anybody has this potential and this is really the
greatness of the Lotus Sutra and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the title of it.
Basically, this becomes a way of life.
It becomes a way of life of really transforming whatever state we might be in, whatever karma,
or often we call it destiny we might have, and to really, not just to change it, but
to transform it.
And this idea, this teaching of transforming the one state of life into a very high state
of life, I think this is a wonderful, well its a reason to have hope, its a reason never
to give up, it's a reason always to stand up and fight.
And so I think it is a dynamic state of life
and this I think is what stands behind
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
How does this work?
I try to do my best to take care of, to support a number of members
in my Buddhist practice.
Sometimes when the situation is very unclear you know as to what is the difficulty the
other person is having or how can I encourage him or how can I understand his situation.
So of course we always say dialogue is very important.
Yes, but we also need wisdom. And I usually say "Why don't we chant for a while."
I chant for this, I chant to the Gohonzon, I really want to encourage this person,
I really want to find the point where is the problem, how can I encourage him to overcome
whatever it is that is standing in the way you know, and so after chanting for a while
and then we start talking and somehow it becomes clear to me what I should say.
If I thought about this only or if I try to write it down, it would be one thing, but
after chanting about it, there is a completely different point of view a different understanding
and it all really is, it was in my life but all of a sudden it comes up, it becomes clear
and I can very clearly approach the situation so it has a value.
And it has nothing to do with how much we have intellectually learned or accumulated
in knowledge but how open is our heart for our own enlightenment and for others.
In Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we can really discover this wisdom of the mystic law which is in
our life, in other words it's not something somewhere outside, it's really here and but
in order to have it come out, in order to listen to this inner voice which exists in
our lives, we really have to have this key, we have to have an agent,
a catalyst if you will.
And this Nam-myoho-renge-kyo has this function, it has this power,
it has this effect
in all in itself, it's this dynamic process.