(Photo above by Kelvin809 / Pexels)
Clark Strand, a former Zen monk and the first senior editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, took a deep dive into Soka Gakkai International (SGI) members’ practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and featured a discussion on meditation in his book Waking the Buddha: How the Most Dynamic and Empowering Buddhist Movement in History Is Changing Our Concept of Religion.
In it, Strand recalled a conversation with a New York University professor who led research on the study of meditation-based neuroscience and on the benefits of meditation. This professor noted meditation brings “generalized feelings of well-being and greater mental clarity, in addition to a host of physiological health benefits, including lower blood pressure and enhanced resistance to stress and pathogens like viruses” (Waking the Buddha, p. 158).
However, when compared to the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the professor explained that:
Meditators tended not to claim what Nichiren and the Soka Gakkai called ‘actual proof’ of the teaching—specific instances when their practice inspired them to make positive life changes or led them to confront or surmount a particular obstacle to happiness in their lives.
Waking the Buddha, p. 158
Our Buddhability community is filled with people who are showing proof of their Buddhability and Buddhist practice. In the Buddhability podcast alone, hundreds have shared how the active nature of chanting gives them the life force, wisdom and courage to take on challenges.
This led to the question, why do SGI members emphasize “actual proof” and how does it work?
The 13th-century Buddhist reformer Nichiren Daishonin writes in his letter “On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime:”
Nevertheless, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching. … Therefore, when you chant myoho and recite renge, you must summon up deep faith that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself.
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 3
In other words, to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to wage a struggle with the inherent ignorance of our Buddha nature or Buddhability. As we chant, we challenge our negative self-talk and ambiguous doubt and deepen our conviction in our inherent wisdom, courage and compassion, or Buddhahood. We resolve, “My life is myoho-renge-kyo,” and determine that we are the solution to our problems instead of looking outside of ourselves.
What does this process look like exactly? Daisaku Ikeda writes:
For example, if we chant... but always blame other people or our environment for our circumstances, we are avoiding the challenge of tackling our inner[...] ignorance. By doing so, we are seeking enlightenment outside of us. By changing ourselves on a more profound level, we can begin to improve our situation. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the driving force for that change.
On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime, p. 31
This is how chanting allows us not to simply observe but act to transform our basic tendencies. This leads to concrete change or proof of our chanting in our daily lives.
Strand also points to the fact that SGI members regard the mentor-disciple relationship as the source of encouragement in their inner transformation and sense of purpose in life. Although “mentor-disciple” can seem unrelated to American’s understanding of Buddhism, he points to the fact that “we stand or fall based on the quality of our relationship to others and the world. Not one of us exists alone” (p. 163).
Shakyamuni or Siddhartha as he is sometimes known, taught the interconnectedness of life that can free us from loneliness and isolation. Strand goes on to say:
The wisdom begins with a relationship, and the quality of that relationship determines whether we can attain such wisdom or not. … It is likewise the message Daisaku Ikeda has affirmed countless times, and in myriad ways, in his speeches, dialogues, and writings. But what is life if not an ever-widening circle of dynamic, interdependent relationships? And what will the quality of those relationships be without a model for them? That is the purpose of the mentor—to provide the model for life.
Waking the Buddha, p. 164
Beyond a state of calm or focus, the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables us to transform even immutable karma.
By chanting each morning and evening, we are carrying out the most effective practice of mindfulness. We are both stretching and deepening our capacity to respect ourselves and others. In the process, we find the wisdom to make the most of each moment and create the happiest lives.