Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo
Namo Buddhaya
Namo Dharmaya
Namo Sanghaya
Did some changes to my Buddha Alter. Can you tell what is the difference?
About me
- Kruba Zhihai (智海)
- Singapore
- "All that we are is the result of what we have thought." The Buddha. "..Religion without Science is Blind, Science without religion is crippled." Albert Einstein 1879-1955
Wednesday 29 December 2010
Thursday 16 December 2010
The Lotus Sutra (妙法蓮華經)
The Lotus Sūtra (Sanskrit: Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra) is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.
Title
The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, which translates to "Sūtra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma." In English, the shortened form Lotus Sūtra is common. The Lotus Sūtra has also been highly regarded in a number of Asian countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. Translations of this title into the languages of some of these countries include:
Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra
Chinese: 妙法蓮華經 miàofǎ liánhuá jīng, shortened to 法華經 fǎhuá jīng
Japanese: 妙法蓮華経 myōhō renge kyō, shortened to 法華経 hōke kyō
Korean: 묘법연화경 myobeop yeonhwa gyeong, shortened to 법화경 beophwa gyeong
Vietnamese Diệu pháp liên hoa kinh, shortened to Pháp hoa kinh
History and background
The oldest parts of the text (Chapters 1-9 and 17) were probably composed between 100 BCE and 100 CE: most of the text had appeared by 200 CE.
The Lotus Sutra presents itself as a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life. The tradition in Mahayana states that the sutra was written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in a realm of nāgas. After this they were reintroduced into the human realm at the time of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. The sutra's teachings purport to be of a higher order than those contained in the āgamas of the Sūtra Piṭaka, and that humanity had been unable to understand the sutra at the time of the Buddha, and thus the teaching had to be held back.
Translation
The Lotus Sutra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmarakṣa, aka Zhu Fahu in 286 CE in Chang'an during the Western Jin Period (265-317 CE) (E. Zurcher The Buddhist Conquest of China, 57-69). However, the view that there is a high degree of probability that the base text for that translation was actually written in a Prakrit language has gained widespread acceptance. Jan Nattier has recently summarized this aspect of the early textual transmission of such Buddhist scriptures in China thus, bearing in mind that Dharmarakṣa's period of activity falls well within the period she defines: "Studies to date indicate that Buddhist scriptures arriving in China in the early centuries of the Common Era were composed not just in one Indian dialect but in several . . . in sum, the information available to us suggests that, barring strong evidence of another kind, we should assume that any text translated in the second or third century CE was not based on Sanskrit, but one or other of the many Prakrit vernaculars."
This early translation by Dharmarakṣa was superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE, although it is known that Kumārajīva made extensive use of the earlier version to the extent of borrowing readings directly from Dharmarakṣa's version. The Chinese title is usually abbreviated to 法華經, which is read Fǎ Huá Jīng in Chinese and Hokekyō in Japanese, Beophwagyeong in Korean, and Pháp Hoa Kinh" in Vietnamese. The Sanskrit copies are not widely used outside of academia. It has been translated by Burton Watson. According to Burton Watson it may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then later translated into Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability.
Modern scholars have not released much of the sutra on early fragments, except to say that they are not dependent on the Chinese or Tibetan Lotus sutras. Furthermore, other scholars have noted how the cryptic Dharani passages within the Lotus sutra represent a form of the Magadhi dialect that is more similar to Pali than Sanskrit. For instance, one Dharani reads in part: "Buddhavilokite Dharmaparikshite". Although the vilo is attested in Sanskrit, it appears first in the Buddhist Pali texts as "vilokita" with the meaning of "a vigilant looker" from vi, meaning eager like a passionless bird, and lok, meaning "look".
Content
This sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or "Great Vehicle", Buddhism. Another concept introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world.
The idea that the physical death of a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of the scripture, in which another Buddha, who passed long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of the eternality of Buddhas is repeatedly expounded in the tathāgatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra also indicates (in Chapter 4) that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the attainment of Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure that transcends seeing all as merely empty or merely labeled.
In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra illustrates a sense of timelessness and the inconceivable, often using large numbers and measurements of time and space. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the billions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually states what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words.
The ultimate teaching of the sutra, however, is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many parables and references to a heretofore less clearly imagined cosmological order. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest teaching (the "Lotus Sutra" itself), in conjunction with the sutra's stated tenets that all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of this highest truth and teaching aimed at creating "full Buddhas" out of pratyekabuddhas, lesser buddhas and bodhisattvas. The text also implies a parent-child relationship between the innumerable Buddhas and human beings and other types of beings, with an explicit indication that all religions and paths are in some way or another part of the skillful means of this highest teaching, which reaches its fullest expression in the Lotus Sutra. The various religious institutions and their doctrinal proponents notwithstanding, all paths are then, officially speaking, part of the skillful means and plan of Buddhism, thus the sutra's former disavowal of all competitive doctrinal disputes.
Crucially, not only are there multiple Buddhas in this view, but an infinite stream of Buddhas extending through unquantifiable eons of time ("thousands of kotis of kalpas") in a ceaseless cycle of creations and conflagrations.
In the vision set out in this sutra, moreover, not only are Buddhas innumerable, but the universe encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings.
Some sources consider the Lotus Sutra to have a prologue and epilogue: respectively the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (無量義經 Ch: Wú Liáng Yì Jīng Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Ch: Pǔ Xián Jīng Jp: Fugen Kyō).
Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo
Namo Buddhaya
Chanting of Lotus Sutra Chapter 25 in Chinese
Chanting of Lotus Sutra Chapter 25 in Japanese
Title
The earliest known Sanskrit title for the sūtra is the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, which translates to "Sūtra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma." In English, the shortened form Lotus Sūtra is common. The Lotus Sūtra has also been highly regarded in a number of Asian countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism has been traditionally practiced. Translations of this title into the languages of some of these countries include:
Sanskrit: सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्र Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra
Chinese: 妙法蓮華經 miàofǎ liánhuá jīng, shortened to 法華經 fǎhuá jīng
Japanese: 妙法蓮華経 myōhō renge kyō, shortened to 法華経 hōke kyō
Korean: 묘법연화경 myobeop yeonhwa gyeong, shortened to 법화경 beophwa gyeong
Vietnamese Diệu pháp liên hoa kinh, shortened to Pháp hoa kinh
History and background
The oldest parts of the text (Chapters 1-9 and 17) were probably composed between 100 BCE and 100 CE: most of the text had appeared by 200 CE.
The Lotus Sutra presents itself as a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life. The tradition in Mahayana states that the sutra was written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in a realm of nāgas. After this they were reintroduced into the human realm at the time of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. The sutra's teachings purport to be of a higher order than those contained in the āgamas of the Sūtra Piṭaka, and that humanity had been unable to understand the sutra at the time of the Buddha, and thus the teaching had to be held back.
Translation
The Lotus Sutra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmarakṣa, aka Zhu Fahu in 286 CE in Chang'an during the Western Jin Period (265-317 CE) (E. Zurcher The Buddhist Conquest of China, 57-69). However, the view that there is a high degree of probability that the base text for that translation was actually written in a Prakrit language has gained widespread acceptance. Jan Nattier has recently summarized this aspect of the early textual transmission of such Buddhist scriptures in China thus, bearing in mind that Dharmarakṣa's period of activity falls well within the period she defines: "Studies to date indicate that Buddhist scriptures arriving in China in the early centuries of the Common Era were composed not just in one Indian dialect but in several . . . in sum, the information available to us suggests that, barring strong evidence of another kind, we should assume that any text translated in the second or third century CE was not based on Sanskrit, but one or other of the many Prakrit vernaculars."
This early translation by Dharmarakṣa was superseded by a translation in seven fascicles by Kumārajīva in 406 CE, although it is known that Kumārajīva made extensive use of the earlier version to the extent of borrowing readings directly from Dharmarakṣa's version. The Chinese title is usually abbreviated to 法華經, which is read Fǎ Huá Jīng in Chinese and Hokekyō in Japanese, Beophwagyeong in Korean, and Pháp Hoa Kinh" in Vietnamese. The Sanskrit copies are not widely used outside of academia. It has been translated by Burton Watson. According to Burton Watson it may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then later translated into Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability.
Modern scholars have not released much of the sutra on early fragments, except to say that they are not dependent on the Chinese or Tibetan Lotus sutras. Furthermore, other scholars have noted how the cryptic Dharani passages within the Lotus sutra represent a form of the Magadhi dialect that is more similar to Pali than Sanskrit. For instance, one Dharani reads in part: "Buddhavilokite Dharmaparikshite". Although the vilo is attested in Sanskrit, it appears first in the Buddhist Pali texts as "vilokita" with the meaning of "a vigilant looker" from vi, meaning eager like a passionless bird, and lok, meaning "look".
Content
This sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept and usage of skillful means – (Sanskrit: upāya, Japanese: hōben), the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of parables. It is also one of the first sutras to use the term Mahāyāna, or "Great Vehicle", Buddhism. Another concept introduced by the Lotus Sutra is the idea that the Buddha is an eternal entity, who achieved nirvana eons ago, but willingly chose to remain in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) to help teach beings the Dharma time and again. He reveals himself as the "father" of all beings and evinces the loving care of just such a father. Moreover, the sutra indicates that even after the Parinirvana (apparent physical death) of a Buddha, that Buddha continues to be real and to be capable of communicating with the world.
The idea that the physical death of a Buddha is the termination of that Buddha is graphically refuted by the movement and meaning of the scripture, in which another Buddha, who passed long before, appears and communicates with Shakyamuni himself. In the vision of the Lotus Sutra, Buddhas are ultimately immortal. A similar doctrine of the eternality of Buddhas is repeatedly expounded in the tathāgatagarbha sutras, which share certain family resemblances with the teachings of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra also indicates (in Chapter 4) that emptiness (śūnyatā) is not the ultimate vision to be attained by the aspirant Bodhisattva: the attainment of Buddha Wisdom is indicated to be a bliss-bestowing treasure that transcends seeing all as merely empty or merely labeled.
In terms of literary style, the Lotus Sutra illustrates a sense of timelessness and the inconceivable, often using large numbers and measurements of time and space. Some of the other Buddhas mentioned in the Lotus Sutra are said to have lifetimes of dozens or hundreds of kalpas, while the number of Bodhisattvas mentioned in the "Earth Bodhisattva" chapter number in the billions, if not more. The Lotus Sutra also often alludes to a special teaching that supersedes everything else that the Buddha has taught, but the Sutra never actually states what that teaching is. This is said to be in keeping with the general Mahāyāna Buddhist view that the highest teaching cannot be expressed in words.
The ultimate teaching of the sutra, however, is implied to the reader that "full Buddhahood" is only arrived at by exposure to the truths expressed implicitly in the Lotus Sutra via its many parables and references to a heretofore less clearly imagined cosmological order. Skillful means of most enlightened Buddhas is itself the highest teaching (the "Lotus Sutra" itself), in conjunction with the sutra's stated tenets that all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of this highest truth and teaching aimed at creating "full Buddhas" out of pratyekabuddhas, lesser buddhas and bodhisattvas. The text also implies a parent-child relationship between the innumerable Buddhas and human beings and other types of beings, with an explicit indication that all religions and paths are in some way or another part of the skillful means of this highest teaching, which reaches its fullest expression in the Lotus Sutra. The various religious institutions and their doctrinal proponents notwithstanding, all paths are then, officially speaking, part of the skillful means and plan of Buddhism, thus the sutra's former disavowal of all competitive doctrinal disputes.
Crucially, not only are there multiple Buddhas in this view, but an infinite stream of Buddhas extending through unquantifiable eons of time ("thousands of kotis of kalpas") in a ceaseless cycle of creations and conflagrations.
In the vision set out in this sutra, moreover, not only are Buddhas innumerable, but the universe encompasses realms of gods, devas, dragons and other mythological beings, requiring numerous dimensions to contain them. Buddhas are portrayed as the patient teachers of all such beings.
Some sources consider the Lotus Sutra to have a prologue and epilogue: respectively the Innumerable Meanings Sutra (無量義經 Ch: Wú Liáng Yì Jīng Jp: Muryōgi Kyō) and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (普賢經 Ch: Pǔ Xián Jīng Jp: Fugen Kyō).
Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo
Namo Buddhaya
Chanting of Lotus Sutra Chapter 25 in Chinese
Chanting of Lotus Sutra Chapter 25 in Japanese
Tuesday 14 December 2010
Strange Photos 3
Some people say that if incense offered to the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas or other Buddhist Deities pointed up like in the photos, the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas or other Buddhist Deities are around. What do you think?
The Four Noble Truths (四圣谛) - Part 1/2
The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni, Japanese: shitai) are an important principle in Buddhism, and were classically taught by the Buddha in the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra. These four truths are best understood, not as beliefs, but as categories of experience.
Basic Teaching
According to the Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school, the basic teachings of the Four Noble Truths are:
1.Thus is the Noble Truth of Suffering
2.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Accumulation of Suffering
3.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Elimination of Suffering
4.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Path that Leads Away from Suffering
The Sanskrit and Pali words satya and sacca, respectively, mean both "truth" and "real" or "actual thing." With that in mind, one scholar argues that the four noble truths are not asserted as propositional truths or creeds, but as "true things" or "realities" that the Buddha experienced. The original Tibetan Lotsawas (Sanskrit: locchāwa; Tibetan: lo ts'a ba), who studied Sanskrit grammar thoroughly, used the Tibetan term bden pa, which reflects this understanding.
Four Noble Truths definations
Some versions of the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra contain definitions of the Four Noble Truths while others do not. For example, the Sarvastivadin versions portrays the truths as principles to be contemplated in various methods, and no definitions are given. In the Theravada version and the version translated by An Shigao, the Four Noble Truths are given definitions:
1.The Nature of Suffering (or Dukkha):
"This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering." or simply " There is suffering in life for all beings."
2.Suffering's Origin (Dukkha Samudaya):
"This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination." or simply " There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment and desire."
3.Suffering's Cessation (Dukkha Nirodha):
"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it." or simply " There is a way out of suffering, which is to eliminate attachment and desire."
4.The Path (Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:
"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."
Relation to the Eightfold Noble Path
In the version of the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra contained in the extant Saṃyukta Āgama, there is no mention of the Noble Eightfold Path. Instead, contemplation of the Four Noble Truths is taken to be the path itself.
The Four Noble Truths and the Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sutra's text views the Four Noble Truths as the first teaching of the Buddha, but not the final teaching. In Chapter 3, Similes and Parables, the Sutra introduces what it calls "the most wonderful / the unsurpassed great Law":
In the past at Varanasi/ you turned the wheel of the Law of the Four Noble Truths/ , making distinctions/ preaching that all things are born and become extinct,/ being made up of the five components/ Now you turn the wheel of the most wonderful/ the unsurpassed great Law/.This Law is very profound and abstruse;/ there are few who can believe it/ Since times past often we have heard/ the World-Honored One's preaching,/ but we have never heard/ this kind of profound, wonderful and superior Law./ Since the World-Honored One preaches this Law,/ we all welcome it with joy.
Nichiren, whose teachings were based on the Lotus Sutra, stated in his letter "Comparison of the Lotus and Other Sutras" that the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths was expounded especially for the Voice-Hearers or Sravaka disciples, while the Lotus Sūtra was taught equally for all.
This outline form is exactly that used by doctors of the Buddha's culture when diagnosing and prescribing for a disease: identify the disease, its cause, whether it is curable, and the prescribed cure. Thus the Buddha treats suffering as a "disease" we can confidently expect to cure.
Because of its focus on suffering, Buddhism is often called pessimistic. But since Gautama Buddha presented a cure, Buddhists consider it neither pessimistic nor optimistic but realistic.
The Four Noble Truths was the topic of the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment. He gave the sermon to the ascetics with whom he had practiced austerities.
According to the Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school, the basic teachings of the Four Noble Truths are:
1.Thus is the Noble Truth of Suffering
2.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Accumulation of Suffering
3.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Elimination of Suffering
4.Thus is the Noble Truth of the Path that Leads Away from Suffering
The Sanskrit and Pali words satya and sacca, respectively, mean both "truth" and "real" or "actual thing." With that in mind, one scholar argues that the four noble truths are not asserted as propositional truths or creeds, but as "true things" or "realities" that the Buddha experienced. The original Tibetan Lotsawas (Sanskrit: locchāwa; Tibetan: lo ts'a ba), who studied Sanskrit grammar thoroughly, used the Tibetan term bden pa, which reflects this understanding.
Four Noble Truths definations
Some versions of the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sutra contain definitions of the Four Noble Truths while others do not. For example, the Sarvastivadin versions portrays the truths as principles to be contemplated in various methods, and no definitions are given. In the Theravada version and the version translated by An Shigao, the Four Noble Truths are given definitions:
1.The Nature of Suffering (or Dukkha):
"This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering." or simply " There is suffering in life for all beings."
2.Suffering's Origin (Dukkha Samudaya):
"This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination." or simply " There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment and desire."
"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it." or simply " There is a way out of suffering, which is to eliminate attachment and desire."
4.The Path (Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:
"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."
Relation to the Eightfold Noble Path
In the version of the Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra contained in the extant Saṃyukta Āgama, there is no mention of the Noble Eightfold Path. Instead, contemplation of the Four Noble Truths is taken to be the path itself.
The Four Noble Truths and the Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sutra's text views the Four Noble Truths as the first teaching of the Buddha, but not the final teaching. In Chapter 3, Similes and Parables, the Sutra introduces what it calls "the most wonderful / the unsurpassed great Law":
In the past at Varanasi/ you turned the wheel of the Law of the Four Noble Truths/ , making distinctions/ preaching that all things are born and become extinct,/ being made up of the five components/ Now you turn the wheel of the most wonderful/ the unsurpassed great Law/.This Law is very profound and abstruse;/ there are few who can believe it/ Since times past often we have heard/ the World-Honored One's preaching,/ but we have never heard/ this kind of profound, wonderful and superior Law./ Since the World-Honored One preaches this Law,/ we all welcome it with joy.
Nichiren, whose teachings were based on the Lotus Sutra, stated in his letter "Comparison of the Lotus and Other Sutras" that the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths was expounded especially for the Voice-Hearers or Sravaka disciples, while the Lotus Sūtra was taught equally for all.
This outline form is exactly that used by doctors of the Buddha's culture when diagnosing and prescribing for a disease: identify the disease, its cause, whether it is curable, and the prescribed cure. Thus the Buddha treats suffering as a "disease" we can confidently expect to cure.
Because of its focus on suffering, Buddhism is often called pessimistic. But since Gautama Buddha presented a cure, Buddhists consider it neither pessimistic nor optimistic but realistic.
The Four Noble Truths was the topic of the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment. He gave the sermon to the ascetics with whom he had practiced austerities.
Namu Myo Ho Renge Kyo
Namo Buddhaya
Namo Dhramaya
Namo Sanghaya
Friday 10 December 2010
Chanting Nam or Namu Myo Renge Kyo?
Nam or Namu? Does it really matter?
The two Chinese characters that begin Odaimoku are pronounced Na and Mu when they stand alone. The first character means "South" and the second character signifies a negation (as in "Does a dog have Buddha-Nature?" "MU!"). Those two characters were chosen by the Chinese to transliterate the Sanskrit word "Namah", they were not chosen for their meaning. In China the two characters are chanted as Namo (as in Namo Amito Fo). In Japan, they are pronounced Namu, unless it becomes convenient to drop the "u" sound, which happens when Odaimoku is chanted at a fast pace. So when writing the Odaimoku, it should always be written as "Namu" in order to acknowledge each Chinese character. There is no way to contract Namu into Nam' when writing Chinese characters or even when using the Japanese phonetic systems - the hiragana and katakana. Only in English can you write Nam' and leave out the "u."
This is important, because in the Nichiren tradition each character of the sutra is looked upon as a golden Buddha. Now it may be prefereable to chant "Namu," but chanting "Nam" is a linguistic matter and not a doctrinal issue.
As my sensei, the Ven. Ryusho Matsuda, and others have pointed out, the pronunciation of the Odaimoku was different in Nichiren's day anyway. According to Japanese linguists, the pronunciation of the Chinese characters has changed over time. This was actually discussed during Shingyo Dojo (the final training period for Nichiren Shu priests held at Mt. Minobu). So it is not as though we need to pronounce it exactly the way Nichiren did, because no one pronounces those characters the way he did anymore. Bottom line: the difference between Nam and Namu is a linguistic issue and not a doctrinal issue.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo
Namo Buddhaya
by Ryuei
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