How do I chant for ___?

So, what does this mean in daily life? 

First, it means everything begins with prayer. Whether dealing with work, heartbreak or inertia, we can “take it all to the Gohonzon.” That means chanting honestly to the Gohonzon about what’s in our hearts and what we hope to accomplish. All our challenges—our worries, insecurities and goals—are the perfect raw materials for building real happiness. 

Second, how we pray matters. Many people see prayer as petitionary, hoping for some external power to help us. But that’s like wanting a perfect exam score without studying or hoping for six-pack abs without exercising—wishing that things happen magically for us without putting in much effort.

Nichiren Daishonin teaches us to chant with belief in our inherent power to overcome challenges. He states: 

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.^[2] 

We deny our potential when we “think the Law is outside ourselves,” expecting someone or something to resolve our problems. Chanting helps us look inward and draw forth limitless Buddhahood; it’s the key to our inner transformation. If we miss this essential point, no matter how much we chant and make efforts, Nichiren says, “one’s practice will become an endless, painful austerity.”^[3] 

Bringing forth our Buddhahood is often described as an inner battle between the Buddha and negative functions. Ikeda Sensei explains: 

Prayer is the courage to persevere. It is the struggle to overcome our own weakness and lack of confidence in ourselves. It is the act of impressing in the very depths of our being the conviction that we can change the situation without fail. Prayer is the way to destroy all fear. It is the way to banish sorrow, the way to light a torch of hope. It is the revolution that rewrites the scenario of our destiny.

Believe in yourself! Don’t sell yourself short! Devaluing yourself is contrary to Buddhism, because it denigrates the Buddha state of being within you.^[4]

With prayer, we not only overcome our weaknesses and problems but also harmonize with the greater cosmos. Sensei continues: 

Prayer is the effort to align the gears of our lives with the movement of the universe. Our lives, which have been passively embraced by the universe, now embrace the universe in turn, making the entire universe our ally and fundamentally redirecting our state of life in the direction of happiness.^[5]

As we chant, we’re doing all this at once! 

Third, prayer plus action maximizes results. Buddhism accords with reason.^[6] To see results, we need to take concrete action. Chanting gives us the clarity, wisdom and courage to take effective action.

And Nichiren’s writings and Sensei’s guidance illuminate our path forward. In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, Nichiren comments on the Lotus Sutra’s phrase, “to roar the lion’s roar,” saying, “The ‘roar’ is the sound of the teacher and the disciples chanting in unison.”^[7]

This lion’s roar reflects the shared determination between mentor and disciple to elevate the lives of ourselves and others—the fierce resolve to move humanity toward happiness and peace. When we pray with this resolve, we connect to a cause greater than ourselves. We’re aligning our lives with the heart of our mentor and the rhythm of the entire universe.

So, how do we chant for this or that? We start with what’s in our hearts and take action, determined to light a path for ourselves and others. 

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department

May 9, 2025 World Tribune, p. 10