Please present the 3-Minute Gosho (pp. 40–41) at your discussion meetings. For the main study portion of the meeting, you can choose to expand on the 3-Minute Gosho or choose from one of the following:
1) What Do You Think? (pp. 42–43)
2) Material from any recent issue of the World Tribune or Living Buddhism.
3 Minutes Gosho
This series can serve as the basis for a brief study presentation at monthly discussion meetings, to be given by future, student or youth division members (or by other members if youth are not available). Those presenting can simply read the material or get creative!
All the Causes For Our Happiness Are Inside Us
Passage
“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.” —“On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 3
Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote “On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime” to explain the importance of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This letter was likely written around 1255, about two years after Nichiren first chanted in public on April 28, 1253. At that time in Japan, many people prayed to special gods or Buddhas for happiness and safety. But Nichiren taught something different: Each person has a special power inside that can turn any suffering into joy—it is the wisdom and strength of Buddhahood. This process of inner change is called “human revolution.” And we bring about this change by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
From Ikeda Sensei’s The Human Revolution
Striving to Become Better Today than Yesterday
Ikeda Sensei (who appears in the novel as Shin’ichi Yamamoto) references this Gosho passage as he considers an issue causing disunity in Chiba Chapter.
Buddhism begins with the recognition that we ourselves are entities of “three thousand realms in a single moment of life,”[1] and that all the causes for our happiness or unhappiness lie within our own lives.
Those who envy or are jealous of others, however, look for the cause of their happiness or unhappiness in others. This is the same as seeking the Law outside themselves. The emotions of those who regard the world this way tend to rise or fall with each changing circumstance and, when they encounter some difficulty or suffering, they take out their bitterness and resentment on others. They fail to look at themselves and reflect upon their own behavior. As a result, they do not grow or carry out their human revolution. Ultimately, they make themselves miserable. …
The path of human revolution lies in an ongoing commitment to self-reflection and improvement based on the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism—striving each day to become a better person today than we were yesterday, even if only a little bit, and better tomorrow than today. Unlimited benefit and good fortune are found only in such unflagging efforts. (The New Human Revolution, vol. 2, revised edition, pp. 169–70)
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What Do You Think?
How Do You Develop Faith in Buddhism?
Nichiren Buddhism rests on three essential pillars: faith, practice and study. Practice includes chanting for ourselves and others, while study involves learning Buddhist principles based on the writings of Nichiren Daishonin.
Practice and study are easy to grasp, but for many who are new to Buddhism, faith can feel abstract. A common question is: Does chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo work even if I don’t fully believe in it?
Amazingly—yes.
In fact, many longtime SGI members say they began practicing with doubts yet experienced clear, positive changes.
Nichiren offers this beautiful analogy: “It is like the case of a baby being given milk to drink. Even though the baby may not understand the flavor of milk, the milk naturally nurtures the baby’s growth.”[2]
In other words, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo works regardless of your initial belief.
Faith is Not Blind Belief
In Nichiren Buddhism, faith isn’t blind belief—it’s confidence that grows through seeing concrete results from chanting. The purpose of faith is simple: to become genuinely happy. When we chant and study the Daishonin’s humanistic teaching—which affirms the dignity and limitless potential of each person—everything in and around us starts moving in a positive direction.
This doesn’t mean problems disappear overnight. Hardships are a part of life, and doubts may arise. But by continuing to chant, study and take action, we resolve our questions, strengthen our faith and break through any situation.
Chanting is simple, but maintaining faith can be challenging. Ikeda Sensei reminds us:
Life is filled with all sorts of struggles and sufferings. … Practicing Nichiren Buddhism and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enable us to positively transform all of those sufferings, in accord with the principle of changing poison into medicine. The poison of suffering is transformed into the medicine of joy.[3]
What do We Put Faith In?
When we chant, we are expressing faith in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—the Mystic Law or the fundamental Law of life and the universe. Shakyamuni Buddha awakened to this universal Law within his life and taught various methods to help others access it too. The Lotus Sutra, which he taught for future generations, reveals that all people inherently possess the Buddha nature.
Nichiren clarified that the essence of the Lotus Sutra is Myoho-renge-kyo. By dedicating our lives (Nam) to this Law, we develop the inner power to transform suffering at its root and build unshakable happiness. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo aligns our lives with this Law, strengthens our belief in our own and others’ Buddha nature and draws forth our wisdom, courage and compassion.
As Nichiren writes: “You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself.”[4] In essence, faith means believing that our life itself is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Buddhism also teaches the profound interconnectedness of all life. Chanting reaffirms this truth, reminding us that our transformation happens most naturally when we support others. Encouraging our friends, sharing our struggles and supporting one another in Buddhist practice elevate our life force, enrich our determination and revitalize us.
Ultimately, unshakable faith in Nichiren Buddhism doesn’t exist from the start. It develops through experience. Each time we chant, study and take action for our own and others’ happiness, our faith deepens a little more. Over time, it becomes the driving force for a life filled with limitless vitality, resilience and joy.
From the February Living Buddhism
References
- Three thousand realms in a single moment of life (Jpn ichinen-sanzen): A philosophical system established by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai of China based on the Lotus Sutra. The “three thousand realms” indicates the varying aspects and phases that life assumes at each moment. At each moment, life manifests one of the Ten Worlds (10). Each of these worlds possesses the potential for all ten within itself (10 x 10), thus making one hundred possible worlds. Each of these hundred worlds possesses the ten factors (100 x 10) and operates within each of the three realms of existence (1,000 x 3), thus making three thousand realms. In other words, all phenomena are contained within a single moment of life, and a single moment of life permeates the three thousand realms of existence, or the entire phenomenal world. ↩︎
- “Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 132. ↩︎
- The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, pp. 48–49. ↩︎
- “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime,” WND-1, 3. ↩︎
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