In the Lotus Sutra, believers are told to "read, recite, copy, keep, and expound" the sutra. For practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism, "copying" the sutra sometimes just means taking a trip to Kinkos and photocopying the materials for this month's district meeting.
I have had the opportunity to participate in the practice of Shakyo a couple of times, now, and I find it a very meditative, and yet engrossing practice. This traditional nichiren practice of copying the sutra involves actually tracing the calligraphy characters of Namu-Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo. Here is a Shakyo copy sheet, which has two rows (top and bottom) of the daimoku characters, and five rows across as well (this makes ten chances to copy the daimoku calligraphy on each page):
Essentially, what you do is, put a piece of tracing paper over the master sheet, and then use a special pen-brush (or maybe you could use a thin-tipped Sharpie pen, I don't know) to trace the caligraphy.
You're not supposed to talk while you're doing this, as it is a meditative practice (that includes no cellphones, no TV chatter, and no iPod). I'm not sure what the procedure is if your cat decides to lie down on the copying sheet and take a nap. I assume you are supposed to quietly but firmly remove the cat before continuing.
Doing this practice made me much more appreciative of Nichiren's artistic skill in inscribing the mandala Gohonzon. My daimoku looked childish and scribbly in comparison with his.
At any event, this is a practice which I very much enjoyed, and I look forward to doing it again at another retreat. And, according to the Japan times, it will also keep me from becoming senile (I'm already a bit demented)!
Stay cool, Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at July 5, 2008 10:56 AMThis is great. I've been trying to learn how to write in chinese kanji and this will be great for me to practice with (hopefully I can find some time and a quiet place).
Posted by: clown hidden at July 7, 2008 04:47 PM