Dr. Mimi - The Snap Diva Sings

Hello, Chikushonin -

It's interesting, since I have met many Japanese who chant this both ways. Could it be that both are right? There doesn't seem to be a measurable difference in effect between pronouncing it one way or another.

I know a lot of english speakers who don't necessarily pronounce things in english the same way, or "properly", either.

I agree they aren't magic, but I still want to read Eddie's source for his paraphrase of Nichiren above. That is something I had never heard before, and I wondered how one would write something like that in Kanji, where there isn't a way to indicate whether to drop a syllable or not. Do you maybe know how to write contractions in Kanji?

Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett

Opps! Perhaps I should have written, "Hello Mike".

Sincerely, Chikushonin 智倶諸人
Daikudoshin, myokaku, myojisokukyo/
Namumyohorengemyojisokukyo 南無妙法蓮華命時儈倶經

Hello Dr. Mimi,

In speaking Japanese, Namumyohorengekyo is pronounced ‘na-myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo’. Perhaps you have been at a meeting when a Japanese leader talked about ‘kosen ruf’? The ‘u’ of kosen-rufu tails off to nothing, and the ‘m’ sound in Namumyohorengekyo is only pronounced once. It is nothing more than the conventions of speaking Japanese.

Besides, they are not magic words. What is important is awakening a seeking mind towards what they represent. Unless, of course, one believes that all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and three existences speak Japanese exclusively.

Sincerely, Chikushonin 智倶諸人
Daikudoshin, myokaku, myojisokukyo/
Namumyohorengemyojisokukyo 南無妙法蓮華命時儈倶經

Eddie -

Respectfully, could you please let me know where you found this info, especially the quotation? This is fascinating. I would really like to read that.

I have understood that Nam' is a contraction, like saying can't instead of cannot. I took it as a function of how fast one chants; at slower speeds enunciating the "mu" is much easier, and the faster one chants the more the "mu" becomes "m" especially with the following "M" of Myo. If that isn't the case, I would really like to know, especially if Nichiren himself offered direction to believers on this point.

I have been learning to write Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo in Kanji. I always thought this was what Nichiren referred to when he wrote about the five-character (Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo) and seven-character (Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo) teachings. Using Kanji characters (the ones on the Gohonzon) I don't know of a way to write Nam' . There are two characters, Na and Mu . Each is written separately. In a written language where written characters symbolize concepts rather than sounds, the way English and European languages do, there is no way to write a contraction. In english, I can write "can't" and I can write "cannot". The conceptual meaning is the same but because the letters symbolize sounds rather than concepts, the words appear different. I have always understood the reverse to be true for Kanji, but I am always open to new information.

Thanks, and looking forward to your response;

Namaste, Engyo Mike Barrett

Even the Daishonin, himself, told his disciples that it really didn't matter much whether on invoked "Namu-myoho-renge-kyo" or "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." He even implied the using "namu" could be deduced as a needless affectation.

Peace & love,
Eddie