From Brian, a new SGI member and friend;
Hi Donald,
I also read the article on your webpage about "chanting for stuff" and thought it was great because I've been wondering about it. One of the first few times I went to the SGI Community Center here in Minneapolis there was a lady there talking about all the great "stuff" she received through chanting. Well, right away that turned me off. This was supposed to be about enlightenment, right?
And then my friend Axsel said something like "desires are the firewood you burn on the attainment of enlightenment," or something like that. I was really influenced in college by the writings of J. Krishnamurti who said that humility and love are necessary for enlightenment.
Do you know how often you should chant? I've been telling my friends I only say Nam-myoho-renge-kyo "once". I feel if you repeat it over and over again there is the danger of it becoming a dry austerity.
Also, what is Sanso Shima?
Funny thing - "chanting for stuff". It's earned us an undo amount of criticism through the years. The fact is Brian that SGI's members are largely not the kind of folks that went out looking to be Buddhist. Many are simple folk who wanted to chant to be happy.
I thought that the emphasis on material gain had lessened since the old days of NSA, but just a couple of years ago I was at a big meeting in San Francisco and a leader gave an experience in front of a couple thousand people about how he had chanted and gained all sorts of financial success in his failing business, and was now able to take many vacations flying first class...
I remind myself that one of the really precious things about SGI is that there are so many DIFFERENT kinds of people all practicing this amazing true Buddhism - together. It's ok if some people focus on material gain, and it's ok if I get my buttons pushed. If we only practice Buddhism in little groups of people that are just like us and who make us feel comfortable it wouldn't be real Buddhism.
In the book "Buddha in Your Mirror" by Greg Martin, he talks about how Buddhism has to do with understanding the true nature of happiness, and how misunderstanding what true happiness IS is largely what leads to unhappiness. Modern psychological research has shown clearly that accumulating wealth, prestige and power has very little to do with real happiness, and actually leads to unhappiness. But anyway, you get the idea.
Sansho Shima -
Sansho Shima means "the 3 obstacles and four devils" and is a Buddhist metaphor for the resistance that arises from human life when we begin our path towards enlightenment. This is not merely an esoteric metaphor, rather a real phenomenon that we all must experience when we begin chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Resistance comes from within, in the form of our own negativity, and from without when family and friends oppose our practice.
Nichiren teaches to recognize Sansho Shima when it arises, and not to be alarmed or frightened, rather simply continue our practice.
Practice -
Our SGI practice of chanting Daimoku and reciting Gongyo is done twice a day (twice daily your doctor would say). In "the old days" the sun wouldn't rise and the Earth would quake if we missed Gongyo. Those were very dogmatic days.
In truth Brian, some people find it extraordinarily difficult to maintain this level of a correct practice. I would encourage you to find some level of consistency, whether daily, or weekly, and work at improving it as time goes on. No one should feel that just because they only chant Daimoku once a day, and perhaps recite Gongyo only at meetings, that they are not truly practicing the Daishonin's Buddhism.
That being said, a twice-a-day correct practice of this Buddhism can be your greatest treasure, and I encourage you to strive toward that goal!!
All my best encouragement,
Donald