Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō

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Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) (also Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō)^[1][2] (English: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra or Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law)^[3][4] is a mantra that is chanted as the central practice of all forms of Nichiren Buddhism—Myōhō Renge Kyō being the Japanese title of the Lotus Sūtra. The mantra is referred to as daimoku (題目^[5]) or, in honorific form, o-daimoku (お題目) and was first revealed by the Japanese Buddhist teacher Nichiren on the 28th day of the fourth lunar month of 1253 at Seichō-ji (also called Kiyosumi-dera) near Kominato in current-day part of the city of Kamogawa, Japan.^[6][7] The practice of chanting the daimoku is called shōdai (唱題). The purpose of chanting daimoku is to attain perfect and complete awakening.

Meaning

Gohonzon with Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō in the center

As Nichiren explained the mantra in his Ongi Kuden^[8] (御義口傳; Orally transmitted teachings), a transcription of his lectures about the Lotus Sutra, Namu (南無) is a transliteration into Japanese of the Sanskrit "namas", and Myōhō Renge Kyō is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese title of the Lotus Sutra, in the translation by Kumārajīva (hence, Daimoku, which is a Japanese word meaning 'title').

Namu is used in Buddhism as a prefix expressing the taking of refuge in a Buddha or similar object of veneration. In Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō, it represents devotion or conviction in the Mystic Law of Life (Saddharma) as expounded in the Lotus Sutra, not merely as one of many scriptures, but as the ultimate teaching of Buddhism, particularly with regard to Nichiren's interpretation. The use of Nam vs. Namu is, amongst traditional Nichiren schools, a linguistic but not necessarily a dogmatic issue,^[9] since u is devoiced in many varieties of Japanese.

Linguistically, Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō consists of:

• Namu 南無 from Sanskrit namas meaning 'devotion to'
• Myōhō 妙法 meaning 'supreme (marvelous) law of Buddha'^[10]
  • Myō 妙, from Middle Chinese mièw, meaning 'strange', 'mystery', 'miracle', cleverness'
  • Hō 法, from Middle Chinese pjap, meaning 'law', 'principle', 'doctrine'
• Ren 蓮, from Middle Chinese len, 'lotus'
• Ge 華, from Middle Chinese xwæ, meaning 'flower'
• Kyō 経, from Middle Chinese kjeng, meaning 'sutra'

The Lotus Sutra is held by Nichiren Buddhists, as well as practitioners of the Chinese Tiantai (T'ien-t'ai) and corresponding Japanese Tendai sects, to be the culmination of Shakyamuni Buddha's 50 years of teaching. However, followers of Nichiren Buddhism consider Myōhō Renge Kyō to be the name of the ultimate law permeating the universe, and the human being is at one, fundamentally with this law (dharma) and can manifest realization, or Buddha Wisdom (attain Buddhahood), through Buddhist Practice.

The seven characters na-mu-myō-hō-ren-ge-kyō are written down the centre of the gohonzon, the mandala venerated by most Nichiren Buddhists. The veneration towards the mandala is understood by those who believe in it as the veneration for a deeper representation, which they believe to be the Buddha Nature inherent to their own lives.

Precise interpretations of Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, how it is pronounced, and its position in Buddhist practice differ slightly among the numerous schools and sub-sects of Nichiren Buddhism, but "I take refuge in (devote or submit myself to) the Wonderful Law of the Lotus Flower Sutra" might serve as a universal translation.

In popular culture

The mantra has been used in contemporary popular culture and appears in songs such as The Pretenders' Boots of Chinese Plastic.^[11]

See also

• Lotus Sutra
• Nichiren Buddhism
• Nichiren
• Gohonzon

Notes

References

• Anesaki, Masaharu (1916). Nichiren, the Buddhist prophet. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 
• Kenkyusha (1991). Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary. Tokyo: Kenkyusha Limited. ISBN 4-7674-2015-6. 
• Monguchi-McCormick, Yumi (translator), ed. (2000). Lotus Seeds: The Essence of Nichiren Shu Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhist Temple of San Jose. ISBN 0970592000. 
• NEPP (2013). "Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii". New England Peace Pagoda. Retrieved 2013-10-31. 
• Ryuei, Rev. (1999). "Lotus Sutra Commentaries". Nichiren's Coffeehouse. Retrieved 2013-10-30. 
• SGDB (2002). "The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism". Soka Gakkai International. Retrieved 2013-10-30. 
• Watson, Burton (2005). The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings (trans.). Soka Gakkai. ISBN 4-412-01286-7. 

Further reading

• Causton, Richard: The Buddha in Daily Life, An Introduction to the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, Rider London 1995; ISBN 978-0712674560
• Hochswender, Woody: The Buddha in Your Mirror: Practical Buddhism and the Search for Self, Middleway Press 2001; ISBN 978-0967469782
• Montgomery, Daniel B.: Fire In The Lotus, The Dynamic Buddhism of Nichiren, Mandala 1991; ISBN 1-85274-091-4
• Payne, Richard, K. (ed.): Re-Visioning Kamakura Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press Honolulu 1998; ISBN 0-8248-2078-9
• Stone, Jacqueline, I.: "Chanting the August Title of the Lotus Sutra: Daimoku Practices in Classical and Medieval Japan". In: Payne, Richard, K. (ed.); Re-Visioning Kamakura Buddhism, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1998, pp. 116–166. ISBN 0-8248-2078-9
• Tarabini, Shoryo: Odaimoku, The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, Lulu 2011; ISBN 978-1447736578