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Why do Nichiren Buddhists just tell you to "chant about it" to fix your problems?
Somehow when you chant you're practicing some sort of introspection and magically you'll just COME UP with an idea when it comes to solving a problem. Sorry but WTF lol Any thoughts?
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For a practice focused on devotion, faith is its own end, and the cultivation of faith is the driving force behind their Buddhism. For many people in traditionally Buddhist cultures, simple devotion, prayers and offerings to Buddha and other Bodhisattva figures pretty much defines their practice. It's the human instinct to do SOMETHING when we feel helpless in life. Who among us hasn't felt the same way?
however, in my experience, there are those that take the "chanting about your problems" to the level of believing that via chant, you access some sort of mystical ability and have an effect on the universe at large. it was frequently explained to me that this is why nam-myoho-renge-kyo is called "the mystic law"
i have several years experience with the nichiren tradition through the SGI and although i have now left that path, i still try and be respectful of their teachings as others on this board may still practice.
I will tell you what was told to me when I first began my practice. It does work; you can prove it to yourself. Just like lifting weights, no belief is required, only action. If you DO the practice, as prescribed, you WILL see results.
That said, if you don't want to practice, then don't. Only you can decide whether the return (results) is worth your investment (of time and effort) or not.
I get the impression many of the more traditional schools can be a bit snooty and snobish about Nichiren. Not sure why.
Having calmed our minds, by whatever practice we use, we are then more able to see the situation clearly. Often my experience has been that following meditation, the solutions to problems will suddenly present themselves. I believe this is because I have opened my mind and allowed it to function on a better level.
Nicheren people say chant, Zen people say sit on a cushion, Tibetans... well, we tend to have a whole variety of different practices we use in different circumstances, all with pretty similar aims, to be honest.
Other Nichiren schools teach a much wider view, with a much more recognizable approach to the Dharma as a whole; but we are not as widespread, and lots of people end up with a dismissive attitude but missing some crucial facts.
Namaste, Engyo
i still chant from time to time and read The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin as i still feel there are some very profound teachings.
to the OP- if you are interested in the nichiren tradition, i would pick up a copy of this book (sometimes called 'The Gosho') as it is quite interesting. the entire thing is a collection of letters that Nichiren wrote to his followers during thirteenth century japan. he offers sound advice as well as some interesting history. his life was not dull.
It is how you go about chanting, what mindset and mind actions you take, that determines whether it is a skillful meditation.
If no more instruction is given on how to chant and you're just making noises, then I doubt chanting would lead to much insight. Certainly not more than standard vipassana meditation (unless you get really lucky). It might be relaxing, but then again so is having a beer.
So I think chanting helps. Maybe some people are more advanced than I am at their chants? Maybe some people it doesn't help really, but they wish it would so they keep doing it?
How did you know my laundry piled up because I was playing video games?
I see it the same as someone telling me Zen is just learning to doubt everything. It's so much more than that. I could never follow a Nichiren practice, but I have to bow to their devotion.
When you understand that you have no problems, so there are no problems to solve, only situations in which you happen to be alive in. Then this practice, and all spiritual practices and techniques to free yourself will begin to make sense to you.
Please don't pay too much attention to your knee jerk reactions "this look silly wtf lol haha" and keep on studying and practicing. You may want to avoid doing the stuff that you find silly for now, just remember that tomorrow you may feel much different about some of theses things based on a deeper understanding that you may eventually find.
To the original questioner: perhaps part of the answer is consistency of cause and effect. 'Solving' a problem in a lower life-state will ultimately reproduce the same type of cause, and you will go around in circles, deepening the karma. It is important to come up with the solution from a wiser, more compassionate, more courageous perspective than the one that got you into the problem in the first place.
It's a well-known saying that the same mentality that created the problem cannot solve it. Hence, we chant about problems largely because we find it raises our mentality in this way. You don't have to believe this but I don't understand why you think it's ridiculous.
Perhaps, @englishbreakfasttea, you might like to start a new one under the 'Modern Buddhism' forum....