| | | | | The Daily Practice
There are three basics in applying Buddhism to your daily life: faith, practice and study. They are the primary ingredients in the recipe for developing our innate enlightened condition, or Buddhahood. All three are essential. With this recipe, we will experience actual proof of our transformation in the forms of both conspicuous and inconspicuous benefit. The recipe is universal. These basics are the same in every country where this Buddhism is practiced.
Faith
In Buddhism, faith is based on experience. Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism emphasizes obtaining "actual proof" of the teaching’s power. Faith begins as an expectation or hope that something will happen. At the start of our journey, if we are willing to try the practice and anticipate some result, we will then develop our faith brick by brick as examples of actual proof accrue.
Practice
To develop faith, we must take action. We strengthen our wisdom and vital life force by actualizing our Buddhahood each day in a very concrete way. Practice in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism consists of two parts: practice for ourselves and practice for others. Practice for ourselves is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each morning and evening along with reciting Gongyo (two chapters of the Lotus Sutra). Practice for others consists of action based on compassion to help give others the means to make fundamental improvements in their lives.
Study To gain confidence that this practice is valid, and to understand why your efforts will bring about a result, it is essential to study the tenets of this Buddhism. The basis of study comes from the founder himself, Nichiren Daishonin. More than 700 years ago, he instructed followers in the correct way to practice; and his writings, which have been preserved and translated into English, give us valuable insight into how this practice will benefit us today.
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