- CHANT
O'DAIMOKU NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO" [ 3 times ]
[Chant
together with guide or priest]
- INTRODUCTION
[Reading by
Gongyo Leader or Priest]
You should know that all these places
are the throne of enlightenment;
In these places the Buddhas attain to perfect enlightenment,
In these places the Buddhas roll the wheel of the law,
In these places the Buddhas enter Pari Nirvana
- BOWING
TO THE THREE TREASURES
[Read
together]
With all our hearts, we bow to the eternal Buddhas of the
world of the ten directions
With all our hearts, we bow to the eternal Dharmas of the
world of the ten directions
With all our hearts, we bow to the eternal Sanghas of the
world of the ten directions
- INVOCATION
[Read by Gongyo Guide or Priest]
With reverence we adore Sakyamuni
Buddha, the Great Benefactor, the Original Teacher who attained
Buddhahood in the remotest past
With reverence we adore the Great Mandala of the Most Venerable
One, the Perfect Circle having never been revealed before
the Age of Degeneration
With reverence we adore Prabhutaratna Tathagata, who appeared
in this world to bear withness to the turthfulness of the
Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
With reverence we adore the Buddhas of the worlds of the
ten directions in the past, present and future, the emanations
of the Original Sakyamuni Buddha
With reverence we venerate Visistacaritra, Anantacaritra,
Visuddhacaritra, Supratisthitacaritra, and the other great
Bodhisattvas who appeared from underground, the disciples
of the Original Sakyamuni Buddha
With reverence we venerate Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Maitreya,
Bhaisajyaraja, Bhaisajyassmudgata, Pradanasura, Gadgadasvara,
Avalokitesvara and the other Bodhisattvas, the disciples
either of the Historical Sakyamuni Buddha or of the Buddhas
who have come from the other worlds
With reverence we venerate Mahabrahman, Sakra, The Kings
of the Four Quarters and the other gods who protect the
practitioners of the One Vehicle
With reverence we venerate the four kinds of devotees who
joined the congregations of the Lotus Sutra
With reverence we venerate the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren
Shonin, the founder of our order, the Great Leader of us
who live in the Age of Degeneration
With reverence we venerate the Six Senior Disciples, the
Nine Senior Disciples and the other disciples of Nichiren
as well as the priests who contributed much to our order
May all Venerable Ones come to this place of enlightenment,
see us with their eyes of wisdom, and receive the savor
of the Dharma out of their compassion towards us
- VERSES
FOR OPENING THE SUTRA
[Read
together]
The
most profound and wonderful teaching is presented in this
sutra.
This Sutra is difficult to meet even once in thousands and
millions of eons.
Now we have been able to see, hear, receive and keep this
Sutra.
May we understand the most excellent teaching of the Tathagata
!
- CHANT
O'DAIMOKU "NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO" [ 3 times ]
[Chant
Together]
- CHANTING
SUTRA
[Chanting
together]
Chapter II
Ho Ben Pon Dai Ni "Expedients"
Chapter XVI Nyo Rai Ju Ryo Hon Dai Ju Roku
"The Duration of the Life of the Tathagata"
Option : [ if
you want ]
Chapter XXI Nyo Rai Jin Riki Hon Dai Ni Ju Ichi
"The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata"
Chapter XXV Kan Ze On Bo Satsu Hu Mon Bon Dai Ni Ju Go
"The Universal Gate of World Voice Perceiver Bodhisattva"
Yokuryoshu "Buddha Wishes of All Beings"
- CHANTING
O'DAIMOKU "NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO"
[Together,
Stop after Guide of Gongyo or Priest ringing the bell]
- READING
THE MESSAGE FROM LOTUS SUTRA
[Guide of
Gongyo or Priest Only]
The Difficulty of Retaining The
Sutra
(From Chapter XI Beholding the Stupa of Treasures)
It is difficult to keep this sutra,
I shall be glad to see anyone keeping it even for a moment,
so will all the other Buddhas
He will be praised by all the Buddhas
He will be a man of valour, a man of endeavour
He should be considered to have already
observed to precepts, and practiced the dhuta
He will quickly attain the unsurpassed enlightenment of
the Buddha
Anyone who reads
and recites this sutra in the future is a true son of
mine.
He shall be considered to live on the stage of purity
and good.
Anyone, after my extinction, who understands the meaning
of this sutra,
will be the eye of the worlds of gods and men.
Anyone who expounds
this sutra, even for a moment in this dreadful world,
should be honored with offerings by all gods and men.
Iyogonshi
(from Chapter XXI The Supernatural Powers of the Tathagata)
To sum up;
All teaching of the Tathagata, all the unhindered,
supernatural powers of the Tathagata,
All the treasury
of the hidden core of the Tathagata,
and all the profound achievement of the Tathagata are
revealed
and expounded explicitly in this Sutra
In any place where a copy of this Sutra is put, be it
in a garden, in a forest,
under a tree, in a monastery, in the house of a person
in white robe, in a hall,
in a mountain, in a valley, or in the wilderness, there
should a stupa be erected
and offerings be made to it because, know this the place
where the stupa is
erected is the place of enlightenment,
Here the Buddhas
attained
Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
Here the Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dharma
Here the Buddhas entered into Pari Nirvana
-
PRAYERS
[Reading
by Guide of Gongyo or Priest]
We respectfully dedicate all our merits now gathered;
To the Great Benevolent Teacher, Sakyamuni the Eternal
Buddha;
To the Supreme Teaching, the Lotus Sutra;
To the Leader of the Declining Latter Age of the Dharma,
our founder,
the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren Shonin;
And to the Protective Deities of the Dharma
May all beings
under the heavens and within the four seas live
in accordance with the Wonderful Dharma !
May the Wonderful
Dharma spread throughout the ten thousand
years of the Declining Latter Age of the Dharma !
May we realize
this world is the Eternal Buddha’s Pure Land !
May Peace permeate
all the world and all people enjoy peace and happiness
!
May all people
live in safety and live long without misfortune !
May the peace and happiness last forever and all beings
prosperous !
May we purify
our minds, limit our desires, learn to be content, feel
free to experience
the quiet assuming joys of life, and learn to abandon
all attachments formed in the mind !
We pray for the
spirits of our ancestors and for all the spirit of the
universe; We pray that all beings awaken to the true nature
of reality which is the Buddha Dharma, and by the merits
following the teaching of the Lotus Sutra; May all beings
of all realms be helped equally, overcome suffering, and
gain the happiness of blissful liberation
With this prayer,
we endeavor to increase our understanding and appreciation
of what others have given and contributed to us, and to
develop constant, mindful consideration of how our thoughts
and actions will beneficially contribute to others
Namu Myoho Renge
Kyo [ 1x ]
-
THE
FOUR GREAT VOWS
[Together]
Sentient being are innumerable;
I vow to save them all
Our evil desires
are inexhaustible;
I vow to quench them all
The Buddha’s
teachings are immeasurable;
I vow to study them all
The Way of the
Buddha is unexcelled;
I vow to attain the path sublime
Namu Myoho Renge
Kyo [ 3x ]
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