南無 These are the first two characters on the Omandala Gohonzon, NaMu. This combination of characters has no inherent meaning. It is not intended to have a meaning, rather it stands for a sound or combination of sounds. This is similar to onomatopoeia, words representing sounds. Examples of this are brrrrr, or cuckoo, or sizzle. Namu represent the sound that the Japanese hear in the word Namaste. The Japanese tend to shorten many words to only a syllable or two, the reasons for this is much like we form contraction words such as don’t, or shouldn’t and so forth. Nama is the shortened form of Namaste and Nama is heard as Namu. It is a tad more complicated than this, however this is basically what’s taking place with Namu.
Another idiosyncratic feature of the spoken Japanese language is the softening and almost elimination of final U sounds. The Japanese insist it is there when spoken however to foreign ears is seems unspoken. So when spoken fast Namu seems to sound like Nam(u). The pronunciation is basically correct as long as one remembers that the U is still there. Further, because the U seems to vanish when spoken does not mean that the sound-word is written any other way than Namu. To write Nam is completely incorrect, as there is no such word or sound in the Japanese language. It would be much like writing ca, and intending to convey the car. Now if someone from Boston says ca, and you were familiar with a Bostonian accent you would easily understand they were saying car when you heard ca. Writing ca does not immediately and independently communicate car.
This may seem laborious and pointless to write about. It would be if not for the various ways that some denominations write Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. It is absolutely incorrect to write Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, the correct way if one wishes to write only the proper sound would be written Na Myoho Renge Kyo. In Japanese two consonant sounds occurring together actually makes a different sound, and that is a linguistic explanation that is too complicated and unnecessary in this context.
As I mentioned Namu is the sound of Nama in Namaste. Namaste means devotion, respect, revere, uphold, worship and all the other devotional words one might use. Namu also represents you.
The Myoho Renge Kyo, or as we abbreviate it to refer to the text, Lotus Sutra. Myoho Renge Kyo does not mean Lotus Sutra, it means Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra. Later on I’ll write more about Myoho Renge Kyo. For now we will be focusing on Namu.
Above are the characters of Na Mu. See if you can find them and clearly identify the individual characters on the Omandala Gohonzon. They will look slightly different due to the writing style Nichiren used when he wrote/drew the object of devotion. The style of his calligraphy has continued to be imitated from his time to present.
Here you see the characters in white on a black background. I am doing this intentionally because we are going to use this as a meditation device.
I said that Namu is you. Namu is your actions, whether they are devotion or slander. The literal meaning of Namaste is devotion, respect and so forth. However your expression of Namaste may not always be one of respect. An example of this is instances where people may say namaste and be doing so in a passive-aggressive manner. Sort of like ‘I respect you you son of a bitch’. Now the word respect is there, and clearly the S.O.B does not convey respect, rather disrespect. So the word is there the action or thought or intent is in opposition to the concept of devotion.
We can do the same thing and may not even realize, because it can be subtle. For example we may chant abundantly saying over and over namu, namu, namu, and all the while dust remains on the altar, or our mind is replaying some event during the day when we got angry at someone, or thought an unkind or unwholesome thought about ourselves. Perhaps you may have never thought of this.
The dirty altar is in opposition to your words of devotion and respect. Unwholesome thought about your self-worth, or ability, or other self-defeating word devalue you and are disrespectful of the Lotus Sutra of your life.
Hold here, just because there is a contradiction between namu you say and what your mind holds does not mean you shouldn’t chant or there is no value to your chanting. In fact over time you can begin to change those unwholesome contradictory self-defeating thoughts. So don’t further beat yourself up. Rather become aware of the thoughts and how they work against you. As you deepen your faith and practice you can change your self-doubt to firm conviction in your worth and see the Buddha in your life. At first it may be simply a theoretical concept, over time it will manifest into a substantive experience.
Namu is you, your actions, your beliefs towards the Myoho Renge Kyo which is both a written text and an expression of your enlightened life.
One of the challenges of writing this book is the normal tendency to read through and go fast over things that should be done slowly. Previously I gave you the instructions for beginning the practice I’ll be teaching over the course of the book. In my instruction I say go slowly spend time, become well experienced in that foundational meditation exercise. Yet you may be now reading this and be tempted to move on before you are truly ready. I can only caution about this. I am not there to guide or teach in person and the information needs to be recorded so when you are ready it will be in the book.
I suppose it is alright to read further to get a general idea of what we will be doing, but resist the temptation to believe you have mastered the practice simply because you read the book.
Previously I had you clear you mind and begin to enter into the first assembly, the one we find at the opening of the Lotus Sutra. Now for this part of the practice with your cleared mind focus on NaMu. Look at it with your eyes, then close your eyes and try to maintain the image of the characters in your minds-eye. If you loose the image when you close your eyes, reopen them and continue to gaze upon those two characters. This will take a lot of practice, in part because the characters do not inherently convey anything recognizable in our English language experience.
For right now suspend the tendency to attribute meaning to NaMu. Simply gaze at it with open eyes and then try to maintain the image with your eyes closed. You may the reverse image above helpful. It is perfectly acceptable to hold either image in your mind, the black strokes on white or the white strokes on black.
Continue to do this, the goal being to eventually be able to close your eyes once you mind is settled and clear and immediately be able to see the image of NaMu on your inner eye-lids or in your minds-eye. This is a highly visual exercise, so it is important to be able to see the strokes easily and clearly.
Keep practicing this, a sloppy practice will not yield the optimum result, it would be a contradiction in values between devotion and sloppy.
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