One aim of Buddhist practice is to establish the world of Buddhahood as our fundamental life-condition, and then to experience the other worlds through that state.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the teaching for ordinary people to reveal their greatest potential. The name of the Buddha nature, the ninth consciousness, is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. If we call its name, we will stimulate and activate the ninth consciousness and it will emerge from within us.

The word 'mindfulness' has become very popular recently. With this object we are able to see all of the ten worlds working in our lives, including the enlightened world of Buddhahood. I can bring anything that is on my mind to the Gohonzon. There is something wonderfully liberating in feeling that the time that I am chanting is a conversation between my life and the life of the Buddha.

Practice refers to our twice daily rhythm of morning and evening gongyo and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nichiren Daishonin encouraged us to study so that we will understand what is happening to us as we undergo the process of moving our lives in the direction we have chosen.

The ninth, Buddha, consciousness is like the reservoir of pure water deep underground, and starting to chant is like turning the tap to bring that water up through the other layers to purify the way we view the world.

The word ‘gongyo’ literally means ‘to exert oneself in practice’. Gongyo is a short ceremony which enables us to celebrate our inherent Buddhahood and offer prayers of gratitude and determination for whatever is relevant to us at any particular time.

The Buddhist viewpoint is that the world should be seen from the perspective of the individual, and that the human life contains the entire universe. That is why changing our own lives one by one will bring a change in our family, our community, and the society in which we live. It will change the age we live in, our history, and indeed all aspects of our world.

The spread of the Mystic Law from one person to another is kosen-rufu. So, too, is its spread from 10,000 to 50,000. But kosen-rufu is not about numbers; it is a process, an eternal flow. Kosen-rufu is not something that will end at some fixed point in time. We won’t sit down one day and say, “Well, now kosen-rufu is finished.” Not only would it spell spiritual death, but we’d lose all motivation for doing our human revolution. Kosen-rufu is unending.

The Buddhist principle of karma can help us understand what we can do to break out of the repetitive patterns that might cause ourselves and others suffering and how we can build more good fortune.

Negativity in life is something that we can and must challenge. The negative force of life, although devious, is no match for the positive power of Buddhahood.

In Buddhism, which is concerned with human happiness and development, the mentor-disciple relationship is fundamental. The foundation of the relationship between mentor and disciple in Buddhism is the shared pledge to work together for the happiness of people, to free them from suffering. The Lotus Sutra, the Buddhist scripture that is the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, contains a vivid allegorical description of the moment when the Buddha’s disciples make this pledge. The sutra describes how, during an occasion when Shakyamuni Buddha is preaching, the earth splits open and a multitude of resplendent bodhisattvas (individuals who have made compassionate action the foundation of their being) emerge. These so-called “Bodhisattvas of the Earth” are firmly resolved to continue to live out Shakyamuni’s teachings after his passing, in the difficult and corrupted age to come.

Buddhism originates with Shakyamuni who was born in what is now Nepal some 2,500 years ago. Shakyamuni taught that it was this approach of the Lotus Sutra of respect for the dignity of all life that would be practiced in the age we live in today. T’ien-t’ai (in China followed by Nichiren Daishonin in Japan) developed the workings of life implicit in the Lotus Sutra into a theory of the working of life. Nichiren took both the Lotus Sutra and T’ien-t’ai`s theory of life and established the Buddhism focused on the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which SGI members practice today.

Basics of Buddhism Key Principles and How to Practice by Pat Allwright is a very user-friendly guide to Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism.