The joy and happiness of chant daimoku each day

How incredible it is to chant this wonderful daimoku each day! Nichiren Daishonin writes, "There is no greater happiness for human beings than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The sutra [Lotus Sutra] says, 'The people there [in my land] are happy and at ease.'"(MW-1, 161). There is no joy, happiness and ease surpassing what we can attain through chanting daimoku. No matter how much you may pursue the things you love and skip gongyo to have a good time—all such fleeting, worldly pleasures pale beside the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from chanting daimoku.

For Today and Tomorrow
Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda 28/4

Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each day purifies and cleanses your life, gets your motors running and puts you on the right course for the day

Exerting yourself by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each day amounts to what might be called a spiritual workout. It purifies and cleanses your life, gets your motors running and puts you on the right course for the day. It gets your body and mind working smoothly and puts you in rhythm, in sync, with the universe.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 13/9

From the moment we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with a deep and powerful resolve, the sun begins to rise in our hearts.

The first thing is to pray. From the moment we begin to pray, things start moving. The darker the night, the closer the dawn. From the moment we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with a deep and powerful resolve, the sun begins to rise in our hearts. Hope—prayer is the sun of hope. To chant each time we face a problem, overcoming it and elevating our life-condition as a result—this is the path of "changing earthly desires into enlightenment," taught in Nichiren Buddhism.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 25/6

Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens.

Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law? Strengthen your power of faith more than ever. -Nichiren

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 7/5

When we chant sonorously, the sun rises in our hearts. We are filled with power. Compassion wells forth. Our lives are lit with joy. Our wisdom shines

Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the foundation of Nichiren Buddhism. When we chant sonorously, the sun rises in our hearts. We are filled with power. Compassion wells forth. Our lives are lit with joy. Our wisdom shines. All Buddhas and protective forces throughout the universe go to work on our behalf. Life becomes exhilarating.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 6/5

True happiness is chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

And if we go by the words of the Lotus Sutra, you should also teach the sutra to the best of your ability. When the world makes you feel downcast, you should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, remembering that, although the sufferings of this life are painful, those in the next life could be much worse. And when you are happy, you should remember that your happiness in this life is nothing but a dream within a dream, and that the only true happiness is that found in the pure land of Eagle Peak, and with that thought in mind, chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 25/12

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
The Fourteen Slanders

The eggs of ignorance when nurtured by the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

A bird's egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts, and the bird soars into the sky. We, too, are the eggs of ignorance, which are pitiful things, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is like the warmth of the mother bird, we develop the beak of the thirty-two features and the feathers of the eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the skies of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things. 25/7

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Letter to Niike
Written to Niike Saemon-no-jo in February 1280

Interdependent of body and shadow

The ten directions are the "environment," and living beings are "life." To illustrate, environment is like the shadow, and life, the body. Without the body no shadow can exist, and without life, no environment. In the same way, life is shaped by its environment. 18/7

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
On Omens
Written to Shijo Kingo in 1275

By chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo anyone can avoid the evil paths

Thus, as we have seen, even those who lack understanding, so long as they chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, can avoid the evil paths. This is like lotus flowers, which turn as the sun does, though the lotus has no mind to direct it, or like the plantain that grows with the rumbling of thunder, though this plant has no ears to hear it. Now we are like the lotus or the plantain, and the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is like the sun or the thunder. 7/6

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra
Recipient unknown; written on January 6, 1266

The blessing and benefits of the single practice of exercising faith in Myoho-renge-kyo

When one carries out the single practice of exercising faith in Myoho-renge-kyo, there are no blessings that fail to come to one, and no good karma that does not begin to work on one's behalf. It is like the case of a fishing net: though the net is composed of innumerable small meshes, when one pulls on the main cord of the net, there are no meshes that do not move. Or it is like a garment: though the garment is composed of countless tiny threads, when one pulls on a corner of the garment, there are no threads that are not drawn along. 29/5

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man
Recipient unknown; written in 1265

Chanting daimoku with the spirit of many in body but one in mind

All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death. Herein lies the true goal of Nichiren's propagation. When you are so united, even the great desire for widespread propagation can be fulfilled. 15/2

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272