SGI Hua Hin

07/10/2026

The Correct Attitude Towards Gongyo
It is important that we devotedly perform both morning and evening Gongyo in our daily practice of True Buddhism. Nevertheless, each individual's situation varies. For example, different occupations require different work hours. Therefore, we perform morning and evening Gongyo according to our schedules.

During morning Gongyo, we pray that we may spend a meaningful day as children of the Buddha, and that we may realize the merit of Myoho in our lives. In order to make a fresh start daily, we recite the five prayers in the morning. During evening Gongyo, we extend sincere gratitude to the Three Treasures (the Buddha, the Law and the Priesthood) for protecting us throughout the day.

Because the practice of Gongyo is so important, we must sit up straight and pay attention while facing the altar. During Gongyo, hold the Juzu beads in your hands, look at the sutra and read each word precisely.

When chanting Daimoku during Gongyo, put your hands together and hold them at the chest naturally. Look at the character "Myo" on the Gohonzon as much as possible. Again, there is no restriction as to how much or how long you must chant Daimoku. You may chant as long as you like. The Fifty-ninth High Priest, Nichiko Shonin, said:

To properly offer Daimoku, we should be careful to recite the words without negligence and put everything else out of our mind. Don't chant with your voice too loud or too fast. (Koyo, 134)

We should face the Gohonzon solemnly and chant Daimoku calmly.

Nam myoho renge kyo

07/10/2026

The Voice Chanting Daimoku Reaches the Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions
By Daisaku Ikeda

I would like to reply to the question whether there is any value in chanting daimoku and reciting sutra passages without understanding their meaning.

Of course it is better if you understand their meaning. That will strengthen your commitment to the Law. But if you understand and yet fail to practice, it’s all of no use. Not only that, but you can’t understand the real depth of the teachings through reason alone.

Birds, for example, have their own language, their own speech. People don’t understand it, but other birds do. There are many examples among humans as well — codes, abbreviations, or foreign languages are well understood by experts or native speakers but unintelligible to others.

In the same way, the language of gongyo, of chanting daimoku, reaches the Gohonzon and the realms of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three existences and the ten directions. We might call it the language of the realms of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
That’s why the voice of gongyo and daimoku directed to the Gohonzon, whether we understand it or not, reaches all the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and heavenly deities. They hear it and say, "Excellent, excellent!" in response, rejoicing and praising us, and the entire universe envelops us in light.

Nam myoho renge kyo

06/10/2026

Guidance on Finance & Work Karma

A man came to see me recently and told me that he needed help with his "financial karma." He went on to explain how deep and profound his "financial karma" was. He hadn't been able to fix it in his ten years of practice. My first question to him was, "What kind of work do you do?" He said he was out of work. I asked him why. He said he quit his job six months before. I asked him why. He said he got into a disagreement with his boss and felt that he had to quit.

I asked about the job he had before that. He said that he got fired because he got angry with his boss. He told me he quit the job before that one. This person, in his ten years of practice, had eight jobs and lost them. I asked him how he expected to have financial fortune if he didn't have a job. There is no magic in Buddhism; it is unreasonable to think that one can acquire financial fortune without having a job.

He then said that his real question to me was, "Why do I have the karma to have authoritarian bosses?"

Most of us think that the bad things that happen to us are our karma. We think that our karma exists outside of us, but this is not correct. We are not the only ones that bad things are happening to. Bad things happen to everyone. Then what is karma?

Karma is our inability to deal with the "stuff." We don't know how to handle the stuff when it hits us, and we end up doing the wrong thing. We end up creating more "stuff" for ourselves.

In any case, I pointed out to this person his tendency to get angry with his bosses. There was a clear pattern. It was very difficult for this person to realise that his problem was anger. Buddhism says that if you have anger, you have the poison of arrogance. I told this person that until he was able to control his arrogant mind and his anger, he wouldn't be able to keep a job. He was actually a very talented person at his job, but this lead to him thinking he could do as he wished at his workplace and treat others badly.

I told him that since he needed a way to stop losing jobs, he needed to deal with his karma. I told him to not let his anger defeat him and to sincerely pray for the wisdom to respond to situations in a way other than with anger. To date, he has been employed for three years and has just bought a house.

What is the greater benefit: another job (which he would probably lose), or wisdom to see the root cause of his problem and never have to repeat it? People would pay millions of dollars for wisdom about the true nature of their suffering.

Of course, as we change, our environment reflects this change, and we experience benefit. However, if we try to seek out only the benefit without going through the inner process, eventually nothing will happen. The Gohonzon has almost no power to transform your environment. The Gohonzon does have power to transform you. When you use the Gohonzon to transform you, then you transform your environment. There's a big difference. We should determine in front of the Gohonzon that we will solve our problem or that we will overcome our suffering.

When you pray to the Gohonzon with that prayer, you will be amazed to find out what you see about yourself and what you need to fix in your life. Buddhism is about the inner reformation, not about the external reformation. Of course, benefits in the outside environment do come, but really that's not the point at all. It's really about inner change.

Excerpt from a lecture given by SGI-USA Vice General Director Greg Martin at the Seattle Culture Centre on June 9, 1995

05/10/2026

Dr Ouchi’s sharing on daimoku
We chant daimoku everyday, some of us even chanted for 30-40 years. I would like to share with you some important points about chanting.

1. Chant daimoku with gratitude. (Be appreciative to Gohonzon, sensei, comrades in faith and Gakkai)
-Those who chant with gratitude can bring forth happiness.
- We have the fortune to chant and study Buddhism, thanks to our 3 Presidents.
-Those who forget the benefits that obtained, are those who fail to express gratitude.

2. Focus on “Myo” during chanting
-“Myo” can clear up any predicament.
-“Myo” enables our powerless selves to revitalize.
-“Myo” can give rise to satisfactory solutions for obstacles met.

3. Pray for worldwide kosenrufu (including kosenrufu in Asian countries and Malaysia)
-When we pray towards this objective, our noble mission for kosenrufu will be awakened.
-Once we have a great vow, we worry less of petty matters.

4. Pray for the happiness of other members
-Pray that we could understand their sufferings. (to be empathetic)
-Although our prayers are invisible, it is through our actions from which they can feel us encouraging them.

5. Pray for the ones that we want to shakubuku
-Pray that we will have the courage to share the greatness of Mystic Law.
-In Japan, we chant 10 hours of daimoku before commencing with shakubuku, as to draw forth our courage and compassion.
-We, ourselves are the first to change after chanting immense daimoku.
-Shakubuku enables us to carry out our human revolution.
-We should also encourage our members to pray for their potential targets to appear soon.

6. Pray for our own problems

7. We should always take initiative to chant for our own problems.
-not relying on others to chant for us.
-One’s daimoku can protect the whole family, relatives and more.

8. Chant earnestly
- We must be very serious during chanting.
- Doubtful Daimoku will not be able to manifest great power.
- Those with high positions in Gakkai should be more serious and earnest in chanting.
- We can feel the strength of Sensei's Daimoku when we chant together with his voice in the Hall of Great Vow.

9. We should maintain proper posture during chanting to show respect to Gohonzon.

10. Do not forget to chant daimoku at home
- Even though we have chanted daimoku and gongyo at kaikan, daimoku at home is also necessary.
- Chanting at home enables us to self-reflect and to reinstate our vows and determination.

11. Strong determination and will during chanting

12. Pray that we become proud members of Gakkai

Nam myoho renge kyo

05/10/2026

04/10/2026

Best Posture to Adopt While Chanting Daimoku.

An excess of formality runs counter to the true spirit of our Buddhist practice. Guidelines exist primarily so that we can correct ourselves, not criticize others. The following points, therefore, are essentially communicated by example, by those who have been practising for a longer time.

The Body
It is best to sit upright, with a straight back. Japanese people get used to kneeling from childhood but for Westerners, kneeling for long periods of time can be uncomfortable, resulting in cramp or ‘pins and needles,’ which disrupt concentration. For this reason, most SGI members sit in chairs to chant, making certain not to cross their legs or sit in any other unbalanced way. The Buddhist principle of zuiho bini, adapting to local customs whilst never departing from the spirit of the original teachings is clearly applicable here.

The Hands
We chant with hands joined, palms together, holding the juzu (prayer beads).

The Eyes
We chant with our eyes open. Praying with closed eyes is a tendency for which there may be several reasons, not all of them conscious: the wish to escape from concrete reality; to dream of an other-worldly paradise; the habit of praying to a supernatural or transcendent being; or quite simply the desire to sleep.

So where should we fix our gaze? The Gosho offers no advice on this matter. We can look at any part of the Gohonzon we wish. The central, vertical row of characters of the Gohonzon reads ‘Na-mu,myo-ho,ren-ge,kyo,Nichi-ren’. The character myo in the upper part of the Gohonzon, a little above the line of vision. It is best to keep our eyes open and look at the Gohonzon, when speaking to someone, it’s usually considered impolite not to look them directly in the eye. I believe that the same holds true when we’re in front of the Gohonzon, which we’re addressing with Gongyo or daimoku.

The Essence
Having given these guidelines, it’s important to remember that in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, it is our heart, our profound intention, rather than ritual or formality, that really counts. The real value of the silent prayers, for example, is what’s actually in our hearts and minds at that very moment, not the words we’re reading the liturgy book.

The best way to practise is joyfully and naturally, without too much tension or absent-mindedness. We strive to practice correctly according to the principle of body and the shadow- that ‘the practice is the body (the essential reality of our life) and daily life is the shadow’. If our practice is in disarray, then our daily life is, too. When we respect the Law of life, it in turn respects us – and we receive both protection and benefits. It is our ichinen, our profound determination, and not some external factor that determines the important things in our life.

Thus, by establishing our Buddhist practice correctly, we are making profound causes to bring about a constant improvement in our lives, both materially and spiritually, according to the principle of the oneness of self and environment.

Source: Q&A, answer by Dr Yamazaki, honorary chairman of SGI Europe, UKE Oct 1999

Nam myoho renge kyo

04/10/2026

02/10/2026

On October 2, 1960, at just 32 years old, Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda departed Japan on his first overseas journey, marking his first step toward worldwide kosen-rufu*.

Over the course of 24 days, he visited nine cities in three countries: Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Washington, D.C., São Paulo and Los Angeles. ✈️🌎

This October 2, as we look toward 2030 and the 100th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai’s founding, we look back on Ikeda’s reflections in Honolulu, Hawaii. There, he contemplated the significance of taking his first step to advance peace worldwide from Hawaii, a place deeply marked by war yet also a “melting pot of humanity,” and envisioned it as a model for peace. 🌺🕊️

The following passages from The New Human Revolution, vol. 1, recount Ikeda’s experiences through the character of Shin’ichi Yamamoto.

* Kosen-rufu: the realization of world peace rooted in respect for the dignity of life and the happiness of each individual.