Myho-renge-kyo is the title and essense of the Lotus Sutra, the highest teaching from Shakyamuni.
Namu (Nam -) means to devote yourself wholeheartedly to the Law of Life and living in rhythm with it
Myoho - Literally the Mystic Law of Life
Renge - The foundation of Myoho, the Law of simultaneous of Cause and Effect
Kyo - Connects us rhythmically and harmoniously with all phenomena in the universe: the voice of the Buddha

Cycles
The theory of the 'Pulsating Universe'' proposes that the universe is created and destroyed, and then re-created in 80-billion year cycles. At this moment the universe is only 10 billion years along in the expansion stage, and it will continue to expand for another 30 billion years before the galaxies overcome the force of the 'Big Bang' and begin to contract. Eventually, moving at millions of miles an hour, they will converge and fuse again into their primal atoms, which will then explode once more to restart the cycle. 1

President Ikeda writes: "The Buddhist term for the ephemeral aspect of reality is "the transience of all phenomena". In the Buddhist cosmology, this concept is described as the repeated cycles of formation, continuance, decline, and disintegration through which all systems must pass. During our lives as human beings, we experience transience as the four sufferings: birth [day-to-day existence], illness, aging, and finally, death, including the loss of loved ones - it's often been said that nothing is more painful than this.. No human being is exempt from these sources of pain." 2 [ephemeral - lasting only a short time; transient: passing through or by a place with only a brief stay or sojourn. [Miriam Webster]

It would be nice if we could de-fuse the word death. The stigma of thousands of years has deluded Western thinking on the subject, with the accompanying gory symbolism and art (think of a crucifix) and has left a depressing impression on the subconscious of all of us who have lived under the Judeo-Christian paradigm. Punishment, judgement and demons waiting to torture us after we die. No wonder we live in fear of death. Other schools of thought such as existentialism also leave little room for hope.

In contrast, Buddhism teaches us that there is no never-ending party in paradise, no vengeful god-man to judge us, no eternal punishment in hell. These limiting philosophies ignore the truth of constant change/flux of all things living and non-living. Heaven and hell are dead ends, and by their nature suggest that we get only one chance at life. This goes against the logic of everything the sciences of cosmology and modern physics has discovered in the last 100 years, namely, the cyclic nature of all things.

The Mystic Law - Myo-ho
Myo - Mystic. Enigma, a synonym for the word 'mystic' is defined as: something hard to understand or explain. Myo corresponds to the latent phase of the unending cycle of death and rebirth. The difficulty in trying to comprehend the truth implicit in 'Myo' is primarily due to the limitations of the physical body. Timelessness isn't something we can see, the workings of cause and effect aren't something we can touch or smell. While we are alive, Myo is indeed unknowable.

Ho-Law. Ho corresponds to life, and includes everything manifest and knowable. Myo corresponds to enlightenment, and Ho to the delusions of everyday life. Myo and Ho are two inseparable facets of the same jewel. "The only difference between delusion and enlightenment depends on whether you can see the 'whole picture' or not." 3

Deep within the meaning of Myoho is the eternal truth of the cyclic nature of our lives and the universe. Simply put, everything must pass, we really will die, even planets and galaxies. But in strict accordance with the modern laws of physics, Buddhism teaches that energy is not destroyed but converted, transformed.

The period after we leave the confines of the physical body is a latent state of pure potential. Another shade of meaning for Myo is 'to open'. Freed of our physical bodies and in that state of pure potential we merge with the primal life force of the universe, no longer separate, whole again.

Myoho also relates to something called chu, also known as the Middle Way. The Middle Way is the heart of the Lotus Sutra, the Truth, the Mystic Law itself. Nichiren wrote: "It is the mystic entity of the Middle Way that is the reality of all things." [On Attaining Buddhahood]

The Three Truths of Ku, Ke and Chu
Ku-the truth of non-substantiality. Corresponds to 'Myo'.
Ke-the truth of temporary existence. Corresponds to 'Ho'.
Chu-the truth of the middle way. Corresponds to mind, spirit

The Middle Way refers to that force which connects and unifies these phases of existence and non-existence into one unending cycle. It is the driving force of the universe, beyond space and time. This is the force we tap into when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo..

Renge-Cause and Effect
Renge refers to the law of cause and effect, or the law of karma (or destiny). Karma means action, what we think, say or do. Every thought, word and deed lays a cause for an effect, and these effects are stored in our life (as karma). That Judeo-Christian fatalism mentioned earlier, imprinted upon our 'collective unconscious', lead many to assume karma is a kind of fixed punishment. This is false. While we reside in the temporary world, karma changes, in fact, it may be changed from one moment to the next. Whether we experience delusion or enlightenment depends on our life state, or how evolved and conscious we've become during our journey.

During the phase of non-substantiality, we are not able to make causes; however, the effects of previous causes we've made continue to resonate. We carry our own unique karma with us throughout all phases of existence. For this reason we are encouraged to live our lives to the fullest, make positive causes, respect all life, and most importantly, to die without regrets. Our life state at the moment of our death is probably the most powerful cause of our lives. It effects our future karma, that of those we leave behind and may even continue to resonate while we are in our latent phase of the cycle.

Although we are unable to make causes in the state of Ku, we are able to receive the effects of prayers, love and positive thoughts that our loved ones who we've left behind send to us via their daimoku. When we do the fifth prayer during gongyo, we have the opportunity to have a positive effect on the karma of those who have passed.

Kyo- Continuity, Teaching; words and speech, voices and sound of all living beings

Have you ever considered what happens to music once it stops playing? Is it never truly over, but continues to resonate and echo, creating its own force field with its own life. The same holds true for every cause we make, resonating throughout the Middle Way, becoming recorded as part of our unique, eternal selves. The music a person chooses to perform will shape his or her life as a performer/person; Renge, the immutable law of simultaneous cause and effect, dictates that this is so. [examples]

Kyo also means 'sutra' or 'teaching', and 'sound' . We tap into the frequency of sound and penetrate the ethers with our voices. Chanting is a form of music. The ability to take pleasure in music is a gift we all possess at birth. Another important aspect of chanting daimoku is the rhythm. Rhythm alone exerts a mysterious, almost mystical effect on human beings…it makes us want to dance! The sound of voices singing can move our hearts to tears. By using our voices set to a rhythm we are tapping two of the most primitive and basic joys that we possess.

Nichiren Daishonin himself was obviously enlightened to the use of rhythm; in his wisdom he placed the Sanskrit word Nam - meaning devotion to; action - in front of the Title of the Lotus Sutra. Without this we'd we dancing to a whole other tune during gongyo!

Metaphors are often used to describe the life force called the Middle Way further: an acorn contains the potential to become a tree (ku). When the correct circumstances such as earth and water present themselves {ke}, the Middle Way (chu) exerts the force that enables the acorn to manifest its potential. The effect becomes a mighty oak.

A baby starts out, the old Irish saying goes, as 'a gleam in its father's eye". This could be thought of as a 'cause' which has an effect [he woos the mother]. What follows is the mystic law at its most glorious, one cell becoming two, a miraculous growth cycle following, with each cell aware of its own unique function in completing its encoded mission: to become a human being. As with the acorn, circumstances must be perfect in order for the cycle to complete itself. Again, in line with modern quantum mechanics, every cause has an effect and this law is immutable.

We need to choose our paths consciously, consider our options carefully and call upon the wisdom of the Buddha to help bring joy to own unique journeys. Nichiren Daishonin gave us the tools, daimoku and the Gohonzon. When we use these tools sincerely, navigating through life's difficulties becomes more of a challenge and less of a struggle. When we become wise enough to understand even a part of the Mystic Law and its workings, we begin blazing a trail that leads to fearlessness. With the knowledge that we are all entities of the mystic law at work, life becomes a wondrous thing as we move toward enlightenment. Finally, we can de-fuse that ugly word, death. Call it Ku, call it myo, latency or simply a refreshing rest and re-charging of batteries. A real vacation from the struggles of everyday life. For a while, anyway!

1. Prof. Adam Sandrage 2.Speech: The Continuity of Life and Death 3. Pat Allwright - Basics of Buddhism

This page was last modified on Sunday, August 20, 2006.