Shodaigyo
(Nichiren Shu Meditation)
Sho (chant) dai (daimoku) gyo (practice)
1. Raihai / Bow
Relax and place your hands in gassho. Bow with respect to the Buddha.
2. Dojoge / Perceiving the Place of Buddhist Practice
Officiant: Know this. This place, where the stupa is erected, is the place of
Enlightenment.
All: Here the Buddhas attained supreme Enlightenment. Here the
Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dharma. Here the Buddhas
Entered into Parinirvana.
3. Sanborai / Devotion to the Three Treasures
Officiant: Honor be . . .
All: To the Eternal Shakyamuni Buddha, our Original Teacher who
attained Enlightenment in the remotest past.
Officiant: Honor be . . .
All: To the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the
teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom and the One Vehicle.
Officiant: Honor be . . .
All: To our founder the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren Shonin,
representing Bodhisattva Jogyo.
4. Joshingyo / Meditation of Purification – First Meditation
Sit up tall. Put your right hand down on your lap and put your left hand in your right palm with your thumbs touching. Close your eyes slightly. Relax your shoulders, arms, hands and mind.
Exhale through your mouth slowly and entirely. Hold it for a moment and inhale through your nose slowly and entirely. Hold it for a moment and exhale all evil from your body. Hold it for a moment and inhale the Buddha’s peace. Hold it for a moment and exhale all evil from your body. Hold it for a moment and inhale the Buddha’s peace. Hold it for a moment and exhale all evil from your body. Hold it for a moment and inhale the Buddha’s peace. Exhale and breathe normally. Put your breath in order.
Sit in silent meditation. Put your mind in order. Purify your mind and body so that you will be ready to recite the Odaimoku.
5. Shoshogyo / Reciting the Odaimoku
Place your hands in gassho. Recite “NA-MU, MYO, HO, REN, GE, KYO” loudly. As you recite the Odaimoku, concentrate and unite with the Buddha.
6. Jinshingyo / Meditation of Appreciation – Second Meditation
Meditate in the same manner as in Joshingyo. Exhale through your mouth
slowly and entirely. Hold it for a moment and inhale the Buddha’s peace. Hold it for a moment and exhale and breathe normally. Your mind has been linked to the Buddha through the Odaimoku. Reflect on the Odaimoku. Contemplate that the Odaimoku contains the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Sit in silent meditation and appreciate the Buddha.
7. Kigan Eko / Prayer (Officiant only)
We respectfully dedicate all our merits to the Eternal and True Teacher
Shakyamuni Buddha; to the supreme Teaching, the Lotus Sutra; to our founder the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren Shonin; and to all the protective deities.
By this practice of Shodaigyo, may we purify our minds, limit our desires, learn to be content, feel free to experience the quiet unassuming joys of life, and learn to abandon all attachments and clinging formed in the mind.
With this prayer, we endeavor to increase our understanding and appreciation for what others have given and contributed to us, and to develop constant and mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will beneficially contribute to others.
NAMU-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO
8. Shiguseigan / Four Great Vows
Officiant: Sentient beings are innumerable;
All: We vow to save them all.
Our defilements are inexhaustible:
We vow to quench them all.
The Buddha’s teachings are immeasurable;
We vow to know them all.
The way of the Buddha is unexcelled;
We vow to attain the path sublime.
9. Kie / Devotion
Officiant: With this body,
All: Until we attain Buddhahood, we will uphold our faith in the
Lotus Sutra. NAMU-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO (3 times)
10. Raihai / Bow
Bow with appreciation to the Buddha.