New Standard Gongyo Practice

SGI-USA's official announcement of "shortened" gongyo

SGI-USA MEMO PLN-020
DATE: May 14, 2002
DISTRIBUTE TO: All Leaders
TO: All Zone, Region Leaders and Office Managers
FROM: SGI-USA Organization Department Director - Margie Hall
SUBJECT: A & C Gongyo - The New SGI Standard Gongyo Practice

On April 30, 2002, during the first day of the Spring Training Course in Japan, an SGI Representatives Meeting was held with 205 SGI leaders representing 50 countries, together with members of the SGI Board of Directors. The form of gongyo was one of many subjects discussed. It was agreed that reciting the essential portions of the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" chapters of the Lotus Sutra, commonly referred to as Parts A & C, will be the new SGI standard gongyo practice. SGI General Director Eiichi Wada confirmed the shared understanding that A & C gongyo is the SGI standard.

FORM OF GONGYO

We are entering a new era in which Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is taking its place as a world religion. With a view toward our future global development, many SGI country-organizations have been seriously considering what format of gongyo constitutes the best personal practice for the broadest spectrum of people in our modern times.

As we know, Nichiren Daishonin did not prescribe a particular format for reciting the sutra. The practice of five and three recitations is not what the Daishonin himself articulated; the priesthood formulated it many years after the Daishonin's lifetime and second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda adopted it on behalf of the lay practitioners after World War II.

It is clear that Nichiren Daishonin encouraged the recitation of the "Expedient Means" (Hoben) and "Life Span" (Juryo) chapters in addition to the primary practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo; but he did not prescribe a specific format or number of repetitions for the sutra recitation. The current practice of five recitations in the morning and three in the evening evolved over the centuries and has been modified with the changing times.

The SGI Board of Directors, in consultation with the Soka Gakkai leadership, has taken responsibility to establish the following standards concerning the format of gongyo for all SGI organizations:

1. Some SGI country-organizations have made the ability to do gongyo one of the criteria for new membership. For such purposes, gongyo shall mean recitation of the essential portions of the "Expedient Means" chapter (part A), and the verse (jigage) section of the "Life Span" chapter (part C), plus the offering of silent prayers and chanting of daimoku.

2. In cases where gongyo is conducted during a meeting, in order to make the best use of the time available, and out of consideration for non-members who may be participating, gongyo shall consist of the recitation of the portion of the "Expedient Means" chapter (Part A) and the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter (Part C), plus the chanting of daimoku.

In a discussion about the format of gongyo with Soka Gakkai International and Soka Gakkai leaders, the following points were made:

The SGI standard for gongyo is the single recitation of the A and C portions of the sutra, plus the silent prayers and chanting of daimoku. If people want to recite five prayers in the morning and three in the evening in their own homes as their personal practice, that is, of course, respectworthy .

One of the questions asked was about the word gongyo, which means assiduous practice. One representative asked, "Now that we are doing A & C gongyo, is it appropriate to still call it gongyo, since it no longer seems so assiduous?" The history of gongyo was then discussed.

The Daishonin wrote about chanting daimoku and reciting portions of the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" chapters. The format we are adopting does not mean that gongyo has been made less assiduous, or easier.

What we've been calling the "full" gongyo of five and three sutra recitations originated with Nichiren Shoshu. The priests at one time would go to five different buildings on the head temple grounds to conduct gongyo. Later, instead of doing one prayer at each of five different locations, they did all five prayers in one place. For us, since we only do gongyo in one place, reciting the sutra portions once is natural and appropriate.

It was President Toda who suggested that we should adopt the practice of five and three recitations. Doing gongyo daily thus became a great tradition of the Soka Gakkai. Now, at the start of the 21st century, as more and more people have come to seek Nichiren Buddhism, the most important thing is to emphasize chanting daimoku. When people do A and C gongyo with abundant daimoku, that is certainly an assiduous practice.

Assiduous practice means that through doing gongyo, one actually polishes one's life. What changes one's life is not formality, but faith based on wholeheartedly chanting daimoku together with reciting the sutra. The benefit of performing the practice of gongyo comes from one's correct faith.

Not reciting the prose, or B section, of the "Life Span" chapter raises the question of whether part of the message or teaching is being left out. Actually, that is not the case. The verse, or C section, repeats the message contained in B. The last line of the prose section states: "At that time the World- Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once more, spoke in verse form" (The Lotus Sutra, trans. Burton Watson, p. 229). If one has time, it is more valuable to spend it chanting daimoku the primary practice of the Daishonin's Buddhism. There was a clear consensus among all the SGI representatives to adopt the new format of gongyo.

It was suggested that following A and C gongyo in the morning, we recite all five of the current silent prayers; and the second, third and fifth silent prayers at the end of evening gongyo.

Living Buddhism will publish an article in its June issue titled "An Examination of the History and Meaning of Daily Buddhist Practice (Gongyo)."The following excerpts on gongyo and daimoku were published in the May 2002 issue of Living Buddhism, pp.8-9:

In "The One Essential Phrase" Nichiren Daishonin explains the great power and benefit of the primary practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other works where he elucidates his teachings, he explains the importance of reciting portions of the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" chapters of the Lotus Sutra. Together, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and reciting portions of the Lotus Sutra comprise the primary and supplementary components of daily practice before the object of devotion, the Gohonzon. The following quotes from the Daishonin and SGI President Ikeda address the importance of reciting the sutra.

"Though no chapter of the Lotus Sutra is negligible, among the entire twenty-eight chapters, the 'Expedient Means' chapter and the 'Life Span' chapter are particularly outstanding. The remaining chapters are all in a sense the branches and leaves of these two chapters. Therefore, for your regular recitation, I recommend that you practice reading the prose sections of the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' chapters." ("The Recitation of the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' Chapters," The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 71)

"I have written out the prose section of the 'Expedient Means' chapter for you. You should recite it together with the verse portion of the 'Life Span' chapter, which I sent you earlier." ("Reply to the Lay Priest Soya," WND, 486)

"The Lotus Sutra represents the bone and marrow of all the sacred teachings of the Buddha's lifetime, and the verse section of the 'Life Span' chapter represents the soul of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra. The various Buddhas of the three existences look upon the 'Life Span' chapter as their very life, and the bodhisattvas of the ten directions likewise regard the chapter's verse section as their eyes." ("Letter to Horen," WND, 516)

"In light of all this, we can say that each morning, [when he recites the verse section of the 'Life Span' chapter] the priest Horen is sending forth golden-hued characters from his mouth. These characters are 510 in number, and each character changes into a sun, and each sun changes into a Thus Come One Shakyamuni. They emit great beams of light that penetrate the earth and shine upon the three evil paths and the great citadel of the hell of incessant suffering." ("Letter to Horen," WND, 517/18)

"As you know, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, or the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, is termed the 'primary practice' and reading or reciting the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' chapters is called the 'supplementary practice' or 'supporting practice'.
"... The benefit from carrying out the primary practice is immense. When you also recite the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' chapters, it has the supplementary function of increasing and accelerating the beneficial power of the primary practice. Our basic way of gongyo is to chant daimoku as its primary component and recite the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' chapters as the supplementary." (Lectures on the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" Chapters of the Lotus Sutra, Daisaku Ikeda, pp. 16-17)

"The primary practice of the Daishonin's Buddhism is to chant Nam- myoho-renge-kyo, the ultimate truth of the highest Buddhist teaching. Since we are carrying out the supreme primary practice, anything less than the highest supplementary practice would be of no help at all.
"The supplementary practice the Daishonin chose is the recitation of the 'Expedient Means' and 'Life Span' chapters of the Lotus Sutra, the purpose of Shakyamuni Buddha's advent in this world. Of the sutra's twenty-eight chapters, these two represent 'the essence of the theoretical teaching' and 'the essence of the essential teaching,' respectively. "During the Daishonin's time, as well, his followers recited these two chapters." (Lectures on the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" Chapters of the Lotus Sutra, Daisaku Ikeda, pp. 18-19)

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