Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The phrase is somewhat difficult to render into English because each word or set of words contains a complex set of symbolism and connotation. One translation, used by Nichiren Shu, is "Adoration to the Scripture of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth", but without an understanding of the symbology behind the words, the full meaning is lost. "The Scripture of the Lotus of the Perfect Truth" is a text more commonly referred to in English simply as the Lotus Sutra.

On one level, Myōhō Renge Kyō is the Sino-Japanese title (hence, daimoku) of the Lotus Sutra, which is held by some, particularly Tiantai (Jp. Tendai) and Nichiren Buddhists to be Sakyamuni Buddha's penultimate teaching. On another, Myōhō Renge Kyō is seen as the distillation of the entire sutra; i.e., all the sutra's teachings are summarized in the title. Third, it is held by followers of (particularly) Nichiren Buddhism to be the Ultimate Law permeating the universe.

Namu or Nam (南無&#) derives from the Sanskrit namas and is used very commonly in Buddhism as an exclamation expressing reverence; in this mantra, it represents devoting or submitting onself to Myōhō Renge Kyō (i.e., the Lotus Sutra as the penultimate teaching of Buddhism), particularly as Nichiren intrepreted it. Broken down, Myōhō Renge Kyō consists of Myōhō (妙法, "Sublime" or "Mystic" Law; see Dharma), meaning the universe and all its manifestations; Renge (蓮華, Lotus Flower, a flower that blooms and bears seeds at the same time), signifying the simultaneity of cause and effect, the "natural law" underlying all phenomena; and Kyō (経, "Scripture," although it can have a variety of other meanings in other contexts), meaning a teaching of the Buddha. Some interpreters also believe kyō means sound and is therefore the reason that Nichiren Buddhists pray using the invocation of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. Thus, a loose translation of Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō might be "Devotion to the teaching of the Sublime (or Mystic) Law of the universe."

The characters for Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō are written down the centre of the Gohonzon, the mandala venerated by Nichiren Buddhists.

Precise interpretations of the Nam(u)-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, how it is pronounced, and its position in Buddhist practice differ slightly among the numerous schools and sub-sects of Nichiren Buddhism.

See also