Context: This is an article excerpt from a wonderful article (Source mentioned below) I had read years back. The buddhist concept in question is Oneness of Body and Mind. It basically describes very wonderfully (and truly) how daimoku works to purify our six senses and helps us look good, become healthy and emerge happy.
While most of us know instinctively that there is a clear connection between our physical well-being and our mental or spiritual state, medical science still tends to separate the mind from the body. Whilst the ‘psychosomatic factor’ in illness may be accepted, this acceptance can be as unbalanced as the view that the physical body is merely a machine in need to repair: if a disease is not purely a matter of cells and tissues it must be ‘all in the mind,’ which to many people is the same thing as saying it does not ‘really’ exist.
Adopting the ‘spiritual’ viewpoint, when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we are positively affecting every aspect of our inner nature. This is the case however confused and negative we may feel: Buddhism teaches that such feelings are a result of the innate existence within us of what are called ‘the three poisons’ of greed, anger and ignorance.
From a ‘material’ viewpoint, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo also affects every cell of our physical body, whatever our state of health or fitness. This is why people have, through determined practice, often overcome the most serious and apparently incurable illnesses.
Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon with sincerity and conviction, we realize for ourselves the inseparability of the spiritual and physical sides of our lives. Through chanting we can manifest our highest potential, the state of Buddhahood. Over time this is revealed in an increasingly vibrant, attractive appearance and in the growing clarity and purity of our mental and perceptive processes.
Again although we may chant for conspicuous proof of the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in material terms – a much needed pay rise, say – our chanting must also affect positively the spiritual side of our lives. Similarly, chanting to purify our ‘inner lives’ will not only bring about this ‘inconspicuous benefit,’ but be reflected in our improved physical and material well –being. We realize, as Nichiren Daishonin states in a letter to one of his disciples, that ‘the body is the palace of the Nine Consciousness [The pure and undefiled amala-consciousness, or Buddhahood], the unchanging reality which reigns over all life’s functions. And with this great practice as our basis, we can work to create value in all areas of life.
Source: Mind over matter by Bob Mann in UKE Jan 1995
While most of us know instinctively that there is a clear connection between our physical well-being and our mental or spiritual state, medical science still tends to separate the mind from the body. Whilst the ‘psychosomatic factor’ in illness may be accepted, this acceptance can be as unbalanced as the view that the physical body is merely a machine in need to repair: if a disease is not purely a matter of cells and tissues it must be ‘all in the mind,’ which to many people is the same thing as saying it does not ‘really’ exist.
Adopting the ‘spiritual’ viewpoint, when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we are positively affecting every aspect of our inner nature. This is the case however confused and negative we may feel: Buddhism teaches that such feelings are a result of the innate existence within us of what are called ‘the three poisons’ of greed, anger and ignorance.
From a ‘material’ viewpoint, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo also affects every cell of our physical body, whatever our state of health or fitness. This is why people have, through determined practice, often overcome the most serious and apparently incurable illnesses.
Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon with sincerity and conviction, we realize for ourselves the inseparability of the spiritual and physical sides of our lives. Through chanting we can manifest our highest potential, the state of Buddhahood. Over time this is revealed in an increasingly vibrant, attractive appearance and in the growing clarity and purity of our mental and perceptive processes.
Again although we may chant for conspicuous proof of the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in material terms – a much needed pay rise, say – our chanting must also affect positively the spiritual side of our lives. Similarly, chanting to purify our ‘inner lives’ will not only bring about this ‘inconspicuous benefit,’ but be reflected in our improved physical and material well –being. We realize, as Nichiren Daishonin states in a letter to one of his disciples, that ‘the body is the palace of the Nine Consciousness [The pure and undefiled amala-consciousness, or Buddhahood], the unchanging reality which reigns over all life’s functions. And with this great practice as our basis, we can work to create value in all areas of life.
Source: Mind over matter by Bob Mann in UKE Jan 1995
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