Daily Gosho - On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

I'll be honest - I know that throughout my practice, there are times when I've worshipped a Honzon, rather than devoting myself to the Gohonzon and the power of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.  That Honzon, in the past, could have been a boyfriend and at times, work. Our challenge as Bodhisattvas of the Earth, is to develop our faith in the Mystic Law, as the one true teaching, discarding all provisional teachings. We should  truly believe, within the depths of our whole being, that our lives are Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. In his lecture on this Gosho, Sensei reminds us of President Toda's impassioned guidance: "Propagating the Mystic Law in the Latter Day means firmly believing that your life is nothing apart from Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo!" (p35, Lectures on "On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime") 

"Nevertheless, even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume 1, page 3) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=3 Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, August 3rd, 2012


Background
This letter was written to Toki Jonin in the seventh year of Kencho (1255), two years after Nichiren Daishonin established his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. At the time of this letter, the Daishonin was thirty-four years old and was living in Kamakura, the seat of the military government. Toki was a staunch follower of the Daishonin who lived in Wakamiya in Shimosa Province. He received some thirty letters, including Letter from Sado and one of the major treatises, The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind. A retainer of Lord Chiba, the constable of Shimosa, Toki had become a follower of the Daishonin around 1254.
Of all his writings from the mids, On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime focuses most clearly on the tenets of the Daishonin’s Buddhism; many of the other works of this period are aimed chiefly at refuting the erroneous doctrines of other schools and discussing theoretical questions. This short essay not only reflects the theories T’ien-t’ai formulated based on the Lotus Sutra, but also reveals the concrete practice for attaining Buddhahood - namely, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—that is missing in T’ient’ai’s theoretical framework.
Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, but to the Daishonin it is much more; it is the essence of the sutra, the revelation of the supreme Law itself. Apparent in this work are both the depth of his thought and his conviction that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the only teaching that can lead people to Buddhahood in this lifetime.