Daily Gosho - On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Ok, so it's lighting the candles, making sure my butsudan is clean, and offering incense at gongyo time - but actually, it's so much more than that. These rituals are part of our daily practice of course, but they bring great benefits to our lives, without fail. We're offering them to the Gohonzon, but really, to ourselves. 
It sometimes becomes second nature to do these things so I'm really determined to think about every part of my practice, making sure I keep the spirit of Nichiren Daishonin in my heart. That strong belief that every act I carry out is creating 'treasures of the heart'' in my life. And of course, like everything in this practice, it's the spirit that's most important. Not giving 'cause I think I'll get something back, and not begrudging my giving. 

"Whether you chant the Buddha's name, recite the sutra, or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life. With this conviction you should strive in faith."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 4) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=3 Selection source: The New Human Revolution, Seikyo Shimbun, August 25th, 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.