Taking Refuge Ceremony

The Place of Enlightenment (Dojoge)
[Priest] This place of enlightenment is as luminous as the gems of the net of King Sakra,
[Together] All the Three Treasures of the worlds of the ten directions manifest themselves here. Now we are before them. We bow to the Buddhas and worship their feet with our heads.

Invitation (Kanjo)

With reverence we adore the Great Mandala of the Most Venerable One, the Perfect Circle having never been revealed before in the Latter Age.

With reverence we adore Shakyamuni Buddha, the Great Benefactor, the Original Teacher who attained Buddhahood in the beginingless past.

With reverence we adore Many Treasures Tathagata, who appeared in the world to bear winess to the validity of the Wonderful Dhamra of the Lotus Flower Sutra.

With reverence we adore the Buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions in the past, present and future, the emanations of the Original Buddha Shakyamuni.

With reverence we venerate Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Bhaisajyaraja, Bhaisajyasamudgata, Pradanasura, Gadgadasvara, Avalokitesvara and the other Bodhisattvas, the disciples of either the historical Shakyamuni Buddha or of the Buddhas who have come from other worlds.

With reverence we venerate Mahabrahman, Sakra, the Kings of the Four Quarters and the other gods who protect the practitioners of the One Vehicle.

With reverence we venerate the six major disciples, the nine senior disciples, and the other disciples of Nichiren as well as the priests who contributed much to our Order.

May all Venerable Ones come to this place of enlightenment, see us with the eyes of wisdom, and receive the savor of the Dharma out of their compassion toward us.

Sutra Chanting (Dokyo)

Nichiren's Instructions (Sokun) "...it is imperative that one repay one's debt of gratitude to the three treasures. In ancient times, there were sages such as the boy Snow Mountain, Bodhisattva Ever Waiting, Bodhisattva Medicine King, and King Universal Brightness, all of whom offered their lives in order to make such repayment. The first offered his body as food to a demon. The second sold his own blood and marrow. The third burned his arms, and the fourth was ready to part with his head. Ordinary people in this latter age, however, though receiving the benefits of the three treasures, completely neglect to repay them. How, then, can they attain the Buddha way?" (The Four Debts of Gratitude, p.45)

Three Refuges and Precepts (Sanki Vinaya)
Three Treasures:
[Priest] It is difficult to be born as a human being, yet we have now realized such birth. To hear the teaching of the Blessed One is difficult, yet we may now hear them. Let these opportunities serve as a basis for our deliverance, in this very lifetime, from suffering and from the unending succession of births and deaths. Let us reverently take refuge in these three treasures.

[Together] I have faith in the Buddha.
May we who are within the Nichiren Order absorb the Buddha's way to enlightenment and awaken the Buddha's will within ourselves.

I have faith in the Dharma.
May we who are within the Nichiren Order increase our understanding of the Buddha's teachings and, thereby, gain the Buddha's profound oceanic wisdom.

I have faith in the Sangha.
May we who are within the Nichiren Order grow in accordance with the Buddha's life of harmony and may we become free of the bondage of selfishness endowed with the spirit of universal brotherhood.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa Buddham Saranam Gacchami Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Sangham Saranam Gacchami Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami Dutiyampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Dutiyampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami Tatiyamampi Buddham Saranam Gacchami Tatiyamampi Dhammam Saranam Gacchami Tatiyamampi Sangham Saranam Gacchami

[Priest] Through all the ages, such an excellent, wonderful and profound teaching is rarely heard. Now we are able to receive the Buddha's noble teaching. Let us strive to fully comprehend the meaning of this noble teaching - this gift to us.
[Together] Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

[Priest] Until you attain Buddhahood, will you keep the Diamond Chalice Precept given by the Original Shakyamuni Buddha?
[Recipient/Together] Yes, I will. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
[Priest] Until you attain Buddhahood, will you keep the Gohonzon revealed by the Original Shakyamuni Buddha?
[Recipient/Together] Yes, I will. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
[Priest] Until you attain Buddhahood, will you keep the Odaimoku founded by the Original Shakyamuni Buddha?
[Recipient/Together] Yes, I will. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

Daimoku Chanting (Shodai)

Dedication (Eko)
[Priest] With reverence we offer the savor of the Dharma to the Gohonzon and the Great Bodhisattva Nichiren, the Founder of Our Order, the Great Leader of us who live in the Latter Age in order to celebrate the rite of conversion for (_______).

May the limitless compassion of the Buddha be bestowed on this person so that he may be able to expiate the grave sin of slandering the Dharma that he has committed from the beginingless past, avoid the way to the four lower worlds, embrace the Three Great Hidden Dharmas, purify the three karmas of thought, word and deed, accord himself with the Right Teachings of the Buddha in earning his livelihood, practice and study under the guidance of a teacher, praise his fellow practitioners, and help propagate the Wonderful Dharma.

May this great opportunity of his conversion be the starting point of transmitting the Wonderful Dharma to his posterity, generation after generation, to finally witness the establishment of a Precepts Platform, where all may convert themselves to the Wonderful Dharma.

Four Vows (Shisei)

[Together] I vow to hold the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. I vow to practice the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. I vow to protect the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. I vow to spread the teaching of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.

Three Refuges of the Essential Teaching (Honmon Sanki)
[Together]

We put our faith in the Great Beneficient Teacher and Lord Shakyamuni Buddha, the Eternal Buddha.

We put our faith in the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Sutra, the Teaching of Equality, the Great Wisdom, the One Vehicle.

We put our faith in the Great Bohisattva Nichiren Shonin, the eminent founder of our Order, the appearance of Bodhisattva Superior Practice dispatched by our Original Buddha.

Farewell (Buso)
[Priest] Venerable Ones!
[Together] Remember us, be where you like, and come again out of your great compassion toward us!

Manual of Nichiren Buddhism by Rev. Senchu Murano. Nichiren Shu HQ: Tokyo. 1995. pp. 17-20, 37-38 translating portions of the Nichiren Shu Hoyo Shiki.

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