The religion of Nichiren Shoshu can lead anyone, regardless of nationality, gender, age, intelligence or any other qualifying characteristic to enlightenment in this lifetime. Based on cause and effect, believers attain enlightenment through sincere effort in the three essentials of “faith”, “practice” and “study”.
Faith in Nichiren Shoshu means practicing True Buddhism with confidence that it will lead us to enlightenment. Our goal is to steadily build our faith day by day through actual experience, eventually attaining a doubt free mind. Because Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism possesses the highest truth and practice appropriate for this age, doubt free faith leads directly to enlightenment.
“Study” means to read the writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the High Priest with faith, continually seeking to better know the True Buddha’s mind and spirit. Attending lectures at the temple also exposes our seeking minds to the Buddha’s wisdom. “Practice” is a characteristic of Buddhism which is new to some people in the West. Practice is the means by which we put into action the conviction of our faith and make real in our own daily lives, theories and concepts learned through study.