Maine Nichiren Shu Fellowship


		We are an informal group practicing Buddhism in the tradition of Nichiren Shu. We are associated with the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England. Please Join Us. Everyone is welcome. Time & Days: We meet Thursdays from 7:15 pm to 9:30 pm. (Dates Below) You may also visit the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England for more information and events in the New England area. Location: - University of Southern Maine - Bailey Hall, room 301 Gorham Campus...............for directions to the campus click on Gorham Campus. Contact: Max Calderwood

Calendar of events

The Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of New England will be holding a intensive weekend retreat from July 30 - Aug 1, 2010. For more information visit the Sangha web site.

Pilgrimage 2011 to Japan

For up to date reminders, information and updates about events please join the Maine Nichiren Shu Fellowship on meetup. Meetup is a free service which allows you to see current events and have reminers sent to you at your request. See the link below the Calendar to join our meet up.

	2009
.		Sep.
			17
		Oct.
		.	01
			15
.		Nov.
		.	05
			19
		Dec.
		.	03
	2010	.
		Jan.
			07
			21
		Feb.
			04
			18
		Mar.
			04
			18
		Apr.
			01
			15
		May
			06
			20

Note: If the campus is officially closed down due to storm or emergency, Meditation and Chanting will be canceled. If you are coming from out of town please call before you leave to make sure that activities are on schedule.

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The Maine Nichiren Shu Fellowship

Visit the Nichiren Shu Virtual Temple, Myoho-Ji, in Second Life. Click the SL icon above for more information and directions on entering Second Life.

Several of the Nichiren Shu Temples in North America stream services on the web using Ustream. This can be a way to learn about Buddhist practice and to participate in Buddhist services. Please visit the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of New England's web page to learn more about these events.

Simple Explanations

For more detailed explanations of Nichiren Shu style services please visit the Nichiren Buddhist International Centers site. NBIC

Daily Service (Sutra Chanting):

During our Sutra Chanting service we chant portions of the Lotus Sutra and also chant the Odaimoku (Namu Myoho Renge Kyo). This is a version of the daily service practiced by Nichiren Shu practitioners at home. The chapters from the Lotus Sutra are read in the traditional way (Chinese Characters with Japanese pronunciation) called Shindoku and sometimes in English. Shindoku literally means faith reading and is a form of meditation in itself. It is not necessary to understand academically while chanting in Shindoku as it is a form of meditation practice. English chanting is more for academic understanding. Portions of chapters two and sixteen are most often chanted even though other sections may be added as well.

Meditation:

Meditation services in the Nichiren Shu are called Shodaigyo. "Shodai" is chanting Odaimoku and "gyo" is practice. These services are a combination of silent meditation with chanting of the Odaimoku (Namu Myoho Renge Kyo). This is a very different practice from Sutra Chanting services (Daily Service). Meditaion helps us bring ourselves back to our center and helps alleviate the stress of our hectic daily lives.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for the Greater New England Sangha newsletter please contact Max Calderwood or email / call Rev. Faulconer at / 617-314-7782 in Boston or 1-866-585-4891 outside Boston area. You may also download the current newsletter on the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England web site.
Current and past Newsletters of the Nichiren Shu headquarters in Tokyo Japan "Nichiren Shu News" and Nichiren Buddhist International Center in Hayward California "Bridge of America" are available on their site for download in pdf format. You will find many interesting articles and study material about our order in these publications.

Newsletters will require a pdf reader. If you do not have one on your computer, you can download a free reader at Adobe .

Special Events:

Nichiren Order of North America and the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Greater New England are sponsers of this years week long summer retreat. It is a wonderful time to meet others from your area or around North America and learn more about Nichiren Buddhism. The retreat focus is on practice in the Nichiren Shu tradition. All are welcome. For more information and registration please visit the Retreat web page.

Links:

This page is maintained by Rev. Ryuoh Faulconer.

LAST UPDATE 09/03/2009

WEB PAGE FOR THE NICHIREN ORDER OF NORTH AMERICA (NONA)

WEB PAGE FOR THE NICHIREN BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL CENTER (NBIC)

nichiren-shu.org

The Nichiren Buddhist International Center is located in Hayward California and is the center for activities of the Nichiren Order outside of Japan. The center supplies reading materials and training for Nichiren Shu followers. Please visit their web site for information about our order, to buy books and supplies and to check schedules of events offered by the center.

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