# "nom myoho renge kyo" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802 "2003-05-27T16:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/1 "2003-05-27T16:56:05Z")
What was the name of that cult back in the 1980s that chanted “nom myoho renge kyo”? [sub](No offense if it’s an actual religion and not a “cult”.)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/2 "2003-05-27T17:27:52Z")
I think it’s a Buddhist thing. (Highly scientific cite: Tina Turner chanted it with her Buddhist friend in _What’s Love Got to Do with It._) ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/3 "2003-05-27T17:29:26Z")
Here’s a better cite: > **[Soka Gakkai (global)](https://www.sokaglobal.org/)** > > The official website of the Soka Gakkai, a global community-based Buddhist organization that promotes peace centered on respect for the dignity of life. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/4 "2003-05-27T17:29:52Z")
Was it a “cult” or just a (Japanese) Buddhist chant? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/5 "2003-05-27T17:45:21Z")
**Scarlett67** : Your site is blocked by my wmployer’s server. > [@](#): > > Was it a “cult” or just a (Japanese) Buddhist chant? I’m not sure. IIRC, the organisation that popularized it in the L.A. area was “NSA”. Obviously, a search on NSA will probably bring up the _other_ NSA. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/6 "2003-05-27T18:08:21Z")
“I devote myself to the Lotus Sutra”. You find the chant in the Tendai and Nichren schools of Buddhism. There’s the belief that if you chant it perfectly, it leads to salvation. The Lotus Sutra is a text used in some Buddhist schools. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/7 "2003-05-27T18:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*I’m not sure. IIRC, the organisation that popularized it in the L.A. area was “NSA”. Obviously, a search on NSA will probably bring up the _other_ NSA. \*\* [Nichiren Society of America](http://www.nsa-usa.org/) From the site: > [@](#): > > Daimoku > The primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism is the recitation of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. In reciting the [O]daimoku, we are upholding the spiritual essence of the Lotus Sutra, which is the spiritual essence of the Buddha’s teaching. . . That is why chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, ``I devote myself to the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Flower Teaching," is the primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nom-myoho-renge-kyo/177802/8 "2003-05-27T20:06:06Z")
What **Colibri** said. It’s a chant uttered by adherents of the Nichiren school of buddhism. The idea, as it was explained to me, was that my regular chanting, one can attain that which the desire. A boyfriend, a new job, etc…By itself, it’s not a cult, just as Christianity is not a cult, even though there are Christian cults. There is a group in Japan, whose name escapes me, which I would have to call “Cult-ish” They tend to recruit people from the ranks of the vulnerable; the lonely, the eldery the stupid, etc. Members are expected to contribute generously to its coffers. They also have a rather large political party and hold several seats in the Japanese Parliament (the “Komeito?”). The NSA is their US arm. My sister in-law is an active member and boy, is she fucked up…