Duncan Sheik, '90s Rocker Turned Broadway Composer
Duncan Sheik, a Grammy and Tony Award-winning Broadway composer, discusses his 27-year practice of Nichiren Buddhism. He explains how chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo helped him overcome severe stage fright and channel creative energy, emphasizing its focus on creating daily value.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
Duncan Sheik's Introduction to Nichiren Buddhism
The Practice of Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
Overcoming Performance Anxiety Through Chanting
Initial Skepticism and the First Chanting Experience
Physiological and Philosophical Effects of Chanting
Historical Context and Reformist Nature of Nichiren Buddhism
Intellectual Infrastructure and Community Practice
Nichiren Buddhism's Focus on Daily Life and Value Creation
The Concept of Earthly Desires and Enlightenment
Buddhist Themes in Duncan Sheik's Songwriting
Rehab Experience and Renewed Practice
Transition to Broadway and 'Spring Awakening'
Buddhist Themes and the 10 Life States in Art
The Evolving Meaning of Music with Age
Current and Upcoming Creative Projects
Shared Experience with Panic Attacks and Prevention
5 Key Concepts
Nichiren Buddhism
A Japanese form of Buddhism, practiced by Duncan Sheik, which is a lay Buddhist organization focused on engaging with daily life and creating value. It was reformed by Nichiren to be accessible to all people, including commoners and women, challenging the aristocratic and priestly practices of his time.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
The essential chant in Nichiren Buddhism, literally translating to 'devotion to the great and wonderful Lotus Sutra.' Chanting it rhythmically is believed to have physiological effects, changing breathing and body function, and connecting the practitioner to the universal law of cause and effect.
Lotus Sutra
A foundational Buddhist text whose title is chanted in Nichiren Buddhism. It teaches that every human life possesses an infinite Buddha nature, which can be manifested through practice, connecting individuals to the vast potential and power of the universe.
Earthly Desires Equal Enlightenment
A concept in Nichiren Buddhism that posits desire is not inherently negative but a necessary motivation. Through practice, desires become clearer, helping individuals understand what truly brings happiness and how to create value in their lives, rather than simply pursuing superficial gratifications.
10 Life States
A Buddhist concept describing the shifting states of human existence: hell, hunger, animality, anger, tranquility, rapture, learning, realization, bodhisattva (compassion), and enlightenment. Duncan Sheik believes that great pieces of art effectively represent all these different life states within the human condition.
9 Questions Answered
It's a Japanese form of Buddhism, popularized by Nichiren as a reform movement to make Buddhism accessible to common people, women, and all walks of life, focusing on daily practice and creating value in the world.
The essential practice involves chanting 'Nam-myoho-renge-kyo' aloud, typically every morning and evening, in front of a mandala called a gohonzon, for varying durations.
Chanting creates a rhythmic, physiological effect that changes breathing and body function, and it's believed to align one with the universal law of cause and effect, fostering hope, creative energy, and a sense of connection to a larger potential.
Unlike Zen or Vipassana, which may focus on calming the mind or erasing the ego, Nichiren Buddhism is very engaged in daily life, emphasizing creating value for oneself and others, and fulfilling one's potential.
Duncan Sheik believes the specific syllables have power, as they are the title of the Lotus Sutra, which speaks to the universal Buddha nature and the infinity of time and space, making it distinct from chanting random words.
While not a magical cure, Duncan Sheik found that his Buddhist practice, even after going to rehab for drinking, helped him return to a more intense practice, fostering a 'never give up spirit' and aiding in overcoming performance anxiety.
Nichiren Buddhism has a concept that 'earthly desires equal enlightenment,' meaning desires are not inherently bad but provide motivation. Through practice, desires become clearer, helping one understand what truly brings happiness and allows for value creation.
These are distinct states of human experience, including hell, hunger, animality, anger, tranquility, rapture, learning, realization, bodhisattva (compassion), and enlightenment, which individuals shift through at any given moment.
According to Dan Harris's shrink, preventive self-care is key, including getting enough sleep, not drinking too much coffee, and exercising, as these vastly diminish the likelihood of an attack.
14 Actionable Insights
1. Prioritize Self-Care for Panic Prevention
Practice preventive self-care by avoiding excessive coffee, getting enough sleep, and exercising to significantly reduce the likelihood of panic attacks.
2. Quit Cocaine to Prevent Panic
Quit cocaine use to prevent or significantly reduce panic attacks, as it can be a major exacerbating factor.
3. Practice Nichiren Buddhist Chanting Daily
Chant ‘Nam-myoho-renge-kyo’ aloud every morning and evening, for 15 minutes to an hour or longer, ideally with a gohonzon (mandala), to develop vocal control, overcome performance anxiety, and foster hope and creative energy.
4. Engage in Direct Spiritual Practice
Actively sit down and practice spiritual disciplines, rather than just intellectually studying them, to experience powerful, life-changing effects on your karma, mission, and destiny.
5. Intensify Chanting for Deeper Effect
Chant for longer durations, such as an hour, to achieve a more intense effect compared to shorter periods, potentially leading to increased hopefulness, creative energy, and excitement for future possibilities.
6. Focus Chanting on Value Creation
Utilize chanting practice as a method to focus on how to create value in the world, for yourself, your environment, and society, especially when pursuing artistic or professional goals.
7. Observe Desires Non-Judgmentally
Approach personal desires (e.g., for drugs, money, sex) by observing them calmly, kindly, compassionately, and non-judgmentally, aiming to understand their origin and allowing them to pass.
8. Cultivate a ‘Never Give Up’ Spirit
Engage in consistent spiritual practice to embody a ’never give up’ spirit, which can help overcome internal blocks and fulfill your inherent potential.
9. Clarify Desires for True Happiness
Through consistent spiritual practice, allow your desires to become clearer, helping you identify and pursue the things that genuinely bring you happiness, such as creating art that deeply affects others.
10. Utilize Rhythmic Chanting for Physiology
Engage in rhythmic chanting to positively impact physiological functions, including breathing, and improve the relationship between your brain, heart, and circulatory system.
11. Participate in Group Spiritual Practice
Join group spiritual practices, such as chanting with others, to experience a unique potency and a ‘cool experience’ that individual practice might not offer.
12. Transform Challenges into Deeper Practice
When facing intense personal challenges like rehab, view them as opportunities to return to and intensify your personal spiritual practice, even if traditional recovery methods don’t align with your beliefs.
13. Dedicate Time to Pure Creative Pursuits
Intentionally schedule dedicated time off from demanding commitments to engage in ‘pure’ creative pursuits, allowing for artistic expression free from the pressures of ‘homework’ or external obligations.
14. Integrate Meditation into Creative Process
Incorporate meditation into your routine as a significant part of your creative process to support and enhance your artistic endeavors.
5 Key Quotes
But unless you sit down and practice, it's not going to have any real powerful effect on your life. You know, it's not going to change – it's not going to change your karma. It's not going to change your kind of, you know, your mission, your destiny, so to speak.
Duncan Sheik
I do understand that impulse very well about like, oh, this is sort of mystical, magical mumbo-jumbo. I get it. But I will say that, you know, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, first, it is a – it's a kind of a rhythmic thing. So there is something that does happen, I think, physiologically when you're kind of in that rhythm and you're chanting that thing.
Duncan Sheik
Nichiren Buddhism is, like, very engaged kind of in, in daily life. But, but in a, in a, you know, not in a, not in a sense of, like, proselytizing or anything, but just in a sense of the things that you're doing, are they creating value for, for the people in your environment?
Duncan Sheik
Every human life has Buddha nature within it. Okay, so everybody, no matter who you are, where you're from, no matter how awful or foolish or wonderful or beautiful or not, everyone has this Buddha nature within you. And it's something that you can, that you can manifest.
Duncan Sheik
But your desires become kind of clearer and the things that are going to make you truly happy, those things become clearer.
Duncan Sheik
1 Protocols
Nichiren Buddhist Chanting Practice
Duncan Sheik- Set up a mandala (gohonzon) on an altar.
- Chant 'Nam-myoho-renge-kyo' aloud.
- Practice every morning and evening.
- Chant for varying durations, from 15 minutes to an hour or more, depending on daily schedule.