<Recitation of the Lotus Sutra>                     In the Innerself development process, the Lotus Sutra's text is recited aloud (in the presence of the ancestral plaque) rather than read silently. It is recited aloud so that the words of the recited text can penetrate our mind and stimulate us to seek our own inner knowledge of the Sutra's teaching. In other words, the sounds and images of the recited text impel us to reflect upon and learn about ourselves. The sounds of the recited text also reverberate all the way to the inner storeroom of the sub-conscious. Once there, they act as a catalyst to bring insights and realizations about the storeroom's contents into the light of consciousness and awareness. Thus, in the effort to find the "real Lotus Sutra" within ourselves through recitation of its text, we become aware of all the aspects of ourselves that were hidden in our mind and in our sub-consciousness. In this way the Lotus Sutra is a torch to bring hidden knowledge of ourselves into the light of understanding.