Why do we chant?

Holiday Wonderland in Malaysia...enchanting! 

If you're new to the whole chanting idea...or even if you're not...why do it? What does chanting do for you? 

Let's look at a few basics behind the very idea of chanting. 

First of all, one of the main concepts of Buddhism is
that:

You are a Buddha. 
We are all Buddhas. 
What is a Buddha?

 One who is awakened to the fact that he or she is a microcosm of the universe, and therefore has all the power of the universe within.  All Buddhas are equal. We do not pray TO the Buddha! We ARE the Buddha. We chant to access the power within us...and channel it in the direction we want it to go. 

It's there. All the power...all the glory...all the beauty. Right in our own lives. And it's accessible by chanting the simple words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. These words mean: I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration. Chanting these words is like calling out to the law of the universe BY NAME, and bringing forth whatever you may desire. 

That's another beautiful thing about chanting. Your DESIRES ARE ENLIGHTENMENT. The more desires you have, the better! Your desires are all good - in this unique form of Buddhism. Even the bad ones. 

When you chant for what you want you will change your life in a positive direction. When you chant, you are plugging your life into the miraculous power of the entire universe. You don't have to understand it. You don't have to believe it. It's a Law. 

I know a man who started chanting to prove to his wife that chanting did not work. More than 40 years later he is still chanting because he realized how profoundly it DID work....even when he didn't believe in it. He has inspired countless people with his story and with his life. (Hi Amos!)

Chanting works because our selves and our environments are interconnected. Our lives are interwoven and are able, with our own power, to affect the entire environment in which we live. 

I'm sure you've noticed this many times in your life. There are days in which you hit every green light, and days in which you hit every red one. I know this is simplified, but I think you understand what I am saying. And because of this, when we chant to change our own lives...when we chant to raise our life conditions, when we chant to realize the magnificence of our own Buddhahood, the environment around us changes as well. It has to. Try it and see. 

I offer you this: Do an experiment. For the next 100 days chant at least 5 minutes every morning and evening. Go the SGI-usa.com website and find people in your area who chant. Go to meetings. Make a Buddhist friend. Write your list of desires. And watch your life change in a positive direction! You will feel your own happiness growing and growing. Get some books at the SGI Center by you, or order them through the publications number on the website. Anything written by Daisaku Ikeda is the key to your growth. He has dedicated his life to achieving world peace through each person's human revolution for 64 years. One of my favorite books of his is a small book called "On Attaining Buddhahood". 

You can be happier than you ever imagined....and your desires CAN come true. I am living proof of that. YOU CAN BE TOO!