When you chant, you are accessing a life force that has always been within you. As a result, you will probably get some push-back in your life. You'll tell yourself "I will definitely go to that SGI meeting on Tuesday night" and a friend will call and ask you out for that night. We call this "push-back" Sansho Shima. That's the force that come up against us when we try to move our lives forward in a positive direction. We also call them obstacles.
The important thing is to remember what you really want. Do you want to have and use a practice that can transform your life from the inside out, bringing you untold benefit and strength, or do you just want momentary happiness? Could your friend see you another night?
Some people find work obstacles arise. They have to work late every night. SGI meetings in America start at 7pm on weeknights. If you find you need to work late a lot, and are missing meetings the answer is actually pretty simple, but also difficult. It's obvious that you need to chant to be able to attend your meeting. Chances are, if you're missing a lot of meetings because of working long hours the rest of your life is a bit out of control. You may be missing morning gongyo and not studying. Your life could have shifted out of rhythm.
How do you get back in rhythm?
The first thing you can do is call a strong Gakkai friend. If you can, you arrange to chant with them. Otherwise just accept their encouragement. This may be enough to give you some more fire in your Daimoku, and you can chant to strengthen your practice and deepen your prayer.
Remember - chanting twice a day is a LOT easier than chanting from time to time. Chanting twice a day puts your life in a delightful rhythm. It cannot be explained, only experienced. Hava a great day.
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