Living a Life of Strength through Daimoku

"The moment we resolve "I will become healthy!" "I will become strong!" "I will work cheerfully for kosen-rufu!" our lives begin to move in that direction. We have to make up our minds."

 - Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

I love that quote from President Ikeda. He is so right. 
When I chant I focus on expanding my life for Kosen Rufu (world peace), and I continually chant to strengthen my life and raise my life condition so that I experience every moment as the Buddha I am.  

On Saturday I was planning to bring some friends to a very far neighborhood in Chicago for a CD release party. As I was returning from lunch with my son, my front right tire hit a pothole in the road that was impossible to see. It was a loud and scary sound. Later when my friends and I were ready to go out my tire was completely flat. 

Since my life condition was so high this didn't ruin my night in the least. I wasn't upset. We took one of my friend's  cars and I drove since I don't mind city driving. We got home very late and had a blast dancing and listening to the band. 

The next morning I had to figure out what to do with my car. 
When you're "in rhythm" everything just works out beautifully. 

I contacted a couple of people to see if they could help. One of them was my neighbor whom I don't really know well, but he was happy to help. He is new to this area and finds he has a lot of time on the weekends. He put the spare on, and when we were on the way to the tire place I was reminded that I actually had an extra tire in case this one was ruined. I had forgotten all about that extra tire. 

The trip to the tire store was actually fun and we went food shopping at some stores my new neighbor didn't know about and appreciated finding out about. And the tire store ended up charging me NOTHING to install the extra tire I had. All around it was not just a painless experience of having a flat tire. It was an enjoyable one. 

I tell you this story to illustrate that when our lives are strong, when WE are strong, even our obstacles can be something we appreciate and sometimes, even enjoy. At the heart of it all is our life condition, our connection to our Buddha Nature and our connection to our environment. 

Chanting to strengthen or lives and raise our life conditions is so important to our own happiness and the happiness of everyone around us. When we are strong we are unshakable and we are happy. 

Our happiness is contagious. We reach everyone with our happiness.

Strength equals happiness. Chanting to strengthen our lives is always a great thing to do. 

Have a great strong and happy day!