The Muddy Swamp is where all our stories begin.
Our own personal muddy swamps are the mud that we transmute to GOLD as modern-day alchemists.
And we have found the secret formula to transmute mud to gold: chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over...and over and over...every day of our lives...not giving up for ONE second. (Well, maybe we do give up for one second, until a fellow SGI member (and good friend in faith) hauls us back onto the boat and we make a fresh new determination to win once again!)
Here's an excerpt from our book The BuddhaZone, PowerPrayers for Chanting Your Way to Absolute Happiness about the Lotus Flower:
The lotus is a very special and unusual flower. It is the only flower in the known natural world that produces both blossoms and seeds simultaneously, whereas other flowers tend to flower first, then dry up and then produce seed pods. Others, still, make seeds and then flowers. In either case, neither one does it simultaneously as does the lotus. But wait, there's more: the lotus exists on both land and water, more accurately in land and above water. Each lotus seed eventually finds its way down to the bottom of the pond and makes of its rich murky and dark loam a profound root bed. It draws the composting muck at the bottom of the pond up though its body and turns it into the precise nourishment needed to produce an astonishingly beautiful blossom that hovers just above the water through which it came. When we talk about the Lotus as Buddhists, we are talking about peace of mind, self sufficiency, happiness, and most importantly, simultaneity.
Simultaneity is a big word for people. What the heck does it mean, really? The Buddha taught through the Lotus Sutra the astonishing fact that all causes and effects exist simultaneously. In fact, all time truly exists simultaneously. Because of this, when we pray as Buddhists, things start to manifest right away. And, if we really look, we will begin to recognize the signs that our prayer is having an effect as soon as we begin chanting.
Through this practice, one realizes that the Lotus, which is emblematic of our very life, blooms not in spite of the murky depths, but because of them. Thus, the deeper the swampy mess of our life, the more "dross" or base matter we have at our disposal, so to speak, to use as we make of it our very own alchemical golden happiness. No trouble is too serious, no disaster too tragic, no loss too painful for the mystically beautiful process of value creation that is our essential and true purpose, once we have come to understand who it is that we truly are: The Lotus aka The Buddha.
And throughout our lives we return to our own Muddy Swamp to dig up something that we can turn to gold. As Daisaku Ikeda says " We summoned this storm!" Usually it looks as though something has "happened" to us. But in reality is something from our own lives...a challenge...an obstacle...an opportunity to turn poison into medicine through chanting the name of the mystic law.
And all of us are alike. We all share challenges together - which is what makes the SGI organization of Buddhist practitioners so important. We each grow and learn from each other. In August, as you may know, I launched the Worldwide Million Daimoku Campaign (It's not too late to join the Worldwide Million Daimoku Campaign. Just set your goals, make a chart that represents 300 hours and start your own Million Daimoku Campaign. You can have a set end date if you want (mine is the end of the year so I am chanting 2 hours a day), or you can have no set end date and that's okay too...just check off one space for each hour you chant. Email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com to let me know you're in!)
Right after I launched this campaign I went deep into the muddy swamp with someone I love with all my heart. It's too early to share the details, but I can tell you that it is getting better and better and better, and my fierce determination to win in every aspect of the situation has never wavered, no matter how wildly my emotions were jumping about. I will use this experience to inspire others. And my loved one will do the same!
Just like being on a boat...I have a rudder to my life...the rudder of Nam-myoho-renge kyo. And as long as I keep my hand on that rudder by chanting abundant daimoku, encouraging and chanting with others, doing shakubuku and studying...I know I WILL WIN. There is no doubt in my mind. One dear friend received her Gohonzon in August, and another will receive theirs next week.
Just remember, no matter how muddy it seems...and sometimes it feels like we are really stuck in that mud...by basing our lives on this practice we will WIN. Winning means happiness. Winning means actual proof. Winning means inspiring other. Winning means strength and fulfillment in life.
We are all winners as long as we don't give up!
Join me in Bali in November! I will be leading a workshop from November 16th through the 22nd on brining out your inner Buddha. We'll explore Bali together and deepen our faith in our own innate, powerful Buddhahood!
Visit Love Your Spirit Tours to enroll!
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