Whether you are new to chanting, or revitalizing your practice - this blog is for you. You can use the points you like, and share the others with someone brand new to chanting.
It is true that:
By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you can transform all of your sufferings into benefit, and crystalize every desire into a blooming flower in our lives. You can become happier than you ever imagined...happier, more resourceful and more couraBygeous in taking action.
AND, you will make a difference in the lives of all you touch.
We can change anything through chanting because we tap into our inner realm of unlimited possibility when we chant. You are a Buddha of infinite potential!
When we chant the Mystic law we see changes in our life - whether we believe they will happen or not. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo means "I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration" or, as some say "I tune my life to the rhythm of all life." Saying these words is a great cause that breaks through all suffering and creates a life of happiness. It works!
"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a Lion." What sickness could therefore be an obstacle?
Nichiren Daishonin
9 Ways to Jump Start Your New Buddhist Practice!
By Jamie Lee Silver from Chantforhappiness.com
1. Make a list of what you really want in life. Take a fresh look at your desires and write them down. Dream big. What do you really want? What do you want for yourself? What do you want for others? What do you want for the world? Make a list. Write it down and put the date on it.
Many people began chanting with desires that later transformed into other desires. So don't worry about whether your desires are "right" desires to have. Chanting is progressive, both you and your desires will evolve. I know people who began a very rewarding practice chanting for things that were important at the time, but later changed into other desires.
One of my friends chanted for a month to prove to his wife that this practice doesn't work. Well, he found out it DID work and more than 40 years later he is still practicing. In Nichiren Buddhism your desires ARE enlightenment. It is okay to desire whatever you desire, whether it's money, the happiness of someone else, a relationship, a job, or peace of mind and contentment. With continued practice you will see that your dreams for yourself actually become tied to the dreams of happiness for all.
Chant for what is really in your heart.
2. This is a great time to start a Journal. It's not essential, but I think it's a great idea. Writing in a journal helps you become aware of your progress and benefits.
3. Revitalize your altar if you have one. Make it clean, shiny, uncluttered and make sure there's fresh fruit on it!
If you are new to chanting:
Choose a place to chant comfortably. Find your "home" with your home, where you can feel comfortable chanting out loud, having a dialogue with your life itself. Sit comfortably. (Did I say this enough times?! ~ I like to be comfortable!)
4. If you are creating your sacred space choose a focus point on the wall. Some people start by facing a blank wall; I chanted to a moon in a picture. Choose a focal point slightly above eye level.
5. You may wish to have a small table nearby for tea or your journal.
6. Write the words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
on a piece of paper.
The words are pronounced as follows:
Nam ~ Nahm, rhymes with Mom,
Myoho ~ meeyohoh,
Renge ~ rain gay,
Kyo ~ kee oh.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
Nahm Meeyohoh Rain Gay Kee Oh
(Phonetic spelling)
7. Begin to chant. Hold your hands with the palms facing in and touching each other in front of your heart. And say Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over again with your eyes OPEN looking at the wall.
8. At first, you will probably only be able to concentrate on the words themselves, and that's fine. Once you've got the chant down you can think about what you want and chant at the same time.
9. Join fellow practitioners as soon as you can. The SGI Portal to the right will help you locate a center near you, and you can call that center to connect to your local meeting house.
Chant twice a day every day. Get in rhythm! Establishing a twice a day rhythm to your chanting is important. It gets the wheels of your life moving.
Keep your goals in mind and you’ll remember your reasons for chanting!
These words and this vibration go deep into the heart of your life itself. They summon forth your highest wisdom, vitality and sense of purpose. They also uproot the karma that is making you suffer, and give you the opportunity to change this karma forever.
When you chant you are entering into a dialogue with your life itself. You are not chanting to any god or asking for favors. Instead, you are connecting with the rhythm of the universe itself.
As Nichiren Daishonin says in the famous writing (Gosho) "On Attaining Buddhahood" :
"If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life...It is called the mystic truth because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena.
"Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the ten worlds, as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky and earth, and even the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this principle himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the mystic law but some inferior teaching."
From Lectures on Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime by Daisaku Ikeda, 2007
