As I write this I am here in my new apartment overlooking the glorious Gulf of Mexico on St. Pete Beach. I just talked to Kate Randolph who recently had a brain tumor removed, but will have to undergo further treatment because it was an aggressive tumor. She and her family are chanting up a storm. She's chanting four hours a day. And she sounds great. And happy.
She and her family are determined to create unprecedented victory in their lives, and for the world. They are chanting for every single person who is chanting for Kate to have incredible breakthroughs as well. I am joining her on her Daimoku (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) journey. I invite you to join me.
The January 1st SGI World Tribune came today and a paragraph of President Ikeda's jumped right off the page for me.
On page two he says:
"Change is occurring at an ever-accelerating pace.
That's what makes it so important
to chant strongly on a daily basis
to summon forth the
"wisdom of the truth
that functions in accordance
with changing circumstances"
(The Record of Orally Transmitted Teachings, p.10).
Based on that wisdom,
we can then rise boldly to every challenge
and enact our own hope-filled dramas
of human revolution
and help others do the same."
Daisaku Ikeda
I will be chanting to summon forth the wisdom of the truth that functions in accordance with changing circumstances!
What a great prayer.
My determinations are many. I'm chanting to be fearless, and to believe in my Buddhahood more than I believe in my faults and fears. I'm chanting to find a job for kosen-rufu - one where I can bring all my talents to the forefront, and continue doing shakubuku and public speaking...a job where I am involved, meeting new people, laying the foundation for my new life in my new city...a job where I am happy and looking forward to each new day.
I'm chanting for friends, and for the SGI here...for the YOUTH, and to meet the people who really want to hear about this great practice. I'm chanting to be filled with appreciation and joy, and to spread joy everywhere I go...while telling people about the great power of the mystic law.
I am happy. I love my life.
I wish all of you an incredibly victorious new year...taking each of your challenges and creating lives of overflowing benefit, in the SGI, along with our mentor Daisaku Ikeda...moving boldly forth every day advancing with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the rhythm of the universe that flows through all life.
Aaron was just visiting from Phoenix. He said "Mom St. Pete's is a new home for me now, because wherever you are, that is home." I am so grateful for my boy!
This photo was taken in Johns Pass. I can see Ben right alongside Aaron. Can you?
"People whose hearts are full of gratitude and appreciation are truly beautiful. A humble heart is the wellspring of great growth and development."
Daisaku Ikeda, Ikedaquotes.org
Good morning! Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy EVERYTHING! I am grateful for YOU.
Many of you have been reading this blog from the beginning...the summer of 2009 when I first declared that I was going to end my life-long depression and take the rest of the world with me on this journey. Since then, countless people have found out about this glorious practical Buddhism and joined the SGI through chantforhappiness.com. Others have gotten reconnected, and many have been inspired.
My themes are many:
1. Chant every day - twice a day (and if you are not yet doing this you will be amazed by the difference it makes once you start). Don't take my word for it. Just do it!
2. Stay close to the SGI - make friends, overcome your own negativity, and use the organization as a place where you can expand your state of life while working alongside others to make the world a better place through our own transformation.
3. Read president Ikeda's guidance with your life. Chant to understand it with your whole being.
4. Take the vow of the Bodhisattva. We have the opportunity to do this every time we chant....we chant for our own dream to be fulfilled so that we can show actual proof of the power of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and inspire others to chant...inspire others through our lives as we go about our daily lives being a bright beacon of hope and telling people about Nam-myohh-renge-kyo. Taking the vow of the Bodhisattva will naturally lead you to:
5. Do shakubuku. Let people know the source of your smile. Last night at a party I was talking with two really lovely people and they each said Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with me three times. At the last District meeting I had two guests. You can chant for shakubuku. Chant to meet people who are seeking this practice, and for the courage wand wisdom to introduce them.
6. Study the Gosho. The letters of Nichiren Daishonin are our great fortune. We have the actual letters of this great sage and way-shower. Find a phrase that inspires you and engrave it into your heart.
My favorite for many years was:
"Suffer what there is to suffer, and enjoy what there is to enjoy, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo no matter what. Then you will experience boundless joy from the law."
(From Happiness in this World.)
I also love:
"Like a lantern in the dark, like a strong guide and porter on a treacherous mountain path, the Gohonzon will guard and protect you, Nichinyo, wherever you go."
From "The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon)
And number 7 is to have a grateful heart, and be a bright, cheerful person. Spread your light far and wide!
As you know, I'm living on St. Pete Beach. And I need to leave my apartment for 4 months because another renter was already signed up to come here. Because of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, I have been able to arrange to move right next door into another lovely apartment overlooking the Gulf of Mexica. (For even less money) Total benefit. But I still woke up a few days ago thinking of all the work...all the cleaning...all the ugh of moving. But I said to myself "From this moment on, I am grateful for this opportunity. I'm going to have fun with this and FEEL all the gratitude for this easy move. So I did. At that moment I changed my focus. And it makes all the difference.
So for today, is there something you COULD feel grateful for if you just decided to? Is there someone you could express your gratitude to? The person it will most change is you!
(And for all who are chanting for Kate, please keep chanting. She is starting further treatment)
A bad day doesn't mean a bad practice. We all have them...days when we feel we really can't connect to our source of strength via chanting and using the ultimate tool, the Gohonzon. (Scroll which represents our highest life condition. See sgi-usa.org for more explanation.)
Do you ever sit down with clear intention to chant, but then get interrupted, or just not be able to really give it your all? This happens to the best of believers...to every single one of us. (If it NEVER happens to you, please write me and tell me your secret.)
And the important thing is not to think "oh, this really doesn't work...or I should just give up...what's the use anyway? I can't chant this morning, so I won't try tonight", and suddenly tomorrow comes and it's too hard to chant that day too?
Here's the slippery slope.
And the antidote, I believe, is to treat every gongyo as the sacred session with your own life that it truly is. If you can't do it in the morning, or you don't feel like you were able to feel that connection...well, in the evening, make another determination and don't fall off the bandwagon as they say. And if that doesn't work, make the determination to start the next day with a bright and fresh gongyo and daimoku.
Aahhhh, when you do this continually, and never concede defeat, your life will shine!
Daisaku Ikeda says, in Faith Into Action, page 146, under "Perseverance":
"No matter what the circumstances,
you should never concede defeat.
Never conclude that you've reached a dead end,
that everything is finished.
You possess a glorious future.
Precisely because of that,
you must persevere and study.
Life is eternal.
We need to focus on the two existences
of the present and the future,
and not get caught up in worry about the past.
We must always have the spirit to begin anew
"from this moment,"
to initiate a new struggle each day."
Breaking news!
Hope for the Day published "Our Forever Ben, One Mom's Letters to her son-in-spirit and his poetic replies."
Our Forever Ben is the story of turning poison into medicine. The book has two main goals:
1. By telling Ben's story I hope to find a way to fix the sad state of mental health care in this country.
2. And by sharing Ben and my writings since he "died," I hope to help those who are currently grieving see how easy it is to connect with their loved ones in spirit.
I am chanting to continue to open to my mission to help others.
Every day I am chanting the prayer that Daisaku Ikeda says is the key to our Human Revolution.
The Secret
to Achieving Your Human Revolution
"Pray that instead of devils
or negative, destructive forces
infiltrating your being,
Brahma ("Bonten"in Japanese),
Shakra ("Taishaku" in Japanese),
and the gods of the Sun and the Moon
~ the positive, protective forces of the universe ~
will enter your life!
Pray that they will enter the lives
of all members in your region
and the entire membership of the SGI, as well.
If you do this,
your strength will multiply
a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
With such prayer,
with such faith,
you will realize a fundamental transformation
in the depths of your life.
This is the secret to achieving your human revolution."
SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, World Tribune, 9/8/2000
Kate sounds great! Thank you for your patience! I'm in Chicago for book signings for my new book, "Our Forever Ben." I'll make announcements about that shortly.
For the moment I'm still focused on Kate.
She came through the surgery with flying colors, as my sweet Mommy would say!
I talked to her on Saturday and she remembered everything, and was extremely grateful for her life. You know, we have those moments, if we're lucky, to sit back and say "Wow, I have a new lease on life. I can see through clearer eyes. I can appreciate everything like NEVER before." Kate was crying tears of gratitude. FOR YOU! She knows you are chanting for her. She can feel your daimoku. And it's the Randolph family's determination that every single person who is chanting for Kate has a great breakthrough in faith and benefit.
Kate's illness gives us ALL a chance to breathe that gratitude in.
As I write this, we are not quite sure what kind of tumor they removed. So I am chanting as vigilantly as before. I think back to FNCC, just a few days ago. Kate and I spent an hour alone in the peace garden, taking in the quotes by Daisaku Ikeda, really feeling our gratitude towards our mentor.
And Kate reminded me of the address he gave us in 2010 before Rock the Era. She said there was a quote in that address that she chanted to understand - with her life - what every word meant. I'm sure she'd be really happy to share it with you now:
Daisaku Ikeda stated:
"You must decide
that the oneness of mentor and disciple
is the primary quest of your life."
What does this mean? I cannot tell you. It is something each person can glean for themselves. What happens to you when you chant to understand this with your life?
And here we are, in the states, coming up on the holiday season. in Chicago we just had our first snow...and it's the holiday season. (I'm visiting from Florida) As I was driving today I realized the holidays are so poignant because we are longing for a moment, a glimpse, a scent, a song, of our past. And, if we are lucky, if we are generous in our hearts, we can let the feeling in. We can see the images of our childhood, feel the hugs of our grandchildren and gaze into the eyes of our children who are now all grown up.
And bask. Bask in the beauty that we are. Bask in the lives we have. Bask in the eternity of each life. This is my second Christmas without my son Ben in physical form, but through our writings he is more with me than ever. Kate always says, "We are Buddhists. We breathe rarified air."
Yes we do.
Sending you love from me and Kate and her family!
