PowerPrayer to Strengthen Our Practice

These flowers were sent by my reader/friend Ano. Thanks Ano!

I'm back in Chicago now, and it is another gloomy and rainy day. I miss my California sun! Instead of filling my heart with complaint, I chanted to raise my life condition and be the Buddha all day long, no matter what. Yesterday I wrote about doing morning and evening gongyo and I heard from some of you who made fresh determinations. Here's a PowerPrayer to further strengthen our practices. Happy Monday! 

PowerPrayer to Establish a Strong Practice 

for Chanting My Way to Absolute Happiness!

by Jamie Lee Silver from ChantforHappiness.com 

Life! I love this practice! 

I love my life! 

I am determined to  chant every morning 

and every evening no matter what. 

My practice is for my life, for those around me and for kosen rufu (world peace) 

It is important! 

I no longer allow anything to stop me! 

I establish an unshakable practice at the core of my life. 

And I see the results immediately! 

I keep this promise 

to myself 

first and foremost 

and the rest of my life flows effortlessly!

With every Daimoku I love my life, 

and my deep, deep connection more and more. 

Every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo strengthens my life FORCE! 

With every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo I feel Buddhahood Rising! 

I see through the eyes of the Buddha! 

I feel the Buddha's Heart. 

I am the Buddha! 

I am overflowing with wisdom, compassion and love for mySELF and others! 

The more I chant, the more I want to chant. 

I look forward to my chanting time 

dialoguing with my own life

and discovering who I really am. 

I feel the connection more deeply every time I chant. 

Every day I see positive changes! 

I feel myself becoming stronger in these ways: 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am determined to enjoy my time chanting 

and being with my fellow Gakkai members. 

I chant to bring my full self to every meeting, 

and to participate with joy. 

If there is something I don’t like about my meetings, 

I make a fresh determination to do my Human Revolution

so I can cheerfully make a difference in my own district! 

I am chanting specifically for these people and these results: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am deepening my understanding of what I study 

with every Daimoku I chant. 

My eyes are opening. 

My depth of understanding is growing! 

I love to study! I am Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

I read the Gosho and President Ikeda’s Guidance every day, 

and chant to understand it with my life! 

Whenever I study I see the inner working of my life, 

and my prayer becomes deeper, and deeper and deeper! 

How do we Love Ourselves, Really LOVE Ourselves?

A reader asked me to write about developing love for ourselves. What a wonderful request. Thank you so much! 

As the great woman sage of our time, Louise Hay says, loving ourselves is the most important thing we can do. All our happiness is ultimately based on this. And as Buddhists we innately understand that the love we feel for ourselves is reflected back at us every moment in the mirror that is our life. 

And Daisaku Ikeda has the key in this quote...facing our weaknesses is the real source of developing self love and mastery: 

The important thing is to firmly fix our gaze on our own weaknesses, not run away from them, but to battle them head-on and establish a solid self that nothing can sway. Hardships forge and polish our lives, so that eventually they shine with brilliant fortune and benefit. If left in its raw, unpolished form, even the most magnificent gem will not sparkle. The same applies to our lives.
From Ikedaquotes.org

For me, learning to love myself has been a life-long endeavor. From earliest memory I experienced shame and depression. I don't know where it came from...it was my karma. It was what I chose to come into this world with...so I could change it and be a Bodhisattva for everyone who is suffering. My motto has always been "If I can do it, I can encourage others."

Of course I knew self-love was one of the most important keys to unlocking this door, but wondered how do I achieve this? How do I turn it from a good idea to reality? How can I experience loving my own self? 

I have used many, many ways to build self-love. I find the solution in my Daimoku and in my body. When I began doing a form of Yoga I released energy that was holding me back. That was a turning point for me. part of the Yoga training I received required us to say to ourselves every night and every morning "I love you _____" to ourselves (Fill in your name here) That was not easy! I did it as faithfully as I could, and it made me realize I still had a lot to change to really believe this.  

Through study of Nichiren Daishonin's Gosho, Daisaku Ikeda's writings, and through my dear SGI friends in faith I embedded in my daimoku the continual prayer to experience life as the Buddha I am...to see myself as the Buddha I am...to love and respect myself as the Buddha I am..to be humble and open to changing in any way to be more aware of my Buddhahood...and to be the most inspiring, glowing Buddha I can be. We are all Buddhahood Rising! I've chanted to strengthen my inner core and to feel the glowing essence of the diamond I am within my life. I do these things so I can help YOU to realize these things within your life. 

We are the Buddha. We are the Diamond. We are strength itself. We are awakening in love for ourselves and love for others...even the difficult ones. They need our prayers. If they were not suffering, they would not make others suffer. We are all walking paths of such honor and respect...chanting for people on our paths...chanting for kosen-rufu, a world of respect for all beings. We are the magnificent Bodhisattvas of the Earth. We have arisen. We can love ourselves JUST AS WE ARE...and continually strive to be better people, to love ourselves and others more. That is our chosen path. It is such an honor to walk it along with you. 

Have wisdom to offer the other 35,000 readers of this blog? Share ways you have come to love and honor yourself please write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. You can also email me questions or comments. 

How Loudly Should We Chant?

Does it make a difference how loudly you chant? 

Can you chant in a whisper or under your breath? 

Well....you can chant any way you like of course. If there are sleeping babies in the next room or you have some other reason that chanting with full vigor would be detrimental to someone, then there are times you need to chant softly. 

But if you are chanting softly for no real reason...maybe you still think chanting is kind of weird, or no one ever told you to chant with strength and vigor - let me be the first! Or maybe you chant softly because you have the feeling that you are praying to some power outside your own life. Or, you could be chanting softly because deep down, you really believe whatever you are wishing for is impossible. I hope not. But you can change that way of feeling. It all starts with attitude and determination. One of the members in my district recently started chanting twice a day after hearing me talk about it for two years. She said the difference is indescribable. You just have to try it for yourself. It's lie trying to describe what eating chocolate cake is like...indescribable, right? 

Keep this is mind: 

When you are chanting you are directly addressing your own life...and through your own life you are connecting with the entire universe. 

Make yourself heard! 

Chant strongly and proudly! 

You are the Lotus Flower rising from the muddy water...spread your petals wide and let your voice fill the room, 
fill the house, 
fill your universe! 

If you really, really, really, can't do this at home, do your best to concentrate on your prayer, and do not worry about anything. You will get the results and the benefits. Do not be shy about telling your life what you need. And remember that true happiness comes not only from achieving what we need, but also by growing, and helping others! You are a Buddha! You deserve exactly what you want. 
And then, if you are in your car alone, (or someplace private) just let 'er rip! 
Chant as loudly and as powerfully as you can. I do not mean scream! I mean tap into your whole body...feel your chant come from deep in your belly and rise through every chakra. 
Sit up as straight as you can and feel the energy flowing! Once you get started you will not want to stop! 

I'm not sure why, and maybe there is some kind of good reason for this, but the more I chant...the more I want to chant! I feel as if I am tapping into a deep reservoir of hope and health, life and vibrancy and possibility...not just for myself, but for my loved ones, my members and all of you. 

We are all so magnificent. We can think of ourselves as standing in front of a huge crowd of people. In front of us is a big heavy door representing the karma that we want to break through and change. All the people behind us are waiting expectantly with hope shining in their eyes for US to open the door, so everyone can flow though into the sunlight, into the warmth. We are so precious and we all have such incredible missions. We need to constantly remind ourselves that ANYTHING we are suffering from, any heartbreak, any hunger for someone or something, any job problems, any family problems...any challenges...they all exist for us to exercise our muscle of faith and become stronger. If those problems weren't there we would not have to chant and we couldn't shine ourselves and polish our lives! 

We need to have gratitude for the very things that make us suffer. I know. I know. Trust me! We can do it! We can do it together, for ourselves and for each other and for the entire planet. Kosen Rufu is everyone's dream...a world of respect for life and a higher vibration of happiness for all. That's our goal. That is what is in our hearts. Remember to chant for whatever you want and attach it to the goal of kosen rufu! I am always chanting to be happy so that I can inspire others that happiness is possible. Our lives have meaning when we can be lifting each other, holding hands, laughing, smiling, sometimes crying and always advancing with each other and with our Mentor, Daisaku Ikeda!