3 Keys to Revving your Chanting Engine! (And getting to an hour a day!)

 

Hello Beloved Friends! 

I took this photo from Mulholland Drive in LA when Aaron and I were visiting LA. He's now in Portland doing his ultrasound fellowship. 

My son's not just a doctor, he's a visionary. There is a new version of ultrasound available to doctors and he aims to be one of the first M.D. academicians teaching it to residents!

I'm here in Phoenix doing my EFT Tapping work (mostly through zoom anywhere in the world) with people who have experienced loss and are ready to reclaim their lives better than ever. I teach people to communicate with their nervous systems in a way that opens a path to peace and happiness. This results in less stress and more self-compassion. With my loving support, we pave a new way. 

3 Keys to Revving Your Daimoku Engine 

(and getting to an hour a day or more) :

1. Show yourself some self-compassion. 

It's okay if you are not perfect from the beginning. Do more and more every day to get to a solid hour. Just don't give up! 

Also, when I began this 100-day campaign, I wasn't sure of my exact targets, but I knew the more I chanted, the more clear they would become. 

Each day strive more and more. 

2. Make a pact with your Buddha Buddies! Find someone to challenge a 100-day daimoku campaign with, that's the best way. And if you can't find someone you know, just join along with me! 

3. Become stronger and stronger each day, and when obstacles arise greet them with joy and say "I was expecting you!" and turn poison into medicine! 

My email is: ChantforHappiness@gmail.com

PowerPrayer to Transform Fear Into Power!

Now is our time! 
Now, if we succumb to the fear around us, 
if we are focused on our feelings of helplessness, 
if we give in to our reeling minds, 
we will truly suffer. 

It's so easy. I know it is. I know it is because I am a human Buddha just like you are...and I live in Florida, one of the COVID hotspots, while my son Aaron is in Arizona...the OTHER COVID hotspot! 

But even this virus is no match for the Buddha. 

I challenge all of us Buddhas, 
we who are chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, 
must not give in to despair or fear. 
We must raise our Life Conditions 
Tap into our Buddha Nature ~  
By chanting for our LIFE CONDITIONS to RISE 
so we can be above the fear, 
above the noise, 
above all the NEWS! 
If we feel powerless right now, 
I understand it. 
Last week I had my moment of feeling powerless too. 

While I was chanting today (and yesterday!) 
I wrote a PowerPrayer for You: 

PowerPrayer Transform Fear into Power! 

Life! 
I hear you loud and clear! 
Now is my crucial moment. 
Now is our shared crucial moment! 
I join my voice with all my fellow Buddhas to 
DEMAND I rise above this fear. 

I AM THE BUDDHA. 
I ROAR. 
With every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 
I change my karma 
I change my family's Karma
I change the karma of this world. 

Gohonzon, LIFE! 
Together we chant to alleviate this and every virus. 
We chant for infection rates to GO DOWN. 
We chant for our protection 
and the protection of all living things. 

My Daimoku is joined with all others right now
Resounding throughout the world.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Roar! 

Life! With every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
I change fear to power
I change criticism to appreciation
I change cowering to action
I change fear to wisdom

With this renewed awareness of my much I ROCK, and How POWERFUL I am, I know that I am the Buddha. 
I feel my Buddha emerging 
more and more and more every day. 

I am determined that I will____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________!

In love and light and determination!

Jamie 

Powerful Guidance from Kate Randolph

The one and only Kate Randolph

Hello friends, 

Recently I spoke at Kate Randolph's Life Celebration in LA. My charge from her daughter Sarah was to encapsulate Kate's guidance. What an honor. Truly. Kate and I spoke almost every other week for 34 years. I took notes. 

Here's how Kate introduced me to this glorious 

practice: 

It was August of 1985 when we met. 

Kate told me a story that changed my life. In Kate's work for the Great Peace March Across America, she needed to work with the megastar Paul Newman. The first day she was so flustered in his presence she couldn’t even form sentences. That night she chanted for one hour, and came back the next day and could talk to him like he was anyone else on the planet. 

I knew right I’d finally found what I’d been searching for my whole life. A tool that I could use to channel my energy in the direction I wanted it to go. A practical tool for happiness! And she told me I did not have to release my attachment to my desires. I could keep them, and chant for my desires! And my prayers would make the world a better place, and me happy, too.

DONE. I was hooked.

Kate and I became fast friends. We had our babies around the same time, First my son Aaron, then Kate and Hal's daughter Sarah, then my Ben. We vacationed together and raised our children together.

I would call her to get guidance about my challenges and she'd congratulate me for having these problems. She'd assure me that THESE problems were exactly what I needed to get me to the next level of my happiness. They were a benefit. 

Kate put my life in perspective by reminding me that I am a powerful Buddha, by winning in my life others could be inspired by my example and win in theirs. She taught me to turn poison into medicine. 

Basing her life on the Gosho by Nichiren Daishonin and the

words of Daisaku Ikeda she taught me victory:

She taught me to live a life of Victory. The key to Victory 

is making a strong determination to win over our 

problems 

Once we make a determination we may have doubts arise, 

but doubts are not real:

SHe said: 

You have to expect doubts to arrive in your mind. Now is the time to realize they are not real...they are only thoughts in your mind. They are not reality. They are just thoughts and you just pop them out with your prayer  ~ with your eye on the outcome…do battle in your mind and say No No No that is not my reality, that is not reality, that will not be my reality. 

These obstacles and doubts are NOT my reality, these negative thoughts are NOT my reality. Envision your outcome and say YES YES YES YES with each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And tell the Shoten Zenjin: YOU will get my back...you have my back...what I envision...my perfect outcome...THAT is my reality and then you add to it: For the sake of all people, I will show actual proof! 

Kate says: Once we decide we will win no matter what ~ 

we need only to continue. 

We've already won. 

The battle is with the negative function within. 

All you need to do is make a fresh determination! Live with hope

One of my favorite quotes of Kate's is:

We Breathe Rarified AIR!

By chanting we can ROOT OUT the causes of our suffering!

Faith is Envisioning the outcome exactly as you want it to be as if there were no obstacles and then challenging the doubt in your mind with your Daimoku and send it like arrows through each obstacle, shooting them down as they arrive in your mind. 

That's why I say be FUELED BY YOUR OBSTACLES, not FOOLED BY THEM!

Battling Depression:

In Kate's own battle over depression, she won by focusing on this thought while chanting: I don’t CARE how many times you rear your ugly head. Depression! I will defeat you. I will root the causes and effects of this depression straight out of my life….and she did just that. 

Based on her guidance I wrote this 

PowerPrayer to Defeat Despair:

Written by Jamie Lee Silver, from the blog ChantforHappiness.com

While chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo I would focus on these thoughts and TELL my life who is BOSS:

No way Unhappiness! You will NOT WIN TODAY!

No way anxiety~I am the Buddha!

I don't CARE how many times I have to chant to defeat you. I WILL WIN! For Myself and for all! 

I am a noble, brilliant Buddha! 

I DEMAND a life free from sadness and fear! 

I root the karmic cause of my sadness and fear

right out of my life now!   

I DEMAND that my environment reflects who I really am, 

not my fears or doubts about who I am. 

I DEMAND that I have the courage 

to do Human Revolution 

and to FOREVER break 

those ties to my own unhappiness. 

I am determined to stop making causes that bring me pain! 

I am determined to make causes that bring me happiness! 

Not just for me, but for everyone!

I MUST succeed 

LIFE 

No matter what! 

I choose to be happy!

I choose happiness now! 

With every new obstacle think:  

"This is just another opportunity for your life to stand up and tell your fundamental darkness who is BOSS. This is just another WAVE, just another WAVE. You MUST stand up to it. You must chant with the conviction that there is no other way than your victory. You must summon that conviction from within your heart." 

Kate said: 

Chant for absolute and total conviction

 in your Buddha Nature

and know that you are changing karma 

for your self, 

for your family 

 for your descendants 

and for the world by this prayer

Pray that THIS Daimoku makes the difference!  

Pray that THIS PRAYER changes your karma forever.

Facing death, Kate said to me:

"NOW is the time to wake up to joy. 

Now, more than ever, 

SGI members need to summon joy, 

forget complaining about anything, 

and wear a radiant smile on our faces. 

She says our smiles must radiate so brightly 

that light comes out of our fingertips 

and we glow as beacons 

so people can learn of the mystic law, 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from us, 

and be moved to happiness 

just by being in our presence.

Kate said we must have Joy 

to show the possibilities of life...

JOY is a REQUIREMENT, 

not an afterthought, 

and it comes from our determination 

to summon it from within our lives 

and express it in our smiles, 

the pep in our step, 

and our lives themselves. 

We can do this! 

We can do this for ourselves, 

and by doing this we change the world." 

"Our smile is a cause, not an effect." we can't sit around waiting for joy to come into our lives. We must be joyful, and invite more. That's how it works! 

She said: "Joy's the leading edge. Wake up and be joyful, smile at the person next to you in bed, smile at the person next to you at the store, in the elevator, and at other drivers. BE Kosen rufu in action!" 

"It's gotta be real, but you can also fake it till you make it. Put that smile on your face and you will spark your happiness. Try to be sad with a huge grin. It doesn't work so well!

"We have to go deeper into our own lives, and into the Buddha we are every day. We've gotta do this NOW. This is it. This is our time. We're ALIVE! whether we are 17 or 95. Grab the moment for all it's got and say "I am creating the deepest value that's ever been created. NOW. Right this moment. There's no other moment. There's no other person. How are we influencing the person next to us...it is our SMILE...beaming with joy...Joy!"

STOP complaining. NOW. It must be replaced, even if it's phony at first. It may feel phony but it will cause a shift inside your life.  And we have to keep going deeper and deeper into joy. There can't be a place at which we stop. we need constant movement...constantly going deeper." 

Thank you for a lifetime of WISDOM and DETERMINATION Kate. Thank you for showing us Buddhahood by example. Thank you for walking this world as a Buddha with strength and determination alongside your magnificent family, Hal and Sarah. Thank you for always leading the way. Thank you for your grace. And thank you for your poetry and for bringing us closer to Emily Dickinson. (She performed the one-woman-show The Belle of Amherst like none other)

Thank you for always leading with Daimoku and Shakubuku - the spirit and action to lead others. 

And, if we want to continue Kate's marvelous legacy, let's all be joyful right now! Beaming JOY from our fingertips!

Thank you, Kate!  

Meeting Every Challenge With Joy

Life is about challenges 
and joy is something we build for ourselves 
through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, 
choosing our words carefully, 
and taking correct action for our lives 
with the recognition 
that everything we do 
is a CAUSE for our own happiness, 
and the happiness of others. 

We are Bodhisattvas of the earth with deep missions and deep vows. If you read this and think "I never quite understood about the vow part," let me give you my brief insight on this. 

Remember, I am a practicing Buddhist, just like you. Next Friday, October 20th,  I will celebrate my 33rd anniversary of receiving the Gohonzon. 

Right now, Kate Randolph, my beautiful and wise mentor (who introduced me to this practice) is challenging a brain tumor of the worst kind. It was diagnosed last Thanksgiving ~ right after she got back from our visit to FNCC. 

I will always remember when we were doing Gongyo together at my apartment, she turned to me and said. "I just have to tell you, Jamie, I really, really love you." And of course, I got tears in my eyes filled with love for my dear, dear, friend. She went back to LA and got this horrible diagnosis. 

Please join me in chanting for my dear friend, and wise woman, Kate Randolph. 

When we talk about our vow for kosen rufu, it's something that is present in my daimoku (chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) every day. My vow is my determination that through my accessing the incredible power of the universe within me ~ by chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo, that I will make the world a better place. I chant to access the most powerful power I have, so that I can be an inspiration to others as they watch me overcoming challenge after challenge. 

And I have had challenges, just like you. Mine are mine alone, just as yours are yours alone. But the thread that connects us is the ability and determination to turn poison into medicine time and time again. Not just for ourselves, but to make the world a better place. I chant "BECAUSE of this HUGE challenge, I can change my karma! Thank you to my life."

Boy, do we ever have a lot to chant about right now, right? My friends in Northern California did not lose their houses, but they lost their "land" when all the houses around them burned. They lost their neighborhoods and landmarks. They lost their past, present and future, just like our friends in Puerto Rico, Houston, the wildfires in the northwest, and on and on...not just in the US but all over the world. 
We can chant for all these places, people...and our whole world. Now, more than ever, we are at our crucial point, and can use our vow of happiness to strengthen our lives and bring peace and harmony to the world, not just through our prayers, but through our actions. 

My determination is to SEE my life and make the changes I need to make, deep inside my character, so that my life can purify all I touch and see, and all I can't see. Science has proven that we all exist in the web of life together. Our changes, our human revolution, changes the world. It HAS to. My daily causes are important. So are yours. 

So, everyday, I bring my smile to all around me, every day. I'm working as sales director in a senior living community and it is great joy to interact with our precious seniors and their families. I bring my "A game" of compassion, wisdom and the healing power of LISTENING, and empathizing to every personal encounter. 

WE are the gift to the world. WE are the ones who can surmount our sufferings and help others learn this wonderful chant. We are the ones who can help and inspire the youth of our time. This is our vow!

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the youth! Nam myoho renge kyo for the unity of the SGI organization. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for YOUR happiness and the happiness of all around you! 

When One Sun Rises Everything is Illuminated

I took this picture from a friend's condo overlooking Lake Michigan in Chicago. I call it  

"The sun is an exclamation mark!"

"When one sun rises 

everything is illuminated."

For many years that has been my favorite quote from my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda. 

He has proven it with his life, and we are all proving it with ours. 

I, along with so many of you who share your hearts with me each day, live our lives with this in mind, with our vow to accomplish kosen-rufu in mind. 

Our lives do illuminate the world.  

For almost six years, I have shared my life with you. Not for accolades or money, but to be an example, and reach people who are searching for answers, searching for a positive and practical practice for their lives. 

Lately, I am hearing from more and more of you who found this practice, and got connected to the SGI through this blog. Bravo! And welcome! 

You are why I write this blog!

I've also heard from others who were practicing alone and after my many appeals to join the SGI decided to join and are now practicing in a District. Bravo!

You are why I write this blog! 

And I hear from you who are bravely facing and challenging your life and you jumpstart your practice by reading these words...who chant with renewed vigor...and do more shakubuku.

Bravo!

It is for you I write this blog. 

Let me remind you, once again, that these words are mine, and I don't represent the SGI in an official capacity, except as a member who loves the organization and bases her heart on Sensei's heart. 

May 3rd has come and gone and many of us made Daimoku targets and goals towards this date. What do we do if our targets weren't achieved? We keep chanting! I am still chanting 2 hours a day and am as determined as ever to break through. I will never give up. 

So every day I am reading the words of my mentor, and studying the Gosho. I am attending meetings and encouraging others. Last week I chanted every day with my dear friend Mary. I can see the difference in her face! And she is continuing to chant every day twice a day.

As far as I'm concerned, consistent faith, practice, and study, (which includes shakubuku), are the keys. From my early days as a YWD emcee, I presented "faith, practice and study" at meetings. I continue to strengthen my practice along with you. It is an honor to know you! 

Go Buddha Go! 

"When one sun rises, everything is illuminated."