What I'm chanting for NOW

OK!

We have a big meeting on the 27th of this month at the Chicago Buddhist Center. It is called the Women's Victory Meeting and all are welcome. Linda Johnson, our National Women's Division Leader encouraged all of us to make big goals and determinations towards this date, and I have done just that. My first was for Ben, and we got that benefit already! I already told you that he got an amazing scholarship that he accepted to Miami University of Ohio.

My other determination is towards my finding a new job. Not just any job...but one where I will thrive, and that will allow me to move out of the house and start my new life.

I'm also chanting:

to do my human revolution and permanently raise my life condition...so that the things that come into my life...the job opportunities, the people, are all at a higher level already. I want to attract the man, (OK at the moment, the MEN) who will make me happiest. I'm ready to have some fun!

And, as always I'm chanting to be able to introduce people to this practice...

And for all members to experience countless benefits and be able to realize, within every cell of their beings, the greatness of this practice and the power of their own ability to tap into the source of their being through the incredible chant of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

How to chant for what you want

In response to Hema in India.

(See her comment at the end of the last entry here)

...great question...

Do you chant for everything you want or just one thing?

Make a long list Hema...be specific. Write it down. Say when you want it by and CHANT with the conviction that your life itself has the power to draw forth what you are desiring. Chant for everything!!!

ALL of your desires are GOOD!

Go for it!

You will accomplish your desires or something better.

Let me know how it goes.

Great Benefits Abound!

We've had a wonderful benefit here!

My son Ben, who is 18 and a senior in High School has been looking at colleges for a year or so. he's visited many of them, and gotten calls from numerous running coaches all over the country. He has been chanting and studying hard, and running.

This Sunday he went to Miami of Ohio for a visit. He went alone by bus. He loved it the moment he got there. At some of the colleges he's visited, the runners were isolated and spent a lot of their time playing video games. Ben's not much of a video game player, and wants to be integrated into the whole college experience.

At Miami of Ohio he felt at home right away. He loved the feel of the campus and everything he experienced there. He saw that the runners are really a part of everything...and, on Monday...the coach told him about a great scholarship offer he could extend to Ben. And Ben accepted the offer on the spot.

That's the part that gets me the most...I am so impressed by the fact that Ben was certain...he knew without a doubt that this was the right college for him...and it offered him the biggest scholarship of them all...almost a full ride. isn't that something. That is fortune. That is the kind of fortune you get by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. When Ben chants, he chants so heard he sweats. His whole life flows through his daimoku.

And now he is set.

It was a visual transformation as well. When he came home on Monday he LOOKED like a college boy. And he looked so serene. He has made a major decision. He made it by himself, and he fulfilled a goal he has had for many years of going to school on scholarship...his running efforts have paid off in a big way...all that running in the rain...all that pain...it has all paid off! Go Ben! I am soooo proud of you!!!

About this Blog

I started this blog in July of 2009 when I was at a crossroads and realizing some key things in my life.

Whereas:

I was heading into my 25th year of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, and soon to be entering my 50th year of Life...

Whereas:

I still had some negative karma I was working on changing....

Whereas:

I had an aching heart...and was very aware of the fundamental darkness inside my life...

AND after being a Buddhist for 24 years I knew that I already had the key to changing my life for the better...and it starts with making new determination (goals put into action) ...and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

I decided:

To chant two entire hours every single day with set goals in mind, and blog the two hour a day campaign (daimoku campaign as we call it) so I could inspire others by my certain success.

At the Beginning:

When I started the campaign and blog I was in a marriage that was not happy, and hadn't been for some time. I was employed working for a senior living community and enjoyed my job in sales/marketing and public speaking. I had also been limping for several years with pain in my right leg from the hip to the foot and was trying all sorts of ways to heal the pain. Also, I practiced Buddhism within the Soka Gakkai organization, but I did not currently hold any position of leadership. I was also, as i mentioned above, aching in my heart.

What happened:

Immediately in 2009 I was asked to co-lead the Downers Grove District and embraced it wholeheartedly. There were two or three members coming out to meetings, and I knew my co-leader and I would be able to create a happy thriving district. I chanted every day then, and still do now, for every single member to be so happy that they are overflowing with happiness and telling other people about chanting because it's impossible NOT TO when happiness is coming through every cell! Now we have 15-20 people coming to meetings every single week and new members are joining us every month!

In the fall of 2009 my beautiful, sweet Mommy died, and I know that my chanting for two hours a day carried me through that experience. We held an great life celebration for her. We were very close, my Mom and I, and I miss her every day, but know she is cheering for me still, just like she did when she was alive.

Then I decided that my husband and I had completed our mission together of having and raising two brilliant Buddha Boys, and we decided to split, but remain together in the same house until Ben's graduation in 2011.

Right after that I was laid off, went to California to visit friends and came back to face the realization that the only way out of my leg pain was through a total hip replacement surgery. Yikes! I did that, and I've now recovered and am focusing now on creating my future!

The district is strong...I am strong...and I am still blogging away and invite you to join me! Send me your experiences with chanting and I'll publish them in the blog. Feel free to forward this blog link to anyone you would like to share it with.

The Meaning of Faith

In this unique practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,

what does it mean to have faith?

What do we have faith in?

Great question!

Since we are ALL Buddhas, and we ALL possess the power of the entire universe within us, we have faith in our ability to tap that vital life force inside us, and make it manifest in the direction we so choose.

There is a famous phrase in the writings of Nichiren Daishonin that states:

"Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is like the roar of a lion. What sickness can therefore be an obstacle?"

Sickness can mean physical ailment, but it also has a much broader meaning...any kind of suffering can be inserted here. The point is, that chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is stronger than any kind of problem one might have. By chanting these words victory is assured.

The point of having strong faith is to summon up, WHILE we are chanting, the conviction that we WILL accomplish whatever it is we are chanting about. While we are chanting we are vowing success in our minds...AS we chant. Chanting with this strong conviction held in our minds fills a person with endless vitality and FAITH.

Right now many Soka Gakkai members are making determinations towards the date of February 27th, 2011. On that date we will be gathering together and sharing our successes from our determinations.

My determination is to get a job to support the next phase of my life...one where I can make enough money to move out, support myself, and one that fulfills my list of requirements. I have several possibilities working now...let's see what I create.

I also will write some query letters about turning this blog into a book. It has such a great story from beginning to end. Every time I sit down to work on a book proposal or query letter I hear all kinds of doubt in my brain. I am determined either to rid my brain of doubt, or to get the query letters done even WITH the doubt in my brain.

How about YOU? Can you summon up determination and faith to make something important happen in your life by the 27th of February?

What could it be?

Around the first of the year I made a determination to get over a sad feeling that was lingering. And by the first of the year I was able to get rid of that feeling!

Dear friend in Bombay

Oh, my heart goes out to you Anamika!!

Please take the words I am going to tell you to heart.

(I received an email from a new friend in Bombay and this is my response - what I am saying here can encourage anyone and is meant specifically for Anamika) Her comment can be found under my posting of February 2nd.

Dear Anamika, please do not give up! Above all do not give up! You say you have been chanting since June. Are you in a District? Do you have friends in faith? Do you have the words of President Ikeda to read? Do you have your Gohonzon enshrined in a safe place in the heart of your home?

This Buddhism is the sure way for you to create happiness in your life. Please do not doubt this. Chant every single day for as long as you possibly can. Chant for exactly what you want and need. Make a specific list of what you need and want...the things you need for your life and safety, and the way you want to feel inside. Please chant from the bottom of your heart to connect with the spirit and the energy of Daisaku Ikeda, and chant to do your Human Revolution so you can experience true happiness. Your current suffering is actually your MISSION in life to CHANGE!!! And by changing this suffering you will inspire others to be able to change their karma too.

When you are chanting make a great vow to achieve VICTORY in all areas of your life. Remember that when you chant you are not asking anyone to bestow favors upon you. You are instead ACTIVATING THE POWERFUL UNIVERSE WITHIN YOUR LIFE. Chant with determination that you will WIN!!!

Remember that your karma is CHANGEABLE...(IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT)!!! You will create the BIGGEST HAPPINESS AND FORTUNE IN YOUR LIFE by chanting. Do not have any doubt. From the depths of the muddy swamp comes a brilliant lotus flower...a life of brilliance shining like the sun.

Do not give up hope. Chant as often as you possibly can. Chant for exactly what you need. Be specific. Be BOLD. Chant hard. When you chant...chant from the depths of your body...feel the energy flowing through every chakra.

Chant with the conviction that YOU CANNOT FAIL. You ARE A BUDDHA!!! YOU MUST SUCCEED for the sake of your own happiness and that of your son. Don't worry about your son not talking to you right now. Chant for his happiness every day and you will be reunited at some time in the future. Don't worry. Chant instead.

Do you have an email address I can email directly? I will write to you often and chant for you and help you in any way I can. One of the members in my district is in Delhi right now and I'll bet she would be able to talk to you by phone if you want. Can you send me a picture of you? I will share your story with the members of my district and they will chant for you too. You can also write President Ikeda and tell him of your struggles and determinations.

Have you heard of Tina Turner or seen her movie "What's Love Got to Do With It?" She is a big pop star, and was living a tortured relationship with Ike Turner before she discovered chanting. She was able to break from him and start a brilliant new life! She made her movie to show people that from the muddiest swamp comes the most beautiful flower. That is the reality of YOUR LIFE. You will be a brilliant beaming flower. Chant chant chant and write me again and again. I am Sincerely chanting for your happiness!

Watching the World...having a revolution...

Chanting for the people...and chanting for Anderson Cooper who was hit in the head today on the streets of Cairo...

Look at what is happening in Egypt and across the Arab World.

The people are taking their power back. The people are rising!

Daisaku Ikeda is always writing about the power of the people...and that in the end...the people themselves cannot be stopped...the people themselves are what is important. And Look at what is happening. There is momentum...the efforts to stop them have only fueled their determination.

The revolution of the people is the mirror image of the human revolution that happens within each person when they chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. The obstacles that arise when we embrace the interior revolution of banishing the darkness inherent in all lives...the darkness inherent in OUR lives...only serve as fuel for the fire...only make you want to chant more...BRING IT ON! Is the cry of the true Buddhist. I will remain undaunted...I will redetermine to win...I will vow to overcome my suffering and win in my life.

I am enjoying every moment here...going out with some interesting gentlemen, enjoying Ben choosing his college, and I'm interviewing for jobs. I'm exercising every day and bringing light and joy into my body. I'm chanting two hours a day in such joy and light. I'm in a space where Ican even savor and enjoy my sorrow...does that sound weird to you? Last week I went to a beautiful funeral for a friend's mother. I cried through the service and came home and spent the afternoon cocooned in my room listening to music that lets my tears flow...and I actually savored the sweet release of emotion...the joy of being a human and being able to cry. Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

My tears that afternoon were an example of the ten worlds being contained in the ten worlds. Although one might express my life state at the time as being in the world of hell...I was in the world of Buddhahood at the same time. In my tears was the realization of the beautiful life I have led, and the life that lies in front of me because of this practice. I was living one of my favorite Gosho quotes: "Suffer what there is to suffer, and enjoy what there is to enjoy, and continue chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo no matter what happens, then you will experience boundless joy from the law."