Don't give up!!!!

I've gotten several comments from people experiencing hardship...and I have to tell you right now that you MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!! 


Chant through the tears...chant through the disbelief...chant through the anger 


and you can experience what I am experiencing in my life right now...I am seeing how it has all come together....All the changes...all the prayers I have been chanting have come to pass. Do not give up!!! Do not give up. 


This week was incredibly exciting...with my Dad in town I had plans every single day and night and enjoyed EVERY moment...I loved each moment at work....I loved each moment at play. I made a million (almost) new friends at networking events. I inspired people...I laughed...I looked my best...I cheered myself up when I got tired....I am living the life of my dreams. Right now. This very minute. You can too if you DON"T GIVE UP!! 


Remember that  your challenges, hardships, sadness are like logs on the fire....they ARE THE FUEL YOU NEED to get ride of your old karma and live the life that you want. Use them to chant as if your life depended on it! It DOES!!!


Let my results inspire you:
If I could rise out of my deep, deep depression, (the one I brought into this world)....you can accomplish your own happiness. If I could lose 70 pounds you could make your wildest  dreams come true (that was an impossible dream for me and I DID it!) If I could end a marriage happily and create a happy situation for my whole family and live in paradise...you can do ANYTHING. 


CHANT AS IF YOU ARE PULLING THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE FROM BEHIND YOU TO IN FRONT OF YOU. PULL YOUR HAPPINESS RIGHT THROUGH YOUR BODY! YOU ARE THAT POWERFUL. VOW to your life.  COMMAND YOUR LIFE. MAKE IT HAPPEN. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN!!!


I Love you, 
Jamie
p.s. Think of me tomorrow night...on a boat in Lake Michigan enjoying the company of a wonderful man and all his friends....truly living the life I was born to live! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo !!!! Join me in chanting for great weather!! Thank you!

About a Broken Heart

Dear readers, 
I received a comment from a woman with a broken heart. She's been chanting for five months and the man that she was in love with left her and has gone away. I wish to address her here:
Dear Broken Hearted, 
Please do not give up. I can truly understand. The reason I began this blog almost two years ago was my broken heart. I was longing for a man who went away. Every morning I would wake up with his face in my mind...and I felt a constant physical ache in my belly....constant...real pain. It was hard to breathe sometimes. I felt like I was living in a nightmare of hell. 
Because of the suffering I went through then...and my fierce determination to change my life from the INSIDE so that I would never ever experience this intense pain again...this blog was born, and so was my incredibly beautiful life that I have now. 
The broken heart spurred me to chant 2 hours a day and sit in front of the Gohonzon chanting from the bottom of my soul to CHANGE MY KARMA FOREVER....to CHANGE WHATEVER WAS IN MY LIFE THAT ATTRACTED THIS HEARTACHE....AND to LOVE MYSELF SO MUCH....that this kind of pain would go away forever. 
Of course I spent a lot of time chanting to get him back too...because I believe that chanting sincerely for what you really want is the fuel that fires all your results in life. So I chanted to have him back...and gradually, over time, found other prayers that became more important to me. 
I embraced my district and chanted for each person every day. I chanted to change the heartache in my life for the sake of every woman who ever suffered in this way. 
I really know how you feel. 
If you can sit in front of your Gohonzon and chant resonant NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO for exactly what you desire...you will win. Don't worry if your desire is "correct"...ALL your desires are correct. They are yours. Chant from the bottom of your heart. USE THIS PAIN TO FUEL YOUR BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!
Here I am two years later, almost out of a marriage that was long over...I have my own sweet, beautiful little apartment in a gorgeous area with a pond, a pool and a health club. I have a miraculous new job where I am able to really have an impact on the lives of young people. I have so many friends, and even a new boyfriend who loves to make me happy, not sad. And my happiness doesn't depend on him or anything else. My focus is on doing my own human revolution, knowing that any real change happens within my life and is reflected on the outside in everything and everyone. 
That is the real key in life. Follow President Ikeda's Guidance. Chant for those you love...and those you don't love...and you WILL free yourself  from this pain. 
I promise. 

Danielle's Description of the Practice

What follows is from Danielle Canaris in Cloverdale California. SHe is my beloved shakubuku who helped me raise my two amazing Buddha Boys. 

Danielle is an inspiration herself...and has now, after many years come to practice. 

She brings all her wisdom, all her determination, all her love to this practice. 

After not even a year, she presents us all with this awesome piece. Enjoy!

The workings of the universe are an expression of a single principle or Law, expressed as Nam-myho-renge-kyo.

Chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo enables all people to understand this law in there own lives and come into rhythm with it.  By putting your life in harmony with this law, you can unlock your hidden potential and achieve harmony with the universe.

Nam-myho-renge-kyo literally means;

Nam- Devotion

Myoho- Mystic Law

Renge- Lotus Flower, represents the simultineity of cause and effect.

Kyo- Sound Vibration

The invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, was established by Nichiren Daishonin on April 28,1253.  After studying  widely among the the Buddhist sutras, Nichiren concluded that the Lotus Sutra contains the ultimate truth of Buddhism: that everyone without exception, has the potential to attain Buddhahood!

The three fundamentals of Nichiren Buddhism are faith, practice, and study: Faith is based on experience.  It begins as an expectation that something will happen.  If we are willing to try the practice and anticipate some result, we will then develop our faith brick by brick as examples of actual proof accrue.

Practice:  To develop faith, we must take action.  We strengthen our wisdom and vital life force by actualizing our Buddha hood each day in a very concrete way.  Practice consists of two parts; practice for ourselves, and practice for others.  We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each morning and evening along with reciting Gongyo (two chapters of the Lotus Sutra).  Practice for others is taking compassionate action to help give people the means to make fundamental improvements in their lives.  President Ikeda describes Gongyo as a ceremony in which we bring the primordial sun of Buddha hood to rise brightly in the vast skies of our lives each day!  When chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo, we are tapping into the underlying pulse of life and it's limitless potential.

Study; We study to gain deeper understanding.  Nichiren Daishonin instructed followers in the correct way to practice.  His writings give  people valuable insight into how this practice will benefit their lives.

The Gohonzon, which was inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin  on October 12, 1279 is the focal point of our practice.  In the center are the characters Nam-myho-renge-kyo.  It reflects Nichiren's life state of Buddha hood, and is the link between the Buddha state within our lives and the environment.

The Soka Gakkai International was founded in 1930.  It has expanded to 192 countries and territories.  The SGI seeks to promote peace, culture, and education.  The practice of Nichiren Buddhism exists for the happiness of each individual and the fostering of world peace.

JULIA's incredible Experience....read this to be inspired!

Julia Landis...Musician...Healer....Yoga Master...
and now....Nichiren Buddhist!!!
What follows is Julia's experience, written by her. I'll throw in a few annotations as well. Just let me say to begin, that Julia was a special radiant and wonderful friend from the moment we met many years ago. Her Yoga classes transported me. No other teacher compares. Since she is already so incredibly spiritual, once she decided to embrace this practice she "GOT" it in a way that is always teaching me...and we have been growing and evolving and creating our wonderful lives ever since! I learn so much from her!

Kelly's Island Ohio...where this story takes place...

Dear readers (from Julia),

some of you may have read Jamie's post about me last summer. After 13 years of contemplating chanting NMHRK I finally took the big plunge last fall after I realized I had nothing left to lose. After visiting with Jamie on Kelley's Island in Ohio and seeing the transformation of her relationship with her husband and experiencing their warm friendship in the midst of their impending separation I was truly amazed. There was simply an ease and happiness I could feel in being with them, which was a relief to me for many reasons, but most acutely, because I was really suffering: I was experiencing severe challenges to my health, far worse than anything I could have imagined. I had MRSA type wounds on my foot that refused to heal. It was a nightmare in the humid midwestern summer to try and enjoy being a tourist while the band-aids and ointment repeatedly slid off and I was left in searing pain and fear of further infection. I also had developed chronic giardiasis and related intestinal syndromes. Let's say I was not a "happy camper." Please scroll down...

I remember not talking with Julia much about chanting at the beginning of the visit. I let my life speak for me. Julia could see the physical transformation I'd had since I last saw her ...with the loss of 70 pounds and the new outlook on life...I look much younger. Outside at the lake I remember telling her something about my relationship with Paul, and she said "I want to try it."

I asked Jamie if she would chant with me one afternoon while we were alone at a picnic area overlooking Lake Eerie. I was so weak I asked if I could chant lying down on the picnic table. Jamie gently recommended that I at least try sitting up, to feel the energy in my body... 

Although my husband was opposed to the practice--and had been for over a decade-- I was determined this time not to let anything stand in my way. I'll never forget the first time I chanted with Jamie for more than a few minutes, staring out at the calm surface of Lake Eerie-- my first Gohonzon!--from beneath a picnic shelter accompanied by the chatter of newly hatched swallows nesting above us. I was blown away, so to speak, when Jamie's son Ben, a top athelete, stood behind us and joined us in chanting. I got the goose bumps as I felt the generations of Buddhas voices like a soft wind under my broken wings, lifting me towards the light.

 Here are the birds Julia's talking about

After I returned home, many obstacles arose to my practicing, but I let nothing stop me. At first I only chanted a couple of minutes a day and got out of breath and hoarse. (Julia was incredibly weak and sick when she started chanting - her transformation has been amazing) I created an altar and began to thirst for the experience of chanting. Jamie expressed so much support, making herself available in ways no other friend or helper would ever have been able to... I now realize that she was excited for me and knew about the benefits that lay in store for me. I read the copy of "On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime" she had given me as a gift and began to hear Daisaku Ikeda's loving and powerful words reverberating in me when I chanted. I believe at this point I began to connect with the spirit of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of our age who first chanted Nam Myoho Renge kyo and unlocked the mysteries of the Lotus sutra for all of us living in this age. Nichiren wrote... "With this teaching  all the teachings advocated by [earlier Buddhist teachers] will be like stars after sunrise..." I began to feel joy in my chanting and worked my way up to chanting an hour a day. At this point I discovered (through amazing synchronicities involving my husband and public radio) the herbs I needed to treat the MRSA. It took months and several approaches, but by now you've guessed it: the wounds have closed and are healing

nicely. 

With each passing week the benefits mounted. A doctor who'd been treating me in a half hearted always busy way began to take a real interest in me and began really helping me. Through his increased vigillance I was able to get an MRI which has led me, again through synchronicities to the most wonderful physical therpist I could have ever imagined. I am getting full physical healing including pilates and cranio-sacral therapy now and... it's all covered by my insurance. I also have begun receiving lucid dreams guiding me further along in my healing and I began my own blog about my experience. As Jamie has put it, I've gone from an experience of dying to an experience of really LIVING. Of feeling alive and cherishing each moment of my life, no matter what it brings.

It has been so exciting to share each benefit and each new challenge with Jamie, knowing that she fully understands both the nature of suffering and the emergence of strength and capacity that come with this practice and can stand beside me in either kind of state. With her encouragement, I was able to overcome many obstacles and learn to chant Gongyo; this year on New Year's day I received my Gohonzon, the mandala Nichiren Daishonin personally inscribed for his disciples (us!) some seven hundered years ago.

Having practiced many forms of meditation and yoga over the past twenty years, I was amazed to experience the blessing of chanting NMHRK with my eyes open and fixed on the character which means "MYO" on the Gohonzon. Minutes slip away in states of happiness, peace, transcendance that are worthy of MYO's immeasurable meanings chiefly characterized by the simple definitions, "to open" to "rejuvenate" and "fully endow."

I made a determination, on the eve of receiving my Gohonzon that each time I would look upon it I would be filled with reverence for it and for my life, of which it is a mirror. And I am. I can never adequately thank Jamie for sticking with me for the 12 or so years it took me to "open" up my life to my full potential and cultivate the capacity and the bravery to live fully and embrace my innate Buddhahood. I am learning the exquisite feeling of deep worthiness, worthiness of love, healing and real joy. I am beginning to praise my life.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Julia has changed in so many ways since she began chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Her voice...her health...her bright eyes...and most of all...Julia knows...beyond a shadow of a doubt...that she can accomplish every happiness she desires. She knows with a knowing that is beyond intellectual, that the ONLY way to accomplish her desires is to wholeheartedly EMBRACE them!  She knows YOU MUST chant for what your heart desires...you Can't tamp it down. And you will either get what you are chanting for...or something better...or your desires will change and so will your suffering. She is a living Buddha...inspiring people with her incredible life! We've only just begun! So much more to create...chant for...embrace...appreciate!!! She knows she has found the key to every happiness...and what could be better than that!!!! I love you Julia! I love you readers! May each of you be soooo inspired by beautiful Julia!!!!

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Versailles On the Lakes!
Tomorrow I get my keys
to my first real apartment...right there...on the Lakes of Versailles...and step BOLDLY into the next chapter of my life.
I stand in absolute awe of the power of chanting
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I have no regrets. For the last 30 years I have lived with a great person who is the father of our two wonderful children.
And now it is time to move on...taking a stand for my own happiness, while chanting to have this transition be one that is INSPIRING TO ALL!
Through this change, ALL of our lives will be made better. That has been my determination from the beginning...and at least one amazing person started chanting after seeing how nicely we are making this transition. My children are happy and inspired. My soon-to-be ex husband is ready for this move to happen.
My life is brimming with faith...strength and Appreciation!!!
Woohoo!!
You Can have it all...
don't let anyone tell you anything different!!!

Chanting in Appreciation

Today's morning two hours will be from a heart overflowing with appreciation. My voice may be a bit tired from cheering at the top of my lungs yesterday for Ben and the warriors of the 4x8 race....but I am so happy and so grateful for all the benefits overflowing in my life. I get keys to my new apartment that has been being totally rehabbed for me on Wednesday...I start a new chapter of my life...I'm really enjoying my new job...and I have some other new and exciting things that I will share with you when the time is right. Thank you life! Thank you to the power within me welling forth in strength and courage! Thank you Jamie for your fierce determination to be happy...and your fierce determination for others to be happy too!!!

A Winning Life! Benefits Everywhere!

Benjamin Silver with his 8th Place Medal

Ben is such an example of the pure Buddhist 

Never Give Up spirit!

Today he placed 8th in Illinois' State Track Meet...after being injured all season and fighting back to run two races to qualify for state...then rocking the competition. 

Ben runs the 3200 meter (2 mile) race. 

He qualified to run in the slower heat (slower race) of the state meet. Here's how it works: he runs as fast as he can...and if his time is faster than the time of anyone in the top nine of the faster heat...then he gets a medal. 

Watching his heat was amazing...we had about 100 of us in the stands screaming "SILVER SILVER SILVER" for him. He could hear us all...we were going crazy! Suddenly he broke away from the pack and came in first with no one even close behind him...you can only imagine how thrilling that was!

Then we had to wait until the next heat...about an hour later...and see if his time beat any of the top nine from that heat. 

It did! 

He came in 8th in the state. 

Wonderful!

This has been a great few months for Ben. He's graduating. He has a girlfriend. He got a scholarship to college. He chants with me as often as he can...and on Wednesday night, in preparation for my moving out, and for him going away to college~ he received his Omomori Gohonzon. It's a smaller version of the Gohonzon I chant to...a portable one...perfect for a dorm room. Aaron, his brother has one too. 

Ben made a powerful cause by accepting the Gohonzon this week!

And he triumphed! 

Go Ben!

Go YOU!!! Achieve YOUR dreams and become incredibly happy! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Whoohoo More great and wonderful benefits!

Aaron and ben just after Ben's race!

 Today, May 28th, 2011 
My son
Benjamin Lee Silver got a medal in the 3200 meter race at the Illinois State Track Meet!!


After a season of injury...he totally blew us away today. 


8th place in Illinois is a major achievement! 
We are one of the fastest (maybe THE fastest) running state in the whole country. 


This was a fabulous way for Ben to end his High School Running Career!!! This fall he starts at Miami University of Ohio on a running scholarship he earned with all his hard work and determination!

Ben and me

Ben is on the left!!!

One Week Until Moving Day ...so many benefits!

Wow. 
The fact that I am moving in one week really blows my mind. 
AND the fact that I can sleep at night and I'm not going through intense anxiety is even more outstanding. It really shows the power of chanting! 
When I first began wanting to change my life, and realized that although I love the man I married, we are not meant to stay together....well.. my biggest fear was "Where am I going to go? ANd how can I live on my own?" 
Now, I know tons of people support themselves and live on their own, but I never have. I've either lived at home, in the dorm at college, again at home, then with my husband. 


And for the past two years I have been chanting to:


Raise my life condition


Strengthen my life on the inside


I've VOWED to win in all areas of my life...health...finances...friendships...and for the members of my district...readers of my blog....and all people in the world to realize their inner potential and light the flame of happiness in their lives. 


I have chanted from my deepest desires all this time...for deep, fun...love and happiness and for a career I  love. 


And the results are:


I am happier than I have ever been...even though my Buddha boys are launching their lives and, in a sense, leaving me behind. But that's a process of life! I have to be happy for the incredible men they are....I have to trust them as I always have and watch them shine. I am healthy...pain free...and have a job where I am making a real difference in people's lives. I have the dream to be a published author and reach everyone who is looking for this practice...because I looked for it for so long myself! I have many dreams....and I am watching all of them come true! 


Remember...chant what is in your heart and trust yourself!!!


Yesterday I chanted to connect with all the right people for the sake of my students...and I had the most fun on the phone setting up lively appointments! I set up a room at a hotel for Ben's state race this weekend and the sweet woman knocked $20 off my bill because I was so darn happy. Seriously. 
Your happiness affects the world! Only you can draw the deepest happiness from your life! I believe in you!! You can do it! If I can do it so can you!!! 

Really connecting to my Prayer

What does it mean to connect with your prayer? How do you know that you are maximizing the power within your life when you chant? 


If you've been reading my blog you know what you are thinking as you're chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is very important. In the moment you are chanting you HAVE THE POWER to change your own karma...to affect the causes you are making at every second of every day and to truly make your dreams come true. According to Buddhism the purpose of life is HAPPINESS! And you can claim yours every time you chant!


How? 


First of all chant to deepen your prayer...and to have the kinds of benefits that PROVE the power of the Gohonzon...in other words PROVE the power of your own life and prayer. 


Make a list of what you want and REMEMBER you are not asking anyone or anything for anything...you are VOWING to become happy! You are VOWING to achieve your dreams...you are VOWING to show actual proof so that those around you can become happy too. We are ALL INTERCONNECTED. When I win in life...all those around me win too. Look at your own life and you know this to be true. When you are happy, aren't those around you happy too? And it goes deeper than that...we are interconnected in the web of life...all of life is strengthened when you are strengthened. 


Studying the words of Nichiren Daishonin and Daisaku Ikeda are essential to learn how to apply the principles of Buddhism. I am indebted to them!


I view my life as the prow of a huge ship. When I make the causes to be happy...I am chanting for the entire ship behind me to be changed by my prayer...all living being to be made more happy through my prayer!


I look at my life right now...I am so steady and so strong. My relationships are incredible...I make new friends every day. I am healthy and my children are too. 
 This could be a horrible time for me. My youngest child is graduating High School. I could be mired in depression and despair. And I am certain, that if I did not chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo I would be miserable. I just think of my sweet mother. By the time my sister and I were graduating High School my Mom was at an all-time low. She had gained so much weight you could barely see her eyes. She was in a failed marriage...was feeling so unloved...and was watching her girls leave the nest. When my Dad announced he was divorcing her during my freshman year of college I was almost relieved. I knew her life had to change. (And it did...for the better) In a way he saved her life at that point. She didn't have a Gohonzon or know about chanting. I was not to find Buddhism until I was 25, and Mom began chanting the minute she saw my life getting stronger! She chanted for the rest of her life. 


Instead of suffering like my Mom did...I have the Gohonzon and fierce determination to help the members of my district and the readers of this blog become happier than they (YOU!) ever believed possible. I have a new thin body, a new pain-free hip, a new job, a new job, a fun dating life, and in a few days I will have my first apartment all by myself. My husband and I are amicably divorcing...and I chant for his happiness and appreciate our partnership in raising our boys, and we know our time together in a marriage is ending. My life is beginning again at the age of 50 and I am happier than ever. Every day I chant to see the causes I am making right now and to make the best causes for my happiness and the happiness of others. When I chant I vow deep in my heart to connect with Daisaku Ikeda and to show appreciation for his 50 year leadership of the SGI with my life. (sgi-usa.org)


I am truly happier, less depressed, less anxious than I have ever been. 
The future is bright for us all!!!!! 


That's actual proof!


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!!

A Rising Tide Raises all Boats!

It's a great metaphor, isn't it? 


That's what Kosen Rufu is, that's what building fortune in your life really is~ all of us on the water...all of us rising vibtrationally towards a happier and happier and more and more fortunate life TOGETHER! 


What is the true meaning of "Fortune".? It's the circumstances you create in your life that MONEY CAN'T BUY~! Don't get me wrong, I am not anti-money, no. But fortune rises beyond money. It comes from consistently making good causes at every moment...in your thoughts, in your actions...and in chanting consistent Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!


Check this out:


Last night my son Ben, (the one in the prom picture of a few posts back) ~ last night was the qualifying race for the state track meet. It's a big deal. His first race was last week because he's had an injury all season, and been working out like a fiend to keep his heart rate up, even when he couldn't run! Well, last night he ran the two mile in his best time ever, and next Saturday he will be in the state track meet. This is something he has been working towards for the last four years...and he has accomplished the goal! GETTING to state is HUGE!!! Of course it will be great if he medals, and he possibly can, but getting there is very important for him. In the fall he starts his freshman year at Miami of Ohio on a running scholarship! 


This is fortune. YES. 


He has chanted for it, and worked towards it for his whole running career. 


What else is fortune? The fact that I told myself I wanted to stay living together as a family until Ben graduated from High School, and I am officially moving into my own apartment the day after he graduates. It's a really cool place with a pool and a hot tub and clubhouse. I'm excited, thrilled and of course...a little wowed...my first time living on my own! The rental market is red hot in this area...the housing market is in free fall and people don't want to buy. And I found exactly what I want, where I want it! That's fortune. Chanting Nam Myoho REnge Kyo affects your environment (ie finding the perfect apartment...having happy kids...) because we are CONNECTED to our environment...NOT separate. Every cause we make, every Nam Myoho Renge Kyo we chant makes a difference...creating FORTUNE in out lives! 

Everyday Access to the Universe Within

Everyday I access the highest power possible...the one that is right within my life. Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo allows me to tap into this power for the good of all. I chant the name of the rhythm of life itself...that is why all of life responds to my chanting. 


I chant for my own happiness, of course, and I spend a lot of time focusing on prayers for people around me whom I see struggling. I picture their faces as I last saw them...and as I am chanting I see their grin widen...and their eyes start to sparkle and I hold them in my prayer in a happy state. Sometimes they are people I know well, other times, especially now that I have a new job...I chant for people I am just beginning to get to know...and I am certain that my prayer is going to touch their lives. 


I am seeing changes at my new job...things are lightening up...there is a BUDDHA there! Things HAVE to lighten up, I am going to watch my place of employment soar with happiness. I am determined to bring my light to shine. It can be no other way. That's WHO I AM, and every day I spread more and more joy. That's the true beauty of the process of Kosen Rufu (world peace through the dignity and power of each person). When I chant for the happiness of others, and smile, and glow... I cannot keep this happiness from myself. 


Two weeks from today I will receive keys to my new apartment and begin a life that is different from the life I have known these past 30 years. And three days later...my youngest son will graduate from High School. What exciting times! What a time to keep digging deeper into my life to unearth the diamonds there...to let my light shine...to enjoy my new life...new job...new friends.  


I am chanting every day to realize with every cell in my being, that I am worthy of love...I am worthy of EVERYTHING that I desire...and I shall make it so!


And so can you!!! Chant for exactly what you want. And if you don't feel you deserve it...chant to CHANGE that feeling once and for all. Chant to know your own worth...for YOU, my dear friend...and a BUDDHA too!!!

What a Great Life ~ Ben and Sarah ~ Prom 2011!

Here's my youngest Buddha boy making all his dreams come true...he has a lovely girlfriend...he's graduating from High School on June 3rd...and he has a running scholarship to Miami of Ohio university....
Everything is possible when you chant! 

Time to move ahead

I am chanting every day to cherish, praise, elevate my life and do my human revolution.
I have a huge challenge now. My son is graduating from High School and it is time to complete the formal part of the division of property and paperwork that goes along with ending a marriage that has been part of my life for almost 30 years (from when we met in 1982).

SOOOOO I am chanting to honor my life. I am chanting for my soon-to-be-ex-spouse's happiness. I am chanting for the happiness of my boys.

The boys are great...they totally understand the divorce. I am so proud of who they are...they are dedicated...they work hard...and they enjoy their lives too. Aaron is busy applying to Medical School. He'll live in Champaign this summer working in the medical research lab. Ben will be preparing for his first year at Miami of Ohio University. Such excitement.

And I will be starting a new life, in a new place, with my new job, and some other new things that are making me very happy indeed.

So it is all working. Daimoku works. Years ago, I wanted to have this situation unfold...but I did not want to divorce until the kids had both graduated High School (coincidentally - that's the way my parents planned their divorce). And we have come to the crucial moment. Because I have the Gohonzon, and I can sit in front of it and elevate my life...I am finally prepared for this great transition.
I can meet my fears, chant about them...and persevere. I have a new job...plenty of friends...YOU readers and my own determination to get me through this.


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!!!! 

On Attaining Buddhahood - HOW TO REALLY CHANGE YOUR KARMA!!!

On Saturday night at the Chicago Buddhist Center, Linda Johnson gave an amazing lecture on the Gosho "On Attaining Buddhahood." 


It is a gosho I have studied many times, and I've read and reread the book written by Daisaku Ikeda, and Linda, in her brilliance, has truly inspired a change in the focus of my prayer. That's the reason we study Buddhism by the way...because the more we study, the better we are able to understand and operate the gears of our Buddhahood ~~ and that equals more results and more happiness. Yayyy!


The crux of Linda's talk is that everything we experience, see, feel, hear...every person we interact with, every car we drive, every boss or coworker we have is a direct REFLECTION of the causes we have made and are continuing to make at each moment...a direct reflection of our life itself. We look to the outer world...our husbands, our children our coworkers etc. to get them to change...when if we really focus our prayer on our OWN SELVES...that is the way to operate those gears and affect real and lasting change in our circumstances. 


Linda said if we grumble and complain about our lives and think our sadness is someone else's fault...then we will NEVER be able to make lasting change. We must chant to change whatever it is WITHIN OURSELVES that keeps attracting the thing we don't like. We need to chant to change the karma to attract what we don't like, and to be able to see the causal interaction within our own lives. 


I realized during her talk that I am currently making causes to manifest WHAT I DON'T WANT...because I couldn't quite see it clearly...but my eyes are now opened. I will explain:


For instance, I am right now working on changing my karma as it regards to love. Many of you know this, many of you have communicated to me that you are chanting for love as well. My pattern (karma) has always been that I am not loved enough. In grade school I had few friends and experienced being very unpopular. In High School I was shunned by boys...in college the same. Deep insecurity and unworthiness took root within my life. I have always known this. This isn't a new realization. The NEW realization is THIS. I recently met a man who is intriguing, worthy and seems to like me. And I can hear my "evil twin" inside me talking me out of it all the time. "Oh, he'll just disappear like all the others...oh this is just a dream to go poof in the end...oh, I know I will blow it like I always do." Oh STOP IT EVIL TWIN!!!!


I am getting that voice out of my head by chanting to PRAISE MY LIFE WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING! I am chanting to realize in a way that I've never realized before that I AM DESERVING of love. I am chanting to rid my life of doubt. And when I chant like this...I connect to the Gohonzon with incredible power...and I KNOW I will change this karma. I KNOW I will be able to accept love in my life in a different way...the way I have been chanting for. I don't have to chant for a man to love me. I have to chant to be in love with myself in a way that is unchangeable...in a way that goes deeper than outside circumstances...in a way that inspires others that they can do the same. 


And YOU can do the same thing! That's why I write this blog. 
When we chant this way EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE! Go YOU!

Full of Appreciation!!!

Daimoku Absolutely Works!!

Ben is so much better. He mananged to find a new chiropractor who totally helped him yesterday!!!
Thank you all for your daimoku.

I'll write more later...my computer is in the shop having music transfered from the PC to the MAC.

In grateful appreciation!

Love, Jamie

My Ben

Ben Silver

OK it's time to put the pedal to the metal again and chant really hard for my very own Ben...my Benjamino. 


He's such a great and determined warrior of a kid. 


He's 18 and finishing off his senior year of High School. He's a runner, who is passionate about running, one of the top ten in the state of Illinois (which is the top running state in the nation). 


Right now he can't run. He has a hip that is so painful that he can barely walk...and it comes from training too hard...pushing himself too hard...it comes from being so determined. And it's frustrating and sad for him to not be able to run this track season. He's also got a sinus infection so he is just feeling so down. 
He chants a fair amount, but I think he has yet to really prove the power of this Gohonzon with his life. Of course I can't push him to chant.
 But I can chant with the determination that my prayer will absolutely penetrate his sadness...that there will be medicine springing from this practice...and that MY Daimoku is enough for both of us. 
It is interesting that this comes about just as Mother's Day approaches. Really interesting. I will pour so much prayer into him, and chant really strongly. I know we can somehow turn this around. There is nothing more important in a mother's life then for her children to be happy. 
Please join me in my prayer for my Ben...and thank you soooo much!