You can have a Beautiful Altar in your Home too

Let's Chant!

Do I get everything I want Right Away? Where's My Benefit!

The real thrill about being a Practical Buddhist and chanting Nam Myoho REnge Kyo every day is this:

Even when I don't get what I want...I get what I want. When I keep chanting, and keep focused...what I want is always on its way. The challenge is to not let my own doubt and negativity overshadow things.

Right now I am chanting with appreciation for my life, for being able to chant and for knowing, that NO MATTER WHAT I will be victorious is all areas of my life. I base my life on reading Daisaku Ikeda's writings, encouraging my fellow members and the readers of my blog. My entire life is tied to helping others be happy, and living as an example that NO MATTER WHAT, I will win in all aspects of my life.

Has everything "finished" in my life? No! And it never will! Am I enjoying the process along the way? YES! When you base your life on the mystic law it is possible to even enjoy your own sadness...because you see it for what it is...fuel for the fire of your Daimoku (chanting).

And because you can always turn poison into medicine...NOTHING will ever stop you.

I had a friend in Japan who always used to say "I love it when I get BIG PROBLEMS! Because I know that a BIG BENEFIT is on its way!"

He is so right! As long as you keep chanting, keep reading President Ikeda's guidance, and keep encouraging people...you can't lose.

And if you are at the beginning stage of chanting...just face the Gohonzon and pray about what you want. You deserve to be happy. Don't ever listen to the people who tell you that you don't deserve to be happy....you know you deserve happiness and you have ALWAYS known this. Tap into your life force of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Be fearless. Make your glorious life overflow with benefits!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! The power is within you!

This is such an awesome practice because it makes so much sense.

From My Favorite Gosho, the writings of Nichiren Daishonin:

On Attaining Buddhahood:

"If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho Renge Kyo. Chanting Myoho Renge Kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you. Myoho Renge Kyo is the king of sutras, flawless in both letter and principle. Its words are the reality of life and the reality of life is the mystic law (myoho). It is called the mystic law because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and ALL phenomenon.

Life at each moment encompasses both body and spirit and both self and environment of all sentient beings in every condition of life, as well as insentient beings~ plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Myoho Renge Kyo, if you think the law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching...

when you chant the mystic law and recite the Lotus Sutra you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho Renge Kyo is your life itself."

In other words...you ARE the mystic law...your very life essense is the same as the power of the entire universe.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo means: I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration.

When you chant these words and think about what you want you get it...and furthermore...you keep getting to a deeper and deeper realization of what you really want in life...as as you do this, if you are chanting, your CONVICTION that you are this law, and that you DESERVE to be happy will grow and grow and grow. And that's also where the real power lives. Because once you experience this you will feel the need within you to tell other people about it...and your benefits will continue to flow and flow and flow!

From My Heart to Yours

When I look at all the benefits I've gotten from chanting, there is one that stands out...and it is more important than any other. I am not afraid of anything. I am confident in my own success. I know that Nam Myoho Renge Kyo can cure anything...and that my problems just serve as the logs on the fire that fuel my benefits.

And, as so many of you are writing me right now...it is possible to get over a broken heart...and even to recover a lost love...you deserve fulfillment in love and it is possible for you to have this. Don't give up!

Right now, I do have some mighty big challenges...but none that I can't surmount. I know I have a deep mission in this lifetime, and that telling people about this practice and watching them become happy is my greatest joy in life! My next step is to get this blog, and my writing distributed more broadly. Tell your publishing friends about me. I am ready to take this blog to the next level! I am ready for a publisher with vision to call me! I am ready to receive!

I mean, how could life get any better than this? I know that all my challenges will turn into benefits. I've seen this happen time and time again. Just last night I had a pretty painful experience with a date that suddenly went way wrong. My date became very belligerent and drank too much...and I parted ways permanently with no ill effects.

My prayer this morning was focused on appreciation for my wonderful life...appreciation for all the good that is in my life...and for life itself...Thank you Gohonzon...Thank you My Life!

And this lead to a miraculous and loving time today with someone who is so dear to me. Poison into benefit....once again...

I returned to the Gohonzon with a full heart...of appreciation and wonder.

My goals are changing...life itself is really in flux. Right now there are some things I am chanting strongly about that I can't really share with you yet.

Remember the most important things....

You can change ANY poison into benefit in this practice....if you chant twice a day every day, chant what is in your heart sincerely...don't wonder if you are worthy of getting what you want. YOU ARE WORTHY OF HAPPINESS and of having everything you want. Everything. Study the writings of Nichiren Daishonin and Daisaku Ikeda, and tell people about this practice. Join your fellow SGI members. If you don't have your Gohonzon...receive one! Once the benefits start flowing you won't be able to NOT tell people about the practice!!!! Trust me!

How do you know when you're chanting enough?

This is a great question.

How DO you know when you are chanting enough Daimoku?

(Nam Myoho Renge Kyo)

Well, I'll tell you...when I am chanting enough, it feels as if I am walking on a pillow of daimoku.

When I am "walking on a pillow of Daimoku, I just know, that at every moment, my life is expressing itself with wisdom, compassion, love and energy. I can feel the power of the universe shining from within me. When I'm in this state I rarely say something I regret. I don't take the wrong turn. I choose the right line, or, if I choose the line that takes longer, I make a new friend in that line, or I laugh to myself about it and don't feel frustrated. I feel as if I'm in the right place at the right time. I take action that prevents me from a snag in the future. I'm smiling and happy. I bring smiles to other's faces. I am in rhythm.

And this feeling isn't always related to how LONG I chant...but it is related to how deeply I connect with my own life WHILE chanting, how much Buddhist studying I am doing, and how many people I am telling about the joy of this practice and encouraging. Aaaahhh. That's where it all comes together. This is also why it's important to attend SGI Buddhist discussion meetings. (Go to sgi-usa.com to find meetings in your area). This is essential for deepening your faith and increasing your happiness!

When you chant, whether it's for 5 minutes, or whether it's for longer...summon appreciation for your life...summon the conviction that Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is YOUR LIFE ITSELF...feel the realization that YOU ARE THE BUDDHA. And focus on what you want.

Lately, I am chanting for composure, for wisdom, and to open my life to learn all that I can in my new job. I am chanting for every reader of this blog, and for all the people I still haven't reached. I am chanting for every person who is suffering, and looking for this very practical practice to FIND IT. I am chanting for opportunities to have this blog spread wider and wider and help more people. I am chanting for all who are suffering. I am chanting to show actual proof with my life of how amazing this simple (yet not always easy) practice is.

There is a line from the Lotus Sutra that we recite every day in Gongyo. We recite the actual words of the Lotus Sutra when we say (translation) "I think every moment, how can I quickly cause all people to end their suffering and attain the body of the Buddha".

One of the members of our District in Downers Grove (which has the most rocking Buddhist meetings every Wednesday night) has been chanting only a short while. She says that her dreams have turned from nightmares into a peaceful, peaceful state. Her face has changed as well. Her depression is lifting. This is what I am talking about. This, and more is possible through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and tapping into the very life-force that it your birthright!!!!!

Great Results! The Universe is Yours to Command!!!

The key to creating results in your life through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is to attach your prayers to your mission, make a strong determination, and chant with conviction that your life has the power to deliver what you want.

I begin praying each day by chanting to meld my heart with President Ikeda's. I chant to share his heart...literally. I chant to pray as deeply as he does for the welfare of the entire world...and for my life to be a shining example that lights the way for others. If I can be happy - the whole world can be happy. If I can overcome my fundamental darkness (which is nothing more than the ignorance that I am a Buddha), well, so can everyone else!

You know I just got the exact job I wanted, right? It only took me a month and a half to find it. I decided to look for a job on the 15th of January. By February 27th (actually by the 24th) I'd had my first interview at the college where I now work.

I made my determination to get a job by the 27th of February because we were having women's division victory meetings on that day, and we were reporting to President Ikeda, and the other women in the territory.

When I faced the Gohonzon to chant, I prayed that I HAD to get the job I wanted by this date so that I could show actual proof to my District Members, and my Blog readers!...of the power of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. I demanded this result from inside my life. Chanting to the Gohonzon gives you the power to demand your benefits from the universe.

And I chanted to have the job BY THIS DATE, February 27th, Mrs. Ikeda's birthday!!!!

My friend sent me an email with the job description for this job opening attached. I knew it was my job the minute I saw it because it was the perfect blending of my talents, the perfect location, and I'd get to use all my connections.

Now I am using the power of daimoku every day to learn a new field...to grow...to absorb...to have wisdom and infuse this college campus with the light from inside my life.

Losing the weight was the same way.

First I wrote down ALL the reasons I wanted to be thinner. I read this all the time. Then I visualized myself walking into my favorite store and picking clothes off the smaller sizes rack, taking them into the dressing room and trying them on! I made myself a book of pictures and inspirational quotes to look at every day. I found one diet that worked then I found another, and I also worked out...walking or riding my exercise bike....chanting all the while to show actual proof.

If you are determined...if you summon faith that Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is your life itself...the universe will be yours to command!

Important to remember: you will get the best results from your practice if you join with other members in the SGI-USA.

Go to the website sgi-usa.org to find the people in your area who practice. There really is no substitute for practicing with fellow members. Your benefits increase and you get the support you need to make it through the inevitable challenges you'll face in life!

Chanting for Success on the Job!

If there is one thing I can say...and I'll say it LOUD and CLEAR...it is the same thing that my mentor Daisaku Ikeda has said over and over...DON'T GIVE UP!!!!! Just don't give up!!!

I am always honest with you...I was not looking forward to this weekend. My sons are in LA with their father...on a vacation I would have been on, if I had not made the choice I did to choose this time to make a new life for myself. I had anticipated being really sad when my boys went away...and I was not with them...but I've been fine.

And, because I have been able to "tune in to my base camp", by chanting sincerely, this weekend has been really incredibly blissful! I bought a whole bunch of new clothes (that I really need for work - remember, I was quite a bit heavier the last time I was employed) - and I accomplished some major household initiatives....and now, I am sitting here listening to a lovely thunderstorm...thinking how great my life is.

Aaaaahhh...I have a cool new job....I'm dating and having fun. I am focusing on my prayer for the happiness of all ....life is good! If I can do it so can you...

Remember....

Your prayer is a VOW...not a request. Whatever you want....VOW to make it happen. It is a deep vow within your life, to your life and from your life!

I always chant to be an inspiration to those around me. I HAVE to succeed! I HAVE to be happy. There is no doubt about it!!! It is my VOW~****

This vow is a huge part of having success in practical Buddhism.

As in so many things ~ attitude is important!

You can do it!

I am chanting to expand my capacity in all areas...to grasp and remember all the new concepts and terms I am learning for my new job....so that I can succeed and shine! and for the brightness of my own life to shine brighter than ever!

That is, of course what en~light~enment is all about!!!!

Go you!!!! Succeed~

How is it going? Let me know!!!!